A/N: I don't even want to talk about how frustrated I am with the outcome of Special Education, but just remember, this is rock bottom for us Wemma shippers. There's nowhere to go but up from here.
"Hello?"
You instantly sober up, despite the eight beers you've consumed in the past two hours. You'd called her, yes, but had you expected her to answer? Definitely not. Your grip on your cell phone tightens as you bite your lip, holding in a shaky breath.
"Hello?"
You don't answer, you don't even open your mouth, afraid of what you might say. You wait for her to say something else, anything else, but she doesn't.
She's silent.
For seconds, minutes, hours? Who knows? You sure don't.
"Will," she breathes into the phone.
You shut your eyes tightly and shake your head, trying to force back the tears that have just formed.
"Will, please," she begs softly, "you can't keep doing this."
You keep shaking your head, bringing a trembling hand up to press tightly over your mouth, muffling a sob that's bound to escape any second.
"Who is it?"
You bite down on your lip roughly, instantly recognizing the voice. His voice.
"N-no one, wrong number," she answers quickly, "go back to bed, Carl."
You hear a mumble and some shuffling and you hope, you pray to a god you're not sure even exists, that she'll say something else. Just so you can hear her voice again and pretend it's you she's lying next to every night.
That it's you that she's married to.
That it's you that she loves.
"Will," she whispers.
Tears are now freely falling down your face, tracing deliberate paths that have seemingly been permanently etched on your cheeks for the past few months.
"Please, say something."
And it's only then that you let out a broken cry, making you sound like some terribly wounded animal.
"Emma, I-" is all you can manage through your tears, hoping she won't notice how slurred your words really are.
"Why do you keep doing this, Will?"
You let out another sob before answering. "I-I just wanted to hear your voice."
"Will..." she says warningly, before sniffling.
Your red-rimmed eyes widen, realizing you've made her cry.
"Emma," you begin, standing from your seat on the couch, stumbling over a few empty, discarded beer bottles. "D-don't cry, I'm sorry, I'm, I'm so sorry."
You can hear her erratic breathing on the other end of the line and you want to smack yourself for being so stupid.
"P-please, Em, I didn't mean to make you cry," you pause before adding, "I love you."
A few more tears run down your face as you hear her scoff quietly. "You're drunk, Will."
"Emma, I love you. You have to believe me," you say as fast as you can in your intoxicated state, suddenly feeling very dizzy.
She doesn't say anything and you don't either, not wanting to make her cry any more.
You close your eyes once more, feeling tears trail painfully down your cheeks. You're not certain of how many times you've cried in the past few months over this one woman, but you know that it's much more than you'll ever admit.
You stand in your living room, holding your breath, waiting for her to say anything. Despite the pain you feel, you can't help but feel overjoyed at the fact that she hasn't hung up yet.
You almost don't hear her when she says it. You're too busy focused on your heart that's beating faster than you ever thought it would, on your eyes that are nearly swollen shut from all the tears you've shed, that you're not sure she actually even said it.
But then she says it again, tearfully.
"I love you, too, Will."
You let out a sob as you fall back onto the couch. Your broken heart mends itself - just for a second - to swell. Before you get a chance to say anything, you hear the unmistakable click of a phone hanging up.
It's not much - well, actually, it's everything, but more importantly, it's hope.
And right now, that's all you need.
A/N: I went through a lot of debate about posting this up (particularly because of the ending) since I think giving false hope to Will is the last thing he needs right now, but eh, it's the best I could come up with at 3 in the morning. But, oh well, it is fanfiction after all :P