R&R always loved :3 Streetlightswill be updated soon and Willow Jane will be updated in the next couple of days.


Chapter 4: The First Step is Admitting You're in Denial

"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.

Emma raised her eyebrows as her eyes narrowed, staring at her friend. She wasn't sure if she was going to appreciate this discussion much, seeing as Will was present to hear it. Not only the fact that he was present, but it was more the fact that he'd been eavesdropping on her the whole time, then welcomed into the kitchen for the conversation by Corrine, like eavesdropping was smiled upon in everyday life. She glanced over at Will who was smirking again, looking at Corrine. He didn't seem worried in the slightest about what she would be saying, and why would he be? She wasn't about to spill information about him; it was all going to be about Emma.

Emma walked back from the theater after meeting Will Schuester for the first time. She gripped the business card in her hand, holding onto it as if it was her life-line. It was a risk for sure, going to meet a man whose legitimacy as an agent was up in the air, but that's what Google was for. If she found anything fishy online, then she'd just not show up at noon the following day. It really wasn't that hard of a thing to do, but she at least had to look into him. This could be her chance.

Could be. There was so much could be and what if and maybe going around. Emma supposed that was a part of her chosen career path. Loads of uncertainty was involved. In a way, it was the perfect career for Emma. She was always uncertain of everything; her family, her life, her job, herself. Half of the time, she was only pretending to be as confident as she appeared to be. There was nothing to be confident about in her opinion. She was good, yes, but there was always going to be someone better, whether she liked it or not. There was no certainty that she was the best. She knew that she wasn't. But she could be. There were those two damn words again.

Her inner monologue was interrupted as she reached her apartment building, heading up the cement steps through the double doors. She passed through, heading to the stairs, pushing open the heavily rusted door before beginning her ascension to her floor. Once in front of the door, she opened up her satchel bag and rummaged through it for her keys, grabbing her apartment key and ramming it into the lock, jostling it slightly before turning it and pushing the door open.

"Corrine!" She called, slamming the door behind herself and dropping her things by the door, walking towards the kitchen where she heard noise.

"You got it?" Corrine asked excitedly, walking over to her with a wide smile and handing her a pasta dish she'd made. Pasta. It was one of the few things Corrine knew how to cook and not kill people.

"No. Better. I think I may have fallen in love." Emma announced, taking the plate happily and moving to the table. She sat down and took a few bites, smiling. "Good job, C. I'm not choking yet." She giggled and took a sip from a glass of water already on the table.

"In love! My, that's much better than a part, for sure! With who?" Corrine asked, smiling at the compliment of her food. "No, no! Wait, let me guess. That really hot guy from the book shop? You know, the one with the thick-rimmed black glasses and the plaid button-downs that you incessantly flirt with to no avail." She wiggled her eyebrows, beginning to eat herself, nodding to herself in approval of her dinner attempt.

Emma pressed the business card against the wood of the kitchen table, pushing it across to Corrine and smiling widely. "We met at the theater."

"Oh, was he a dark and tortured soul looking for an innocent maiden to bite and mark eternally his?"

The ginger's eyebrows raised and she snorted. "Corrine, you do realize that just because we're theater people, it doesn't mean we're depressed vampires looking for victims, right? You've seriously got to stop reading those books."

"Hey, you think of yourself how you want to and I'll think of you all the way it really is." Corrine laughed, wiping at her mouth with a napkin, leaving a smear of dark red lipstick against the white material. "Seriously, though, was he up for a part? Did you have a chemistry test? Did things heat up in the dressing room?"

"You have got to stop watching television, too. No. None of that happened. He snuck into the theater dressed as a janitor, actually. He found me crying in the back. I'd stayed to wallow in self-pity after I didn't get the part. Again. I'm seriously considering giving up."

Corrine nodded, taking another bite. "Okay, so where does he fit into your quitting and a janitor? Em, that's sort of sketchy, and if I'm saying it, you know it's true."

She had a point. Corrine had a tendency to hang out with quite a crowd of people. Many of them were sketchy looking, but they weren't. They were a great group of people and Corrine was a great judge of character. Emma couldn't help but think that she was wrong about this.

"He said it was some undercover something or another. Look, it could be sketchy, or it could be destiny. He says he can help me get a part."

"And how does he suppose he is going to accomplish that? Pray tell my dear Emma."

"I don't know yet. He said for me to stop by his office tomorrow at noon and we'll discuss."

Corrine nodded, looking at Emma as she continued to eat. She watched her roommate for a moment before smirking slightly, taking a drink of water. "I know what this is about," she said, setting her glass back down.

"What's that?" Emma asked, engrossed in her dinner. She was so hungry and she hadn't even realized it.

"Your V Card is close to its expiration and you want to cash it in before it's stolen and abused or too old to be worth anything."

A gasp escaped Emma's mouth, causing her to inhale too sharply and start to choke a bit. She swallowed and coughed a few times, clearing her airways before taking a drink of water. Her watery eyes fell on Corrine and a look of shock crossed her face. Corrine began to laugh heartily, the laugh escalating to a point of silence, and she just sat there, red-faced and bouncing at the look on Emma's face.

"That is disgusting! No, that has nothing to do with this! Gah, Corrine. That's a gift; a special gift to be given to my husband on our honeymoon…or maybe even later." Emma glared at her roommate, all appetite gone. She stood and took her plate, grabbing Corrine's as well and heading towards the sink, washing off the dishes before filling one side of the sink with hot, soapy water. She placed the dishes within and grabbed the sponge to wash down the counters.

"Disgusting? Sure. Desirable? Definitely. Come on, Emma. Admit it. You say you're in love? That means you thought about the guy in a compromising situation."

"Figure of speech. Ever heard of it? I'm not in love with him; I barely know the guy. He was nice and he was sweet and he has these beautiful hazel eyes that are to die for and curly brown hair that is gorgeous, sure. But unlike you, I know how to keep my thoughts in check, and I did not think about that, no."

Corrine nodded, watching as Emma fell silent. The tiny girl moved about the kitchen, finishing the counters, then moving on to wash the dishes, setting them in the rack to dry. A good fifteen minutes of silence passed before Corrine smirked, hearing Emma sigh quietly.

"You're thinking about him in compromising situations now, aren't you?"

Emma threw the sponge down and her head fell as she came to lean against the counter. "Yes, dammit! I don't understand how you do that!"

Corrine just stood up from the table, laughing, and went to her room to leave Emma alone with her thoughts.

-x-x-x-

Later that night, Corrine awoke to a light shining under her bedroom door. A glance at the alarm clock on the nightstand told her that it was three-thirty in the morning. She ran a hand over her face, taking a deep breath through her nose before heaving herself out of bed, walking over and yanking her door open. She padded quietly to the living room and found Emma crouched in the corner of the couch. Her knees were pulled up to her chest and her chin was resting on her knees. Her arms wrapped around either side of her legs, her hands coming to rest on the keyboard of her laptop. The index finger of her right hand was tapping the down arrow key repeatedly, her head shaking as she muttered under her breath.

"Em?"

Emma's eyes darted towards Corrine and she let out an exasperated breath, sitting up and slamming her laptop shut. "Nothing!"

"Wh…what?" Corrine asked, squinting her eyes and shaking her head, thoroughly confused in her hardly awake state.

"There's nothing! Hardly a thing about Summer Rain Talents or Will Schuester. I've searched through everything that I could, using a thousand different combinations of search terms and still there is nothing! How does someone that cute have nothing about them on the internet? How does someone like that stay under wraps and not have at least one shirtless photo on Google? I just don't understand it! How do I know that tomorrow isn't going to be the sketchiest meeting of my life? What if he's a murderer? What if he's got a foot fetish? What if he tries to confiscate my gift? OH MY GOD, WHAT IF HE'S A STAR WARS JUNKY? I CAN'T HANDLE THAT, CORRINE! I CAN'T! I DON'T KNOW HOW TO SPEAK WOOKIE!" Emma's voice rose to considerable volume, running a hand through her hair before throwing her hands up in defeat, swallowing hard. It was clear that she was extremely tired. This tended to happen when she was over-exhausted. She'd start thinking of some of the weirdest things and before you knew it she was freaking out about…well usually she was freaking out about something Star Wars related, which Corrine still could not comprehend.

Corrine shook her head, trying to hold back a laugh at Emma's hysterics. "Seriously, Emma? You think this guy could be sketchy and your biggest worry is that he's a Star Wars nerd? We need to discuss your priorities in the morning…"

"We can't! I've got my meeting with Luke Thighwalker or whatever the hell that one guy's name is. The one whose father has the cape." Emma said, looking at Corrine.

"Okay, then afterward. Make sure your hair is in ear-buns tomorrow. But for now, bed. You've got a meeting in seven hours. So up." She tugged Emma up by the wrists, pulling her to her own room and pushing her inside. "Goodnight, Emma." She closed the door and walked over to the laptop, grabbing it and shutting off all of the lights before heading to her own bedroom, closing the door and stashing Emma's laptop under her bed.

Will was laughing so hard, there were tears in his eyes. It was a silent laugh, one accompanied by a red face and a hand clasped over his mouth. He avoided looking Emma's way, knowing that a funny look would earn him a pretty little red mark on his face to match her red nail polish, as well as the blush on Emma's cheeks.

"Okay, Corrine. I would like to point out that you were planning on showing ways in which I love the miscreant sitting next to me. That story did no such thing."

"Hey, the miscreant can hear!" Will said, looking over at Emma, offense written on his face.

"Aw, you realize that you are a miscreant. I'm proud of you, Will. Admitting to the truth is the first step." Emma said, clapping her hands in mock astonishment.

"Thanks, Ricki Lake. Maybe you should take your own advice." Will's eyes narrowed at Emma as a smirk graced his lips.

"Which bit of advice? The bit in the back of my brain saying not to have gone to meet you, or the advice telling me to punch you in the nose right now."

"The bit of advice to admit the truth. I love you, Will. Four little words, twelve small letters, and one happy little piece of honesty."

"I would rather shave my head than admit that I love you." Emma said, gritting her teeth.

"So you do love me, you just won't admit it."

"I'd love to punch you. Can I admit that?"

"Okay, stop." Corrine smacked a hand on the table, a small smile on her face. "Emma, to answer you, yes, I am planning on explaining the ways in which I have seen you show your love for Will. However, everybody has to start somewhere, and that just happens to be your beginning. I felt it pertinent to get Will into the loop and," she turned to Will, raising an eyebrow, "just to be clear, you don't speak Wookie, do you?"

Will snorted. "Sure don't. I'm also not Luke Skywalker." He shook his head before muttering, "Thighwalker. You're dirty, Red."

Emma clenched her fists and glared at Corrine. She didn't want this. She didn't want to admit that she broke her condition before it was even set in stone. She didn't want to be in the open about her feelings. She wanted to move back to Ohio and go to OSU; she was tired of being unsuccessful in everything she did.

Corrine laughed at Emma, "Down, girl. See? He speaks English. That's one point for Will, right?"

"Whatever." Emma said, rolling her eyes, causing Will to laugh a bit. "Can you at least tell me how long this torture is going to go on?"

"However long it takes. I have a total of four more incidents that I'm going to bore you youngsters with. You coming back from your Starbucks meeting. You after your Once Upon a Mattress audition. You on Valentine's Day – oh yes, I'm going there." Corrine held a finger up to silence Emma as she began to protest. "And finally, you after Will told you that you're not good enough. After that, you may do one of two things, as I said. Admit that you love him, or walk away."

"Valentine's Day?" Will asked, raising an eyebrow and glancing between them.

"In due time, young Skywalker. We'll get there, but first, we must tackle others. Shall we proceed?"

Both Emma and Will nodded, causing Corrine to smile widely. "Exhibit dos –"

"Er..sorry, dos?" Will asked, raising an eyebrow. "Shouldn't it be Exhibit B?"

Emma shook her head. "No, she always changes it up. Just shut up and let her continue. My legs are ready to walk away." Will nodded.

"Right, sorry. Continue."

Corrine cleared her throat. "Exhibit dos. Emma returns from a Starbucks date with destiny."


DISCLAIMER: Still don't own Glee, Emma or Will. Corrine Amelia Hampton IS my own character, though!