soph

the time their classes started. the time elphaba and glinda were supposed to be dressed. sitting in their seats. chatting as the large group of students rolled in.

yet, here they were. both still in their pajamas. still under their warm covers. the blonde girl on the other side of the room still dead asleep.

elphaba scurried out of bed. she wasn’t sure what to do first. she was still disoriented. confused on what was real and what was still dreamland. she looked at her friend, hearing her toss and turn but still failing to open her eyes.

wake glinda up, right!

“glinda,” elphaba said hurriedly, not caring to be soft with her tone as she typically would be towards her.

she didn’t budge. and as much as elphaba wanted to throw on her clothes and just run out of the door without her, she couldn’t do that. glinda was failing that class to begin with and she couldn’t dig a deeper hole. either way, glinda always seemed to charm her way out of either being late or missing class and elphaba wasn’t sure that she herself would be able to do that without the blonde girl.

she walked over to glinda’s bed. she wasn’t sure she had ever seen the girl be this dead to the world before. she shook her slightly, calling out her name again. this seemed to stir her enough to slightly gain consciousness.

glinda groaned. low and throaty. elphaba could’ve mistaken it for the sound of a wounded animal's lament. glinda rolled her body towards elphaba. she had yet to open her eyes, sleeping just like princess aurora under a spell. elphaba wanted to be the one to kiss her awake.

“it’s nine in the morning, we are way past late. get up!” elphaba hadn’t said it quite harshly, but her tone remained stern enough to cause glinda to finally flutter her eyes fully open.

when she saw her roommate finally awake, she just nearly turned around to throw on whatever she could find that wasn’t pajama’s, however to her dismay, glinda gripped her wrist before she could walk away.

“no, elphie. i’m dying!” she exclaimed, throwing her head back as to exaggerate herself.

elphaba huffed, attempting to tug her hand away but somehow not being able to get free of the shackles of glinda.

“right. well, we really don’t have time for dramatics, glinda. can you let me go?” she said in complete annoyance. yes, if glinda was truly dying this would be a totally different reaction, however, glinda seemed to say that over simply everything.

“no, elphie,” she whined again, “i’m — owie — truly dying.” she squeezed her eyes shut and hugged her knees to her chest as she laid on her side. her grip on elphaba got tighter, but it seemed like it was out of pure pain, elphaba noticed.

the green witch sighed. they were already late to class. and as much as she wanted to sprint out that door in just her nightwear at this point, they were already missing, so what harm would a minute more cause?

“alright. why are you dying?” elphaba sat at the end of glinda’s bed. glinda let go of her hold and sat up so she could look at elphaba. elphie was truly thrilled to hear whatever minimal issue glinda was facing only a minute after she woke up.

“i started my period last night, elphie. i really don’t want to get out of bed. it hurt’s,” the blonde girl whined, chewing on her bottom lip, hard enough that she tasted blood.

elphaba’s face softened from a sarcastic smirk to a gentle, sympathetic smile. her cheeks even burned slightly at the fact that glinda was so transparent about a taboo subject. elphaba never had been that way. it wasn’t tolerated in her household. by her father.

“oh,” elphaba said, quiet enough that glinda had hardly heard it, “it’s that bad?”

glinda hummed and nodded. “i always seem to oversleep when i get it cause im overtired. my body’s using all my energy to keep me in pain instead,” she informed, rolling her eyes at the thought of her body doing that to her, “though, how’d elphaba thropp oversleep?” glinda said it teasingly considering her track record.

“that makes sense,” elphaba nodded, continuing, “i don’t know. i guess, just worn out with all of miss morrible’s exams.”

glinda shot her a sympathetic look over the fact that miss morrible was overworking her. she reached out and held onto her soft green hand. “can you stay with me today? in here? i mean, we’re already late so might as well.”

elphaba thought about it, but it didn’t take much thinking. it seemed as if though her heart spoke before her mind got a chance to even ponder it for a second longer. her heart that clandestinely loved glinda and wanted to care for her through anything.

“yes.” it was simple, and sounded like a dog following their leaders command. she hated that she submitted to her so easily. how her compliance slipped out like butter as if it was sitting on her tongue and waiting to be spit out.

but then glinda smiled, and the morning sunlight made her brown eyes glimmer. elphaba forgot all about the fact that she had permission to to not sit here and surrender beneath her gaze.

she shook the thoughts out of her head and stood up, “i’m going to get dressed. do you need anything?”

elphaba was walking towards her own side of the bed, giving glinda room to answer. she hadn’t by the time elphaba made it to her closet. she was about to turn around unanswered, but then glinda spoke.

“um, elphie, i think i know why you slept in too.”

“what?” elphaba responded, truly confused. when she saw glinda’s face, glinda was staring at her behind. and so, she twisted her body in the mirror in order see what the fuss was about. her eyes widened in embarrassment and shock when she saw.

she had been so wrapped up in being late and caring for glinda that she failed to realize the pain in her abdomen or see the the blood stain on her nightgown. she cursed under her breath. elphaba hardly ever curses.

“elphie! it’s okay!” glinda said sweetly, noticing the distress written on her face. elphaba hurriedly walked towards the bathroom, ignoring glinda’s calls for her, “elphie!”

she eventually gave up when she heard the lock on the restroom door. she decided it would be best to give elphaba some space. she typically enjoyed silence and alone time whenever something distressed her. glinda, being the observer towards only elphaba, came to realize that quite quickly.

glinda sat up in the same position on her bed with her kneels curled to chest until elphie finally came back into the room with a fresh pair of clothes. she watched intently as the green girl made way to her own bed. she could tell by elphaba’s lack of poise and her silence that she was upset.

when she threw herself back into bed, glinda knew the girl must truly be in saddened over this. she couldn’t handle another moment of her elphie being upset.

finally, glinda stood out of bed. she was slightly hunched over because her back was far too sore to stand straight and her tummy felt like it was being stabbed with a million tiny knives. she trudged over to elphaba’s side of the room, her steps loud and careless.

elphaba could hear her roommates footsteps get closer and closer but she couldn’t bother to address it, she just let it happen. she felt so silly and embarrassed. she felt like she wanted to start sobbing, but that would make her look like an even bigger mess, she thought.

glinda unsolicitedly sat on the edge of elphaba’s bed. she often times had no trouble inviting herself into her roommates personal space. elphaba, at first, thought it was entitlement. she’s come to learn that it’s simply just clinginess. she’s also come to learn that she doesn’t dislike it as much as she should.

“elphieee,” glinda said frolicsomley, dragging her name out. she placed her hand on elphaba’s hip, fiddling with the fabric of her darker clothing choice. the green witch took a moment too long to respond and so glinda made another attempt to win over her attention. she must be more important than the wall elphaba’s blankly staring at. “elphieee. please talk to me. it’s okay, it’s just me.”

the way she said it. the way her voice got lower when she let her know it’s just her. goodness, elphaba could’ve melted on the spot. she swore she was a puddle with the way her cheeks burned.

finally, elphaba turned her body around so she was facing her roommate. glinda greeted her with a soft gentle smile, and as much as it warmed her heart, she couldn’t find the energy in her to reciprocate it.

“oh, elphie. are you upset? you don’t have to be.” glinda leaned forward, grabbing both soft green hands in her own.

“i’m not upset. not with you. i’m just…” she trailed off, not entirely understanding her own emotions. she often times found it difficult to identify what she was feeling.

“emotional?” glinda finished for her.

elphaba nodded, “emotional, tired, embarrassed.”

glinda frowned. she squeezed elphaba’s hands a little tighter and began rubbing her thumb against her knuckles to act as some sort of comfort in this trying moment.

“you don’t have to be embarrassed, my sweet. happens to all of us.” truly, glinda had been in such an open environment her whole life that she hadn’t thought much about it. she was genuinely puzzled over the fact that elphaba was so distressed over it. “you wanna know what i do when i feel like this?”

elphaba wasn’t sure whether she wanted to or not. typically, glinda has the most wildest ideas that could accidentally lead to someone -herself- getting hurt. she simply nodded because glinda would’ve told her anyways.

“chocolate,” the blonde says, her pearly whites on display as she smiled brightly.

“chocolate?”

“mhm. chocolate’s the cure for being on your period,” glinda said giddily. elphaba knows glinda has a strong sweet teeth. matter of factly, it’s one of the ways she knows to cheer her up when she’s upset. she was unaware that it helps with more than sadness. “momsie got me a big box of chocolates when i got my first period so now i always have a stash on me every month. not sure why it helps but my tummy and mood always feels better.”

glinda was about to stand back up to grab her chocolates to share between the two of them. her feet touched the ground right as a tear rolled down elphaba’s face. she tried so hard to hold it in, but she felt a painful lump in her throat the more she tried and so much tears pooled in her eyes that there was no more room for them to sit there.

“oh no, elphie?” glinda lips turned downwards and she placed a hand on her emerald cheek. it was an instinct now to wipe away her tears. she felt like it was her own fault; something she must’ve said. the only time glinda had doubt in her wording was around elphaba. and that was because she was the first person that she wanted her words to hold weight towards. “did i say something wrong?”

glinda gave elphaba some beats of silence to compose herself. she sniffled. glinda, too, wanted to cry. at the thought of being the cause of her tears, at seeing elphaba so upset.

“no it’s just…” elphaba trailed off. her eyes unfocused themselves from glinda to her lap. glinda’s hand fell from elphaba’s face but landed right on her hands again to hold them.

elphaba couldn’t find the courage to tell glinda why she was upset. it wasn’t glinda’s fault, and she knows she would think it was if she told her. but glinda persisted, “you can tell me anything.”

“well my mom she wasn’t around…”

oh.

“oh,” glinda said quietly, sympathetically. she often forgot about elphaba’s parents as she doesn’t ever bring them up herself. however, whenever she gets reminded of elphaba’s father, rage fills her.

“i just wish she was around for things.”

glinda couldn’t ever understand what elphaba was going through, but she certainly could sympathize and do everything she could to write the rest of her life as a perfect fairytale.

“i’m sorry,” glinda says sadly. she seems to be more upset than elphaba herself. glinda shows her emotions so strongly and when it comes to elphaba, it’s an entirely different level. “you didn’t deserve that childhood.”

“well,” she says quietly and looks down at her lap, at the clash of green and pale hands holding onto each other. “i must give dulcibear credit. she did what she could, though, she could only do so much.”

“i’m so glad you had her in your life,” glinda squeezes her hand. once, then twice, then once more. “i must meet her soon.” elphaba looks up at glinda and giggles at the blonde girl who is giving her a quite serious, yet silly face. she’d love to meet the one who truly raised her. elphaba turned out far too kind to be her fathers daughter. she knew it was dulcibear who made her who she was.

“yes, soon. hopefully,” elphaba confirms, and then her face, in the slightest, contorts into a pained expression. she tried to supress it, it was quite obvious, however glinda was incredibly good at studying people. well, studying elphaba was her best subject.

“oh, elphie, what hurts?” glinda asks concerning. she moves closer to her roommate, scanning her body as if though the pain would visibly show up.

“i’m,” elphaba breathes through the painful throb in her abdomen that ached harder for a moment, “i’m fine, glinda, honestly.”

glinda completely ignores elphaba’s attempt to shut down and invalidate her own pain. she gets up and digs through a drawer on her own side of the room. when she finally finds what she had been search for, she kicks the drawer shut with her foot and comes back over to elphaba’s bed with her hands full.

“okay scoot,” the blonde girl said. elphaba moved her body to the side, propping her back up against the headboard. glinda got under the covers with her, sitting in the same position as her roommate. she has the box of chocolates she had previously been going on about and something else hidden in the palm of her hand.

“take this. it’ll make the pain calm down. i took one while you were off in the showers.” glinda reveals the mystery item in her hand. a small little…pill or supplement looking thing. elphaba was unsure. she wasn’t totally convinced on taking something random like that from someone. but it was also glinda. glinda; the one girl she can completely turn her entire strong, cold personality off for.

“i’m not sure about it,” elphaba says hesitantly. her eyes nearly cross as she stares at the tiny pill between glinda’s fingertips.

“it’s okay, it’s just medicine. i’d never poison you, silly,” elphaba goes to grab the pill from her, however, glinda pops it in elphie’s mouth instead. glinda always seemed to care for elphaba as though she wasn’t able to function without her. it’s something elphaba would typically hate with anyone else hence her being quite independent, however, she secretly quite liked when glinda did it.

elphaba swallows it with the glass of water glinda provided her with, and then allows it to do its thing. weirdly enough, she slightly feels the relieving effects as soon as it slides down her throat.

glinda then placed the box of chocolates on her lap. it seemed rather too fancy for a sweet treat. the box had golden writing with a red ribbon around the box. glinda opened it and took out a darker colored square piece.

“here, try this,” glinda said. elphaba grabbed it from her and took a bite. she could instantly tell that the sweetly goodness was dark chocolate with a caramel filling. elphaba didn’t get much sweets growing up. this, matter of factly, might’ve been only around the third time in her life that she’s had chocolate. she realized, just then, that she may have a bigger sweet tooth than she thought.

“good, right?” glinda asks as she intently studies her face to see how she feels about it. she pops one of the chocolates in her own mouth as she does so. elphaba nods along to her question, licking any remnants off her lips.

glinda truly tried to ignore the way her tongue licked her plump green lips.

she truly tried.

the girls continued on with deluging into the chocolates. playings silly games of guessing what the flavor would be, or finishing each others piece when wanting to show the other just how good it was.

they got to a point where they felt nauseous on chocolate and called it quits. they both laid their heads back on the headboard, staring up at the ceiling silently until glinda broke the comforting silence.

“does your tummy still hurt,” glinda asks, and before elphaba could answer, she speaks up again, “mine does. i think the medicine is wearing off.”

“yes,” elphaba says honestly. for the first time, she admitted that she isn’t feeling one hundred percent. it truly catches glinda off guard that she completely turns her head to look at her friend.

“elphie, you admitted that you don’t feel good,” glinda points out. elphaba can’t seem to decipher whether that’s a good thing or not. either way, she feels her heart rate slightly pick up as she thinks about it. “i’m so proud of you, elphie.”

glinda smiles wide, and elphaba only returns her with an unsure half smile. it’s a strange feeling that she’s unable to explain. a good yet unfamiliar one. she doesn’t know that anybody has ever been proud of her. glinda then moves her body closer to elphaba, enough that she can lean over and kiss her cheek.

well, when elphaba was nearly falling asleep one night as she studied for an exam, glinda had done that exact thing. however, this time, elphaba was fully awake and alert. glinda didn’t think much of it, but elphaba felt an intense feeling of euphoria in her heart.

“come here,” glinda says sweetly and extends her arms out. elphaba, to her own suprise, lets herself fall right into them.

one of glinda’s hands slide in between their bodies to reach the part of elphaba’s stomach that was pained. elphaba’s tummy tensed, expecting the feeling of glinda’s hands to be coldness that would inflict a worsen pain. instead, she felt a warm pressure against the pain. a relieving feeling that made all the muscles relax.

“how’d you learn to do that?” elphaba asks quietly. her voice is brittle and weak.

“do what?”

“your hands aren’t ever that warm,” she’d be the only one to know that. the only one who’d remember something like that. “it actually feels unnatural. good, but unnatural.”

“i’ve been working hard, believe it or not,” glinda admits proudly. she wasn’t very successful in many spells, but this simple one seemed to do the trick. she wants to be as good as elphaba. not better than her, though. for once, selflessly, she wants elphaba to exceed further than her in the thing she’s always wanted most.

“you’re doing amazing. i’m proud of you too,” it feels much easier to give her the compliment rather than receive it. but either way, it both feels amazing. “but what about you? you don’t feel very well either.”

“i’m okay. i wanna take care of you.” if you’d had told elphaba that the same glinda from a couple months ago said that to her, she wouldn’t believe it. glinda had truly become an entirely different person for the better as she’s loved elphaba.

despite glinda’s protest, elphaba begins to gently rub pressure into glinda’s lower back. the blonde nearly moans at the soothing sensation that feels better than any medicine could give her.

the dorm room falls silent. but not for long. glinda often struggles to not break the silence. but elphaba’s glad she does. as much as she denied it at first; she loves hearing her honeyed voice.

“elphie, you know i’ll always be here to take care of you now,” glinda says it so sweetly, the words feeling like butter melting on her tongue. elphaba doesn’t speak for a moment, because she can sense that there’s something else lingering in the air. “i love you, elphie.”

there it is.