A/N: Wow, i'm so overwhelmed by the outpour of interest in this story. I actually didn't think anyone would read this. I'm glad that you're all enjoying it. Your reviews mean so much, all of you. As I mentioned before, however, my updates are going to be slow. I just hope that you all stick with me. Finals are coming up, then Christmas break. I can write all the Wemma I want over Christmas before classes resume. :) Promise.

I also am flirting with ideas for Wemma one shots, if anyone has any specific ideas that they would like to see come to life, just drop me a line. I'd love to hear some.

Thank you All.

(Yes, I did change my screen name recently. In case you're wondering.)

Riss.

Chapter 2: Six shots, two beers, and a few hours later

Six shots, two beers (surprisingly), and a few hours later, Emma was feeling lighter than she had ever felt before. The bar maid, whose name was Olivia seemed highly impressed by the amount of alcohol the petite redhead had consumed. She didn't think Emma would be able to consume a glass of wine, let alone tequila; but she'd been proven wrong.

"I thought...it was floor tequila, one tequila, and three...two..." Emma hiccupped her words out as she reached for the empty shot glass, tapping a finger against it to signal more. "So, shouldn't I be here?" Emma slurred, pointing to the floor. "I've had siiiiiiiixxxxxxxx..."She held up three fingers to signal the number six.

Olivia laughed lightly as she reached under the bar counter and grabbed a bottle of water, setting it in front of Emma. "According to old Mexican proverb, you should be on the floor, yes. The old saying is: 'One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor...' I think you've had enough for the night, Emma."

"No, I had, have...not, yes? No..." Emma shook her head trying to clear her thoughts. She'd never in her life been drunk. She wasn't sure if she liked the feeling or not. Her body was loose and her thoughts, random. She hadn't thought of Will all night and her OCD had been irrelevant, making its way to the surface every now and then; especially when a random drunk guy would sit down next to her and offer to buy her a drink. "I'm—paying...more!"

"I know this, but I think you should drink some water for a bit. Might make your speech clear up." She wiped the top of the water bottle off and handed it to Emma. Over the last three hours, Olivia had become slightly accustomed to Emma's certain quirks and managed to keep the weirdo drunks from bothering her. She handed Emma the water bottle.

"Olivia...can ask I something of you...I mean, can I something ask you...no...okay..." Emma put her hands in the air signaling for a moment so she could gather her thoughts. "Can I ask you something, right?"

"Right."

The thoughts were back. Will had been at bay for so long, but as she tried to form coherent words before speaking, he was the first thing on the tip of her tongue. His stupid chin dimple, the dumb smile threw her, and the way he sang, all squished together in her head. "I think I need more sequila...tequila..." She pushed the water bottle away from her and pushed the shot glass towards Olivia.

"That's not a question you're going to like the answer to, Emma. I'm not giving you anything else." She pointed to a sign on the wall that read: 'We have the right to refuse service'.

Emma pouted as she read, or tried to read it. She wanted more to drink; she wanted to forget her worries and current thoughts.

"How about I ask you something?" Olivia asked as she pushed the bottle of water back towards Emma with an approving smile. "Why are you here? I'm not going to lie, when I saw you walk through the door I expected you to burst out into tears before asking for a shot of tequila. You seem so...please don't take this the wrong way, prissy."

Emma burst into laughter, a hand flying to her mouth as she realized how loud she was being. For a Friday night, the bar was pretty slow. Olivia was right: Emma was prissy, but just to hear someone say it, made her smile. Not because she liked being called a priss, but because someone finally said it, and with purse honesty.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. It's just you're honestly... honesty... honestly...hon-es-tly...that's a weird word." Emma repeated the word back to herself a few more times before moving on. "anyways. I think I was saying something..." She paused for a moment trying to let her mouth catch up with her brain. "Oh yeah, right. Your honesly-ty...it's very refreshing. I am a priss. No one will say it though. Maybe I need that. Need someone to call me a priss so I stop being one." She rambled on for a few more minutes telling Olivia about some of her OCD and about various comments Sue would make regarding it.

"Okay. I get all that; my sister is somewhat anal retentive about things, too and Sue sounds...interesting, but that still doesn't explain to me why you're here." She tapped her hands down against the bar counter and leaned forward waiting for an answer. "You've looked at your phone a lot tonight. Waiting for someone to call?"

The small redhead sighed heavily a frown contorting her features for a small moment. "No...I...I don't know." Her words slurred again and she reached for her phone, turned it over in her hands then set it down in front of her. She hadn't been waiting for anyone to call her. Actually, she'd considered turning off her phone for a while, but hadn't yet; for she'd contemplated making a call, herself. She wanted to call Will, give him a piece of her mind. Jealous...she was, but he wasn't going to give him the satisfaction out of knowing so. "well, I-I-I...No." She stated firmly, feeling a bit dizzy as she closed her eyes. "It's a long st-to-ry..."

"Honey, it's going on ten o'clock. You're stone cold drunk, I'm not letting you drive home, and I don't leave here till two a.m. I've got the time." Olivia offered, pushing a strand of black hair from her eyes.

"Well—"She was cut off by a large burp. Instinctively, a hand flew to her mouth, her cheeks flushed red and she pressed her face against her palms. "Excuse me, I—sorry." She hiccupped as the words came out. "I think I'm a tad bit little drunk..."

"A tad?"

"I've never been drunk before."

"Well you're handling it surprisingly well, but you're going to pay for so much tequila tomorrow. Promise you that. Hope you like tomato juice, Hun; that's about the only thing that can stop a monster of a hangover. Now, stop trying to change the subject, what are you running from?"

Emma didn't think she'd been trying to change the subject; she didn't see her actions as running either, but—perhaps—hiding. Her mind, much like her speech, however, was at the moment very sketchy and out of order. "It's a apple, a substitute apple."She gave in, attempting to start at the beginning. She was going to tell Olivia about Jenna, the relationship she had with Will, and somewhere in there she planned to mention Carl. She couldn't focus, though.

"A What?" Olivia asked as a man sat down next to Emma at the bar. He smiled at Emma and turned towards her. Emma's body tensed as she gave him a small smile, enough to communicate her discomfort, and then turned away. She reached for her purse and pulled a Clorox wipe from it and began wiping at the surface of the counter. The sight of the man as he sat down next to her: tattoos, beard, and a musty odor to him, made Emma's sensitive stomach turn. Cleaning the counter as he spoke to her kept her calm as she waited for him to leave. She was never the type to be picked up at a bar, hells she'd only ever stepped into a bar three times in her life; tonight was the fourth.

"Hey there, Red, can I buy your pretty lil self a drink..." The man asked Emma, not noticing her scrubbing the counter.

"N—no-o." Emma stammered not looking at the man.

Olivia raised an eyebrow, interceding on her behalf. "Back off of her, Earl; she doesn't want to sleep with your or see your scars from Korea. Take your glass of gin and beat it." Olivia slammed a glass of gin and tonic down in front of the older gentleman and shooed him away.

"Tha—thank you." Emma smiled shyly feeling very uncomfortable. She held the wipe between her fingers for a moment longer then ran it across the counter once more.

"That's just, Earl. Don't mind him; he's as gentle as a teddy bear. Too bad he smells like an elephant's ass." Olivia smiled, reaching for the wipe as Emma ran it against the counter and then gave it to her. "you were telling me about an apple and a substitute teacher...now"

Emma frowned, feeling off balanced as the wipe slipped through her fingers, and her chin crashed down against her hands to prop her head up. "My best friend, he and I and then this new substitute. I just- then my boyfriend...it's a mess." Her elbows gave out from underneath her as her head collapsed against her arms which were now folded against the bar, sticking to the freshly moistened counter. The words spewed from her mouth: word vomit.

"Honey, you're drinking over a man? That's never a good sign, especially for someone like you." Olivia spoke softly to Emma as she reached under the bar and threw the Clorox wipe into a wastebasket. "What is it your best friend doesn't like your boyfriend, and then there's a new sub? Where does the sub come in? More importantly, where does the apple come in?" Olivia raised an eyebrow.

"The Apple is dating my best friend..." Emma muttered from underneath her arms. Her head began to ache; her speech, hazy.

"Am I missing something here, Sugar?" Olivia questioned, confused.

Emma lifted her head up to look at Olivia. Her red curls were frizzed out, her eye makeup smudged, and her eyes were even wider than they normally were. She almost looked close to tears and worn down. She opened her mouth to speak, her words coming out in slurs. "Ihavetopee..." Once again, she unknowingly changed the subject.

"Well..." Olivia shook her head, throwing Emma a half smile. "I don't think that's what I was missing, but okay." She sighed, giving in. Emma was all over the place, Olivia was sure of. She actually expected the small red head to start crying at any moment. "The bathroom is straight ahead, off to your right." She pointed behind Emma towards a hall.

"Icantgothere..."Emma whispered, not moving, her cheeks turning bright red, the color of her hair. She hated public restrooms as is, she wasn't going to use one in a bar where drunken accidents occurred often. Her OCD may have been at bay for the majority of the night, but there was always a possibility of it showing up at the most inopportune time, like a public bathroom.

The brunette shook her head, knowingly. "There's a private bathroom for employees back here." She took a step back from the bar and walked towards a door, off to the right of the counter, which had a sign on the door that read: Authorize Personal only. "I'm not supposed to let customers use it, but I understand. I don't know how much more clean it is..."

Emma gave her an appreciative smile and stood, wobbling on her feet as she made her way down the length of the counter, behind the bar and through the door, taking her purse with her, but accidentally leaving her phone on the table top.

Olivia watched as Emma swayed to and fro as she tried towalk. She'd only known the red head for a few hours, but didn't want to see anything happen to her. She meant it when she told Emma she wasn't letting her drive home; Olivia had seen too many people in her short life span drive off, drunk. Sighing to herself, she looked over to see Emma's phone still on the bar. She reached for it, picking it up and turning it over in her hand. The touch pad wasn't locked and it lit up as soon as her fingers grazed across the touch screen. She knew that she shouldn't be going through someone else's phone, but she had too. Accessing Emma's phone book, she began going through names when she came to Will's. Next to Will's name read the letters ICE: in case of emergency. Retrieving a pen and piece of paper, she took the number down, grabbed the business phone out from underneath the bar, and dialed the number, figuring Will for Emma's boyfriend.