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"Galinda. We need to get up." The words barely processed in Galinda's mind. It was already ten minutes later than the girls usually got up, yet somehow, Galinda had managed to be convincing enough to stay in longer.
"One more minute… it's really nice in here," she mumbled back. This same conversation happened just about everyday ever since they had started sharing a bed. This moment had been about five months ago, a few days before they'd began dating.
Even though it was far more large, from this moment, Galinda's bed had been completely abandoned. Maybe it had been used as an extra closet for some clothes for a short time, but that was currently pretty much its only purpose. Because of that, the bed was completely empty. All of the pink pillows and blankets that had ever lain on it, were now either on the floor, shoved into a cupboard or closet, or on Elphaba's bed.
Elphaba laughed softly and ran a hand through Galinda's hair. "We don't want to be late, do we?"
Galinda just clung onto her body tighter. "Please? I absolutely promise I'll get up soon."
But Elphaba wouldn't listen to the begging any longer, so she untangled herself from the arms wrapped around her. Slightly offended, Galinda made an attempt to put them back in place. She was pushed away immediately. "My love," said Elphaba, now standing next to the bed. "you can stay as long as you want to, but I'm going to get ready now. Though I can't say I'd be happy going to class alone…" Leaving usually worked to make Galinda get started on getting ready, and today turned out to be a day like no other. At least, so far it was.
With a huff, Galinda stood up. "Fine. Only because you had to be so annoyifying about it." She made her way to the shower reluctantly.
---
Classes went by as they usually did. Which meant, along with other stuff, Galinda trying to be affectionate and Elphaba only agreeing to holding her hand.
"She dates the girl that half of Shiz wants and won't even pay attention to her instead of some boring lecture," Pfannee said from behind Galinda, obviously talking about Elphaba.
"She's paying attention. You should try it sometime," Galinda answered in a voice that sounded like it was supposed to be a whisper.
Pfannee was about to make a remark about the fact that neither of them was paying attention, but was struck by a much better idea. "Aww, look at you. All protective over her," he teased.
What Galinda realized pretty quickly was that—aside from her comment about Elphaba focusing—he was referring to her hand covering a green one, too. Her thumb was drawing slow circles over that hand, and she was staring at Elphaba as the girl attempted to make her work, focused.
"I—I wasn't—" she tried, a bit flustered from the implication.
Elphaba cut her off. "You do know I can hear you two? And Pfannee, I happen to spend lots of time admiring Galinda, I just don't when I'm trying to get work done."
Galinda, blushing furiously from Elphaba's flirting (if that had even been her intention), quickly turned her head back to her books when the class was told to be silent. The fact that 'perfect' Galinda got so flustered from one thing Elphaba said made Pfannee laugh, but he quickly stopped when Elphaba glared at him.
---
Classes ended only shortly after. Nothing that special occurred in them.
However, something did happen right after them.
You see, Elphaba had gone off to the library for some studying, and while Galinda was planning on joining her after she'd dropped her stuff off in their room, she was met with something rather… surprising.
Standing in the hallway, looking around as if trying to find something, was Galinda's mother. She noticed her daughter immediately as she came closer.
"Oh, dearest, there you are! I was hoping I'd find you in time.
They greeted each other with a hug. And it wasn't that Galinda didn't enjoy her presence, she simply felt nerves at the thought of her and Elphaba's relationship being mentioned, as it certainly wasn't a secret anymore at Shiz. She'd held hands with Elphaba, hugged and even kissed her where half of all students could probably see it.
"You see, darling," Larena continued, "I have an important meeting in an hour, and I saw how close it was to you, so I thought: Why not pay my loveliest daughter and her friend a visit?"
"That's kind of you, Momsie. I'm afraid Elphie is in the library, but she might be back soon." The word 'friend' echoed in her mind. She prayed everything would go absolutely perfectly the following hour. "Why don't we go inside?" The words left her mouth before she realized it would have been smarter to suggest sitting outside, or anywhere away from the evidence.
But it was too late to change her words, so she followed into the room.
---
They'd chatted for a while, both sitting on a small couch on a side of the room. It was mainly the usual stuff; how they both were doing, grades, when would Galinda visit, her friends, her boyfriend.
At the mention of Fiyero, who was no longer her boyfriend, Galinda flinched slightly. Larena wasn't really made aware of them breaking up just yet. "Uh, Fiyero's doing fine. He and I… aren't together anymore, though," she confessed, trying to recall why exactly she hadn't told her mother that earlier in a letter. She guessed it must have been because of all the realizations that had come with them parting.
"Oh, I'm sorry for you, dear. I'm sure you'll find someone else soon enough." She smiled, oblivious to the weight her words carried.
And how Galinda wanted to just tell her. Tell her everything. About how she had been the one to break up with Fiyero, not the other way around. About Fiyero helping her figure out she didn't love him like that because kissing him felt like a chore. Most importantly, about Elphaba. How happy she made her feel, and how loved. That feeling going both ways.
She didn't dare mention any of that. So, instead, she answered, "Thank you, Momsie. I'm doing okay now, though."
"And how is Elphaba doing?"
Galinda knew that question eventually coming up was inevitable.
The thing was, growing up, her parents had never even mentioned that romance didn't have to be between a man and a woman. In fact, Galinda only had learned this the moment Elphaba confessed her feelings, and the poor girl had been forced to explain to her that 'yes, girls could like girls' and 'no, it's not wrong in any way'. It had taken her a while, but eventually, Galinda had learned to embrace the fact that she requited Elphaba's feelings, and they'd finally started officially dating.
Because of her lack on education she'd received from her parents on the subject, she was unsure whether they were even accepting of her dating another woman.
She decided not to risk anything. "Elphie's great! We've become a lot closer over the past moths," she said truthfully. "Honestly, it feels like we've never loathed each other in the first place."
Her mother gave her smile, then seemed to not have anything left to ask and remained quiet.
Perhaps Larena didn't feel this, but for Galinda, the silence that followed felt more heavy than any of the confessions she'd previously thought of ever could. Still, she let it settle over the room.
A grave mistake, as that was when the older woman had the time to look around her and pay attention to the surroundings.
Galinda noticed this, and truly, she did try to come up with something, anything else to say. It was just too late.
"Tell me, dear," Larena said, merely trying to fill in the silence, unaware of how heavy the topic would turn out to be. "is your roommate still sleeping here? It seems to me that one of your beds is completely empty and the other one is full of your stuff, unmistakably," she said lightly, referring to the pink Galinda seemed to leave everywhere she went. "I do hate to assume the worst. I'm only a bit worried, since she's not here now, and it seems she's not spending her nights here either. Did something happen between you two?"
Yes. Something did happen. We found out we were both ridiculously in love with each other and decided to share her bed instead of mine even though mine is about twice as big.
She didn't say any of that, told herself she wasn't brave enough. "Nothing happened between us, don't worry about it, Momsie."
Galinda told herself that she wasn't lying. She was simply… you know, looking at things another way.
Then, Galinda could only hope no questions would follow.
A question did follow. Just her luck. "Then why exactly is there a whole unused bed in here?"
May Lurline have mercy on Galinda's soul. For the following seconds, the girl was unsure how to answer at all. She sat there, face hot and pink, trying to come up with something that would even remotely save her from the situation.
Nothing came. So she tried her best to avoid the question. "I—it's nothing to worry about, Momsie, I swear Elphie and I are doing just fine."
"Then why—" Larena tried, but quickly stopped herself after realizing what she had caused. There, on Galinda's cheek, a tear slowly made its way down her face.
"I'm sorry," Galinda said. Softly, like she was trying not to get punished for something so harmless her mother wasn't even aware of yet.
Luckily, the words were still heard. "My darling, would you look at me?" But Galinda didn't face her and shook her head. As much as she loathed admitting it, she knew she would have to confess eventually. And it had to be soon, because her mother was not going to give up on it.
"She's—" she tried to find the words. "We're… more," Galinda said, voice barely above a whisper. She didn't notice when she started crying a lot less subtly. "More than what you think we are."
Very carefully, Larena wrapped her arms around her daughter, not wanting to make her even more scared than she already was by making sudden movements. "My perfectest girl," she began, right before a sob went through Galinda's body, followed by tears landing on her shoulder. "I'm not sure I understood what exactly you said, but are you telling me that you and Elphaba are together?"
For a short time, Galinda didn't talk or give any form of a response.
Then came a small nod. The gesture was so small it might have gone unseen, but with the tension of the moment, it was noticed.
All Larena was able to do then was simply hold on closer. Galinda's breaths came in shocks, though she wasn't sure anymore why she was still crying; her secret was out. She could only wish for the best and await what happened. In the meantime, she hugged her mother back.
Hugging people was supposed to be a friendly or supportive thing. Obviously, Galinda was aware of that. It seemed, however, she'd somehow forgotten about that and was still waiting for a reaction to her confession.
It came soon enough. "Galinda. Look at me." She did—wet, teary eyes looking up at her mother's. She looked nervous for what was about to come next. "Don't you ever think I would love you any less because of something like that again, okay?"
Galinda paused for a moment, processing the words slowly. Perhaps she found them hard to believe. "Okay," came an unsure voice eventually.
"I better get going now," Larena said looking at the time. "Never forget what I told you, all right? I will always love you, sweetheart. And I truly am sorry I made you think I wouldn't."
They shared a smile.
"Thank you, Momsie. All is forgiven. I mean, I'm glad you accept me, so I honestly couldn't be mad at you even if I wanted to be."
Just then, there was a knock on the door, right before it was opened. Elphaba stood in the doorway, understandably confused by the scene she'd walked in on.
"I think that's my cue to leave," Momsie spoke.
And so, once more, Elphaba and Galinda were alone.
Upon making sure the environment was safe, the green girl almost instantly stepped closer and hugged her girlfriend close to her.
"…do you want to explain what exactly happened while I was gone?" she asked after a few seconds had passed. For a while, it remained quiet. When she focused, Elphaba could feel Galinda's body shaking softly.
"I told her."
That surprised Elphaba. "About us?" She just wanted to be sure. Galinda nodded.
"I'm proud of you."
All that received was a laugh from Galinda.
Elphaba pulled away from the embrace, then. She never let go of the hand that carefully rested in hers, though. "What? I can tell it took you a lot to say it. And besides, I know how how terrifying it must have been. I've had my personal experience with it…" Elphaba trailed off, looking down at the ground. She found she didn't like talking about how stuff had gone when her father had discovered that she had a crush on a girl from her school.
Well, he hadn't liked her before finding out about that either. Still, he definitely didn't like what he'd learned.
Elphaba then realized she'd forgotten a pretty important question. "She didn't seem angry. I take it she accepts you?"
"Mhm." Galinda smiled, and her roommate couldn't help but follow.
"That's wonderful, my sweet." Elphaba felt happy for her. Of course she did. However, she failed to suppress the jealousy that came with all of it.
"Did your father…" The expression on Elphaba's face that the words were followed by told Galinda everything she needed to know.
She grabbed Elphaba's hand and gave it a light squeeze. That was, the hand she wasn't already holding. "Oh, Elphie. And there you were trying to comfort me. You know, I am terribly sorry you've had to deal with a man like that your whole life." She paused, giving Elphaba a moment to take the words in. "I'm sure Momsie wouldn't mind an extra daughter—"
"Excuse me?" Elphaba said, though it sounded more like a laugh than words.
Galinda blushed at the realization of what her words might have implied. "Elphie! You know I didn't mean it like that," she giggled, attempting to pout at the same time. "Not that I wouldn't want to—" she stopped herself. "Either way, you know very well what I meant! And before you go leave me again to study, I'd like to announce that we will be having a sleepover tonight. Partly because I feel bad for you. But mostly because I really want to."
"We sleep in the same bed every night, Galinda."
"Oh but Elphie, that is so very different. Because normally, we just fall asleep. And now, I'm making us snacks and we can tell secrets and cuddle and not worry about anything at all."
"That—" Elphaba was cut off before she even got to answer.
"And you can't say that you're busy because tomorrow is Saturday and we have all the time in the world!" Galinda smiled in triumph.
Elphaba rolled her eyes. "I was gonna say it sounds nice."
"Just nice?" Galinda said in mock offense.
Elphaba made an attempt to come up with something as ridiculous as Galinda probably wanted her to say. "Absolutely fantastical?" she tried.
"Hmm, fine. But you better come up with something right away next time."
---
So they had that sleepover. They visited Galinda's parents for the holidays. Elphaba rarely saw her father again, and never again if you don't count the times that she was purely there for Nessa.
Slowly, both of their worries about acceptance and their futures started to fade. Maybe not everyone would be as supportive as Galinda's mother had been, but they were not going to let a few strangers' dumb opinions ruin their entire lives. As for their future, well… as we all know, a lot happened after a certain green girl had a meeting with the 'Wonderful Wizard of Oz'.
This story is known well enough by now.
Skip a few years, and there's Elphaba, the same green skin and the same black clothes Galinda—or now: Glinda—used to loathe her for, standing on the balcony that leads to Glinda the Good's chambers.
This time, she's not wearing her infamous hat. She'll soon reunite with it. And perhaps, there's something—or someone—far more important waiting for her in there too.