AN: Thank you all so much for your reviews, they really mean a lot to me!

Vinkunwildflowerqueen: The funny thing is that I actually wasn't planning on inserting any drama or cliffhangers at all... and yet somehow, it happened anyway :'). Not yet, though.

13.

After dinner, Fiyero asked her to come back to his room with him to continue reading together; and she hesitantly complied.

"Reading by myself is boring," he said, as if to justify his request, upon seeing the doubt on her face. "I like having you around."

She was a little timid at first, but once they were settled on the couch once again, she easily went back to using him as a pillow to lean against and reading her book. He watched her for a while, unable to concentrate on his own story.

"Fae?" he asked and she looked up at him. Instead of saying anything, however, he put his fingers under her chin, brought her closer, and kissed her.

It was different this time. Maybe because he did it out of his own free will now, rather than under pressure from hundreds of people in a giant ballroom; or maybe because it was just them this time, with no-one else present. Something was just different. Better.

He broke away, leaving her with a flushed face and wide eyes, staring at him as he comfortably put his arm around her to draw her closer and returned to reading his book as if nothing special had occurred.

"What was that?" she demanded finally, unable to believe that this had actually happened.

He looked up from the book. "Hmm?"

"Fiyero!" She slapped his arm in frustration. "What in Oz did you just do?!"

"I kissed you."

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, that much was clear to me, thank you very much," she said sarcastically. "Why?"

"Because you're my fiancée," he said simply, "and I like you."

She stared at him.

"Okay, "like you" is maybe a bit of an understatement," he admitted, grimacing. "I have… kind of been wanting to do that for a while now."

"Kind of," she echoed. "For a while now. How long is "a while"?"

He shrugged. "I'm not really sure," he said honestly. "Just… a while."

"But…" She let out a nervous laugh. "Why?"

"Honestly? I don't know." He shrugged. "You're hot-headed and stubborn, you talk too much, and sometimes you annoy the life out of me, especially when you're treating me like a child, but…" He looked at her. "You're also pretty, and sweet – when you want to be; and caring, and passionate… and I just like you. Can I kiss you again now?"

Elphaba, still dumbstruck by everything he'd said, dazedly nodded her head; and before she knew it, his lips were on hers again.

Fiyero did not see her again until the wedding. He hated it, but between the wedding preparations and everyone constantly fussing over him and his knee, there was simply no time. The physician checked him over all the time, prescribing him medication and giving him exercises to do. He had to try on his wedding suit and his mother and the wedding planner spent over an hour arguing about certain details that did not interest Fiyero in the slightest. Galinda visited him to inform him about the menu, the colour scheme, the flowers, the music, and the planning of the ceremony. He knew that Elphaba was enduring the same torture – having the final details on her wedding dress taken care of, being stalked by Galinda with silly questions about things the green girl did not care about at all, the king and queen coming to talk to her about her royal duties after the ceremony, and Kevon and Cyara trying to cheer her up in between all those thing… Adurin Iir felt like a madhouse, and Fiyero already knew he would be glad once this whole thing was over.

They did not even ring in the new year together. Instead, Humberto, Danna, Kevon, and Cyara spent it with Fiyero in his room; while Nessarose celebrated it with her father and Galinda and Boq were with Elphaba, though the blonde dragged her boyfriend off straight after midnight, telling Elphaba to get some sleep so that she would look fresh and pretty on her wedding day.

The day itself mostly passed by Fiyero. He allowed his father and grandfather to help him dress up and the physician to take a final look at his knee. He obediently followed them to the Great Hall, ignoring the many people that had gathered there for the event and waiting patiently until the ceremony would start. He noticed that Galinda seemed to have gone with orange – pardon, champagne and apricot – for the colour scheme and that everything looked rather fancy and sophisticated, which he supposed was a requirement for a royal wedding.

Nessarose, Galinda, and Cyara came down the aisle first, as the bridesmaids; and then Elphaba emerged, dressed in layers of tulle and looking decidedly uncomfortable, but more beautiful than he had ever seen her. He found himself captivated by her and he shook his head, realising that he no longer had any control over his feelings and that he did not even care. He was marrying Elphaba and he was actually surprised at how happy that made him.

They did not get any time alone until that night, well past midnight, when the final guests were leaving and Fiyero and Elphaba made their way up to Fiyero's bedroom, which he would be sharing with Elphaba from now on. He swept her off her feet and carried her across the threshold, grinning when she squealed indignantly.

He set her down on her feet and moved to close the door. When he turned around, she had somehow already undone the buttons on her dress and she carefully draped the dress over a chair by the window before climbing onto his bed and lying down on her back in her slip, looking as if she was resigning to a horrible fate.

He quirked an eyebrow at her. "What are you doing?"

She sighed. "I'm not in the mood for games, Fiyero. Just… get it over with."

"Whoa. Wait." He held up both hands. "'Get it over with'? What kind of attitude is that?"

"Just do it," she said and he sat down on the edge of the bed, looking at her.

"No."

She crossed her arms over her chest as if she could hide more of herself that way. "You don't want to," she stated. She averted her gaze. "Sorry. I should have realised."

"Shut up, Elphaba." He crawled further onto the bed with her and pulled her up to a sitting position. "It's our wedding night, but we did not exactly marry because we love one another to death and have been together for years already. For Oz's sake, I've only kissed you three times, one of which was under pressure underneath a mistletoe." He shook his head. "I'm not going to do that to you. It'd be your first time, wouldn't it?"

She nodded, biting her lip when she remembered his remarks about her being a virgin back when they still hated one another. As if reading her mind, he scooted closer to her and pulled her into his side.

"I didn't mean any of the things I said about that back then," he said softly. "I really didn't. Right now, though… I think I love you," he confessed, meeting her shocked gaze. "And I'd like to do this with you. But not now. When we do this, I want you to be comfortable with it. Kissing under the mistletoe because people want us to is one thing, but this is something entirely different. I'm not going to take your virginity because everyone expects me to, Fae. That's not the right reason to do this and I'm not going to. I'll wait as long as you want me to, and we'll only do it whenever you're ready."

He was unnerved to see her eyes filled with tears.

"Really?" she asked in a small voice and he chuckled and drew her into his arms, letting her lie against his chest.

"Of course, silly." He nuzzled her hair. "Like I said – I'm in love with you. Even if I weren't, I'd still care about you; we're friends, after all. The last thing I want to do is hurt you or force you into something you're not comfortable with." He stroked her long, black hair. "Just go to sleep, Fae. Don't worry about it."

She eventually drifted off, still curled up on his chest; and he watched her for a long time before finally going to sleep himself.

"Elphie?" a voice whispered. "Elphie? Are you awake?"

"Mmh." Elphaba yawned and rubbed her eyes, then blinked. She glanced over at the door, only to find Galinda there, her blue eyes shining.

"How was it?" the blonde whispered.

"What?" Elphaba asked drowsily.

"It," Galinda clarified, giggling madly. "Was it bad? Did it hurt? Was Fiyero nice or do I have to kill him after all? Cyara advised me poison –"

"Oz, Glin," Elphaba hissed, as she sat up slightly, suddenly wide awake. "Go away!"

Galinda looked hurt. "What? Why?"

"Because one, you don't disturb a newlywed couple in their bedroom after their wedding night," Elphaba flushed. "What if we'd been... you know... indecent?"

Galinda burst into fresh giggles.

"Two," Elphaba continued, "even if I were going to tell you about this stuff, I would not do it with my husband sleeping in the bed right beside me. For Oz's sake, Galinda. Haven't you ever heard of privacy?"

Galinda had the decency to look sheepish. "Sorry."

Elphaba grumbled. "And three," she added, "nothing happened, anyway."

Now the blonde's eyes widened. "Nothing?"

Elphaba shook her head. "I'll tell you later. Not now. Okay? Just... go away."

Galinda nodded. "Okay. But you will tell me," she warned her friend before quietly closing the door, her footsteps echoing through the hallway as she left.

Elphaba yawned again and rolled over, stiffening slightly when she accidentally brushed Fiyero's bare chest. She swallowed. Why hadn't she asked him to put a shirt on? This was... distracting, to say the least.

She scooted away from him and his eyes opened. "Fae?"

"Sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

"That's fine." He stretched lazily, giving her an even better view of his bare torso, and she flushed and looked away. He grinned when he noticed. "What? Don't like the view?"

"Just put on a shirt," she muttered, her cheeks burning, and he chuckled and reached for her. He wound his arm around her waist, drawing her closer, and leant down to kiss her lips.

"Now that is what I call a proper good morning," he teased her.

She extracted herself from his grip, muttering something about getting dressed. He just laughed and rolled over, stretching again.

By the time she came back into the room, he had fallen asleep once more and she rolled her eyes before leaving and going in search of Galinda, figuring she might as well get the stupid girl talk over with. The moment her blonde friend laid eyes on her, she jumped to her feet and dragged Elphaba with her into the room, closing the door behind them and turning around to face her friend.

"Spill."

Elphaba rolled her eyes as she sat down in a chair. "Nothing happened."

"Why not?" Galinda demanded as she sat back down as well, picking up her cup of tea. "Didn't you want to? Wait – stupid question. Of course you didn't want to. You've only been together for, what? A few days? And then you didn't even really see one another, what with all the wedding preparations."

"I didn't want to," Elphaba admitted. "Not yet, anyway. I thought I'd have to, last night... but then Fiyero said he didn't want to do it unless I was completely comfortable with it, and that he'd wait for as long as I wanted him to."

Galinda's eyes were wide. "Really?"

Elphaba nodded. "We just slept. That's all."

"Hmm." Galinda bit her lip, grimacing slightly. "That's... sweet. And pretty romantic," she conceded, heaving a deep sigh. "I suppose His Royal Highness Mr Prince is not as bad as I thought he was. Oz, I hate admitting I was wrong."

"So do I," Elphaba said with a wry smile, "but I think Fiyero gave us both some practice."

Galinda handed Elphaba a cup of tea and raised her own. "To second chances."

"To marriage," Elphaba added and they exchanged a smile before both sipping their respective drinks.