Chapter Text
It was a rather nice Saturday in the middle of June, and to her surprise, today would be the first time that Elphaba would attend a Pride event in her city. Galinda was attending as well, as a supportive best friend and ally, of course.
“Elphie, Elphie, Elphie!” Galinda ran into Elphaba’s room in their apartment half dressed while holding two skirts on each side of her head. Elphaba, still in her pajamas and bonnet, looked at her best friend with intense focus and a hint of concern.
“Should I wear this one…” Galinda raises the fluffy rainbow tutu that she gripped with her right hand.
“…orrr, this one?” She now raised her left hand, revealing the other fluffy skirt. This one plastering blue, pink, and purple on its surface.
Elphaba’s eyebrows furrowed slightly. “Galinda, you know that’s the bi flag, right?”
“What do you take me for? Of course I know! I know all of the flags!”
Elphaba’s face displayed even more confusion as her friend continued to talk. “So… why would you wear that one then? People will think you’re bisexual.”
Galinda brought her left arm down, both skirts now resting on both sides of her legs. “In support of you, Elphie! Duh!”
Elphaba laughed. “That’s sweet. But unless you want girls hitting on you, you should probably go with the rainbow one.”
Galinda tilted her head. “Won’t people still think that I’m queer, though? Like in at least some type of way?”
Elphaba scooted to the edge of her bed to see Galinda more clearly as she responded. “Well, maybe. But that’s kind of inevitable at a Pride event, don’t you think?”
“I guess you’re right.” Galinda turned on her heel and went back to her own room just across the hall to finish getting ready.
Shortly after Galinda left, Elphaba finally got out of her bed and went into her bathroom to get ready herself. This was Elphaba’s (and Galinda’s) first time attending a Pride event.
Just last year, Elphaba came out to Galinda, and it had gone surprisingly well.
…
“Elphie?”
“Hm?” Elphaba was hiding as best as she could by looking into her lap and away from her friend.
“I know.”
“What?” Elphaba quickly picked her head up and turned to face Galinda, who had a rather smug look on her face.
“I said… I know.”
“But… h-how?”
“Well you weren’t exactly secretive when you used to stare whenever I wore those lacey nightgowns at Shiz,” Galinda laughed.
Elphaba looked completely and utterly petrified.
“Don’t worry, Elphie! I know that was a long time ago and that you don’t feel that way anymore, it’s fine!”
With that, Elphaba took a deep breath and sigh of relief. Galinda had almost, but thankfully only just almost, caught onto the devastating obsession and crush that Elphaba had on her.
…
All Elphaba knew upon waking up was that she would have her handheld bi pride flag with her. Outfit wise, she had to admit that she had put little to no consideration into that part.
After a mere five minutes of looking in her closet after she had finished showering, washing her face, and brushing her teeth, she decided that she would wear something rather simple, as she always did. She decided on a pair of loose, baggy, denim jeans that had a dark wash to them and hung deliciously off her hip, revealing her waist slightly. For a top, she decided on a plain black fitted tank top, also a tad short and revealing the very bottom of her stomach. It was hot outside and mid-June, after all!
She went back into her bathroom, taking her bonnet off and letting her waist-length micro braids flow down her back. Carefully but quickly with only a few maneuvers, she styles them into a half up-half down style with two strands left out in front. She accessorized with a few gold necklaces and rings and of course made sure to grab her mini handheld pride flag and stuck it into one of her pockets, letting it hang gracefully. Finally, she chose her converses (that she is very loyal to!) to put on.
After Elphaba was finished getting ready, she grabbed her phone and housekey and walked out of her room, only to see Galinda ready as well and standing pridefully (literally) in the living room.
Galinda decided on the big fluffy rainbow tutu with a dainty, strapless, white corset top. She wore white heels that made her the tiniest bit taller than Elphaba, since they were usually the same height. Her blonde hair was down and perfectly curled. Paired with her outfit, she held a gigantic Pride flag. And if Elphaba was seeing things correctly from where she was standing, Galinda also had… rainbow eyeshadow?
She also wore a couple of rainbow bracelets and a rainbow pin was pressed into her top.
Elphaba was almost speechless. But she did eventually find the words – or the word – she was looking for.
“Galinda…?”
Galinda turned around fully as she heard Elphaba’s voice. She smiled and shimmied a bit in her skirt. “You like?”
Elphaba giggled but eventually nodded. “Yes, I definitely like. But… when did you get all of this?”
Galinda walked closer to Elphaba. “Oh Elphie, there are Pride collections and clothes practically everywhere right now! And I, of course, wanted to look my very best for my very best friend!”
Elphaba hummed in understanding.
“And Elphie! You look wonderful, and very gay!” Galinda grabbed Elphaba’s hands while looking down at the exposed skin of Elphaba’s stomach and hip. “But you have got to look more prideful than that!”
Elphaba scoffed. “Excuse me, but I think I look very prideful. See my flag?” Elphaba turned her hip slightly to show Galinda the flag that stuck out of her pocket.
“Yes, I saw the tiny flag Elphie. But barely!” Galinda quickly shuffled to her room and came back into the living room with a medium sized box. “Here!”
Galinda first pulled out a huge bisexual flag. One the same size as her own rainbow flag.
“What the…” Elphaba said softly.
After tossing the flag aside and onto the couch, Galinda pulled out a pack of bi-themed pins and threw them on the couch as well. Shockingly, or maybe not, she wasn’t finished. She grabbed a big folding fan that also had the colors of the bi flag plastered all over it. Lastly, she grabbed a pack of blue, pink, and purple tinsel. “You can put these in your braids, Elphie!”
Elphaba was full on laughing now, and Galinda’s smile fell. “What?”
Still laughing and catching her breath, Elphaba finally spoke for the first time in a while. “Galinda,” another fit of laughter. “Why on Earth do you own all of this?”
Galinda’s smile returned, eager to answer Elphaba’s question. “In support of your and your gayness of course! Or more specifically, your bisexuality! And because I knew you would be boring. What a shame.” Galinda shook her head in disappointment.
Elphaba stopped laughing as feelings of gratitude and appreciation overwhelmed her. But she still chuckled just a small bit before responding. “You know, I can’t believe that I was once so scared about coming out to you. I didn’t think you’d be so okay with it. And I definitely didn’t think that you’d be going to Pride with me.”
Galinda dropped the pack of tinsel and ran to her best friend’s side and squeezed her in a hug. “Aw, Elphie. I hate that you thought that I wouldn’t be accepting.” She pulled back to take a clear look at her face. “No, no, no, Elphie! Don’t cry!” Galinda wiped Elphaba’s eyes with the side of her thumbs.
She skipped back over to the couch where she had thrown all of the accessories down that she had intended to give Elphaba and grabbed two pins. One a pink, blue, and purple heart. The other a rainbow – a literal rainbow. She walked back over to Elphaba and bent down slightly to fasten them onto Elphaba’s tank top.
Elphaba huffed. “Is all of this really necessary?”
“Of course it is! You have to signal to everyone there that you’re available. But don’t forget about me if anyone tries to scoop you up. I’m serious,” Galinda said sternly.
Elphaba laughed. “Trust me, I won’t forget you, my sweet.”
“Good.” Galinda patted the spot on Elphaba’s chest where she had just fastened the two pins.
“Did you just pat my…?”
“Oh don’t think too much about it Elphie.”
“Alright.”
~
Elphaba and Galinda now stood in a freshly groomed lawn full of queers, allies (like Galinda herself), and perhaps some people who happened to be nearby and wanted to join in on the fun. Elphaba was now fully accessorised with two pins on her shirt, a full sized bi flag that she had wrapped around her shoulders, and somehow, someway, Galinda had actually convinced her to crochet the colorful tinsel into a couple of her braids.
Arms linked together, the two friends walked around, taking in the ambiance and the beautiful community of people around them. Upon walking, they ran into a row of stands with bunches of free little pride trinkets to take home. Galinda tugged at Elphaba’s arm.
“Elphie! Look! Let’s go over here.”
Elphaba didn’t necessarily get the chance to respond, because Galinda was already tugging her in the direction of the stands. The first stand was being run by a rather tall, and by the looks of it, older woman. She had plenty of tattoos and her hair was dyed a deep red. As the two approached, the woman looked at them with a smile.
“Hello! Would you two like a keychain?”
The stand had many different types of (mostly) Pride themed keychains. There were keychains with the rainbow flag, the progressive rainbow flag, the lesbian flag, the bisexual flag, the transgender flag, and many more. There were also keychains with little fuzzy teddy bears attached. Galinda spotted a keychain that had a dangling bear on it. The bear wore a little hat with the bisexual flag. Galinda picked it up with little to no hesitation.
“Oh look!” She dangled the keychain in Elphaba’s face. “It’s just for you! It has a little flag on its hat and everything!”
Elphaba smiled. “He is quite adorable.”
Without much thinking, Galinda bent down and attached the little bear to Elphaba’s belt loop. The older woman clasped her hands while watching the two interact.
“Oh I just love all the queer puppy love that I get to witness while volunteering out here! I wish I had these opportunities in my youth!”
Elphaba’s mouth was slightly agape, not quite sure on how to address the misconception. Luckily, Galinda, the socialite she was, knew exactly what to say.
“Oh, thank you ma’am! But Elphie and I are just best friends. I am unfortunately straight but I’m here to support her!”
Elphaba laughed and shook her head at Galinda calling herself ‘unfortunately straight.’ The woman running the stand apologized. “My apologies, you two! It’s always great to have a supportive friend, though,” she said as she turned to look at Elphaba.
“Yes, it is,” Elphaba agreed. “Thanks for the free gifts!”
“Oh, anytime! There’s nothing I love more than giving back to my community.”
The girls waved goodbye and departed from the stand with the keychains. Galinda once again looped her arm around Elphaba’s. “She was just the sweetest, wasn’t she?”
“She was.”
~
As the evening approached, the festival and family-friendly atmosphere and feel of the event started to fade. The music got louder and undeniably more explicit, naturally, it got darker, people were doing less complimenting outfits and more flirting, and now, drinks were being made and served.
Now, it wasn’t only Galinda and Elphaba. Alongside the two walked Fiyero, a bisexual man they had met a couple of hours ago. They all introduced themselves and hit it off immediately. Fiyero had mentioned upon meeting that he wasn’t necessarily looking to find anyone today, but that he also wouldn’t be opposed to it if it happened to happen.
Elphaba and Galinda were now on their fifth time of telling someone that they were only friends. Though, it did feel good and somewhat affirming to Elphaba to hear so many people say that they were cute together. Or that they looked perfect with one another.
Now, for the first time of the day, the two best friends weren’t standing arm in arm as they were completely in awe of the two men performing a duet on a stage. Fiyero stood in between them, in just as much awe as they were.
Just as Elphaba felt herself falling into a trance of the two singers on stage, she was interrupted by a girl approaching her. She tore her eyes away from the stage and looked in the direction of the girl. She was taller than Elphaba and had long black hair running down her back and sides. She was stunning, Elphaba thought. She was also fully decked out in lesbian flag colors from head to toe.
“Hi! I saw you a couple of hours ago and I thought you were really pretty. I wanted to say something then but my friends weren’t sure if I should because they saw you with a girl. But here you are again and… you’re really pretty.” The girl blushed and internally cursed herself for such a lengthy introduction.
Elphaba smiled at the compliment and at the unexpected rambling from the girl. “Thank you so much. And you’re really pretty too! But earlier, that was just my friend Galinda, she’s straight.”
With the new information, the girl in front of Elphaba nearly lit up in joy. “Well, I was wondering if maybe I could… get your number?”
Elphaba reached to grab her phone out of her back pocket. “Of c-”
Suddenly, she felt an arm wrapping around her own. “Elphie, who is this?”
“Oh, um. Thats funny, I actually didn’t get your n-”
“Jenna, I’m Jenna.
“Yes. Jenna! This is Jenna, Galinda.”
Galinda pulled Elphaba’s body further into her side. “Hm.”
She looked Jenna up and down before turning to Elphaba again. “Well, Fiyero had something to tell us and I promised him that I’d come to grab your attention.” With that, she pulled Elphaba away from the now shocked and confused girl. Elphaba tried to look back and apologize. Once they were fully pulled away from Jenna, Elphaba looked over to Galinda, only to see that she had a satisfied smile on her face.
“Galinda, what the fuck?”
“Whatever are you talking about, Elphie?”
“That isn’t funny, Galinda. We were about to exchange numbers!”
Galinda shook her head. “You think that stranger is more important than our dear friend Fiyero?”
Elphaba, still irritated by Galinda’s actions at the moment, furrowed her eyebrows. “I don’t know if all the rainbow is mushing your brain but we also just met Fiyero today!”
“Oh calm down! That girl could’ve been bad news! It’s my duty as your best friend to protect you.”
“Is it now?”
“Mhm,” Galinda punctuated with a swift nod of her head.
Now, there was a solo performer on the stage. A woman who was both singing and dancing. Also, it turned out that Fiyero had absolutely nothing to say.
Fiyero stayed nearby the girls but eventually started to make his own small talk with a group that stood next to them consisting of two boys, one girl, and one person who looked rather androgynous. Galinda now stood behind Elphaba, her arms wrapped tightly behind her waist.
Elphaba turned her head slightly to talk to Galinda. “Us standing like this isn’t helping our case at all, you know?”
Galinda stayed and shrugged her shoulders. “Hm. That’s fine.”
Elphaba laughed it off and shook her head.
~
Elphaba and Galinda said their goodbyes to Fiyero, he mentioned that he had only lived a couple of blocks down from where the event was being held, so he walked. The two friends were now, like the rest of the crowd from Pride, waiting at the train station.
The scene looked rather silly, actually. The dirty train station of a big city being lit up by countless glow sticks, rainbow attire, Pride flags, and endless gay chatter.
Amongst all the noise and chaos, a girl dressed in all black – she looked a bit alternative if Galinda had any say in it – slightly tried to pull Galinda aside and away from Elphaba.
“Hey, I was wondering if your friend is single or… if she’d be interested?”
Galinda looked over to Elphaba, who was standing not too far away from her and looking down at her phone. She looked back to the girl who was asking and shook her head. “Sorry, but she’s not too interested in dating right now. We came out to Pride today to have fun with one another!”
The girl nodded in understanding and started to slowly walk off. “Oh alright. Sorry for bothering you.”
“It’s totally fine!”
The girl walked off and Galinda went to perch right back next to Elphaba’s side. Elphaba looked away from her phone and at Galinda, not looking too pleased. Galinda, not knowing that her entire exchange with the stranger was heard by Elphaba, was completely confused by Elphaba’s demeanor.
Eventually, the train that she and Elphaba were waiting on was there. They walked onto the train and sat right next to one another, despite Elphaba's evident attitude.
The duration of their entire ride was silent between the two of them.
~
The door to their apartment clicked once they were both inside, and Galinda turned around to lock it.
“So… Galinda,” Elphaba started.
“Yes?” Galinda hummed, sleepiness evident in her voice and tone.
“You know that I heard that girl, right?”
“What girl?”
“Oh please. You know what girl!”
Galinda raised her eyebrow in a manner of fake confusion.
Elphaba continued, since it seemed that Galinda was going to continue to pretend she had no idea what Elphaba was talking about.
“The girl in the train station that was also coming from Pride? The one asking if I was single?” Elphaba stepped closer to Galinda as she spoke.
Galinda’s face dropped, realizing that Elphaba did in fact, hear that entire interaction. One that she had been so sure that she didn’t hear.
“Without even asking me, you told her that I wasn’t interested. I mean, what the hell Galinda? First you pull me away from Jenna, and now this. Might I remind you, it was you that drenched me in all of this stuff so that I could signify that I was available in the first place!”
Galinda felt her eyes watering with tears. She closed them tight so as to not let any of her tears fall. After she swiftly wiped her eyes, drying them the best she could, she tried to explain herself.
“I don’t know, Elphie. I just…”
“You just what?”
Galinda wiped her eyes again and Elphaba sighed.
“Look, I’m not mad at you. I promise. But you have to understand how weird it feels for me to see my best friend who encouraged all of this turn people away from me. And what for?” Elphaba stepped forward to grab her friend's arms, holding and rubbing them slightly. The two were now eye to eye, as Galinda stepped out of her heels the moment they walked through the door.
After another deep breath, “I think… I think that I realized something today.”
Elphaba was terribly confused, but she did her best to not let it show on her face. But as confused as she was, she didn’t say anything else, letting Galinda know that she had all the space to speak whatever it was that was on her mind.
“I realized… that I can’t stand seeing other girls hit on you, Elphie.” This time, the tears in Galinda’s eyes finally escaped, running down her face and onto her chin and neck.
Elphaba’s eyes softened. “Galinda, I promise you that nobody who I ever talk to or get into a relationship with will ever come in between our friendship. I promise. I would never leave you.”
Galinda shook her head profusely. “No, Elphie,” she said through a sob.
“No?”
“No,” Galinda tried to smile slightly through her tears before she lunged forward, closing what was left of the small gap between her and Elphaba. She passionately but still tenderly pressed her lips to Elphaba’s, her hands coming up to cup the girl's face. Elphaba’s hands moved from grabbing Galinda’s arms to moving to hold onto her waist.
Elphaba was the first to pull away, allowing her to see the gleam and sparkle in Galinda’s eyes. “What… the hell was that?”
“I like you, Elphie. Like, more than a friend. Well, I’m pretty sure that I like you. And I’ve also really been wanting to kiss you, but you see, I wasn’t exactly sure as to why until today and those girls were trying to t-”
Elphaba pulled the blonde back in and captured her lips in another kiss, this one softer than the first.
“You know, I’ve had a crush on you since we were back at Shiz.”
Galinda gasped. “I knew you liked me then, but I thought it went away!”
Elphaba blushed, Galinda had succeeded in flustering her yet again. “No, my sweet, it never did.”
Galinda slightly pulled herself from Elphaba’s hold. “So, if you liked me, why were you going to give that girl your number? And why in the world would you not just tell me? We could’ve been having so much fun!”
“Fun?” Elphaba quirked an eyebrow.
“Yes yes. We’re adults, Elphie. Don’t be a prude.”
Elphaba laughed. “Okay well, I didn’t tell you because you’re straight, Galinda. Well I guess you were straight. What sense would it make to confess feelings that would go nowhere?”
“You could’ve helped push me along!”
“That’s funny, but I’m not sure that it works like that.”
Suddenly, Galinda gasped and nearly jumped out of her skin. “Elphie!”
“What?”
“I had my first gay kiss during Pride month! Isn’t that wonderful?”
“Wonderful indeed, my sweet.”
“Or do we call it a lesbian kiss? A queer kiss? A-”
Elphaba stepped forward to peck her lips once again. “There are many other things we could be doing other than trying to label a kiss, don’t you agree?”
Galinda blushed and fluttered her eyelashes profusely as she wrapped her arms around Elphaba’s neck, leaning in once again. “Oh, who knew that Elphie would be such a flirt?”
She smiled, leaning to kiss her once more.