Rifiuto: Non Miriena

A/N: Written: 2009. Found: 2018- Licia

"You never did answer my question."

"What question?"

"Can you talk to him?"

Four days had passed since Glinda had walked in on the argument, and Fiyero and Elphaba had spent three of those days avoiding each other as much as they could. Now, Elphaba found herself being stalked by her petite blonde roommate as she made her way across campus towards Shiz's ice rink. "Why would I do that?"

"To make up. It's obvious you care about each other-"

"You don't get it, do you?" She stopped, turning to the blonde. "There's no talking to Yero. Not when he gets like this. He's like a... Vinkun brick wall. He's the most stubborn son of a bitch I've ever met, and that's saying something, considering I'm just as stubborn is he is. Yero hates losing a fight; he won't back down, even if it kills him in the end." She ducked under a low-hanging tree branch, essentially ending the conversation, but Glinda followed.

"Can't you two work through-" But she stopped when she realized Elphaba had managed to disappear. "Elphaba? Hello? Elphaba?" After several minutes, she hurried across the green, towards the nearest building, slipping inside. As it got colder, she realized that she was in some kind of freezer.

And then the sound of blades cutting ice caused her pause.

No, not a freezer, an ice rink.

The sound of music helped guide her, until she slipped through the tunnel, coming out to face a good-sized ice rink that clearly not many people knew about, since there was no one here.

Well, almost no one. Two people, to be exact. Three if she counted herself.

It was then that she saw her roommate, gliding across the ice on razor-thin blades, performing jumps and twists and turns with the ease of a ballerina. Glinda's mouth dropped, and she watched as Elphaba somehow managed to throw herself into the air, turn three times, and land on one skate with perfect precision. Just as she was about to speak up, another person entered the rink from another entrance point, and she ducked down, not wanting to be seen. The person dropped their bag on a nearby bench, and then proceeded to put their own pair of skates on, before moving to step onto the ice.

It was then that Glinda realized it was Fiyero. She watched in silence as he glided over to Elphaba, stopping just inches from her. Their gazes locked, and after a moment, they skated apart before coming back together. He grabbed her waist, pulling her closer. His hands slid down her small hips, and she reached up, sliding a hand around the back of his neck, her gaze moving up to meet his. "God, Fabala, do you have to be so stubborn?"

She spun away from him, taking off, causing him to follow with an aggravated groan. Glinda watched, as they skated, the choreography coming easy to them, as though they'd performed it before. It was a game, a constant push and pull, teasing with touches or looks that showed just enough of the desire simmering beneath the surface. She leaned against the rim of the barrier, watching with wide eyes as a new side of her roommate appeared- not that Glinda had seen much of her roommate over the last several weeks- but still.

Elphaba was... wild, almost, on the ice. She seemed carefree and relaxed, enjoying herself and what she was doing. For the first time since they'd been assigned as roommates, the smile Elphaba wore was genuine; there wasn't a hint of force behind it. She trusted her skates and, more importantly, she trusted Fiyero- if the lifts they were performing were any indication. At one point, he lifted her and threw her, sending her spinning into the air above him, only to catch her moments later without missing a beat. Her jumps were precise and on point, the lifts were flawless, and she appeared to be putting her very life into his hands- literally.

How could these two possibly hate each other like they do? Their chemistry is... ugh, there's no right word for it! It's... it's nothing short of amazing. I mean... he's literally throwing her into the air and catching her without hesitation! If they truly hated each other, they wouldn't be doing things like that! Right?

He pulled her back to him, sliding his hands around her waist as her own slid down his hips, to caress the back of his thighs. He slid his own down over her hips, pulling her closer. "You're the most stubborn woman I've ever met." The throaty, lustful chuckle that escaped her vocal chords sent his heart racing. How the hell had he spent ten years sharing a dorm with her at St. Prowd's and not claimed her as his?

"Look who's talking." She pulled away, turning to face him as she skated away. It was no longer an argument, but a game. She was teasing him, giving him just enough to crave more, and then taking it away, so that she left him with a longing that would eventually destroy him if he didn't either get a handle on it or give in. Their little game of cat-and-mouse was only intensified by the choreography and the music, as it pounded through the ice, moving through their skates and up their bodies, plucking every nerve until they were as taught as a fine-tuned piano.

Eventually, one of them would snap, and lose complete control. And neither of them could allow that to happen. They couldn't get involved, not romantically, not yet, not until the team for the Winter Games was announced. They couldn't allow this chance to be put into jeopardy because of some misguided teenage lust. But even so, that didn't stop him from catching her as she came down from her lift, and capturing her mouth in his.

Glinda squeaked softly, horrified at such an intimate moment she was spying on, and quickly slipped away, unaware that, despite the kiss, they'd seen her leave, and had known she'd come in, from the moment Fiyero joined Elphaba on the ice.