Chapter Thirteen: Distance

"This should be interesting." Elphaba muttered.

"I suppose I should've double-checked the arrangements." Fiyero stood in the doorway of their train compartment, eyeing the only bed. It took up so much space in the compartment there wasn't even room for someone to sleep on the floor. "My parents made them, and my father must've assumed…"

"Well, as far as anyone else is concerned, they'd be right in assuming that. I don't even think there's anywhere for me to change."

"I'll turn around when the time comes." But it was morning. The trip took one night and spanned the majority of two days. "And Fae, I've had my tongue in your mouth. Sharing a bed with me is probably less intimate than that." He decided to just be blunt about it. "I won't do anything if you don't."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about me," she snapped.

"That's not what you said last week." He wasn't exactly pleased with the way she'd suddenly tried to put up walls between them the last few days. She'd slipped out of his room the morning after she'd spent the night without even waking him and she'd barely spoken to him the rest of the week. He realized they'd pushed too far and she was afraid. He was trying to be patient, but if they were going to be cooped up like this, she'd need to stop.

"You kissed me, Fiyero. I forgot myself for a moment. Sometimes I forget who I actually am when I'm doing this. It's hard putting on a front like that in public and then you went and decided to drag it into your bedroom. So I slipped for a moment. That's all." She tossed her bag in the small space next to the bed.

He tossed his things beside hers. "I get that. But that doesn't mean you have to be so distant. I thought we agreed we were still friends through this." He wanted to shake her, to tell her to stop being so scared of this, but he was a little worried, too, though he wouldn't tell her that.

She sighed and sat down on the bed. "I'm sorry. I was a bit embarrassed about how I acted, what I said. I didn't mean to be cruel to you. You are my friend. And Glinda's not helping, to be honest. She's been saying things."

"Oh, I know. She's said them to me, too." He brushed a stray strand of hair away from her face, but pulled his hand away when he saw the uneasy look on her face.

"She hasn't!"

"She has. I didn't want to tell you."

"Sweet Oz, what has she said?"

"She's fairly certain we're in love, for starters. And she thinks that this can only go badly because of it. I told her that wasn't the case, but you know how she gets. To be honest, she scares me a little. She's threatened me, actually, that if I hurt you, she'll hurt me."

"I've told her I can take care of myself. I wish she wouldn't do that."

"And - please don't tell her I told you this or I'm afraid she might do something terrible to me - she also told me about your history. I didn't say anything, because I knew you'd tell me yourself, and you did. And it really isn't my business to begin with, since we're not actually involved and all. I think she was just telling me so that I knew to be careful with you."

"I don't need you to be careful with me, Fiyero. I'm a grown woman and I make my own choices. She had no right to tell you that. I was a little drunk when I told her, to be honest. You're the only person I've told of my own volition."

"Thank you for telling me, by the way."

"You told me yours. It was only fair. I'm sure I'm not the only girl who's done something stupid. I'm just the one you'd least expect to do it, and I pride myself on that." She shrugged. "If you don't mind, Fiyero, I'm just going to read. I am a little stressed and I don't mean to push you, but it's going to be a long week."

When they arrived at Kiamo Ko, his parents waited to greet them. His mother, of course, had a huge smile on her face, while his father stood with a semi-critical eye. "It's so nice to meet you, Elphaba." His mother grasped Elphaba's hand in hers.

"Thank you. It's nice to meet you, as well. Fiyero's always talking about his family."

After hugging his mother, he wrapped an arm around Elphaba's waist and she leaned into him the slightest bit. "Would you mind if we put our things down? It's been quite the trip." He looked at Elphaba for a moment and then said, "And, for propriety's sake, maybe it would be best if Elphaba stayed in the guest suite. We don't mind sharing a room, but if her father got wind of it, it might not go well. He is a preacher, after all."

Elphaba gave him a grateful look and turned to his mother. "If it's not any trouble, that is. I don't want to put anyone out."

"None at all." His mother hurried off to go find someone to make sure the room was put together.

"Miss Elphaba, it's a pleasure." His father nodded at her. "Fiyero has told us so much about you. I'm glad we can finally meet you."

She did something that surprised him, then, and curtseyed. "A pleasure to meet you, too, Sir." Elphaba smiled widely.

"Why don't you sit down in the tea room while the room is prepared?" His father didn't wait for an answer and turned down the hall.

He pressed his lips to her ear. "You're doing great."

"Thank you for making sure I had my own room," she murmured back, sliding her hand into his. "The train was just a bit too close for comfort." Though they both knew the way back would end up the same.

His mother met them in the tea room as they settled onto a small sofa across from his parents and he draped an arm easily over Elphaba's shoulder. "Elphaba has been so excited to come out here. She was completely restless the whole way here."

"I hope you don't mind that I'm stealing your son for part of the summer," Elphaba said.

"It's not a problem. It's only fair that if we get to meet you, your family gets to meet him." His father relaxed back on a sofa, not touching his mother. Fiyero wondered if they were close at all anymore. Sometimes he wondered why his mother didn't find someone to occupy herself with. It wasn't forbidden. Men and women were allowed basically the same rights and if she had wanted to, she certainly could have. He felt more for Elphaba than his father probably felt for his mother.

"So, Fiyero's talked about you constantly, but do tell us about yourself." His mother said sweetly.

"I'm from Munchkinland and this is my second year at Shiz. I've been studying life sciences and sorcery, mainly. As Fiyero mentioned, my father's a preacher, and we did a lot of traveling growing up, but I've never been out here. The landscape is just beautiful."

"I'm sure Fiyero will walk you around the grounds later."

"I would like that."

"I'll do that after dinner if it's not too dark." Fiyero smiled. His mother was absolutely beaming at Elphaba. It made him happy to see his mother that way.

"Now, Elphaba, I hope you like pasta. It's Fiyero's favorite and we always make it whenever he comes home."

"I know. He told me." Except he hadn't.

"Oh, of course he has!"

"May I say, Ma'am, that you have a lovely home? It's spotless. And I love the paintings you've chosen for the walls."

His mother put a hand on her heart and her eyes shone. No one ever acknowledged the way his mother had rearranged Kiamo Ko. And he hadn't told Elphaba to do that. She really was perfect, wasn't she?