A/N: So… I'll never stop thanking you all for your wonderful reviews :D Book references here :D
Chapter Seven: "I Hate You"
For the weeks that had followed, Glinda discovered something interesting.
Elphaba was allergic to water.
She found out one day when she and Elphaba were eating breakfast. The two of them were taking turns in cooking. Glinda was struggling arduously for the first few days, but it eventually became her favorite hobby.
She accidentally spilt her water. Elphaba had been making the bed, and went to the table balancing the Grimmerie in her arms. Her eyes were glued to it, and when she grabbed the table for support, she ended up yelling.
Running over to her, Glinda saw that her green hand was burned and covered with angry welts.
She'd been out of sorts, crying hysterically upon the realization that it was her fault. Her Elphie had been wounded because of her carelessness.
Elphaba had a hard time calming her down, and to make her feel better, she let the depressed blonde apply the burn oil on the sizzled skin.
Elphaba frequently flew to the East, to Munchkinland. Seldom, she left before sunrise and return late at night. But her leaves were sporadic, and there was no specific pattern. Whenever she returns, she always has provisions for the two of them.
Glinda, meanwhile, busied herself in gardening, and—as she promised to Elphaba—began studying the Grimmerie, though she swore she was never getting anywhere. Those wild symbols simply refused to be translated in her brain.
Whenever they both have free time, they had their afternoon and evening strolls around the lake in the woods. Sometimes it would even end in a childish game of hide-and-seek. If they preferred doing activities indoors, they would sit side by side with the Grimmerie open before them on the table.
Just as Glinda had once noticed, Elphaba's actions had been intriguing. In their hours of reading together, the green girl had developed a habit of touching her hand. In a few days, they wouldn't even bother to let go until they finished studying.
Every night, they would sleep on the same bed. In some nights, regardless of the time, Glinda would lie awake in the dark, waiting for Elphaba to return. When she did, the blonde pretended to be asleep. She would sometimes even be lucky to get a glimpse of her leaving early in the morning. When the green girl didn't have any errands, Glinda would wake up with breakfast ready at the table.
One morning, she had been rendered speechless when she found a dozen of chickens in a seemingly refurbished barn, which Elphaba had obviously repaired through magic.
"Where did you get them?" Glinda asked, completely dumbfounded. The barn she could believe, but unless Elphaba could make chickens appear out of the blue, she was suspicious of their origins.
Elphaba would only smirk and refuse to answer.
The day after that, she brought home sets of clothes for the two of them. They were simple enough, and they would certainly suffice in freezing conditions.
Finally, one evening, as they were eating supper, Glinda finally asked, "Seriously, where are you getting these stuff?"
The clothes and the food were not that cheap either. And there was the case of the mysterious chickens (Which had been interrupting my beauty sleep for the last two weeks, Glinda thought grumpily).
If Elphie's been stealing, I'm going to make sure she'll NEVER get out of this house ever again.
Elphaba began to look uncomfortable. She skimmed her spoon across her bowl, swirling her soup. "How are the potatoes doing?" she asked instead, "It's a bit cold this season. Are they doing all right?"
Glinda narrowed her eyes. Every time she would ask, Elphaba wouldn't answer, or in attempt to direct her mind somewhere else, change the topic. Glinda had let all these slide, but now, she wanted the reason behind the green girl's reticence.
"Elphie, we're living in the same damn house for almost a month," she snapped impatiently, not bothering to mask her annoyance any longer, "I have the right to know where you've been going, what you've been doing, and how are you managing to supply us with food."
Elphaba shrank in her seat. She was biting her lips again, and Glinda could practically see her brain working out an excuse, trying to wiggle herself out of this one.
"Elphie—"
"I've been joining the Resistance in Munchkinland," Elphaba said really fast, "It's against the Wizard. I told them I could do magic, and they're paying me for my help. And I… Well, I… I…"
She never got the chance to continue. She had never seen the blonde look so livid with rage. Her tiny fists were trembling on the tabletop, her bottom lip was quivering, and she turning really red in the face.
I know I should running for my life… But Lurline help me, Elphaba couldn't resist but think, She looked cuter when she's angry… Oh Oz, inappropriate thought at the moment, Thropp, get your head together.
Glinda slammed her fists on the table, making Elphaba cringe, waiting for the impact—
"Elphaba Thropp, how dare you!" Glinda screamed, completely outraged.
"Glinda, listen to me—"
But Glinda stood up, trying to make herself taller than she actually looked. "You leave me here every day to go and get yourself to prison? Get yourself killed? You like being paid for putting your neck on the line?"
And so Elphaba remained silent, biting her lips again so as not to be tempted to retort.
Stop that! Glinda thought, Why do you keep doing that sexy lip thing?!... Wait, WHAT?! Oh, so now it's her lips? Next it'll be her- Focus, Glinda!
"Have you ever thought of me at all?" she continued, keeping their eyes locked so she wouldn't have to worry about her "sexy lip thing", "Do you know how many nights I tire myself to death, waiting for you to return? Have you ever thought of what I would've done if you never came home? If you got captured? Tortured? Killed?"
Elphaba looked like she wanted to answer, but she thankfully kept her lips sealed.
"I hate you, you know that?" Glinda screamed, angry tears clouding her vision as she pounded the table again, "I hate you, I hate you! How can you not tell me? Don't you trust me?"
Elphaba couldn't help herself, "If I told you, you wouldn't have let me—"
"And for good reason!" Glinda shouted, drowning the other girl's answer. She stomped her foot in utter frustration. "Oz, if I'd known sooner—Argh! How could you do this to me—HOW?"
The small blonde actually collapsed on the floor, drowning in tears. She sounded so broken. She felt broken. She even felt betrayed by the person she thought least capable of doing so.
Elphaba couldn't stand the sight and went over to Glinda, kneeling in front of her. "Glinda, calm down—"
The sharp sound of a palm colliding on flesh resonated within the cabin.
Elphaba felt her head being thrown to one side because of the hard blow. Her cheek continued to feel the sting. Okay, so maybe I kind of deserved that. She was so surprised that she could only look incredulously at Glinda.
"Calm down?" Glinda screeched, "How do you expect me to calm the hell down?"
Instead of answering (knowing that Glinda would probably ignore her words anyway), Elphaba pulled the struggling blonde into her arms and embraced her fiercely, refusing to let go.
"Let go of me!" Glinda sobbed, trying-and failing-to push away the green monstrosity subduing her. Realizing that she wouldn't succeed any time soon, she began hitting her to places she could manage with her limited space. "I hate you! I hate you, Elphaba!"
After a short while, Glinda stopped, and returned the hug, crying even harder on Elphaba's shoulder.
"I'm really sorry," Elphaba murmured gently on her ear when she felt that it was safe to speak, "I love you so much. For your sake, I keep myself safe, no matter how hard they pestered me to go out in the open."
Glinda merely sniffled, burying her face further onto the other girl's shoulder.
Elphaba continued. "You're wrong when you thought I didn't care. I think about you all the time, my sweet," she said, somehow drawing more tears from the blonde, "Please understand. I never stopped hating that charlatan, that fraud. Him and Morrible. I just thought that if we succeed, life in Oz would be so much easier. You and me could live freely again."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Glinda asked, her voice muffled because of the cloth. She simply refused to let Elphaba win just yet.
"I know you wouldn't let me," Elphaba replied simply, merely repeating her answer before.
Glinda pulled back, attempting a frown. She weakly slapped Elphaba's shoulder. "I can't believe you, really," she said, her voice trembling, feeling incredibly tired because of her recent outburst.
Elphaba gave her a small smile. "Am I forgiven?" she dared to ask.
"How come you always get away with anything?" Glinda complained in mock annoyance, but Elphaba knew better.
"I really love you, you know?" Elphaba said, running her hand gently up and down Glinda's arm, holding her gaze.
Stop saying that, Glinda thought as she returned the smile, This feeling of expectancy is escalating to new heights. You can't possibly mean "love" as "I love you" love. Maybe it's more like "you're my best friend" kind of love—Why am I even worrying about this? These feelings are not normal. You're a girl, I'm a girl. This couldn't be—I should REALLY stop.
"Yes, I forgive you, you mean green thing," Glinda decided to reply to her other statement, "But no more secrets. Promise?"
Elphaba looked slightly disappointed at something, but she quickly got over it as she nodded. "I promise, Glinda."
They got up from the floor.
"I'll go clean up," Elphaba said, glancing at the table and their unfinished dinner, "Go get some sleep."
"That'll be nice," Glinda said, sighing in relief.
In a few minutes, Glinda lay on her side, listening to the soft noises Elphaba was making in the kitchen as she cleared the table.
I really love you, you know?
Elphaba's words rebounded in her head, filling the corners of her mind.
What could Elphie mean by that? She asked herself, She said she loves me, TWICE, to be exact.
She was immersed in her musings that she vaguely registered the fact that Elphaba had turned out the candle. Only when she heard the bed creak did she realize that Elphaba had taken her place beside her.
Being quite the little actress, Glinda pretended to breathe deeply, as one would when he or she was lost in the land of dreams. Based on the lack of warmth, Glinda concluded that Elphaba had not completely laid down. She could feel Elphaba's eyes on her.
And then she heard her say softly, "I really love you, my sweet…"
There it goes again, Glinda thought, One of these days, I'm going to rip out my stomach to stop these ridiculous tickling sensations.
Finally, Elphaba let her head hit the pillow. Glinda felt air near her ear, telling her that Elphaba was facing her, probably to continue her staring session.
Glinda tried to escape the present by falling asleep, only to find that even in her own world, she couldn't flee from those loving brown eyes and that marvelous smile…
A/N: This is my longest chapter yet :O Gelphie feels everywhere. So... What do you all think?