Does It Get Any Better?

Chapter One

Honey waltzed through the corridors on her way to the locker room. She smiled happily as she passed Reg who was desperately trying to untangle himself from a pile of tinsel. Trust Gina to lump him with the job of decorating. Honey pictured the canteen Reg-style, it wasn't that pretty a sight. Still she thought to herself, he was guaranteed to go with the classic mistletoe and who could deny that mistletoe was a good thing. Seeing as she had failed in hinting to Dan that she liked him, she might just have to grab the bull by the horns and show him how she felt!

The images of her kissing Dan satisfied her all the way to the female locker rooms where she stumbled in to find Emma, Leela, Diane and for some reason Sam all talking excitedly about the forthcoming party. She soon found out that Sam had come to ask Diane to see her about a case the next morning but she had gotten caught up in their discussion about who was wearing what.

"What ya wearing Sam?" Emma asked sliding the clasp over her belt and turning to check herself out in the mirror.

Sam laughed, "That's easy. What else do people my age wear to things like this? A little black dress of course." She said laughing at Emma's puzzled look.

Emma cracked a grin and turned back to her locker, unbuttoning her shirt as she did so.

"Er yeah nobody ask what I'm wearing." Diane said blushing as the gaze turned to her. "Well okay…my sister came round last week and dragged me out shopping so she finally persuaded me for the first time in years to buy a dress. Yeah don't laugh, but I used to be a real girly girl when I was little. It was Jenny who was the tomboy!"

Everybody looked around quite amazed at the sound of Di in a dress but they kept their surprise in silence which undoubtedly pleased Diane. The talk moved round everyone in the room until it hit Emma who refused to tell them what she was wearing fobbing them off with something about a new skirt. She stood choosing bits of hair to be clipped back off her face while the others stared hard at her back.

"Emmaaaaaa…you never usually take this long to get changed. What's up with you? You've been smiling like that all day." Said Honey twirling Emma round to see the little smile still playing on the corners of her lips.

"Must be love." Sam said jokingly making her exit from the locker rooms and bumping into Phil as she did so.

"Ooooh lets get the gossip, who's in love Sam?" He said putting an arm around her shoulder. She desperately tried to resist the temptation of letting her thoughts stray to where his hand was resting and concentrated on stuttering out that it was Emma who was in love. "Oh yeah." He said disbelievingly while sliding has hand from her shoulder down onto her waist. He loved the effect he was having on her; the look on her face was priceless.

Meanwhile across the hall the boys were also discussing dresses but unlike the girls they were trying to guess what the girls would be wearing.

"Reckon Di's gonna be in a dress?" Smithy said laughing slightly as he got a round of amused looks from the other blokes. "Na…Dan's more interested in what Honey's gonna be wearing, ain't ya mate." He said slapping Dan on the back.

"Hmmm…yeah bet Honey's gonna be in something stylish yet slutty don't you." Will said winding Dan up who blushed furiously at this suggestion.

"You just can't stop picturing Emma's legs can ya Will?" Dan said giving Will his shot at turning pink. "Gotcha." He said seeing him turn to face his locker to avoid the stares from the other guys.

"Awww…now that is cute." Honey said sticking her head around the door. "Is Will blushing?" She giggled as about half of the guys in the room attempted to cover themselves up. "We'll wait outside then shall we." She said gesturing to the other girls who were all leaning against the wall laughing heavily, all except Emma who was giggling nervously while blushing.

Emma sat at the bar waiting for the round of drinks to be ready to take back over to the tables. She rested her head in one hand and started to twirl her hair and her finger on the other one. She sighed slightly as she saw that the barmaid was only half finished her order and she looked longingly back at the table. Her friends were all sitting around talking and laughing. Emma could safely bet that in the five minutes she was away she'd have missed the best jokes and gossip of the night. Will looked over at Emma who was sitting staring absent-mindedly across the pub and he got up to go and join her. She turned back to face the bar without seeing him coming towards her so it was a bit of a shock when she felt his hands sliding round her waist and his chin resting on her shoulder. She giggled nervously which shot shivers down Will's spine. He could see the other members of the relief turning to look at him and Emma so he removed his hands from her waist and he grabbed the now ready tray of drinks which Emma was struggling with.

She flashed him a heart-melting smile at him and he followed her back to the table where her friends erupted in cheers at the prospect of getting even more drunk than they already were. Neither Will nor Emma lived far away from the pub so when closing time came and the others trickled outside to catch cabs they began walking home.

As they were walking along a dark lane Emma heard a rustle behind them and she sped up and grabbed Will's hand who squeezed hers back reassuringly. "You scared of the dark?" He asked her and she buried her head into his side in reply. "That why you never do night shift?" He again asked her but this time he didn't need an answer.

They reached Emma's house and Will came in to check she was okay before leaving her to lock up behind him. As they stood on the doorstep Will leaned in and Emma drew breath quickly but Will bottled out and kissed her on the cheek instead.

Emma let go of his hand slowly while trailing her fingers across his palm. She saw him blush and she smiled slightly before turning and walking back inside. After sliding the chain across the door she raised her hand to her face and touched the spot where Will had kissed her. This was going to be one hell of a Christmas party.