Jolla's prediction had been correct.

The sun had not even risen about the Eastern Munchkinland Ridge before a loud group of people banged on the front door. Jolla, who had been prepared for such guests, was ready to greet them with sausage and gravy served with fresh biscuits.

Boq blinked his eyes open at the sound of the rapping. Grunting, he turned over and squinted at the clock.

5:17 am.

Every other Festivation Day, he had sneaked down to the den to escape for a couple hours before his mother called him to get dressed. Unfortunately, Nessa visiting prevented that.

"How was the trip Marta?" Jolla asked as a plump older woman sushed a gaggle of young children.

"Well there was a big hooplah outside of Colwen Grounds that stopped the train. Some Goat caused a ruckus outside the Governor's Mansion. He got a couple of Boars and a Tsebra into it before the Wizard's Guards got in from the Emerald City," Marta explained.

Boq paused at the foot of the stairs, momentarily forgetting his trip to the den to sit with Nessa.

"Didn't the Governor's Guards take care of it?" Jolla asked, quickly catching a bowl as an excited toddler nearly upset a bowl of gravy.

"The Governor is away for the weekend and apparently his daughter decided not to return for the weekend so there wasn't anyone to take care of it."

"That my be our fault. She is staying with us for the weekend."

"The Governor's daughter is here? The Governor's daughter is here" Marta put her hand on her hip and rolled her eyes. "Oh Jolla how could you? Don't you know she is responsible for the country while her father is away?"

"Marta, I don't believe she knows that she is responsible. Boq said she was going to stay at Shiz for the weekend," Jolla offered.

"Huh. Well, someone should be responsible. And she's the next in line for it, so it might as well be her," Marta huffed. Her voice dropped. "So. Is she really green?"

"What?"

"The Governor's daughter. Is she green?"

"No," Boq announced. "That Governor's daughter is in the Vinkus on holiday. We're hosting the other."

The entire table turned to look at Boq.

"Boq! Oh come here and let your favorite aunt give her favorite nephew a big old hug!" Marta cried, though her face had flushed red.

Marta squeezed Boq tight, and then let go with a series of rapid comments about 'how big he's gotten' and 'such a handsome young man', and one 'he looks so much like his father', which always served to clench Boq's stomach a tiny bit.

"I wasn't expecting you to be up so early," Jolla muttered as Boq gave her a hug as well.

"I need to talk to Nessa about something," Boq muttered back. Jolla pulled out of the hug and looked at him.

"This early?" Jolla's eyes narrowed. "What could possibly be so important?"

"Oh, nothing. Just wondering if she's awake too, then maybe we can talk."

"Okay, but no funny business," she said with mock sincerity, wagging a finger in his direction.

Boq smiled sleepily and turned, but Jolla laid a restraining hand on him.

"Don't listen to Marta. Nessarose was not meant to be home and you know it. She is fine staying here with us. Alright? Please don't take her seriously. You know my sister has always been one to complain about everything."

Boq nodded enough so that his mother remvoed her hand. He greeted the children, and Marta's husband Raf (who had so far been dangerously close to falling asleep in his gravy), and went to knock on the den door.

"Nessa?" he whispered as he opened the door a crack.

"Come in, but please shut the door tight," she whispered. "I apologize but your family is very loud."

"I should be the one to apologize. I should have warned you better. They'll go to bed in a half hour or so and pick up again closer to ten when everyone is arriving," Boq explained as he laid out his quilt in front of the fire and curled up. "Besides. You're in the best position here. This is the most sound proof room in the house."

Nessa let out a non-commital 'mmmm' before falling quiet again.

The family did quiet down again after a while, allowing both Boq and Nessa to fall asleep for a little while, but after an two hours or so, it just would not happen.

"Boq?"

"Mhmmm?"

"Are you trying to fall asleep?"

"I don't know yet," Boq mumbled. "Why?"

"Well, I wanted to ask you questions. If you were going to stay awake, that is," Nessa said. She rolled onto her side so she could look down at Boq.

"Go ahead."

"What is it like to have so many family members? Do you see them often?"

"Uh, no. Not very often. They come up for Festivation, but not for Lurlinemas or any other holiday. Occasionally we mail each other cards, but that doesn't happen so often anymore."

"I'm sorry," Nessa sighed. "I... well, I heard someone say something out there in the kitchen earlier. Something about 'the Governor's daughter running the country' or something. I guess what I'm getting at is- are people going to be upset with me for being here?"

"No, no, no. that's just my aunt Marta. She complains a lot. To be honest, she isn't a fan of your father's politics, and I apologize in advance for the moment in which she chooses to bring it up to you. She doesn't... filter her thoughts from her words very well. It's caused a bit of tension more than once."

Nessa nodded slightly.

"We're very glad for you to be here with us. Truly. We're not just saying that," Boq muttered. Nessa nodded slightly again.

"I am glad to be here."

They lay in silence for a few minutes before Boq realized the question he had wondered since the train platform at Shiz.

"Nessa?"

"Mhmmm?"

"Are you at all upset that you weren't invited to the Vinkus for the holiday?" Boq said, as he stared up at the ceiling.

Nessa considered it for a while.

"Yes and no. I would liked to have seen the Vinkus, but I understand that it is something special for Elphaba and Galinda. Were you?"

"A little bit. It just seems like we do everything else together. I was a bit hurt that we weren't invited along."

"Well, we get to have fun without them, right?" Nessa chuckled softly.

"Yeah. We get to have fun without them," Boq agreed.

"One more question."

"Alright. Each or just for me?" Boq rolled over to face her.

"Either way I guess. I mostly just have one for you. And don't feel like you have to answer it. Actually," Nessa paused. "No. Nevermind. I'm not going to ask."

"What is it?" Boq asked, sitting up.

"No. It's too personal. I can't ask you."

"Nessa, please. Ask me."

"I can't."

"Nessa, just-"

"Are you still in love with Galinda?" Nessa blurted, louder, perhaps, than she intended.

Boq stared.

"See? I shouldn't have asked you," Nessa muttered. Her fingers picked at the edge of her quilt.

"I...I don't think I am."

Nessa looked up. Her shoulders relaxed ever so slightly.

"You don't think you are?"

"No. I... I think she was the first pretty girl I saw when I went to Shiz. And that was it," Boq concluded. He didn't seem sure though.

She waited for a moment to see if he would continue, but he didn't.

"Well, if you wanted to ask me anything else, you can. But you know, you don't have to," her voice faded.

"Could you ever forgive me?"

"What?"

"Could you ever forgive me?" he repeated.

When she still looked confused, he stood and sat on the bed next to her. She moved over enough that his head was not stuck under the sloped ceiling.

"I was awful to you. I asked you out so I could look good in front of Galinda. And I get why you didn't talk to me for a year. I completely understand, and frankly would have been confused if you didn't. But, could you ever forgive me for that? Not that I'm insisting you do if you feel it's unwarranted. I just wondered if you ever thought you could."

"I am not going to lie to you, Boq. It was very hard to even consider spending time with our little group again. But I didn't really have anyone else that I wished to be with. That made it hard to feel happy sometimes, but I also watched you grow up a bit. And that was nice to see. It made it easier."

"You- You mean you already have forgiven me?" Boq asked, his eyes wide.

"Yes," Nessa laughed nervously. "I did. A while ago, actually."

"Thank you. Thank you so much," Boq grinned broadly. "I... well, the past couple days have really made me think about that. I know I never wanted to lose you as a friend, and this just... it's bothered me so much."

Nessa smiled.

"Just promise me that you won't do that to anyone else? Please?"

"Trust me. I have learned my lesson."

Nessa smiled and rolled onto her back. After a little while sh drifted back to sleep, leaving Boq awake with his thoughts.

She forgave you. That's what she said. She forgave you.

But she also didn't say anything to me for a year?

You did do a lot of growing in that year. And you realized that Galinda wasn't what you wanted.

But what about Nessa? Do you like her? This doesn't feel like Galinda. It feels like...

Nessa. It feels like Nessa.

By the time the alarm on Nessa's side table went off, the house was full of people. Their raucous laughter and chatter grew as more and more Fitzgeralds.

Nessa sat up.

"Boq. It's time to get up," Nessa groaned.

She sat up slowly and adjusted her legs so they hung over the side of the bed.

"I don't want to," Boq moaned in response. His voice was muffled as he was face down in his pillow.

"I need to get ready, and it is inappropriate for you to be here."

"Right. Sorry," Boq scrambled to his feet and out the door.

A few minutes later, she met Boq outside the door.

"Ready?" he asked, rolling his neck slightly. He bounced on his toes.

"I'm fine. Are...are you okay?" Nessa asked, sensing his nervousness.

"Yeah. Just... just a bit nervous."

"Oh."

Nessa paused then slipped her hand into his and squeezed. He smiled at the gesture, but people were coming around the corner so he released.

"Oh Boq!" an older woman greeted as Nessa turned around to help in the kitchen.

Apparently a whole line of people were waiting to greet him, because of moving forward, she kept getting pushed backwards.

"Why don't we meet in the living room?" Boq announced to the crowd as Nessarose was backed against the wall.

The crowd assented and moved past him. Boq followed them, but quickly realized that Nessa wasn't following him.

Her chair had been backed against the wall. She herself hadn't been hurt, but being surrounded had frightened her. Her breathing had quickened.

Without any thought to what she was doing, she grabbed for his hands. Boq's face grew red as some of his young cousins ran by, but he didn't shake her off.

Once her breathing normalized, she realized what she had done and let go of his hands.

"I'm, uh, I-"

"It's not-"

"I didn't mean-"

"Boq?"

Amidst the awkward exchange in which both Boq and Nessa's faces grew increasingly redder, a tall young woman had passed by them.

"Kiaan?" Boq's mouth hung open. He looked between Nessa and the girl he identified as Kiaan. "I didn't think you'd be home. My mother said you were staying at school."

"I decided to come back," Kiaan stiffened. "I see you're busy. I'll... well... good to see you."

Kiaan spun around and rushed off into the kitchen crowd.

"Kiaan wait. Please" Boq called after Kiaan, but she was gone. He turned back to Nessa. "I'm sorry Nessa."

"Who was that?"

"Kiann Langdon. Uh... an old friend. An old," Boq sighed. "My ex-fianceé."

Nessa's jaw dropped.

"You... "You were engaged?"

"Only briefly. It didn't work out."

"And... when did it end?" Nessa asked cautiously.

"Last August. I, uh, I ended it."

"Last August? As in... the month we came began at Shiz?" Nessa said, her voice beginning to tremble with anger. "You broke off an engagement and then... within a month...fell for another woman?"

"Nessa it's not like that. I swear. Galinda was a rebound. My feelings for her were just the remnants of my relationship with Kiaan."

"And yet you still led me on," Nessa concluded.

"I'm sorry about that. You know I am."

"Yeah, well I'm sorry I thought... Never mind."

She turned and went into the kitchen where the sea of Fitzgeralds split and Jolla swept her away to meet people.

The Fitzgeralds were nice enough, but Nessa had had enough.

When the rest of the family was distracted with news of some distant cousin's pregnancy, she returned to the den.

But she wasn't alone when she got there.

"You're Miss Nessarose?" Kiaan asked, rising from the desk chair. "Right?"

"Yes... and you are Miss Kiaan?" Nessa nodded and held out her hand. Kiaan shook it.

"I apologize. I needed a break from the questions. The Fitzgeralds are wonderful people but they have no filter."

Nessa nodded in understanding. More than once she had heard off-hand remarks of how her chair made them think of some distant family member who had suffered a tragic accident or had grown to a very old age. Neither story did much for her confidence.

"I can leave," Nessa muttered.

"No, no. Let me. This is your room."

Kiaan made to leave, but Nessa grabbed her arm as she passed by.

"Don't go. Please. I... I would like to..."

"You want to know what happened between Boq and I," Kiaan finished with a sigh.

Nessa swallowed hard, but nodded nonetheless.

Kiaan took her seat at the desk again.

"Well, Boq and I courted for about a year and a half and then he proposed. We were engaged for three months and then he broke it off shortly before he left for school," Kiaan sighed again. "You see, the thing about Boq is that he is very... resolute when it comes to feelings. It is either there or it is not. And for us, it was there for a long time. And then it wasn't. But only to him. I was still fully invested in our relationship when he ended it. That's why it's still hard to see him. There's always going to be a sort of pang in my chest when I see him, because there's always going to be a tiny part of me that can't let go of him. A tiny little shard of broken heart that stabs me just a tiny bit because there will always be a 'what if'.

"But, I have come a long way since then. I have met a very nice young man of whom I have begun courting. I have grown closer to my friends through his absence. I have grown stronger because I have grown to have more faith in myself. Though it can still be painful at times, I am so much happier with myself since he ended it than I had been any time before him."

"Wow," Nessa muttered.

"How long have you two been together?" Kiaan asked, her eyebrow raised.

"Oh. We're not... He, uh, well..." This time Nessa sighed. "He led me on for a while to earn points with another girl, but then he stopped it."

"Huh. I'm so sorry," Kiaan frowned slightly. "I guess you could be thankful you're not the other girl."

"Why?" Nessa's brow furrowed.

"Because the other girl was his rebound. Any affection for her was misplaced and due to low self-esteem and loneliness. But the affection he has for you is real. I can tell."

"I told you. We're not..." Nessa said, her cheeks turning pink. Kiaan raised a hand.

"I know what you said. I'm just telling you what I see. He definitely has feelings for you, and you for him. And trust me. Physical touch is not really his thing, so the fact that he let you hold his hands for so long earlier is definitely something."

Nessa was sitting in chair with her pajamas on, listening to the footsteps above her head as the last of the family bade goodnight and retired upstairs

"Nessa?" a voice asked from outside the door. "It's me. Can we talk?"

"Uh, yes. I wanted to talk to you actually," she said loudly, wheeling herself towards the door.

Boq was standing in striped pajamas, an overcoat, and clunky boots covered in dried mud.

"Are you going somewhere?" Nessa asked, one hand on the doorframe.

" Okay... you'll have to hear me out... Is there anyway we could go out to the barn and talk?"

"The barn?" Nessa raised an eyebrow. "As in where the animals live?"

"Ours isn't like that. It's just up the path. See?" Boq pointed out the square window of the door behind him. Nessa's face hardened. "I'm sorry. I meant it to say... Well it's not that far and the path isn't muddy or anything. It's private. And I'm worried my father the master carpenter who was also notoriously paranoid may have made this house a fortress without privacy. Sorry. Bad metaphor given that a fortress is supposed to be-"

"Yes. That's fine."

Nessa grabbed her own overcoat from a chair as well as a throw blanket from a pile of linens at the foot of the bed, which she threw over her legs.

Boq opened the door behind him and stepped outside to hold it for Nessa.

It only took about five minutes to reach the barn.

On one side of it, there was indeed a chicken coop. But inside the building was a mixture of apartment and metal shop. One wall had a kitchenette complete with small oven and the other had a long metal counter full of screws and supplies a tinker would use.

"You can't let anyone know that I'm letting you in here. Because technically, this is my apartment, and I'm not allowed to have guests without approval from my mother. Especially not ladies."

"Boq you slept on my floor this morning. I think we're past that."

Boq rubbed the back of his neck with his hand.

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"What is it you wanted to tell me?"

"Well. I..." he sat down on the bed adjacent to the door. "I have been thinking..."

"So have I," Nessa started. She bit her lip, trying to figure out how to continue.

"Well, you go first, I guess."

"Oh. Uh, alright," Nessa took a deep breath. "I talked with Kiaan and learned a lot and I've come to a conclusion. I... I think I'm in love with you Boq. And I don't know what to say or do about it, but I though it was probably best that I tell you. She said she recognized a sort of, affection between us. Mainly because you let me... well I needed to hold your hands earlier and you let me. She said that you aren't really... that you don't like to be touched and that since you let me, then I must be special or something. I don't really know. I think... I think that I have felt this way for a while but everything was so odd between us for so long that I didn't know what to do about it. This weekend. Being here. It just showed me what I've missed. I.. i know this is a lot to take in and you probably don't really feel it the way I do, but you needed to know..."

He cut her off with a kiss.

Heat seemed to flood their chests. Energy sparked between them.

Boq was the first to break off.

"Oh thank Oz," Boq let out a sigh of relief.

"What?" Nessa muttered, still reeling from the kiss

"I was going to tell you the same thing."