After Will had dismissed the glee club for the summer having celebrated surviving their first nationals and placing in the top twelve, he stayed behind in the empty choir room picking up the empty paper cups that littered the floor near where the kids usually sat, the remnants of an impromptu party that had taken place. When he got back to Lima from New York, he had called April Rhodes to officially tell her that he would not be joining her on Broadway after all, saying that being with New Directions was the most important thing to him at that moment. April had understood, even she knew how much the club meant to him – he was the one that had helped her turn her life around.

"One more thing, sugar," she had told him, "tell Emma I said hello. She's a lucky girl to have someone like you in her life." Had she always known that? Nonetheless, she was right – Emma was indeed the love of Will's life and always had been since he met her.

"So, what are your plans for the summer?" Will asked Emma as they spent some time together in the faculty lounge later that day. The guidance counselor was so certain that he was going to be living out his dream performing his heart out on Broadway alongside April that she was actually surprised to see him back at McKinley High. He had told her the truth upon his return – that he did get to live out his dream of singing on a Broadway stage, but his real passion was being the coach of the glee club. She understood, and had surprised him with the banner that had been hung in the school hallway.

"I'm probably going to continue seeing my therapist," she replied, "perhaps take some long walks in the park, the usual I guess. How about you, now that you're going to be here for a while?"

"I guess the first thing I have to do," said Will, "is get my apartment back in order. I managed to get the stuff I was bringing with me to New York back, which would mean the rest that I sorted out with you before I left can be taken out of storage. After that, probably do my monthly visits with the kids at the hospital and think of some new ideas for glee club next year." Thankfully, nobody was able to rent out his apartment during that time, so he was able to regain ownership and had turned Terri's old craft room into an office/relaxation room which could easily turn into a guest bedroom thanks to the new futon he had bought.

"So April wasn't mad that you decided not to be in her show?" asked Emma.

"She wasn't upset at all," Will answered. "Even from that first invitational the kids did as a group a while ago, she knew how much glee club meant to me. She was the reason I joined back in my days as a student and now we're strictly friends – platonic of course. She told me after I came home that you're lucky to have a guy like me in your life." Emma blushed slightly and looked at the peanut butter and jelly sandwich in front of her. Maybe April was right, if it wasn't for Will she wouldn't have found the courage to seek help for her OCD problems.

"Hey guys," said Shannon Beiste as she joined their table, "it's been quite a year, hasn't it? The football team actually winning for once, the glee club making it to nationals and everything in between. I'll probably be doing some summer training with the team, they said they're up to it. Anything to give us an edge, right?" Certainly, with Shannon at the helm the Titans had won the state championship – something that Ken Tanaka could never do during his tenure. It felt good to know that there was someone who actually knew the game steering the team in the right direction.

"Oh Will, forgot to tell you," she said, handing him a flyer. "I was downtown the other day and I found this flyer on the bulletin board at the community center, the local theater is holding open auditions for a limited-run community production of The Sound of Music. When I saw that, I immediately thought of you – you should go for it. At least it will give you some more things to do over the summer if you land a part, believe it or not it's one of my favorite musicals. And we all know that you're an amazing singer, of course." Scanning the flyer quickly, Will smiled.

"Shannon, I didn't know you were a Rodgers and Hammerstein fan," he said. "How come you never told me?"

"It's one of my favorite movie musicals of all time," Shannon admitted.

"Mine too," added Emma, "my mom said to me a long time ago that there are times I'm as kind as Maria is in the story." She started to hum one of the songs out loud, which gave Will an idea.

"Em, I was thinking," he said. "I am definitely going to try out for the show, how about you come audition with me? Imagine if we both got parts, it would be a lot of fun. And I'm sure we could fit in our other things around the rehearsal schedules. What do you say?" It may not be Broadway, but at least from Will's perspective it would still be a way for him to perform, especially some of the most iconic music ever written.

"I think I will give the auditions a try," Emma said, "what have I got to lose? It would be great if we could both get a part, but if you get one and I don't, I promise that I will be in the front row cheering you on. I bet Shannon and perhaps the glee kids would do the same thing." Smiling at both Will and Shannon, she was happy she had made up her mind about trying out for the show. He glanced at the flyer one more time, there would be two parts to the audition for the adult roles – an acting part where one guy and one girl would be paired up at random to perform a scene from the show, as well as a singing part where all the people trying out would each do a solo song of their choosing. Those trying out for the roles of the children would only have to do the singing audition.

"I think I know what I'm going to sing for my audition," Will said. "How about you, Em?"

"I'll figure that out before the day of the tryouts, I guess," Emma replied.