i wrote this awhile ago but never posted it anywhere. back when shell had hope and shelby wasn't a cougar and didn't do illegal things. bye glee lol.
"I'm uncomfortable with workplace relationships." She says it simply, out of the blue, leaning back in the chair, her feet up on his desk and pen tapping against the papers in her lap.
It makes him think he shouldn't be surprised.
He sits up, eyes wide and bright, his pencil falling from his lips and onto the desk, "What?"
This time she looks up, straight at him.
"I'm uncomfortable with workplace relationships." She enunciates the words, strong and clear, and sits up too.
"I heard you. Why are you telling me, though?" He tries to lean back, relax, to make himself seem a little less eager.
"Just in case." Her words are breathed, stroking the air, fogging with sound.
His mind flashes back to their little rendezvous on his couch way back when, and to her pink business card, still stuck between a magnet and his fridge.
"Well, me too." He agrees, nodding.
"Why do I doubt that?" Her mouth curves into a smirk and her eyes dart down the hall to the redhead sitting in her office, aligning items on her desk with a ruler.
He looks too and then down because he's not willingly ready to think about that yet. But still, it slaps him blunt and clear and strong. No reservations.
"That was before I found out it never really works out," He looks up and shakes his head firmly, "I'm uncomfortable with workplace relationships."
She nods, satisfied, and leans back into her chair, shifting her shoulders so she can start tapping her pen again.
'I'm uncomfortable with workplace relationships.' She says to herself as she spends yet another lunch in his office instead of the teacher's lounge.
She laughs as he stumbles into the room backwards, carrying a mug of steaming coffee in each hand. He turns slowly and sets one on her side of the desk and the other on his.
She takes a drink of hers, diluted slightly with cream and sugar but still strong, slurping it in an undignified manner.
He raises his eyebrows and grins.
"What? It's good." She bites her cherried lip and tries to hold back from laughing with him. She doesn't want to give him the satisfaction.
And he mentally records the exact way he made the coffee, every little detail, so he can do it that way from now on.
'I'm uncomfortable with workplace relationships.' She repeats to herself as they stand in line at The Lima Bean.
It's their fourth time going out for coffee with each other.
Outside of school.
On their own time.
She thinks it could say something; people could think there's something going on between them but they've set their boundaries, clear and outright.
It's nothing but simple friendship.
'I'm uncomfortable with workplace relationships.' She thinks when she sees him standing on her porch.
He smiles. Uncertain.
She tries not to think too much about the fact that he's comfortable enough to just show up without an invitation, so she raises her eyebrow at the crumble cake he's holding in his hands instead.
"I wanted to look at those vocal arrangements you made so I brought you something, you know, to be less imposing." He offers the crumble out and looks at her, eyes dark and tired, silently apologizing for showing up without warning.
She knows he's been having a hard time with the glee kids lately. She knows he's been having a hard time with his life, lately. Maybe it's from the way his mouth turns and his eyes drop when he thinks she's not looking. She looks the same way when nobody else is around.
"Trying to fatten me up, huh?" Her eyes glint as she says it, telling him it's okay. He wrinkles his nose, grinning.
She takes the cake from his hands and leads him inside. They walk into her kitchen and she grabs two forks, handing one to him. She takes the lid of the cake off and takes a bite, tucking her peach scented hair behind her ear. He thinks she's being coy but it may just be him.
He's never been good at reading people.
'I'm uncomfortable with workplace relationships.' She thinks again as she hands him a pillow.
It's almost 1:30 and she hates him driving home so late, the roads wet and dark. So she offered to let him sleep on the couch tonight.
She insisted after he said no.
So he takes the pillow from her hand and the blanket that follows quickly after.
"Let me know if you need anything." She smiles and walks down the hall to her own room, the bare soles of her feet squeaking against the hard wood floors.
He lays down on the couch and pulls up the covers, tucking the pillow behind his head. It's comfortable enough, thank god, and even though he's likely to be woken up in the morning by a crying baby, it also means that it's one less night spent alone at his apartment and another morning that they can leave early enough to get breakfast together.
He falls asleep to the thought of coffee and muffins that await him the next day.
'I'm uncomfortable with workplace relationships.' She whispers quietly to herself as she pours herself a glass of orange juice from the brand new jug he brought over that morning after he noticed she was running low, even though he doesn't like it himself.
"I forgot to ask," He says as he reaches for his own glass of coffee, "Do you like it with pulp or without? Because I got it without."
She doesn't answer, just hands him a plate of eggs and bacon just the way he likes it, smiling.
'I'm uncomfortable with workplace relationships.' She promises as he slides under the deep-plum colored covers.
She felt guilty watching him roll his neck side to side every morning after he slept on her couch. It couldn't be comfortable and the amount he'd been doing it lately after their late nights, half of them spent helping each other with glee work and the other half spent with the sheet music put away and the TV on instead, couldn't have been good for his muscles.
So she offered for him to sleep in her bed. They're adults and though she'd almost been in the same position with him before under circumstances of half-truths and dry kisses, tonight was nothing like that.
So he takes the right side and she takes the left, and it's definitely an upgrade from her cramped couch. It's cool and spacious, especially with her laying as close to the edge as possible, stiff as a board, back facing him. He feels his muscles relax instantly around the six-hundred-something thread count sheets.
"You don't snore right?" She whispers into the dark, her voice quiet and soft, mixing with the warm air.
"No," He says, voice just as low, "I only drool on the pillow."
She laughs and scoots over just a tiny bit.
'I'm uncomfortable with workplace relationships.' She says out loud as she looks through the peephole.
It's drizzling but not stormy yet: cliché. At least it feels that way as she hears him knock on her door, hesitant but persistent.
It's gaining momentum.
She opens the door and he walks in, his hair damp but the rest of him dry. She closes the door quickly before any water can get it.
"What are you doing here?" She asks.
"It was a long day, Shelby." It's all he says before he walks into the living room and sits on the couch, leaning back and biting his lip. He rubs his hands across his face and sighs.
He almost relaxes.
"Are you okay, Will?" She sits beside him, legs touching, and rubs his arm.
Her hand is warm.
He's done pretending.
"I'm fine. Just tired. I just need to be with someone."
He leans in and kisses her, sweet and innocent, a peck on the lips, no teeth or tongue involved.
"I'll make you some coffee." She says simply but her mouth twitches up into a smile.
Maybe she's not uncomfortable with workplace relationships after all.