AN: It's me again! I loved Elizabeth's ideas, so I decided to just go with it - and I'm actually quite happy with how it all turned out :). I especially like the Boq part in this chapter ^^.

Enjoy and feel free to leave a review!

Maddy

Mobs and stupid princes

There was a knock on the door to Fiyero's dorm room.

"Go away," he called, quickly wiping his face. If he was going to have to open the door, he didn't want whoever was on the other side to know that he had been crying.

"Fiyero? It's me."

He froze upon hearing her voice. Then he leapt to his feet and ran over to the door, opening it.

"Fae?"

She sniffled.

He quickly stepped aside to let her in, closing the door behind them.

"Fae," he began anxiously. "You have to know that I would never, ever –"

"I know." She plucked at one of the cushions in the window seat as she sat down. "Galinda said the same thing."

"And do you believe us?" he asked when she didn't say anything else.

She shrugged, biting her lip. "I don't know."

"Elphaba." He knelt down in front of her, taking both of her hands in his own and looking into her eyes. "Fae, I love you. You have to believe that. I would never do anything to hurt you. Ever. Please…"

She lowered her eyes, staring at the floor for a moment. Then she looked up again.

"So what was it all about, then?" she asked quietly. "You and Galinda?"

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair before sitting down in the window seat beside her.

"I wanted to plan the perfect Valentine's Day date," he confessed. "Really make it special, you know? But I didn't have any ideas at all, so I asked Glin to help me. She helped me plan everything out and she made some of the necessary arrangements. I wanted to surprise you."

She looked at him silently. It was the same story Galinda had given her… but did that prove anything? They could have thought it up together days ago, as an excuse to give her if she ever were to suspect anything…

She tried not to listen to that stern voice in the back of her head that told her that neither Fiyero nor Galinda would ever do that to her. Her best friend and her boyfriend… behind her back.

"Was it payback?" she whispered.

He was startled. "What?"

She looked up at him again, her dark brown eyes filled with tears. "For… for the Lion Cub, and everything? I mean… I fell in love with you when you were still with Galinda, so now the two of you thought –"

"No!" he cried, cupping her face with both hands. "No, Elphaba, stop this! It wasn't payback, because there was no 'it'! There's nothing between Galinda and me! We're just friends, Fae. Just friends. Nothing more. I asked her to help me, she agreed. Please, you have to believe me. I love you and only you, and I would rather cut off my own leg than hurt you!"

She sniffled softly and he wrapped her in his arms, pulling her to him and resting his chin on the top of her head. She didn't make a sound, but he could tell by the way her shoulders were shaking that she was crying. He just rocked her back and forth, holding her tightly.

"I love you," he whispered in her ear when she finally stopped shaking. "So much."

She pulled back slightly to look at him, her face stained with tears. When she saw the sincerity in his eyes, she sniffled again. "I love you, too."

His heart soared upon hearing those words. For a while, he had really thought he was never going to hear her say them again. "Does that mean you believe me?" he asked hopefully.

She searched his eyes and face for any trace of insincerity. When she found none, she nodded slowly.

"I believe you."

Overcome with relief, he crushed her against his chest again, burying his face in her neck.

"Thank Oz," he muttered, running his fingers through her long hair. "I love you, Fae. I really do. I love you."

"I believe you," she said softly, resting her head on his shoulder.

He put his arm around her shoulders, squeezing her closer. Then he let out a soft laugh and shook his head. "I can't believe you thought I had an affair with Galinda, of all people."

She pulled away, her eyes narrowed. "What's wrong with Galinda?" she demanded hotly. Now that she knew her best friend and boyfriend hadn't actually had an affair, she was back to her old self again – fiercely protective of the ones she loved.

"Nothing, nothing," Fiyero hastened to assure her, kissing her cheek. "Nothing, Fae. She's a great friend and a wonderful person. Just not by far as wonderful as you are."

Appeased, she leant back against him, putting her head back on his shoulder as he stroked her arm.

"Then why did you say it like that?" she asked him. "Would the idea of you and Galinda having an affair be so utterly ridiculous?"

"Yes," he said. "Because I love you and I would never cheat on you. But also because it's Galinda. She's my ex-girlfriend, for one, and I never date the same girl twice..."

She raised her head again, glaring at him. "No, because would you imagine what that would do to the scandalacious reputation of Prince Fiyero Tiggular?" she said darkly.

He completely missed her warning undertone. "Exactly! I mean, I have a reputation to uphold, Fae," he said jokingly, only realising his mistake when she sat up completely and narrowed her eyes.

"In that case you should probably break up with me," she sneered. "Dating the Artichoke can't be very good for your reputation."

He gulped. "Fae, I was just joking," he tried. "I don't care what other people think. And you're not an Artichoke," he added sternly. "You're beautiful."

She crossed her arms.

"Aw, Fae, come on," he pleaded. "I'm brainless, you know that. I say stupid things sometimes. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that."

She sighed, melting a little. "You're not brainless."

He pouted.

She laughed. "Okay, maybe you are."

He grinned at her and pulled her back to sit with him again. "I love you. Now, since you already know that I have a surprise planned for Valentine's Day… would you mind not planning anything that day?" he asked innocently. "The plans I have kind of take up most of the day, so…"

"And what plans would that be?" she asked him, at which he just rolled his eyes.

"I'm not going to tell you," he declared. "You already know that there is a surprise; I'm not going to tell you what the surprise is. Galinda and I just need to take care of a few more things and then we're good to go."

He didn't miss the uncertain look that crossed Elphaba's face and he tightened his grip on her.

"Trust me, Fae," he said, guessing the reason for that look correctly. "I would never cheat on you with Galinda. Ever. I couldn't, even if I wanted to – she's way too loyal to you, she would never betray your trust like that."

"So that's why it wouldn't work out?" Elphaba asked, getting worked up again. "Because she wouldn't allow you? But you secretly want to, is that it?"

He grimaced when he realised what he'd said. "Fae –"

"Don't you 'Fae' me!" She jumped off his lap and onto the floor, putting her hand on her hips. "Be honest with me, Fiyero, because all you've basically said so far is that being with me ruins the reputation you have to uphold and that you 'couldn't' have an affair with Galinda because she's so loyal to me. Anything else I should know about? What if you find a girl you like that's not loyal to me – would you start an affair with her?"

"Fae, I wouldn't –"

"Don't call me that." She turned around. "It's fine, Fiyero. I'm done here. I always knew this wasn't going to work out, anyway – I mean, you're a prince and I'm… me." She shrugged. "I guess I should have seen this coming."

"Nothing's going on –"

"Spare me your lies, Fiyero," she snarled. "I've heard enough of them. You know what? I'll save you the hassle of having to hide your secret relationships and lie to me all the time. You can start a relationship with anyone you want, because I'm done with you. Feel free to do whatever you like, as long as you don't come near me again."

"Elphaba!" he shouted. "Would you just stop for a moment and listen to me?"

She stayed quiet.

"I'm not having an affair with anyone," he stressed. "Nor do I want to. All I want is you. Can't you just accept that? I know not many people have loved you in your life, but I do, and so does Galinda. I actually can't believe you would think that low of us," he said, frowning. "That you would really believe we would do something like that to you. For Oz's sake, Elphaba, the whole world is not out to hurt you!"

"It always has been," she said quietly. "Or it felt that way, anyway."

"Maybe that's just because you wouldn't look past people's first reaction to your skin!" Fiyero said in exasperation. "Maybe if you wouldn't push people away all the time, you would actually have friends and a normal life!"

She stilled.

"I get it, Elphaba. You're different and so no-one can love you, but you know what? Maybe you're not so different at all. Maybe people treat you the way they do because you're always making a spectacle of yourself!"

She felt like she had been slapped. Her father had always told her the exact same thing, and Galinda and Fiyero had worked so hard to try and get that idea out of her mind. They had been the first to tell her that she was perfect the way she was; that it wasn't her that was wrong, it was people's reactions to her. To hear these words coming from Fiyero's mouth right now hurt her more than she could have anticipated.

Without another word, she made her way over to the door and left, carefully closing it behind her.

Fiyero immediately felt guilty.

He closed his eyes for a moment, leaning his head back against the wall. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why would he even say such a thing? He had just panicked a little because she wouldn't believe him; and when he panicked, he said stupid things. Now he had blamed her for something that was not at all her fault, and he knew he had hurt her. She had told him many times about the way her father treated her, the things he had said to her; and now Fiyero had gone and done the exact same thing. He had just done the one thing he had sworn in the beginning he would never do to her: treat her the way her father treated her.

He had to apologise.

He left his room and locked it behind him, intending to make his way over to Elphaba and Galinda's dorm room; but in the hallways, he ran into Boq.

"Hey, Fiyero," the Munchkin greeted him. Then he frowned. "What are you doing? You look horrible."

"Thanks, Biq," Fiyero said sarcastically.

Boq grimaced. "Sorry."

Fiyero just sighed. "I had a fight with Elphaba," he admitted. "I said some things I shouldn't have… I was going to apologise to her."

"Knowing Elphaba, you might want to wait a while," Boq advised him. "You know, give her a chance to cool off first. Unless you want to be blasted into a tree by a surge of uncontrolled magic."

"Good point." The two boys walked outside and Fiyero sat down on a bench. Boq sat down beside him.

"I actually want to talk to you," Boq began. "About, you know… Galinda… and Nessa."

Fiyero raised his eyebrow. "Galinda and Nessa?"

Boq nodded unhappily. "You see…" He sighed and kicked against a pebble. "Oh, you're going to think I'm insane, but… but the things is… I think I'm in love with both of them."

Fiyero snorted a laugh.
Boq scowled at him. "Shut up, FiFi. It's not funny!" He ran his fingers through his hair. "The thing is… when I see Galinda, it's like… like the sun is there, lighting up the room and filling it with sunshine and flowers and butterflies."

Fiyero, somehow, managed to keep a straight face and nodded. "Go on."

"But when I see Nessa…" Boq sighed. "It's like there's rainbows in the sky, you know what I'm saying? She's so beautiful, and then when she smiles at me it's like I can hear birds singing and violins playing…"

Fiyero nodded seriously. "So what's better? Sunshine, flowers and butterflies; or rainbows, birds and violins?"

He secretly thought he should be given an award for managing to keep both his face and voice completely serious right now.

Boq sighed again and buried his face in his hands. "I don't know! When I'm around Nessa, you know, with the rainbows and the birds, I'm absolutely convinced that I'm in love with her… but when I see Galinda, like I said, it's like the sun suddenly starts shining and… and I just don't know! Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Fiyero nodded in understanding, patting the Munckin's knee. "I completely understand what you're saying."

Boq let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

"You're saying that you're gay."

Boq flew up. "What?!"

Fiyero snorted with laughter. "Oh, come on, Boq! What guy talks about sunshine and rainbows and butterflies? Have you completely lost your mind?" He grinned. "If you say such a thing to either of those girls, I bet they'd ship you off to a mental hospital straight away. Or maybe they would try to set you up with a nice guy that swings the other way as well. You know, you could be the sunshine and the flowers and butterflies, and he could be the rainbows, birds and violins."

The prince nearly rolled off the bench with laughter at his own joke.

Boq just scowled and rose to his feet. "You're no help at all," he muttered indignantly. "Fine, then. I'll go and ask someone else."

"You do that." Fiyero was still grinning broadly as he watched the Munchkin walk away, still muttering to himself angrily.

The prince checked the time. It had been twenty minutes since Elphaba had left his room… would that have been long enough for her to cool off?

He'd take the risk, he decided. He couldn't leave her like this. He had been horrible to her and he had been stupid, and so now he needed to make it up to her.

"Elphie!" Galinda squealed as she re-entered their shared dorm room. "You're back! I stepped out to talk to Shenshen and Pfannee for a moment," she explained, "but I was hoping I'd be back when you came back! Did you talk to Fiyero?"

Elphaba was lying on her back with a pillow clutched between her fingers. Now she tossed the pillow at the ceiling and caught it again as it came down.

"Yeah."

"And…" Galinda seemed a little anxious. "Are we… okay?"

Elphaba glanced over at her roommate. "You and me?" she asked. "Yes."

Galinda immediately started squealing again. She leapt onto the bed next to Elphaba and threw her arms around the green girl in a hug. "Oh, Elphie, you have no idea how happy I am that you believe us! For a moment there, I was afraid that you really didn't want to be my friend anymore, or that you and Fiyero would break up, and that would be so horrendificifying – hey, wait a clock-tick," she frowned as her eye fell upon her desk. "What happened to my Valentine's Day cards?"

Elphaba sat up and scowled. "I sent them out."

Galinda gaped at her. "What?"

"I couldn't stand to look at them a moment longer," Elphaba declared hotly. "Valentine's Day is stupid and I was done with watching you kissing cards all the time. It may be a nice day for those who have a boyfriend, but would it be so much to ask for them to take into account the feelings of those who don't have boyfriends?!"

"But Elphie," Galinda said gently. "You no longer are one of the girls without a boyfriend."

Elphaba drew her knees to her chest. "Yes, I am."

Galinda frowned. "No, you…" Then her eyes widened and she gawked at Elphaba.

"Elphie, tell me it's not true."

Elphaba looked at her. Then she looked down.

"You broke up with Fiyero?!"

"He's better off without me," the green girl insisted. "Because, you know, all I do is 'push people away and make a spectacle out of myself'." She used her fingers as quote marks.

Galinda's eyes widened. "He said that?"

Elphaba went to lie on her side, clutching the pillow to her chest.

"Oh, Elphie…" The blonde stroked her friend's hair. "I'm sorry. But you know Fiyero – he's just stupid and brainless sometimes! He'll come around!"

Elphaba sniffled. "I don't care. He's right, Glin. Look at me. I'm the Artichoke. The green girl. I only cause pain to the people around me, anyway – Fiyero is better off without me. Everyone is."

Galinda clenched her fists. "Did he say that?" she demanded.

Elphaba shook her head. "No. But it's true," she insisted.

Galinda sighed and rubbed her roommate's back in an attempt to comfort her. "Oh, Elphie. I'm sorry. But you're wrong, you know. He's not better off without you – no-one is! He loves you! And so do I, and Nessa does, too… you're not alone, Elphie."

Elphaba sighed. "Thanks, Glin, but…"

Galinda hugged her. "You'll be fine, Elphie. Do you want me to distract you? I could give you a makeover, or we could do girl talk… or go out for dinner, or something… what do you say?"

Elphaba shook her head. "I really just want to be alone right now," she said honestly.

Galinda sighed, but nodded. "Okay. I'm going out for dinner with the girls, then," she said. "To give you some privacy."

Elphaba smiled faintly at her friend. "Thanks, Glin. Just bring me back a sandwich or something."

"I will." Galinda hugged the green girl one more time, then left the room, closing the door behind her.

"Ryyrrika?" Nessa waved her hand in front of the boy's face. "Is something wrong?"

"Hm?" He looked up. "Oh, no, nothing's wrong," he hastened to reassure her. He showed her the card he had in his hands. "I just got this card from Galinda."

"Galinda?!" Nessa's eyes narrowed. That annoying blonde bimbo had already stolen Boq's heart away from Nessa – did she have to take Ryyrrika now, too? The girl snatched the card from her boyfriend's hand and read it. She scowled when she saw the lipstick kiss that was pressed to the inside of the card.

"That's it," she declared, tossing the card onto the table. "I'm going to kill her."

Ryyrrika just looked flabbergasted. "Nessa? What –"

"Don't you dare stop me," she hissed, pointing a finger at him. "Ryyrrika, you're not in love with Galinda, are you?"

He looked utterly confused. "In love with Galinda? Me? Why would you – oh, the card. Of course. Yes. I mean, no! No, I'm not in love with Galinda!" he said quickly. "I'm in love with you!"

Nessa grumbled something under her breath. "I'm done with this," she said. "Someone needs to teach Galinda a lesson."

She wheeled herself out of the building. Outside, small groups of girls were talking angrily to one another.

"What's going on?" Nessa asked Milla, who was in some of her classes.

"Galinda sent cards with kisses to every boy on campus," explained Milla. "Not everyone is too happy with that."

"Is that such a strange thing?" another girl demanded. "She's the most popular girl on campus, and she's trying to steal all our boyfriends away from us!"

"I'm sure that's not what she's trying to –"

"She sent every boy a Valentine's Day card!" a third girl chimed in. "Why would she do such a thing? Would you like your boyfriend to get a kissed Valentine's Day card from another girl?"

"No," Milla admitted, "but –"

"She already stole my boyfriend away from me once," one of the girls growled. "She dated him for, like, a week, and then she dumped him for someone else."

"She stole Boq away from me, too," said Nessa. "He's all over her, completely in love, and she doesn't even want anything with him. She just likes the attention."

"Ha!" one of the other girls sneered. "We'll give her some attention!"

"Let's go and find Galinda," yet another girl decided, and all the others agreed. Milla shrugged and joined in; and Nessa wheeled herself along with the rest of the group, determined to give Galinda what she deserved.

"ELPHIE!" A flurry of blonde and peach shot through the hallways and towards the door.

"Out of my way, Fifi," Galinda commanded the Vinkun prince that was currently blocking the door.

"Galinda!" He stopped her. "Please let me in?"

Galinda looked confused. "Huh?"

"I'm trying to make it up to Fae," he explained, staring at his feet. "But she won't let me in."

"Galinda, if you let him inside our room, I'm going to deliver you to that mob of angry girlfriends downstairs!" Elphaba called from inside the room and Galinda grimaced.

"Sorry, Fifi," she apologised, opening the door and quickly slipping inside, closing and locking it again before Fiyero could follow her.

"Galinda!" he cried from the other side of the door.

"My life is depending on it, Fiyero!" she called back before turning around and smoothing out the skirts of her peach-coloured dress.

"Elphie, they've gone crazy," she said. "There's this group of girls that's trying to get me and I don't even know why!"

Elphaba raised an eyebrow. "You don't know why?!"

Galinda shook her head with a pout and Elphaba rolled her eyes. "Sweet Oz, Galinda!" she exclaimed. "The Valentine's Day cards, of course!"

Galinda blinked.

"You sent cards with kisses to every boy on campus," Elphaba reminded her roommate. "Including the boys with girlfriends."

Galinda's eyes widened. "Oh."

"I already saw Milla," said Elphaba. "And I believe Nessa was there, too."

Galinda bit her lip. "Oh, Oz. What have I done?" She started pacing. "Poor Nessa – she was just so happy with Ryyrrika, and… Oz dammit, we had just made up over the Boq issue and now this! Why is my life always so complicated?" she wailed dramatically, letting herself fall down onto the bed.

Elphaba shook her head in disbelief. "Because you make it complicated! If you could just leave all those boys alone for one clock-tick!"

Galinda frowned at her friend. "You don't have to get all snippy with me," she sniffed.

Elphaba sighed. "Sorry, Glin. My problem is not with you…"

"No, I know," Galinda assured her. "Your problem is with the baboon standing out in the hallway."

Elphaba quirked an eyebrow.

Galinda giggled. "I'm sorry, I just always wanted to say 'baboon'."

Elphaba rolled her eyes, but she was smiling – a little.

"You're going to have to make it up to those girls," she told her blonde friend.

Galinda sighed. "I know. But how?"

"Just apologise," Elphaba advised her.

"Fiyero apologised to you, yet you still refuse to forgive him," Galinda pointed out.

"That's different," the green girl insisted. "Glin, you'd better hurry up before they come up here and try to break down the door."

Galinda grumbled and pushed herself to her feet. "Fine. I'll go. Do you want me to let Fiyero in on my way out?"

Elphaba's face fell and she shook her head.

"No," she said quietly. "I don't want to see him. Tell him to go away. It's over."

Galinda pouted. "Elphie…"

"No, Glin."

Galinda sighed. "Fine," she conceded. "But one way or another, I'm going to make sure you two will get back together, Elphie. That's a promise."

With that, she slipped out of the door to face the mob of angry girlfriends.