Will normally got home before Emma most days. She was always so caught up in her extracurricular work; it wasn't unheard of for him to arrive at her office door and find her rubbing her eyes tiredly, trying to finish up paperwork or preparing for the two SAT prep classes she did on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the graduating class. Lately, she'd been looking exhausted, the circles under her eyes growing deeper and deeper. She wasn't sleeping well at home, either; he'd find her on the computer until one or two o'clock in the morning while she attempted to finish up some work she couldn't squeeze in between her guidance appointments.
Today, though, when he went by her office, she wasn't there, and the other counsellor let him know that she'd gone home at the final bell. Will had felt a frisson of worry go through him, but he figured Emma knew how to take care of herself, and he went ahead with Glee practice anyway.
Sliding his key in the door, Will felt a big yawn sweep over him – with his worry about Emma and all the other extra curriculars he was doing for the students, he hadn't been sleeping so well, either. It was Friday and a sunny, quiet afternoon; all he could think about was taking a long, soft nap and catching up on the sleep debt his body protested about daily.
The apartment was quiet, but he knew Emma was already home from the strains of music coming from the stereo in the living room and the smell of her perfume lingering by the door. He slipped off his shoes and his jacket, storing them neatly in the closet before going in search of his girlfriend.
He found her in the bedroom, fast asleep on the bed. She was curled in a fetal position, one of her fists tucked under her chin, the other clutching a light red throw blanket around her shoulders. She hadn't even bothered to take off her school clothes, and his face softened as he saw her shoes, one hooked carelessly over the other, at the base of the bed.
He picked up her shoes, placing them in their correct spot inside the bedroom closet, pulling the blanket down over her nyloned toes. Her feet were cold to his touch; he gently rubbed them and heard her whimper a little from the top of the bed. She shifted, her lips ruby red against her pale skin, and sighed deeply, her eyelids fluttering a little in the passing noise of some dream.
He sat beside her on the bed, watching her sleep. She breathed deeply, slowly, in and out, the rhythm soothing after having seen her work her fingers to the bone for so long. Her red hair splashed across the white linen pillows; her sooty eyelashes curled on her cheeks, fanning out over the gently freckled skin.
Her sweater and skirt were wrinkled and twisted around her body, and he loosened the clasp on her skirt, flexing his fingers inside the waistband to make her more comfortable. She flexed her fingers in response, and he lifted one of her hands, watching as she reflexively grasped his before relaxing in sleep again.
He traced the contours of her arm; he ran a gentle finger over the scars on her hands from cooking accidents (she admitted sheepishly that it took her awhile to figure out how to cut vegetables without cutting herself), tracing the blue veins of her hands up over the crook of her elbows until they disappeared under her short sleeve. She murmured something in passing and he leaned down to kiss her forehead, brushing his lips over her unbelievably soft skin, inhaling her clean, light scent, the astringent sweetness of her shampoo.
She opened her eyes then, and they caught the light, the depths of the chestnut-brown glowing in the late afternoon sunshine. She smiled, sleepily; she mouthed "Hi," and he loved the way she looked just then, rumpled and colourful; sleepy and sweet.
"Hi," he whispered back, and she slid her warm arms around him, pulling him down to cuddle with her. Settling her sleepy head into his neck, she sighed happily and he felt her melting into him, warm and heavy with exhaustion and relaxation.
They slept until the moon came up, and he knew they wouldn't sleep that night, but he didn't care – it was the weekend, she was beautiful, and his stress was finally ebbing away.