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Sighing frustratedly, you slammed your textbook shut in annoyance.
Something you usually didn’t do - the slamming the book shut part, that was.
But then, you also didn’t usually feel this level of frustration after an afternoon spent at the library; at least not over things that weren’t related to your studying.
Reaching for your book bag, you got up from the table right next to the window facing Shiz’s garden you’d managed to secure earlier this afternoon.
But what good was a good table, if the atmosphere in the library was so distracting that you couldn’t concentrate on anything?
Grabbing your books, you glared at the object of your ire.
Prince Fiyero Tigelaar.
Most of the other students here at Shiz, especially Galinda, seemed positively obsessed with him, but you happened to share your friend Elphaba‘s opinion about the young prince.
In your opinion, he was nothing more than a shallow, self-absorbed troublemaker that apparently didn’t concern himself too much with other people’s wants and needs. Really, couldn’t he have done his strutting around anywhere else instead of the library?
„Whatever did that poor book do to you?“
You flinched, losing your hold on the books in your hand. You’d been so lost in your thoughts, you hadn’t even noticed Fiyero approaching you.
The books slipped from your grip, and fell to the floor with a loud, clattering sound. You winced, bending down to pick the books back up, but Fiyero had already beaten you to it.
He’d already gathered three of the four tomes in his hands and, feeling weirdly annoyed at this sudden, new and - rather helpful site to him, you reached for the last book - at the same time as Fiyero did.
Your hands touched.
You felt the rough callouses of his fingertips and wondered what he, as a prince could have possibly done in his life that was the reason for this - before trying to remind yourself that you didn’t care.
Hastily, almost as if you’d been burned, you drew your hand back and got back up.
„Well, there you go, darling“, Fiyero said, flashing you a surprisingly genuine smile, as he handed you the four books.
Again, you felt a weird tingling in your fingertips as your hands briefly touched, and, almost defensively, you clutched the books to your chest.
„I - thank you …“
He laughed, the sound surprisingly warm and deep. This wasn’t his typical, obnoxiously loud laugh you’d come to despise during the last few weeks.
„It’s nothing … still curious what that poor book did to you, though …“
„What?“, you asked, frowning.
He grinned. „That poor-„, suddenly, he leaned in closer towards you - and was it just the used-up library air you’d been breathing in all day that suddenly made you feel slightly dizzy? - eyes fixing on the covers of your textbooks, „history book. Really darling, I wouldn‘t have expected you to treat a book like that.“
„You’re one to talk“, you muttered, without thinking.
„Well, I guess you’re right there, darling.“
„Stop calling me that!“, you exclaimed, feeling your cheeks flush.
He smirked. „What - darling?“
You rolled your eyes. „Yes! Now, if you’ll excuse me-„
„You’re off to study some more?“, he asked, genuine wonder in his voice.
Your eyes met, and you immediately looked away from him again. You didn’t like the way his gaze made you feel. There was genuine curiosity in his eyes and his gaze was far too intense for your liking.
„Yes, because unlike some, I actually care about my education and my future!“, you exclaimed, before turning away from him.
Fiyero just chuckled. „Trust me darling, you’re missing out on a lot of fun.“
You only rolled your eyes at his statement and walked out of the library without looking back at him.
If you had, you’d have seen him trying to fight off a smile.
🫧
The next day, your luck was even worse.
Things started out alright - after classes, you and Elphaba went to the library, managing to secure a table near the garden windows again. Elphaba, however couldn’t stay long, as she had her magic lessons with Madame Morrible in the late afternoon.
After she left, you managed to catch up on some of your assignments for a while.
Then, someone sat down right next to you.
You didn’t need to look up to know who it was.
„Go away, Fiyero“, you said, not looking up from your textbook.
Fiyero just laughed. „You’ve really been quite grumpy lately, darling.“
„Stop calling-„, you began to say, but stopped. Knowing Fiyero, you commenting on this particularly annoying habit of his would only serve to egg him on.
„Never mind“, you therefore muttered, turning a page.
„What are you doing here, though?“ Somehow, the question just slipped out, even though you kept trying to tell yourself that you didn’t care.
„Studying, of course“, Fiyero replied, his smirk widening even more when you turned to look at him, raising your eyebrows.
„Really?“, you asked, frowning.
He just smirked. „Really. I mean, there’s quite a lot to catch up on, isn’t there?“
„I can imagine“, you replied, frowning.
To your great annoyance, Fiyero just smirked again, before taking a textbook out of his bag, opening it and grabbing a notebook and a pen.
Your eyes widened. Was he actually here to study?
To your utter surprise, it did seem that way, because during the next few hours, Fiyero was completely engrossed in his textbooks, only looking up from them occasionally to jot something down in his notebook. Even his handwriting surprised you - it wasn’t at all the unintelligible scrawl you’d imagined it to be, but a rather concise, if somewhat over exaggeratedly loopy handwriting. But then again, he was a Prince - elegant handwriting must have been taught to him from a young age, among other etiquettes and niceties, not to mention historical and sociological knowledge.
Really, it was such a shame that he didn’t seem to care at all about a good education. He’d probably already had all the best opportunities one could only imagine, and now he was here at Shiz, studying at one of the most renowned universities in all of Oz. Not that he seemed to particularly care about that, though.
It did make you wonder, though. Was he really just the rogue prince who rejected every expectation society imposed upon him, was he really as shallow and self-absorbed as you’d perceived him to be these last few weeks?
Suddenly, you weren’t so sure anymore.
You chanced another look over at him, and caught him staring at you. Despite yourself, you felt your cheeks flush, when he grinned at you.
„If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that I’m distracting you, darling“, he said, grin widening.
You had the sudden urge to grin back at him, but quickly suppressed it by biting down hard on your lip. And was it just your imagination or did his eyes flicker from your eyes to your lips and back to your eyes again?
„Every time I think your ego couldn’t possibly get any bigger, you surprise me again“, you muttered.
He just chuckled. „Well, that’s me, darling - full of surprises.“
Right - that.
„Why - why don’t you care about any of this?“, you asked him, the words slipping out before you’d thought them through.
When he raised his eyebrows at you in confusion, you quickly hurried on. „You’re here, studying at Shiz University of all places, and yet it seems that classes and studying are just this huge burden for you. You’ve been handed this great opportunity on a silver platter - and yet you’re not making any use out of it!“
Fiyero’s smile froze and for a second, his eyes seemed to darken as well. „There’s more to life than just studying and books, you know?“
„Like what?“, you challenged him.
„Like actually living life, instead of just going through the motions“, he replied quickly.
You frowned irritatedly. Was that what he thought of you? That you were just going through the motions, like you were some kind of robot, devoid of actually having any feelings?
You felt your cheeks heat up again, though this time it was out of anger. Standing up, you started stuffing your textbooks into your book bag, glaring at him.
„Well, excuse me - I have to go, going through the motions, because some of us aren’t privileged enough to get everything in life handed to them on a silver platter.“
With that, you walked out of the library rather dramatically, not bothering to look back at him, still seething with frustration.
How was it that he seemingly always managed to get under your skin so easily?
And why did you care?
Why did you care about anything having to do with that stupid, arrogant prince who was too full of himself to form any complex, intelligent thought?
You didn’t.
You did not care about Fiyero Tigelaar.
Not at all.
But no matter how many times you tried to tell yourself, deep down, you knew that it wasn’t true. You hated to admit it, but just thinking about that moment yesterday when your hands had touched, made your heart beat faster. As did thinking about all the not so subtle glances he’d sent your way this afternoon.
You sighed, running a hand through your hair in frustration.
Sweet Oz, what was this feeling?
🫧
You didn’t see much of Fiyero during the next few days, at least not in the library. You did see him during classes and at meals, but you did your best to keep out of his way. You were ashamed of your outburst at him in the library a few days ago, and if it were anyone else, you’d have already apologized to them.
As it was, you did feel sorry for your comment, but the feeling was lessened whenever you thought about how he’d insinuated that you were just going through the motions.
Somehow, that had frustrated you much more than his stupid insistence on him calling you darling - not that he’d done that since that day in the library. In fact, you’d hardly spoken to each other at all, other than a few off-handed comments, made in passing.
You could tell that your friend Elphaba was already becoming somewhat frustrated with the situation, because you’d forced her to change directions, walking through empty hallways and taking a detour on the way to class just to avoid having to walk past Fiyero more than once.
You were starting to feel rather frustrated yourself, but still - you weren’t about to be the one to take the first step.
And anyway, it wasn’t like you cared much about Fiyero and whether your comment had hurt him.
Or so you kept trying to tell yourself.
Frustrated, you turned a page in your textbook, trying to concentrate on your studies. Today, you weren’t in the library, but rather in Shiz’s magnificent garden. You were sat on a bench under a willow tree, a field of red tulips right next to you.
But no matter how serenely beautiful the atmosphere around you, you were unable to concentrate on your textbook.
„I thought I might find you here.“
Your heart started beating faster and you didn’t have to look up to know who the voice belonged to.
„Fiyero …“, you said, closing your book shut and getting up rather awkwardly from your bench.
Fiyero’s eyes found yours and he smiled nervously.
Wait - nervously? Fiyero wasn’t nervous - at least you’d never perceived him to be so.
„I - I wanted to apologize … I didn’t - what I said, in the library - I never wanted to imply that you were just going through the motions, I-“
„I wanted to apologize as well“, you interrupted his nervous rambling, fighting off the smile you felt tugging at the corner of your lips when his eyes widened and his gaze seemed to soften. „I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that, I … I had to study - like, really hard, to get a scholarship for Shiz, my family isn’t - I …“, you trailed off, biting down hard on your lip.
You didn’t know why you were telling him all this. Maybe it had something to do with the soft, concerned gaze in his eyes, or maybe it was just his sudden closeness making you feel rather dizzy.
„I get it“, he said quickly, running a hand through his hair. „Honestly, if I were you, I’d hate me as well.“
„I don’t hate you“, you pointed out.
„See, darling? Always a good start“, he said, grinning.
„Don’t test it“, you said, rolling your eyes, but you weren’t quite able to fight off your own grin anymore.
„The thing is, my family -my parents, they expect so much from me“, he said, turning serious once more. „And I know what you’re thinking, poor prince, his parents put so much pressure on him, yet he’s still living a privileged life, boo hoo“, he continued, shaking his head, his eyes fixed on some point in the distance. „And you’d be right, at least to a certain degree … my parents, they - sometimes I feel that no matter what I do, I’ll always manage to disappoint them somehow. To them, I’ll probably always be a failure.“
„You’re not a failure!“, you interrupted him, shaking your head. „You’re not!“
„Oh really?“, he asked, and his grin was back in place, though it did look rather shaky and uncertain. „I thought that a good education was the key for everything?“
Despite the seriousness of what he’d just said, you rolled your eyes. Trying to soften the mood, you said: „Well, someone once told me that there’s more to life than just books and studying.“
He smirked. „Sounds like a wise someone.“
You just rolled your eyes.
A moment passed, during which neither one of you said anything, yet the silence didn’t make you feel uncomfortable.
Then, you found yourself asking: „What were you doing in the library, though?“
Fiyero laughed, though somehow, he seemed nervous once more. Maybe it was the way he ran his hands through his hair distractedly, or maybe it was the way his eyes kept flickering between you and the willow tree behind you.
„Well, for one I am trying this thing called studying …“
You laughed, though you could sense that there was more he wanted to say.
„But … there was also - there was someone I was trying to build up the nerve to talk to …“
Suddenly, your heart started to beat faster and you felt that weird tingling sensation in your fingertips once more.
Fiyero was standing so close to you now, your noses were almost touching and you could feel his warm breath on your skin.
„Who - who were you trying to talk to?“
He laughed. „I’d hate to disappoint you, but I think there’s some questions textbooks simply don’t provide answers for, darling …“
Before you could come up with a reply, he’d leaned in even closer towards you, and then his lips were on yours. His lips were soft and full, and the kiss surprisingly gentle.
Without having to think about it, you found yourself reciprocating the kiss, moving your lips against his.
Whatever this feeling was when you were with Fiyero, it felt good. Exceptionally good.
And so, abandoning every other thought, you wound one hand around his neck, tangling the other in his hair.
And when you felt him smiling into the kiss, you felt your heart soar.