AN. There's a line in this chapter that I LOVE. Can anyone guess?
Twelve
It took Galinda a few days to arrange everything, but she worked fast and got results, and by the time Elphaba was getting released from hospital, everything was in place. Elphaba was more than ready to get out of the hospital, if only just for money reasons. The hospital bills had taken their toll on her savings, and she was dreading what would happen when it came time to pay her rent and utilities.
But she hadn't counted on Galinda.
"You're moving," she announced to Elphaba, bouncing into her hospital room.
Elphaba paused from where she was packing her few things into the bag. "Excuse me?"
"You're moving," Galinda repeated, sitting down on the bed and tossing her blonde curls over her shoulder.
"Out of that disgusting apartment. You cannot live there anymore, Elphie."
That was another new thing born of recent days, Galinda had adopted Elphie, as a nickname, for reasons Elphaba could only imagine.
"And where am I supposed to live exactly?" Elphaba asked tiredly.
"With me, of course!" Galinda beamed at her as Elphaba's eyes widened.
"It's all arranged. I wrote to my Popsicle and told him all about you, and I said I wanted you to move into my private suite with me and he agreed. And then I arranged it with Horrible Morrible. Then, I spoke to your landlord and got you out of your lease early! So, all you have to do is get your things out of the apartment and over to my suite!"
Elphaba wasn't sure what to say, she was truly flattered by Galinda's concern for her living arrangements.
"Galinda… you really don't have to do that," she warned.
"I know! That's what makes me so nice!" Galinda smiled.
Elphaba was half-wondering if this was a joke. "Why?"
"I want to do something nice," Galinda admitted. "That's all. There's no ulterior motive here, I just thought... considering we agreed to try and get along, and that this was a start."
In truth, maybe Galinda was overcompensating a little out of guilt, but when still felt the urge to shower every time she pictured where Elphaba had been living, she didn't see any other option.
Elphaba hesitated, then decided to swallow her pride. "Alright. Thank you. Are you sure you don't mind-?"
Galinda cut her off firmly. "Elphie. I saw that place. And I can't believe you spent even a night there, let alone three months. I don't mind. Truthfully, I have so much space, I don't know what to do with it," she admitted. "There's only so much pink you can fill a room with."
Elphaba laughed. "So, if you saw the crapartment-"
Galinda frowned. "The what?"
"The crapartment. It's my little nickname for it. I know it wasn't great, but it was still my home," Elphaba shrugged shyly.
Galinda clapped her hands. "The crapartment! That's cute! I don't have a cute name for my room, you'll have to think of one for us."
Elphaba wasn't sure if she was being serious or not, so she only smiled slightly.
"Sorry, what were you saying?" Galinda pressed.
Elphaba shrugged. "Well, if you saw the crapartment, you would have seen all my books…"
Galinda nodded. "Don't worry. We have bookshelves in the room, but I've never used them. And I've already made Boq and Fiyero move things around so there's room for your piano."
That surprised Elphaba more than anything. "My piano?"
Galinda nodded. "Yes. You do play, don't you? Fiyero said you were using it as a plant holder, but I think he was joking… even though I didn't really get it," she frowned and Elphaba stifled a laugh.
"Yes, I play."
"Wonderful. I had lessons as a child, but I wasn't very good. I ride horseback though. Do you?"
"There weren't many horses in the orphanage," Elphaba reminded her gently and Galinda giggled awkwardly.
"Oh, right. Well, are you ready? Are you sure you'll be up to dinner tonight?"
Elphaba smiled slightly. "I'll be fine. No pneumonia, remember? Just a cold."
Galinda took her arm. "Well, let's go then! Fiyero, Fyonn, Cailean and Boq are going to help us move everything over this afternoon."
Elphaba raised an eyebrow. "Really? That soon?"
Galinda shrugged. "Why not? I want you to be settled before I leave for holidays."
"In a week and a half? I'm sure that's more than enough time. I don't have that much stuff," Elphaba pointed out, but Galinda ignored her.
Elphaba was right, it didn't take them long to move everything from the crapartment to Galinda's private suite at Shiz. The thing that took the longest time was the books and the piano, but finally, everything was done.
"I like the piano," Galinda announced, studying it from across the room, when Fyonn and Cailean had left and it was just the five of them. "It adds character to the place."
Elphaba rolled her eyes and said nothing as she continued to unpack books and stack them on the bookshelves.
"I think your new roommate should give us a musical demonstration," Fiyero grinned.
Said new roommate snorted derisively. "Um, no."
"Oh, please, Elphie?" Galinda begged. "It would be so much fun."
Elphaba hesitated. "I don't know what I'd play…"
"What about that sheet music I saw that one time?" Fiyero suggested.
She glared at him. "The ones I said were private?"
Fiyero wasn't fazed. "Yep. Those ones."
Nessa looked impressed. "Do you write songs, Elphaba?"
"Just one song, and I didn't really write it. I don't think so anyway," Elphaba admitted. "It's just this melody I always had stuck in my head."
Boq made a face. "Ugh, I hate when you get a song stuck in your head."
Elphaba nodded. "Yes, except this isn't a real song. I've never heard it before. But it was always in my head, until I got it down on paper."
"And the words too?" Fiyero asked in interest.
Elphaba shrugged. "I just woke up one morning after a dream and they were there."
"Wow," Galinda's eyes were wide.
"I've always called it a lullaby, but it's not really," Elphaba confessed. "It just… it feels like a lullaby, if that makes any sense."
"Well, play it for us?" Boq suggested. "We'll know more when we hear it. I can't read sheet music."
"Me either," Nessa added.
"I have a cold!" Elphaba protested. "My nose is all blocked up, it won't sound any good."
"So we promise not to throw rocks at you," Fiyero assured her, and she glared at him.
"Please, Elphie?" Galinda asked.
Elphaba hesitated, then took a deep breath. "Ok," she agreed tentatively.
She found the sheet music, sat down at the piano and cleared her throat, trying to focus on the music before her and not everyone's eyes boring into the back of her head.
Her main concern was what would happen if she needed to sneeze during the song, but she pushed those thoughts away and concentrated.
"May the angels protect you,
Trouble neglect you,
And heaven accept you when it's time to go home.
May you always have plenty,
The glass never empty,
Know in your belly,
You're never alone.
May your tears come from laughing,
You find friends worth having,
With every year passing
They mean more than gold.
May you win but stay humble,
Smile more than grumble,
And know when you stumble
You're never alone.
Never alone, Never alone,
I'll be in every beat of your heart
When you face the unknown.
Wherever you fly,
This isn't goodbye,
My love will follow you, stay with you
Baby you're never alone.
Well, I have to be honest
As much as I want it,
I'm not gonna promise that the cold winds won't blow.
So when hard times have found you,
And your fears surround you,
Wrap my love around you
You're never alone.
Never alone, Never alone
I'll be in every beat of your heart
When you face the unknown.
Wherever you fly
This isn't goodbye
My love will follow you, stay with you
Baby you're never alone.
May the angels protect you,
Trouble neglect you,
And heaven accept you when it's time to go home.
And when hard times have found you
And your fears surround you,
Wrap my love around you
You're never alone
Never alone, Never alone,
I'll be in every beat of your heart
When you face the unknown.
Wherever you fly
This isn't goodbye
My love will follow you stay with you
Baby you're never alone
My love will follow you stay with you
Baby you're never alone."
Although the piano was old and not entirely in tune, Elphaba made it sound like magic. As she sang the last note and the room faded into silence, not one of her audience dared break the spell that had fallen over the room.
"Wow," Boq said finally.
"Yeah… imagine how good it would be without the blocked nose," Fiyero agreed and once again, Elphaba glared at him.
Of course the effect of the glare was ruined when she sneezed three times in a row, and Nessa smiled sympathetically as she handed her a tissue.
"Thanks," Elphaba said quietly, accepting the box and blowing her nose.
"It's a really lovely song, Elphaba. The tune sounds somewhat familiar…" Nessa trailed off.
Elphaba looked at her in interest. "Really? Like you've heard it before?"
Nessa hesitated, and then shrugged. "Maybe. I could be wrong though. But it was lovely."
"How old were you when you wrote it, Elphie?" Galinda asked.
Elphaba paused in thought. "About eleven, for the music. I didn't write the words until… I think I was thirteen or fourteen."
"I don't know how you can do it," Fiyero admitted. "I can't even write an essay, let alone a song."
Elphaba blushed under his praise. "Like I said, it just came to me," she tried to explain.
There was a moment of silence until Galinda clapped her hands. "OK, we should start getting ready for dinner. What time are we meeting?"
And just like that, plans were made. It felt strange to Elphaba what was happening- she was going to dinner with Galinda Upland and Fiyero Tiggular of all people. Of course, she'd hung out with Nessarose and Boq a few times before; but she'd never imagined hanging around Galinda or Fiyero.
It felt like only yesterday Elphaba had been laughing to herself about making friends, and now it seemed like it was coming true. It just proved, she thought to herself, life was full of surprises.
AN. The song is called "Never Alone" by Lady Antebellum and Jim Brickman.