He had arrived in Lima three years ago, a kind and quiet guidance counsellor from Virginia. She was the Glee club director.
He was a virgin. She had married her high school sweetheart.
He had fallen into a runoff lagoon when he was eight. She had helped the '93 team compete for Nationals.
He had OCD. She couldn't get Sue Sylvester off her case.
Emma matured in the hallways of McKinley High. She had dated Andy all through high school, the same high school she taught Spanish to juniors and seniors. After college, it had seemed like marrying Andy was the right thing to do.
Emma always did what was right, and that included scrapping gum from her colleague's shoe one lunchtime with her American Express card. Things were tough for Will, and from what Emma could see at the time, he had a lot of problems.
When Andy told Emma he had lost his job and they needed a larger income, Emma considered applying for an accountant's position. She had the papers signed and ready to go, until Will stepped into detention and asked her to meet him in the teacher's lounge. As she gazed at his laptop screen, tears welled in her eyes. Together, they watched a dated video of her performance at Nationals, and Will whispered that it was the happiest he had ever seen her.
He stood at the back of the auditorium and listened to her sing 'Leaving on a Jet Plane', and that night, he cried himself to sleep after scrubbing the bathroom floor with too much bleach.
Will signed up as a chaperone to the Carmel High Invitational. In the foyer of the auditorium, he shared his peanut butter and jelly sandwich with Emma, as she confided in Will the troubles of her marriage. When he commented that the foil was noisy, Emma smiled.
Will waited for her by the stairs by the gym at least three mornings a week. He knew her timetable better than his own. He'd pretending to casually run into Emma just to see her smile. He would gush that they both wore periwinkle, and Emma would smile politely, realising he was right. She would look down at her blue t-shirt that looked like expensive merchandise from a rock concert, and comment that she should probably stop wearing blue t-shirts with blue jeans. He always disagreed, flirting as best he could that she looked beautiful. One day, she smiled and thanked him for the great advice he had given her about staying at McKinley. You know, that's what I do', Will had stuttered. 'I give guidance, I'm a guidance counsellor! Will had never had sexual fantasies about women, but he sure did love seeing Emma's behind sway in those jeans.
He found her in the science room that same week, cleaning after hours. He asked her if she was a janitor, and she confided in him that she and Andy needed the extra money. Andy had lost his job, and Emma was dressed in overalls after hours. Will's pulse raced faster than it ever had- she was looking after her family. Will gave her his heart that night when Emma had commented that he had been scrubbing the pencil sharpener for over an hour. She had brushed chalk dust over his nose. Ten seconds. New record. He had fallen deeper in lust with her. Miss Pomery, the math teacher, watched from the corridor as Emma's eyes locked with Will's. That night, he challenged himself. He sat before his bathroom mirror and tried his hardest to push away thoughts that begged for him to disinfect the pores of his nose. After twenty minutes, he gave in.
When Emma started a girl band with Miss Pomery, Rachel, Quinn and Mrs Carlisle, Will was there for each performance. He sat alone, behind Andy and Emma parents, and he cheered her on. When she blew a kiss out into the audience, the bright lights shining upon her face, he wished with all his heart it was for him.
She found him scrubbing the bench at the home game in the middle of winter, and he was adorable with his baby wipes cleaning the silver surface. At least I know it's clean, Emma had joked. They hugged when Kurt scored a goal, and she smelt Lysol mixed with Vanilla instantly. Safety was what she found in Will's arms. Desire was what seeped from Will's breath on her neck. He was special, and she wanted him. That month, she stopped sleeping with Andy.
When Bryan Ryan showed up to complete high school and join the glee club, Will was incredibly jealous. Still, he had been the one to hand over Bryan's file, and the gratitude Emma's eyes expressed made the risk worth it. Kurt ralphed on Will that week, and he had to go to the emergency room to have three Silkwood showers. When Bryan almost drunkenly ran Will over in the parking lot, he whispered sarcastically to a torn Emma in a darkened hallway. It's really great how much you care about these kids. Later that night, she joined him in the audience as her kids performed 'Somebody to Love.' She stopped herself from holding Will's hand as Mercedes belted out the final number.
Miss Pomery asked Will to marry her, a selfish prompt from Emma's manipulative husband. Sue had suggested to Andy that Emma and Will had something going on behind Will's transparent guidance counsellor doors. A jobless Andy took on the position of gym teacher, and had the kids run his after school errands, which eventually resulted in Andy's resignation. That week, Andy confronted Will in his office as Will stood by the window, gazing out the school courtyard. It's like a nail saying a nail can compete with a hammer. When Will stood at the end of the hallway that same day, he silently begged Emma to choose him. She tightened her loose ponytail, swallowed, and gazed at Will. And then she zipped up her leather jacket and made her way out to the parking lot.
Emma had a throwdown with Sue in May, and wished Will had been there to offer guidance in Emma's free periods. Coincidentally, he seemed to be completely booked with back-to-back appointments. For three lonely weeks, Emma didn't see a single student leave Will's office.
Will needed dance lessons for his wedding in July, and Emma was glad to help him. He was good, but when she lost her footing in a dance recital, he also ended up on top of her. That day, they both ignored the sensation of his hardness pressing into her through the lining of his 'practise tuxedo'. Will machine washed his tuxedo six times that night after it had touched the floor, and went shopping for a new one with Emma the next day in their lunch break.
When Finn developed a crush on Emma, she searched for the best way to let him down gently. After singing Endless Love with the poor boy, Will suggested that Emma sing to Finn to get the message across. It was hard to determine who swooned the most when Emma sang a mashup of 'You Can't Always Get What You Want' and 'Don't Stand So Close To Me.' After all, Emma really did love Journey.
That fall, Emma discovered Andy had lied. He hadn't lost his job. He had another child and was paying child support to an old girl friend with Emma's extra income. Emma slept on a mattress in her classroom the night she found out her husband had another family, and as a result, was banned from attending Sectionals.
Will took the kids to Sectionals for Emma the day he was supposed to be getting married. He never did exchange vows, and when Emma arrived at the reception hall dressed in a gorgeous black dress, Will admitted his longing for her. Three weeks later, Will was packed up to leave McKinley, humiliated by being dumped at the aisle by Miss Pomery. He held a box at the end of the hall, sunshine illuminating his strong form. He listened as Emma's glee kids performed 'My Life Would Suck Without You', and when he turned, her finger was upon his lips, begging for silence. She kissed him sweetly, and didn't look back.
When school arrived again, Will found it distracting to kiss Emma in the same apartment she shared with Andy, but he tried his best to block out such thoughts. Kissing her was too wonderful, especially when he had flossed beforehand. Emma enjoyed kissing Will, too. When they danced to The Jazz Singer and made out on the couch, Will ended up sharing his most treasured secret; he was a virgin. Emma had been shocked and confused, and had ended up in the arms of Dustin Goolsby on Thursday night. That week Andy arrived just as Will was laying out the cutlery for a surprise meal for Emma. He had told Will about Emma's prom song, and that had been the beginning of the end for their first try at a relationship.
They had tried to be intimate one night, when he attempted to prove that he could own his body as Patrick Swayze had in Dirty Dancing. When Emma unclipped her bra and brought Will's fingers to her nipple, Will had run from Emma's apartment without his jeans on.
She had let a drunken Bryan Ryan pass out on her bed one night in July, and eventually, Will had found out. He called her a slut in front of everyone in the teacher's lounge and decided that they were over. Emma didn't see Will for a long time, but she missed him. She felt horrible and thought about him more than she ever had.
Will told Emma he was dating his dentist before the summer began. Her mind had raced with questions, but the first to leave her lips was if he had lost his virginity. When Quinn Fabray gave birth to her baby, it was Emma who drove the girl to the hospital. Emma watched from the waiting room as Dustin Goolsby, the biological father of Jesse, signed adoption papers. Glee had lost at Regionals, and Emma had returned to school to find Will in a screaming match with Figgins. In the hallway of the school, she had told him she loved him, and kissed him with undeniable passion.
Emma performed Britney with the kids after she met Will's girlfriend, Dr. Carla Howell. She also dressed smarter, like Carla, to impress Will, and when she realised she was being a fool, she tried to stop. It didn't really matter to Will, though. He still cared for Emma. After Will had rushed to tell Emma Kurt's dad had been taken to hospital, Will was the man holding Emma's hand in the waiting room. His fingertips ran gently across her wrist, and she knew just how hard it would have been for him to even step within five feet of the hospital, let alone sit in the waiting room.
When Will gushed about how Carla had taken him to an old picture theatre to see the midnight showing of Rocky Horror, Emma wondered aloud how he had sat in there without freaking out about the cleanliness of the place. Will has blushed, noting how he had been having so much fun that he didn't notice. Emma had cursed herself for not thinking of taking him there first and on another tangent, the creative redhead decided that year's school musical would be Rocky Horror. She asked Will to help her with the set and props, and he did a wonderful, meticulous job. When she asked him to help her with 'Toucha,Toucha', he agreed with hesitance. But then they had gotten wild in Emma's Spanish classroom. Will had ripped off Emma's t-shirt, leaving her in only her bra, and he had unbuttoned his cardigan. His palm had rested over her chest as the final note rang out from the CD player and he had never felt more alive. But when the song was over and he realised what he had done, he rushed home to tell Carla. The next day, Carla confronted Emma.
The confrontation had led to Will not going to Sectionals with Emma, and when the weekend was over, Will was married. He kissed Carla in his office, still not comfortable with the idea of intimacy and shaking at the thought he had married a woman he didn't really love in a Vegas chapel. Emma herself was still shaken, having ended up with Andy for one night weeks before. Emma thought only of Will as Singing in the Rain had played on in the background and Andy had adored her body with his lips.
That Christmas was miserable for Emma, but Will was happy to not be alone for once. Carla had hosted a huge party and invited all of her friends, and Will had felt important; needed. Still, he couldn't help but wonder how Emma was spending her Christmas. Little did he know, she was across town in her apartment with Sue Sylvester and the glee kids. Her only present was a shaver from Sue, because her hair was so blindingly red. Carla asked Will if he would make love to her as a Christmas gift, but Will's pulse raced and he spent Christmas Eve alone on the couch.
Emma drunk dialled Will. Or planned to. All he could remember when he heard it echo from his office walls was her suggestion that she take over some wine coolers and just get crazy. She also confessed that she thought the crinkle of his gloves when he ate his lunch was the cutest sound she'd ever heard in her life. When Sue played the call over the intercom, Emma cringed with horror as her Spanish students chuckled lowly. Will sat primly at his desk, a sweat breaking out over his skin.
Dean Dayton showed up as the Sex-Ed teacher, and Emma was into him the moment he ripped his clothes off in a dance number. Emma had met him before, and was comfortable around the man. Flirty, even. But when Dean counselled Carla and Will, after Will had misinterpreted the meaning of 'Afternoon Delight', things began to change. Carla moved over to the Radisson. The next week, Will signed the papers and annulled from Carla. He cried over his misfortune as Emma polished his grapes. Emma told him that she was there for him, and one way or another, he would beat the illness that controlled his life.
He spoke to a therapist for the first time in his life immediately after Emma berated his ability to deflect from his problems. She had pushed unwashed fruit in his direction, and he had realised he needed to work on his issues. He had spoken to Doctor Shane and gone straight to the pharmacy to order his script. That week, he had worn a white shirt with the three black, bold letters that had defined his life for thirty two years.
Bryan Ryan asked Emma to go to New York with him to workshop his Broadway musical, and eventually, Emma did. Will wished her the best. In the end, she came back to Lima, and over the summer, fell into Will's arms on her couch one night.
They were trying. He had moved in with her, sharing the same bed she had shared with Andy until the secret was discovered. She tried not to pressure him to be intimate; he just wasn't ready. As gorgeous as he was, he had always been lonely. She snuggled up to him as they watched the local news, and tried to nuzzle his neck to convey just how much she wanted him. But she understood. Especially when he rearranged her kitchen cupboards in frustration at midnight.
He made her toast in the mornings and they packed each other's lunches. After she glitter bombed Sue that week, he had told her that what she had done was super hot. And then, for the first time in their relationship, Will had initiated a kiss.
When she invited his parents over for dinner one evening, Will was surprised. And heartbroken. The meeting had opened up old wounds, and when Emma found Will's bridal magazines stashed beneath the bed, he cried. She held him, comforted him, and whispered that she loved him.
Three weeks later, Will lost his virginity. When it was over, he fell into Emma's loving arms. She held him, whispering her desire for a shower. And for the first time in his life, Will felt a little less of a burden and completely adored.
AN: Just a oneshot I had the impulse to write. The next chapter of An Emerald Desire will be up after Glee airs. Thanks to everyone who reads and reviews!