AN: I've already got a fairly large team of Frex Hunters by now :P. Really, it's such a stupid thing, and yet you love it all so much xD. But everyone who asked to be in is now in. (So far that's EmeraldReine, Fae Tiggular, Siarenthander, Elphaba'sGirl, Failey, BlueD, Scarlett the Squiddy, NiatheWickedLover, 1katiemariee, and Elphiesglinda.)

Elphaba'sGirl: Nope, but you're pretty close.

Fae Tiggular: Sorry, Musicgal still holds the record! And not even because she added a second review just to secure her position because she felt threatened by you - I believe I have once gotten an even longer 'aww'-review, which actually was so long that it got cut off at the end because the review was too long to be posted :P. Love your enthusiasm, though!

Soooo, more fluff & some more doubts on Elphaba's part this chapter... next one will be a little more action - The Conversation between Elphie and Frex. Thank you all so much!

Chapter 17. I really fell for you

They sat together in comfortable silence for a while, leaning against each other with the blanket wrapped around the both of them as they watched the pouring rain outside.

Her mind was reeling. She didn't know what to make of this, what to believe. She wanted to believe him, desperately, that he really was falling in love with her; but at the same time, she found that so hard to believe. She was certain no one had ever even thought about her that way before, let alone acted like it, but he seemed to be sincere.

'What are you thinking?' she asked quietly, trying to catch a glimpse of what was on his mind.

He chuckled softly. 'I was just thinking that I'm so glad you didn't slap me.'

She blinked. 'Why in Oz would I slap you?' she demanded, and he shook his head, still grinning. 'Face it, Fae. If you hadn't liked me back, I would have just scared you to death by suddenly kissing you, and you probably would have slapped me.'

She thought about that for a moment – would she have? – but in the end, she had to conclude that he was right. 'Yeah…' she admitted.

He chuckled again. 'So I'm glad you didn't.'

She looked away, chewing the inside of her cheek thoughtfully. When he had first started dancing through life, she had thought it would pass in time. When it dragged on for over four years, she had finally started to believe that he would stay like that, that the real Fiyero she knew to be deep down there was lost forever; but then he had regained his common sense again and everything had become just like it had been before, just like it was meant to be…. And now this.

After all those girls he had dated, kissed, gone to parties with, got drunk with… now here he was, with her, claiming to be falling in love with her.

And then she realised that that was exactly what was bugging her about this whole thing.

'Is it a bet?' she whispered.

He raised his head to look at her, puzzled. 'What?'

'This.' She gestured towards the two of them, scooting away from him as she spoke. 'You kissing me. Is it about some kind of bet you have with a friend of yours? Kiss the green girl, add her to your endless list of girlfriends?'

His eyes widened. 'Fae-'

'That's it, isn't it?' She narrowed her eyes at him. 'You haven't changed at all. That's the only explanation. You're not in love with me – you're just telling me that so that you can make me your next girlfriend, kiss me, perhaps even sleep with me – to tell your friends that you bedded the green girl. Is that it? Is that why you're doing this?'

He was completely baffled. She ranted on after that, but he didn't hear most of it; he couldn't really grasp what he had heard already. She thinks I only want to be with her because of a bet?

When she paused to take a breath, he said, 'Elphaba.'

She looked up at him, all kinds of contradicting emotions visible on her face and in her eyes.

He moved closer to her. She inched away from him, but found herself unable to go any further; and in that moment, he was actually grateful that it was raining and she couldn't get away, because he was sure she would have ran off otherwise.

'Fae,' he said firmly, taking her hands in his despite her protests. 'How could you possibly think that?'

She tilted her head to the side, eyes still narrowed. 'Are you denying it?'

'Yes. Yes, of course I'm denying it!' He shook his head in disbelief. 'Elphaba, I have changed. And I think that deep down, you also know how incredibly wrong you are about this! I would never do that to you – or to anyone, for that matter. Never, ever have I told any of those girls that I loved them. Ever. But I'm saying it to you. Oz dammit, I love you, Elphaba. I love you. And you can think yourself ugly or unworthy or weird or unlovable, but you're wrong. You're completely wrong. Because I do love you.'

Now she was staring at him, her eyes even wider than they had been before. He didn't avert his gaze, keeping their eyes locked in an attempt to convey how sincere he was, until she finally looked away.

Then her eyes suddenly shot up at him again. 'Promise?'

He almost laughed out loud. He leaned in closer and moved his hand to her neck, pressing his forehead against hers and looking into her eyes. 'I promise,' he said softly. 'I swear it, on… on my grandmother's grave. No, I swear it on my life.'

She closed her eyes for a moment, regaining her composure. Then she opened them again and the look in his eyes nearly took her breath away.

How could she possibly doubt him?

She nodded. 'Okay,' she said in a small voice, and he leaned in closer and softly kissed her again.

She curled up against him, feeling safe and warm and comfortable for once. He slowly ran his fingers down her spine, grazing her back and playing with her hair, and she sighed. 'Yero?'

He continued to trace patterns on her back. 'Hm?'

She looked up at him. 'How long?'

He immediately understood what she meant and he shifted a little, thinking about it. 'Ever since I stopped dancing through life,' he said finally. 'Even though I think I was already in love with you before that… I just wouldn't let myself see it, because the idea scared me.'

A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. 'Apparently, my father and Galinda then made this plan – Dad told me that later. It's why Galinda insisted on Galindafying you before the ball. They thought if they would make you look even more beautiful than usually, and then get us to slow dance together, that I would realise for real that I really do love you.' He smiled softly. 'And it worked.'

'It did?'

He rolled his eyes. 'Fae, come on. You saw me that night. Do you think I stare at every girl I see with my mouth wide open?'

She chuckled. 'I guess not,' she conceded. 'But…' She bit her lower lip, staring at the floor. 'To be completely honest, I thought you were looking at someone else like that,' she said quietly. 'I mean, you were standing rather far away, and I just told myself that you were probably staring at someone behind me, or something… I just never thought someone would look at me that way.'

'Well, believe it,' he told her, tucking a stand of hair behind her ear, his fingers caressing her cheek. 'Because I'm going to look at you like that for the rest of my life.'

She laughed nervously. 'Fiyero…'

'I'm serious,' he said, his gaze fixed on her face. 'I love you, Fae. And I have never loved anyone like that before, and to be quite honest, I'm scared as hell… But I only have to look at you to know that it's true. I am completely, hopelessly, head-over-heels in love with you.'

A strange, soft sound escaped her lips, and he leaned forward to brush his lips across her jaw line. 'I love you.' Up to her cheek. 'I love you.' Her nose. 'I.' Her forehead. 'Love.' Her lips. 'You. Are we clear?'

She had to laugh at that, but because she was still a little shocked and nervous, it came out as a giggle – and one that Galinda would have been proud of, at that. Horrified, she clasped her hands over her mouth.

He grinned at her. 'Did I just make you… giggle?'

She shook her head wildly. 'Never,' she declared hotly. 'I don't giggle. I don't ever giggle. You must have heard it wrong.'

He chuckled, but then he gasped softly and she shot up. 'What's wrong?' she asked urgently. 'Is it your ribs?'

He nodded, making a face. 'Yeah… It's not too bad. It just… comes and goes. Just give me a minute.'

She gently helped him to lie down and sat down next to him. She reached out to lay her hands on his chest, but stopped, fingers hovering mere inches above his body. 'May I?'

'Of course,' he said, grimacing slightly in pain, and she gingerly touched his hurt ribs. She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate, imagining the weird green sparks she had seen before to dance around her fingers again, healing his broken ribs. She scrunched up her nose in concentration, but nothing happened.

She opened her eyes again and looked down at her hands, disappointed. 'Well… so far my 'amazing' magic powers,' she grumbled.

Fiyero smiled and took her hand, squeezing it. 'At least they worked when it really mattered,' he offered, and she smiled softly at him. 'True.'

She brushed some hair away from his face, but her smile faded when she saw that he really was in pain. 'I should go and get help,' she said quietly. 'Your parents, or a doctor. You weren't even supposed to get out of bed yet…'

'You can't,' he pointed out, shuddering a little. 'It's still raining.'

'I have the raincoat. If I'm careful-'

'No!' He gripped her hand so tightly it hurt. 'Don't,' he begged her. 'Please. I'll be fine.'

She nodded reluctantly and moved to sit behind him, with his head in her lap. She looked outside. 'It looks a bit brighter in the distance. I think it will clear up soon.'

He nodded, his eyes closed. 'Okay.'

They stayed like that for another while, until the rain had stopped and it looked a bit brighter outside; then she helped Fiyero up and slipped her arm around his waist so that he could lean on her.

'I'm fine,' he protested. 'I feel much better already, really.' But of course she didn't buy that.

When Lori saw her son and Elphaba approaching the castle, she quickly hurried downstairs and outside to meet them there, with Cohvu right behind her.

'Fiyero Hamold Tiggular!'

Fiyero's eyes widened and he cringed. 'Oh, Shiz.'

Elphaba smiled and squeezed his hand. 'Relax, Yero. She won't murder you.'

'Yet,' he corrected her. 'She'll probably wait until my ribs are healed, and then she'll murder me.'

His mother almost pounced on him, hugging him gently, but firmly. 'You are such an idiot!'

Elphaba grinned at the Queen. 'Thank you for supporting me in that claim.'

Fiyero stuck out his tongue, but he swayed a little, and Lori and Cohvu quickly gripped his arms. 'Come on,' his mother said worriedly. 'Let's get you upstairs.'

She turned to look at Elphaba. 'What about you?' she asked in concern. 'Are you alright, sweetheart?'

'I'm fine,' Elphaba assured her. 'The rain barely even touched me.'

'Good.' She moved Fiyero's arm around her neck so that she could hold him up. 'Come on, Yero. Let's get you to bed.'

Lori forced him to stay in bed after that for at least a few days, leaving the maids to take care of her son so that she herself could continue performing her royal duties. Cohvu stopped by every now and then to check up on his friend, but he wasn't exactly sympathetic.

'Dude,' he declared when Fiyero complained about that. 'It's your own fault you're lying here, really. First you run out onto the street without looking, for absolutely no reason, and then, instead of waiting for me or your Mom to set out and look for Elphaba, you storm outside yourself – with broken ribs. Excuse me for not feeling all that bad for you.'

Fiyero pouted, then grinned at his friend. 'Well, if I had waited for you or Mom to look for Elphaba, I never would have gotten around to kissing her.'

Cohvu looked confused. 'Your Mom?'

Fiyero chunked a pillow in his direction. 'Elphaba, you idiot!'

Cohvu didn't even mind the pillow hitting him in the head all that much, he was too stunned. 'Wait, wait, wait.' He held up both hands. 'You kissed Elphaba?'

'Multiple times, actually,' Fiyero said smugly, and Cohvu's eyes nearly fell out of his head. 'Dude, how did you do that?'

'Well, first I moved closer, then I pursed my lips and levelled my face with hers and-'

He got the pillow he'd thrown before right back into his face. 'Talking about idiots,' Cohvu muttered irritably. 'Come on, Yero.'

The prince chuckled. 'Yes, well… It just happened,' he said finally. He quickly told his friend what had happened, exactly, and Cohvu seemed genuinely impressed.

'That's typically you, isn't it?' the blonde boy wanted to know. 'Even when you're sitting in a cold cave in the pouring rain with a concussion and broken ribs, you still manage to seduce a girl.'

Fiyero cracked him a lopsided grin. 'You know me.' Then he sobered. 'Seriously, though… This is different than all of the other girls, Co.'

Cohvu brought his face closer to Fiyero's, narrowing his eyes in a mock threatening way. 'I certainly hope so, Mister.' He jabbed his finger into Fiyero's chest. 'Because I consider Elphaba a sister, and if you break her heart, I'm going to break your nose. I did it to Avaric and I can do it to you.'

Fiyero knew that his friends was only partly joking, and normally, Cohvu's threat would have frightened him a little, but now he just nodded. 'I know. And I would deserve that, too.'

Cohvu seemed surprised at that.

'But you won't have to,' Fiyero continued, 'because I have no intention of hurting her. Ever.'

Cohvu let out a low whistle. 'Whoa, Tiggular. You really have changed.' Then he grinned at his friend. 'I'm proud of you, dude.'

Fiyero rolled his eyes. 'Thanks, dude,' he replied sarcastically.

The prince was bored out of his mind, having to stay in bed all day; and though the visits of Cohvu and his parents certainly cheered him up, the thing he appreciated most, of course, was Elphaba.

Every day when she came home from school, she'd come up to his room right away to pass on any homework he had to do. They usually did their homework together, so that she could help him if needed, and she would spend the rest of the afternoon alternating between studying, helping Lori and Hamold out with small chores or matters they were mulling over, and helping Fiyero with whatever he needed. She swiftly moved in and out of his room, bringing him food and, yes, books, because that was how bored he was. She ran a bath for him when he wanted to clean up and made sure he took his medication, and often she would just breezily move around his room to tidy things up, sometimes even softly singing when she was doing so. He was amazed by the change in her, but he was happy about it. Especially since he really loved to hear her sing.

For dinner, Lori, Hamold, and Elphaba – and Cohvu, too, whenever he stayed over – all brought their food upstairs to eat with Fiyero; and after dinner, Elphaba would spend the rest of the evening with him. He wished that was actually as good as it sounded, but the truth was that they didn't spend those evenings being mushy and romantic and kissing all the time – no, she made him study for his finals. And how. Oz, could that girl be bossy. But no complaint left his lips – if she would succeed in getting him to graduate, thus allowing him to go to Shiz with her and Cohvu and Galinda, then who was he to question her methods?

'Fae?' he asked one night, when he had placated her into just sitting together and talk, instead of studying like crazy.

She tucked her legs underneath her, curled up in an armchair. 'Yes?'

'My Mom says that Governor Thropp will arrive at Adurin Iir tomorrow,' he said, and he saw her stiffen a little. 'I was just wondering what you're plan of action is.'

'Well,' she said sarcastically, 'it will not involve any form of torture, or locking him up, or tying him down, I can tell you that much.'

Fiyero chuckled, immediately regretting that as a stab of pain shot through his ribs. 'Cohvu will be disappointed.'

She just rolled her eyes, then rested her chin on her fist. 'I'm not sure what I will do, though,' she admitted. 'I mean… I just want him to talk to me. Tell me everything. But after last time, when he so abruptly left…'

'If you need any help, I'm right here,' Fiyero offered, and was rewarded with a genuine smile from her. She reached out to take his hand and squeezed it softly. 'Thank you, Yero.'

He beamed at her.

'At first I thought that this was something I needed to do alone,' she said softly. 'After all, it's my life this is about. My past, my family. But… but then I realised that I really don't want to do this alone.' She bit her lip. 'I mean, what if I find out something that I don't want to hear? That my parents are dead, or that they left me for dead because they couldn't get past the fact that I was green? I… I would much rather have someone there with me.'

'I'll be there,' he promised, and she gave him another smile.

They were silent for a while. Then he said, 'That's not what happened.'

Elphaba looked at him inquiringly.

He shook his head. 'I don't believe they left you because you're green,' he clarified. 'I mean, they only figured that out after taking care of you for six years? Come on. I think something else was going on.'

She stared at him in mild amazement. 'You know?' she said in wonder. 'That actually makes sense. If they hated me because I'm green, they would probably have abandoned me when I was a baby, not when I was already six years old. I hadn't even thought of that!' She looked at Fiyero proudly. 'See? I knew you had a brain somewhere!'

He made a face at her and she laughed. He couldn't help but smile whenever he heard that. To him, it was the most beautiful sound in the entire world, and he couldn't keep his eyes off the dimples once again showing in her cheeks.

'I love you,' he said bluntly, and she blinked at him for a moment, taken aback.

Finally, she adjusted her position in the chair a little, looking at him solemnly. 'Yero,' she said slowly. 'I know you're serious about this – about me. I believe that now, and I love that. But… don't you think it's a little early to start tossing around 'I love you's?'

He shook his head stubbornly. 'No,' he declared. 'I don't think so. Because it's true. I told you that before, Fae, and I meant it. That wasn't just a heartfelt attempt to convince you. I don't like you, I don't have a crush on you… I'm in love with you. And I'm saying it to you, no matter how much it scares me, because it's true. Not because I want to be romantic or want to placate or convince you, but because I mean it. Every single word.'

She was quiet after that, and though he, noticing her discomfort, steered the conversation towards another subject, she stayed quiet all night. He knew she had to process this, think about it, mull it over in her head; it was just the way her mind worked. And he was willing to give her that time.

He would wait forever for her if he had to.