Endless
Will Schuester catches Rachel Berry leaving the Glee Club photo session with a gorgeous smile on her face and he feels irrationally crestfallen. Moments earlier he had resigned as director of Glee and she had almost been in tears. Was he really so easily forgotten?
He realizes how childish he is being and walks off before he is seen.
Will Schuester feels uncomfortable walking the halls of McKinley, like a stranger in his own school. He feels completely out-of-place. Without a home, without Glee…who is he, after all? Will can almost swear that every time he turns his back the students are staring, but it's probably just his eyes playing tricks on him.
Probably…
No one knows that his life is falling apart.
Will has some spare time, so he decides to clean out his desk. He doesn't want to see pictures of his wife every day. He won't be needing the stack of sheet music that he's kept in the bottom drawer.
He could use that space for his tax returns or to stash chocolate or maybe he could finally get a subscription to Rolling Stone.
Will had always liked Rolling Stone.
He places all of his unused Spanish tests in the bottom drawer and never opens it again.
"Mr. Schue?"
Rachel meets him at his car in the dead of night. He doesn't even question why she's there. She just is. Rachel is always there.
"You can't leave Glee, Mr. Schue." She spits out immediately, without any sort of pre-amble. "It's just not right." He's not sure if he would call her words selfish or if it is some form of compassion.
Rachel takes another step toward him and Will is acutely aware that she's wearing vanilla perfume.
[…don't stand so close to me…]
"No one cares about Glee, I mean really cares about it, the way that we do." Rachel insists, tugging gently at the lapels of his coat. As if she can somehow break the rules and bring him back.
"There's nothing I can do." He barely gets the words out.
"Yes!" She stamps her foot, but it is only a whisper compared to her usual tantrums. "Without you how are we going to go on?" Rachel drops her head and lowers her eyes. "How am I going to go on?"
Will sees the tears fall down her cheek. She doesn't even have the strength to fight them back and keep up her false bravado. It hits him, sharp and full and hard. He has seen too many tears today.
He can't take it anymore.
Will lifts her chin until she is looking into his eyes and pulls her to him.
The rules are breaking.
He remembers the feel of Terri's hands on his chest when they make love.
He remembers the feel of Emma wrapped in his arms when they accidentally touch.
But most of all he remembers Rachel's gorgeous smile.
Suddenly Rachel's lips meet his and every last nerve-ending fries, because... What. The. Fuck.
(She can taste a slight hint of whiskey on the edges of Mr. Schue – Will's – lips. Rachel feeds off of his loneliness.)
Will's fingers dig into her hips as if he doesn't know where else to place them. As if he wants the world to finally stop spinning. But the twist of her tongue only makes him sink deeper.
He doesn't remember when he started falling.
They break apart and Will's hand automatically moves to her cheek. He strokes her comfortingly, because somehow he is certain that it is her heart that is shattered. Not his. Rachel rests her head on his chest and it calms Will's quick pulse. He continues to stroke gently. Now his fingers are tangled into her hair, but she remains perfectly still.
"I know." Rachel mumbles into his neck. "I overheard Principal Figgins…" She admits. She has the decency to look ashamed for eaves-dropping. "…About you leaving your wife…"
Suddenly Will Schuester is very very afraid.
He doesn't let go.
