His fingertips were warm against her thigh as Emma drew in a breath that wasn't quite enough.
Her head was spinning and the wind was howling just as loudly as it was five minutes ago when Will's fingers were tracing circles on her sensitive skin. Still, she needed the air from the pit of her lungs.
"You okay, Em?"
Her breathing was heavy, warming the space between them as their shoulders pressed together uncomfortably.
"Yeah...Just um...Just give me...a second."
Will slowly pulled his hand from beneath Emma's dress and her thigh twitched as the back of his knuckles grazed her skin upon retreat. She had been freezing earlier in the restaurant, cursing herself for not bringing a coat, and now there was moisture resting above her upper lip caused by the heat Will had instigated. No, the heat they had both instigated.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Will asked softly, his hands in his lap.
"Yeah. I'm fine."
Emma was deeply embarrassed and felt completely vulnerable. She'd never done anything like this before, never been touched so intimately with purpose. Her own fingers didn't even know herself, yet her body cried out, knowing what she wanted, her only knowledge that which came from those Spanish romance films she had purchased with Will in mind. Everything came back to Will.
It would be a cliché to describe the silence as deafening, but there in the closet it certainly was. And so, it was a comfort that the description of uncomfortable quietness was in fact a cliché, a commonality for others and not simply Will Schuester and Emma Pillsbury.
"Are you okay?" Emma questioned politely, her eyes drifting down to her heels. She was fully dressed. God, Emma thought. This was low. And yet, she wasn't suffocated by guilt and shame. Her only concerns were how Will now perceived her to be.
Will chuckled nervously, and judging by that alone, Emma's embarrassment slowly lifted. Inner slut contemplated the situation. Perhaps Will thought what had happened was attractive; sexy, even.
"Yeah, I'm all good."
When the words tumbled from his lips, Emma heard the soft bang of Will's head against the wall of the cupboard.
Moments passed without conversation. It was awkward, but the wind was still wild. Just as they had been minutes before.
Will sighed and Emma was reminded of a time they sat on the McKinley auditorium stage after the rocky horror incident, both cool enough to give reason to their performance days before. The only difference was that Emma's chest was still heaving with the affects of her orgasm. "I'm sorry, Emma. I mean, if that wasn't what you wanted and we just rushed into something like that..."
Emma tried once again to inhale as much air as she could. Her legs still felt like jell-o. "No. I was ready. Just for that, though. I um, I don't think I can handle anything else just yet."
He didn't know what to say, how to ask her if she was really okay, so he bit his tongue and waited until he had something less confronting to ask. But the silence whipped his cheek and woke him up from the haze Emma's gorgeous release had also bought him.
"I don't want this to be awkward between us," Will breathed, admitting to the thought for both of them.
A single tear slipped down Emma's cheek before she had time to realize that it had hung tiredly from her long lashes.
"I know," she gasped softly, her body still. "I don't like this feeling of not knowing what to say to you. But, I don't think we can help it, Will."
"We can," Will whispered defiantly, his lips parting, preparing to confess. "I need to tell you something and I don't want you to run right out of this closet, okay?"
Emma giggled. "I won't."
"Good." Will drew in a breath, searching for memories of his past pain to share with Emma. This would be a curse or a blessing. Black or white magic. "I really missed you when you were married, Em. I couldn't stop thinking about you."
It took a moment for Emma to process his truthful tone, and then another to dissect his troubling words. She glanced down to guess where their hands rested between them in the darkness, and ever so slowly, Emma linked her fingers with his.
Courage, Will. It's yours.
"What were you thinking about?"Emma whispered sweetly, her tone encouraging as she sensed Will's heartache tenfold.
"I was thinking about everything that makes you so wonderful. I was so jealous that Carl was the one who got to listen to your voice, and in turn we were barely speaking back then. I couldn't get certain images out of my mind, really specific ones."
"Like what?" Emma tried, listening intently and then realising her mistake. He was heartbroken and the visions could have been incredibly menacing. "I'm sorry, maybe that's too personal."
"No, no. It's not too personal," Will assured Emma in a rush before he continued. "Every time my head would hit the pillow at night or every time I got in the car- whenever I had a moment to myself, really...I just saw you everywhere. You were laughing a lot, happy. You were never upset." And then, as though it mattered, Will added, "Carl was never there, every time I saw you."
But it did matter. It mattered more than anything to Emma. Will didn't dislike Carl, he just adored Emma. Will didn't focus on what Carl had, as though Emma was a prize. Rather, Emma was everywhere, alone and waiting for a friend and lover to laugh and cry with.
"I thought about you, too," Emma whispered without consideration.
Wills face lit up, yet the closet remained dark. "Yeah?"
Her body relaxed and fell against Will's. After a moment, he felt a nod against his shoulder.
"I remembered how nicely our hands fit together. I tried not to compare Carl to you, that wouldn't have been fair to him when he was so lovely." After her first sentence, Will was lost in wonderment. Their hands really did fit together nicely. He had barely noticed hers in his, yet there was something different about the way he flexed his fingers. He was gentler with his hand in hers. She made him a better person. When Emma whispered, "I couldn't help it", Will raced back in his mind to remember her last words.
Oh. Comparisons. That's what she was saying. Will knew about those. He could remember a time when his selfish wife would nag about their financial troubles late at night after Will got home from scrubbing desks with a sweet redhead who spoke of her admiration for the man in coveralls while they worked together after hours.
"Em..."
"I used to cuddle with Carl a lot, but every time his arms wrapped around me, I just didn't feel safe enough. All I felt was guilt, because I knew that touch was the furthest it was going to go. I was never nervous or shaking in his arms because I wasn't going to let anything happen."
Emma words were honest, and Will knew that, despite her experience with intimacy, she longed for something that she didn't know how to share. He just wished she wasn't so scared.
"I remembered how your arms felt." She traced her fingers up his arm and rested her palm over his bicep. Will tried to remember how she felt in his arms, but he couldn't. He could see images of them dancing to Lionel Richie in his living room, her body pressed against his. He had banished the feeling, and now he craved it.
Emma's tone turned into a whisper, as though she were only confessing the next secret to herself. "I don't like men with too many muscles, but Carl never made me hot like you do."
Will's eyes widened. Emma's face flushed pink.
"I mean, not hot, gosh, I-
Will shook his head, bringing his arm around to hold her against him, to press her shoulder tighter against his.
"It's okay, Em."
"I just..." she swallowed harshly. He wanted to prompt her, but he sensed her struggle. There was a moment, and then his knees felt weak. "You make me shake, Will."
He closed his eyes and turned his face. He couldn't help but to breathe her in. Her perfume. Her shampoo. Her.
"How many times do you think you can fall in love with someone?"Will gripped Emma's hand tighter.
Emma contemplated his question and then she turned her face to meet Will's, their noses brushing as she whispered her reply. "I think as many times as your body can bear."
Silence.
"How many times can you bear?" Will exhaled.
She could taste his breath on her parted lips. God, she wanted to feel his tongue sliding against hers.
"I have no idea."
With a tilt of his head his lips pressed against hers and moved with the question. "Can I teach you?"
Emma pulled away slowly and Will wondered if it was all over before she hiked up her dress in the darkness and climbed into Wills lap. In seconds, her lips had found their home against his again. And then there was her simple whisper of permission against his lips. "Yes."
They hadn't noticed, but sometime between when their fingers had intertwined and Emma's hand had travelled over Will's bicep, the wind had slowed and the light in the hallway had flickered in solitude.
Their lips parted and moulded together, their flesh warm with nervousness as the tip of their tongues brushed slowly and languorously together, as though they had all the time in the world. And they did. They were stuck in a closet in a windstorm. And it was magnificent.
When Will's legs began to cramp from the small space and they broke apart to breathe, Emma payed attention to her surroundings.
"The wind stopped."
Now what were they going to do? Will wondered. Say goodnight and head for the couch and bed alone?
Apparently, Emma had already contemplated the same thing.
"I've never been to bed with a man."
Will was shocked by her whisper and contemplative tone. Was this actually going to happen?
"Take me to bed."
Yes, it was.
Will tried to stand up in the closet with Emma's legs around his waist, but when he stumbled out of the closet door, Will's head meeting the bar of the coat rack.
Their laughter was loud, but with the wind howling faintly, a danger in the distance, their voices were almost muted. Will made his way to the bed, finding his feet as Emma palms cupped the back of his neck reassuringly.
Emma cast her gaze over Will's shoulder towards the window. Branches were swaying, naked of leaves and all Emma could feel was the sensation of Will's warm palms on her lower back, holding her to him. She was so glad she hadn't gone to Carl's. Everything could have changed.
Emma's legs unwrapped from around Will's waist before he reached the bed, and she sunk down to the edge of the bed with her fingers wrapped around his wrist for balance.
"I've got you," Will whispered softly as Emma bent down to unbuckle her stiletto, allowing Will to help her with the other as their gazes met.
The hall light flickered madly, casting a glow into the bedroom, but once Emma's shoes were off, their stare broke. Emma missed it, something that she had only had for a moment. She didn't want to live without that look, Will's attention. Her whole life she had been the girl in the background, and now she was on a stage under blinding yellow lights. As she sat there in the darkness, she realised she would never let that go. A rush, a touch, a special intimacy.
After placing her shoes at the base of the bed, Will climbed in on the opposite side to the edge Emma was sitting on.
She didn't move a muscle, her gaze cast outside as a million thoughts raced through her mind.
"Will, I'm going to take my dress off. I can't sleep in it."
Will curled his tongue in his mouth in trepidation. She was probably incredibly uncomfortable.
"I think I can feel your pyjama's under my pillow. If not there's a lump in the mattress sticking in my ear," Will mused, watching her finger reach out to unzip her dress.
When Emma's fingers curled around the material and peeled it from her shoulders, she dragged it down slowly. Down to reveal more skin. Down. Down. Down.
When she turned slightly, Will's gaze ran from adoring her gorgeous body and fell to the clothes in his hands. He pulled them out and examines the material. "Yep, they're the only pair of pants you own."
Will reached out to hand them to her, but she was already climbing into bed, clad only in her soft pink slip that ended at her thighs. And panties, he hoped. Did he really hope that? Yes, he told himself, you hope she's wearing panties. In fact, you wish she was wearing ski pants and a snow jacket.
He was convinced until her bare knee brushed his, and then he hated the thought that she was so far away.
"Come closer," Will whispered, and she did, falling right into his hold.
"I want to make you shake," he breathed in her ear and she giggled, pressing her shoulder blades into his chest.
"Goodnight, Will."
His lips rested lightly over Emma's pulse point and instead of a whisper of goodnight, his flesh wetly warmed Emma's hot skin as he kissed her lightly, the flick of his tongue and the howl of the wind sending Emma into a dream more adventurous than Dorothy Gale's.
When Will woke the next morning, the wind was loud and Emma was gone.
It took a second for Will to realise that it was Monday and Emma had an early meeting with another guidance counsellor from a nearby middle school, an older lady Emma had known for years. The woman would have picked Emma up at eight. It was now eight-thirty and school started in twenty-three minutes.
He sat up quickly, pressing his palms into the pillows behind him when his palms crushed paper upon her pillow. A post-it.
I found candles before I left this morning and placed them on the bathroom counter just in case we need them. You know, in case of another warning.
There was another beneath it.
And while I did enjoy the darkness last night, I promise I'll be home to help you light them.
Another beneath it.
You're a wonderful teacher. I learnt so much last night, but now I think I'm ready to teach you.
Will adored her notes, and he wanted to write her one, too. Something sweet to make her smile.
He thought about it all day, from the moment he stepped into his first class until lunch when he sped home to pick up a Spanish textbook he needed to return to the other Spanish teacher who was moving to Vancouver that afternoon.
Emma's cell buzzed on the kitchen counter as he stepped into the living room. She must have forgotten it that morning.
When Will answered to take a message, he knew exactly what to write on the post-it.
Emma spent the entire day at Allen County Middle School, meeting the students who presented themselves with certain needs that Emma would be overseeing in their transition to high school. She didn't hear or see from Will all day, but when she arrived home before Will, a note was waiting for her on the kitchen counter, right next to the tea pot. She didn't read it for a few minutes, too preoccupied with the power outage and attempting to light the stove the old fashioned way to boil the tea pot.
She glanced over at the note, straining to read it as the kitchen light flickered in a battle with the stubborn winds.
Your landlord called your cell when you were out. I took a message.
Emma's heart pounded beneath her ribcage and her body flushed with shock. Just like she had left her notes for Will that morning, there were others stuck beneath the top one. She pealed the first off to read the second.
He wanted to know if your hot water system was affected by the storm, and if so, he would fix it for you and upgrade it free of charge because, even though you bought that stove without asking him years ago, you're still his number one tenant.
She pealed the second one off to read the third.
I know that you weren't evicted.
Her fingers shook as she pinched the paper to get to the next.
Come and go as you please, but never leave me.
With an arrow next to the words, Emma drew her gaze in the direction the arrow pointed. Above the note were a set of metallic blue keys, splayed perfectly. They were periwinkle.
And also engraved.
Will's front door key, engraved with the letter 'E'.
A small key, perhaps to the locks of the windows. Engraved with the letter 'M'.
A larger key, one Emma recognised as the key to the main door of Will's floor of the apartment complex. Engraved with the letter 'M'.
And a key Emma had never seen before, engraved with the letter 'A'.
A branch slammed against the kitchen window, causing Emma to jump and the lights to blink off in defeat.
Emma grasped the matchbox in her palm and made her way towards the bathroom; towards the candles she knew they would need that night.
And before Will arrived, she'd light one just for herself.
AN: I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and I'm sorry I haven't filled a prompt this week, but life has been very hectic. To those who have left prompts, thank you very much and I hope to get around to filling one soon! Thanks for reading!