Breathe

Summary: AU Shiz-era. Fiyero helps Elphaba when her period cramps become too painful.

Rating: T

Inspiration: A while ago (more like September), my period and my cramps started during volleyball practice. Usually they aren't that bad, but these were so bad to the point where I couldn't move and didn't even want to play. My teammates and coach were so understanding, part of me wondered how a boyfriend would react and how I would like him to react.

The spoon she was holding made a loud clatter on the tile floor, but she didn't even flinch.

It hurt. It had never hurt this bad.

She groaned softly, as if making that sound would alleviate the pain at least a little bit. It only seemed to make it worse.

"Ah, ah, mm," Elphaba cradled her lower stomach and at the slightest movement of her legs, it felt like her groin was being ripped apart.

She whimpered softly but remained standing in front of the kitchen sink, her trembling hands gripping the counter. She whimpered again when she felt warm liquid slowly trailing down her leg, no doubt it would stain the floor; she didn't have anything to prevent it, it wasn't supposed to come 'till about ten more days.

She breathed in and out, even though her cramps seemed to be doing anything but dissolving. She still couldn't move. Slightly scared, she looked down and lifted the skirt of her simple, black dress. A small pool of blood stained the floor and her shoes.

Elphaba heard the door open.

"Galinda?" she called out. This might be embarrassing, but she didn't really care at this moment.

"It's me, Fae," a voice called back.

Her eyes went wide. Fiyero.

Scratch that, this will be embarrassing. Great Oz.

"Yero?" her voice squeaked from what felt like a tear at her insides.

"Elphaba, are you ok?" she heard his footsteps. He was looking for her and most likely heard the pain in her voice.

"Um," she considered lying, but the pain was too much for her right now, to hell with it, "not really," she pulled her hair back from her face and looked towards the doorway where the kitchen connected to the living room. "I need help," she hated that she sounded so helpless.

Her boyfriend appeared in the doorway.

"Oh shit," Fiyero set down the couple notebooks he'd been carrying on the counter and approached her quickly. He slowed down then, realizing if she was asking him for help right now, she was probably in pain.

He stood beside her and let his fingertips graze her lower back, his heart broke slightly when she groaned softly. A shaking hand gripped his bicep and she looked up at him, unshed tears in her eyes, not just from the pain.

"It's never hurt this much," she looked away.

"Hey, hey," he pulled her gaze back to him with his finger, he could read her like a book, "it's me. Don't be embarrassed." she nodded slightly and he kissed her forehead, she let out a soft sigh and relaxed considerably; well, as much as she could with all the pain she was going through. "Just breathe, hang on."

Fiyero disappeared into the bathroom, turned the water on, and let it fill up the bathtub. He looked at the towels the girls had in the bathroom. He set the smallest one he found on the bathtub floor for Elphaba to sit, grabbed two larger ones, set one on the hook behind the door, and hurried back to his girlfriend with the other one in his hands.

He quickened his pace when she began to hyperventilate.

"Elphaba," he hated that he couldn't really do anything. He settled for placing a hand to her lower belly and she put her green hand on top of his. "Breathe, Fae," he kissed her temple.

"I feel so ridiculous," she tried to smile. She still felt ashamed that he had to see her on her period, but he didn't seem to be too fazed by it. She actually managed to smile a bit at that thought.

"Hey, you're ok. Alright, can you bend your legs a bit?"

She tried and gripped his arms tightly. "It hurts, Yero," she whimpered and shook her head, "I don't wanna move," her eyes were filled with pain and it physically hurt him.

He moved his hand up and down her back, a vain attempt to try and soothe the pain. "Just a little bit, just enough for me to be able to pick you up and for you to grip yourself on me," he whispered, wrapping the towel he'd brought around her waist.

With his hands on her waist and her hands on his shoulders, Elphaba bit her lip as she bent her knees a bit and held back a whimper when Fiyero picked her up into his arms. He took her to the bathroom and ever so gently, set her down on the floor again.

"Here," Fiyero pulled her long hair to one side over her shoulder and she felt him start to undo the buttons of her dress. Even though he'd already seen her naked before, she couldn't fight the blush coloring her cheeks.

Once the buttons were done, he stepped in front of her and helped her get her arms out of her sleeves and let the dress fall to the floor. He reached behind her to undo the clasp of her bra and she let her eyes close and her head drop to his shoulder. He was being so unbelievably sweet.

Elphaba felt him lean his head towards hers a bit then he pulled away taking her bra with him. She felt cold without his body leaning against hers. Fiyero kneeled down in front of her and planted a soft kiss to her stomach, his lips just barely brushing against her green skin. She smiled a bit at the tickling sensation and played with his hair. She giggled softly.

"Not now," Fiyero teased.

"Oh, please that's the last thing on my mind."

"I take offense to that."

Elphaba smiled widely down at him. "You know what I meant."

Fiyero smiled at her and placed another soft kiss on her belly. He hooked his fingers on the hem of her underwear by her waist and very slowly pulled them down, knowing she was very sensitive right now.

There was slight pain and then a full cramp hit her. "Ah," her grip tightened on Fiyero's shoulders and held her by her elbows. He stood and saw that her eyes were shut tightly.

"It's ok," he tried to soothe. Elphaba bit her tongue to avoid crying out in pain again; instead, she groaned softly.

Once she opened her eyes again, indicating that the pain had lessened a bit, Fiyero let go of her elbows and turned the water off. "Do you think you can move right now?" he asked.

She nodded and carefully, he helped her step in the tub. Holding her by the hips, he lowered her down to sit and she whimpered slightly when the lower part of her body was fully submerged in the warm water.

Fiyero rubbed her back then pressed a lingering kiss to her hair. "I'll be right back," he said and she nodded.

He stepped out of the bathroom with her dirty clothes, put them in a plastic bag, and searched her cabinet for some of her more loose and comfortable clothes. He grabbed a t-shirt and pajama pants along with some undergarments then went back to Elphaba. When he came back to the bathroom, she was hugging her knees with her head resting on top of them.

"How are you feeling?" He placed her clothes next to the sink, sat facing her on the edge of the tub and rubbed her shoulder.

"So much better," she leaned into his arm and sighed, "I'm sorry."

His brows furrowed. "For what?"

"That you had to see that. And for staining you a bit," she touched his shirt where his elbow bent; sure enough, there was a small stain of red there.

"I didn't even notice it. Don't apologize." he shook it off.

"But it's gross."

"It's a period, my little ketchup packet."

"Oh Fiyero," she laughed.

He let his fingers stroke her chin. "Don't feel embarrassed, sorry, ashamed, or whatever other words you're thinking about in that smart head of yours." he said. His heart leapt at her nod and bright smile. She stretched her head up a bit and he complied, leaning down to press his lips against hers. She sighed into his mouth and caressed his jaw bone with her knuckles.

Fiyero pulled back and kissed her cheek, temple, and forehead. "Have you eaten yet?"

"I was about to," she answered holding on to his hand.

"Why don't you finish washing up? I'll clean the kitchen and then make something for you."

"No, don't clean the kitchen," she groaned, she had forgotten about the pool of blood on the floor. "I'll do that, just give me five…ten minutes."

He laughed then kissed her again before standing up to leave.

"You're going to clean the kitchen aren't you?" she asked.

"Yes," then he closed the door behind him, silencing the protest she was about to make.

She sighed, this man. But a smile crept up to her lips. How she loved him. More than anything in this world.

After letting herself soak in the water for a couple minutes, she let the water from the tub drain and stood up, turning on the shower. She grabbed her sponge and soap and started to wash her body. The pain had gone down considerably, but she was still gentle when washing her sensitive areas.

After she was done, Elphaba turned off the water and grabbed the towel hanging on the door. After drying her body, she got dressed in the clothes Fiyero had left for her and put her hair in a braid, letting it hang over her shoulder.

Elphaba walked to the kitchen and saw Fiyero with a bowl in his hand; he was wearing a new shirt, he had a space in her cabinets; and there was no blood on the floor anymore.

"Thank you," she smiled.

He smiled back at her. "You're welcome," he kissed her temple and handed her the bowl he was holding, "it's just fruit. I was about to make something, but I figured you would probably want something simple that could also help with the cramping."

Moving the fork around, she saw the bowl contained watermelon, strawberries, grapes, apples, mandarines, and blueberries. "It's perfect."

He grabbed two waters from the fridge. "Come here."

Fiyero led her to the living room and sat down at the edge of the couch putting his legs up as well. He pulled Elphaba in between his legs, her back pressed against his chest but still sitting up enough for her to be able to eat.

They were both silent for a moment; Elphaba slowly ate, letting her stomach slowly fill up, the fruit helping her with the slight bloating and small pain that was still left; Fiyero was content with watching her eat, occasionally stealing a piece of fruit for himself, pressing kisses to the back of her head, and softly rubbing her shoulders.

"Feeling better?" Fiyero asked.

"Much. Thank you," Elphaba gently kissed his lips. "I love you, Yero my hero."

He smiled. "I love you too, Fae."

Elphaba placed her bowl on the small coffee table and laid down, pressing her cheek to Fiyero's chest, her hand stroking him there. He rubbed her arms and kissed the crown of her head.

The couple remained in their embrace, talking softly until they both fell asleep in each other's arms, their soft strokes on each other's bodies soothing them for the night.

Sorry this one came a little late, due to traveling I've had limited access to a computer. Hope you enjoyed it!