A/n: This was from yet another prompt on the glee forum. It's dedicated to obsessionsaremylife who I promised this would be angst-free BUUUUUUT wemma seems to have a mind of its own so it does get angsty at times -hides- the ending is fluffy though!
I hope you enjoy!
Will sat in one of the plastic chairs in the faculty lounge, slouching over and drumming his fingernails against the wooden table as he stared intently at the clock.
His head and the constant tapping of his nails beat in perfect sync with each second that went by.
After sixty seconds exactly, he'd snap his head towards the door, hold his breath for ten seconds and then sigh heavily and snap his attention back to the clock repeating his routine over and over again.
After five minutes went by his foot even started to join in with a light 'tap, tap, tap' at each second.
"Will you stop?" A low voice caught Will's attention and he turned to face the other occupant of the table.
Coach Beiste had become a regular sitting mate for him at lunch hour after she had forgiven him for being so harsh to her and he found that he actually got along with the woman very well. She was the complete opposite of what he had originally thought her to be and she really only showed her tough outer shell when Sue was around. Sue or the boys on the football team. If she was around Will and Emma, who had also become a regular sitting mate for him (much to his deep pleasure), she became alot more pleasurable to talk to and had both him and Emma in stitches almost every day.
But one of the occupants was missing from the table that day and caused Will to stare anxiously between the clock and the door, waiting for the third member of their party to arrive.
Will smiled sheepishly and stopped the tapping of his foot and the drumming of his nails. "Sorry."
"You're like a small child waiting for a present on Christmas morning." Shannon smirked at him but her facial expression was soft. "You really got it bad for Bambi don't you?"
Shannon had started calling Emma that after they met for the first time and she blurted out that Emma reminded her of bambi. Emma blushed red and answered in a meek voice, "I get that alot". Since then it was decided in the coach's mind that the red headed guidance counsellor would be named Bambi. Emma didn't seem to mind the nickname either, she knew that the coach didn't mean any harm by it and like Will, became friendly with the new football coach.
Will flushed bright red and bit his lip. "Is it that obvious?"
Shannon laughed. "Every time she comes in here your face lights up like one of Sue's insane props. You fawn over her every word and every move. I may not be much of a romantic but I know when someone is in love and you sir are so in love it's actually a little bit sickening."
Will's face fell and he furrowed his brow. "I'm really that obvious?"
Shannon nodded and grinned at the clearly embarrassed man. "The only way you could be more obvious is if you got down on your knees and confessed your undying love for her."
"Oh God." He muttered, burying his face in his hands. He groaned loudly into his palms and wiped his hands down his face. He sighed heavily as he bravely looked the six foot three woman in the eyes. "You know what the sad part is? I've actually considered doing that."
The football coach's eyebrows shot up and she licked her lips and cleared her throat as she clearly tried to suppress a grin and possibly some laughter. Will groaned and rolled his eyes, sinking into his seat. "Go ahead and laugh."
A small snigger escaped the woman but she cleared her throat and put on a straight face. "I'm not going to laugh at your misfortune Will, that wouldn't be nice of me to do."
Will lifted his head and a warm smile tugged at his lips. "Thank you Shannon but...really, you can laugh if you want to. I know its very pathetic."
Shannon took a deep breathe and shook her head. "You're in love Will and love makes you do some crazy stuff."
"No kidding." Will muttered bitterly as he sunk back into a slouch, resting his elbow on the table.
"Look," Shannon placed her hand over Will's and looked the spanish teacher gently in the eyes, "I'm not going to pretend to know what you and Bambi have been through because clearly you two have a history that isn't exactly sorted out." Will frowned and swallowed hard at the memory of what he and Emma had been through. "And I'm not going to pry into your love life either and ask you what happened. I'm not some love doctor so I can't tell you that everything will work out in the end but Will, there's something between you two that is unnamable." Will perked his head up and furrowed his brow in interest of her words. "I don't know what it is but there's something and something always comes from something."
Will stared across the table into the deep blue eyes of Coach Beiste and then slowly pushed off the table, leaning back against the chair in thought. Her words were vague and a little bit confusing but it was the most sensical thing that someone had ever said to him. There was something between him and Emma, there always had been and there always would be.
A hopeful smile began to grow on his face but as he looked across the table to Shannon, the smile quickly faded into confusion. Shannon was looking over his shoulder towards the doorway with a solemn look on her face and Will quickly spun around to see what had caused it.
Will's heart plummeted deep into his stomach at the sight of Emma in the doorway with none other than her dentist boyfriend, Carl Howell, at her side. Will gripped onto the chair so tightly his knuckles were turning white and he quickly turned around to face Shannon to avoid Emma and Carl's stares.
Shannon gave him a sad and knowing look and he shook his head slowly, biting down on his lip hard. He reached for his brown paper bag and slowly started to take out lunch, attempting to pretend that he could care less that Carl was in the room, even though really it was tearing him apart.
As they approached the table out of the corner of his eye Will could see their hands joined together and he avoided Shannon's gaze because surely she could see just how badly it was affecting him.
"Hi Will." Emma greeted warmly as she took her usual seat between him and Shannon.
Will cleared his suddenly tight throat and forced a smile on his face as he lifted his head. "Hey Emma." His eyes flickered to Carl for a second and his smile faltered. "Carl."
Carl grinned at him and clapped him on the shoulder. "Will, how are ya?" He pulled a chair from a near by table and placed it in between Emma and Will.
"Same old, same old." Will answered with fake cheeriness and glanced at Emma who had engaged herself in a quick and sweet greeting with Shannon. The football coach shared a quick glance with Will as Emma introduced her to Carl. Will averted his gaze and became increasingly interested in his chocolate chip cookie, which recently hadn't been as tasty or enjoyable.
He nibbled on the sweet treat as he glowered at how close Emma and Carl were sitting together. They were both conversing happily with each other and with Shannon as Emma took out her lunch.
They food was still contained in tupperware but she no longer used gloves to take them out or used a wipe to wipe down her fruit before eating them and Will's heart sunk. He was glad that Emma was improving with her OCD but he wished that he was the one to be helping her.
Will did notice something odd though. Although it seemed Emma was content enough to eat her food without scrubbing it down there would be times, he noticed, that she hesitated over the tupperware and her hand ever so slowly drifted towards her bag. This wouldn't be noticed by anyone else but since Will had always watched Emma in everything she did, he knew her routine inside and out and knew what she was reaching for. Then Carl would subtly reach his hand out and slip his hand into Emma's and give it a tight squeeze, linger there for a few seconds and then slowly slip out again. Each time it happened, Emma's face became more and more panicked and her hands shook slightly as she tried to eat her food. Will frowned and glared up at Carl who was grinning and having a pleasant conversation with Shannon.
Will narrowed his eyes and continued to nibble on his cookie to refrain from saying anything he would regret. Carl remained oblivious to Will's hateful stare but it didn't go unnoticed by Emma. She caught Will's gaze from across the table and furrowed her brow, shaking her head slightly in curiosity.
Will's eyes widened in alarm and he quickly snapped his eyes down to the table. He fiddled with the brown paper bag as he tried to drown out the sound of Carl's unusually friendly voice but found it nearly impossible when Emma's giggles would chime in occasionally.
Carl started to tell Shannon about a patient and Will occasionally snuck a glance at the football coach and was amused to find her nodding along clearly uninterested in Carl's dentistry tales.
After Carl was done with his tale and laughed at the not so funny story, Will finally spoke the question that was on his mind since Carl walked in nearly fifteen minutes ago.
"So Carl." Will spoke and everyone at the table turned to look at him in shock as if they had forgotten he was there. "You never told us why you were here."
Carl looked a little taken a back by the question and Emma shot him a confused look. "Um..." Carl laughed hesitantly and smiled, slipping an arm around Emma's shoulders and Will couldn't help but notice that she tensed up, "It's my day off Will. I figured I'd drop by and spend my free time with my girlfriend. I would have taken her out to lunch but she insisted that we stay here right, Em?"
Will froze immediately at the nickname and his eyes were drawn immediately to Emma's. Emma seemed just as frozen as he was and her mouth fell open for a second and she shook her head, turning to Carl.
Will clenched his jaw and narrowed his eyes slightly and said before Emma could, "Her name is Emma."
Carl furrowed his brow in confusion as Emma stared at him in shock. Then Carl laughed and squeezed Emma's shoulders gently. "Relax Will, it's just a nickname."
Will narrowed his eyes further. It's my nickname. His thoughts growled possessively.
Emma cleared her throat and shook her head. "No he's right Carl. I'd prefer it if you'd call me Emma."
Carl's face fell as he glanced down at Emma, confusion written in his eyes and a smug smile started to form on Will's face.
"Oh." Carl dead panned. "Um...alright, sorry Emma."
"That's alright." Emma whispered and shared a quick glance with a now smug Will.
An awkward tension hung in there for a few moments and then conversation started up again. Will fell silent again as the others conversed quietly although really the only two talking were Shannon and Carl because Emma was just as quiet as he was. Will did nothing to hide the smug smirk on his face and Emma tried with everything she had not to look at him as she fiddled with the material of her skirt.
As the conversation started to drift, Will suddenly stood up from his seat and stopped all talk in its tracks. All three of the occupants stared up at him in curiosity and the smug smile on his face only continued to grow.
"I totally forgot that I have to do something for glee." He did actually but it could have waited until after school. He just couldn't take much more of Carl's boring conversations and he had found the perfect way to bow out. "It was great seeing you again Carl. Shannon, I'll see you tomorrow."
The football coach only nodded her head as she tried to figure out what was happening. Will grinned and swept up his books into his arms and crumpled up his lunch bag. He looked directly at Emma and said, "See you later, Em."
He turned on his heels and started towards the door, sneaking a glance over his shoulder.
Carl sat staring after him in confusion and then he furrowed his brow and turned to Emma who was flushing bright red.
Will grinned to himself and spun around to face them shouting, "oh!" He jogged back over to their table and leaned across Carl to get as close to Emma as possible. "You're coming to glee later today right, Em? The kids really want you there to see their number for sectionals."
Emma's wide eyes met his and bobbed her head in a half nod. "Y-y-yeah."
He grinned and patted the table. "Cool. See you then."
As he backed away from the table he caught Shannon's knowing look and he chuckled under his breath as he walked away, leaving Emma flustered and blushing.
Will felt like he was walking on air for the rest of the day; That was until it came time for glee. He sat in the audience as the kids were chatting and laughing off stage waiting for their cue to begin. Glee had officially started five minutes ago and there was no sign of Emma.
He debated going to find her when Rachel stormed onto the stage demanding that they start their rehearsal without Emma present. Will, and most of the other glee clubbers, didn't want to hear Rachel complaining anymore so he went on the with the rehearsal without Emma.
He half listened to the kids performance as his mind drifted off to where Emma could have gone. He got a nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach that she ditched him to go out with Carl but she wouldn't do that would she? Emma said she would be there and she stuck to her promises especially since they had regained the friendship they had lost over their break up. Besides, Carl heard him say that they had glee rehearsal and Will didn't really think he'd be the type to persuade Emma to go against her promises.
He desperately wanted to know what had happened to Emma and hoped that she was still in her office by the time glee was over. The kids ran through the proposed numbers for the set list once before Will dismissed them. Rachel protested, of course, that they weren't done rehearsing but Will managed to convince her that they were in mint condition for Sectionals. They weren't, not yet but the only thing he was worried about in that moment was Emma.
Before any of the kids could leave the auditorium Will rushed out and flew towards Emma's office, feeling a tremendous sense of deja vu.
He skidded to a stop in front of Emma's office and his heart shattered into a million pieces at the sight behind her glass windows.
Emma sat behind her desk, her face buried in her hands and her shoulders shaking violently. He felt his own tears prick at the back of his eyes at the sight of her and he gently placed his hand against the glass, wishing he could go in there and wipe all her pain away.
He slowly made his way over to the door and twisted the knob quietly and slowly and remarkably found it unlocked. He pushed the door open and walked slowly inside and his heart broke even further at the sound of her muffled sobs.
He closed the door behind him and at the sound, Emma gasped and lifted her head. Will's face twisted up in sadness at the tear stains on her cheeks and her red rimmed and glossy eyes.
"Emma?" He slowly started to walk towards her. "Em, what's wrong?"
Emma's lips quivered and she turned away from him, wrapping her arms around herself. "Go away Will." She whispered pathetically.
He frowned but refused to listen to her demands as he continued to walk forward. He paused so he was standing just behind her chair and gently reached out to touch her back.
At his sudden touch Emma burst out into more sobs and buried her face in her hands but did nothing to remove his hand from her back.
He rubbed her back soothingly for a minute or two but her sobs didn't lessen any so he gripped the back of her chair and spun her around so she was facing him. He kneeled down in front of her and reached out to take her hands away from her face.
She whimpered as her hands fell away from her face and her teary eyes met his glossy ones and she whimpered for a few seconds before propelling herself forward into his arms.
Will was taken back a bit but immediately his arms came to hold her tightly and he rose to his feet to support her better. Emma cried openly onto his chest as she hugged him tightly, her whole body shaking.
Will buried his face into her hair and held her as tight as possible, whispering comforting words to her, still in the dark as to why she was so upset.
"What is wrong with me, Will?" She sobbed into his chest eventually.
To say Will was shocked by the question would have been an understatement.
"What?" Was all he could manage to bite out.
"I'm toxic, Will." She cried. "All my relationships are complete failures. I was left at the alter by Ken, I lost you and now-"
"Woah, woah, woah." He stopped her before she could get any further although he now had the conclusion that something had happened with Carl. He loosened his grip on her so he could look down at her properly. "What do you mean, Em? What happened between you and me was...it was my fault, Emma, not yours."
Emma shook her head and another sobbed bubbled from her lips. "Why do you think that happened, Will? I pushed you away, I scared you away, I -"
"Hey." He cut her off sharply and her lips quivered as she tried to suppress more sobs. "What happened was not your fault Emma, not at all, it had nothing to do with you."
"No." She whimpered. "I wasn't good enough for you."
"Is that what you think?" Will whispered in horror and he crushed Emma to him as gently as possible. "Oh my sweet Emma. That wasn't the reason, that wasn't the reason at all. I wish I had some great explanation for you but I don't and all I can say is that I did it because I'm an idiot, I'm the biggest ass in the world but it had absolutely nothing to do with you, do you hear me? Nothing."
Emma sobbed harder into his chest and she shockingly held onto him tighter. "I'm so stupid, Will, so stupid."
"You're not." Will whispered fervently into her hair and held her tighter, willing all of her tears and self loathing to disappear. "You're not, Em, you're the smartest woman I know."
"Stop." She whimpered into his chest. "Just stop."
"Emma-"
"Please." She cried as she gripped onto him tightly. "Please." She pleaded in a whisper.
Will sighed quietly but nodded, remained quiet and just continued to hold her as she cried into him.
As Emma continued to cry with no ceasing, Will felt himself tearing up and let a few tears of his own escape into Emma's hair. He hated seeing Emma in pain and he suddenly hated Carl for pushing Emma into this state. He didn't know what had happened but whatever it was it couldn't have been good.
Emma cried until she could cry no longer and exhausted herself into relaxing into Will's arms. They stayed like that for a minute or two longer until Emma pulled away, wiping at her eyes violently.
Will wiped at his own eyes to try to hide any trace that he himself had shed a few tears but Emma was too occupied to notice. She grabbed a few tissues from the tissue box on her desk and wiped her eyes and blew her nose, threw out the contaminated tissues and squirted her palms will purell. She took a shuddering breath and ran her hands through her hair as she exhaled deeply.
"What happened Emma?" Will went out on a limb asking that question.
Emma slowly lifted her head to meet Will's gaze and she sighed heavily.
"Did he hurt you?" Will's eyes narrowed slightly at the thought and his hands started to curl into fists at his sides.
"No." Emma whispered, shaking her head miserably and let out a bitter laugh. "I hurt him."
Will released his hands and furrowed his brow, his face softened. "What?"
"He realized something that I kept trying to deny." Emma spoke in a shaky whisper.
Will lightly leaned against her desk and stared down at her curiously. "And what's that?"
Emma swallowed as she licked her lips and inhaled sharply. "That..." Her voice continued to shake and she closed her eye for a brief moment before opening them to lock eyes with him. "That I'm still in love with you."
Will's eyes widened and his mouth fell open in shock. He blinked as he stood there, gaping at her, at a complete loss for words.
Emma nodded as more tears sprung to her eyes. "I'm completely, desperately, and hopelessly in love with you."
"Emma.." Will whispered breathlessly unable to say anything coherent.
"But I'm a screw up Will." She whimpered as a few tears slipped down her cheeks. "I ruined my relationship with Ken, I ruined my relationship with you, and now I ruined my relationship with Carl."
"Emma-" Will started to protest but she held up her hand.
"Ken transferred because of a nervous break down Will. Who do you think is behind that?" Emma shook her head vehemently. "I pushed you into the arms of other women and I pushed Carl away because I can't get over you."
Will leapt off the desk and reached out, gently cradling her face in his hands, keeping their eyes locked on each others. "Listen to me, Emma. You can't blame yourself for Ken, you and him weren't meant to be, Ken left on his accord, you don't have anything to do with it. And as for me...you can't blame yourself my stupid mistakes. My head wasn't in the right place at the time because of a lot of things but it had nothing to do with you. And I'm sorry it didn't work out with Carl but that doesn't mean that anything you did was wrong."
A few more tears spilled out of her eyes as she whimpered quietly.
"You are truly the best person that I've ever known Emma and I'm sorry if I made you feel like you weren't good enough. I pushed you away Em, and that was the worst mistake of my life and I'm sorry, I'm really, truly, sincerely sorry. Please don't blame yourself for losing me because it was all my fault and lets face it Emma, I'm the one who lost you."
Emma's lips quivered and she sniffled as she shook her head as best as she could. "No you haven't." She whispered. "I'm still yours, Will." She pulled out his hold and rested her head against his chest, slipping her arms around him. "I'm still yours." She repeated in a near whisper. "I always have been and I always will be. That is, if you'll still have me."
Will couldn't believe his ears. It was like all he had been dreaming for the past few months were coming true and he closed his eyes tightly, willing, daring, hoping that it wasn't a dream. He kept them closed for a short while and when he reopened them, he found himself still in Emma's office with her still in his arms.
He let out a small sigh and wrapped his arms tightly around her. "Of course I'll still have you." He kissed the top of her head. "I've never wanted anything more than I want you. No, I don't want you Em, I need you."
Emma stifled a cry into his chest and tightened her grip around him. "I need you too." She whispered. "And it scares me, it scares me how much I need you because...because..."
"Because I hurt you." He whispered brokenly and he nuzzled his nose into her hair. "I know you find it hard to trust me right now and I completely understand but Emma, if you find it in your heart to give me another chance I will prove to you that I am worthy of your trust, your love and your heart. I took all of that for granted last year and losing that, losing you, was one of the most painful things I ever had to live through. Your heart, from this day forward Em, is going to be safe with me, I promise."
Emma let out a few soft whimpers and cuddled into his chest. Then she said the best three words that Will had ever heard in his life.
"I trust you."
She lifted her head to meet Will's shocked expression and she swallowed hard.
"You do?" Will asked breathlessly.
"I do." She whispered with a small smile. "I know its insane but I do." She closed her eyes briefly and shook her head. "But Will, if you...if you ever...do something like this again, I don't think I could handle it." She opened her eyes and unshed tears glistened in her eyes. "Please don't hurt me again."
Will nearly burst into tears at the spot and he quickly tugged her against him, holding her as tight as he possibly could without hurting her.
"Never." He whispered. "Never again, Emma, never."
Nearly an hour later, Will and Emma walked out of the school hand in hand, smiling and clear of all tears.
The weather was crisp, it being early December, and as a cold breeze whisked past them, Emma stepped closer to Will, hiding her pink stained cheeks into his warm coat.
Will tightened his grip around her, not only to keep her warm but to keep her as close as possible. Emma smiled to herself, feeling the happiest she'd been in months and snuggled into Will's side as they walked towards her car.
Her smile faded once they reached her car and she sighed quietly, not wanting to leave Will's side. She reluctantly parted from him and shivered as the air around her shifted as she left Will's body heat.
"It's s-s-so c-c-cold." She mumbled as her teeth chattered and Will smiled down at her, making her momentarily forget the cold. He stepped closer and Emma was instantly warmed, not only by his body heat, but the sudden rush of blood that filled her own body.
His gloved hand came to rest on the side of her face and she melted into his smoldering touch. "You know," He mused, "I think I know a way that we can keep warm."
"Hm?" Was all she could get out for she could hardly breathe in his presence.
Before she knew it Will's warm and soft lips were on hers and she froze for a second. She placed her hand on his chest and a million thoughts raced through her mind at once but she quickly pushed them aside and gave in to her heart. She melted against him and her lips slowly began to move in time with his. She felt him smile against her mouth and she sighed contentedly, her mouth parting just slightly.
Instant panic surged through her when she felt Will's tongue against her bottom lip but he quickly retracted it and broke their kiss and when she finally opened her eyes saw that he was staring down at her in concern.
"I'm sorry, Em I didn't meant to do that."
She smiled brightly and gently threw her arms around his neck. "I know." She whispered and slowly leaned in to softly kiss his lips.
"Out of curiosity..." Will began hesitantly after their kiss broke and Emma stared up at him waiting for him to continue his thought. "What was it that made Carl realize that you still had feelings for me?"
Emma's smile faded at the mention of Carl and bit her lips as a blush crossed her cheeks. "You called me 'Em' and I let you, right after I told him that I didn't want him to call me that. That and your reaction to it." She sighed as she shrugged lightly. "He didn't really know much about our past and after he realized that I still let you call me by that nickname that was yours and yours alone...well, he knew that whatever did exist between us in the past was still there." She closed her eyes and shook her head slowly. "I love being with you Will but I still feel really bad for hurting him."
Will said nothing but took her gently into his arms and rested his chin on top of her head. Emma sighed quietly and rested her head against his chest, listening to the sound of his strong heart beat.
After about a minute, Emma pulled out of his embrace and smiled shyly up at him. Will smiled sadly down at her and she placed her hand on the side of his face and he leaned into her touch.
Mustering up her courage she took a deep breathe and whispered words that made his heart sing.
"I love you, Will."
Brown met hazel in a deep and smoldering gaze and ever so gently, Will kissed her once more, bring his hands up to hold either side of her face softly.
Emma melted into his kiss as she backed up against her car to support her suddenly weak legs. Emma involuntarily whimpered against his lips and just as Will was about to pull away, thinking he had done something wrong, she slipped one hand behind his head and brought his lips down onto hers in a slightly more forceful kiss.
His face was awestruck when the kiss finally broke and Emma smiled up at him shyly. A breathtaking grin spread across his face and he nuzzled his nose against hers and she giggled quietly.
"I love you Emma." He whispered as he stared adoringly into her eyes. Emma's breath caught in her chest and her head spun as his loving words played on repeat in her head. She had heard them numerous times before but they were all when she didn't want to hear them when she was trying to convince herself that she didn't love him. Now that she could admit to herself that she loved him the word took on a whole new meaning and she loved them. Her name had never sounded so good next to those three words. Her parents had said them, her brother had said them, even Carl had said them ( and she chocked out a response) but none of them ever felt as right as they did coming from Will Schuester's mouth.
What happened between them made her realize that there is no such thing as a perfect man but even so, Will Schuester was the man of her dreams and she had finally obtained him.
They still had a lot of issues to work through and they would surely have hardships in the future but as long as they tackled them together Emma was sure they'd be fine.
After all, true love conquers all.
And the love that she and Will shared? Well, it didn't get much truer than that.