Emma wiped a cloth across the window of her office, watching the spring rain fall and droplets gather on the outside. Rain had always been something she loved, the feel of the water trickling through her hair and sliding down her cheeks. It was one of the things that, despite its dirtiness, made her feel fresh and rejuvenated. The weather had been cold and bitter throughout the winter; there were no flowers or leaves on the trees, but she could tell by the sunbeams which peeked from beneath greying clouds that the buds would soon be blossoming.

As she finished cleaning, leaving spotless panes of glass behind, Emma returned to her desk, deep in thought. She wondered where Carl was, what he was doing, how she had made him feel. Still, months later, she was contemplating how she could have been so selfish to marry someone that she did not love, while breaking the heart of the person that she did.

Will.

Her mind strayed to thinking about him, how she had encouraged him to date and when he finally did, she couldn't handle it. Holly was so much different to her. She had perfect blonde hair, was a popular teacher and obtained the confidence that Emma so greatly desired.

Deep down, Emma knew that she was not a jealous person, not in life. But when it came to love, seeing the one person she had ever loved enamoured with someone else, she was the most envious person in the world. She often lay awake at night, thinking. Thinking about how happy she had been when she was with Will and how she had hurt Carl. Nothing could replace the empty feeling she felt inside now she was alone, for the first time in a few years.

A knock on the glass brought her back to reality, and she glanced up, expecting to see a student in need of guidance. She was surprised when the door was pushed open and Will walked inside.

"Hi, Em," he smiled, standing awkwardly on the other side of her desk.

It took Emma a few moments to remember her manners but she soon kindly asked him to sit down.
"Will," she began, "H-How can I help you? Is it glee club?"

Lately, she had not been too talkative with him, particularly after she had had a counselling session with Holly and expected their conversation to be trivial, more like colleagues than anything else.

"No," he laughed nervously, "I needed to talk to you."

Emma was worried about what he was going to say; after all, the last time she had shared anything with him in her office had been when she announced her marriage. She simply nodded, unable to form any kind of verbal response due to a sudden dryness in her mouth.

"I need to say ..." Will said, "I've stopped dating Holly ... well – she needed to move on."

She could feel her heart beating faster, relief filling her body now that Will was not tied down.

"I'm sorry, Will," she apologised, thinking of how she felt when Carl had left her.

"It's okay, we're still friends," he assured her, and himself, knowing that Holly would enjoy life now she had no commitments, "I really needed to talk to you about something else – something that Holly said to me."

"She said that – you love me," he smiled, looking at Emma, whose gaze had drifted towards the floor.

Emma felt upset, that Holly had broken her promise; she had told her that she would not tell Will about anything that happened during their counselling sessions, but here she was, having to face the one thing that she had been trying to avoid throughout her marriage. Immediately, she tried to change the subject.

"She told you about our counselling sessions?"

Will glanced at her, confused. He had no idea that Emma and Carl had been having marital problems, other than the small arguments he had seen and brushed off.
"Um ... no,"

"Oh, gosh. Well, I'm going to be honest with you Will," Emma said, tears pricking her eyes, "we, well we are taking a break."

He could see how upset she was, that her marriage hadn't gone the way that she had desired, again. Somewhere inside, Will knew that now, more than ever, Emma needed him to be a friend. He walked over to where she was sitting and crouched down opposite her, placing his hands on both of her shoulders and beaming.

"I'll help you get through this, Em," he promised, "You're not alone."

When she had wiped away the tears, she gazed into his smiling face, whispering a "Thank you."

Slowly, he got up and stood for a few minutes, simply enjoying the fact that they were so close. For now, he knew he would be able to support her as a friend. Hearing the school bell ring in the hallway outside Emma's office Will knew he needed to go, as much as he didn't want to.

"I need to go now," he said, "I've got to cover a Geography class next lesson; don't want to leave those students waiting in the hope of a free period for too long."

Emma gave a small laugh, remembering how much she loved his sense of humour.

He walked towards the door, turning around before he exited, asking politely "Join me for lunch?"

"I'd like that," she grinned, watching him leave the office and head off towards his classroom.

For the first time in a while, Emma felt as though her life was taking shape. Even though her marriage was ending, she felt a warmth from her reignited friendship with Will and knew that soon enough the emptiness inside her heart would start to fill.


Time seemed to fly by and soon enough, it was time for lunch. Emma carried a bag on her shoulder to the teacher's lounge and entered to see Will and Shannon chatting away. A quick wave from Will encouraged her to sit down at the table with them. Shannon stayed for a while, talking through football plays and listening to Will's stories about the glee club, though she soon left to monitor practice out on the field.

Emma listened intently, cleaning each grape before popping it into her mouth. Will was distracted by her and whilst trying to focus on what Shannon was saying, he frequently resorted to fondly watching Emma eat her lunch.

When Coach Bieste had left the room, Emma tried to chat to him about the glee club, despite her real interest lying with his relationship with Holly. Soon, the subject changed towards the club being asked to sing at prom.

"Figgins asked if we would make up a short set list," Will said, becoming more and more animated as he spoke about the club he loved so dearly, "but most of the kids weren't keen. I mean, I remember my prom ..." He stopped, recalling how he had upset Emma once before when bringing up him and Terri at prom.

"Well, they wanted to dance and enjoy prom with the other kids in their grade," he concluded.

"Of course they do," Emma agreed, "After all, you don't get to have a prom every day."

Will smiled, she was always understanding when it came to the students, and she understood him better than any person he had ever known.

She continued, offering suggestions, "Maybe you could ask the Dalton Academy? I'm sure Kurt Hummel would love to come and support his friends at prom."

"Great idea, Em!" Will beamed, "They aren't too busy now they don't have to prepare for Nationals either. I'm going to make a quick call to their Principal."

Will took out his phone and stepped outside the teacher's lounge, where the rain had finally stopped, to ask permission for the Warblers to perform.

Emma finished eating her lunch and placed her lunchbox back into her bag. Looking over to the teacher noticeboard, she saw a sign-up sheet for chaperones for the prom. She had always made a point of volunteering for extracurricular activities; it had kept her busy in the evenings. However, since she had married Carl, she stopped signing up for SAT prep or even going to competitions to support Will. It hurt her to think that the only way she could find out about the glee club's performance was through other people at McKinley. Now was her chance to start enjoying her job, the way she used to.

Returning to his seat, Will let out a pleased sigh, which Emma knew meant he had been able to book the performers.

"I'm thinking of signing up to chaperone at prom," she smiled, hoping that Will would join her.

He nodded towards the noticeboard, saying "I've already been dragged into that by Figgins. Shows how interesting my evenings have become."

She laughed gently, the knowledge that Will would be there encouraging her to walk over to the board and sign her name beneath his. There were now three names on the list; Shannon Bieste , Will Schuester and Emma Pillsbury.

Emma sat back down; excited to be spending an evening with Will, something she hadn't done in a very long time.

A/N: Please review & thank you for all the reviews of the last chapter, it is much appreciated :)