AN. Happy New Year everyone. And thank you to those who sent well wishes. I'm feeling pretty good for the most part, I think I got a fairly mild case.

Also thank you to those who voted for me in this year's Greg Awards. Winners were announced overnight (for me) and I am so touched!

Chapter 13

Fiyero: r u busy?

Fiyero's leg bounced restlessly as he waited for a response, causing his father to eye him suspiciously.

"Yero, the game happened before you were born. There's no stakes here."

Fiyero blinked, looking between Ibrahim and the television as though just realising it was on. He blinked again, looking at the old football game his father was watching.

"Right," he muttered, forcibly halting the bounce of his leg. "Dad, why are we watching a football game from over thirty years ago?"

"It's not the game, it's the highlights," Ibrahim corrected him. "This is Fiyero Verma's last home game for the Rhinos- it's who you were named after."

Fiyero knew that, but it didn't answer his question.

"He died yesterday," Ibrahim continued. "It was on the news this morning. So I thought it seemed an appropriate tribute to watch some career highlights on VidPort. He was a tremendous player. Look- look at this try."

Fiyero obediently looked to the screen, but his gaze was unfocused and he wasn't really seeing anything. He swore that if he really strained his ears, he could hear the voices of Elphaba, Kastle and Kasmira in the kitchen, but he was fairly sure he was just deluding himself.

His phone vibrated in his hand, and Fiyero hurried to unlock the screen to open the text.

Micah: Not really. Have the day off, so Til has dragged me out furniture shopping. What's up?

Fiyero: I thing i needle help

Barely a moment later, his phone lit up with a call from Micah. Hastily, Fiyero launched himself out of his seat.

"Micah," he explained to his father, already hurrying towards the door. "Might be a work thing. Be back in a sec."

He answered the call as soon as he was out of the living room, heading for the stairs.

"Hey," he greeted Micah, taking the stairs two at a time.

"Hey," Micah answered, his voice deeper than usual with concern. "Is this the kind of 'I did something stupid' kind of help, or the 'I need an alibi' kind of help."

"As my supervisor and a police sergeant, should you be offering to be my alibi?" Fiyero returned.

"I didn't say I was offering, I just asked if you need one."

Fiyero snorted as he entered the guest bedroom, closing the door behind him. "Thanks, Sarge. How's things back home? Corin driving you mad? I thought you usually work Thursdays. How'd you swing a day off?"

"Yero," Micah said. "You said you need help. What for?"

"I said I think I need help," Fiyero corrected him, distractedly moving the things that sat atop the dresser.

"Dude."

Fiyero sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. "It's this whole thing with Fae- Elphaba. Oz Dammit!"

"What, did someone figure out the lie?" Micah asked.

"Nah. I mean, I don't think so. No one's said anything…"

"Where are you?"

"Upstairs."

"Okay," Micah said patiently. "Where's Elphaba?"

"She's downstairs. She's baking with my mom and sister."

"Oh, her chocolate chip cookies?" Micah asked, his tone rather perky for one who was in a different province and unable to reap the benefits of Elphaba's baking skills.

Fiyero couldn't help grinning a little smugly. "Yeah."

"Yum," Micah said enviously. "Okay, so what's the issue?"

Fiyero paused. "I think I'm too good of an actor."

Micah snorted, choked and then coughed. "Oh?"

Fiyero chose to ignore that. "There's just been a few… things lately."

"Like?" Micah prompted.

Fiyero sighed. "We went hiking yesterday morning, right? And we were just talking, and then I think- I think we had a moment."

Micah was silent for a long moment. Just before Fiyero went to check if the call had disconnected, he simply said, "Huh."

"Huh?" Fiyero repeated. "What does that mean?"

"It just means… 'huh'," Micah replied. "What kind of 'moment'?"

"I wanted to kiss her," Fiyero confessed. "I've never felt that way about her before."

"Okay," Micah said slowly. There was a faint murmur in the background before he spoke again. "Uh, Til asks did she want to kiss you?"

Fiyero rolled his eyes. "How in Oz's name am I supposed to know that?"

"Talk to her," came the voice of Micah's girlfriend in the background, more audible this time. "You guys would be an adorable couple, and then we can double date!"

Fiyero sighed. "If I wanted unhelpful advice, I would've called Julyan."

Julyan, who still texted Fiyero every morning looking to find out if anything had happened between him and Elphaba. There was usually a reference to some lame movie involved. Fiyero had ignored them all.

"Talking is helpful advice," Micah replied.

"How is ruining my friendship with Elphaba by making a move on her helpful advice?"

"I didn't say make a move, I said talk to her," Micah corrected. "Because if she felt 'the moment' too, this could be a good thing, right?"

Fiyero collapsed onto the bed, lying back and running a hand over his face. "I don't know."

"I know what happened with Sarima sucked," Micah said. "But you guys split, what, three years ago?"

"Give or take a few months," Fiyero replied, as if he didn't know the exact date.

Three years, seven months.

"So, maybe it's time to give a relationship a chance?" Micah asked. "Rather than your usual trend of dating a girl for a few weeks and then running before it can become anything real."

"I don't run," Fiyero defended himself. "It's not my fault if there's just no chemistry there. Or we get busy with work, and things don't work out."

Micah paused. "Right. Yero, my point is… you're not that good of an actor."

"Hey," Fiyero protested mildly.

"Got to go, man. Talk to Elphaba. Good luck," Micah said hurriedly, and then he ended the call.

Fiyero frowned at his phone. "Maybe I should have called Jules," he muttered to himself.

He left the room and headed back downstairs, making for the kitchen. Elphaba was spooning cookie dough onto a tray, while Kastle measured out flour and Kasmira sat at the island. The whole room smelled like cookies, and as Fiyero slid onto the stool next to his mother, he snagged a warm cookie from a nearby platter.

"How many cookies are we making?"

"We?" Elphaba replied pointedly, arching an eyebrow at him.

Fiyero ignored her, taking a bite of cookie and savouring the taste. He'd forgotten how amazing these were.

"Seriously, babe. You have to tell me how you get them so perfectly chewy without crumbling."

Elphaba froze with a spoonful of dough in one hand, staring at him. It took Fiyero a moment to realise what he'd said, and he inwardly flinched.

"Babe?" Elphaba mouthed at him and Fiyero only shrugged helplessly.

Kastle snorted. "What good would it do if she told you? You don't bake. Do you even cook or just live off takeout?"

"I cook!" Fiyero said defensively. "What about you, Kas? I remember that time when you made that chicken thing-"

"Oh my goodness," Kasmira interjected. "Why don't we focus less on arguing and more on the cookies, children?"

Fiyero shoved the rest of the cookie into his mouth instead of saying anything.

"Am I a good actor?" he asked eventually, reaching for a second cookie.

Elphaba and Kasmira both turned to him in bewilderment, but Kastle only snorted in laughter.

"Kas," Kasmira chided her.

"Sorry," Kastle apologised. "I just remembered- that Lurlinemas play you were in? At Nana's church?"

Fiyero's face heated at the memory, which immediately caught Elphaba's interest.

"What play?" she asked, looking between them all.

Fiyero groaned. "It's nothing. There was a play at my grandparents' church, they were short a few roles, so Nana asked me to help out. I did."

Kastle sniggered. "It was like a Lurlinemas twist on the Eirwen fairytale. You know it?"

Elphaba shrugged a shoulder. "It's been a while, but I remember the basics. Skin as white as snow, poison apple, seven Goats. I'm assuming you were the prince?" she asked Fiyero.

Kastle grinned. "He was Dore- Lurline's fairy consort?"

Elphaba's brow creased, and Fiyero could practically see the cogs in her brain turn as she tried to make the connection between the fairytale and Lurlinemas.

"Never mind," he reassured her. "All you need to know is that I helped out, and I was amazing."

Kastle scoffed audibly.

Fiyero found himself watching Elphaba interact with his sister and mother. What he was looking for, he didn't know. There was no point trying to compare Elphaba with Sarima, they had virtually nothing in common- either physical or in terms of personality. Sarima had fit in with his family seamlessly; she'd become close friends with Kastle, she'd been welcomed into family events, and she'd even worked at the law firm for a few months when their receptionist had been on maternity leave. To this day, Fiyero flinched at the memory of having to tell his family just why he and Sarima had broken up when his parents had half been expecting an engagement announcement. In the end, he couldn't tell them the full story. He'd told Julyan what had happened, and let him tell his family.

"Yero?"

Fiyero blinked, jerking slightly as he turned to Kastle.

"Sorry," he apologised. "What did you say?"

"Tomorrow night- Kill Pitch or The Bank?" Kastle repeated.

Fiyero frowned. "I thought we were just going to your place?"

"We are," Kastle nodded. "But closer to midnight. I decided that I don't want to have to do too much work, so we'll have dinner and drinks out and then come back to ours. So, which one?"

"The Bank," Fiyero said decidedly. "Watching Seeley or Jip doing karaoke is not how I want to see out the year. And the food at Kill Pitch sucks."

"Do I want to know why you have a pub called The Bank?" Elphaba asked.

Kasmira laughed. "The building it's in used to be the bank about a century ago," she explained. "Nothing too interesting, I'm afraid."

"Also it's fun to say 'I'm just running to the bank' when you actually mean 'I'm going to have drinks'," Fiyero grinned.

"Yero sweetheart, no one has ever thought you were actually going to the bank when you say that," Kasmira smiled at him.

Fiyero shrugged. "That doesn't make it any less fun to say."

When Kastle eventually left for home, it was with a container full of cookies in tow, and a pointed reminder (to Fiyero) that she would see them at seven o'clock the next night.

"Also, we'll be playing the Resolution game, so make sure you have one!" she called over her shoulder.

Fiyero groaned.

"The Resolution game?" Elphaba questioned.

Fiyero waved her off. "It's a thing. Just have some New Years' resolution to rattle off, and it'll be fine."

Elphaba didn't appear totally convinced, but she let it drop until she and Fiyero were alone that night in the guest bedroom.

"What is the Resolution game?"

"It's nothing that complicated. Everyone writes a resolution, stick it in a box, then everyone guesses who wrote which resolution," Fiyero shrugged. "Kas takes any excuse for a game night. And she is annoyingly competitive."

Elphaba snorted, loosely braiding her hair. "Uh, why does that sound like the pot calling the kettle black?"

Fiyero made a face at her, but couldn't deny that as he headed into the bathroom.

"Is The Bank where you met Sarima?" Elphaba asked hesitantly as Fiyero climbed into bed.

Fiyero wasn't expecting the question and faltered for a moment almost without realising. "Er, no," he answered, squashing the pillows into a comfortable position. "Nah, that was this other place, Pick Your Poison. Over near the university. It was pretty cool, but I think we're too old for it now."

Elphaba nodded, settling beneath the covers and reaching for her phone on the bedside table.

"Can I ask you something?"

Her eyes flickered to him briefly before returning to her phone. "Sure."

"Why are you single?"

Elphaba stilled at that, placing her phone on her knee. "Wow."

Fiyero winced, sitting up straight in bed. "Sorry. You don't have to answer-"

"No, it's okay," Elphaba interrupted. "I just… I don't think I have a very interesting answer."

"Well, I won't be grading you," Fiyero grinned and she chuckled.

"Well, for a long time it was just that no one ever asked me," she shrugged. "Not that there was any boy in Munchkinland that I wanted to date, and if anyone had asked me, I would have thought they were playing some horrendible practical joke. Which they probably would have been."

Fiyero scowled, which Elphaba ignored.

"Galinda tried her best to matchmake when we were at Shiz," she continued with a fond roll of her eyes. "And I went on a couple of dates. But it was the same thing, I wasn't interested in anyone. Honestly, my classmates at Shiz weren't much more open-minded than Munchkins."

"And in the city? You said people are better about your skin there, right?"

"Right," Elphaba agreed and then shrugged again. "There was a guy I met my first month in the city, and we went out a few times over a period of about three months. But it felt like I was forcing it, and even though he was a nice guy. I just didn't feel anything. I didn't… I didn't miss him, if that makes any sense."

"Miss him?" Fiyero questioned. "Where did he go?"

"Nowhere. I just mean…" Elphaba sighed, pushing back her hair from her face, trying to find the words to explain it. "There is not one person I talk to on a daily basis, or feel the need to. Look, you and Galinda are my best friends. And no offence, but I don't want to talk to either of you every day. But suddenly I'm getting texts from some guy I barely know, just saying 'good morning' or 'how is your day going?' on a daily basis and I could never bring myself enough to care to answer. So I ended it."

Fiyero considered that carefully. "That makes sense. And that's it? Nothing since that guy?"

"I tried online dating… twice that I remember. Both times I got rid of in within a week or two. It was all either gross pick-up lines- usually about my skin; or it just felt…"

Fiyero's brow creased as she searched for the right words once more. Ultimately, Elphaba just sighed.

"I don't know. Maybe it's me. But on the rare occasion there was a guy who didn't seem like a creep or a jerk and we got past small talk, suddenly it was too much. It was the same thing- I didn't care enough to talk to them every day. So eventually I gave up."

Elphaba fiddled with her phone for a moment, and then replaced it on the nightstand before she looked over at Fiyero.

"It doesn't bother me most of the time," she said sincerely. "I'm perfectly fine on my own. But ten percent of the time?"

"It'd be nice to have someone?" Fiyero finished for her.

"Yeah," Elphaba admitted softly.

She shrugged again. "So, there you go. Not an interesting story. No real answer. Just one of those things."

Fiyero nodded thoughtfully, pondering everything she'd said.

"I can't believe you don't feel the need to talk to me on a daily basis," he said eventually. "I am delightful."

Elphaba snorted, laughing quietly.

"And modest," she said dryly.

Fiyero grinned, reaching for his phone. They'd settled into somewhat of a nightly routine the last few nights, but tonight Elphaba switched off the lamp without doing any reading. Fiyero glanced over at her in concern, but she didn't appear upset. As per his own custom, Fiyero played on his phone for a minute or two, but gave up fairly quickly.

After placing his phone on the charger and turning off his light, Fiyero rolled onto his side to face Elphaba in the darkness. He felt like something needed to be said, but he wasn't sure what. Elphaba rolled over to face him, and even in the dark Fiyero could make out the arch of her eyebrow as it rose.

"What?"

"For what it's worth?" Fiyero said quietly. "I hope you find someone. You deserve that."

"I'm okay on my own, Yero. I don't need-"

"I know," Fiyero said calmly, reaching out to take her hand in the darkness. "It's not about needing, Elphaba. It's just about having someone… that you want to talk to every day."

Elphaba took a long moment to respond to that, and when she did, it was just a quiet "Hmm."

"Besides, if you're as good a real girlfriend as you are a fake one, then-"

Elphaba snorted. "Oh, please," she said, rolling over on to her other side. "Goodnight, Fiyero."

Fiyero grinned. "Night, Fae."

He gazed at her silhouette as her breaths slowly evened out, his mind whirring too fast to lure him to sleep, although he wasn't sure why. He meant what he'd said- Elphaba deserved someone to share her life with. Where she wouldn't have to spend Lurlinemas watching documentaries and doing puzzles alone; where she had someone on her side. She deserved what he'd had with Sarima… well, what he'd thought they'd had. Without the infidelity. From everything Elphaba had told him about Galinda and Boq, and what he'd seen on Galinda's Timely account, she deserved what Galinda and Boq had.

But for whatever reason, the thought of Elphaba as someone's girlfriend was unsettling. Which Fiyero found rather unsettling in itself.

AN. The church play Fiyero was in was based on a play I wrote for my own church back when I was a teenager- Santa Claus and the Seven Elves. It was a smash hit, lol.