It will never end. The aching head and the dehydration and the sweat. Ugh, the sweat. She can do nothing but nudge further into the cushion and hope to disappear. It was all the alcohol's fault.
When she groans and flops her arm over the sofa in frustration, Will turns the volume down but keeps humming along with Buble, sweeping a hand over the hair that blocks most of her face.
He chuckles and keeps grading papers. He thinks this is hilarious, the way her red dress is abandoned on the floor, still smelling of vodka, beer and whatever else she had clumsily spilt down herself.
He keeps reciting moments of the night before and running his hands over her bare legs that rest in his lap.
"Do you remember trying to counsel the cab driver last night? You wanted to invite him in and give him a pamphlet" his lop sided grin is full of adoration. She doesn't know whether to tell him to be quiet or never stop talking. She smiles back and thinks the nausea might be easing.
"I had no idea you could shot that much tequila"
"Oh God Will, don't even say that word" the mention makes her flush and gag a little.
"It was incredibly sexy. You're voice got all husky, you kept swaying on your heels and falling all over me…"
They had started the night as the sober chaperones. The Glee Club had won Nationals in spectacular fashion and as promised, Will had bought them celebratory ciders and the mood had been electric.
Emma served slices of pizza and mini burgers and realised that nothing made her happier than seeing how much the kids adored Will, and how much he loved them back. It gave her butterflies and she was happy to blend into the background and witness the song and dance of the evening. But as they began to leave and she was elbow deep in bubbly dish water, Will had come up behind her, kissed her neck with his beer breath and offered to take her dancing. He told her she was the sexiest woman in the world and said she looked to good in that dress to stay in tonight. She agreed because for the first time, she believed him.
Drunk, even in public she was helpless against his touches. She felt relaxed and vibrant all at the same time. She drank more because she felt safe with him, never noticing the dirty dance floor or the masses of twenty-something women pawing Will.
"Ugh, I think I need more Advil" she didn't even attempt to get up, knowing he would. And he did. She would make it up to him later, when the room stopped spinning.
She closes her eyes and hears him saunter to the kitchen. God, even the sound of his walk was perfect.
"Love you," he mumbles and she hears him placing the tablets on the coffee table, then a glass of water. He lifts her feet gently and finds his place again on the sofa, still singing along to the Ipod dock. Its calming background noise for the heaviness of her head.
Taking a breath, she finds the strength to both open her eyes and sit up.
The glass has frosted condensation, beside it, the pills and sitting unassumingly next to them is a ring.
Her mouth falls open and she rubs her tired eyes. It's still there.
She turns to Will and he's looking at her with more focus than she's ever seen. He's nervous. She can tell because his papers have slipped onto the floor and his holding one of her ankles without realising.
"Say something" he swallows but doesn't blink.
She clears her throat. Her eyes are watering and she's not sure why, her body has been quite unreliable today.
"Em?" he coaxes.
"Is that for me?" she says dumbly, looking at it again. He nods.
"Where did you get it?" she's in a daze and he can't tell if that's a good sign.
"It was Grandmother's. It… uh, she passed away after I married Terri. It's not…. It's not Terri's." He winces; this was so not the right time to bring up Terri.
She toys with it on the table. Poking it, as if to make sure it's real. It's old and studded with a row of diamonds and it's beautiful.
"You want to get married?" Now she's nervous but she smiles just a little, the dimples are showing in her cheeks.
"Yes" he breaths out in relief. Suddenly feeling he's not doing the moment justice, he moves her feet and is kneeling in front of her, on instinct she sits up, feeling light headed for a whole new reason.
"Yes, Emma, I want to marry you and spend every Sunday just like this"
"Really? Like this" she quips and old Emma is back and he's gotten his answer before she's said it out loud. She's glowing and laughing softly and brushing her hair behind her ear.
"Maybe not exactly like this. But with you". Then she kisses him and suddenly he's on top of her, feeling her body for the first time since she had fumbled with his buttons and playfully bitten his next in a drunken slur 12 hours earlier.
"Yes" she whispers and runs her fingers through his hair, studying his face.
"How long have you been waiting to ask?"
"The night Glee won Regionals. I made a bet with Finn and Puck that if they won Nationals I had to make you my girl"
"I'm already your girl"
"Well, now you're my girl with a diamond ring" he croons, slipping it on her finger. "You want the Advil now?"
"Na"
He rubs circles softly on her back, feeling the sticky sweat.
"Sorry I picked today to ask. I should have waited"
"No it was… perfect, just like that" she pauses, closing her eyes again.
"If it was perfect you wouldn't be dry heaving"
"I was perfect enough Will. Now can you please pass me the Advil?"