He wanted to kiss her. She was giggling through her anecdote about Sue and Beiste and her hand was in his. He wanted to run his fingers through her hair and kiss her right there on her doorstep, until the sun came up and all the neighbours could see.
"Will, are you okay?" she turned her head to the side in concern and her earring fell gently against her neck.
He grimaced bashfully, holding her hand tighter.
"Yeah, I was just thinking that this is the best first date we've ever had" he mused. She'd knocked on the door of his office on the first day back at McKinley. While he marvelled at those adorable dimples in her cheeks, she asked him to come to the community theatre production of 'The Wizard of Oz', it was her favourite, she had said.
The air in Lima was still warm and inviting, they had walked from her house and she had bit her lip and asked about his summer, and laughed when he retold about the lunatic week he'd spent at his parent's place.
"Maybe we should try for a third first date then?" she looked up at him with those eyes, without any trace of hesitation. He was hopelessly in love with her.
"I'd like that" he whispered, transfixed with the cinnamon of her hair, the way the street light bounced off her skin, and before he could stop and worry about spooking her, his lips were on hers and she was sighing. God, that sigh would be his downfall. He'd do anything to hear it.
She blushed when he took his lips away, having no idea how irresistible she was.
"Let me take you out on Saturday night? I know place that does an amazing fruit salad desert" he couldn't contain the excitement in his voice.
She looked away. Was he coming on too strong? Oh God, he needed to back pedal…
"Um, actually… I'm going to St. Louis this weekend…um, I'm meeting with Carl to sign the annulment papers…" she cleared her throat, albeit awkwardly.
"Oh" he wanted to say the right thing. He wanted so much. To comfort her, to fall asleep beside her, to fly to St. Louis and hold her hand, to give Carl a piece of his mind. "…Do you have to go? Can't you post that stuff?" he winced. That was so not the right thing to say.
"It's the right thing to do-"
"You don't owe him anything, Em"
"Will, let's not talk about this now" her voice pleaded a little, her fingers were entwined in his "I had a really great time tonight".
He spent three days debating whether to call her and when Monday came again, he bound into the faculty lounge ready to verse her on all the local news she might have missed.
"Schuester!" Will shook his head dismissively. Not even Sue Sylvester was going to ruin this day.
"Hey, Bugsy Malone! I want a word with you" Sue plonked her mammoth jar of protein powder on the table beside him. "Sit" she commanded with a sneer.
"Sue, I don't have time for this…" but he sat down anyway, Emma would be arriving soon enough. Sue remained standing, lurching over him.
"William, it took me a long time to accept the fact that my exhaustive efforts to destroy your love life and spare the dignity of all American women had failed. I mean do you know how long it took to get your file photo on America's Most Wanted?"
"What?-"
"And still Strawberry Shortcake down the hall there is besotted with you in a way that is so puzzling I can only assume that she is part Dodo bird and has mistaken your ridiculous hair for a an abandon birds nest she can't possibly resist." She took a breath while Will stared, bewildered. "But if I find out that you have done anything unseemly Shuester, I will make it my personal mission to steal your identity, sell your house and give all your money to rogue Somali pirates. And then I will instruct those pirates to sneek into the disgusting men's shelter you'll be forced to live in, cut you up and turn your limbs into cat food, which I will feed to a cat. Are we clear? Good. Now, if you'll excuse me I have Obama on line one".
The bell sounded and Will tried to shake of the nonsense rant while he heeded to his first class.
At last he walked into the familiar sounds of the choir room, having searched or Emma all through the lunch hour.
His eyes fell on her yellow blazer without trying, despite a full room of bustling teenagers. She was perched in her delicate way on the on the bleachers, next to Becky who was laughing with both he hands in a fist.
He smiled to himself. Of course she is in Glee Club to help Becky settle in.
"Miss. Pillsbury, thanks for coming" he winked playfully but when she looked up he didn't notice if her smile dazzled. The room got smaller.
"Are you okay?" he blurted with an urgency that caught the whole room's attention.
"I'm fine, why?" she said shyly, conscious of teenage glances. He almost ran to her, immediately lifting her face with his hands, which she promptly shook away.
"….it's just a little bruise" she dismissed the concern in his eyes and tried to engage Becky who was far more entertained by the exchange being played out by her teachers.
"Emma, you have a black eye!" he felt his voice shake and suddenly Sue's tirade made sense. Someone had hurt Emma.
"Did Carl do this?" he felt his face getting red and he was pretty sure Rachel was gasping at all the drama.
"We can talk about this when class is over" she said through gritted teeth.
"Emma, if he hit you, you have to tell me" he tried to whisper but it was no use, he couldn't control himself.
She pursed her lips in anger and folded her arms. Her heels hitting the hard floor as she stormed toward the door. "Let's talk about this in the corridor". He sped after her and shut the door behind them, blocking thirteen curious ears.
She put her hands on her hips and looked at the ground, trying to find words. He got in first.
"Just tell me, did Carl hit you?" he caught her gaze and tried desperately to ignore the blotched purple that engulfed her right eye.
She took a breath. "No."
"Who did?"
"Gosh Will!" her eyes rolled at him. "There was a little turbulence on the plane, a stewardess fell into me with her elbow"
"…I… does… is it sore?" he was a fool.
"A little" she said softly, forgiving him with a palm on his chest.
"Sorry, I just, I was worried about you"
"Don't be. I feel great. Seeing Carl was… it was good" she smiled, studying the buttons on his shirt.
"I missed you" his hands moved instinctively to her waste and a wolf whistle came from the choir room, where, no doubt they were watching through the glass.
"We should get back in there" he said, turning away and then stopping himself. "I just can't control myself around you Em. If anything ever-"
"Stop. Carl's not the bad guy. Actually, thanks to his cooperation, I can do this…" she kissed him shyly "…whenever I want". There were cheers coming from the room now and Will felt weightless, I not a little foolish still.
"I love… I really missed you, a lot!" he said through a smile and grabbed her hand.
"I love you too" she whispered just loud enough for him to hear, and lead them back to their onlookers.