Hello, again! This is my first Will and Emma attempt at multi-chapters! I've always wondered what would have happened if things had gone a little differently in the episode Vitamin D… basically, this is my version of what could have happened from when Ken proposed to Emma and onward! Enjoy!

Emma feels her heart pulsing in her throat, its rhythm thunderous. Her erratic breaths become shallow and every word spoken is a numbing blow to her ears. Dizziness begins to hit her, quickly pulling her into a vertigo.

Ken Tenaka is down on one knee in front of her, holding out a simple engagement ring. It's a lifetime promise that her entire body is calling out to refuse. Her mouth is agape, the stalk of celery she had been chewing on unceremoniously falls to the floor. Admittedly, she had knowingly gotten herself into their relationship, but this was never supposed to happen. She had always expected things between them to come to a dead end as soon as he realized she couldn't force herself to have feelings for him.

"This isn't happening, this is a dream…"

She's in a haze, until he jolts her out of it, saying "Will you marry me?"

Her breath catches in her throat.

Ken is caring, and sweet and holds many of the qualities that women look for in a husband. He is not without his faults, however, she thinks to herself, and fleetingly wonders if he even bothered to shower this morning. The nervous sweat accumulating on his brow makes her own contort into a look of discomfort.

Ken is a good man, but he is not who she needs.

She sees someone walk into the empty room in her peripheral vision, and she focuses her attention away from Ken for a moment. Anything to temporarily escape from her own personal hell unfolding before her eyes. She blinks, trying to clear her blurred vision. Standing in the doorway, she sees the man that is quite literally everything she wants and needs. A look of shock is on his face.

Will.

She can't do this. She can't marry the man who is so obviously the perfect mismatch for her. The sight leaves Will with a plethora of unwelcome emotions coursing through his body. His heart pounds in his ears. The sound deafens him.

When their gazes catch from across the room, the moment seems to stand still. Movement stops and in one quickly passed minute they have a wordless conversation.

Through their tense stare, they both know that neither of them is with the person they truly want to be with.

He can't stand to watch the sight before him; he doesn't want to see what she'll say or how she'll handle it. His flustered mind doesn't let the thought that she probably won't say yes occur to him. The only thing he can think of is that he isn't able to stand idly by and watch her agree to marry someone she doesn't belong with.

And briefly, he believes that she doesn't belong with anyone that isn't him.

The realization, however fleeting it may be, sends a shock through his body and he quickly turns and walks down the hallway. He mentally berates himself for his thoughts. He makes his way to the nurse's office, seeing his wife sitting at the desk, fidgeting with her shirt. He stares for a moment, willing the affection he's always felt for her to course through him and prove to him that his feelings for Emma are purely platonic.

As he peers through the glass of her office door, he sees her talking to Quinn Fabray, who wipes gently at her eyes and rests a hand on her stomach. His heart clenches for the poor, lost girl who so obviously needs someone to open up to. He begins to pace in the hallway, waiting for their meeting to be over so he can see his wife. He doesn't mean to catch pieces of their conversation, but he can't help but listen slightly when he catches the desperate tone of his student.

"I just want my baby to have a good family." She says shakily, "I can't give him or her what they need."

"Don't worry," he hears his wife reply soothingly, "It's all going to be fine."

Will frowns slightly, leaning himself against the wall by the door and wondering how he could possibly make Quinn's life at least a bit easier. The muffled conversation from inside the next room continues; for a moment he thinks that he should probably tear himself away and give them their privacy, but what Quinn says next has his brow furrowing.

"Please promise me something… just make sure my baby is happy."

There's a pause, and in the silence Will finds himself completely lost in confusion. He can't think of a reason why Terri would be responsible for the happiness of Quinn's child. Terri murmurs something that he can't make out and he leans just slightly closer to the door, feeling guilty only until Quinn speaks once more.

"I don't want Mr. Schuester to ever find out about this."

He freezes at the mention of his name, his head swimming. When realization finally hits him, he shakes his head and thinks it can't be possible. But he considers the recent behavior of his wife: her refusal to let him touch her anywhere but her face or arms, the fact that he hasn't been to a single doctor's appointment with her, her overly nervous and erratic behavior…

Has she been lying to him?

He begins to pace again, his eyes wandering aimlessly around the hallway, unable to focus on anything. His breath is shallow and quick paced and he feels the sudden need to be anywhere but in that school. He makes his way down the hallway, nearly stumbling in his baffled state. Tears pool in his eyes and he wipes at them angrily, willing his emotions to stay under his control.

As he makes his way outside, pushing the door open dramatically, he doesn't see Emma as she watches his irate movements before he gets into his battered car and speeds out of the parking lot.

She notices his livid condition: the tears threatening to spill over his eyes, the way his jaw is set taut and how his hands curl into fists as he walks out the door. Shocked, as she's never seen him this way, she stands motionless for a moment. She wakes herself from her reverie just as he drives out of sight. Wondering what could have him so incredibly upset, she decides that maybe he shouldn't be alone, or that he'll need someone to talk him down. So she rushes to her own vehicle and leaves for his apartment, hoping that's where he's headed.

When she reaches the parking lot of his apartment complex, she sighs with relief as she spots his car parked not too far away. She thinks to herself that this is probably a mistake and that whatever issues he's going through will blow over soon enough. Ignoring the thought, she quickly makes her way into the building, starting to feel slightly uncomfortable for having followed him to his home. She wills the feeling to go away; she needs to make sure that Will is alright.

She arrives at his door and knocks lightly. She waits a moment, not getting a response. Soon, a noise reverberates through the silence in the hallway, something she assumes to be the slamming of a door. Bracing herself, she turns the doorknob and takes a step into his apartment.

Meanwhile, Will rushes to his and Terri's bedroom. He stares around the room, contemplating his next actions until he charges to her dresser and begins to rummage through her drawers for some type of evidence. He needs anything to prove his seemingly insane suspicion wrong. He sees nothing but her usual lingerie, but his fingers brush against something unrecognizable in the depths of the drawer. He pulls it out, taking a breath in order to brace himself. He stares at the object with a lost look on his face; it's a considerable size and stuffed with cotton, and he momentarily has no idea what its use is.

He stares at it, confused, for a long moment. When it finally dawns on him, he has to tighten his grip around the offensive item to keep his shaking hands from dropping it. He staggers backwards, not before roughly slamming the drawer closed, and walks back to the hallway. He stands there aimlessly, glaring at the piece of fabric in his hold. He wants to believe that it is anything but proof that his wife has made up an entire story about a pregnancy. But on some level, he knows that underneath her clothing, Terri has been concealing an imitation of a baby bump from him. The realization hits him like a direct blow to the gut and he struggles to not double over in pain.

The family that he thought he was going to have was a lie. All those nights that he's spent awake worrying about his knowledge of parenthood, or dreaming of his baby in his arms for the first time, have been a complete waste. He isn't going to be a father.

Tears sting his eyelids and a painful lump forms in his throat. His eyes shut tightly and every muscle in his body is rigid. He can't find it in himself to move. As he continues to stand in the hallway, his mind a fog of every kind of emotion, he vaguely hears a door open and woman's voice calling out to him from the other end of his apartment. Startled, he shakes his head, attempting in vain to clear it.

"Will?" says the voice again. The tentativeness laced in the soft tone tells him that it's Emma.

"Here." He calls out, unable to say anything more. Thankfully, she follows his voice well enough to find him. Their eyes meet and she gives him a sympathetic look.

"I saw you leave school," she whispers, stepping slightly closer to him. Her proximity gives him an odd mixture of comfort and unease. "you looked…" she pauses, unsure of her wording and takes a different approach. "I was worried. Are you okay?"

He knows that a simple "no" won't suffice, so he clears his throat, fighting back the anger rising from the depths of his chest and holds up his hand, showing her the pad. She stares at it with a furrowed brow and then looks at him questioningly.

"Terri…" he breathes, his voice shaking as he attempts to control it, "she's been lying to me the entire time."

"Will, I don't-"

"She's not pregnant." He interrupts, needing to voice it. She whispers his name once more, her voice thick with shock and compassion. Nervously, she reaches out to let her hand meet his shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"I'm so sorry…" she murmurs, sincerity in her words. His free hand covers hers, resting gently on his tense shoulder. His warm palm brushes against her fingers and she mentally berates herself for feeling a slight spark of electricity from his touch in such a painful moment.

"Thanks, Em." He says, giving her a small, solemn smile. "I think I need to be alone for a bit, if that's alright."

She nods, biting her bottom lip nervously and feeling slightly useless. But she knows that the only way that she can help him right now is to give him time to sort through his thoughts.

"Okay," she says after a momentary silence, "um… call me, if you need anything."

He agrees and mumbles another thank you before she turns to leave.

"Hey, Emma." He calls out before she's able to leave. She turns toward him, giving him a look of acknowledgement. "Ken… did he really ask you to marry him?"

She attempts to put a small smile on her face, not wanting to convey to him just how much the answer to his question frightens her. There's no spark of happiness in her eyes; she ducks her head to avoid his intense, pleading gaze.

"Yeah," she mumbles, nearly incoherent. "Yeah, he did."

Will can't avoid the wave of dread that washes over him. His mind is in too large of a haze for him to pay note to the fact that he shouldn't be feeling twinges of jealousy burning in his chest. He runs a hand through his hair, sighing loudly.

"What are you going to do?" he says softly after a painful silence, his voice breaking just slightly.

She's speechless, staring at him for a while; he can almost feel her large eyes boring into him with the vehemence of her look. She's wordlessly pleading with him to give her a reason to say no to Ken. Will is the only incentive she needs.

"I don't know, Will…" she says finally, then turns on her heel and quickly leaves before he can say anything else.

As he hears the sound of the door closing, he stares once more at the life-altering pad in his hand. Finally unable to control his emotions, he lets his anger bubble to the surface and throws the piece against the wall facing him. It makes an indistinct noise as it hits. Unsatisfied with the result of his outburst, Will finally lets the tears he's been fighting spill onto his cheeks, running down his tired face. As he takes in shuddering breaths, his limbs are no longer able to find the strength to keep him upright. His back hits the wall behind him and he slowly slides down to the floor, sitting himself roughly on the hard surface.

He buries his face in his hands and gives into the sobs racking his body. The pain of losing the child he never had and the marriage he no longer believes in is almost too much for him to handle. He sits there, on the floor in the middle of his apartment, mourning the loss of what he knew as his family.

And hidden in the back of his mind, he knows he's grieving what feels like the loss of someone else too.

He sits there, feeling his life crumble beneath him, for quite some time. When he finally finds the strength to control his emotions and pick himself up off the floor, he hears the door opening again. He runs a hand down his tired face, ridding it of remnants of tears. He swallows, hoping his voice won't betray his conviction, picks up Terri's fake baby bump and makes his way to the entryway of their apartment.

"Will," says Terri as he walks into her line of sight, her voice slightly alarmed. "I thought you had Glee rehearsal today. Figgins told me you disappeared before your afternoon classes."

"Yeah…" he mumbles, standing a distance away from her as he's sure he wouldn't be able to be near her. "Terri, is there something you need to tell me?"

She looks at him impatiently, rolling her eyes as she makes her way into the apartment, carelessly throwing her jacket onto the couch and sighing loudly.

"What are you talking about, Will? I've had a long day." She says, exaggerated aggravation in her voice.

"I overheard you talking to Quinn Fabray today." He says simply, his voice somehow managing to keep steady. He feels like he could begin screaming at any moment; a few choice words are burning at the back of his throat, begging to be released. He wants to give her a chance to explain before he lets the fury inside of him take over.

Her eyes widen at his statement and she's dumbfounded; her mouth falls open but remains silent. He utters her name insistently, waiting for her to say something. When she doesn't, he shakes his head, letting out a shaky breath and shutting his eyes tightly. He thrusts the item in his hand into her hold, focusing his attention away from her for a moment because he can no longer bear to continue looking at her.

"What is that?" he says finally, watching as she stares down at her hands and her body begins to tremble slightly.

"It's, um…" she trails off, not finding words or a plausible explanation, still unable to look him in the eye.

"Terri!" he shouts, making her flinch and finally meet his fervent gaze. "Just tell me the truth." Each word is punctuated and emphasized.

"I'm so sorry, Will." She whispers, her breath hitching as tears begin to form in her eyes. "I never meant for this to happen…" She trails off.

He looks at her insistently, silently telling her to elaborate. He purses his lips and shakes his head, not believing how far his life has fallen in the space of one day.

"I've been lying to you." She whimpers, her voice so tiny that she's barely understandable. "I'm not pregnant."

To hear the words come directly from her mouth knocks the wind out of him. Shaking his head and blinking back the sudden need to cry, he steps away and turns his back to her. She collapses onto the couch and he faces her again, her body looking deflated in her despaired shape.

"I just… felt you slipping away." She says, lifting her shirt and pulling away the pad around her stomach. The velcro makes an offensive noise as it detaches itself and she throws it on the coffee table in front of her. Will feels himself tense even more at the sight and she continues. "Quinn was just… convenient. I did the only thing I could think of that would keep you here, with me."

"I loved you, Terri. That kept me here."

"I think you love your job more, Will." She sighs, sniffling. He steps closer to her, leaning down as he reaches near, their faces level.

"I can't believe this… how I feel about my job, Terri, has nothing to do with what you've done to our marriage!" He shouts, making her flinch with every word.

"What about the way you feel about that redhead you're constantly with? I saw you with her. You can't tell me you don't see the way she looks at you." she retorts.

He scoffs, cursing thoroughly under his breath, and walks away from her. She follows quickly behind, desperately grabbing his wrist as he picks up his keys. He finally looks at her and truly feels numb at the sight.

"Don't leave, please." She cries, the despair in her tone doing nothing to coax him. "Will, we can make this work."

"I can't." he says, roughly pulling his arm from her grip and slamming the door behind him as he leaves.

He sleeps in his car that night, hidden in the depths of the McKinley's parking lot. He only manages to keep his eyes closed for a couple of hours at the most, his head spinning with the magnitude of recent events. He awakens when the sun begins to rise, bright rays beaming onto his face through his car's window. Groaning, he wipes the sleep from his eyes and tries to ignore the pounding in his head. He notes the time (barely 6am) and decides that sitting in his uncomfortable seat any longer is useless. He steps out of the car and makes his way into the school, stretching and hoping to somehow get the painful kinks out of his neck muscles.

Only when he gets to his office does he realize that he's wearing the same clothing as the day before. Sighing, he studies himself and then sheds his tie and vest, hoping no one will notice he hasn't changed. He throws himself into his lesson plans for the day, willing thoughts of the previous night's events to evade him.

It isn't long before McKinley begins to fill with students and faculty; he hides in his classroom to avoid having to plaster on a fake smile right away. He makes it through his morning classes, letting his students work individually because he doesn't think he can handle lecturing. When his free period comes, he decides to brave the teacher's lounge. He barely has the time to step from his classroom before someone calls out to him. He recognizes the voice instantly, however, and turns with a small, genuine smile on his face.

"Emma." He whispers, just loud enough for her to hear. Maybe she's his one hope to brighten his day.

She walks up to him, uncertainty in her movements. She ducks her head as she reaches him, standing close enough for him to reach out and touch her. He fights the urge to brush his fingers down the length her arm: just to know that she's there.

"I wanted you to hear this from me…" she stammers, her wide eyes darting between him and the floor. Her hands rest folded in front of her, a nervous habit. "You know, um, Ken asked me to marry him."

Will nods, feeling a pang in his heart as she speaks. He's silent, not trusting himself to speak.

"I said no." She murmurs.

Something akin to relief washes over him, but he doesn't know what to say. He asks himself how to react to someone who's refused a marriage that would so obviously never work. The words I'm sorry hardly seem appropriate. He can't exactly tell her how great he thinks it is, or that he's proud of her for asserting herself. Thankfully, when he merely nods, she continues.

"I just- I couldn't do it, Will. I couldn't marry him because I could never love him." She pauses, sighing and pursing her lips for a moment. "And… I think we both deserve more than that."

"Emma-"

"I could never have given him my heart," she interjects before he can speak anymore, afraid that she'll lose her nerve soon. "Not when someone else has it."

A rush of shock runs through him; his throat runs dry and he swallows thickly. She stares at his adam's apple as it follows the movement, needing to look at anything but the reaction on his face.

"Who?" He breathes. Their gazes lock, intensity laced in their stare. The air in his lungs seems to leave him all at once, and her breath hitches in her throat. She gives him a knowing look, but his own is insistent. He has his intuition, but he needs to hear the words come from her mouth.

"I think you know, Will." She says with certainty.

She doesn't give him a chance to respond. She can't bear to see him react to the impact of her words. Finding herself more afraid of what he may say than it remaining unknown, she turns and walks away from him.

Still stunned into silence, he simply watches her retreating form. His mouth falls slightly open, as if to prepare him to say something, but she doesn't see his hesitance. Defeated, he makes his way down the opposite end of the hallway, his shoes scuffing against the floor with his reluctant steps.

As he reaches the corridor, he feels a sudden magnetism that pulls him to look over in her direction again.

She's frozen in place, staring at him forlornly, feeling a fire in the heart that's beating rapidly in her chest.

The look in her eyes and the ardor coursing through his veins makes him want to go to her, wrap his arms gently around her waist and tell her that he's decided he's getting a divorce.

And even more, he wants to tell her that, at a moment he can't pinpoint, his heart became hers, too.

Well, that's chapter 1! I have this entire story outlined, so chapter 2 should be along as soon as possible.

Giant thank you to Natalie for being my super patient and amazing editor, and to Becky for being equally patient and amazing while we talked about it. This one is for both of you! Shout out to my girls on Twitter for being constantly awesome and probably dirtier than need be… I wouldn't have it any other way!

Let me know what you think!