Author's Note: Writing this quickly, as laptop is about to run out of battery. Glad to know those who reviewed, always nice to hear from you, in whatever form and I hope I answered any concerns. Few commenting on Elphaba crying. I know very well that this is OOC, but in the context of her anger and her feelings of desperation at losing a friend, I believe that even she would cry. Plus, I don't want these characters to remain exactly where they are...watch this space for character development guys!

Enjoy this one, it is one of my favourites xx

Having walked Galinda back to Crage Hall, Fiyero then reluctantly attended all of his lectures and his tutorial, as per Elphaba's instructions. He had pointed out to his now ex-girlfriend that since they had just broken up he could and should stay with her, but Galinda said no, "she'll think I'm terribly upset," was her excuse. She also pointed out that Elphaba had asked for notes as evidence of his attendance, which they both knew he couldn't fake. So he had gone and though it was not as bad as he had anticipated, it was not good: he had no idea what anyone was talking about and no idea if the stuff he had written was of any use to anyone in Oz.

Fiyero trudged along, grateful to be finished at last. He was looking forward to spending time with Elphaba, though he remembered he would have to tell her about Galinda and even if she didn't then immediately run off to find her, she would insist on doing work. Fiyero hoped she would stay with him. He half suspected she would; his presence seemed to have some effect on her. Despite his uncertainty he liked that his attention towards her made her react in ways that were very unlike the stoic Elphaba known to everyone else. It told him that she liked him. Maybe just as much as he liked her.

Fiyero stopped in his tracks and suddenly acknowledged a feeling he hadn't before; he liked Elphaba? In that way? He smiled stupidly to himself. Well of course he did, how could he have thought otherwise? Why else would he have been so eager to break up with Galinda, who by all means was perfect for him? What other possible explanation could there be for his constant rehashing and exploration of their moment in the forest, of their touch?

But he still had a problem. Despite his single status, it would be rude and disrespectful to both girls if he suddenly started pursuing Elphaba. He could wait and he would wait, because he cared about them both.

There was no harm in a little flirting, however. How else would Elphaba know he liked her?

After what seemed like an age, he finally entered the library and began to look for his tutor. Unfortunately this seemingly simple task grew into a very difficult one. He could not find her at all, and would have assumed she had just left, had her notes and her coat and all her other things not been lying over several desks. Calling out her name was no more effective, and he actually began to panic a little. Elphaba was punctual. There was no more to it. She was also truthful and loyal. These qualities told him that she should at least be in the library, if not in their study nook.

"Elphaba! Where the hell are you?" He had now entered a completely unfamiliar area of the building. It was dimly lit and most of the texts were foreign to him, though he recognised a few in the Vinkun Ancient Language. Those books held his attention for a mere split second however, having been bored almost to tears during the day, and he continued to wander hopelessly.

Fiyero thought he had been quite clever when he had gone to the front desk to ask one of the biddy old Cats if she had seen the green girl. None of them had, apparently, apart from four hours ago when she arrived. Fiyero thought the plight of the Animals was unnecessary and he expected it to die down eventually, but it did not mean that he liked every Animal. And he hated those Cats.

For five minutes he paced around the desks where their stuff was scattered, part of him reluctant to leave it because Elphaba had told him that some students would wait until she had gathered a nice collection for a particular essay, and then steal her books when she was gone. Fiyero had said it was quite an ingenious plan but retracted it when she sent several large objects flying towards his face. He chuckled at her strenght; she was certainly no damsel.

While Fiyero went off in search of her again, Elphaba remained rooted to the spot. She had been stuck in this corner for almost an hour now, and it was embarrassing. She could not exactly yell out for help because she would be ridiculed even more than usual and for the rest of her life. She could hear them all jeering, Elphaba Thropp, the green atrocity, is scared of spiders!"

She was scared of spiders. Always had been and probably always would be. It was not exactly a crippling problem except in certain situations. Such as the one in which she now found herself. It hadn't even noticed her, but it was so big and awful that it blocked her escape from the dead end row of books.

Elphaba had attempted to use her magic on it, to blow it away or even kill it – she didn't care – but nothing happened. Fear and adrenaline usually worked in favour of her powers, but it seemed that even her magic did not consider this a remotely dangerous or frightening crisis and refused to help her. As long at the creature did not move, she was at least safe in her corner, but she worried about disappointing Fiyero. Glancing at her watch, he would have been here for three quarters of an hour. He must have gone.

Occasionally, she would get bouts of courage, and shout at herself for not just stepping over it or throwing a book at it. But her insecurities and irrationalities would creep in and remind her that it might be a jumping spider, or a really quick spider. What if it jumped on her clothes? Or on her hair? Or worse? She would scream. She knew she would scream like a damsel in distress.

Elphaba was at a complete loss.

"Elphaba?"

Or maybe not.

"Elphaba? Please be here."

"Fiyero?" She called out in a half-whisper. "I'm here."

"Where?"

"Here!"

"Where?"

"Here!"

"Where?"

She sighed in exasperation. Her rescue was not quite as relieving as she had expected. "Sweet Oz, can't you follow my voice?"

"Not if you stop talking, Thropp." He turned a corner and saw her standing at the very back of the row, against the wall and holding a book. "What are you doing? Come out of there-"

He moved forward, but she put a hand out and shouted. "No! Don't do that!"

"What?" He followed her gaze and jumped a little at the arachnid on the floor. It was the largest he had seen at Shiz, but by no means threatening compared with others in the Vinkus or even Munchkinland. "What? Are you scared?"

She shot him a dirty look and scowled. "Yes. Yes I am. I don't like spiders. I never have and I can't bring myself to go anywhere near it. Please get rid of it."

"I can't believe this."

"Oh yes, ha very funny, the green creature's afraid of spiders. Who'd have thought it? I though she was in league with them to take over Oz." He laughed at her imitation of her own personal enemies but shook his head and assured her that was not what amused him. "Oh really? What then?" She challenged.

He shrugged, crouching to the floor and scooping up the spider in his hands. "It's just that I seem to be in a supreme position of power right now, to which very few people are privileged." He moved towards her, his hands stretched out. Elphaba slammed herself up to the wall as much as she could and felt a sweat break out. "I could get you to agree to anything. I could totally take advantage of this situation. I could say, force you to write all of my papers and get my lunch. I could make you take credit for my failures. I could do . . . so many things."

He looked into her eyes at that moment, and noted that he'd never seen someone look so incredibly terrified. She was sweating, and her eyes darted around, searching his face for some kind of clue that he was teasing her. In a deliciously evil turn, he stepped a further inch towards her, and they were nose to nose. Well, as long as he looked down and she looked up.

"Come on, Fae, I'm teasing you." He opened his palms out and revealed the very dead spider. She, however, was still tense and screamed out and dropped to the floor, holding her heart. Her exclamation made him jump too, and in sympathy he disposed of the spider. "Jeez, you scared me."

Elphaba turned a foul look to him once again. She was panting and wiped her brow desperately. "I scared you? You were holding a fucking spider at me! What in Oz were you thinking? I hate them, they're horrible and you! You evil, manipulative-!"

"Hey, I'm sorry!" Fiyero sat next to her and out an arm around her shoulder. "I thought it was funny . . ." he glanced at her and felt her shaking, ". . . obviously not."

"I hate you so much, Fiyero Tiggular." She whispered, leaning her head back.

"No you don't." He said confidently.

She eyed him. "Oh no? What makes you so sure?"

He turned her into him and let her head rest on his chest. He heard her sigh softly and guessed she had calmed down a bit. "My years of experience tell me that you don't." He kissed her hair, took the book out of her hands and linked their fingers. "You wouldn't let me touch you at all. And you wouldn't let me hold your hand. Both of which I'm very grateful for, by the way."

Elphaba smiled against him. "I guess I wouldn't." She moved back and looked at his face, so confidant, so self-assured. "Look at you. You're making correct, if simplistic, observations." He shrugged her off, feigning modesty. "I'm impressed. And I'm grateful for your rescue." She said the last word hesitantly, not wanting to leave herself vulnerable to him. "But no-one hears about this. Please, especially Avaric. I'll never live it down and they'll put spiders in my bed."

"They wouldn't dare." Elphaba thought she saw a flash of something in his face that belied his playful tone, but it was gone before she could determine what, if anything, it was. "I actually have something to tell you."

She was up and dusting herself off now. "Well you can do it while I appraise the copious notes you took in lectures today." He smirked when she checked the corridor for more creepy-crawlies and followed her back to their desks. He was glad he had believed her threat to check up on him, because she sat, legs folded underneath her, on a high backed arm chair and carefully studied his writing. "What was it you wanted to tell me?"

"You can listen while reading?"

"You wrote while listening to the professors, what's the difference?" He did not place enough confidence in the quality of his notes to argue with her but plonked himself right next to her on the only comfortable chair in the room. "Why must you sit here, when there are several other perfectly good chairs in the room and it is perfectly possible for me to hear you when you are only a few feet away?"

"Because you are sitting in the best chair in the room, and I don't want to sit on a hardback wooden piece of crap and because I don't really want anyone else to hear what I'm going to tell you." She looked alarmed and asked if it had to do with Galinda. "Now you are the observant one."

"Don't do that, Fiyero. You've been with me for half an hour and you haven't told me that something's wrong with my best friend? What did you do?"

He blanched at her unprecedented and unnecessary accusation. "Excuse me, this isn't really any of your business, madam," she relaxed and looked away at his admonishment, "but I'm telling you because you're close to me and Galinda and I want you to know first."

"Thank you, Fiyero." She responded, semi-sarcastically.

"And I didn't do anything. It was Galinda's idea, originally . . . or at least she incited it." Elphaba's brow furrowed and she patiently waited for him to explain. "We broke up. Amicably."

Fiyero watched several unidentifiable emotions pass over Elphaba's face and wondered what she was thinking, but Elphaba didn't know what to think. She was not completely taken by surprise, but his statement that it had been Galinda's idea seemed to war with Elphaba's knowledge that despite her friend's confusions over their relationship, she was by no means past feeling strongly towards Fiyero. She loved him. The fact that she had not come to Elphaba did not hurt her feelings but she recognised it as an attempt on Galinda's part to show she was not upset and that this break-up was not a big deal.

In a show of solidarity, Elphaba played along. "At least it was amicable then. I'm sorry. Although, knowing you both, I'm sure you'll be alright."

Fiyero nodded. "I love her, you know."

"I know. I know you care about her. You would never mistreat someone you care about; I don't care what your reputation is supposed to tell me."

"No, but I have done that before. I have had girls find themselves convinced we were meant to be together and I had no qualms about telling them otherwise. Sometimes I didn't even do that. You have every right to think I'd screw her around. I kind of did it to you."

"But you apologised to me, you know you were just reacting in the heat of the moment. We both did that." Fiyero put an arm around her shoulder and she relaxed. "If that behaviour defined you, then it doesn't anymore. You need a new definition."

He smiled and, inspiration striking him, he took her pen and turned to a new page in his notes. "You're a different person too."

Elphaba Thropp: a woman, commonly misunderstood as an introverted know-it-all, who is actually very beautiful, intelligent, intriguing and hilarious. Only one Elphaba Thropp in the known world found so far [and she belongs to Fiyero Tiggular].

Elphaba laughed at his description of her while her heart leapt up into her throat. He kissed her forehead. Elphaba bashfully tucked hair behind her ear and took the pen herself.

Fiyero Tiggular: an infamous man whose reputation as a playboy and a miscreant is both badly informed and exaggerated. In his own habitat he is an observant, witty young man who is often characterised by his mischievous yet genuine qualities. Only one Fiyero Tiggular found in the known world so far and hopefully, the last.

He smiled when she laughed at her own joke. Fiyero tore out his description of her and folded it into her pocket, telling her to look at it whenever she doubted herself. Elphaba decided to write one for Galinda.