Well hello there, dear readers! Here is another chapter for you all! And I'm super excited! I'm attending an Idina Menzel concert on Friday and I heard that she picks people from the audience to sing Take Me or Leave Me from RENT with her. Oh Gosh, singing with Idina is like a dream of mine... ANYWAY, enjoy the chapter and review! c:

"Fun, I suppose." Glinda took a dainty sip of her tea and then tenderly placed it on her nightstand. She wrapped her tiny arms around one of her oriental pillows with a sigh.

"You suppose?" Elphaba inquired, a slender black eyebrow rising in question. She turned to her friend, not being able to help the pang of guilt that she felt. Was she the cause for her friend's bereaved behavior? Oh Oz, she felt terrible.

"Well, it's just that it requires so much work." The blonde rolled onto her back in a very unlady-like way and nearly knocked Elphaba off the mattress. "Fiyero's been so distant and moodified lately, Boq's been too busy to see me for more than ten minutes, and everyone expects me to do everything!" She squealed in distress, burying her face into the fluffy surface.

That last remark caught Elphaba off guard. Fiyero was distant…. And moodified? What the hell did that mean? But the point was that Fiyero was probably disconcerted by her rejection to his proposal and he was taking out his anguish out on Glinda. He was, intentionally or not, hurting her best friend and that would certainly not do. Giving Glinda's shoulder blade a quick squeeze, she gathered up the remaining tea and the platter and went on her way.

In the kitchen, she slid her hands into the thick rubber gloves and began to painstakingly wash the dishes. It wasn't her favorite chore, certainly not, but someone had to do it. Elphaba barely noticed Fiyero's arms wrap around her waist from behind.

"Yes, Tigelaar?" The servant snapped, not wasting her time with turning around to glare at him. As much as it pained her to ignore him, she was doing it as revenge. No one treated her friend in such a manner.

"Fae, did I do something? I thought we made up." He tenderly kissed the traitorous spot below her ear and it took all of her self-control not to release a throaty moan. Elphaba didn't respond, instead she kept scrubbing the grime off the silverware.

"Elphaba, please just say something." The prince pleaded with her, jostling her shoulder. In Elphaba's mind, throttling seemed like a grand idea. Suddenly, a thought came to mind.

"Alright, I'll say something. Why did you have that picture of my mother and Mrs. Upland?" The green girl whipped around to face him.

The question took him aback and it took him several moments to regain his composure. "I found it in Carole's parlor." He shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal. Elphaba's eyes slanted in suspicion and she took a step closer to him.

"And why were you in her private parlor?"

Fiyero glanced down at his feet and he shifted his weight nervously.

"Fiyero Tigelaar, spill."

The prince let out a sigh and he began. "You were so confusing. From the moment I first saw you, I wanted to know who you were. I wanted to know everything about you. I wanted to know your past so I could insert myself into your present and, ultimately, your future. I didn't exactly know where to start, so I questioned Carole about the subject. She gave me some bullshit story about how Nanny came to her door with you. I began to delve deeper, determined now to find out the truth. So I found that picture and an article that announced a fire that burned down your family home."

He opened his mouth to continue, but Elphaba stopped him abruptly. Her face was pale, well as pale as a green woman could be, and she looked as if she was about to burst into painful tears at any moment. "So I'm supposing that you know about the abuse?" Fiyero nodded slowly as the servant's bottom lip began to quiver. He held her tight as she sobbed into his shoulder. She reluctantly pulled away, wiping her tears even though the deadly saltwater burned her skin.

"I shouldn't be crying like this, Fiyero, I'm sorry." The girl apologized rapidly, turning back to the dishes. He stood there, waiting. The prince didn't want to make her even more upset, so he didn't dare to bring up the subject. He had turned to leave when she finally addressed him.

"Mother didn't mean to. Well, at least that's what I remember Nanny saying. She told me that Mama's brain was corrupted and that she wasn't in control of her actions. She told me that after Mama hit me. It was all I ever heard. Nanny never asked if I was okay or whether or not I needed to go to a hospital. She always noted that it wasn't my mother's fault. But it was. Even a woman that was intoxicated from wine and those leaves would have known better." This whole personal narrative broke Fiyero's heart and he wrapped his arms around her, planting a kiss on her lips gently.

"I love you, Elphaba, even if your mother didn't."

Elphaba allowed herself to laugh. "I love you too." She was shocked that she'd say it, but she figured that it had to be true. She had let this man into her life and, by the looks of it; he wasn't leaving any time soon.

The two embraced and began to kiss passionately, but a lone maid stood outside the door. She had been personally hired by Etai to keep an eye on the two. "Just wait until he hears about this!" She whispered as she slipped into the shadows.