Disclaimer: I don't own them. Wish I did so I could stop the inevitable Ross/Rachel scenario between Will and Emma so they could be happy for a little bit. Minor spoilers for Season 2 based on what I've read out there.
Will looked on at his Glee kids with pride. They had just won Regionals after a fantastic showdown with Vocal Adrenaline. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye and noticed Shelby approaching him.
'Not bad' she stopped level with him and crossed her arms with a wry smile while she watched New Directions celebrate their victory.
'Thanks Shelby.' Will beamed at her. The compliment was unexpected considering his club had just ended her winning streak. 'You weren't so bad yourself...No hard feelings?' Will turned and extended his hand to shake hers but Shelby had other ideas. She opened her arms and grabbed him into a hug. Will was shocked at first and held his arms out so as not to touch her, but didn't want to be rude so before he knew it he found he was hugging her back.
'So now we're not competing for the same spot, do you think you've sufficiently put yourself back together so we can go on a date?' Shelby purred into his ear and then squeezed him hard before releasing him to look in his eyes expectantly, her eyes sparkling as her smile widened.
Will was at a loss for words and started to open and close his mouth. What did he say without completely hurting her feelings? He knew that his relationship with Emma was anything but perfect but he held out hope that pretty soon they could find each other again. His divorce had been finalised a couple of weeks ago and he had tried to tell Emma but had decided to wait until Regionals had finished. He knew the extra work that the kids required leading up to the competition would mean that he couldn't devote the time and attention that was required with Emma for them to work.
'Shelby I'm sorry I just...I'm in love with someone else.' Will wore the puppy dog expression which he knew had an effect on women. Hopefully he wasn't going to find himself on the end of a right hook. Shelby smiled and nodded dejectedly. She knew it was a slim chance but she'd thought to herself 'you don't ask you don't get' right?
'That's ok. I just wanted to... check.' She shrugged and smiled as she looked at Will.
Will smiled back with a look of relief plastered all over his face and leaned in to give her a hug. She graciously accepted but noticed the minute she walked into his arms she felt him stiffen. She pulled back to look at his face. 'What is it? What's wrong?' She was worried. He'd initiated this hug right? She didn't mis-read anything?
Will's face filled with horror as he found a pair of beautiful big brown eyes looking back at him filled with disappointment. 'Um...I'll see you around Shelby.' Will spoke so quietly she barely heard him.
'Yeah, sure.' Shelby was confused. That was, until she turned around to follow Will's path and she caught sight of who she guessed was the woman she'd lost Will too.
Will stopped in front of Emma, aching to touch her and form any type of physical connection. He'd missed her these last few months but had agreed to give her the space she asked for. 'Hey' he almost whispered but half smiled at her. 'That was lame' he thought to himself.
'He...hey, Wi..Will. How, um, how're you doing?' Emma stumbled through her sentence. There was a pause as Will pushed his hands into his pockets. He was about to answer when Emma broke the silence. 'Sorry stupid question, Glee just won Regionals, you must be ecstatic.' She nodded her head and avoided his eyes in that absent-minded way she had when their conversation was forced.
'Yeah I couldn't be more proud of them.' Will's big beaming smile returned to his face as he looked round at the still celebrating New Directions. As he turned back to look at Emma he could see she was looking past him in the direction of the Glee club but with a far off look in her eyes, almost pained. It hurt him to see her clearly struggle with the idea of simply talking to him. They never used to be like this. They used to be each other's rock. Someone who they could go to whenever they needed to talk or to get advice from. Will cleared his throat which seemed to break Emma's focus. She blinked and then looked up at him with a smile, but it didn't reach her eyes and Will noticed. He took a step closer to Emma and she tensed. Almost afraid that he might touch her and break down those walls she'd successfully built around her heart to prevent any further 'Will Shuester' shaped dents from appearing.
'Emma listen...We need to talk. I've got some news and...and I want to be able to sit down and discuss it with you.' It was Will's turn to stumble over his words.
Emma looked into his eyes for the first time since Will had come over to her. She tried desperately to read whether it was something that was going to hurt even more than she did now. He smiled at her trying to ease the tangible tension between them. Her breath caught as she found herself being swept up in his eyes. She averted her gaze quickly before her knees gave way and he'd have to catch her. How embarrassing would that be?
'Su...sure that would umm...that would be fine.' Emma's awkwardness returned to her. She clenched her fists in frustration at what had happened to them. He'd hurt her and that was his problem not hers she told herself forcefully. She breathed out heavily and forced herself to look into his eyes and shrugged casually as she said, 'I think I've got a free slot first thing on Monday.'
His heart sank. He recognised the blatant attempt at keeping them platonic. 'Oh, umm actually I was hoping I could come by later and...'
'I can't tonight I'm sorry Will.' Emma interrupted him quickly.
'Oh ok...I understand.' He tried to make it sound casual, but the disappointment was evident.
'No, it's just that...' The next bit was going to hurt and Emma tried to think of another plausible excuse to spare him the pain. Then she remembered the pain Will had caused over the past six months seemingly without any concern for her own feelings. 'I...umm...I have a date.' There she'd said it. Emma had involuntarily cringed and bowed her head as she spoke waiting for the pained retort. When it wasn't as forthcoming as she'd expected she looked up and saw Will Shuester in what can only be described as a complete state of shock. The pain he felt was evident but she could almost see a sense of acceptance, as if he knew that something like this was coming. 'What have I done?' she thought. A look of panic washed over her face but Will was quick to interject.
'Wow! I'm so pleased for you.' Will smiled, falsely. 'Do I know him?' Will shoved his hands in his pockets and looked down at the floor before looking back at Emma.
She shook her head, no. 'He's my dentist.'
'Oh right. Well, uh, I hope you have a great time.' Will was praying that his voice wouldn't betray him. His heart felt like someone was squeezing all the life out of it. Just when he thought that he and Emma might have a chance to rekindle whatever it was they had, something comes along to screw it up. 'What did you expect? Her to just sit around and wait for you? You screwed up.' Will's eyes started to tear up at that thought, knowing that it was his fault that she was going on a date with another man.
He started to walk past her when, 'Will' she called after him.
He stopped and looked back at her with a forlorn expression on his face, 'Yeah?'
'See you Monday?' It was a pointless question but she couldn't bear to watch him walk away from her with such a 'kicked puppy' expression on his face knowing that she was partly to blame.
He smiled ruefully, 'Sure. See you Monday.' Will half attempted a smile and then turned back and began to walk away from her.
Emma stood there with her arms clasped together in front of her watching the decidedly dejected form of Will Shuester retreating from her.
Right what do we think boys and girls? Please R&R. Constructive criticism welcome.
Up next...The Date.