Glinda shot awake, her heart pounding, eyes wide, sweat seemingly dripping off her face. Her eyes darted around the room before landing on the form of her roommate, who looked to be sleeping. She sighed in relief at the sight - Elphaba didn't realize she had woken up from a nightmare.

While the two were as close as ever after Dr. Dillamond's death and Ama Clutch's, she didn't want Elphaba to know of her nightmares. She couldn't help but think the green girl would feel guilty, even if they weren't at all her fault. So she was perfectly content to keep her unaware.

Or, well, more or less perfectly.

Tonight's had been particularly bad. Filled with snapshots of Dr. Dillamond, Ama Clutch, Morrible, Grommetik, and flashes of green, all interspersed with blood. It had sent a horrible chill down her spine that remained even now. But she was determined to keep it all from Elphaba, no matter what it took. So she buried herself under her covers and went back to sleep.

Later, she woke in much the same way, except this time it was accompanied by a scream. She was quick to clasp her hands over her mouth, muffling it, but not quick enough.

"Glinda?"

She heard the bed on the other side of the room creak, followed by soft footprints. Her eyes closed as she tried to fight back the images that remained after her nightmare, but it only seemed to make it worse.

"...Glinda?" Elphaba asked tentatively as she walked over, eyebrows furrowed. Glinda couldn't even speak, she just let out a whimper.

The room was silent for a moment, filled with only the sounds of Glinda's voice shaking, before Elphaba seemed to snap into action and slowly wrapped her arms around the crying blonde. That spurred some action in her, and she quickly threw her arms around the green girl, sobbing into her shoulder.

Elphaba stroked her hair and whispered comforting words in Glinda's ear. Finally, after some time had passed - whether it was hours or minutes or seconds, she didn't know - Glinda seemed to calm down enough to speak.

"I-I'm sorry. I had a nightmare again and couldn't sleep and-"

"Again?" Elphaba frowned. Glinda swallowed.

"Y-yeah. Again." She looked down at that, at her hands that now rested in her lap.

"Just tonight, or…?" Elphaba let her voice drift off as she raised her eyebrow. Glinda shook her head no. "Wow. Okay. How long have you been having nightmares?"

"Since...Ama Clutch died." Glinda's eyes were shut tight - she couldn't bear to see Elphaba's reaction. She was silent for some time. Enough time, in fact, that Glinda opened her eyes and looked up. Elphaba's gaze had hardened and she wasn't looking at Glinda, allowing her to see her profile.

More time passed, until Glinda couldn't stand it. "Elphaba?"

That seemed to snap her out of her trance, and her gaze returned to Glinda. "I'm-sorry. Um, do you think you could go back to sleep now…?" Glinda frowned, but said nothing about Elphaba's reaction.

"Yeah, I think so. But…" She hesitated.

"But…?"

"Could you stay here with me?" Glinda asked, her voice suddenly feeling very small. Elphaba was clearly startled, but she quietly agreed.

Glinda pulled Elphaba down on the bed with her and basically clung to her. Elphaba wrapped her arms around the blonde and the two fell asleep, curled into each other.

It was the first time Glinda slept without nightmares for weeks.