Fiyero couldn't go to class for a few days, and so Elphaba took notes, copied them, and brought them to him. Though she only had Literature with him, so a few others had to pick up some slack. "I feel pathetic," he said. "There's nothing wrong with me, it's all superficial."

"You can't move without gasping in pain," Elphaba reminded him from her place at his desk. "You can't sit back in a desk, I'm certain one of your ribs is broken, and, mostly, you look like hell. Also, I have to admit I'm a little nervous about what will happen the first time you see Kers."

Her first reunion with Kers had been awkward, and they had since drifted a little. He was beyond remorseful, having been drunk at the time, and she believed him, but most of the trust they had built up was gone. She still sat with him from time to time, but they weren't comfortable with each other.

"Elphie," he'd tried one day. "I'm so sorry... I was so out of it, I don't -"

"Something was wrong with me," she'd hissed. "Someone did something to me, couldn't you tell?" Kers had shaken his head, ashamed. "I was barely conscious, you must have had to carry me in there. And then you just sat there?"

"I'm... I wish I could take it back."

"Do you know what happened? Do you know if someone put something in my drink?"

"I swear, I don't," he'd promised. "If I find out, I'll -"

"Save it. Class is about to start."

Elphaba had wondered if breaking up with him would save him some of Fiyero's wrath. Probably not.

"I might kill him," Fiyero agreed, nodding. "Are you staying here again tonight?"

Elphaba grimaced. She'd spent the last few nights waiting for Galinda to fall asleep, sneaking to Fiyero's and sleeping there, then waking very early in the morning to sneak back. It wasn't very productive, but it reassured him, and, honestly, it was worth it to reassure him. He wasn't sleeping well, mostly because it was hard for him to sleep comfortably. But he was also tossing and turning under the weight of his subconscious; nightmares plagued him nightly.

The first night, Fiyero had woken to the feeling of his dinner rising up his throat, tears streaming from his eyes, and reached in vain for a woman who wasn't there. Hyperventilating, he'd snuck to Elphaba and Galinda's dorm and banged on the door (as softly as he could, in consideration of the hour) until Elphaba had stumbled to it, bleary-eyed and grumpy, and thrown it wide, ready to kill whoever was on the other side. But his arms around her, hard and fast, stilled her anger. "I couldn't reach you," he'd choked into the hair by her ear. "I couldn't reach you..."

She'd gone back with him that night to reassure him, but stayed because she's accidentally fallen asleep in his arms. After that, he'd begged her to continue to return, and she couldn't say no to the look in his eyes.

"Elphaba?"

"If you want me to," she murmured, focusing on her paper. "I'd better get back soon, though, so I can 'go to sleep' before I come here to sleep. Galinda sleeps like the dead, but still..."

"Wait," Fiyero said. "Is she usually asleep when you get there?"

"Yes, but -"

"So why bother going back? Just let her assume you got in after she went to sleep."

"What if she wakes in the night?"

"Then you're caught anyway. Seriously, tell her studying went late and she was asleep when you got back. Come on, Fae, it's getting late..."

"I need to finish your notes," she said.

"I'll finish them. It's one thing when you copy them beforehand, it's another when you come here to do it. I can copy my own notes you know."

"I didn't bring sleepwear," she informed him.

"Sleep in something of mine," he shrugged. Something low in her jumped, and she ignored it.

When they finally settled down to sleep, she in his arms once more, Elphaba felt her eyes burn as she closed them and let them stay closed. She hadn't realized how much extra reading and writing she'd been doing, but clearly it was catching up with her. Her head felt heavy and fuzzy, and she slept easily.

"Let her go, no, oh Oz, please..."

Elphaba was pulled from slumber at Fiyero's urgent pleas in his sleep, and sighed. He did this every night, and she was used to it. Rolling over, she rubbed his shoulders softly. "Yero," she whispered. "Wake up, you're dreaming." He continued to struggle, and she shook him. "Fiyero." His eyes flew open, he took in her face, and he sighed with relief, wrapping his arms around her. "The same dream?" He nodded, then shook his head in dismay. "It's just a dream, Yero," she reminded him, softly. "I'm here, I'm safe."

"I can never reach you," he mourned. "They never let me reach you, they just make me watch..."

"It didn't happen," she said. "It didn't happen, you saved me. I'm fine."

"You're moving in," he told her. "You're just going to have to move in with me or I'll never sleep again."

She rasped a dry chuckle. "Well, as unbelievably luxurious as this bed is," she started.

"You mean luscious."

Elphaba paused, then laughed. "I'd forgotten all about that! Anyway, as comfy as this -"

"Luscious," he said, again, determined to make her say it.

"As luscious as this bed is," she grumbled, though his smile of joy made her mouth curve upward briefly, also. "I doubt my moving in with you would go over well with either of our significant others."

"Screw Curse," Fiyero grumbled. "I'm going to kill him soon, anyway."

"And Galinda?"

Fiyero had no response to that, so he simply closed his eyes and waited to fall asleep once more, which didn't work. "You're moving in," he muttered, breaking the silence.

"We just established that it's impossible." He opened his eyes and looked at her, and found that it looked as though she was asleep.

"Nothing's impossible."

"Not for you, maybe," she smirked, her eyes still closed.

He wanted to kiss her. Nothing was impossible, right? Not for him? He could just softly brush his lips to hers, remember how it felt, use his bruises as a get-out-of-jail-free card if she decided to beat the tar out of him. She looked so peaceful, so goddamn beautiful, like she always did. Night after night of watching her be brutalized in his dreams had made him feel as though it was really something she'd had to endure, and he couldn't bear the thought of someone being anything less than perfectly gentle and tender with her. He could kiss her, to let her know how it was supposed to be... And probably ruin their friendship.

He decided not to kiss her, though now his lips buzzed with wanting to. He placed a kiss on her forehead, instead, then pulled away to see a soft smile on her features. He would just have to hold out until this strange feeling of wanting her passed. Not that it had in any of the time he'd known her... But Elphaba was very pretty, so it was natural for him to think so, wasn't it? It didn't mean he had feelings for her, it just meant that he was human and had eyes.

That was all it meant.