A/N: For those of you who were wanting to see Will and Emma interaction, it's on the way (: I had to set it up just perfectly, and I think that I have. This story is taking me a bit longer to write, but it's getting there. R&R loved as always, and I hope you enjoy! -Tayma


Chapter 3: I Haven't Got it In Me; I Never Had a Chance

"No, you're just not finding the right kind of parts!"

"Or maybe you're just not good enough!"

"I am, too, good enough! I know I am!"

"Then why aren't you getting parts?"

"BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT THE RIGHT KIND OF PARTS!"

"OR MAYBE YOU'RE JUST NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR THE PARTS, EMMA! DID YOU EVER CONSIDER THAT?"

The door slammed and she was gone.

Will had been working for Emma for the past seven months and things weren't looking up for her any. Emma had been on more than enough auditions, and he'd helped her prepare for each one. She was good; really good. She'd gotten plenty of callbacks, and she had been cast in one role, but the project went belly-up within three weeks and Emma was left frustrated, wondering if this was what she's cut out for.

He felt awful. He knew Emma was more than right for every part he found for her, and he knew that she was more than talented enough. But Emma didn't know it. Emma talked the talk all day long, and acted sassy and sure of herself, but she was far from actually feeling those things. That was the main difference between the other girls auditioning and Emma. Emma said she was confident, but she didn't always act it on stage when it came time for her to shine; other girls said they were confident and they exuded it under the hot spotlight in the center of the stage.

This wasn't a new conversation for them to be having, either. It happened each time she didn't get a role recently…which was after every audition for the past two months. She'd give what she said was her all on stage, but she wouldn't get anything out of it. Will knew there was more for her to give, Emma said she was giving more than enough. So each time she didn't get a role, she'd storm over to Will's apartment to raise Hell. 'Why didn't I get it?' 'Why didn't you find better roles?' 'I had it in the bag!' 'Dammit, I shouldn't even be here!' Every time the same words and every time the blame thrown at him, and it was always worse if she didn't get the part after a callback. Because it was so close to her grasp and she'd barely missed the role each time. He was always very calm and reassuring with her, but enough was enough; all he had to do was find the auditions – it was up to her to get herself the job.

So this time, when she showed up at his doorstep to raise hell, he yelled at her in the hopes that he would light a fire under her stubborn ass and make her work harder for it. Instead, he'd caused her to storm out of his apartment with tears on her face.

"Emma! Emma, no – wait!" He called out, rushing forward to the door and yanking it open, but she was already in the lift, going down. Letting out a yell of frustration, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed her number, walking into the apartment and laying down on the couch in the living room.

"Hey! You've reached Emma. I can't talk right now, but apparently you can, so here comes the beep. I'm sure you know what to do with it!"

"Dammit, Emma! Answer your phone. I'm sorry, okay? That was a jerk thing of me to say. You know I don't mean it…Please come back and we'll talk about this. We'll talk about what parts we can find for you again; see if we can come at this from a different angle. Maybe try acting classes again." Will paused, running a hand over his face. "Remember the last time you stopped answering when I called? I called and texted you for four hours straight until you answered. Let's see how long you hold out this time." He ended the call and opened a text message.

I'm an ass. Come back. –W

He groaned and set his phone down against his chest, running a hand through his hair. The past seven months working with Emma may not have been successful when it came to getting jobs for Emma, but it was successful in making Will develop feelings for her – strong ones. Ever since he met her, there were lurking feelings, of course, and he figured it was inevitable. Emma was the sweetest girl in the world with a pure heart, even if she did come off as sarcastic and as though she didn't give a damn about anything. Her defense mechanisms made her all the more adorable.

The moment he realized just how much he cared about her, he was sitting in the back of a theater, hiding. From his place in the very back, he could see her sitting in the front, anxiously awaiting her name to be called to go up on the stage. A couple of weeks prior, she auditioned to play Princess Winifred the Woebegone in an off-Broadway production of Once Upon a Mattress. She received notification about a callback and was so thrilled she jumped into Will's arms and kissed his cheek.

As he sat in the back of the theater, noting that she was only up against five girls, Will had a feeling in his gut that Emma was going to get the role. When her name was called, Will slouched a bit lower in his seat, though Emma couldn't see him whether he did or not. She had no idea that he was there, but for some reason he felt compelled to go watch her audition.

"Emma Pillsbury."

Emma cleared her throat and shot up out of her seat, marching onto the stage and standing under the spotlight, smiling. "I'm Emma Pillsbury."

"Great. Whenever you're ready."

Emma cleared her throat, taking a moment to compose herself before nodding that she was ready. A resounding voice rang out.

"YOU SWAM THE MOAT?"

All it took was that small inquiry to see Emma literally change into someone else before his eyes. Her confidence on that stage was something she rarely held, and this time, she actually meant it.

"Alright, I was a little anxious!" Emma began, giving the woman holding the audition a look, "My friend, Sir Harry, he told me you had an opening for a princess – ANY princess! I figured…the early bird…"

Emma gestured to herself, giving a sure look before quickly turning slightly awkward and clearing her throat, "Ohhhh, anyway…here I am!"

Awkward laugh.

"Who's the lucky man?"

As the music struck up, Emma spun around, pointing, prancing…she was someone Will had never seen in person or in audition, and it amazed him. She was wonderful – more wonderful than usual. She was perfect. Then she started belting out notes, something Will had never heard her do in any auditions, and he was completely blown away. He couldn't help himself laughing a bit as the song continued; it described Emma so well. She was singing about being a shy girl who put on a mask of confidence and assuredness. If that wasn't Emma, Will didn't know what was, and she sang it with such conviction that you could tell she was more than auditioning – she was attempting to prove something. Whether it was to herself or to the woman holding the auditions, Will didn't know and he didn't care. All Will knew was he could not stop staring at Emma, no matter how hard he tried. She was beautiful, she was talented, she was sweet and funny and even when she was bitchy, she was adorable. She was perfect.

Thinking back on that made Will further frustrated. She was so good; how could he tell her that she wasn't good enough? Hadn't she told him that she feared inadequacy? Had she not confided in him that her parents were constantly telling her she wasn't quite good enough and she should do something practical? How could he be such an ass and use that against her?

Groaning, Will picked up his phone again and called her number, tapping his fingers against his chest. It went straight to voicemail.

"Hey! You've reached Emma. I can't talk right now, but apparently you can, so here comes the beep. I'm sure you know what to do with it!"

"Gah! Emma, come on. Answer the phone. Turning it off won't stop me from calling you. I hope you like voicemails." Will ended the call and called back four more times. He couldn't decide if he was calling mainly to apologize or just to annoy her enough to not walk out on him next time they argued. They weren't even together and it felt like a relationship that he'd managed to screw up.

Will glanced at the clock and groaned, realizing she probably went straight from his place to work, which meant her phone could be off for the next eight hours while she worked at the bar. Standing up, he snatched his keys from the coffee table and headed down to her workplace, somewhere he'd never been before, mainly because he knew Emma thought he wouldn't take her seriously anymore after seeing her at her job.

Strolling into the sports bar, Will saw Emma's roommate, Corrine, standing behind the counter. He walked over and leaned against it, waiting for her to give him her attention.

"What do you want?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at him as she wiped down the counter.

"I want to talk to Emma. Is she here?"

Corrine nodded. "She's here. She doesn't want to talk to you, though."

"Look, can you just tell her that I'm here?" Will looked at her hopefully, watching Corrine closely as she leaned forward, her face just inches from him.

"You made her cry. I don't know exactly what you said, because we're going to talk after work, but I haven't seen her cry like that since the last time she talked to her parents. So I don't know what you did or said, but you messed up."

He dragged a hand across his face and nodded, "Yeah, I know I did, okay? And I'm sorry, but if she won't talk to me, she won't ever hear the apology. Though honestly, criticism is a part of her job; she needs to learn to take it."

"You really are a dumbass, you know that?" Will looked at Corrine, taken aback by her words. Yes, she was rough around the edges and definitely a tough kind of girl, but she'd never openly insulted Will to his face in all the times that they'd met. "She can take criticism from strangers and people that she doesn't care about, but the minute someone she cares about criticizes her, she takes it harder and much more personally. She acts hard on the outside because she's so delicate inside. How have you not figured that out from working with her?"

Will laughed. "That's where you're wrong. For being like a big sister to her, you're severely uninformed; Emma hates me."

"Whatever, man. She doesn't want to see you. You can grovel later." Corrine smiled as sweetly as she could before going to help another person, who was actually planning on eating. Will sat at the bar for a bit, looking around, contemplating waiting until Emma was off when he saw her.

She walked out from the back of the place, a large tray of food held up on one of her hands as she strutted her way to a table a few feet away from him. Will couldn't help but stare at her. This was a side of Emma he never even imagined.

She walked to the table and set the tray on a stand, handing out the different dishes to each guy at the table. She let out a small giggle when one of the men kissed her cheek and she tapped his shoulder playfully, shaking her head, "Now, now, Tom. Whatever would that beautiful wife of yours say?" He heard her ask, smiling at him and tapping his hat, "Alright, boys. If you need anything else, you know where to find me."

Picking up the empty tray, Emma walked back and returned it to its place, and Will's eyes continued watching her. She was hot. Why did she always wear those stupid pencil skirts? Her legs were amazing, and cropped tops were definitely not harming her, either. He bowed his head and pretended to look at a menu when he saw her turning and focused on the words before him. She'd be even more pissed if she knew he came to her workplace to see her. No amount of bowing his head could disguise his mass of curls that Emma had grown to recognize, however, and she walked over, standing on the side of the counter opposite and looked at him, a small glare plastered on her face.

"Better let Corrine know we've got a rat problem." Emma looked at him, waiting for him to look up at her, still hurt by his words.

Will looked up at her apologetically and let out a sigh. "Come on, Em. I'm sorry. You know I didn't mean it."

"No, I think that you did. You know, you really are a smug bastard."

"Excuse me?" He scoffed, his eyebrows furrowing together.

"You're just a smug jerk. When I first met you…all you ever did was smirk and look smug like I was going to be your newest creation, like you were going to have some big part in my success and I wouldn't have anyone to thank but you. Well looks like you were wrong, because you've got a big part in my failure, and that's all that you've done. But you're a smug asshole who can't accept that he's part of the problem, part of why I'm not getting anywhere with this." She set her jaw and stared at him, her face blank, but her voice conveying nothing but honesty and truth behind her feelings. She wasn't trying to get him back for what he told her; she was being honest.

"Come on, Emma. You know I didn't mean what I said to you. Don't be so mean." He looked honestly hurt by her words, and usually Emma would feel bad, but he'd hit a nerve with her.

"Oh, so then you were lying when you said that?" She raised an eyebrow at him and nodded, "Awesome, then your work here is done."

"Emma, what…?" Will looked at her, his mouth falling open. What in the world just happened?

"One condition, Will. One. Condition. Don't lie to me. We're done here. Now if you'll please excuse me, I have other people here who are actually helping to pay my bills, so…" She nodded once and picked up a pad of paper, heading over to a table she hadn't yet helped, leaving Will wondering how the hell he messed up so badly.

-x-x-x-

Three weeks passed and still, Will heard nothing from Emma. He called her each day, leaving her a message of apology, followed by a text. Damn, she was good at blocking him out completely. Finally, after twenty-two days, Will had come to the conclusion that it was a lost cause, and feelings for her or not, she was never going to come around to him. He was walking down the street one day, not even realizing that he was walking towards the sports bar Emma worked at when he ran into Corrine on the street. He was staring at the ground, hoping to hide his face from her, but it was useless as she grabbed his arm and dragged him down a side alley, pushing him gently against the wall and staring at him, her hands on her hips.

Will stared at Corrine, wondering what she was going to do to him, but after a few minutes of silent staring, he cleared his throat, "I know, stop calling her."

"I cannot begin to express how sick of you I am right now. She will not shut up about you, dear God." Corrine's fists clenched slightly and she shook her head, "You call? She ignores it and won't shut up about you. You don't call? She wonders why and won't shut up about you. I cannot handle hearing, 'You know, another thing about Will,' one more time, Will. I can't do it!"

It took Will a few moments to process what Corrine was saying, shaking his head to clear it before swallowing and furrowing his eyebrows. "What – I haven't heard from her in three weeks, Corrine. I've done nothing."

"Nothing and yet everything. She rants about you every. damn. night. Dinner is a nightmare and usually burned or chopped to a pulp because the more into her rants she gets, the more aggressive her cooking becomes. You know she's giving up on acting, right?"

"Because I told her she's not good enough once – and lied when I said so – she's giving up on acting? What happened to her saying she just wants to make people feel?" He asked, a mocking tone in his voice. Corrine stepped forward, looking at him seriously.

"You really didn't get to know her at all in the time that you worked for her, did you? Emma isn't told once by you that she's not good enough. She hears it from her parents all the time and occasionally her brother. Until she met you, I was the only one encouraging her, and I don't understand why you telling her she wasn't good enough triggered her to quit it, but she's done. She's got four more auditions lined up, and if she doesn't get any of the parts, she wants to pack up and head back to Lima."

"Why are you telling me this?" Will asked, honestly confused about why Corrine would throw all of this on top of him. He already felt guilty for yelling at her and telling her she wasn't good enough; why did she need to pile this on top?

"Because you need to know that you're not the only one who broke a condition." Her shoulders rose and fell gently, looking at him. "I love Emma with my whole heart, but I am tired of hearing about you, and I'm pretty sure you're the only one who can stop it and—"

"And she won't answer her damn phone, so I can't stop anything!"

"Okay, I'm going to prove to you that she broke the condition, and then you're going to stop it. You're going to find a way to get her to shut up about you and your smug smirk, and then you're going to figure out a way to get her to stay in New York. Got it?"

"How am I sup—"

"Oi! Got it?"

"Got it."

"She goes into work at three today. I have my assistant manager covering the place for the evening, which means when I get off at five, you're going to be at my apartment, and we're going to plan out how to fix my beautiful surrogate sister. Got it?"

"Got it." Will nodded, uttering the two words. He didn't know whether to be thankful that he was going to have a chance to fix things with Emma, or frightened of her roommate.

"See you at five." Corrine stepped away, walked out of the alley and turned towards work, leaving Will leaning against the wall on the side of the alley.

He stood there in silence, his brain swimming as he attempted to piece together Corrine's words. If Will gathered everything correctly, he'd royal screwed Emma over, helped to further shatter her confidence, and she broke a condition…meaning his condition…meaning she loved him…and Corrine planned on proving it to him.

"You couldn't just become an Economist, could you?" He asked himself loudly, running a hand over his face. Will pulled out his phone and checked the time. It was noon. That gave him five hours to be at Emma and Corrine's. With no clients, he had nothing to do, so he lifted himself up off of the alley wall, letting out a sigh and heading towards Starbucks. Something told him he was going to need a lot of caffeine tonight.

By the time five o'clock came around, Will had downed four double-shot espressos at Starbucks and he was jittery. Whether it was from all the caffeine running through his veins or the fact that he was about to spy on Emma, he didn't know. He decided to chalk it up to caffeine. Hurrying up the stairs to Emma and Corrine's apartment, he rapped on the door quickly, jumping in his spot as Corrine unlocked the door. A hand reached out and grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him through the door and closing it behind him, locking it again.

"Are you sure we should be doing this? If Emma's already pissed, how do you think she is going to feel knowing that I'm hiding in her apartment listening to her be pissed?" Will swallowed, staring at the woman before him.

"The worst that will happen is she hates you, which really won't be much different than her ignoring you now, and she won't do my laundry for a couple of weeks. That's always her punishment for me. So as long as you're not afraid, we'll do it."

Will took a deep breath, "How do you know she's going to rant?"

"Alright, so here's how it happens. She goes in at three for her shift every day, comes home around nine. We go into the kitchen and she starts to cook dinner because sometimes I can't cook to save my life. All I have to do is ask if she's found any work lately and it sets her right off. Trust me. She's going to rant." Corrine nodded, removing her coat and hanging it up, "Now, we're going to get you set up in my room. It's right next to the kitchen and you can hear everything through a vent in the wall."

Will nodded. "Alright, sounds fine. What, er…if she's not here for four more hours, why am I here now?"

Corrine shrugged. "I figured you wouldn't come if I gave you a longer time frame to be here." She snorted a little bit and headed to the kitchen, "You want anything?"

"Just water's fine. I may have downed a ton of coffee and now I'm all jumpy." He followed her into the kitchen, sitting down at the table and resting his head in his hand, watching her. "So I know I'm in no position to tell you what to say to Emma or anything, but maybe suggest that she applies to a performing arts school, just to see what she says. If she's up to it, I'll apply on her behalf; maybe get myself back in her good graces."

Corrine gave him a water bottle and sat down across from him. "I'll try; that's one thing I've yet to suggest to shut her up about you. Usually I just pretend to listen, nod and then go, 'Hey, Em. Let's just watch John Tucker Must Die' and then she's goo for a while."

"John Tucker Must…wow, that doesn't speak about how she feels toward me at all."

"Hey, it's your own fault, smugstard."

"…Smugstard?"

"It's faster than just saying smug bastard, but it has the same effect. Emma's idea, not mine. Though I wish I'd come up with it sooner." Corrine laughed and Will laughed as well, unable to help himself. For being so tiny, Emma sure knew how to be a bitch when it was necessary.

-x-x-x-

By the time nine o'clock rolled around, Emma was exhausted. She strolled through the front door of the apartment, closing it behind herself and smiling at Corrine on the couch. Unbeknownst to her, Will was in Corrine's room, hiding in the far corner next to the vent, ready to be proven wrong.

"Hey, red," Corrine said, smirking slightly. Let's get this show on the road, she thought to herself. Just as she hoped, Emma rolled her eyes.

"Red? Really, who are you, Will Schuester?" She scoffed and dropped her bag heading straight to the kitchen. She yanked open the fridge and pulled out a ton of vegetables, in the mood for a big salad. She pulled out the cutting board and set it on the counter, grabbing a knife just as Corrine walked in, setting it on the board and starting to wash the dishes. "I mean seriously? Red? Who does he think he is, some nineteen-fifties mobster? As if. He's not cool enough." She scrubbed the veggies furiously, setting each one in a fresh bowl to be held until she was ready to chop the crap out of it.

Corrine sat at the table and leaned her head into her hand, watching Emma. "Come on, Emma. You've been on about him for weeks now."

"Well I have a right to! Not good enough? Not good enough?" Emma picked up the knife and started chopping away at some carrots. "Not good enough my ass. Who does he think he is? Simon Cowell? I don't think so, mister smug-ass bastard. Oh, I'm Will. I have a gorgeous smile and stupid curly hair. I think I'm Jesus and I'm going to tell you you're not good enough." She stabbed a piece of carrot before cutting it in half, shaking her head.

"If you're good enough, then why does what he say matter to you?" Corrine was usually silent during Emma's rants, but not today. Today she was going to get Will the information she thought he needed to get Emma to shut up about him.

"It just does, okay?"

"Because you like him."

"Ugh, no. I don't like him."

"Then you love him."

"I don't love him, either. Sure, he's got an amazing smile that practically blinds you, and he's got awesome curly hair, but he puts so much lard in it you can see your own reflection. But he's still an ass, Corrine. I don't like him, I don't love him. I don't want him to call me, either, and you know what? Today, he didn't call me. Finally, I've been waiting for him to stop again." She tossed the carrots into another bowl, grabbing some celery and starting to chop away.

"That's great, Emma! Now you don't have to listen to his rambling messages."

Emma slammed the knife down and whipped around to look at Corrine. "Great? Great? That's not great, Corrine! Dammit, what's wrong with him? What's wrong with me? I'm not good enough to act and I'm not good enough to chase after? I mean come on! Make up your mind, either you like me or you don't and apparently he doesn't or he'd keep calling!"

Will sat against the vent, his hand over his mouth, trying not to laugh. Emma was being absolutely ridiculous, talking in circles. But he wasn't laughing because she was funny; he was laughing because she was so adorable.

"But again, Emma, if you don't like him, it doesn't matter that he doesn't like you."

"No, I don't like him. Because unlike the smug, smirking asshole, I know how not to break a condition. I know where my boundaries are. I don't lie and I don't love him. And I don't lie about loving him because I don't love him. Loving him would be like loving a turtle."

Corrine let out a laugh. "A turtle?"

"Yes! A turtle! You think they're all cute and sweet and adorable, but then you think 'Hm. I'm going to give him a peach.' So you do. And then he snaps and bites you in the ass." At that, Corrine started laughing so hard, she couldn't breathe. Emma's face got really red and she turned around, angrier than she should be, an started stabbing away at vegetables. "I'm being serious, Corrine Amelia Hampton."

"Whoa! Okay, mom." Corrine said, immediately sobered by her full name. "I just – peach is a…a…nevermind. Okay, so don't give him your peach, then. Don't even give him the satisfaction of getting to you. Why don't you apply to a few theater arts schools? Prove that you're good enough."

Emma shook her head, setting the knife down and piling all of the vegetables into one big bowl, adding some chickpeas and left over chicken before tossing it all together with a lemon dressing. "I…no. No, I don't need to."

"Are you sure it's not the only way left? You've got those auditions lined up, Em, but after that, you said you're heading back to Lima. Why are you giving up when you haven't even tried out all of the options?"

"Because I have, Corrine, okay? Do you want some salad?" She asked, grabbing a couple of bowls and filling them both, knowing Corrine would eat with her.

"Yeah, I do," Corrine said, grabbing them some water. She sat down at the table again and looked at Emma. "Well that's great, though, Em. When will you hear back from them? We'll have to have a party for you at work when you get in."

Emma walked over with the salad bowls in her hands, setting one in front of Corrine and sitting in her own seat, stabbing a piece of lettuce with her fork and taking a bite. "Don't bother, it won't be needed."

"Ah, Em. Don't – of course it's needed. It'll be your dream you're chasing! Of course we'll throw you a CONGRATULATIONS, YOU GOT IN! party" she said, yelling the party theme and smiling. Will was right – talk to her about performing arts school and she stopped talking about him. How did she not think of this sooner?

"It won't be needed because I'm not going to school for acting." Emma sighed and looked at Corrine, swallowing. "Before I actually moved here, I applied to three different performing arts schools, two ivy leagues and NYU. I got rejection letters from every single one of them. I've reapplied a couple of times to a few of the schools, but I'm still not getting in, even when I send in my portfolio. Nothing. I just got another rejection from AMDA, and on the day that I got that rejection, I was also told by Will that I'm not good enough. So. I always said if I didn't find work by the time I was twenty-one, I'd go back to Ohio, attend Ohio State and study psychology. I'm just cutting my time here a bit short."

The girls fell quiet, each of them eating some of their salad. Will sat next to the vent in Corrine's room feeling even more awful for going off on Emma. It was more than just being told that she wasn't good enough by him; she'd been told she wasn't good enough on a level that actually mattered. It was a few minutes before Emma piped up again.

"I'm sure Will would just be so thrilled to hear that I've flopped down on my face. He's just such an ass! I can't believe I trusted him to find me work; not that it did any good." Emma rolled her eyes, sipping on her water.

"Okay, Emma, I've seriously had enough of this." Corrine set her fork down and folded her hands in front of her.

"Enough of what?"

"You denying that you love this guy."

"I don't! Look, he can take his cute, smug face and marry a cute little trophy wife and have trophy children that I've never imagined with red curly hair ever, and be on his own smug, smirky way." Emma crossed her arms and looked at Corrine. How dare she insinuate that she loved him? It was breaking the condition; she would not own up to breaking a condition.

"Yes, you do. And I'm going to prove it to the both of you."

Will's eyes widened at her words and he closed his eyes and crossed his fingers, praying that Corrine wasn't about to call him out there. He did not want to face Emma right now. He needed time to process everything and then talk to her later.

"And how do you suppose you'll do that?" Emma asked, cocking an eyebrow. "If you say call him, forget about it, I'm not calling him."

"Fine. I'll do it for you. WILL!" Corrine turned towards the door, looking back at Emma, "He's been listening through the vent in my room. WILL GET OUT HERE!"

Emma's mouth fell open, looking at Corrine with fire in her eyes. "You cannot be serious."

Will groaned, standing and walking to the kitchen, running a hand over his face before entering. "Oh, she's serious. Hey, Emma."

"Oh my god. I just….wow. So what you're going to sit me down with him and force me to listen to his apologies? No." Emma stood up and took the dishes to the sink, starting to walk away, but Corrine stepped in front of her, shaking her head.

"Oh no you don't, Emma. You're going to sit your stubborn ass down, and he's going to sit his smug, bastard ass down, and I'm going to tell you the times I've witnessed you expressing love for Will, and then he is going to tell you that he's sorry and whatever else he wants to tell you, and then you're both going to shut up. You're not going to talk about Will anymore, and he's going to stop calling and whining on our answering machine and your voicemail. You'll either come to peaceful terms of love and kindness towards one another, or he'll go back to being an asshole on his own and you'll go back to Lima on your own. Got it?"

"But Corrine—" Emma looked at her, but Corrine put her hand over Emma's mouth.

"Ah-ah! Got. It?"

Emma nodded, rolling her eyes. "Yeah. Got it." She said, pushing Corrine's hand away and moving to sit next to Will, Corrine sitting next to Emma. She turned and glared at him. "You touch me, look at me, or breathe funny and your smug smirk is going to have a smug split lip, Schuester."

Will looked at Emma and laughed, shaking his head and turning to Corrine. "Whatever you say, Red." Corrine reached over and grabbed Emma's arms, just as she clenched a fist.

"Hot damn, you two are worse than Catherine and Heathcliff."

Emma pulled her hands from Corrine, ignoring the reference to her favourite book. She crossed her arms and looked at Corrine. When Corrine was sure they were both going to stay quiet, she cleared her throat and looked between them.

"Exhibit A. Emma comes home from the theater." Corrine began, sitting back and folding her hands on the table. This was going to be a long night.