Chapter Eighteen: The Naked Truth
When he saw her, he wanted to run and kiss her hard on the mouth, but knew he could not. He smiled to himself thinking he would be sure to do so in his bedroom later on. Her eyes met his then and acknowledged his desire with a flicker of her own.
"May we take your bags?" A servant interrupted the silent stare between the two.
Elphaba blinked. "Um, sure."
Fiyero stood, his parents behind him, staring with barely controllable lust at her. Finally, he went to her and hugged her close. "I've missed you," he said, afraid anything else he might say would come out with a blatant yearning hidden beneath it.
Elphaba took his hands and smiled. "I've missed you, too."
Fiyero released her and walked her towards his parents. "Mom, Dad, this is Elphaba."
Elphaba took a deep breath and stuck out her hand. "Hi."
Fiyero's mother, already having been prepared for the shock of Elphaba's skin, only smiled at said, "It's nice to meet you."
Elphaba could tell Fiyero had prepared them for her arrival. She kept a straight face and, in turn, shook Fiyero's father's hand determinedly. "It's nice to meet you, too."
"It's interesting to finally meet this girl who has been driving our son crazy for months."
In more than one way, Fiyero thought. "Here, I'll walk you to your room and you can get settled, okay?" He wanted to be alone with her.
His parents exchanged a worried glance, but thought it could do no harm. After all, he had assured them that he would not do anything foolish. So they allowed him to lead her up the stairs.
Alone in the guest room, Elphaba pressed herself against Fiyero, ran her hands along his shirt, and kissed him. "Yero my hero."
"Elphie," he whispered, wrapping arms around her waist.
"Oh, don't call me that! I hate it. Call me something else," she said, leading him to the bed. "Please."
"What should I call you, then?" He asked, pressing her body into the bed and sliding his hands along her gently.
"Um… anything but Elphie."
"How about Fae?"
"I like that," she murmured. He wasn't sure if she meant what he was doing or the name.
Nonetheless, he continued both. "Fae, Fae." He kissed her nose.
"Yero, I want…" She sat up.
"What?"
"I'm incredibly thirsty, and this," she wiped her mouth, "is only dehydrating me faster."
"Whatever you want, Fae." He got up, smiling at the imprint of her body on the blanket. Slowly, went into the bathroom and found a glass. Filling it with water, he looked into the mirror. His short hair was sticking up and one of the buttons on his shirt had somehow come undone. He wondered if that had been Elphaba's doing or his own. Setting the glass down, he buttoned it again and sighed, knowing neither of them could pursue what it meant. "Here you go." He handed her the water when he entered the room again. "Drink up."
"I will," she said, sipping slowly. "How has your summer been?"
"A nice relief. But I'm also very glad to be with you again."
"Me, too." Elphaba grinned at him. "But I don't think we should keep doing this, Fiyero. It's driving the both of us crazy."
"Then what do we do?"
"I don't know," she looked up awkwardly. "I just don't want to…"
"I know. But it's not so bad. Eventually, we can…"
"Not unless we're married."
"Maybe we will be, one day."
She raised her eyebrows at him. "Are you trying to say something?"
"Yes, I am. Elphaba," he took both of her hands in his and stood up, pulling her so she stood, too. "This summer so far has been so long, so boring, without you. I do believe," he kissed her cheek, "that I have fallen in love with you. Fae, I love you."
She closed her eyes. "What?"
He nudged her. "Look at me. I love you."
She only shook her head. "It's not possible."
"What's not?"
"For anyone to love me."
"It is, because I do."
"Fiyero, no one has ever loved me. I've always thought that maybe I can't be loved. How can you believe that you love me?"
"Because I know what I feel every time I think about you, Fae."
"And you're sure it isn't lust?"
"It's that, too. But I love you and I know it."
She buried her face in his chest then and said something muffled. He realized she was crying. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she moved to look up at him. Smiling when he wiped her tears away, she said, "I love you, too."
By the end of Elphaba's stay, they'd developed a routine. Fiyero would wake up, wake Elphaba and they'd eat breakfast together and often picnic in the Vinkus forests. He'd show her around and teach her to recognize plants and animals. They enjoyed their time together, kissing or not. Elphaba found that she loved Fiyero in ways she couldn't have imagined telling Glinda about. Fiyero found his time with Elphaba to take up less kissing and more talking. He began to value her mind even more than he had previously.
"Fiyero!" His mother called. "Would you put more towels in the guest bedroom?"
"Can't the servants do it?" He called back from bed, lazy.
"Did you forget they're on vacation? Besides, she's your girlfriend. You might as well wake her up for breakfast."
Fiyero sighed and went to the stairs to take the towels from his mother. Wiping his eyes, he stumbled towards the guest bedroom. Knocking, he said, "Fae, I'm coming in." He opened the door.
Elphaba stood in the middle of the room, her mouth half open, staring at the door, completely naked. Oil was cupped in her palms and he realized she'd been in the middle of her cleaning ritual. "Fiyero, you idiot!"
"I… I'm sorry." Quickly, he dropped the towels in the corner and began to shut the door. He moved to say, "I'll be out here when you're ready to come down for breakfast," he told her.
"Just shut the damned door!" She snapped, face in her hands.
"Fae, don't…"
"Shut it!"
He closed the door quietly and sunk to the ground outside the door. He hadn't meant to walk in on her, and he could see she was embarrassed. The worst part was he couldn't get her naked form out of his mind. He'd imagined it so many times, but seeing her that way… he looked up when the door opened.
Elphaba stood there, fully dressed. "Wait for an answer next time," and she didn't speak about it again.