Will lifted his head slowly, yawning and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He stretched his long body, rubbing the back of his stiff neck and sighing when he saw the time on the clock. It was 9:27 on a Wednesday night, and he was still at McKinley. Though it was better than a motel room, he needed a bed for the night, and Terri was still looking for her own place. The divorce papers were signed, but she still had two more weeks to move out, and Will refused to sleep within a five mile radius of her after the baby incident.
However depressing a motel was, Will began to pack everything into his bag. He had been asleep for quite a while, and he had dreamt of Emma the entire time. A few days ago, he had an epiphany and realized what the small, beautiful redhead meant to him. As soon as there was the chance of loosing her, he knew that he never wanted to let her go. Ever.
Emma seemed to be avoiding Will since he kissed her. In the moment, she was ecstatic. She forcefully kissed him back, and after their brief moment of connection, she grinned up happily at him. But the next time Will saw her, she barely made eye contact with him before dropping her gaze to her perfect little feet and hurrying by him. She also ate her lunch in her office, and never came to visit Will in the Spanish room or the Choir room anymore. He was beginning to worry, especially because, although she was very happy after their kiss, all she had said was, "I'll stay." before picking up her crate and walking away. He missed her.
As he locked his classroom door, he heard the crisp click of heals approaching him and his mind instantly flicked to Emma. Sure enough, a petite ginger wearing a black button down coat, a vibrantly colored pencil skirt, and Mary-Jane's to match turned the corner. She saw him and Will instantly heard her sharp intake of breath as well as the increased speed of her heels' clicking. Her head shot down as she tried to walk by quickly. What was she still doing here? "Emma" he whispered, ever so quietly. She stopped and turned, literally staring at him like a deer in headlights. Her humongous hazel eyes made the situation even more realistic.
"Hi.." She breathed, barely audible. Will took a step closer, and her breathing picked up even more. Was she resenting him? No…
"I haven't seen you around much lately." Will spoke in an even tone, not letting his insecurities show. Emma actually thought he looked quite confident and very, very sexy. "I've missed talking to you." it had been a week and a half since their kiss.
She trembled lightly, trying to hide her confusing emotions. Was it right to be with Will? Would she end up being just a rebound? She had to say something. "Yes, um… I've been-"
"Avoiding me?" Will asked, cutting her off with a light, questioning tone. He took another step closer. Emma looked up at him, meeting his eyes for the first time that week. Deciding to be honest with him, she replied with a simple 'yes,' but when she saw Will's reaction, she knew he was worth the whole truth. "Will, I… I don't know how I feel about all of this… I um…. I…" Emma was loosing herself in his eyes, as she often did. Will was absolutely irresistible, and her mind always clouded up around him. She gazed deep into his eyes and found a burst of confidence in them. "Will, I'm in love with you!" She gasped as she said it, utterly surprising herself with her words, and the intensity of them. However, she did not regret saying it at all. She knew deep down that she belonged with Will. His face lit up as she spoke those words. As soon as they left her flawless lips, her confidence was shattered, leaving her even more vulnerable than before, and very frightened. She was terrified of rejection.
"Emma, I'm in love with you, too." He spoke softly into her ear. woah she thought. She hadn't noticed his approach, but his face was now just inches from hers.
In that moment, Emma forgot about the world. She dropped the books she was holding, letting her purse slide off her shoulder and thud on the floor as she firmly grabbed the collar of the dress shirt Will had on under his form-fitting vest and pulled him down to her level, pressing her lips to his with as much passion as her tiny body would radiate. He responded by wrapping his arms around her small form and lifting her slightly off the ground. She wrapped her arms firmly around his neck, cling to his body desperately as her lips parted. Will sighed, sliding his warm, wet tongue into her mouth, receiving a quiet moan of approval in return. Still intertwined, 10 minutes later, Emma buried her face in Will's neck, his arms still tightly wound around her. A tear slipped from her eye. "Will," she whispered, beginning to cry.
"shhhh," he cooed into her ear. "Its ok now. I'm here." She sniffled into his shoulder, mumbling against the fabric of his vest.
"I'm just so happy," She let out a shaky breath, relaxing once more into his arms. She had been waiting for three years for this moment. The moment they finally admitted their undying love for one another. Of course they both knew it, or thought they did, but they had never been able to say it out loud, and now that they were allowed to, that was all Emma wanted to say. "I love you, Will." She whispered into his ear. "I love you, I love you, I love you."
Now it was Will's turn to cry tears of joy. He buried his face in her strawberry hair and inhaled; she smelled like flowers. He kissed the top of her head, then stepped back, holding her at arms length and looking deep into her eyes. "Emma, you are so indescribably beautiful. I don't know why it took me so long to realize that I love you." She blushed, looking down slightly and resting her gaze on his lips. Will noticed that she did this quite frequently, finding it adorable. "And Emma," he said after a moment of observing her. "Now that I have you, I'm never letting you go. I love you so much!" He sighed, holding her against his body once more.
Emma was a bit light headed, and she was glad for the protection Will's strong arms provided her. She couldn't believe this was happening to her, and all she knew for sure was that she wanted to stay in that moment forever. Will smelled so good, it was intoxicating. That probably factored into her dizziness.
"Emma, I know I my divorce is fresh, and I know that you are scared of being 'just the rebound girl,' but I am in love with you. Completely and hopelessly in love with you. You have to understand that even when I was with Terri, you were all I ever thought about. I would dream about you every night, and when I woke up every morning, I would hope to see red hair left on the pillow case rather than blonde. It felt so wrong then, but now I know that it was right. So right! And you have to believe me. I love you so much more than you will ever know, and I want to prove that to you. I want to be with you."
Will was asking her out. All Emma could do was shake with excitement, latching her arms around his back and holding herself tightly to him. She nodded, another tear slipping from her beautiful brown eye. He sighed with relief and squeezed her back, lifting her up and spinning her around in circles and finding her lips once again in the process. Setting her back down, he sighed, his body loosing all contact with hers as he spoke softly, bending down to pick up the books she dropped.
"Its getting really late, Em." Standing up with her purse, the books and his own bag, he yawned. She nodded with a grin, reaching out to take her books. Will lifted them over her head when she tried to grab them, grinning back. "I don't think it would hurt if I carried these out to your car for you." She opened her mouth to protest, but he held finger to her lips, silencing her immediately as she crossed her eyes to watch his finger. God, she was adorable! Instead of grabbing the books, she confidently took his free hand, twining her fingers firmly with his. He winked at her, lifting their meshed hands to his lips, brushing them against the back of her hand. His mouth was so damn soft!
As they made their way across the empty parking lot hand in hand, a wave of realization washed over her and she turned to him. "Will, Terri still lives with you, doesn't she? Well… not with you, but in your apartment… I remember hearing you tell Figgins that you're staying in a motel until she moves out." He sighed a bit, though he was glad he didn't have to tell her about his situation with Terri himself. He was glad she seemed perfectly ok with it. Emma understood. He was going to speak, but she beat him to it. "You can't stay in a motel for two more weeks, Will." She looked at him meaningfully.
"I don't really have much of a choice, and I am NOT going back to that apartment while Terri is in it. Especially now that-"
"Will!" Emma said with a giggle. "I'm suggesting that you crash at my place for a while! At least until Terri moves out!" She was surprised with herself! When she was with Will, she felt so confident. She had never noticed that before, but she was never like this on her own.
"Emma, I can't ask you to do that for me. Besides, I don't want to pressure you at all.."
"I would do this for you if we were just friends, wouldn't I?" Then a thought crossed her mind and she blurted out, "We ARE dating now, aren't we?"
Will stifled a laugh and replied happily, "Yes, we are." Emma sighed with relief, unable to hold back her beautiful smile.
"Ok, so my point is, I would have done this for you any time over the past two years, Will. Just because we're dating," She had never been able to say that before in her life, and that made her smile even bigger. "doesn't mean that you're not still my best friend." She smiled broadly at him, and he couldn't help but smile back.
Giving in to the puppy-dog eyes she gave him, Will agreed to stay at Emma's until Terri was out of the picture. He had been to Emma's condo on a few occasions, so he decided to meet her there. He also would have agreed to let Emma drive him there if it weren't for the fact that his car would just be at the school for two weeks. They decided that they would carpool starting the next morning.
Back at Emma's condo, Will made himself a bed on the couch while she showered. He had never seen Emma dressed down, and was in awe when she stepped out of her master bedroom. Her hair was still wet from the shower, but it was starting to curl up into perfect little ringlets at her shoulders. She was also even more beautiful than Will could have possibly imagined without makeup. He decided immediately that 'natural Emma' was his favorite.
Emma approached him, wrapping her arms snugly around his neck and hugging him. "Goodnight, Will." She whispered into his ear. "Goodnight, my beautiful Emma." He said, taking in the scent of flowers that was now even stronger than before. She leaned up on her tippy toes to kiss him softly on the lips before retreating quickly to her bedroom with a big smile on her angelic face.
For any other couple, it would be too soon for things like this, but Will and Emma should have been at this stage long ago. It felt normal. After Will went back to his apartment, he was sure things would progress more slowly. Emma was in her room thinking the same thing, but honestly, she wasn't sure she wanted to take things slowly. She had spent 32 years with so much love within, but having nobody to share that love with. Now that Will was finally hers, all that pent up love came flowing out.
Deciding it was unimportant at the moment, she fell into a deep sleep, dreaming about Will. He lay awake a while before finally dozing off as he counted Emmas to himself in his head. "438, 439… 440..44-"