Galinda wakes nearly every hour to stare at Elphaba's empty bed. Sometimes she imagines a lump there, breathing softly, and she smiles until she realizes it's a trick of the eye – or the mind – or the heart, as Galinda has now admitted to herself that her odd and annoying feelings must originate from the heart. Not the eye, Galinda decides, Elphaba isn't pleasing to look at so why would the eye want to conjure her up? Not the mind, if Galinda were rational she would enjoy time alone without Elphaba – anyone would. So it must be the heart. Something Galinda knows nothing of, other than that it's frustrating, and there must be something dreadfully wrong with it.

"Are you okay?" Fiyero inquires the next day before class. "You look exhausted."

"I do?" Galinda gasps. She pulls a compact mirror from her purse and examines her face. She touches the shadows beneath her eyes and is visibly horrified.

"It's not the end of the world," Fiyero assures her as they take their seats beside each other, "you're still beautiful."

Galinda tries to smile, and hurriedly applies more makeup.

"You're not the only one who had a rough night – what were you two doing?" Fiyero chuckles.

Galinda's face warms, buts she feigns disinterest. "Who?"

Before Fiyero explains Galinda sees Elphaba making her way to her desk. Her hair is uncombed and the dark circles beneath her eyes rival Galinda's.

"She…" Galinda begins, as she continues to stare.

Class begins but Galinda is preoccupied with Elphaba. She wonders what she did all night, where she went, why she didn't come back. But then, Galinda knows why she didn't come back.

Galinda lowers her head and shuts her eyes for a moment.

"Miss GLINDA!" Galinda jumps and the class giggles. "Asleep in class."

"I wasn't." Galinda says meekly. Dr. Dillamond stares down his snout at her.

"Then I presume you can give us the answer the question I asked."

Galinda swallows and stared at her blank notebook.

"I…"

"Speak up!"

"I don't know the answer."

"What's that?"

Galinda feels tears sting in her eyes and her stomach turns – she's never dealt well with embarrassment.

"We're all waiting, Miss Glinda."

"It began with the Great Drought." Elphaba's voice is coarse, but a welcome end to the silence Galinda is sure Dr. Dillamond would have drawn out until she died of shame.

"Thank you, Miss Elphaba, but the question was directed at Miss Glinda."

"She doesn't know the answer, so I saw no reason to prolong the humiliation. Is this a history class or an opportunity for you to embarrass the students you're not fond of?"

"Miss Elphaba," Dr. Dillamond warns.

Elphaba lowers her eyes. "I'm sorry, I meant no disrespect."

Dr. Dillamond nods and turns his attention to Galinda, who is holding her face in her hands in an attempt to hide her bright red cheeks.

"Miss Glinda, I believe you owe thanks to Miss Elphaba."

Galinda waits for Dr. Dillamond to continue his lecture before looking in Elphaba's direction. She tries to catch Elphaba's eye, but the green girl never looks Galinda's way.

*

Galinda spends another sleepless night without Elphaba. She tries to look on the bright side: without sleep there are no dreams to ignore.

But the room is quiet, deafeningly so.

Galinda stares at the ceiling, then rolls onto her side to look at the empty bed beside her. Her mouth burns, especially where Elphaba's lips had been so much softer and gentler than Fiyero's.

Now she decides it doesn't make a difference that she isn't dreaming, because the thoughts exist regardless of sleep, and they leave room for nothing else. But now, rather than obsessing over the incident itself, Galinda is preoccupied with how to make it happen again. This is something she wants, probably more so than anything else she's ever desired, only because this is something she can't and shouldn't have. Naturally, as someone who is accustomed to getting whatever she wants whenever she wants it, Galinda is troubled.

She reminds herself she's already gotten what she wants. She knows what Elphaba's lips taste like now, and that will have to be enough to satisfy her curiosity.

But the tingles are still there. The dull ache of longing. And there's also shame. Because Galinda can't understand why this is happening when she has Fiyero. And while she tries to think of him fondly as she drifts in and out of sleep, her thoughts drift to the empty bed next her.

*

The gray circles under Elphaba's eyes are darker the following morning. The green girl's eyes are tired and weak, and her cheekbones look sharper.

"She looks like she hasn't been sleeping." Fiyero notes. He and Galinda are seated on a bench in the courtyard as Elphaba is hurrying to the library. "Has she been sleeping?"

"Should it worry me that you're paying other girls more attention than you're paying me?" Galinda pouts playfully and rests her fingertips on Fiyero's chest.

He draws her to him and plants a bruising kiss on her mouth. "You're jealous?"

"Not at all." She kisses him before stepping out of his grasp and adjusting her hair.

"I've got to pick up a book from the library for my history paper," she announces.

"I'll come with you," Fiyero suggests, and he takes her hand.

"Oh, you'd distract me," Galinda says as she slips her hand free of his and cups his cheek, "I wouldn't get anything done."

They kiss one last time before they part, and when Fiyero is out of sight, Galinda wipes her mouth and moves swiftly towards the building into which Elphaba disappeared.

The library is dim and it takes Galinda's eyes a moment to adjust – annoying for reading, but perfect for sleeping, maybe.

She scans the towering rows of shelves before walking to the end of the farthest aisle. In a darkened corner Galinda nears a table of Elphaba's belongings, her bag, her books, her jacket, but Elphaba isn't around. Galinda approaches the table and fingers absently through the books. She chews her lip and begins to look around again.

"What are you doing?" Elphaba's voice is low and throaty, indicative of lack of sleep.

Galinda spins around and finds herself staring the green girl in the face.

"Oh, Elphie…" Galinda's stomach sinks when she sees, full-on, the shadows on Elphaba's face.

Elphaba pushes past Galinda and gathers her books into a pile where Galinda can't touch them.

"Elphaba, please…"

Elphaba doesn't respond or acknowledge Galinda's presence. She opens an old dusty book and lowers her head so that her hair hides her face.

"Please come back." Galinda's throat is starting to close and she's surprised at how small and desperate her voice is.

She wrings her fingers and inhales deeply.

"I'm sorry I hit you," she continues. She takes another breath in an attempt to steady her voice. "I was…" she swallows the lump in her throat and decides that although honesty was never one of her strengths, this matters and she should tell the truth.

"I was afraid." Galinda admits.

"I tend to have that effect on people." Elphaba says dryly. She still doesn't look up from the book she's opened.

"I wasn't afraid of you." Galinda says quietly as she nears the corner of table and runs her fingers through thin layer of dust on the surface.

"Please come back," she says again, "You need sleep, I hate to see you like this."

Elphaba's eyes meet Galinda's in a stare so piercing Galinda feels completely exposed, a feeling that is new but not altogether uncomfortable.

"You're sure?" Elphaba asks.

"Of course I'm sure!" Galinda gushes, and she's relieved that Elphaba isn't angry with her. "I don't sleep well when you're away, can't you tell?" Galinda touches the dark spots beneath her eyes and winces.

Elphaba smiles the half-smile that makes Galinda's legs heavy but her insides feel like they're floating.

The green girl gathers her books into her bag and Galinda tries, albeit unsuccessfully, to suppress her excitement.

"You know, you're stronger than you look." Elphaba stands and the two roommates make their way through the library, "You've got an arm."

Galinda smiles a little and heat rushes to her cheeks, "I'm sorry I hit you, Elphie."

"You already said you were sorry." Elphaba says. She steps in front of Galinda and holds the door of the library open, "I'm sorry I kissed you."

"You are?" Galinda gasps and stares, wide-eyed at Elphaba, who laughs so heartily she almost cackles.

"I'm sorry I made you upset, is what I mean." Elphaba explains.

"Oh," Galinda stares at the ground. She thinks of admitting that it wasn't Elphaba who made her upset. Her stomach tightens. She's about to speak when whatever's left of her rational mind convinces her otherwise, and the pair continues their walk to the dormitory without speaking.