Lucas wondered over to Galinda's dorm. He had an odd feeling in his chest, it was weird, and strange but not foreign. He'd felt it before and it ached every time, but never had he felt it for this particular person. He felt like he had to see Galinda, right now. He didn't know why, he just wanted to see her. He soon found himself at her dorm room and knocked. The door opened almost immediately, wow, Galinda must have been really bored.
"Oh hi there Lulu!" said Galinda, using her favorite nickname for him. She poked him on the nose affectionately and giggled in that way that only Galinda could.
"Hey Glin." said Lucas, feeling a smile spread across his face, "I was uh...wondering if you wanted to go on date." he said.
"A date?!" asked Galinda, "It's about time you asked me!" she snapped, but smiled none the less, "Just let me get my jacket." she returned to the door in a cute white blazer.
"Very fashionable." said Lucas, grinning at her.
"I am, aren't I?" Galinda giggled. She latched herself onto Lucas's arm, "So, where are we going Lulu?"
"I don't know." said Lucas, suddenly struck that he had no idea where to go, "Where do you want to go?"
"I don't know." said Galinda, "We could go to dinner or a movie or something."
"The movies it is then!" said Lucas. They got a carriage and rode into the small city that outlined the campus.
***************
Galinda and Lucas walked out of the theater laughing and quoting the movie.
"Thanks for taking me to the movie tonight Lulu." said Galinda, swinging their intertwined hands between them. Lucas smiled at her.
"It was fun wasn't it?" he said.
"Yes." said Galinda, "But mostly because you were there."
"My, don't I feel special?" Lucas laughed, "Ready to go home?" he asked. Galinda nodded and they began walking back to Shiz, hand in hand.
****************
At the dorm room, Lucas and Galinda shared a sweet kiss. Lucas looked down, as if suddenly nervous a took a small step away from Galinda.
"I love you Galinda." he said softly. Galinda felt her heart flutter, but it didn't soar as it should have when she heard these words. There was something wrong with how he said them. He wasn't looking at her. He wouldn't meet her eyes, he stood awkwardly, almost uncomfortably before her. She wanted to believe him so badly though.
"Lucas, don't say that until you can say it and look me eyes, and hold my hands and look at me and sound sincere and not at all hesitant." Galinda said, laying a hand on his cheek, "Goodnight." she said and closed the door. She leaned against the door, waiting for his the sound of his footsteps to echo down the hall. She didn't hear them; he must still be standing there. She wanted him to open the door and tell her he loved her just as she'd told him to, but he didn't. He just stood there. After what must have been an eternity, she heard him sigh heavily and walk away.
Oh how she wished Elphie was here now. She needed someone to talk to and Elphaba always listened.
*******
Lucas knew he'd messed up as soon as he'd looked down and had the nerve to say those words. Did he mean them? Did he really? Lucas thought about this....he did. He did mean those words. He meant them. He doubted Galinda would want to talk to him just yet. So he went back to his dorm room and thought more.
*************
The next morning, as Galinda was putting the final touches to her makeup, she heard a knock on her door. She set the blush down and went to the door and pulled it, not sure who to expect. Lucas stood there. Without hesitation, he took Galinda's hands in his, his copper eyes gazed determinedly into her blue eyes. He looked at her.
"I love you Galinda." he said. His voice sounded so sincere and true. He was holding her hands, he was looking at her, he was looking into her eyes, he was doing everything right and Galinda couldn't find anything else to think of to serve as an excuse that he didn't mean it. Why was she searching for an excuse anyway? Was she still in love with Fiyero? Yes, a part of her was. But she was in love with Lucas too, yes a larger part of her was.
"I-I love you too Lucas." said Galinda, her eyes shimmering with actual love. Lucas smiled at her and pulled her to him for a kiss. She quickly responded and didn't even realize when they were suddenly half way down the hall. They panted out breath and looked around them, dazed looks on their faces.
"Wow." Lucas breathed, "Sorry, I just uh...got caught up in the moment...I guess." Galinda giggled.
"Oh Lulu," she said, "Let's get to class."
"Alright," said Lucas, "Wait, where's Elphaba?" Normally this question would've made Galinda stiffen and reply curtly, but she had a newfound confidence that Lucas had eyes only for her now.
"Oh, she and Fiyero ran away to the Vinkus." said Galinda, keeping her perkiness.
"Huh? Ran away, what? Is she coming back?" asked Lucas quickly, he didn't really care much for Fiyero.
"Oh yes, they're coming back in a week or so, don't fret Lulu, fretting makes your forehead crinkle, and when your forehead crinkles, you get frown wrinkles, and when you get wrinkles...well...you have wrinkles!" said Galinda.
"Sorry Lin, I'll try harder not to crinkle my forehead so much." said Lucas smiling at her. Galinda giggled again.
*********************
The next day, Elphaba awoke next to Fiyero on the couch. After the group had looked through the whole picture album last night, Fiyero and Elphaba had settled down together on the couch in front of the fireplace and talked, the must have fallen asleep. Fiyero had his arm propped against the arm of the couch and his head on his upraised arm. Elphaba was in his lap, her head resting against his shoulder.
"Hmm, I guess we fell asleep like this." said Fiyero, rubbing his eye as he awoke too. He secretly wouldn't mind falling asleep like that with her for the rest of his life.
"I suppose so." said Elphaba, "So what are we going to do while we're here? Because I don't think you'd want to spend the rest of our time here looking at cute baby pictures of you."
"Ugh, last night was torture! I can't believe my mom showed you all of those. It's like she only made that photo album in the first place so that when she met my girlfriend she could embarrass the crap out of me, although some of those were actually pretty good shots. Anyway, back to the subject of what we'll while we're here. I suppose we'll just have to keep thinking of different activities to do..." said Fiyero, thinking, his brow furrowed in confusion. Elphaba had to laugh at his expression.
"What?" he asked, his confused, concentrated look getting even more intense.
"Nothing, you just look so cute when you're thinking." said Elphaba, patting his head lightly as though he were a puppy who'd just brought the newspaper to her.
"I look cute?" asked Fiyero chuckling.
"Very much so, like a little puppy." Elphaba laughed, "So what shall our daily activity be today?"
"Hmm..." Fiyero thought, "We could..."
"You could sing that song for me." said Elphaba, her eyes twinkling with laughter, "I want to hear it."
"What? Oh, it's a terrible song, really." said Fiyero, blushing, "You don't want to hear it."
"Ah, I'll get you to sing for me before we go back. You have such a lovely voice." said Elphaba, "But in the meantime..."
"We could go skating!" said Fiyero, thinking of the first word that popped into his mind that happened to be a verb.
"Skating?" Elphaba raised an eyebrow, "As in ice skating? Isn't it a little late for that?"
"It's February, it's still cold enough. Besides, we can go to the indoor one." said Fiyero, "Don't you like ice skating?"
"I've never been ice skating before." Elphaba admitted.
"Oh, well, then we must go!" said Fiyero, grinning at her, "It's loads of fun."
"But I'll make a fool of myself." Elphaba said, "And I am not a fan of making a fool of myself."
"Oh c'mon, it'll be fun." said Fiyero, "I promise."
"You can't promise things based on other's individual opinions." said Elphaba, crossing her arms.
"But Fabala!" Fiyero pleaded.
"Oh, fine!" Elphaba said, giving in when he used his nickname for her.
"Yes!" Fiyero cheered. Elphaba rolled her eyes.
"Alright, I'm going to go change before we go." said Elphaba.
"Me too." said Fiyero, "See you here in 10." he kissed her on the cheeks before running off.
*****************
"Yero," said Elphaba, sounding frustrated, "I can't get these to tie tight enough." Her hands slipped on the laces of the skates and she could never get them tight enough.
"Here, let me do it." Fiyero offered, smiling at her, a mocking twinkle in his eyes. He easily did up the laces of her skates faster than she could ever have done it.
"Thank you." she murmured reluctantly, "Oh this was such a bad idea. We haven't even gotten onto the ice yet and look how pathetic I'm already turning out to be."
"Ah, you're not pathetic Elphie." Fiyero smiled, "Now c'mon, I'm going to teach you to skate."
*************
Elphaba clutched Fiyero's hand as though her life depended on it. They were skating slowly, but surely around the rink. There weren't very many people at the ice skating rink, maybe about 20.
"Fabala, we've been here for 15 minutes." said Fiyero, "And we've moved an almighty 5 inches."
"Well I'm sorry I'm not exactly a pro at this." Elphaba snapped. Fiyero moved in front of her and took both of her hands in his and began skating backwards, pulling her with him. Elphaba laughed as she felt the winds whistle past her as they gained speed.
"See you can skate perfectly fine!" said Fiyero.
"That's because you're pulling me." said Elphaba. She saw Fiyero grin wickedly.
"No you don't!" she warned. Fiyero let go of her hands and began skating away. Elphaba began skating by herself now, she'd soon caught up to Fiyero and laughed at his astonished look. Her hair was caught in the wind her speed made and she found she actually enjoyed skating quite a lot. She soon had sped in front of Fiyero. She was surprised when she felt his hand slip into hers as he caught up to her again. They skated like that a while, hand in hand, going as fast as they dared.
"Having fun?" asked Fiyero.
"Surprisingly, I am." said Elphaba, "This was a good idea Yero."
"Ah, I'm just full of good ideas." Fiyero said. They suddenly heard cry of surprise and looked up just in time to see two skaters with terrified expressions on their faces right in front of them. Elphaba and Fiyero quickly dodged them, swerving around them, Fiyero going around the right side, Elphaba the left. They looked behind themselves to make sure the other two skaters were alright, and then missed each other as they collided into one another. Fiyero fell on his back and Elphaba fell on top of him. Elphaba's face was about an inch apart from Fiyero's. He grinned at her and let his arms fall around her waist. Instead of trying to get up, Elphaba merely rested her chin in her hands and smiled at Fiyero.
"Well, this is comfortable isn't it." she said.
"Very comfortable." Fiyero said breathily, he leaned forward and kissed her quickly. Elphaba smiled at him.
"As much as I'd love to just stay in lovely position, I believe we are attracting stares and this isn't exactly publicly approved of." Elphaba said, moving to get up. Fiyero held kept her trapped against him.
"Fiyero, honestly." said Elphaba. Fiyero kissed her once more, than assisted her in standing up, which proved to be rather difficult, helping someone in skates up while you yourself are in skates and also need assistance of your own standing up. Finally, they managed to stand up.
"Well, that certainly took a while." said Elphaba.
"Yes, are you ready to leave?" asked Fiyero, "We could go back to the castle for lunch if you like."
"Alright." said Elphaba, "This was fun."
******************
The late afternoon found Elphaba and Fiyero cuddled close together on a couch in the enormous bright library. Elphaba was reading while Fiyero ran his fingers through her hair absent-mindedly. Normally he would have found something like this boring, but he loved holding Elphaba his arms and running his fingers through her silken hair, so he hardly complained.
"That's a nice tune." said Elphaba. Fiyero stopped humming. He hadn't realized he'd been humming. But he had, he'd been humming Dancing Through Life, of all of the songs to hum. Elphaba continued, "Why don't you add in words."
"Dancing through life, skimming the surface, gliding where turf is smooth, life's more painless, for the brainless, why think too hard, when it's so soothing?" Fiyero sang, a smile tugging at his lips as he sang the shallow words, "Dancing through life, no need to tough it, when you can slough it off as I do. Nothing matters, but knowing nothing matters, it's just life..."
"So keep dancing through." Elphaba finished, her voice sounding perfect with his. Fiyero wondered how she had known the lyrics, but figured it probably wasn't that hard to figure them out considering the lyrics before. Fiyero had expected her to laugh at the lyrics, but she didn't. She had a thoughtful sort of sad smile on her face.
"Nothing matters, but knowing nothing, matters." Elphaba said, the same thoughtful expression on her face, "It's just life, so keep dancing through."
"I know, the lyrics are stupid." Fiyero said, "You can laugh."
"I won't laugh." said Elphaba, "Those lyrics could actually provide one with hours and hours of thinking. Perhaps your song is more philosophical than you thought, I think it has more substance."
"Well, when I wrote it, I wasn't actually shooting for anything intelligent." Fiyero smirked, "I was just trying to make stuff rhyme." Elphaba grinned at him.
"If only life were that easy." said Elphaba, "If one could dance through life," she smiled, "And skim the surface."
"I suppose at one point in our lives, life can seem that easy." said Fiyero, "But I don't think it really is. It all depends on how willing you are to pay attention to reality I suppose. Or how naïve you can make yourself. Or maybe, if you just will yourself to remain oblivious to everything, dancing through life might be easy, but sooner or later, everything you chose to remain oblivious to, or to avoid facing, will come back and it will be more of a shock, you'd wish you just paid it heed in the first place."
"You sound as though this has happened to you before." said Elphaba.
"It has." said Fiyero, "I didn't want anything serious, so I avoided it. I dated girls whose names I hardly even knew, I sloughed off school, I did everything I could to remain careless. I dated those senseless girls just to avoid real feeling and not worry about love or emotions that took thinking and effort. Then I met you, and I suddenly wanted to make the effort and quite dancing through life."
"Do you ever wish we'd never met and that you could remain dancing through life?" asked Elphaba.
"Of course not." said Fiyero, "Now that I've stopped dancing, I realize that even though it may seem harder at times, this life is much better and worth far more to live."