AN: So I decided to be nice and not leave you with the horrible Ch.20 before I go on holiday, but with this sweet and cliffyless Ch.19.

Your reviews made me laugh. You should all know by now that I will NEVER stop mentioning pie. *cackles*

Nia: Why, thank you! *takes both apple and pumpkin pie because they both seem delicious* Omnomnom...

So I will be leaving for Portugal tomorrow, but don't worry, my pretties - I have wifi and I'm taking my laptop. Updates may take a little longer or be more irregular, but I will update!

Chapter 19. Crazy little thing called love

"I'm really sorry."

He looked at her, standing in his doorway like that – eyes downcast, fidgeting with the hem of her dress, looking guilty, sad, and altogether miserable… and he hated himself.

"No," he said, heaving a tired sigh. "I'm sorry. I haven't been myself lately, Fae, I know… meeting Cedence, seeing her every day, looking so much like Ali… it's been hard," he admitted. "And I know I've been acting weird and not at all like myself, especially when it comes to you… and I'm sorry. That wasn't fair of me."

She looked up at him, her chocolate brown eyes so hopeful; and he drew her into his arms and kissed her softly, pulling her into his room and kicking the door shut.

He held her as she buried her face in his neck, feeling her wet tears on his skin.

"So you… you're not sick of me?" she asked, her voice small and trembling.

He was shocked. "No!" He pulled away, tilting her chin up and looking into her eyes.

"I love you," he told her honestly. "Fae… I could never get sick of you. I love you." He hugged her again, clasping her tightly to him. "I'm so sorry if I gave you the impression that… oh, sweet Oz, I'm such an ass!" he exclaimed, loathing himself for what he had done and how he had made her feel. He planted soft kisses on her hair, then down to her forehead, her eyelids, her nose, her cheeks, her jaw, and finally her lips. She kissed him back, winding her arms around his neck. He kissed away the traces of her tears on her cheeks.

"I'm sorry," he whispered again.

"It's okay," she said softly. "I was… I wasn't being fair, either. I understand, I really do. I was just… jealous," she admitted reluctantly with a sigh, and he nodded.

"I understand that, too."

She laid her head against his shoulder. "Can we just pretend this all never happened?"

"Of course." He smoothed her hair down her back, running his fingers through the silky strands once again. He kissed her, again and again and again, whispering his adoration for her in between kisses, making her blush. They snuggled in front of the fire together, drinking tea and having some sandwiches for dinner, not talking much, but feeling all the more.

He gave her a thorough back massage after that that left her moaning and sighing happily, squirming underneath him as he forced her muscles to relax completely and worked out every knot he could find. Her skin was so soft underneath his fingertips and he planted kiss after kiss on it, unable to resist. He stroked her back, leaning down to wrap his arms around her and press his cheek to her upper back.

"I love you," he whispered again.

Her eyes slowly fluttered open and she stretched, causing him to sit up again.

She half-turned around to look at him. "Should we talk?"

He sighed, reluctant. "Maybe."

Elphaba looked up at him. Her dark eyes were opaque and unreadable, her voice steady, but soft as she asked, "So who was she, exactly?"

She didn't have to elaborate on who she meant.

Fiyero rubbed his face, closing his eyes for a moment. Then he opened them again and looked down at Elphaba. He didn't really want to talk about this, but maybe it was time he did.

He shifted off her to sit down beside her instead, crossing his legs.

"Aliyra… she was my fiancée," he said, feeling the familiar pang at the memory of her.

Elphaba just kept on looking at him, waiting for more.

He leant his head back against the wall and closed his eyes again.

"My parents, as you know, are the king and queen of the Vinkus," he said. "Hers were the clan heads of one of the tribes in the Northern Vinkus. She was about a year younger than I was… our parents thought it would be a good match." He shrugged. "I was basically engaged before I was even two years old, though of course I didn't know that back then."

He took Elphaba's hand and rubbed soft circles on the back of it with his thumb, lost in memories.

"Our parents visited a lot, back and forth, so that we could really get to know one another," he said quietly. "Ali and I became very close friends, even as children. When I turned twelve, I was told about our engagement. We were supposed to get married once Aliyra would be eighteen, but we spent a lot of time together and already carried out some royal duties before we reached that age. And even though it was an arranged marriage… I loved her. I really did. We truly did love one another, even though no-one understood."

"Because it was forced, people didn't believe it was real," Elphaba translated.

Fiyero nodded. "They never did." He swallowed back tears, determined not to cry. He hadn't cried over Aliyra in a long time and he refused to start now. "Even when she died, people didn't believe I was genuinely grieving. No-one but my parents, who had known her very well and were grieving for her, too. Dad mostly kept busy with arranging things – she was the heir to the position of clan head, after all, and she was the future Vinkun queen… lots of things had to be taken care of, talked through, and smoothed over. He buried himself in work and Mum buried herself in me, even though all the hugs and comforting and kind words in the world didn't help me back then."

They both remained silent for a while, Fiyero thinking back, Elphaba processing the story.

Finally, she said in a small voice, "I'm sorry she died."

Fiyero smiled sadly, squeezing the young witch closer.

"Me, too," he said. "But now I've got you… and I love you, Fae. I really do. You have to believe that. I just… don't think I was, or am… completely over Ali yet." He sighed, running his hands through his hair. "It was why I started dancing through life – to deal with the pain. And even though it didn't make the pain go away… it did numb me. I prevented myself from feeling anything, from processing it. I drowned myself in beer and parties and girls. And now… you forced me out of that fake bubble of carelessness, Fae, and I'm so grateful for that, but it also brought back the pain. I guess I just need to go through that in order to be able to leave it behind me."

When he looked down at Elphaba, she was smiling.

"You're amazing, Yero," she whispered. "You were so brave, dropping that happy-go-lucky façade and facing your feelings again like that… I'm really proud of you. And I don't know if it helps, but if you want to talk, or cry, or anything, really… I'm here for you. I want to help you."

He stared down at her in amazement.

"What did I ever do to deserve you?" he asked her after a while, still in awe.

She chuckled mirthlessly. "Whatever it was, it must have been something horrible," she said wryly.

He tapped her nose to chide her. "Don't talk like that. You are wonderful, Fae, I told you that so many times already. You're perfect and I love you so much." He kissed her again, softly and tenderly; and her eyes fluttered shut as she gave in to the kiss, melting in his arms.

They fell asleep like that not long thereafter, she with her head tucked under his chin and he with his arms around her.

When she awoke in the morning, she blinked and squinted against the bright sunlight streaming into the room. Realising they had forgotten to close the curtains the night before, she moaned and made to turn around again, but then she realised the time and she shot up. If they didn't hurry, they were going to be late for class.

Fiyero tightened his grip on her, murmuring indignantly, and she shook him. "Yero, get up."

"Hmph."

"Yero, we'll be late for class."

He pulled her back against him, burying his face in her hair to shut out the light. When his lips fell on her neck, she closed her eyes, deciding that class could wait for a few more minutes.

After a while, she heard him snore softly and she stifled a laugh. "Yero?" She prodded him gently. "Are you even awake? Come on, wake up."

"Mm." He stretched, then turned around.

"Yero!"

He stirred slightly. "Ali?"

For some reason, it did not bother her so much anymore. Maybe because he had opened up to her now, and she knew that it had nothing to do with her; he was just still processing what had happened, and he had probably dreamt about Aliyra again. It wasn't his fault and it wasn't hers, either.

So instead of stiffening and leaving, as she usually did, she just said, "No, it's me."

His eyes flew open when he realised what he had said and he sat up, looking guilty. "Shiz. I'm sorry, Fae –" he began apologetically, but she cut him off with a kiss.

"It's fine," she said. "I understand."

He looked at her for a long time, once again amazed at her understanding and forgiveness.

"You have no idea how badly I want to kiss you senseless right now," he said eventually.

She chuckled. "What's keeping you?" she teased, and he pretended to think about that.

"Good point."

With that, he swept her in his arms and kissed her deeply, tangling his fingers in her hair. She kissed him back for a while, but then she pulled away from him.

"No more delaying now," she said sternly. "Class."

He sulked, pouting. "Can't we just –"

"No. Come on." She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and rose to her feet, padding across the room as she collected her clothes and got ready for the day, feeling ten tons lighter than she had the day before.

Fiyero didn't even come out of bed until she was already dressed and ready to go. Luckily, he didn't need much time to get ready and so they walked off to the cafeteria ten minutes later to go and get breakfast.

Nessarose and Boq were already there, sitting at a table for two in the corner. They were holding hands across the table and Boq was feeding the younger Thropp sister pieces of fruit and toast, each bite followed by a kiss. Boq was smiling and Nessa was giggling.

Elphaba cast her eyes heavenward and Fiyero chuckled.

"Didn't you say they broke up yesterday?" he asked, amused.

"Like I said," said Elphaba drily, "they're worse than Galinda and her boyfriends."

When they finished their first class of the day and Fiyero left her side for a moment to talk to Boq about something, Galinda linked arms with Elphaba, giving the green girl a significant look.

"Did something happen between you and Fiyero?" she asked lightly.

"Why are you asking?" Elphaba countered, shifting the strap of her bag on her shoulder.

Galinda shrugged. "You've been awfully gloomy lately," she said. "Both of you. It was a little strange. But now you seem back to your normal selves again… better, even, maybe."

"Maybe," Elphaba agreed softly. She sighed. "Yes, we did work some stuff out," she admitted. "But I can't tell you about it, Glin, I'm sorry. Fiyero told me some things in confidence."

"That's okay." Galinda beamed at her friend. "I'm just glad you and Fifi are happy again."

She started skipping. "Elphie, have you heard about the ball they're holding on the first day of June?" she gushed. "It's meant to end the school year, even though it's not over yet, you know, there's still finals first… but the End Year's Ball will be great, Elphie, absolutely thrillifying, and you and Fiyero simply have to come."

"Glin –" Elphaba started protesting, but the blonde shushed her.

"No excuses, Elphie. Fiyero will agree with me."

"Fiyero will agree with you on what?" asked Fiyero, catching up with the girls and putting his arm around Elphaba's shoulders.

"That you and Elphie are coming to the End Year's Ball next week," Galinda answered and Fiyero's eyes lit up.

"No," Elphaba said when she saw the look on his face, before he could even say anything himself. "We're not going."

His face fell. "But Fae –"

"No, Yero."

"Fae, please," he pleaded with her. He made puppy eyes at her. "It will be so amazing, really! We'll dance and have fun, and Galinda will be there… Nessa and Boq, too – Boq already told me they're planning to go. It will be great and it's also a nice way of ending the school year, isn't it?" He pouted. "We might not see each other the entire summer long!"

Elphaba sighed. Her father had still not replied to the letter in which she asked him if she could visit the Vinkus for a few weeks in the summer, and she feared the worst.

"Pretty please, Elphie?" Galinda beseeched her, and Fiyero was still looking at her with big, hopeful eyes.

"Fae? Please?"

"The things I do for you two," she grunted finally. Fiyero and Galinda cheered, recognising this as her giving in, and Fiyero kissed her gently.

"It will be wonderful," he promised her.

"I'll make you look perfect!" Galinda squealed.

Elphaba's shoulders slumped. "I'm doomed."