The Kissing Theory

Elphaba did not move for the remainder of the lecture.

She kept her forehead firmly pressed against the desk, hoping—praying—that if she stayed still long enough, the universe would take pity on her and swallow her whole.

Unfortunately, the universe seemed to hate her.

Because not only was she still there, but she could feel Glinda staring at her.

Amused. Smug. Delighted.

Elphaba wanted to die.

The professor droned on, seemingly resigned to the chaos that followed Glinda Upland everywhere. The other students had mostly recovered, though a few of them still sent curious glances in Elphaba’s direction.

But Glinda?

Glinda was having the time of her life.

Elphaba felt it before she saw it.

That giddy energy, like Glinda was waiting for the perfect moment to make things worse.

And then, finally, it came.

Glinda leaned in.

“So,” she whispered, “is that a yes?”

Elphaba jerked upright so fast she almost knocked her chair over.

Glinda just grinned.

Elphaba clenched her fists, inhaling deeply through her nose.

“Glinda,” she muttered, voice low with warning. “I swear—”

“What?” Glinda asked, all innocence. “I thought we were conducting a very serious experiment here.”

Elphaba glared.

Glinda batted her lashes at her.

The worst part?

It was working.

Elphaba hated that she was the one unraveling while Glinda remained perfectly poised, perfectly unbothered.

Like last night had been nothing.

Like all their kisses had been nothing.

And for Glinda, maybe they were.

After all, they were just roommates.

Just two people thrown together by circumstance, who had spent so much time antagonizing each other that they had accidentally formed something resembling a friendship.

They were frienemies.

Always bickering, always teasing, always pushing the other’s buttons.

And yet—

Elphaba never missed Glinda’s smallest victories.

She never let anyone speak ill of her when she wasn’t around.

She had agreed to this ridiculous kissing experiment, despite how much it terrified her.

Because deep down, for some insane reason—

She wanted to help Glinda.

She wanted to see her happy.

She wanted—

Elphaba stiffened.

No.

Absolutely not.

She would not finish that thought.

This was just a temporary crisis.

A side effect of prolonged exposure to Glinda’s unbearable cuteness.

Nothing more.

Absolutely nothing more.

“Elphie?”

Elphaba blinked. “What?”

Glinda giggled. “You’re staring.”

Elphaba felt heat creep up her neck.

She looked away immediately. “I was not.”

Glinda hummed. “Well, something has you all flustered.”

Elphaba hated her.

Truly.

Deeply.

Madly.

Possibly.

Maybe.

Elphaba groaned, dragging her hands down her face.

The rest of the class crawled by, Elphaba too aware of every breath Glinda took beside her, of the way their knees almost touched beneath the desk, of the way her heart insisted on betraying her.

Finally, the professor dismissed them.

Elphaba shot out of her seat.

She needed to get away.

Unfortunately, Glinda was faster.

She looped her arm through Elphaba’s before she could escape.

“Elphie,” she purred, “why are you in such a rush?”

“Because you exist,” Elphaba muttered.

Glinda beamed. “I do, don’t I?”

Elphaba rolled her eyes. “Unfortunately.”

Glinda sighed dramatically, placing a hand over her heart. “Oh, how cruel you are to me.”

Elphaba snorted. “You love it.”

Glinda smiled. “I really do.”

And that—

That was what terrified Elphaba the most.

Because she loved it too.

Too much.

And she didn’t understand why.

Not yet.

But something told her—

She was going to find out.

And she wasn’t sure she was ready for the answer.

Elphaba felt like she was suffocating.

The weight of Glinda’s words, her teasing, the way she looked at her—everything was too much.

***

In another class, this class had never felt this long.

And that was saying something, considering Elphaba actually liked learning.

But this?

This was torture.

Glinda was still watching her, amusement twinkling in her eyes. She had won.

Elphaba never let Glinda win.

Yet here she was, utterly defeated.

Elphaba swallowed hard, forcing herself to face forward, to focus on anything that wasn’t Glinda’s perfectly styled curls or the way she was leaning on her desk, as if she didn’t have a care in the world.

As if she didn’t just completely ruin Elphaba’s life with a single sentence.

She stole a glance at Glinda.

Big mistake.

Because Glinda winked.

Elphaba choked.

Not quietly, either.

No, it was a loud, dramatic, gasping-for-air kind of choke that drew the attention of nearly everyone in class.

Including the professor.

“Elphaba, are you quite alright?”

Elphaba clenched her jaw. “Fine.”

The professor raised an eyebrow but didn’t press further.

Glinda, however, was practically vibrating with suppressed laughter.

Elphaba elbowed her.

Glinda gasped in mock offense, whispering, “Violence, Elphie? Truly?”

Elphaba ignored her.

She was not doing this again.

She was not going to fall into Glinda’s trap, was not going to let her win.

For the next agonizing thirty minutes, Elphaba did everything in her power to act normal.

She focused on the lecture.

She took notes.

She did not look at Glinda.

Not even once.

But the moment class was dismissed, she was gone.

Or—at least, she tried to be.

“Elphie, wait!”

Elphaba cursed under her breath, pausing just long enough for Glinda to catch up.

Glinda latched onto her arm, grinning. “And where do you think you’re going?”

Elphaba sighed. “As far away from you as possible.”

Glinda gasped, pressing a hand to her chest. “How rude.”

Elphaba narrowed her eyes. “How obnoxious.”

Glinda batted her lashes. “How charming.”

Elphaba groaned.

Glinda beamed.

And this—

This was them.

This was what they did.

They bickered, they teased, they got under each other’s skin in ways that no one else could.

But deep down, they were something else, too.

Something unspoken.

Something Elphaba wasn’t ready to name.

Glinda tugged her a little closer as they walked. “So… you never answered my question.”

Elphaba blinked. “What question?”

Glinda smirked. “You know, the one about you taking me to bed for science.”

Elphaba sputtered. “Glinda—”

“What?” Glinda tilted her head innocently. “You were the one who suggested it in class.”

Elphaba groaned, covering her face with her hands. “I hate you.”

Glinda laughed, looping her arm through Elphaba’s as they walked down the hall.

“No, you don’t,” she said, and there was something dangerous about how certain she sounded.

Elphaba refused to think about it.

Refused to acknowledge the heat creeping up her neck.

Refused to question why Glinda’s arm fit so perfectly in hers.

She had bigger things to worry about.

Like how, no matter what she did—

Glinda was getting under her skin.

And she wasn’t sure she wanted her to stop.

***

But suddenly, Glinda was fidgeting.

It was subtle, but Elphaba noticed.

She always noticed.

Her perfectly manicured nails tapped an uneven rhythm against her notebook. Her usually impeccable handwriting was more hesitant, the curves of her letters a little less confident. And every few moments, she would shift in her seat, barely paying attention to the lecture.

Elphaba didn’t have to guess why.

Fiyero.

That stupid date.

That stupid prince.

She frowned.

What was so great about him, anyway? He was careless, smug, a walking flirt. And yet, here Glinda was, sitting next to her, too anxious to even write properly because of him.

It irritated Elphaba.

But more than that—

It concerned her.

She sighed softly, tilting her head toward Glinda, keeping her voice low.

“Are you okay?”

Glinda blinked, as if snapping out of her thoughts.

“What?”

Elphaba raised an eyebrow. “You’re nervous.”

Glinda scoffed, flipping her hair over her shoulder. “Nervous? Me? Please.”

Elphaba didn’t even need to say anything. She just looked at her.

Glinda hesitated.

Then sighed.

“…Fine. Maybe a little.”

Elphaba softened.

For all of Glinda’s bravado, her confidence, her dramatic flair—she still had moments like these.

Moments where she wasn’t the great and powerful Glinda.

Moments where she was just Glinda.

And Elphaba found herself wanting to be the one to see all of them.

“It’s just…” Glinda bit her lip. “What if I’m not… good enough?”

Elphaba blinked.

That was… unexpected.

She tilted her head. “Good enough for what?”

Glinda huffed, waving her hand. “For others dates, for him, for… I don’t know. For everything.”

Elphaba frowned.

That didn’t sit right with her.

Not at all.

She turned in her chair, facing Glinda fully. “Glinda, you are brilliant.”

Glinda looked at her.

Elphaba wasn’t sure if she had ever looked at her like that before.

Soft. Open. Vulnerable.

Elphaba swallowed.

She hesitated for a brief moment—then, before she could overthink it, she reached out and took Glinda’s hand.

It was an impulse.

But the second their fingers touched, something… shifted.

Glinda sucked in a small breath.

Elphaba stilled.

She hadn’t even realized what she was doing until it was already done.

Glinda’s hand was warm.

Small.

Soft.

Elphaba could feel the faint tremble in her fingers, could feel how perfectly they fit between her own.

And she didn’t let go.

“You are more than enough,” Elphaba murmured. “For this. For him. For anything.”

Glinda stared at her.

And for the first time since the experiment had started, Elphaba had no idea what Glinda was thinking.

There was something in her eyes—something fond, something soft, something that made Elphaba’s stomach flip.

Glinda’s grip on her hand tightened, just slightly.

Her lips parted, as if she was about to say something—

Then—

RING!

The bell rang, shattering the moment like glass.

Elphaba pulled back immediately, snatching her hand away as if it had been burned.

Glinda blinked rapidly, as if breaking out of some sort of trance.

And then—

She smiled.

Small. Almost shy.

And Elphaba had to look away.

Because suddenly, she felt like she had forgotten how to breathe.

The moment had passed.

The experiment was back in place.

But for those few seconds—

The trials had faded away.

And Elphaba wasn’t sure if she was ready to admit how much she missed it.

***

The day had been long.

Longer than it had any right to be.

And as the night crept in, casting soft shadows across their dormitory, Elphaba was grateful for the stillness.

She sat on her bed, running a hand through her hair, trying not to think about the moments that had happened today—the way Glinda had clutched her hand, the way she had looked at her, the way her heart had reacted to it.

It was ridiculous.

She needed to move on.

She needed to—

A soft weight on her bed made her freeze.

She turned.

Glinda was sitting beside her.

Elphaba blinked. “…What are you doing?”

Glinda smiled, but there was a hesitance behind it. She played with the hem of her nightgown, glancing at Elphaba before looking away. “I, um… I wanted to thank you.”

Elphaba frowned. “For what?”

Glinda sighed, tucking a curl behind her ear. “For today. For, you know, comforting me. I… I don’t know why I was so nervous about the date, but… you made it better.”

Elphaba felt a strange warmth in her chest.

She swallowed. “It was nothing.”

Glinda shook her head. “It was something.”

She hesitated—then looked at Elphaba, her blue eyes soft with something vulnerable.

“I also…” She bit her lip. “I also wanted to say… I’m sorry.”

Elphaba tilted her head. “For what?”

“For—” Glinda groaned, pressing her hands against her flushed cheeks. “For this whole thing.”

Elphaba blinked.

Glinda huffed. “I forced you into this experiment, and now I can’t even look at you without getting all—” She gestured vaguely. “Embarrassed.”

Elphaba stared.

And then—

She laughed.

Soft. Sweet.

Glinda turned to her, pouting. “Hey! I’m being serious!”

Elphaba shook her head, still chuckling. “I know. It’s just…” She smiled. “It’s funny hearing you say that. You—the most confident person I’ve ever met—are embarrassed by me?”

Glinda groaned again, falling back onto Elphaba’s bed dramatically. “Ugh. Don’t remind me.”

Elphaba just shook her head, still amused.

They sat in silence for a moment.

Then—

“You know…” Glinda started softly. “We disagree on a lot of things.”

Elphaba raised an eyebrow. “That’s an understatement.”

Glinda giggled. “Yes, but—somehow, we always seem to… understand each other in the end.”

Elphaba hesitated.

Glinda turned her head, looking up at her. “It’s almost like we were made for each other.”

Elphaba’s heart stopped.

She felt her face heat up.

Glinda must have realized what she had just implied, because her cheeks flushed too.

They looked at each other.

The air between them grew thick, like something unspoken was settling in the space.

Elphaba’s throat was dry.

She needed to—

“I don’t want to go to my bed,” Glinda declared.

Elphaba blinked. “What?”

Glinda sat up, tossing her curls over her shoulder. “I’ve decided. I’m going to sleep here. With you.”

Elphaba opened her mouth.

Then closed it.

And to her own surprise—

She didn’t argue.

Because the truth was—

She wanted Glinda to stay.

She wanted to fall asleep with her soft golden curls tickling her skin.

She wanted to wake up to her warmth.

She wanted—

Glinda smiled, clearly pleased with herself. “See? I knew you wouldn’t say no.”

Elphaba rolled her eyes. “You didn’t even ask.”

Glinda giggled, flopping onto the bed beside her. “Details, Elphie, details.”

Elphaba sighed—but she was smiling.

Glinda got comfortable, shifting under the blanket. She lay on her side, watching Elphaba with half-lidded eyes.

Then—

“…I can’t sleep.”

Elphaba groaned. “Glinda—”

“Can we…” Glinda hesitated. “…Can we sleep hugging each other?”

Elphaba stiffened.

Glinda was looking at her with wide, hopeful eyes.

Elphaba sighed.

She was weak.

“…Fine.”

Glinda beamed.

She scooted closer, wrapping an arm around Elphaba’s waist.

Elphaba hesitated—then, slowly, she wrapped her arms around Glinda too, pulling her closer.

Glinda let out a soft sigh, pressing her face into Elphaba’s neck.

Elphaba swallowed.

She could feel the warmth of Glinda’s body against hers.

She could smell the sweet scent of her curls.

They were too close.

But for the first time—

Elphaba didn’t mind.

Glinda hummed softly. “You’re warm.”

Elphaba huffed. “You stole my bed, the least I can be is warm.”

Glinda giggled sleepily.

They settled into silence.

Glinda’s breathing slowed.

Elphaba’s grip on her tightened.

And as they drifted into sleep, tangled together in warmth and golden curls—

Elphaba realized that she never wanted to sleep alone again.