Title: Blanket of Starlight
Author: Lylirium
Disclaimer: I don't own them. *Sulking* If I did Wemma would be happy together by now with a baby on the way, and Emma…oh Emma you would be dentist-free. *Cries for a full hour in the corner*
Summary: Dancing outside in the snow with her, it felt like dancing with the brightest start in the sky inside a white blanket of white love.
Author's Notes: So the idea came from all the amazing specs from Wemma fans concerning the barely-existent squee moment. That and the fact that Sue was not the person I wanted to see in last episode at Will's apartment gave me the strength to write this. Also…I wanted to redeem Emma a little bit. I hope you like it, please review!
Blanket of Starlight
"One kind kiss before we part,
Drop a tear and bid adieu;
Though we sever, my fond heart
Till we meet shall pant for you."
Robert Dodsley
Emma sat alone on a chair, gazing around the room, trying to spot a familiar face in the midst of the dozens of people walking around her living-room.
Dozens of people. With shoes on. On her carpet. With germs. Just thinking about it made her skin crawl. But Carl had insisted. No. Demanded that they had a Christmas party, said he wanted to introduce his wife to his friends, said she owed him that. She supposed that it was guilt that forced her to accept his "request". After all she still refused to sleep with him claiming she wasn't ready and still hadn't called her family to tell them about her marriage.
So here she was, sitting alone amongst strangers in her own house desperately trying to fit in, act normal and happy, when all she wanted was to run into her room and cry.
She saw Carl walking around the room talking with everyone. Every once in a while he would look her way and give her a bright smile and a wink of his eye; she tried her best to force a smile back and she thought she accomplished it well, because Carl turned his face and continue to chat with his colleague.
She supposed she was getting good at it. Pretending to be happy. The truth was she felt lonely. Suffocated. But mostly unhappy. This isn't how she imagined her married life would be. She knew she should feel happy, but she's couldn't. Carl was a good man, he truly was, he loved her and she was sure that he would give her anything she asked. He'd give the world if she asked him to. He was the perfect man. She should've been feeling trilled to be his wife, but then, why couldn't she? Why did she long for something else? An imperfect man, who loved her flaws as much as she loved his; who understood that her OCD couldn't simply be whooshed under a rug, no matter how much they wanted to; who would know exactly what she needed and wanted to hear.
Her insides turned every time she thought about how she knew exactly who that man was…
Her thoughts travelled to Will spending Christmas alone in his place. She didn't even have the chance to give him her Christmas present. She missed him. Have been missing him for God knows how long. Probably ever since Sue told her what he did, all those months ago. How she wished he had fought for her then, how she had longed for him to come into her office and tell her that he loved her and that everything would be okay. She was crushed when he didn't. She missed their conversations, the way the topics would flow and how they used to talk for what seemed like minutes, but were in fact hours. She missed his smile and the sparkle in his eyes. She missed Will Schuester and Emma Pillsbury together, because right now, they were neither. He wasn't the Will she knew and she wasn't the Emma he knew. If she was honest with herself, she wasn't the Emma she knew either.
She was being selfish, she knew that. She had hurt him in so many ways lately, had seen how much her words would darken his eyes, how his shoulders would slump with the mention of Carl, but she couldn't help it. No matter how hard she tried she would always end up bringing Carl to the conversation the minute she felt her gaze lingering a little too much…she would mention Carl as soon as her heart would skip a beat at the way Will looked at her. It was so easy to forget about her heartache, of how much he had hurt her, when she was around him. She couldn't go through it again. Carl…Carl was nice…he tried to understand her issues. He tried helping. Try being the right word there.
Vegas was probably the craziest thing she ever did in her life. A spontaneous act she was trying to avoid thinking about. Thinking only gave away to regret these days. Emma was a planner, she had lists of pros and cons for everything, she was proud to believe in herself as a responsible person who honestly thought about things trough in order to make the right decision. Marrying in Vegas broke that pattern. And that was a problem. Not only because she genuinely felt that she made a rushed decision but because deep down in her heart she knew that she married a man, while being in love with another. And that caused her heart to ache more than ever before.
So she pretended. Pretended she was happy. Pretended that she didn't love Will Schuester more than anything in the world. Pretended that he was okay with her marriage even though she knew he wasn't. Pretended that she didn't care if he didn't fight to win her back anymore. Pretending was all she ever did these days anyway.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Carl's voice.
"Hey Emma, are you okay? Why are you sitting here all by yourself?"
"I'm fine. Just a little tired I guess." She forced a smile and looked at her husband who was beaming at her.
"Well I hope you're not too tired to meet a few people. I wanted to introduce you to a friend of mine and his wife."
"Another friend?"
Carl sighed.
"Look Emma, I know this is hard for you. There are a lot of people in our house right now, and you think you can't handle it, but you can. Look at how far you've come." He said with an encouraging smile. He grabbed her hand.
"But…" Emma wanted to speak; she wanted to tell him that she couldn't handle it. That the only way she was enduring this torture was because she was thinking that she wouldn't be able to go to sleep without knowing exactly what and where people had touched so that she could rightfully clean it tomorrow. But she didn't. He would guilt-talk her into agreeing with something else she didn't want to do, and she couldn't deal with that right now.
So she let him drag her across the room to greet the family that had just arrived. Her husband introduced her to the Bagshots and their daughter and Emma couldn't shake the feeling that had been haunting her for a while now. She felt as if she was his prized possession. A trophy no one could touch. It sickened her. Or maybe she felt sick because Mr. Bagshot' shoes had mud all over it and they were touching the pristine carpet of her entrance floor.
She exchanged pleasantries with them and soon enough she was by herself again. This time by the window. The clouds in the sky threatened to make themselves known soon. It was a chilly night. The streets were covered in snow, and Emma saw a group of teens caroling on the other side of the sidewalk.
She felt alone in that room. Surrounded but alone. Alone with her thoughts. About Will. She knew he wasn't coming. Had known the moment the words had left her mouth. Of course he wasn't coming. What was she thinking inviting him like that? Hadn't she done enough? She mentally kicked herself for being so selfish, but she truly wanted him to come.
How she wished he would enter through that door and rescue her from these people, from these strangers, from this life. She smiled thinking about what he would say. Probably something cheesy about knights in shining armors and princesses who needed rescue. He had called her Cinderella once after all.
"Are you thinking about your prince?"
Emma was brought back from her daydream by the sound of a little girl's voice. Six-year old, Alice Bagshot eyed her trough her bright big green eyes with a wonder look on her angelic face.
"What?" Emma questioned
"You have a dreamy smile. My mommy only smiles like that when she's thinking about my daddy. She says it happens when girls think about their princes." The little girl explained.
"Oh…" Emma looked embarrassed.
"Well, were you?" The girl asked
"Er…yeah, I was." Emma confessed smiling.
"How romantic!" Alice exclaimed in awe. "Your prince must be really handsome, because you had such a dreamy look on your face." The little girl giggled.
Emma laughed and kneeled down in front of Alice.
"He is."
"Did you ask Santa to help you win his heart?" Alice asked
Emma smiled endearingly at the curly-brunnete.
"I did. How about you, what did you ask Santa for?"
"Oh, I want a puppy! I asked him pretty please and even explained that I was really a good girl this year. I've always wanted a puppy, my best friend Carlie, she got one for her birthday. I was soo jealous. She named him Boo, the doggie. But if Santa sees how good I was he'll make my wish come true, right? I even promised him I wouldn't give my doggy a lame name like Boo, the way Carlie did." Alice rushed this speech out of her mouth in such a hurry that it took Emma by surprise.
"Erm…right so a puppy. It takes a lot of responsibility to raise a doggy, are you sure you're up for it?"
"Oh yes ma'am. I have a fish already and I take care of it all by myself. Do you think Santa will grant my wish?" Alice's eyes pleaded hers for an honest answer.
"Are you positive that you were a good girl this year?" Emma wondered.
"Erm…well, I was bad to Carlie once, I told her something awful. I was so mad at Carlie because she was spending so much time with Boo, that I told her I didn't like him or her. I even told my mommy about it, but she said that I shouldn't do that. She said that just because Carlie wasn't spending so much time with me, that I shouldn't stop being her friend. Best friends shouldn't be mean to one another. So I apologized to Carlie and now we're best friends again." Alice explained. "Do you think Santa will mind?"
Emma smiled tearfully at the little girl. Her story so similar, in a way, to hers and Will's, brought back her buried fears that she may have wronged him in the last few months. Maybe she should apologize too. God knows she hadn't been a good friend lately. Flaunting her relationship in his face, being unnecessary harsh…yes she definitely needed to apologize. But how?
"Ma'am?"
"Call me Emma." Emma smiled at Alice. "I guess you'll just have to wait and see, but Santa is a wise man, even if you don't get your puppy this Christmas I'm sure you'll still be able to play with Boo and maybe Santa will give something else that you also wanted for a very long time."
"I really hope he gives me the puppy though." She whispered in Emma's ear.
The guidance counselor laughed.
"Hey Emma, I'm hungry." Alice said suddenly.
"Me too." Emma agreed. "What you feel like eating?"
"My daddy always makes me a PB&J when I'm feeling hungry after dinner. Do you have those?" Alice asked.
Emma choked back a sob, the memory of a shared PB&J floating around in her mind. Her favorite sandwich shared with her favorite person in the whole wide world. Best combination ever.
"What's wrong? You look sad."
"Nothing's wrong sweetheart. Come on, I have those in the kitchen."
Emma got up and motioned Alice to follow her. The little girl tagged along and grabbed Emma's hand on their way out of the room. Emma cringed at the warm touch of her hand, but remained silent.
Together they made the sandwiches, Alice was very opinative of how she liked her PB&J and Emma did her best to follow the little girl's instructions, always with a small smile on her face.
Alice grabbed half of her sandwich and started eating it; she then wrapped the other half of her sandwich on a paper napkin and putted it in her pocket.
Emma's eyes almost popped out of their orbits. That was just nasty. PB&J on her pocket? Not a chance in Hell.
"Alice, honey, what are you doing?"
"What?"
"Why did you put your sandwich in your pocket?" Emma inquired.
"Oh it's for my daddy. He says that a PB&J is only good when shared with the person you love the most. I'm too hungry to wait for him now, so I'm just saving his half for later." She smiled broadly. "Thanks Emma. I like you."
And with that, Alice left the room leaving Emma alone with her thoughts. She looked at her PB&J. He had said it was the best he ever had, she thought with a smile. And suddenly she knew what she had to do.
Grabbing a package hidden inside her closet and her coat, she sneaked out of the house and drove away.
Emma stared at the building in front of her, a million thoughts running through her mind. Reason told her that this was wrong. She shouldn't be here; she should be at her house, with her husband, at their party. But her heart told her she needed to do this. Right or wrong, she needed to do it.
So after twenty minutes of weighting the pros and cons of her actions she finally got out of the car and walked towards her destination, her heart winning over reason for once.
Will smiled as he gazed around the room. His leaving-room was a mess. There were paper wrappers everywhere; plates with Christmas cake leftovers, glasses of juice and Christmas eggnog…never in his life had his leaving-room been this messy, but somehow he managed to smile. The kids and Sue had left earlier. Their surprise Christmas intervention was the best Christmas gift he could have asked for…well not the best, but definitely the closest thing to that.
He had been so depressed over the last couple of weeks. Emma's marriage had utterly shattered his already fleeting hope of ever getting her back, and that was slowly but surely destroying him. He never thought for a second, a year ago, that this is how he would be spending his Christmas this year. Last's year Christmas had been filled with so much hope. Hope for a better future, a future with red-hair, big hazel shining eyes and a sweet smile, a future with Emma.
He had never felt as miserable as he did now when he thought about how this was all his fault. If he hadn't been so stupid and kissed Shelby she would still be here. They'd be so happy now. Maybe she would be married, but not to a dentist, not with a guy who said 'bro' every five seconds, but to a man who loved his Glee kids almost as much as he loved her, a man who was passionate about his beliefs and that would fight for his students rights and dreams. He wondered whatever happened to that man. No matter how much he looked for him he seemed to be buried inside somewhere in the midst of his heartbreak.
He had been avoiding Emma. He had to. What was he supposed to do now anyway? He refused to chase after a married woman. He had been rejected enough, she was clearly over him. She had changed so much over the last months. Sometimes he just longed for his old Emma. The one that would smile at his goofiness and would always be pleased to advice him with a wise choice of words. But even that Carl took away from him, Will realized bitterly. Not only did he loose the love of his life, he lost his best friend too.
He grabbed the sing-along DVD "Singing in The Rain" that Rachel had brought along and smiled. Maybe this was a sign. He needed to stop focusing on Emma and start focusing more on the Glee Club, and the kids, besides he should definitely start working on his own happiness, even if that didn't involve Emma anymore.
A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. He smiled thinking one of the kids left something behind and walked to the door.
To say that seeing Emma was a surprise was an understatement. She looked beautiful. She was wearing a white coat knee-length with big black buttons that tightened in the front and had a small bow on the side. Under her coat she wore a green dress also knee-length, with short sleeves and a little cleavage, and a green belt made of silk that tied on the left side of the dress. Suddenly he had trouble breathing, as he watched her he felt the air leaving in lungs. The color and that dress really made her look breath-taking. Her hair was wavy and curly and it hung loosely around her shoulders. It was as if his old Emma was back.
Emma was nervous. More than nervous actually, she was terrified of how he'd react to her presence in there. What if he dismissed her? What if he had company after all? What if he hated her for what she's done to him?
"Hi Will." She greeted with an anxious smile after a few seconds of awkward silence.
"Emma? What…?"
"Can I come in?" She wondered with a blushing smile.
"What?" He hadn't realized he had been staring at her. "Oh yes, come in."
Emma walked past him. Her perfume intoxicated his senses. He knew was torturing himself, but her closeness really did affected him in more ways than one. It tore him apart to be this close and yet so far. He closed the door, they walked to his living-room and she raised her eyebrows at the state of the area.
"I'm sorry about the mess. The Glee kids stopped by a while ago." He apologized with a smile.
"You don't have to explain anything to me Will. This is your home. It's okay." She smiled handing her coat to his waiting hands.
He grabbed her coat and putted it away in the hallway's closet. Why was she here? What about Carl? She looked so beautiful. Was this a dream? Maybe Sue had spiced his drink after all. He had suspected the moment that juice tasted funny, but he thought it was due to the fact that it was way past its expiration date. Thank God he was the only one that dared to drink it.
For a moment he let his mind settle on the fact that she was there. At his place. Emma Pillsbury-How…Emma was there. Alone. With him. But why? What happened? She seemed okay and had a lovely smile on her face, so a break-up was out of the question. Maybe she just wanted to see him…She seemed nervous about it, was she afraid of what he might say? Maybe. Why was she there? Did she want to talk about something about school? Nah, she would have waited for Monday, unless it was something about them…Was he over-thinking on subject? … Definitely.
When he returned Emma was standing up near the fireplace staring at Sue's present from earlier, with a bewildered look on her face, almost like a little girl staring in awe and confusion at something for the first time. To Will, she looked adorable, but in the back of his mind he knew she was out of his reach. She was married now. It was over. So instead of kissing her like he wanted to do, he simply smiled.
"Sue was here earlier too, along with the kids. She thought it was the perfect gift. Now I can shave my hair and just put everyone out of their misery."
Emma turned to see Will standing in the doorway and widened her eyes at the thought of Will with a shaved head.
"Please don't." She pleaded quietly. "I…I like your hair just the way it is right now." She shyly admitted.
"Hey, her words not mine!" Will laughed.
Emma face lit up with a smile.
"She's just jealous because you have great hair."
"True. I do have an amazing hair!" He said smugly.
"How modest…" Emma grinned.
"Again, not my words. My mom always told me that." He confessed with a grin.
Emma laughed. It felt so good to hear her laugh, it's been so long since they were like this…just talking and laughing… But he wanted to know. No. He needed to know the reason of why she came.
He cleared his throat looking at her intently.
"Why are you here?" He calmly asked.
"Well, I…I thought you'd be sad spending Christmas Eve all by yourself." She quietly replied.
"I'm okay with it. Weren't you throwing a party or something?"
She blinked back the tears that were quickly forming in her eyes and swallowed the lump in her throat.
"Yeah…well but I…I wanted to give you my Christmas present. With all that's been happening I didn't have the time to give it to you, and I well…I thought now would be a good time." Will simply stared at her, without uttering a word and she felt the urge to burst down in tears in front of him. It was over; she'd lost him for sure. "Maybe I should go, I…" She started to walk towards the door, but his hand caught her arm when she walked past him.
"No it's fine." He sighed. "These last couple of weeks have been very nerve-racking, I'm sorry." He smiled apologetically. Emma felt guilty, but smiled back a little and looked at his hand whose thumb was caressing her arm, blushing. He let go of her arm. "So…where is this present of yours?" He asked trying to sound excited.
"Oh…just a sec."
She grabbed her purse, which was neatly resting on the coffee table and took a small blue envelope with a tiny bow in the front.
"It's not much, but I thought you'd like it." She said handing it over to him.
He accepted the present from her hands, his fingers brushing hers in the process. The touch sending electrifying impulses throughout their bodies. Opening the envelope he peeked to see what it held inside.
He looked at Emma who was watching his reaction expectantly. He removed the enough, of the two pieces of paper inside, to read them.
"West Side Story Tickets?"
"For the New York Broadway show. Nationals are in New York, and I know for sure that Glee Club will make it this year. They sound amazing. I thought maybe while you were there you could go and see a proper Broadway Show." She explained.
"Thank you Em." He replied with a genuine smile. "It means a lot that you believe in us."
"Well, I am your good-luck charm after all." Emma teased.
"Yeah…" He smiled. "But you didn't have to come all the way here just to give these tickets Em, they're great, I loved it, but you could have waited for Monday…" Will said, trying to keep it cool. He didn't want to get his hopes up.
Emma's smile faltered a bit. She deserved this. She had treated him so poorly lately; he didn't even want to be in her presence anymore. That hurt more than anything he could have said to her.
"Oh but that's not the only reason I came..." Emma said quietly. Will looked at her confused and she continued. "Someone told me today that good things are only good and cherished when you have someone to share them with. And I wanted to share something with you today."
She took a box from her bag and handed it over to him once again. Will opened it and what he saw both warmed and clutched his chest. Inside laid a single PB&J, crusts off, so very much alike the one they shared a little over a year ago. How much had changed since then, but how ironic that some things remained the same. One of them was still married while the other was hopelessly in love with said married person, except this time, their roles were reversed. Yes, life had a funny way of working its malice.
"Do you wanna go halfsies on a PB&J?" Emma asked
"That sounds perfect." He replied with a grin.
Together they sat on the couch, not near enough to be considered inappropriate, but close enough to be considered intimate. He handed her half of the sandwich and they started eating it slowly in a comfortable silence, stealing glances and smiles from one another.
"So how are the kids?" Emma inquired.
"Oh they're great. Well, they're teenagers, so there's a new drama everyday with them. Last week for example, Rachel threatened to leave the club if I ever gave Lauren a solo."
"A normal Tuesday afternoon then." Emma added.
"Yeah." He laughed. "She was pretty upset though. She said she still wasn't over what I did to her in Sectionals."
"Or maybe it's due to the fact that she and Finn are still on bad-terms…How are they?"
"Still broken up. Rachel seemed pretty down about it today actually. She even invited me over to her parents to spend Christmas with them, even though they're Jews. But I said no." He looked at Emma with a smile on his face. "I don't regret it."
She blushed slightly but kept her eyes locked with his and smiled.
"I'm sure I'll hear all about it next year, in the first minute she sets foot in school." Emma replied.
Will grinned.
"Oh that reminds me, you'll never guess what the kids did for Britanny this week."
"What?" She asked with a tone of interest in her voice.
And suddenly it was just like old times. Their old times. The conversation flowed so easily, there were no awkward pauses, no forced smiles, this was just them, best friends sharing a few laughs over a PB&J. They talked about the kids, Beast's idea for Secret Santa, Sue and even Will's failed attempt to put together his new cabinet.
"Did you try reading the instructions manual?" Emma asked laughing when he told her the story.
"It was in Swedish! I don't understand Swedish."
"Well, there are the pictures." She wondered.
"Trust me Em, if it was humanly possible to understand how to build a cabinet with those pictures, I would have done it. I've spent hours looking at it. And believe me when I say it takes a lot for a guy to admit that."
Emma laughed harder and she took a bit of her half-forgotten sandwich. Suddenly she felt the dip dropping on her chin, but before she even had time to register what was happening, Will's hand had travelled up to her chin and cleaned it with his thumb.
A flash of a similar memory went through his mind. Their gazes locked, and the depth of emotion written on her face told him she remembered the same thing. That day she had nervously reached out her hand to his face, and had removed it as soon as she cleaned the mustard off. Today his hand remained glued to her skin.
Emma looked into his eyes. What she saw almost took her breath away. There was so much emotion engraved in them, so much love. She felt tempted. His lips moved and she suddenly found it hard to keep her eyes away from them.
She felt his hand stroke the side of her face and his thumb caressing her lips and that's when she knew she was done for. She was gonna kiss Will Schuester and in that fleeting moment it didn't matter that he hurt her in the past, it didn't matter that she was married, it didn't matter that this was wrong, all that mattered to her was right in front of her face.
He brought his lips closer to hers and they both closed their eyes. She could feel his breath on her lips and for a moment they remained still; their hearts beating wildly in their chests. Will's lips touched hers almost like a butterfly. Not far enough to be called a kiss but close enough to leave a tingling sensation. She was about to close the distance when they heard the doorbell.
They broke apart swiftly. Emma looked into his eyes, but he was already getting up. The moment was gone.
Will walked to the door thanking every angel in the sky. He had almost kissed her. What the Hell was he thinking? She was married! He couldn't kiss her. That was wrong. Very wrong. He couldn't do that to her, he couldn't make her a cheater. She never did that to him, he wouldn't do it to her. He needed to control himself, but still a part of him longed to know what would have happened if they weren't interrupted. And with a skip of his heart he realized she looked as disappointed by the interruption as he was.
The Spanish teacher opened the door and was greeted by a teenager.
"Good night good sir, I'm with the Christmas Carols Group and we would like to invite you and your guests to come and join us outside and hear us sing a little."
"Christmas Carols Group? Never heard of you guys." Will noted.
"We started this year. Will you come Mr…?
"Will Schuester. And yes, I'd love to, but…"
"We'll be there in five minutes." Emma added from where she was standing, two steps behind him.
"Thank you. We'll be waiting."
And with that the young teen sprinted out to tell the others. Emma smiled at Will and handed him over his jacket.
"Come on, Will. It'll be fun." She grabbed his hand and together they made their way outside of the building.
It had been snowing all week, and the white blanket that covered the streets made them look like something out of a fairytale book. The group of teenagers gathered around and as soon as they got closer to them, they started singing. Will smiled as they carried out perfectly the tune of "Holy Night".
He felt Emma shiver beside him and putted his arm around her trying to shield her from the cold. She leaned into his embrace and placed her head on his shoulder.
When the last note ended the couple clapped excitedly.
"Wow that was great guys." Will exclaimed.
"And the violin made it so much more beautiful. It was wonderful." Emma agreed.
"Thanks Mrs. Schuester." The teenager that invited them beamed.
Emma froze and her eyes widened at the realization of what the teen said. Mrs. Schuester. That…had a nice ring to it. Emma Schuester. She lips curved upwards.
Will cleared his throat.
"Actually…"
"You're welcome." Will looked at Emma with surprise written all over his face but she simply smiled and shrugged her shoulders.
"Can we interest you in another carol?" Another teenager asked.
"Actually…I have a request." Will replied with a secret smile on his face.
He approached the group and murmured something that Emma couldn't quite catch. He then turned to her with a grin on his face.
The violin started to play and soon the kids started to sing:
I really can't stay - But baby it's cold outside
I've got to go away - But baby it's cold outside
This evening has been - Been hoping that you'd drop in
Will took Emma's hand and silently asked her to dance with him. She smiled adoringly and approached his body. Together they started to sway to the sound of the music.
So very nice - I'll hold your hands, they're just like ice
My mother will start to worry - Beautiful, what's your hurry?
My father will be pacing the floor - Listen to the fireplace roar
So really I'd better scurry - Beautiful, please don't hurry
Well maybe just a half a drink more - Put some records on while I pour
Will couldn't believe this was happening. Here he was, dancing with the woman of his dreams when only a few hours ago he was ready to cry his heart out over a few beers. Her smile right now will be forever imprinted on his soul. Because even if this was the last time he would hold her in his arms, at least he knew he could say one day that he had this. This moment. This perfect memory of them dancing outside in the snow and the shining smile on her face matching the brightest star in the sky.
The neighbors might think - Baby, it's bad out there
Say, what's in this drink? - No cabs to be had out there
I wish I knew how - Your eyes are like starlight
To break the spell - I'll take your hat, your hair looks swell
I ought to say no, no, no, sir - Mind if I move in closer?
At least I'm gonna say that I tried - What's the sense in hurting my pride?
I really can't stay - Baby don't hold out
Ahhh, but it's cold outside
Emma let herself be carried away in Will's embrace. It was always so easy around him. So always felt so care-free. Here she was dancing outside, in the snow, probably damaging beyond repair her new shoes, but all she cared was the amazing feeling that was having Will singing in her ear the next song verses in time with the kids.
I simply must go - But baby, it's cold outside
The answer is no - But baby, it's cold outside
This welcome has been - How lucky that you dropped in
So nice and warm - Look out the window at that storm
My sister will be suspicious - Man, your lips look delicious
He looked into her lips with a smile on his face and she blushed.
My brother will be there at the door - Waves upon a tropical shore
My maiden aunt's mind is vicious - Ohhh your lips are delicious
Well maybe just a cigarette more - Never such a blizzard before
Her arms travelled upwards and landed behind his neck, and they danced the last verses of the song with their foreheads touching.
I've got to go home - But, baby, you'll freeze out there
Say, lend me your coat - It's up to your knees out there
You've really been grand - I thrill when you touch my hand
But don't you see - How can you do this thing to me?
There's bound to be talk tomorrow - Think of my life long sorrow
At least there will be plenty implied - If you caught pneumonia and died
I really can't stay - Get over that hold out
Ohhh, baby it's cold outside
They stopped swirling but kept their eyes on each other. Will detangled himself from Emma, and without taking his eyes of her, he smiled and put a lock of hair behind her ear. Emma was blushing slightly when she smiled back.
They heard the kids clearing their throats and when they looked at them they were grinning.
"Thank you guys, that was amazing." Will told them.
"You're welcome, Merry Christmas." The teens waved their goodbyes and then continued their way down the road.
"I should go too, it's getting late and I kinda may have sneaked out of the party without anyone noticing." Emma confessed.
Will laughed.
"It was that fun uh?"
"Way too many people for my liking." She replied. "Anyway, this was fun, but I really have to go." She turned to leave but once again Will grabbed her arm.
"Wait. You came here to hand me over a present. But you didn't grant me time to give you ours."
"You didn't have to get me anything, Will." Emma responded with a sad smile.
"But I did anyway. Wait here."
He sprinted towards the building leaving Emma alone. She didn't deserve his friendship. After everything she put him through he still managed to get her a Christmas present…she definitely didn't deserve him. He came back about two minutes later carrying a badly wrapped gift in his hands.
"First of all, I'm sorry for the wrapping, I was never good at it, but I hope you like what's inside it." Emma accepted the present from him. "Come Em, open it."
She did. He took the wrapped paper from her hands later so she could fully appreciate her gift. It was a small wooden jewelry box. It was covered in exquisitely worked carvings and Emma smiled as she recognized a piece of instrument notes from "I Could Have Danced All Night" carved in the lid.
"Will, this is…this is beautiful." Emma said emotion clear in her voice. "It must have cost a fortune!"
"Nah, I asked a friend of mine to do it. So it really was a bargain. There's something else though. Open it."
Emma slowly opened the box and inside laid a small red brooch shaped like a butterfly. Carved in its wings there was a date: 09/18/2006. The day they met. Emma blinked back the tears.
"You don't have to wear it or anything. I just thought it was pretty." Will clarified.
"Of course I'll wear it, Will. It's beautiful." Emma grabbed the brooch and immediately putted it on. "How does it look?"
"Amazing." Will smiled.
"Thank you Will." And with that Emma stepped closer and kissed him in the corner of his lips. It took all his willpower not to turn his head over and just kiss her, but he knew that it wouldn't be right. Emma stepped back and they both smiled sadly.
"I have to go."
"I know."
"I had a good time."
"Me too, I'm glad you came."
"I don't want to go."
"I don't want you to."
"But I have too."
"Yes."
Emma smiled and a silent tear escaped her eye.
"Merry Christmas Will."
"Merry Christmas Emma."
She walked over to her car and with a final wave she got in and drove off. Will entered his apartment with a wave of grief washing over him. She was going home. To her home. To him. And he would be the one to say goodnight to her. He would be the one to say good-morning. His would be the arms in which she would fell asleep. It sickened Will.
He grabbed the tickets to the Broadway show and took them out of the envelope to better inspect them, he flipped them over and what he saw made his heart stop. There lay in Emma's own handwriting the following words:
'Some things are worth fighting for.'
And for the first time in months he smiled when he thought about the future.
The End
Author's Notes: I needed them to dance to 'Baby It's Cold Outside' because, #1 It was my favorite song from the Christmas Episode, n#2 The all idea for this fic came when I was listening to it. Hope you enjoyed and don't forget to review.