Nessa laid in bed early in the morning with her arm around Glinda who was reading a book aloud. For some reason when the blonde read, it calmed her; while she read, Nessarose could almost imagine Glinda as anything but a wicked witch. She allowed Glinda to have these quiet mornings with her every Sunday. It was a nice little ritual they had started about a month and a half ago. Every Saturday night, they'd meet outside in the field where they found each other that night Nessa was able to walk. Glinda would spend the night and sleep beside Nessarose in her bed.
The whole reading in bed was therapeutic, and it was even relaxing for Nessa, too. With the new friendship she found, she wasn't as angry and didn't find a need to make new laws to strip away the Munchkins' rights. She even repealed some, even the ones that had kept Boq from leaving. However, he didn't leave, and Nessa was confused. He continued to serve her and call her 'Madame'.
Glinda closed the book after reading two chapters and put it on the nightstand. "I never want to leave bed," she sighed as she snuggled into the taller girl. Usually by this hour, they were up and about the mansion. Nessa would be working on some political matters while Glinda went into the library and read until the brunette was done for the day. After dinner, Glinda would head back to wherever it was she lived.
Nessarose never asked where Glinda lived; she assumed it was somewhere in the north, but it wasn't something the blonde ever brought up. "Let's just relax today," Nessa decided. "I'll cancel my meetings and we'll just stay here forever." She kissed the top of Glinda's head.
"Really?" Glinda said happily and giggled when Nessa nodded. Those blue eyes that stared up at Nessa looked innocent, but she knew about the horrible things Glinda had done, and she didn't want to know what horrors she had seen.
"I need a break every now and then. Maybe I shouldn't work on Sundays. Six days is enough."
"I agree," Glinda smiled and rested her head on Nessa's chest. She rubbed the smaller girl's back as she began to let her mind wander. She wondered why Morrible had been so adamant about not letting her take Glinda in after she bailed her out from Southstairs. Her choice was to bail her out and let her deal with the Emerald City streets, or let her live the rest of her life in Southstairs without doing a thing. She had tried negotiating, but the threats had been real at the time, and she couldn't risk everything. However, she was beginning to think she should have just risked it all and ran away with her somewhere. But that would have been way too difficult considering she had been in a chair at the time.
"I miss her so much," Glinda said, breaking her thoughts. She knew she was talking about Elphaba again. Some days, Glinda would talk about Elphaba as if she was the worse person in all of Oz, and then other days, she'd talk about how amazing she was along with how much she needed her.
"I do, too," Nessa replied. It was true; she had hated her for abandoning her, but she realized that she truly missed her older sister. Maybe now that she could walk, would Elphaba come back?
"Do you think she still loves me?"
"I-I don't know," Nessarose answered truthfully. "Does she still remember me?"
"I would like to think so," Glinda reached for Nessa's free hand and held it.
"Glinda, I don't know where you're staying, but I'd really like you to stay here with me in Munchkinland. I feel more relaxed when you're around," she admitted.
"I'd love that," Glinda said and pushed herself up to Nessa's level and kissed her. "Although, it's going to be kind of weird to be the Wicked Witch of the North now," she giggled. Nessa smiled and pulled her in for a longer kiss.
There were a lot of things Glinda never told Nessarose, and one of them was the fact that she had been living outside in some forest up north. She honestly didn't mind sleeping outside in the forest; she felt safe up in those trees where people most likely couldn't find her, nor could they get to her. She never really slept much, except the nights she spent sleeping in Nessa's bed.
Glinda felt ashamed that she still couldn't sleep by herself. If she did, she'd wake up every two hours and search for any kind of danger. Furthermore, she was haunted by nightmares that never seemed to go away. If she did wake up from one, she'd feel better when Nessarose was sleeping soundly beside her. She smiled to herself when she thought about the younger Thropp sister.
The blonde was walking through the gardens while Nessa was cooped up inside at one of those boring political meetings. A while back, she had Glinda sit in on one and laughed after the three long hours; she had been so bored out of her mind. If you take over Oz or any place, she had said, just think of all the boring meetings in your future. That had been a major turn off.
"Miss Glinda?" It was Boq, and she wondered what he was doing in the rose gardens. "May I walk with you?" After everything she had done, the Munchkin was still enamored by her. The only reason why he stayed (Nessa had given back the Munchkin's rights) was because Glinda was still there. She wondered how he could still be this obsessed with her after knowing that she had killed and tortured people with visions.
"Sure," she smiled, and she knew she still had that cute look she always had. But the fact of the matter was, she was thinner and paler and she wondered if that made her look more childlike (considering she was so short) or if it made her look like a skeleton. It depended on the day, and currently, she felt like a skeleton. She only wore corsets because it didn't make her look as skinny and gave her the figure she once had. "What brings you to the gardens?"
"I like to walk here once in a while, you know, clear my mind," he replied. Despite the happiness he showed, she could sense he was a bit distraught about something.
"Is something bothering you?" she questioned him. He was silent for a good two minutes before taking in a deep breath and releasing it.
"The other day in the library, I was looking for a book to read. I have a lot of free time now considering Madame walks now, and she doesn't really need me for anything," he rambled. "Anyway, I saw you sitting on a table and Madame stood between your legs and you two, well…you were…" he trailed.
"Making out?" Glinda finished his sentence for him. "We do that a lot."
"I don't understand," Boq said calmly despite the tears shining in his eyes.
"It's complicated," she said to him.
"Are you two…in a relationship? Do you love her?"
"Well," Glinda started as they continued walking at a slow pace. "We aren't in a traditional relationship. And I love her, but I'm not in love with her, and she isn't in love with me, and I think she loves me. It's complicated," she repeated.
"I want to understand," Boq replied genuinely.
"It's more like we're filling a void of sorts. Nessa is very much in love with you, but you won't accept it. And I'm in love with Elphaba, but she's off Oz knows where and probably isn't too fond of me," Glinda explained.
"So this is just a fling between you two? And you love a woman?"
"Biq," she said and stopped walking. She took his hands in her own. "Boq," she corrected. "Honestly, things between you and I would never work out."
"Because you never were romantically interested in men," he concluded. "Well that's a relief!"
"A relief?" she arched her eyebrow.
"I always thought there was something wrong with me! Not that there's anything wrong with you, but I really thought I was just…I don't know, I thought something was wrong."
Glinda smiled and released his hands. She smoothed out her dark purple dress. "Maybe you can love Nessa like I never could because she sure can't love me like the way she loves you. Biq-Boq, you have to understand that Elphaba abandoned her, then her father died, and then she was put into power at a young age. I know deep down you love her or else you still wouldn't be here."
Some days, Glinda could be hostile. But on others, Nessa noticed as she watched the interaction from her office window, she could be the sweetest thing. Nessarose loved her with all her being and sometimes she wished she could fall in love with her. However, her love for the Munchkin was just too strong to ignore. She hoped that one day, she'd find true love.
Thanks for reading! The next chapter will have a bit more action in it :)