"And one, and two, from the top!"
'Just a small town girl, living in a lonely world
Took the midnight train going anywhere
Just a city boy, born and raised in south Detroit
Took the midnight train going any-'
Rachel Berry stumbled and her black Mary Jane squeaked noisily on the floor, effectively cutting her off. A few of her fellow club members snickered. Finn Hudson continued:
'I see her in a smokey room, a smell of wine and cheap-'
"Finn!" Rachel objected shrilly, "Finn! We have to stop-"
Will Schuester rubbed a weary hand down his face and stepped forward to quickly intercede before his Glee kids could begin their fifth argument of the afternoon.
"Guys! Guys! If something like this were to happen on stage, you won't get a redo," he objected knowingly. "Rachel, you came in a little high on that first verse, let's try and even it out-"
"But Mr. Schue-" Rachel began to complain, among the grumbled protests of her peers, "We've been through this a hundred times!"
"Hey, come on, guys," Will turned to the rest of the sullen group in an attempt to build morale, "Sectionals are on Saturday! This is our last practice before dress rehearsal…I know everyone is nervous for this weekend-"
"Nervous?" Mercedes proclaimed loudly, with an exaggerated snap of her fingers, "I'm gonna kill sectionals-"
"Get it girl!" Kurt added encouragingly, pursing his lips and turning to raise his eyebrows at Will, "We've got this, Mr. Schue-"
"Yeah!"
"Hell yes!"
"Right, right!"
"I wanna believe it guys, I really do," Will encouraged good-naturedly, "I really think you have a chance to take Sectionals! But we've got to practice and, most importantly, maintain…I'd hate to see you lose this because you stopped thinking you needed to work on our set list two days before the competition! Now come on Rachel, Finn, let's start it from the top:"
'Just a small town girl, living in a lonely world She took the midnight train going anywhere
Just a city boy, born and raised in South Detroit He took the midnight train going anywhere…
…some will win, some will lose
Some were born to sing the blues
Oh the movie never ends
It goes on and on and on and on…….'
"Hi, Honey-" Will called as he entered his apartment later that afternoon, setting his briefcase beside the door and reaching a hand up to loosen his tie. "...Terri…You home?"
"In here." Terri's voice carried from the down the hall and Will followed the sound, checking their bedroom before continuing on to the second, smaller bedroom.
"Hey, Hon," Will called back, nearing the room, "Clearing some stuff out for the nursery?" he stopped as he rounded the corner and frowned, confused. "Hey…" he tried timidly, cocking his head slightly as if trying to comprehend, "What, ah, what are you doing Ter?"
Terri looked up from her crafting table and gave a shrug.
"Just crafting," she explained casually, eyeing him carefully. "…How was your day?"
"It was, ah," Will hesitated, and then raised his eyebrows, "long. What um," he frowned, glancing briefly around the room, "What's going on in here? I thought the crafting stuff was being packed away so we could start working on the nursery-"
"It was." Terri interrupted shortly, raising one brow as she glanced at Will. "I pulled it back out. It helps me relax, Will."
Will twisted his lips and surveyed the room.
"Okay…" he conceded skeptically. "Is there anything for dinner?"
"Oh," Terri glanced Will's way, picking up her glue gun, "I thought you could make dinner tonight. I've been on my feet all day at Sheets 'N Things- I could really use the rest-"
Will sucked in a deep breath, feeling more than a little shut out.
"Okay," he tried again optimistically, rubbing his hands together and pushing his sleeves back to the elbow, "Any requests?"
Terri shrugged.
"Turkey burgers. Oh," she pointed towards him with her glue gun, "and maybe some pasta? Mm, pasta sounds good…" she smiled sweetly at him and placed a hand on her rounded belly, as if daring him to contradict.
Will raised his brow.
"Turkey burgers and fettuccini it is," he recited, his face hard. A trickle of annoyance leaked through in his tone and he quickly squelched it. "And hey," he stepped forward, his face softening as he gave his wife a peck on the cheek, "This will all be worth it once She's here…" Will gazed lovingly at Terri's belly, before turning and leaving the room.
Today was Friday. The Friday before Sectionals. Will was on his way to the auditorium after last bell to set up for his Glee kid's dress rehearsal. He navigated around the students crowding the hallway, mentally running through the set list and choreography for the Sectionals routine for what felt like the thousandth time this week. He passed the hallway with the long row of lockers, catching a brief glimpse of Sue Sylvester lecturing one of the Cheerio's on her squad, and nearly collided with Emma as he turned the corner.
"Will-" Emma stopped short, looking uncomfortable, her brown eyes wide and staring
"Emma, hi," Will spoke breathlessly, and grinned. There was an awkward pause.
"…Hi." Emma returned finally, her voice soft. "I'm s-sorry, I wasn't w-watching where I was g-going-"
"Don't be," Will reassured honestly, with a nervous laugh, "It was me. I wasn't paying attention."
Emma stared, her gazed fixed on Will's, and nodded slowly.
Will broke the silence, finally.
"I feel like I've barely seen you this week-"
Emma clenched the textbooks in her arms closer to her chest and looked down, painfully recalling their discussion from a week ago as she had every day since Will had opened up to her in her office about the wedding/Sectionals conflict:
'I wanted to talk to you about that,' Will breeched the subject honestly and carefully, 'I kind of think Ken scheduled your wedding the same day on purpose. You know, so…so you couldn't go.'
'Why would he do that?'
'Come on,' Will huffed, 'We…we both know how he feels about our…relationship.'
'I'm marrying Ken, Will. Look I know that I've…I've definitely given him reason in the past to be jealous, but I need you to know that I'm done with that now. Ken has…a lot of flaws, he has seventy-four flaws as of yesterday but, you know what? He's not vindictive. He's actually a good man; he is kind and he is great with the students here at McKinley, we have that in common. And yes it's true his hygiene could be a lot better but he is absolutely full of compassion and…well that is why I'm marrying him!'
'You're right,' Will agreed dejectedly, 'I was out of line…Won't happen again.'
"…Busy week," she said finally, by way of explanation. "You've got Sectionals. …I'm getting married tomorrow-"
"I know…" Will's solemn voice cut across her pathetic excuses for what they both knew was really going on. They had been avoiding one another. Emma inhaled sharply and looked up, straightening herself so that she was almost at Will's level:
"I'm sorry I have to miss tomorrow. Tell the kids good luck for me."
Will's eyes met Emma's and held them in his gaze.
"Emma…" she spoke finally, his voice sadly earnest, "…I'm really sorry I won't get to be there."
Emma struggled to catch her breath.
"I-I know," she spoke finally.
The pair remained perfectly still, off to the side in the bustle of the hallway, as each of their predicaments settled in. Neither voiced what was so painstakingly going unspoken.
"W-Well, good luck," Emma spoke finally, after a silence that seemed to go on forever. Will's gaze seemed to pierce right through her.
"…You too, Emma," Will responded finally, his stare continuing unabashed. "…And tell Ken 'congratulations'."
"I will-" Emma nodded timidly, struggling to catch her breath. She couldn't look away.
"Goodbye, Emma." Will tried to offer his farewell warmly, but to his own ears his words merely sounded bitter and jealous. I'm married…he reminded himself, I have a wife…
"Bye, Will."
Will Schuester turned to watch as Emma walked away and disappeared down the hallway. He stood still for a moment, gazing blankly toward the hallway she had turned down as the last of the dwindling students made their way home for the day. The sound of a piano drifted past him from the auditorium. Will took a moment to pull himself together.
Sectionals. Dress rehearsal. Glee.
He rounded the corner and pushed open the door to the auditorium to find his Glee students waiting for him. He took a deep breath.
"And one, two, from the top!"