Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It starts by accident.  

Elphaba is used to the insults and the green jokes- she’s heard every version of them by this point in her life. Galinda isn’t even all that imaginative, calling her things like ‘green bean’ and ‘artichoke.’ She’s heard better, honestly. It’s almost amusing. 

The prank war, though, that’s different. When Elphaba had shoved her way out of the mess of Galinda’s pink luggage to find her smirking at her that first morning, she’d been overwhelmed with rage. Or- she thinks that’s the right emotion. Whatever it was, she was going to get back at the blonde. 

Piling all those ridiculous suitcases onto her bed had taken ages-- she’d even skipped class to finish it--but it had totally been worth it for the look on Galinda’s face when she’d stormed out onto the balcony. Elphaba had been the one smirking then, and oh had it felt good!

It snowballed from there. Elphaba would rearrange all of the bottles and makeup containers (she doesn’t even know what half of them are) on Galinda’s vanity. Galinda would “accidentally” turn all of Elphaba’s white laundry pink. Elphaba would spend as long as she could in the shower so that it was sure to turn cold as soon as Galinda tried to take hers. 

Oh, it made Elphaba’s blood boil just thinking about the other girl. Galinda Upland had to be the most irritating, insufferable roommate in all of Oz!

Not that she was keeping score or anything, but Elphaba felt like she was losing in their little ‘prank war’ or whatever it was. She was no longer getting the satisfaction of seeing Galinda’s enraged face whenever she was met with one of Elphaba’s clever tactics. Galinda, surprisingly, had perfected the art of complete indifference. Even though Elphaba knew she had to be screaming on the inside. 

Cold showers? Very much not Galinda Upland approved. But somehow, she finished her entire routine and walked out of the bathroom with her chin up and her smile victorious. Honestly, getting no reaction from Galinda was somehow even worse than getting insulted. It felt wrong. 

Elphaba didn’t know how to up her game, though. She wasn’t even sure she should. A small part of her could admit that what they were doing was petty and childish and that she didn’t want to cross a line. It was immature, especially for Elphaba who was the older of the pair. But she couldn’t help it. Galinda was just…she was infuriating! 

Her most recent idea, brilliant as it is, though, came to her by accident. It had been a completely normal day, and the girls were sparring in the courtyard during class. Figures that they’d somehow end up as sparring partners, too. A perfect reflection of their tumultuous relationship. 

Galinda is…actually quite good at sparring. She’s light on her feet, spinning out of Elphaba’s reach with the grace of a dancer, quick to strike but hard to touch. Elphaba would almost be impressed if she wasn’t so busy being annoyed by losing. 

It was the first time Galinda managed to knock her completely off her feet, the whole class laughing as Galinda stood triumphantly over her prone figure. 

“Well. Looks like even beanstalks can get chopped down,” she’d said. She’d hummed haughtily and tossed her hair to the cheers of the crowd. 

The insult didn’t even phase Elphaba by that point. But she was just tired of them, tired of wanting to constantly shout ‘Yes! I’m green! Deal with it!’ She couldn’t do that, however, so she just sighed, picking herself up off the ground and letting whatever came to mind tumble off her lips.

“At least this beanstalk gets to say she was chopped down by the prettiest girl in school. That oughta count for something.”

And it’s so stupid really, because Galinda must get told she’s pretty nearly every other hour. The students of Shiz adore her, they pile her with praise. But for some reason, when Elphaba said it, Galinda had frozen. She’d blinked up at Elphaba with a complete lack of words. 

And Elphaba had felt a smile stretch across her face. No- not a smile. A smirk.

“What? Not going to say ‘thank you’? Why that’s so unlike you, Galinda.”

Galinda had blinked quickly, her victorious smile slipping into a scowl. “Ew, I don’t want compliments from you,” she’d spat back. But it had lacked its usual fervor. 

One of Galinda’s annoying friends--Pfannee, Elphaba is pretty sure--came tumbling up to them, having only caught the last bit of what Galinda had said. 

“Compliments? Oh my Oz, did the green thing actually try to compliment you?” he’d cackled with laughter, turning to face Elphaba. “What? Did you finally come to your senses? Here to beg Galinda for a spell to turn you into a 'real girl'?”

Elphaba had felt her anger flare--she hated Galinda’s friends--when another voice had interrupted. ShenShen, of course, who Elphaba hadn’t even noticed was there. 

“Pfannee, Pfannee,” she’d chanted, tapping his shoulder several times and giggling to herself. “What if she likes Galinda? What is it they say? About little boys who are mean to a girl?”

The pair had doubled over laughing, Pfannee nearly hysterical. “Oh Oz, could you imagine?!” he’d screeched, crying with laughter as they fell against one another. 

But Galinda. Galinda’s face had drained of color, her brown eyes wide wide wide as she’d gazed, horrified, at first her friends, then Elphaba. A little ‘ding!’ went off in Elphaba’s head. 

Check. 

It was the best thing that could’ve happened, and Elphaba hates that it was Pfannee and ShenShen that made it possible. But oh was it sweet. 

This prank was perfect. It was beautiful. It required no effort, no planning, no physical labor. There was no risk of injury or missed classes. No, all it required, was a compliment. 

Elphaba enacts her genius new plan that very same evening, Galinda having stormed off with her friends, still laughing, and not returning to their dorm until after dinner. The result was even more delicious than she could have anticipated.

Galinda is sitting at her vanity, taking her makeup off, when she notices Elphaba staring. “What?” she snaps, glaring at Elphaba through her reflection. 

Elphaba pretends to duck her head. “Nothing,” she says quickly. Then she peeks up again, making sure she has Galinda’s full attention. “Just- I wasn’t lying earlier. You really are the prettiest girl in school.”

It’s fascinating. Galinda’s fair skin can’t hide a thing, not when she blushes that hard. Her whole face turns a delightful pink color, her mouth opening and closing like she can’t quite remember how to speak. 

“You- You can’t just- ugh.” She growls and glares harder, her arms crossing over her chest. “Was ShenShen right? Because I’ll tell Miss Coddle. She can’t possibly make me keep rooming with you if I tell her that.” 

It should be insulting, probably one of the worst things Galinda has said to her yet considering the underlying meaning. But Elphaba is too busy reveling in the way Galinda can’t quite look her in the eye, the way she tangled her hands in her skirt when she said the words, the way her cheeks are still bright pink, to really care. 

Elphaba laughs, waving away Galinda’s concerns just in case she really does try and spread that rumour. “Don’t be ridiculous. I don’t have to like you to be able to recognize that you’re stunning. I have eyes you know.”

Galinda seems completely speechless now, unable to keep the glare on her face as she gapes at Elphaba. Then she’s the one to duck her head, even the tips of her ears turning red as she spins around as though that will keep Elphaab from seeing. It’s the least composed Elphaba has ever seen her, and she feels a hot rush of emotion flood her chest at the sight. 

Yes. This is what true victory feels like.

---

Elphaba kept at it for several days, planning out when she'd have the most people around to notice. To see Elphaba knock Galinda Upland speechless. Oh, it was priceless. The way Galinda could never quite stop herself from reacting. The way Elphaba finally felt like she had the upperhand.

“Pretty,” Elphaba says softly. The students near her giggle lightly at the interruption. She hums to herself and internally smirks when she notices Galinda turn to her, a tiny frown on her lips. Elphaba pretends to notice her looking, blinking innocently and going ‘hm?’ as if she’d overheard Galinda whisper something. 

“Oh- yes, you are too, Galinda. But I was talking about the sky. It’s so pretty today, isn’t it?” 

The students laugh even louder, several of them reaching out to poke at a flustered Galinda’s shoulders. Pfannee gives a shudder, but ShenShen is all in, leaning forward to whisper something right in Galinda’s ear. 

Shaking her head like that will dispel her light blush, Galinda ‘humphs’ snootily and crosses her arms. “Yes, I do think it is pretty out today. Amazing that you’re able to notice such things being so hideous yourself,” she tries. But Elphaba is already grinning, the girl having set herself up perfectly. 

“Well, I notice how pretty you are all the time. So I guess I have to have some level of good judgment,” she says sweetly. “Or do you disagree?”

Galinda gapes at her, the other students ‘oo-ing’ in unison. There are several “ews” that make it to Elphaba’s ears as well, one student telling the girl beside her: “It’s like getting a compliment from the town creep. Gives me goosebumps!” They snicker, glancing between Elphaba and Galinda with hungry gazes, eating up these little moments of public drama. 

Galinda is without any comeback though, and she curls over her books like that she can pretend the whole encounter didn’t even happen. Elphaba smirks and takes her leave just a moment later. She totally won that round. 

---

The pattern continues. For every insult Galinda throws her way, Elphaba responds with a compliment. Her shoes, her hair, her sparkly eyeshadow- Elphaba will find something to praise. It throws the blonde off her game every time and has the added benefit of making all her friends laugh at her. 

Good. She deserves a taste of her own medicine.

“Oh my Oz, Galinda, can you believe her? The audacity! She touched me! What if the green is contagious??” Pfannee shudders dramatically, jerking further away even though Elphaba had barely even bumped him. She was just trying to get to her seat and the trio was right in the way of the door.

“That’s disgusting,” Galinda sniffs. “You should definitely burn those clothes.” But she’s eyeing Elphaba warily, something unreadable in those brown depths, and Elphaba doesn’t even hesitate. 

“We can’t all be gorgeously talented Uplands. Some of us have to actually go to class,” she says evenly. She cocks an eyebrow, pointedly making light of the fact that she’d just called Galinda both gorgeous and talented. 

It doesn’t escape anyone else’s notice, however. A few students nearby snicker under their breaths, and ShenShen openly laughs, her books nearly falling to the ground. Galinda does better this time, but there’s still a distinctly pink tinge to her cheeks. 

“Ewww, ShenShen, maybe you were right. How gross. Galinda- make it stop! It’s making me uncomfortable.” Pfannee shoves the blonde forward, and Galinda stumbles to a halt right in front of Elphaba, hugging her books to her chest like a shield. 

She’s got a frantic sort of look on her face as she stares up at the girl. “You can’t just say things like that!” she whispers harshly. Her eyes dart over her shoulder, to where her friends are still lost in their laughter and dramatics. 

“What? It’s the truth,” Elphaba replies. She leans pointedly to the side, tipping her chin at the classroom door. “Are you going to let me by or not?”

Seemingly unable to come up with anything else, Galinda does indeed step aside and let Elphaba pass. Her friends follow after her, Pfannee still giggling on occasion even after the class starts.

***

And so it goes. Elphaba finds little ways to casually drop a compliment into conversation with Galinda, and she continues getting to see the way they absolutely disarm the blonde every time. Her previous witty one-liners and clever comebacks are long gone. She can’t even seem to come up with a vegetable to compare Elphaba to. 

“You’re looking radiant today,” Elphaba will say. 

“That dress is fantastic on you.”

“Did you change your hair? It looks great.”

All while following up with something simple like asking Galinda to borrow a pencil or if she knew where Elphaba’s toothpaste had gone. Galinda continued to get flustered every time. She’d stumble over air, choke on her tea, stutter out a response that barely resembled a complete sentence. 

And always with that signature flush on her cheeks. Elphaba was coming to love the sight of it, of the way Galinda’s eyes got round and soft and her face turned as pink as her blouse whenever Elphaba praised her.

The pranks against Elphaba end almost as soon as she starts her genius plan. Galinda almost seems to be trying to avoid her, now, but that’s a difficult task when they both have the same classes and sleep in the same room. Elphaba gets to appreciate the way Galinda freezes up when her friends tease her, gets to hear the way the other students start joking about Galinda having a ‘green admirer.’

Elphaba doesn’t care about her own status one bit. Let the students say whatever they want about her. But Galinda- she knows Galinda cares. Almost too much if you ask Elphaba. And that’s what made it so perfect. Because giving Galinda compliments didn’t bother Elphaba in the slightest, but it was driving Galinda crazy. 

She doesn’t even insult Elphaba anymore- but Elphaba had already committed; there was no backing out now. She still hadn’t gotten that ‘thank you.’

Chapter Text

Elphaba starts paying a lot more attention to Galinda. She finds other things to point out than just the obvious notes on Galinda's consistently flawless appearance. She unearths the things that Galinda actually seems the most interested in or the most worried about. Those always seem to be the most effective in getting a reaction. Elphaba can't tell if she's embarrassed or what, but she takes a small measure of pride in how easy it is to get Galinda all flustered. 

It’s interesting, really, because Galinda gets compliments from other students all the time.  

“Galinda, you’re so pretty!”

“Galinda, you’re so smart!”

“Galinda, you’re so good!” 

They’ll chase after her in the hallways, swarm her in the dining hall, and even pester her in class, whispering about how amazing she is when she answers even the simplest of questions. Galinda loves compliments. She basks in them. She soaks up praise like a sponge and is the only person Elphaba has ever met who enjoys public speaking, constantly spouting off to the student body about this that or some other thing. 

She bounces down the halls of Shiz like she owns them, and she’s never without a whole posse to back her up. Everyone loves Galinda. She’s probably gotten compliments like this her whole life. 

So why does she get so weird about it whenever it’s Elphaba giving them to her? 

Elphaba knows the simple answer is because, well, she’s green. Galinda hates her and the feeling is definitely mutual. Like Pfannee said- it’s gross to get compliments from ‘the artichoke.’ But it would be one thing to simply be weirded out. Elphaba almost expected that. 

It’s the flustered, stammery, speechless version of Galinda that doesn’t make much sense. It’s not disgust. Elphaba doesn’t know quite what it actually is, but she’s seen disgust on enough faces aimed her way to know what it isn’t.

It’s intriguing. And amusing. And admittedly, the tiniest bit adorable. Elphaba can’t help but keep doing it. She even starts giving her compliments when it’s just the two of them, when there aren’t any crowds around to embarrass her in front of and when Galinda hasn't even insulted her first. 

“Your hair looks flawless today. Seriously. I know that takes a lot of skill.”

“You finished that math quiz way ahead of me. You must have a real knack for numbers.”

“Your voice is great. I can hear you singing in the shower, and you’re really talented.”

Galinda blushes every time, without fail, turning away even though they both know it’s happened. Elphaba doesn’t even bother hiding her grins. She wonders how long it will take before Galinda gives in and just says ‘thank you.’ She's willing to wait.

***

“That’s pretty. Did someone give you that? They must be trying to steal my job.”

Elphaba’s tone is teasing, and it gets just the reaction she was hoping for. Galinda freezes, her hands stilling where they’d been twirling the stem of a small pink flower around and around. Elphaba had noticed it in her hands when the blonde had returned to the dorm earlier.

For a moment, Elphaba worries her comment went too far and Galinda will figure out that it’s all just a prank. That she’s showering the girl with compliments on purpose. But Galinda barely even seems to register her little slip-up. 

“Boq gave it to me,” she says quietly. 

Oh. That little Munchkin boy that Nessa had befriended. For some reason, the thought of him giving Galinda a flower didn’t sit right with Elphaba. It didn’t seem the blonde wanted it, anyway. Still-

“That was nice of him.” She pretends to be busy reading when Galinda glances her way.

“Yeah, it…it was. He said it was pretty, too. That, uh, it reminded him of me because I’m so pretty as well.” 

Elphaba doesn’t think she’s ever met anyone else capable of making such a nice compliment sound so despondent. Did Galinda get so many of them that she didn’t even care anymore? No one had ever given Elphaba a flower and told her she was pretty. 

“Well, he’s right. You are.”

Galinda sighs, looking over and finally meeting Elphaba’s eyes. “You’re just saying that. Everyone only says that because I’m popular and I wear a lot of makeup and fancy clothes.”

That makes Elphaba frown. It’s weird- this is the most honest conversation the girls have ever had together. She would usually assume Galinda is just playing it up, fishing for compliments, but that doesn’t seem right. There's none of her usual drama. No audience to give a performance to. This is…just Galinda.

“Well, I’m not everyone. You’re not all fancied up right now,” Elphaba says, pointing to the fact that Galinda has changed into a simple (for her) robe and has taken off her makeup already, “and I still think you look beautiful.”

It tumbles out of Elphaba; she barely even has to think about that one. It’s true, though. Her compliments are always true, even if they aren’t things she would normally say to a girl she loathes. 

Galinda blinks at her, her mouth agape, and then she ducks her head, blushing just as strongly as she did that first night. She has a tiny smile on her lips, her eyes crinkled in the corners and her dimple showing. 

Beautiful. It feels much weightier than ‘pretty,’ does it not? 

---

“This is honestly really smart,” Elphaba praises. She glances between the two notebooks, frowning when she realizes how much she means it. The roommates have been paired together for a class assignment, much to the amusement of the other students, and Elphaba had been dreading having to actually work with Galinda. 

Weird prank stuff aside, they still hated each other- right? Elphaba cared deeply about her education, and Galinda often acted like she didn’t care at all. Elphaba had assumed she would be left to do the bulk of the work and that Galinda would just take half the credit. The girl had surprised her, however, by sliding her notebook over halfway through Elphaba’s proposed ten-minute ‘brainstorming’ time. 

Elphaba read it over quickly, admittedly impressed by the work. Galinda had really thought things through, including details Elphaba hadn’t picked up on. Elphaba already knew Galinda was good at math, but she may be better than Elphaba at science, too, it seems. 

“I can work with that,” she tells her. “I have a few suggestions, but that’s a really good idea, Galinda.”

She hadn’t even meant it as a compliment, not her usual prank-style ones. No one is paying attention to them as they all are focused on their own assignments. But Galinda still blushes and looks away, shrugging in forced casualness. 

“It’s nothing. I’m sure your ideas are better.”

“No, really. Science isn’t my strong suit, I’m much better at history or literature. This is very well thought.”

She shoots the girl a quick smile and watches Galinda light up at the praise. Even if the other students tell her she’s smart, Elphaba has a feeling Galinda’s intelligence isn’t an aspect of her that is typically highlighted by others. She makes a note to bring it up more often.

The pair actually end up working really well together. Galinda isn’t the best at writing things up, so Elphaba details their report while Galinda works out the specifics of the formula they’re trying. They have two days to complete it, and they spend over an hour in the lab working in perfect harmony.

Elphaba is forced to admit that she may have had the wrong impression about Galinda. She was far from your typical airhead, and she seemed to really care about doing well on their project. If she was being honest with herself, Elphaba kind of enjoyed working with her.

---

“You know- you’re really good at this,” Elphaba groans. “Unfortunate for me, but seriously, you’ve got to be the best in our class.” 

Elphaba picks herself up from the ground carefully, this being the second time tiny little Galinda Upland has knocked her on her ass. She brushes her hands off on her thighs and looks over at Galinda who is just…staring at her. 

“What?”

Galinda shakes her head, fidgeting with the stick in her hand. “Nothing just-” she cuts herself off, turning her head to look away from Elphaba even as she continues to speak to her. “Do you really mean that? You keep giving me compliments and, and I thought you were just teasing me, but…”

She trails off, blushing and digging into the cobblestone with the toe of her shoe. “Never mind,” she mumbles. 

Elphaba frowns. She’s not sure what to say, just that whatever little game this is that she’s started, she doesn’t want to stop now. She’s winning, isn’t she? She may not know exactly what she’s winning anymore or why it matters, but she likes it.  

“I mean it,” she says carefully. “I wouldn’t lie to you.”

She surprises even herself with how sincere she sounds. She really does mean it, though- Elphaba isn’t a liar. She likes getting a rise out of Galinda, but she doesn’t have to lie to do that. Galinda really is pretty and smart and good at things. She’s easy to compliment. Not the empty words her fans throw at her, but real compliments. 

“Oh.” Galinda’s face is still turned away, but Elphaba can just barely see the tiny smile that flashes across it before she clears her throat and looks back at her. 

“You really think I’m good?”

“I think you’re great,” Elphaba replies. She laughs and points down at herself. “I’m walking proof of that.”

It’s an invitation, an opening for Galinda to make one of her usual remarks. But the girl doesn’t take it. She just smiles, that soft one that almost verges on shy, the one that makes it all the way to her eyes, something Elphaba hadn’t even realized till right that second was so rare. 

She still doesn’t get a ‘thank you,’ but she feels pretty content nonetheless. 

Chapter Text

Their dynamic starts to change, little by little.  

The roommates have found a rhythm that feels lightyears away from where they started. Galinda has long since given up insulting Elphaba, but Elphaba continues to give her compliments anyway, just for the hell of it. Just for seeing how much of a reaction she can get out of the girl. She'll shoot a comment Galinda's way at lunch just to see her stumble on whatever it is she was saying, and then she’ll take her little victory to go.

“Why do you do that?” Galinda finally asks. She's sitting at her vanity again, but is turned around, her arm thrown over the back of the chair so she can look at Elphaba as she talks. Elphaba keeps her own eyes on the book she's holding.

“Do what?”

“Keep complimenting me. Earlier today you said you liked the way my tea smells. That's just weird.”

Elphaba had actually thought that one was pretty clever. Galinda had spent ages mixing her own special blend, and she'd seemed super excited that it turned out as she'd hoped. 

“I do like the way your tea smells. It's soothing and it makes the dorm smell nice. You've got really good taste.”

“See! Like that- why did you say that?”

“Say what?”

“That I have good taste!”

“Because you do.”

“Elphaba!”

Galinda whines, stomping her foot and glaring at her over her chair. Elphaba doesn't even try to hide the way a smile pulls at her lips, just barely containing her laughter at the girl's response. Galinda frowns. 

“You're teasing me,” she complains.

“No, I'm not.”

“Yes, you are!”

Elphaba sighs, finally putting her book down and looking over at the girl. “Galinda,” she says. “It's just tea. Don't you have homework or something you should be focusing on instead?”

That just makes the girl glare harder. She turns around with a humph, and Elphaba gives herself another little tally mark for the win. She's just about settled back into reading when Galinda's voice comes again, this time soft and unsure.

“Can you...just maybe not do it in front of Pfannee and ShenShen anymore?” Galinda asks. 

When Elphaba looks over, the girl's eyes are on her lap where she's spinning a ring around her finger anxiously. “Why only those two?”

“Just- I don't know. They're kinda weird about it, I guess.”

Now Elphaba frowns, remembering ShenShen's words that first day. The horrified look on Galinda's face. It's what had made her want to start- the idea that Galinda absolutely hated getting compliments from Elphaba in front of her friends. The idea that she could show her what it felt like to be so openly teased and humiliated. 

“Pfannee and ShenShen are always weird, in my opinion. You're both way prettier and way smarter than either of them put together. I don't know why you still hang out with them.”

There's a tiny pause, then: “You did it again.”

“What?”

“Said that I'm pretty. And smart.”

Oh, did she? Elphaba hadn't even been planning it that time.

“You are pretty. And smart. Not my fault your friends are jealous.”

“They're not-”

“But fine,” Elphaba sighs, playing up the dramatics and throwing an arm over her face. “If it bothers you so much, I will do my best to try and not be blinded by your beauty during class.”

When she peeks out her fingers, she sees Galinda glaring at her, but there's a tiny pink tinge to her cheeks that tells Elphaba she got to her anyway.

“You're doing it on purpose.”

“I have no idea what you're talking about.”

“Yes, you do!”

“Nope. Very sure I don't.”

Galinda groans, long and low, her head falling forward to land on her vanity. Softly, at least. Concussions don't make for easy compliments. 

Galinda doesn't ask again after that. Elphaba takes it as another win.

***

As time passes, Elphaba starts to notice that Galinda isn't even trying to loathe her anymore. 

The other girl actually waits for her to walk to class together. She sits by Elphaba at lunch. She asks about Elphaba's latest book when they're relaxing in the evenings. It's not at all the response Elphaba expected when she started this whole thing. She assumed Galinda would hate her even more for trying to humiliate her, even after the girl figured out that insulting Elphaba made it worse.

But surprisingly, Galinda seems to actually be coming around. The other students appear to notice, too. They don’t even tease Galinda as much anymore, seemingly having accepted this weird sort of routine the roommates had fallen into. They'll still nudge her shoulder and tell her 'the green bean's headed your way' and then snicker and ask if she's expecting chocolates today. 

It's lighthearted, though. It isn't the rude remarks Elphaba used to get from them. Neither girl is really under all that much fire; the students simply roll their eyes when Elphaba gives Galinda another compliment and continue on with their day. 

Like it’s habit. Like it’s normal. 

Elphaba had paid attention to Galinda before, but it’s amazing what all she learns now that she’s really looking. Like- how had she never noticed the way Galinda’s smile grew stiff and brittle whenever someone gushed about her flawless skin? Or the way her hands would twist in her lap anxiously whenever she got called on in class? Or the way she perked up in Alchemy and always triple-checked her work to make sure she’d done her best?

Elphaba takes note of all sorts of things about Galinda these days, and she finds, much to her surprise, that she honestly likes what she sees. 

Galinda is beautiful, sure, but she’s also kind, always lending a helping hand to a fellow student and making sure no one, not even Nessarose, feels left out of any student activities. She’s intelligent, yes, but she’s also funny, with impeccable comedic timing and an ability to light up the room even when everyone is feeling stressed about an upcoming test. Galinda is good, she hears it all the time, but Elphaba is starting to realize how very true that is. 

She’s good at math. At science. At Alchemy and Potions. She’s good at sparring and dancing and singing. She’s not just ‘good’ because she’s popular. She’s talented and generous and clever. And when she’s not doing her very best to make Elphaba hate her, Elphaba finds that, well, they actually make for pretty good friends. 

Maybe Elphaba should write a book. ‘A green girl’s guide on how to win over your enemies: spend all day thinking of nice things to say about them.’ She has a good laugh to herself at that thought. It really does sound ridiculous when she puts it like that, but hey, it worked. 

Even if it wasn’t the intended outcome, Elphaba is pretty pleased with herself. She completely solved her bullying issue all by being nice. 

Kill ‘em with kindness, they say. Maybe they have a point. 

She and Galinda even study together these days, Galinda helping Elphaba with her maths and science struggles while Elphaba helps proofread Galinda’s papers and lends her notes from history class. Pfannee and ShenShen are really the only holdouts, the only ones who still wrinkle their noses when Elphaba passes and try and convince Galinda not to sit by her. Everyone else just follows Galinda’s example now that she’s accepted Elphaba as a friend. 

Friend. It’s a funny word, isn’t it? 

Just weeks ago, they hated each other. Just weeks ago, Elphaba's whole plan was to try and get under Galinda's skin, give her a taste of her own medicine. Just weeks ago, it was working. 

Yet here they are, laughing at an inside joke as Galinda sits beside Elphaba at her desk. It's amazing how fast things can change.

Elphaba has gotten into the habit of complimenting Galinda. It’s easy, almost natural. She still hasn’t gotten a ‘thank you’ (or an 'I'm sorry') but she has a feeling it’s coming. She’s so close. Galinda has gotten used to Elphaba's antics, but that signature rosy pink still coats her cheeks whenever Elphaba comes up with something especially nice to say. 

The satisfaction at seeing Galinda embarrassed in front of her friends has largely worn off now that the crowd doesn't care as much, but Elphaba still enjoys the little reactions she gets from the girl. It's different when they're alone. Galinda isn't as tense; her eyes don't dart around to check on her friends' reactions. That soft little smile of hers only ever comes out when it's just the two of them.

If Elphaba were being honest, the prank part has mostly fallen to the wayside. She's not sure if Galinda learned her lesson about teasing people or not, but she's at least stopped bothering Elphaba, so that probably counts. Elphaba has no reason to keep at it, and yet-

That's the thing about habits. They're much easier to make than they are to break.

Chapter Text

It starts slowly, but Elphaba is immediately aware.  

The roommates have found a rhythm that feels comfortable and easy. It's hard to imagine that they ever loathed each other, ever spat insults across a classroom or dining hall. Now they sit together, Galinda drawing doodles on the corners of Elphaba's papers and blushing when the green girl tells her that her simple drawings are almost as pretty as she is.

Galinda rarely sits with Pfannee and ShenShen anymore. They're still there, too cowardly to fully leave the comfort of the social circle that shines around Galinda like a spotlight, but they aren't attached at the hip anymore. A few days ago, Elphaba saw ShenShen pull Galinda aside, leaning down to whisper something that had Galinda jerking back. She'd caught Elphaba's gaze over her shoulder when she looked back, and she hurriedly turned back around, saying something short and then walking away quickly, her books hugged to her chest.

Galinda goes a little quieter than usual for a couple of days after that. Thoughtful, almost, though Elphaba hasn't a clue what could possibly be on her mind. She keeps noticing Galinda watching her out of the corner of her eye, but the blonde looks away each time before Elphaba can catch her in the act. It's a change in their rhythm, just enough to make Elphaba wonder. A tiny hitch.

The other change, however, is less of a hitch and more of a massive stumble. A clumsy catch of feet that sends Elphaba tripping and spinning, brain reeling as she tries to process the turn of events. 

Galinda has started to compliment Elphaba. 

---

“Are you going out tonight?” Elphaba asks, watching Galinda get even more dolled up than usual. “That outfit is amazing. I could never pull it off.”

Galinda still blushes lightly, even after all this time. She nods, picking up a pair of earrings and focusing on them instead of on her roommate. “I-I think you could pull it off. Maybe if it was black, instead.”

Elphaba blinks several times, taken aback. Did she just-?

“No, I don’t think so. I’m- I’m too tall. My legs would look awkward.” 

Galinda shakes her head. “I wish my legs were longer. I look like a child next to ShenShen sometimes. You have a great figure.”

This time, it’s Elphaba whose cheeks fill with heat. She doesn’t quite know what to say. No wonder Galinda gets so flustered. Having that kind of attention aimed her way is weird. 

Unable to say anything else, Elphaba just gives a half-hearted hum--an ‘if you say so’ of sorts--and turns her attention back to her book, effectively ending the conversation. 

But it keeps happening. 

---

Galinda comes bursting into their dorm, beaming, waving a piece of marked-up paper in the air. “Look, Elphie!” she squeals, then slams to a halt, a signature blush creeping up her cheeks. 

“Elphie?” Elphaba repeats. She wrinkles her nose slightly and watches Galinda cringe. 

“I- I don’t- I mean- do you mind? If I call you Elphie?” she asks.

“Well, it’s a little perky…” Elphaba muses. Then she shrugs and smiles. Why not? 

Galinda lights back up, bouncing in place, and then gasps, seemingly remembering what she’d been so excited about in the first place. “Look!” she cries, hustling over to where Elphaba is sprawled on her bed. “It’s from Dr. Dillamond’s class!”

The paper she hands Elphaba is pink of all things, which is utterly ridiculous and utterly Galinda. She has normal paper- Elphaba has seen her with a notebook in hand, scribbling into it in the courtyard. Why she insists on the flair for essay assignments boggles her mind.

The part that Galinda actually wants her to see, however, is readily apparent. There’s a big fat ‘B+’ scrawled in red ink in the top right corner. 

“That’s great, Galinda!” Elphaba says. She knows it is, too. Galinda’s earlier semester assignments had been shoved into the trash, but Elphaba had caught glimpses of the various ‘C-’ and even one plain ‘F’ that peeked out. 

“It’s because you helped me,” Galinda replies. She settles on the edge of Elphaba’s bed, bringing one leg up to tuck underneath her. “You’re the brightest girl in school. I was hopeless before you.”

Elphaba once again feels her cheeks heat at the unexpected compliment. She doesn’t know if Galinda knows how much that means to her. Probably not. But Galinda is gorgeous and popular and rich. She’s got it all. The only thing Elphaba has going for her is her academics, and she’s been working hard to prove she deserved to be at Shiz after being accepted without an application.

Galinda’s words, simple though they may be, mean the world to her. 

---

Several days pass, and Elphaba starts to notice that it keeps happening. She’ll drop some simple little compliment, fare as usual for her, and Galinda will shoot one right back. 

“Of course you’d know how to make bouquets. Those look wonderful, Galinda, I bet the staff will really appreciate them.”

“Oh, it’s just flowers. Don’t think I haven’t noticed your little stained glass projects from your art elective. They’re beautiful, and I could never have the patience for that!”

“I wouldn’t have pegged you for a chess player, Galinda. You’re even better than my sister, and she’s been obsessed with it since she was a child.”

“You’re much better than me at Go, though, and that takes way more intelligence. Everyone knows Go is harder than Chess!”

“Did you make this all by yourself? Just another hidden talent of yours.”

“Psh, this is easy. You’re really good at other things, Elphie, like baking. However you bribed the dining hall to let you use an oven: don’t stop. Everything you make is delicious!”

It gets to the point where it’s just ridiculous, the two of them both blushing and falling into silly cliches. 

“This is amazing, Galinda,” Elphaba says one night.

“You’re amazing,” Galinda blurts right back. 

They both burst into laughter, and it takes them a moment to regain their composure. Elphaba rolls her eyes, jostling Galinda’s shoulder in reproach. 

“That was cheesy,” she admonishes. 

“You’re cheesy,” Galinda replies, giggling the whole way through. 

“Galinda!”

“Elphie!”

Elphaba groans, flopping down on her back on Galinda’s giant pink bed. She closes her eyes, listening to the way Galinda’s laughter bounces around the room. A soft weight on her stomach makes her open them again, smiling when she sees big brown doe eyes looking back at her. 

“Hi,” Galinda whispers. She looks down, her eyelashes fluttering against her skin, which is rapidly turning that delightful pink that Elphaba so enjoys. 

“Hi,” she whispers back. The whole moment feels soft and precious, a memory to hold close to Elphaba’s heart. Galinda leans more of her weight on the older girl, relaxing into her until she’s all but lying on top of Elphaba. The work they’d been doing previously lies forgotten off to the side. 

“I do think you’re amazing,” Galinda says. She’s playing with the ends of Elphaba’s hair, twisting them around her fingers. She fidgets when she’s nervous, something else Elphaba has learned. 

“Cheesy,” Elphaba chuckles again. But she appreciates it, so: “Thank you, though.”

Who would've thought she'd be the first to say it?

Galinda briefly meets her gaze and then ducks her chin back down. “You’re welcome,” she says. Then- “I mean it. Not just as a joke. You’re really great, Elphie.”

This compliment feels different than the rest. It swells in Elphaba’s lungs, warm and sweet and tender. It shoves up into her throat, trapping her tongue and preventing her from saying anything to dismiss it like she normally would. 

Elphaba really should publish that book. Isn’t it crazy? How two people can go from loathing each other…to this.

Chapter Text

The pattern continues. Elphaba keeps giving Galinda compliments, and Galinda keeps giving them back. It becomes almost like a game, a competition, to see who can come up with the most ridiculous things to say. The constant back and forth has them giggling and smiling throughout the day. Elphaba looks forward to spending time with Galinda now. This game is one she much prefers over their previous pranks.

They're hanging out more, Galinda choosing Elphaba over her posse and spending more nights in with her than galivanting around the city or whatever it is she does when she gets all dressed up. The other day, she had even asked Elphaba for a book recommendation, telling her that she was interested in reading whatever it was that so captured Elphaba's attention.

“Hey, um, Elphaba?” Galinda asks one night. It's the use of her full name that really grabs Elphaba's attention. She turns to see the other girl standing near the center of their room, her hands fidgeting nervously in front of her. 

Galinda opens her mouth, closes it, then opens it again, her eyes moving to look just past Elphaba's shoulder. “I- I was thinking. If you're not doing anything this weekend. That...maybe you'd like to go to dinner. Um. With me?”

She smiles shyly, waiting for Elphaba's answer. She looks oddly nervous, even though she and Elphaba have eaten dinner together several times over the past couple of weeks. Elphaba doesn't even hesitate before she nods. 

“Sure, I'd love to,” she says evenly.

Galinda beams, her eyes lighting up. “Really? Y-you mean it? With me?”

“Of course, Galinda,” Elphaba answers. Then, because she's not quite sure what to do with the strangely charged energy in the room: “I'd consider myself lucky to have dinner with the most gorgeous girl in school.”

Galinda doesn't even bother parroting something back, just bounds forward to throw her arms around Elphaba in a quick hug. She jerks back before Elphaba can even be startled, her cheeks dusted a faint pink. 

Elphaba just laughs, shaking her head fondly. A few days later, when Galinda is standing in front of her wardrobe and stressing about what she wants to wear because she wants it to be perfect, Elphaba laughs again. 

“What would Pfannee and ShenShen say,” she teases aloud. It makes Galinda pause, her lips tilting down in a slight frown. 

“I don't care,” she declares boldly. “Let them say whatever they want. They'll just have to get over it.”

She nods sharply, her blonde hair bouncing where it's bundled up in curlers. 

Elphaba can't help the way heat rises in her face, just a bit. It's not necessarily a compliment, not like they usually give. But it matters to her. More than Galinda probably knows. 

When they get to the restaurant, some fancy place in the city that Galinda had picked out, Elphaba twitches nervously, looking around at the well-dressed patrons in line with them. “They've probably never seen a green girl before,” she whispers. She tries to play it as a joke, but she's a bit out of her comfort zone. Growing up, she had to go to plenty of nice functions, but that was back home, where everyone already knew her. 

Galinda squeezes her hand reassuringly, looking up at her with serious eyes. “Let them stare,” she says. “I happen to quite like this view.”

It's cheesy, just the type of ridiculous comment they've gotten into the habit of saying. Elphaba suppresses her eye roll, but she still smiles and tries her best to come up with something back. “With you here, maybe they won't even notice. You're the best view in town.”

Galinda giggles, leaning into Elphaba's side slightly. She's got a glittering emerald hair clip in, the first time Elphaba has ever seen her wear it before. With her head ducked, it's right in Elphaba's line of sight, and she can't help reaching out to tap it. “This is really pretty,” she says. “I didn't know you had anything like this.”

It makes the blonde blush, oddly enough, and she pulls on the edges of her creamy white sweater. “I got it just recently,” she explains.

Elphaba wonders if it was inspired by the Emerald City. She knows Galinda wants to go there someday, same as Elphaba. “I like it.”

Galinda hums lightly. “I like it, too. Green's my favorite color.”

It's an utterly ridiculous statement seeing as Galinda has maybe five colors in her entire wardrobe and four of them are pink. But it's part of the game, and Elphaba already has an answer on the tip of her tongue. “Well, that's just perfect. Because pink happens to be mine.”

She's not even lying, really. The color that settles across Galinda's cheeks at her statement is a pretty beautiful color indeed.

***

It feels almost surreal to Elphaba the way her life has changed so much since she started at Shiz. Those first tumultuous weeks had had her thinking school wouldn't be any different than the rest of her life so far. Boy, was she wrong. And she owed it all to a girl named Galinda.

What Galinda does, the rest will follow. Their dinner had gone wonderfully, and now the pair were even closer. The other students had transitioned from hating Elphaba to teasing Elphaba to being neutral, and now, now they're even being friendly. 

“Hey, Elphaba!” a girl calls, jogging to catch up with the green girl in the hall outside of art class. It's one of the only times she's not with Galinda, the girl having a different elective in her schedule.

Elphaba slows, cocking her head to the side in confusion as someone she vaguely knows as part of Galinda's group catches up to her. The other girl smiles, brushing her hair back from her face and shifting her books into a more comfortable hold.

“Hi!” she says breathlessly. “Sorry. You left so fast; I was scared I would miss you.”

Elphaba has no idea what's going on. She's never talked to this girl a day in her life. She sits with Galinda sometimes at lunch, right? But she's never talked to Elphaba. Galinda has started brushing off some of her friends to take her meals with Elphaba instead, recently. 

“Anyway,” the girl continues. Milla, isn't it? Elphaba isn't great at names. “I just wanted to let you know that some of us were going down to the city tonight. Just to grab drinks and appetizers, maybe walk around. We won't be out too late.”

...okayyy? Why is she telling Elphaba this?

“Um. Okay.” Elphaba frowns in confusion. “Shouldn't you be telling Galinda, though?”

Possibly-Milla laughs. “Yeah, but I'm not sure if I'll see her today, so I figured I'd just tell you instead.”

“Right. Uh, I'll...pass along the message.”

“Great! Oh, and- we're going to Tinsel's! Galinda's been, so she'll know the dress code, but I don't know if you've gone before.”

Now Elphaba is really confused. 

“What do you mean?”

“What do you mean, what do I mean?”

“Isn't the invite for Galinda?”

Possibly-Milla looks confused now, too, looking up at Elphaba like the girl has two heads instead of just green skin.  “Well, yeah, but- you'll come with her, right? I know we're not really friends yet, but we wouldn't just invite half of you.”

The girl chuckles nervously, not quite making eye contact. She seems to understand that it's a tad bit awkward to say they're 'not really friends' when most of the student body had spent the first few weeks of school pretending Elphaba was a contagious disease. 

Also- 'half of you'? What, do they think Elphaba has to do everything with Galinda now that they're friends? Is that what it means to be friends with Galinda Upland? Elphaba is automatically considered part of her posse?

When she gives Galinda the invite later that day, she can't help being curious about how the other girl will react. “Milla, I think, she invited us to Tinsel's tonight. Something about drinks and appetizers.” 

“That sounds great! It's been a while since we've gone out. You'll like Tinsel's.”

She says it so easily, like she never would have even considered that Elphaba wouldn't come along. Elphaba hasn't ever gone out with Galinda's group before. 

“I'm not sure that's really my thing,” she says slowly.

Galinda frowns, looking a bit disappointed before she perks back up. “That's okay! We can just stay in instead if you want.”

“No, no, that's not what I meant. I wouldn't want you to miss out on having fun with your friends. You can just go without me.”

“Elphie.” Galinda walks over, reaching out to grab Elphaba's hand where she's sitting at her desk. “I don't want to go if you don't want to.”

She says it so calmly, so matter of fact. It startles Elphaba, and she's not quite sure how to respond for a moment. 

“Oh.”

Suddenly feeling like she needs to lighten the mood, Elphaba puts on her best smirk and says: “You probably have to study for this upcoming test, anyway. Sadly, the teachers can't give grades based on beauty alone.”

Galinda rolls her eyes, hitting Elphaba in the shoulder lightly. “You're such a smartass.”

“Mm. But you have the smart ass.”

“Elphie!”

They both laugh, and Galinda leans over the girl, tucking her chin over Elphaba's head. It's weird, having Galinda be taller than her. 

“I'm just kidding,” Elphaba says. “I know you'll do well.”

Galinda gives her hand a squeeze, and hums, Elphaba able to feel the vibration on her head, which is weird but nice. “We'll just relax in, then. Have some dinner, just the two of us.”

Elphaba smiles, nodding just barely so she doesn't disturb Galinda's position. It really is astonishing, how different her life is now. “I'd like that.”

***

“Elphie!” Galinda calls, their door slamming shut behind her as she bounces across the room.  

“Guess what! Shiz City is putting on a 'lighted boat parade' tonight, and a bunch of them will be coming right past the school! Head Shizstress Coddle said the students can go out past the Arch and watch!”

A parade? Hm, interesting. Galinda is almost vibrating with excitement, so clearly she's planning to go down and see it. Elphaba's not so sure that's her thing. She's in the middle of a new book, and it's chilly enough out that being down by the water will be cold tonight. And all to just watch boats float past? 

“That sounds cool,” she still says.

Galinda grins, stepping forward. “Do you want to go together?”

Oh. Right. They do that kind of stuff now.

“Of course,” Elphaba replies. “Though I doubt any boat could outshine you.”

It gets just the reaction she was hoping for. Her book can wait. Elphaba enjoys spending time with Galinda.

Galinda looks ecstatic, and she squeals and bounds over to hug Elphaba quickly before shuffling toward her side of the room, chattering on about what she's going to wear. Elphaba watches fondly, rolling her eyes when Galinda pulls out a short pink dress.

“It'll be cold tonight,” she warns. 

“I'll be fine!”

Sure enough, though, Galinda is shivering within ten minutes of them being down by the water. She had tugged Elphaba with her by the hand until they had their own little spot, her friends waving and giggling when Elphaba glanced back at them. They didn't seem bothered by being left behind, and Galinda had softly asked if this spot was okay with Elphaba.

“Here,” Elphaba says. She shucks her black jacket off, pulling it around Galinda's shoulders. It makes the blonde go all pink and cute, holding the edges of the jacket as she leans into Elphaba's side. 

“Thanks,” she whispers. 

She looks like she may be about to say something else when the first boat rounds the corner and all the students perk up, pointing and calling to let everyone know. The sailboats float past for the next hour, making their way around the bend before heading back to the city which glimmers in the distance. Everyone 'oos' and 'awes' appropriately at the way the lights gleam and glow.

“Like magic!” Galinda exclaims. "This is great!"

Elphaba laughs. You're magic, she almost says, a habitual comeback that nearly slips from her tongue. But it feels too real, too honest to say as they stand there in the dark, the colorful lights casting rainbow reflections off the water and Galinda's pale hair. It really does feel like magic. There's something special about the moment that Elphaba wants to hold close to her heart, that she doesn't want to break. 

It isn't until much later, when Elphaba is nearly asleep in her bed, that she realizes she finally did it. Galinda had thanked her. 

Chapter Text

Elphaba's not sure why it matters to her so much that the game continue. It didn't count, she tells herself. Galinda only thanked her for the jacket, not a compliment. It didn't count.  

She's not sure why it matters, though. All she knows, is she doesn't want to stop complimenting Galinda. Maybe a small part of her is scared that if she stops, if she ends the stream of praise, then Galinda will stop liking her. Will realize she never really liked her. Will move on to whoever is next in line to give her the attention she clearly craves. 

Elphaba isn't sure why the thought terrifies her. Somehow, someway, being friends with Galinda has become important to her. More important than she's willing to admit. It didn't count, she reassures herself. 

And so- the game continues. 

---

“Whoa,” Elphaba breathes. She pauses midstride, halting her journey to the bathroom to take a closer look at what just caught her eye. Galinda looks up just in time to see Elphaba shift some papers on her desk.

“Don’t touch that!” she cries, leaping across the room to try and shove Elphaba away. But it’s too late, Elphaba is already gaping down at the secret that’s been displayed. 

“Wow,” she whispers. Galinda is fretting, trying to pull the papers to her chest, to hide them, but Elphaba has put a hand down to keep them in place and the blonde can’t pull too hard or she’ll rip them. They’re stuck. 

“Oz. Galinda, these are amazing,” Elphaba says. She means it, too. The papers strewn across the desk are covered in drawings, intricate and colorful designs that nearly leap off the pages. 

Elphaba has never been one for fashion, but even she can tell that the dresses and outfits depicted in the drawings are beautiful ones. They’re expertly drawn, too. The fluttery fabric seems so real, Elphaba almost thinks it should feel like silk under her touch instead of the rough scratch of paper. 

“They- they’re just doodles. They’re nothing special; give them back.” 

“Just doodles? Galinda, I’ve never seen anyone draw this well before.”

There’s more than just dresses, too. Small bits and pieces of people, fellow students likely, cover the pages as well. A loose strand of hair blowing in an unseen breeze. The delicate grasp of a hand around the edge of a book. A half-finished pencil drawing of someone’s eye, the graphite capturing every detail of every lash. It’s incredible.

Is this what Galinda is always doing when she sits hunched over in the courtyard? Elphaba had known it wasn’t homework, but she never would’ve guessed it was this. She probably takes inspiration from the students around her. Elphaba can’t think of a greater compliment than that. 

“J-just- just give them back, Elphie, please,” Galinda begs. Elphaba looks up to see her looking vaguely pale and panicked, though she has no idea why. 

“They’re so good, though. You shouldn’t hide them, Galinda; they’re incredible.”

The girl’s face flushes with heat, her body rocking from foot to foot as if she’s stuck and doesn’t know which direction to move in. She reaches wordlessly for the pages again, and this time Elphaba lets her. Galinda sweeps them all up in her arms, her breath coming in quick pants as she hurriedly stuffs them in a drawer. 

“They’re not. It’s- they’re just doodles. Forget about them,” she says quickly. 

“But-”

“Please, Elphie.” 

Elphaba swallows her remaining protests and nods. Galinda has never reacted this strongly to a compliment before. Odd.

Elphaba tucks the incident away, ruminating over it later when Galinda has gone to bed. Something about the whole thing just nagged at her. Galinda was talented. And Elphaba had seen her doodle before- this was way different. Her artwork was utterly brilliant; she had nothing to be ashamed of.

Yet she had it hidden away, refusing to let even Elphaba see it, despite the fact that Elphaba had seen every inch of Galinda's notes and schoolwork. Had seen her struggle with her writing and seen her doodle all over the margins of her notes. 

Yes, odd was a fitting word for the whole thing. 

***

Elphaba tries to catch Galinda in the act a few times over the next couple of weeks, but the blonde stubbornly refuses to let her see her draw anything now. It stings, though Elphaba tries to brush it off. She's gotten so used to doing and sharing everything with each other. 

She ends up talking to Nessa about it, her sister having picked up on her mood as soon as she sat down at the library table.

“What's got you in such a funk?” she asks.

“Galinda.”

“What? Your girlfriend mad at you?”

Rolling her eyes at Nessa's teasing, Elphaba shakes her head. Then nods. Then groans. 

She ends up spending the next ten minutes explaining the situation, rating to Nessa over a pile of books they’re meant to be studying. “I mean- all I did was compliment her artwork. What’s so bad about that?”

“You infringed on something private, Fabala. Maybe she feels embarrassed.”

“Embarassed? They were amazing! There are students in my art elective who would kill to have that kind of talent.”

Nessa shrugs, distracted by her attempts to actually do their schoolwork. “Maybe there was something there she didn’t want you to see,” she says. 

It makes Elphaba think. Something Galinda didn’t want her to see? Like what? 

She pours over the question, trying to figure it out. It tumbles around in her head for hours, but she eventually has to dismiss it. The drawings were a mix of detailed dress designs and simple student sketches. There wasn’t anything scandalocious or strange. Nothing worth hiding. 

Galinda has made it clear she doesn't want Elphaba to bring it up, her cheeks flushing even darker than normal whenever Elphaba tries. But she has to talk to someone about it, her curiosity killing her, so she tracks down Nessa again the next day, this time finding her with Boq.

“Give it a rest, Elphaba. Galinda will come around. She likes you too much not to,” Nessa states. “I'm sure she'll show you what's in the notebook as soon as she's ready.”

Elphaba sighs, not quite sure she belives her sister. Galinda hadn't held her hand on the way to class today like she normally did. She hadn't doodled on the edge of Elphaba's notes in history. She'd even let Elphaba steal bits of her food off her plate at lunch, despite normally being quite fussy about that. 

Elphaba hates to admit it- but she's scared. She doesn't want to slide back into the loathing they used to have. She wants to stay friends with Galinda. She- she needs to.

“Guess I’ll have to put my book on hold,” Elphaba grumbles, thinking of how complicated the chapters have gotten the longer the game continues. She doesn’t even realize she’s spoken aloud until Boq pokes in. 

“What book?”

“Oh. It’s nothing, just some stupid thing I thought of weeks ago.”

“You’re writing a book? That’s not stupid, Elphaba. You’re great at literature; I’d totally read something you wrote.”

It’s nice, even if compliments from her sister aren’t quite the same as compliments from Galinda. But she shakes her head, not wanting them to be confused. “It’s not like that. It’s, ugh, the whole thing is ridiculous. The book isn’t real.”

“Then what is it? What’s so ridiculous?”

Elphaba blushes, not sure how to tell them this without sounding like an idiot. “Just, uh, this thing I started. With Galinda. The whole compliments thing. I only did it to get a rise out of her. Like a prank. Then it kinda snowballed.”

Nessa raises a single unimpressed eyebrow. “Your best idea of a prank was flirting with someone?”

“What? No! Oh my Oz, Nessa, obviously not. I just wanted her to get a taste of her own medicine back when everyone was teasing her and whatnot.”

Boq and Nessa frown, both exchanging a bewildered glance. “Elphaba-” Boq starts.

“I know, I know. It wasn't very nice of me. But we didn't exactly like each other back then.”

“No, I mean, Elphaba-”

“And I know you liked her Boq, but really, you don't need to tell me it was stupid. I'm aware.”

“Elphaba-”

“And that's not why I do it anymore! At least, not fully. Not for the teasing and whatnot; people don't even do that anymore. I actually like-”

“Elphaba Thropp!”  Nessa yells.

Elphaba blinks, thrown by her sister's unexpectedly loud voice. “Uh. Yes?”

The pair exchange another weighted look.

“Does Galinda know?” Boq asks. “That this all started as a prank?”

Oh…no. Oh no. Abort, abort! 

“ No, she doesn’t. And she’s never going to, okay?” She glares at both of them, trying to ignore the panicked beat of her heart. 

“Elphaba, you have to tell her. She deserves to know if this is just some elaborate prank. I-I think she really-” 

“It’s not like that,” Elphaba cuts off quickly. “It’s not pretend anymore. I really do like Galinda. It doesn’t matter how it started.”

But both students are looking at her with the same dissapointed expression, and Elphaba feels the panic grow. What if they tell Galinda? What if they do it while she’s still mad at Elphaba, and Elphaba never gets a chance to explain? That same fear from earlier returns. 

It rattles around in her head all day, making her distracted and nauseous. She has to tell Galinda first, before Boq can spill the beans. He doesn’t get it. Elphaba doesn't care if it was all a prank before. It's real now; isn't that what matters most? 

***

Elphaba gets her chance after their last class of the day, the students spilling into the hallways and eager to get back to their dorms to change and relax. She takes her time collecting her things, making Galinda wait impatiently by the door, and then she grabs the blonde by the hand and tugs her down an empty hallway where no one will interrupt them. 

“Wha- Elphie!”

“Just- just hear me out, okay? Please?”

Galinda seems confused, but she nods her assent. Elphaba takes a deep breath, trying to figure out where to start. She’d practiced in her head during class, but it’s all turned to wisps now, leaving her tongue-tied and sweating. 

“Well?” Galinda prompts. 

“Look, I- I just- I’ve really enjoyed these past few months. Truly. I’m glad that we're- that we've got this now.”

She squeezes their clasped hands pointedly, smiling nervously. Galinda rocks back on her heels, clearly pleased. She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and looks up at Elphaba with soft brown eyes. “Me too,” she whispers.

“And I just want to say, that I don’t care about our earlier, uh, prank war, or whatever. It doesn’t matter how this started, I’ve really-”

“Wait, prank war?”

Elphaba blinks. “Yeah. You know. Like with your suitcases.”

Now Galinda blushes, blowing air past her lips in a shaky rasp. “That was ages ago, Elphie. We don’t need to bring that back up.”

“I know, I know. That’s what I’m saying. I don’t care how this all started, because I really like where it’s ended up.”

“Well, of course. I mean, it was just us being stupid at first. Or me, at least.” Galinda chuckles slightly. “I don't think it really needs to be talked about. We haven't done anything like that in forever, not since those first weeks.”

“I- yeah, yes. I was just, I mean, with the whole compliments game-”

“Wait what?” Galinda rocks back a tiny step, squinting up at Elphaba. “What game?”

“The- you know. With the cheesy compliments and stuff.” Elphaba waves a hand awkwardly. How does she explain how this started without sounding too bad? After all, their fun little back and forth is way different than the almost-mean, very pointed compliments she initially started with. 

Something changes in Galinda's face, and her eyes widen. She looks nearly panicked now, her breaths coming faster.

“What are you saying? That you- that you thought this was all just a game? That you didn't mean it?”

“I-” And Elphaba freezes, unsure how to proceed. How to explain. 

Galinda shakes her head, staring at a spot near her shoes. “A game,” she mumbles. “I thought- I mean, I did worry the compliments were a joke. At first. But you kept doing them, and you- you seemed so genuine, so I thought- And then when I asked-”

“I was! I just, I was, Galinda, I was genuine. I mean, it started as a joke, but-”

“It did? Why?”  

“I don’t know, it was, it was just, I don’t know. You started it. I mean, you pranked me first, and so…” Elphaba trails off. It sounds stupid to say it out loud. She’s doing this all wrong. It’s coming out even worse. 

Galinda still has her head ducked, but she’s trembling now, her fingers white where they clutch her books to her chest. “So...none of it was real?” she whispers. Her voice cracks and splinters, raw in a way Elphaba’s never heard before. When she finally looks up, there’s a glimmer of tears in the corner of her eyes. 

The sight nearly knocks Elphaba over, and she’s unable to even stammer out a response. She doesn’t know what to say. It was real. Elphaba really liked Galinda. And she thought they were both playing the game recently! It was fun! She didn’t expect the blonde to look so, so heartbroken about something like this.  

She tries to say that, say that she didn’t mean to hurt Galinda’s feelings, but the other girl sucks in a shaky breath and turns away. “So, all this time, you- you never meant any of it. You were just making fun of me.”

“No, I wasn’t-”

“You must’ve thought it was so funny. ‘Stupid Galinda, how could she possibly believe that-’”

Galinda releases a noise frighteningly close to a sob and wipes roughly at her eyes with the back of one hand. It definitely doesn’t feel funny now, and Elphaba is at a total loss for what to do. She wants to explain, but- how can she? She’s still confused, and she hates the fact that Galinda is crying, and she wants to hug her, but she can't make herself move, and there's something aching aching aching in her chest.

“I thought you liked me,” Galinda whispers. 

Elphaba opens her mouth to reply, but she misses her window when Galinda finally rushes off, leaving Elphaba alone in the hallway with a million words on the tip of her tongue and not one of them making it out in time.  

She screwed up. She doesn’t quite know how, but she stands there, her heart heavy and bruised, and knows that she no longer cares about the ‘how.' Elphaba has seen many expressions from Galinda over the months. Loathing, rage, annoyance. Confusion, embarrassment, bashfulness. Delight, joy, excitement. She’s never seen hurt, though. She didn’t realize how much she would hate seeing that look on Galinda’s face.

These past weeks, they’ve been…they’ve been the best of Elphaba’s life. Truly. She’s never had so much fun before, never enjoyed someone’s presence more. She looked forward to interacting with Galinda every minute they were apart. Even if it started for the wrong reasons, Elphaba valued what they had become more than anything in the world. 

“I’m sorry,” she finally whispers. But Galinda is gone. Elphaba is too late.

Chapter Text

The problem with sharing a room with someone is that it makes them almost impossible to avoid. Despite this, Galinda sure tries her best.  

She doesn’t return that first night, and Elphaba spends hours tossing and turning, wondering where she may be. She’s just with ShenShen, she tries to tell herself. But there’s a sick coil of guilt that sits in her gut and makes it difficult to fall asleep.

She tries to apologize to Galinda the next time she sees her, but the girl blows right past her, pulling her friends closer and talking right over Elphaba. Even the other students seem to notice something is amiss, glancing between the two like it’s odd to see them back to how they were in the beginning. When they loathed each other. 

Shockingly, Galinda doesn't seem to have clued them in to why she's avoiding Elphaba. It's an act of kindness that doesn't go unnoticed. Elphaba is sure that, if Galinda said the word, the whole school would go right back to hating her in a heartbeat. If anything, that just makes the guilt worse. 

Elphaba keeps trying, and she keeps failing. Whatever she has to say, Galinda doesn’t want to hear it. After a few days, Elphaba quietly gives up. She’s willing to wait it out. Maybe if she gives her some space, Galinda will come around. 

But the thing is, whether it started as a prank or not, complimenting Galinda has become a habit. Watching Galinda, paying attention to her, picking up on the things she likes and dislikes and is good or bad at- it’s become part of Elphaba’s everyday life. 

She can’t help it.

“I really like the second choice. It highlights your eyes more.”

“Do you mind helping me with problem three? You’re way better at these than I am.”

“It was really kind of you- that move in the dining hall? Not everyone is so generous.”

They just slip out, Galinda having shifted from blushing at her words to frowning at them, glaring at Elphaba whenever she speaks up. Elphaba cringes each time, aware that she’s only making things worse by continuing. But they've become such a unit these past few weeks that she feels almost lost without Galinda. 

Galinda still spends the occasional night with ShenShen, but when she is in their dorm, Elphaba can hear her rustling around, restless and unable to sleep. She picks at her food in the dining hall, and she’s started avoiding her other friends as well. She drifts through the days like a ghost of her old self, and Elphaba knows that it’s all her fault. 

Fix this! she screams in her head. 

How? she whispers back.

***

“What in the world did you do?!” Nessa hisses at her. She's taken to sitting with her sister and Boq more often now that she's not spending all her time with Galinda. It feels wrong, even though that's how it used to be. 

“I messed up,” Elphaba mumbles. She stabs at her food with her fork, her gaze tugged involuntarily across the dining hall to where Galinda is sitting. The smile she's putting on for all her friends is impressively believable, but Elphaba knows it's all fake. Everything from her laugh to her perfectly curled hair. The girl sitting there is not Galinda. Not the way Elphaba has come to know her. 

“Clearly,” Nessa responds. She follows Elphaba's gaze. “Are you fixing it?”

“I'm trying,” Elphaba says. Her eyes stay locked on Galinda's back, her heart clenching in her chest.

Nessa softens, reaching across the table to pat the back of Elphaba's hand. “I don't know what you did. But I know that you two? You deserve each other. You'll get through this.”

Elphaba isn't so sure. If Nessarose knew what she'd done, how badly she'd messed up, she would surely be saying some very different words. 

***

It all comes to a head a week later. 

Elphaba is relaxing on her bed, her evening routine done but her mind still awake enough to read a few chapters of her most recent book. Galinda has just finished taking off her makeup, and she’s carefully twisting her hair up in the towels she uses to make her curls. 

“You should show me how to do that sometime,” Elphaba says. “Your hair always looks amazing.”

Galinda’s shoulders tighten and her hands freeze, shaking lightly before she balls them into fists in her lap. She doesn’t respond for several seconds while Elphaba mentally kicks herself, and then she suddenly shoots upright, storming over to Elphaba’s bed. 

“Will you just stop it already!” she yells. “I get it, okay? It’s hilarious. Poor little Galinda fell for your trick, hook line and sinker. You got me!” She throws her hands up, growling in frustration. 

“Galinda, I-”

“Just stop, Elphaba! Please.” Her voice breaks, her shoulders slumping as her previous energy drains from her in an instant. She seems so small of a sudden, looking at Elphaba with teary eyes. “Please.”

Elphaba rises to her feet slowly, reaching out to grab Galinda’s hands, emboldened when the blonde doesn’t resist. “Galinda, I’m sorry. Truly, deeply, I am. It- it did start as a prank, and I hate that. I didn’t mean to hurt you. And I didn't realize how important to me you would become.”

Galinda scoffs, trying to tug away, but Elphaba holds on tighter, desperate to make her see.

“I meant every word I said, Galinda. Every one. Even when I was just doing it to get a rise out of you, I never lied. You are just as pretty and smart and talented as I’ve said a million times. I- I screwed up, I know that. I shouldn’t have messed with you like that. But the compliments were real; everything was real; please believe me.”

Galinda isn’t looking at her. She’s very determinedly staring at the ground. But her voice betrays her when she asks: “Everything?”

“Everything, Galinda. It may have started for the wrong reasons, but it was just me by the end of it. Just my honest opinion and feelings.”

Galinda sniffles, one hand coming up to wipe at her cheeks. “So you- you weren’t just leading me on?”

“Leading you-” And Elphaba has to stop. Has to freeze to keep herself from physically smacking herself in the face. 

The realization hits her with the strength of a green bullet train. Her mind quickly replays all those moments over the past couple of weeks. All the sweet bits of Galinda and her snuggled together under a blanket or laughing in the candlelight. All those times Galinda had grabbed her hand in the hallway or smiled at her in class. Milla inviting them as a pair. Nessa calling Galinda her girlfriend. 

Dear Oz was she an idiot! Galinda looks up at her then, fear in her eyes as she takes in Elphaba’s expression. She shrinks into herself, what little hope had risen dying when Elphaba takes too long to respond.

“Oh,” she says softly. “I see.”

But- 

No. No, it’s Elphaba who finally sees. Elphaba who was so stupid, so blind, that she didn’t realize what was right in front of her eyes this whole time. Elphaba who finally understands why Galinda makes her heart beat so fast and feel so light. 

She doesn’t know what to say. Doesn’t know how to explain, how to even begin to put the tangled mess of feelings and realizations swirling inside her into words. She’s going to be too late again; she can feel it. Galinda is already pulling away. 

Do something! 

Spurred on by complete impulsion, Elphaba tugs Galinda toward her before she can rush away, the blonde stumbling into her chest. She looks up at Elphaba, confused and wary, and before she can get a single word out, Elphaba leans down and kisses her right on the lips.

It’s-

It is-

It’s-

Galinda gasps, jerking back to stare up at Elphaba with wide eyes. Elphaba has no idea what she sees, has no idea what her face looks like right now, but whatever it is, this time it’s Galinda who raises herself on her toes and kisses Elphaba right back. 

It’s amazing. 

They don’t part for several moments, breaking away simply to catch their breath. Elphaba’s head is still spinning, and Galinda must feel the same because she sways on her feet, dazed-looking as she gapes at Elphaba. 

The taller girl loops an arm around her to keep her steady, grinning when Galinda falls into her hold. “T-that…you- you-” Galinda stammers. Her chest is heaving, and she shakes slightly in Elphaba’s arms. 

“I meant it,” Elphaba repeats. “Every moment.”

Maybe she hadn’t realized how much she meant it, maybe they still technically need to have a proper conversation to sort this all out, but she’s all caught up now. Her lips taste like Galinda’s cherry gloss and each breath draws in the sweet scent of her perfume. Elphaba feels an electric rush spread from her chest, tingling under her skin and sparking at every press of Galinda’s body against her own. 

“You’re a really good kisser,” she says dumbly. It breaks the moment perfectly, one last compliment to send them bursting into giggles. 

Every time Elphaba thinks she’s wrangled herself back together, she meets Galinda’s eyes and they both fall apart again. The dorm is alive with the sound of their laughter, echoing in Elphaba’s ears and head and heart. Galinda finally stops, wiping tears from her eyes as she smiles at Elphaba.

“And you have the prettiest smile,” Elphaba says. It almost sets them off again, but this time, Galinda blushes, that familiar pink spreading across her cheeks as her smile grows wider. 

Elphaba leans forward and presses a quick kiss to the blonde’s one dimple. “I’ve always wanted to do that,” she says. 

“Shut up,” Galinda breathes, shoving her away. “Good gracious, you can’t just say things like that!”

They both giggle again, but it’s endearing this time. Elphaba feels like a huge weight has lifted from her shoulders, and she grins widely as she tugs Galinda back into her arms. This time, the kiss is slower, softer, less desperate and pleading. 

When they break apart, Elphaba leans forward and presses their foreheads together, keeping her eyes shut as she takes in the moment. “Beautiful,” she mumbles, and she knows without looking that Galinda’s eyes will have crinkled at the edges and her smile will be soft and shy.

Game or not, prank or not, major life realization or not…Elphaba knows, in that moment, that she won. No prize could be sweeter.

Checkmate.  

Chapter Text

Galinda Upland is many things. She is beautiful and she is intelligent and she is amazing at just- so many things, really. Just ask Elphaba. She'll tell you.

When Galinda had first seen the green-skinned girl, she hadn't had a word for the feelings that had clustered in her chest, hot and sparkling. She had assumed it was hate. Had assumed it was jealousy. Had let her friends confirm that was what she must be feeling and had made sure everyone else in school felt it too. 

She had been wrong. 

It is not often that Galinda Upland admits such things. But this time, it is the truth. She had been wrong. 

The way her eyes had been drawn to Elphaba across hallways and dining halls and classrooms? The way every word Elphaba said had settled, prickly and sensitive under her skin? The way she couldn't stop staring at her hair and eyes and arms? The way she couldn't stop thinking about her at all times of the day? The way her heart raced raced raced whenever she had Elphaba's full attention? 

That was not hate. 

Galinda wasn't ready to admit what it really was, though. So she'd put even more effort into loathing her roommate, determined to just make it through the school year and then request a room transfer for next term. Surely, she could last that long. 

But then-

Then-

Elphaba called her pretty. Elphaba Thropp had called her pretty. 

Not just pretty, even. But the 'prettiest girl in school.'

Galinda had been utterly speechless, unable to even process the way the words had sent a rush of heat flooding through her chest and up to her cheeks, making her look like a complete fool, no doubt. She'd been so grateful for her friends, grateful for the excuse to turn it back around on Elphaba. 

But she just kept doing it. 

Galinda couldn't help the way she reacted. She didn't know whether she wanted to scream or cry at the tangled mess of emotions that filled her whenever Elphaba so much as looked her way, let alone when she complimented Galinda. 

It- it was-

Galinda had told herself that Elphaba was just joking. Just teasing her. She couldn't possibly mean it. She couldn't possibly believe what she was saying. 

Yet-

“I mean it,” Elphaba said. “I wouldn't lie to you.”

Oh. 

Ohhh, it just wasn't fair!

How dare Elphaba make her feel that way! How dare Elphaba look at her with those clear green eyes and say she thought Galinda was beautiful. 

It made Galinda a little weak in the knees, and she stopped even trying to fight the way her cheeks revealed just how pleased every shameless compliment made her. She was sure Elphaba hadn't realized just how much of an impact her simple words would have on Galinda, but goodness did every single statement hit Galinda like a shot to the heart. 

Weak. Her heart was weak. And slowly, Galinda started to think that maybe that wasn't such a bad thing. 

Her friends did not approve, but she didn't care. She didn't care. Because the only thing that Galinda really cared about those days, was the way Elphaba would smile and laugh and tell her that she thought Galinda wasn't just good, she was incredible.

The open flirting got Galinda her fair share of teasing and ribbing from the student body, but even they started to come around. 

“It's actually adorable,” Milla said one day. “She probably didn't think she had any chance, Galinda. But it's so sweet! She really likes you!”

She did. That was the crazy part. Elphaba wasn't even subtle, didn't even attempt to hide it. She would drop compliments at lunch, during class, in the evenings when it was just the two of them. She would get this pleased little smile on her lips whenever she succeeded in making Galinda blush, and Galinda didn't even know if she was aware of it. She looked so proud of herself; her eyes lit up and glowing. 

How could Galinda not fall in love? 

They became friends first. They ate together, they studied together, they walked through Shiz's halls and Galinda pretended like the easy way Elphaba reached out to steady her when she stumbled didn't make her heart flutter in her chest. 

“Aren't you going to ask?” her friends pestered. “Come on, she's practically writing you poems!” 

She was, wasn't she? Elphaba came up with sillier and sillier ways to compliment Galinda every day. To the point where ShenShen took her aside one day, her grip hard on Galinda's elbow. 

“Do you like her back or not?” she'd said simply. She'd wrinkled her nose, her own distaste for the green girl quite clear. “Because it's getting ridiculous, Galinda. Like buck up and do something or put the weirdo out of her misery. No one wants to have to listen to her all day.”

Galinda had told her off for talking that way, but she ruminated on the girl's words for the next couple of days. She was right- Galinda needed to do something. She had let it go on for weeks by this point, too busy enjoying the way it made her feel to be so openly admired by someone who wasn't just in it for Galinda's popularity to even bother to wonder how it must feel for Elphaba. 

She had put herself out there. The least Galinda could do was the same.

The compliments came almost frighteningly easily; she barely even had to think of them. They just rolled right off her tongue, natural and sincere. It was fascinating. Galinda had never seen Elphaba blush before, and the way her cheeks darkened into an even richer green in response to Galinda's statements was utterly entrancing. 

She'd pulled out her colored pencils for the first time in months after seeing it. Emerald sketches filled the pages of her notebook, the vibrant color displayed in sweeps of silky fabric or blades of grass or startlingly clear irises framed by dark lashes. During the day, when she couldn't access her large library of colored pencils, she stained her fingers grey with graphite and charcoal, losing herself in the rhythm of drawing and looking up hours later to realize what she'd done. 

On every page, stamped in every dress or flower or piece of a person, Elphaba sang out from her drawings. Galinda's entire notebook was a love letter to her mind's most favorite model. Elphaba's beauty was captured in the detailed curve and softness of a lotus's petals. Her intelligence was found in the crisp, bold lines of a stack of books and the sweeping curve of a curious pair of glasses. Her bravery shook from the mane of a great lion. Her strength flew on the wings of an eagle.

And everywhere, everything, was green. 

Galinda had flipped the pages back and forth, watching as her typical depictions of colorful sunsets and bold outfits transitioned to a love story told in green and graphite. And she was suddenly, deeply, utterly, terrified. 

Galinda really liked Elphaba. She really, truly did. But what if...what if Elphaba didn't like her quite as much? What if Galinda was just a conquest? Just Elphaba wondering if she could somehow succeed in getting the attention of the most popular girl in school? What if the novelty, the excitement, the enjoyment wore off as soon as Elphaba succeeded? 

She kept that fear tucked in the back of her head, even as she giggled and snuggled in close and told Elphaba that she was amazing. They kept up a playful back and forth for several days, falling into a rhythm so naturally that it was impossible to believe it couldn't be right.

“You already banter like an old married couple,” her friends teased. They had seen it, too. And Galinda had stroked her fingers down the emerald edge of a lion's mane and told herself to be brave. 

“I- I was thinking,” she'd asked, her heart pounding in her chest. “If you're not doing anything this weekend. That...maybe you'd like to go to dinner. Um. With me?”

The sheer relief and joy that had come when Elphaba immediately said yes nearly knocked Galinda over, leaving her breathless and gasping as she suppressed the urge to grin like a maniac. She didn't quite manage in the end, beaming as she bounded forward to hug her roommate. 

She had a date. With Elphaba Thropp. 

It was utterly surreal. Galinda picked her favorite restaurant in town and dressed to the nines, her hair and makeup flawless. Elphaba had put on her best outfit as well, and they made quite the stunning pair as they entered the city. Galinda doesn't even remember what she had to eat that night. Not a single thing about that meal had mattered more to her than the way Elphaba had let her lean into her side and declared that pink was her favorite color. 

By the time the boat parade came to Shiz, Galinda felt she and Elphaba had fallen into something close to perfection. Elphaba was just as sweet, just as kind and complimentary and thoughtful, as a girlfriend as she was a friend or roommate. It was pretty incredible to see how far they'd come. Galinda tried hard not to think of the embarrassing days when she'd been too scared of her own reputation falling to realize how lucky she was that fate had sent her Elphaba Thropp. 

“Here,” Elphaba had said. She'd shucked her black jacket off, pulling it around Galinda's shoulders. It made the blonde go all pink and cute, holding the edges of the jacket as she leaned into Elphaba's side. 

“Thanks,” Galinda had whispered. She'd meant it. For everything. 

Galinda had wanted to say more, had had the words on the tip of her tongue, a desire rising to tell Elphaba just how much she meant to Galinda while she was feeling the slightest bit of courage. But the excited shouts from her fellow students had broken the moment, and she let herself get distracted instead of focusing on the way her heart still pounded against her ribs.

One of these days, she would tell Elphaba what she really felt, she'd thought. Elphaba was the first to say something nice. The first to reach out. Galinda wanted to be the first to say that. 

***

Elphaba finding her notebooks had been...it had been decidedly more terrifying than Galinda would've expected. 

Galinda had looked up just in time to see Elphaba shift some papers on her desk, and she felt her heart drop to her stomach as she realized what was about to be revealed. 

“Don’t touch that!” she'd cried, leaping across the room to try and shove Elphaba away. But it was too late; Elphaba was already gaping down at the secret that had been displayed. 

Galinda's heart didn't settle back into her chest for nearly an hour after Elphaba had dropped the issue. She's not sure why it scared her so much, just that, in the moment, she'd realized she wasn't quite ready for Elphaba to see. To know how much Galinda had thought of her, had watched and admired her every single day. 

Would Elphaba be freaked out? Creeped out? Would she think Galinda was desperate? Or pathetic? Would she feel like it was weird? 

Oh, what was she thinking. Of course, it was weird! Galinda's notebooks were filled to the brim with drawing after drawing of Elphaba.

Galinda hadn't worked up the courage to say the words yet, but the idea of them was written into every line of emerald ink that flowed across those pages. The moment had to be special. It had to be meaningful. And Galinda was-

She was just-

She was not ready. 

So she waited, hoping Elphaba would forget about the whole thing. She felt her anxiety spike when the green girl took her aside after class, sure that she was about to demand that Galinda tell her what she had been hiding. 

Elphaba didn't say that. 

She said something much much worse. 

“What are you saying?” Galinda's voice cracked with every word. “That you- that you thought this was all just a game? That you didn't mean it?”

As she'd watched Elphaba freeze, her face giving everything away, something in Galinda had snapped, her chest caving in and collapsing, leaving her aching and unable to breathe.

She'd choked on a sob, blinking tears from her eyes that she was too angry to want to let fall. There was a burning sensation under her skin, a desire to run and run and never return, filling her and shaking her apart. She could barely stand to look at Elphaba, an awful mix of humiliation and shame and anger and hurt clouding her vision. 

“I thought you liked me,” Galinda had whispered. I thought I loved you. 

When she'd finally run, she'd felt as though she may have left her heart trampled in the dust behind her. 

***

Galinda did her very best to avoid Elphaba in the days following. 

That night, she had snuck over to Milla's and begged her friend not to ask any questions. She hadn't wanted to tell her friends the truth of what happened. Of how easily Galinda had been played. 

When she returned to the dorm, she'd tried tried tried not to pay any attention to Elphaba. But the girl made it so difficult!

She'd won. Her stupid little game was over. She'd succeeded. 

But she'd still been so determinedly cruel to Galinda, still showering her with compliments that she had to have known just twisted the knife deeper. Each compliment had been like a stab to the heart- the soft, tender parts of it that had almost been ready, almost been brave, now shriveled and torn. 

“Will you just stop it already!” she'd finally yelled, confronting the girl about her cruel, wicked tactics. 

She'd expected to walk out of there in tears. 

What happened instead was much much better. 

***

The conversation goes even better the second time around. It's lengthy, there's less tears involved, and Galinda feels something settle in her bones, a relief sinking through her skin now that she knows, for sure this time, that she and Elphaba are on the same page. 

In the end, though, surprisingly little changes about their everyday life. They go back to the way things were before Elphaba fumbled her way through the world's worst explanation. The green girl tries her best to make it up to Galinda just a few days later, approaching her on Friday morning with a nervous grin. 

“I was thinking,” she starts, taking Galinda's hands in her own and giving her a tiny wink. “That maybe you'd like to go to dinner. With me.”

Galinda doesn't think she's ever smiled so hard before. 

As the days slide past, she works back up the courage that she'd almost had the first time around. She decides to start small- or, maybe not so small.

“I have something to show you,” she says, voice full of nerves. She's got one of her notebooks hugged to her chest, and she can see the way Elphaba's eyes light up even though the other girl does her the favor of pretending restraint. 

“Only if you're ready,” Elphaba replies, and that, if anything, solidifies Galinda's resolve. 

The awed gasp that leaves Elphaba's mouth when Galinda opens to the first page sends sparks of pleased warmth through Galinda's body. She almost shivers in delight, in the way that Elphaba's been knocked speechless as she wordlessly flips the pages. 

“Galinda,” she breathes. “This is...it's beyond incredible.” Elphaba turns her head, her eyes wide and shining. “You're incredible.”

Even after all this time, the words never fail to make Galinda blush. She beams up at the taller girl, the nerves and pleasure twisting in her gut until she can't help the way she wiggles in place. She rocks forward to hug Elphaba, winding her arms around her. 

“You mean it?” she can't help but double-check.

“I always mean it.”

Galinda tucks her head down into the curve of Elphaba's neck, sure that the other girl can feel how hot her cheeks are. Elphaba is still looking at the drawings, and Galinda doesn't know if she's realized yet. She peeks out when she senses Elphaba freeze, and she feels her heart skip a beat when she sees the distinct curve of a pair of glasses framing clear green eyes.

“Oh,” Elphaba whispers.

Oh? Oh??

What does that mean?!

Galinda squeaks, turning so her back is to Elphaba's chest. One of Elphaba's hands stops her before she can instinctively slam the notebook shut.

“No, wait,” Elphaba says. “I didn't mean it in a bad way.”

“I'm sorry,” Galinda whispers. “I should've asked if you were okay with me drawing you.”

“I'm glad you didn't,” Elphaba replies. She cringes, Galinda able to feel her twitch even without looking at her face. “I mean- I would've loved to know about these. But Galinda...they're amazing. You don't have anything to apologize for. Ever. I'd never be mad about something like this.”

“Really? It doesn't make you uncomfortable?”

“Uncomfortable? No, not at all. If anything, I'm flattered.”

Elphaba turns Galinda back around so they can look at each other. She smiles, leaning down to press a quick kiss to Galinda's furrowed brow. “I love them,” she promises.

Galinda breathes a tiny sigh of relief, feeling the panic vanish as a different sort of flutter takes over in her gut. “I couldn't help it,” she explains. She switches her voice to something just on the edge of teasing. “You were just so beautiful.”

It does the trick, Elphaba breaking out into a wide and toothy grin. Galinda feels herself melt at the look, and her fingers itch for a pencil, something that makes her giggle to herself. 

“What?” Elphaba asks.

“Nothing. Just- you're proving my point.” Galinda reaches out and pokes the sides of Elphaba's cheeks with her pointer fingers, grinning now herself.

Elphaba rolls her eyes and turns her head to kiss one of Galinda's palms. “You're ridiculous,” she says.

“No, you're ridiculous!” Galinda pokes at Elphaba's nose this time, giggling madly. 

Growling playfully, Elphaba spins her around, trapping Galinda's hands in both of her own and leaning forward to hook her chin over Galinda's shoulder, effectively pinning her in place. Both their bodies shake with laughter, and Galinda leans back until Elphaba is forced to practically hold her up. The taller girl nips at her ear, and Galinda squeals in something very close to utter delight.

“Ridiculous,” Elphaba says again, endlessly fond. She lets go with one hand to flip the notebook to another page, this one a spread of various doodles, parts and pieces of a person who is unmistakably Elphaba herself. 

“These really are incredible, though,” Elphaba sighs. “I wish I could draw like this.”

“You do?”

Elphaba nods down at the pictures, her chin knocking against Galinda's shoulder. “Seeing these...it's almost like I get to see myself through your eyes. You're the first person who has ever thought I was beautiful.” She sighs and runs a finger gently down the curve of a cheek. “You're the first person who ever made me believe I was beautiful.”

Galinda feels her heart soar, her knees going weak at the praise. She's not even sure Elphaba realizes how much those words specifically mean. There are compliments, sure, but then there are truths. 

“If I could draw like this,” Elphaba continues, entirely unaware of the effect she's having on the girl in her arms. “Then maybe I could attempt to capture even a sliver of the beauty that I see in you.”

Oh, Oz damn her! How does she always manage to say such wonderful awful things!

“You can't just say things like that!” Galinda whines. Heat rushes through her, pooling in more than just her cheeks. 

“Why not? It's true.”

Galinda groans, spinning around and bringing a hand up to drag Elphaba down for a kiss. She nips at her bottom lip reproachfully before finally letting go. 

Galinda takes a deep breath, settling her racing heart just a tad as she looks from the drawings back up the face they represent. “Thank you,” she finally says, a breathy whisper that feels heavier than it should. 

A slow smile spreads across Elphaba's face, growing and growing and making her eyes sparkle as she breaks into laughter that has her bending nearly in half. Galinda blinks, startled and unsure, trying to figure out why the girl reacted so powerfully. 

“What? What did I say?!”

Elphaba can barely speak through the laughter, tears pooling in her eyes as she stutters and tries to say something that sounds only like broken syllables. She raises a hand, closing her eyes and drawing in a huge breath, holding it, and releasing it. She does it again. And a third time. 

Galinda jigs anxiously, replaying her last words in her head. “What did I say?” she repeats. 

Elphaba shakes her head, eyes still closed, then she abruptly reaches out and yanks Galinda into another kiss. This time, Elphaba leads, and the two don't come up for air for several long seconds. Galinda feels her anxiety melt away, and a more lighthearted curiosity rises to take its place. 

“What did I say?” she whispers one last time.

Elphaba grins against her lips. “You're welcome,” she answers instead.

“What?”

Elphaba opens her eyes and meets Galinda's, the emerald orbs sparkling with humor and mischief. “You're welcome.”

“I don't unders-”

Galinda pauses. Frowns. Narrows her eyes. 

Elphaba breaks out laughing again at her expression as Galinda comes to a slow realization. “I've said thank you before!” she cries.

Her girlfriend shakes her head, still laughing. 

“Elphaba Thropp! You stop that this instant!” Galinda slams one foot on the ground, crossing her arms with a huff.

Internally, she replays the last several weeks of her life, trying desperately to come up with a time she's thanked Elphaba for the sweet compliments she always gives her. Surely...surely she has! Right??

Oh Oz, she thinks. Maybe she really hasn't!

Galinda huffs and pouts and tries to come up with something else to say before finally admitting defeat. She lets herself fall forward until her forehead lands on Elphaba's chest. “I'm sorry,” she grumbles. 

“For what?”

“You know what.”

“Hm. You may need to remind me.”

Blushing for an entirely different reason now, Galinda whines long and low. “Elphieeee.”

“Yes, my sweet?”

Galinda shuffles closer, her words even more muffled. “Thank you.” 

“What was that? I couldn't quite hear you.”

Galinda headbutts Elphaba gently, then rocks back and glares up at her. “I said: Thank you.”

“Oh. Well, then, you're very welcome.” Elphaba grins mischievously. “What are you thanking me for?”

Galinda glares harder. “You're enjoying this, aren't you?”

“Enjoying what?”

“This! Have you just been waiting for me to finally say it?”

“Say what?”

“ELPHABA.”

Elphaba laughs once more and leans down to peck Galinda on her pouting lips. “I'm just teasing,” she says. 

Galinda gives in instantly, unable to hide the way her pout turns into a smile. “I mean it,” she says, parroting back Elphaba's own words. 

“Mean what?” Elphaba says, but this time, Galinda doesn't protest. 

“Thank you, Elphie,” she says.

The sheer sincerity in her words seems to silence the taller girl. Galinda takes the opportunity to take Elphaba's hands in her own, pressing a kiss to the back of both knuckles. In that moment, before any more jokes or teasing or laughter can break it, Galinda gathers her courage, takes a breath, and finally says what she's been trying to for weeks. 

“I love you, Elphaba Thropp.”

Three words. Short. Simple. Nothing to them, really. But the way they make Elphaba's whole face shine is worth more than all the popularity in the world. Galinda would give up everything, everyone else, if only she got to spend the rest of her life being looked at the way she is right now. 

“I love you, too, Galinda Upland.” Elphaba squeezes both of Galinda's hands. “I mean it.”

Galinda is sure she's as red as a rose, but she doesn't care in the slightest. There are no words to describe the way she feels right now, and she's sure she wouldn't be able to capture the look on Elphaba's face no matter how many hours she spent trying. 

That's the thing about the game of love. Who said there couldn't be two winners?