I really am feeling good about this story... this is the first time I have gotten anywhere with a fanfic lol so thanks for the continued support from the reviews, and the people who have added this story to their alerts! I made this chapter a little longer, so
stuff could actually happen, and I tried in cooperating some other characters, so sorry if they aren't always in character but I think i did fine. enjoy :)
~Cheena
Chapter 4: Flushed Feelings
Today was make it or break it. Before any of them knew it, Regionals was here. Now, if they didn't place this time around, Glee would be done for good. They wanted to score a little higher though, like actually winning. More than anything, they wanted to get to Nationals. Will had also shared the same passion, if not more as the kids. He remembered back to his glory days, when he and the rest of the McKinley Glee Club took Nationals in 1993. Oh, everything was so perfect then. Now, besides trying to get somewhere with regionals, he wanted to get somewhere with Emma. He knew his boundaries though, and crossing them would be really, really bad. For now, he could only hope to get their friendship back in order, at the least. If it were to go any further, that would have to be up to Emma. Chances of that were slim, but he couldn't let go of that hope. If not today, maybe someday he would have her back.
"Yo, Mr. Schue! What are we waiting for?"
Breaking from his train of thought, he turned to Puck who obviously was tired of waiting, and ready to go. He couldn't blame him though, because most likely the rest of the Glee clubbers were anxious to get on the road, and so was he.
"Sorry guys, we have to wait for our other chaperone, I'm sure it won't be long-" The sound of car motor crept up behind him. An older, blue car pulled into a parking space relatively close to the bus that they would be boarding. The ignition went off, and a red haired guidance counselor stepped out of vehicle, softly closing the door behind her.
"Hey Mrs.P!" and "Mrs. Pillsbury!" erupted from the crowd of glee kids. They knew how much fond she was of the club, and it was kind of obvious that their instructor was fond of her, so they welcomed Emma with open arms. She grinned widely, waving her hand franticly at the bunch. She had on a ruffled blouse with a bright yellow unbuttoned sweater, and a white pencil skirt. Most noticeable, where her yellow heels, which Will had shined for her, months ago, and they hadn't looked any different. Her stared at out her heavily, before making his way over to her.
"Emma, you look- great."
"Thanks, you too Will." He looked down at his attire, it was the same as usual; a dress shirt, covered by a vest and kakis. This time though, he was wearing a periwinkle tie, her favorite color.
After greeting her kindly, he beckoned her to follow him towards the rest of the Glee club. They stopped in front of the kids, as Will grabbed their attention.
"Well, you have probably figured out it by now, but-" Will slowly raised his arm, placing on Emma's shoulders, who was trying hard to not lean in too close. "Mrs. Pillsbury… Howell, is going to accompany us as a chaperone for regionals. I expect you guys not be a problem, but you know Figgins-" Oh, did he hate her knew last name...
"Damn, Mr Schue… you really are whipped."
Emma's eyes widened, as she got really tense. Will quickly remove his arm from his shoulders and took a step to the side.
"Noah!" Rachel extended her arm, back slapping Puck on the arm, who sucked his teeth.
"Well, it's true."
"Right, um, mind if I, you know, continue?" Will interrupted, not wanting the conversation to continue. In his mind, he was thinking, 'this isn't going too well…' He glanced over at Emma, who was looking at the ground, probably embarrassed as he was. Puck nodded sarcastically, backing into the group, not saying anything else.
Will made his way over to the doors of the bus, and asked the bus driver to open them. This time around, they had a nice, coach bus that was given as thanks from the local hospital that Will sang at each month. The kids were ecstatic about it, and Emma would always be happy knowing it was cleaner than those school's buses.
"Anyway, like I was saying, don't screw up. It's a two hour bus ride, and I know how anxious you all can get." He heard laughter from the group, glad to hear that for once, they were all on good terms during competition time. "Now get on the bus! We have regionals to win!" He sounded more confident than ever before and it rubbed off on the group for sure. Quickly, they all began to crowd in front of the door, walking on the bus one at a time. Emma followed behind them, patiently, waiting for her turn. As she was about to take her first step on the bus, Will reached his hand blocking her way.
"Look, Em… I'm really glad you could make it."
She looked up at Will, smiling shyly and nodded. Feeling gentleman like, he leaned over, placing one hand on his stomach, and the other in the direction of the bus, granting Emma access. Quickly, she tiptoed her way up the small staircase, looking for a seat behind the kids. Will followed behind her, releasing a sigh before sitting in the aisle across from her. He sat uncomfortably as he watched her start to wipe the handle on the back of the seat in front of her.
"Sorry, I know this isn't much of a stretch from public transportation, Emma." Will said, trying to spark a conversation between the two.
Quickly, she stopped what she was doing slowly moving her hand away from the bar. Her OCD was getting better, but it still took over at times. "Um, no.. no, it's uh- I can handle it."
Will pressed his head back, letting out a laugh at her sudden need to control her habit. He thought it was cute, but he wasn't going to say that out loud. "I didn't mean it like that. Go ahead; keep cleaning it if that's what makes you comfortable."
Emma scratched the back of her neck, pondering for a moment. 'That was pretty nice of him to care about..' Around him, she didn't have to feel embarrassed about her problem. Gladly, she continued to sanitize the handle, just in case she had to touch it later on.
For most of the bus ride, they hadn't really said anything to each other, besides half conversation about McKinley, and the students, and the teachers. The bus had come to a halt, in the parking lot in one of those rest stops. Emma hated public restrooms, so she stayed put, as well as Will. One by one, the kids and the bus driver exited the bus to use the bathrooms or get a snack. There was silence for the first time on the whole bus ride. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Will lean over his arm rest towards her.
"You know, Em- I was wondering, how he… took it, like you coming to regionals with us- with me?" Feeling a quiver on his lips, he backed away, into his seat. He kept his eye on Emma, who was silent. "That is, if you don't mind me asking of course."
Emma cleared her throat, before saying anything. She began to rock back and forth, nodding her head. "He um…" In her mind, she started to replay the conversation between her and Carl…
'So, is that how you honestly feel Emma?'
'Um... that's exactly how I feel, and you of all people, I would have hoped you'd understand, Carl.'
'I understand… it's Schuester, isn't it?'
'No! How could you say something like that? I know we have had our history but…'
'You know what? Say no more… I trust you Emma, and if that means letting you go, then fine. But if find out anything about him trying to pull you away from me, then…'
"Emma?" Will interjected her thoughts. She jumped slightly, and turned to face him.
"Oh, Carl? He… may have been a little resistant at first, but he is just fine with it now, yeah, just fine!"
Will rolled his eyes at what he just heard. Did a guy like him seriously have no problem with Emma doing something like this? Carl wasn't that understanding, as much as Emma would never admit it. "That's good to hear, Em."
"Yeah..." She said quietly, sinking into her seat, in shame. She had no reason to lie… well maybe she did, but she couldn't be okay with that. Will had to know that she and Carl were in a healthy relationship and that it was going to stay that way, but at this point, something was holding her back. Was it uncertainty? Was it Will? 'Oh gosh, don't think that!' Before her thoughts got anymore deeper, she got distracted by a bunch of noisy teens making their way back to their seats.
Finn stood on his knees, leaning over the back of his chair, "How much longer Mr. Schue?"
Will, poked his head up and answered, checking his watch. "Only about 20 minutes left guys."
Emma placed a hand on her chest out of relief. Nothing else could possibly get awkward on the bus ride, since it was near its end. Finn thanked Will as the bus started to go into motion. Carefully, he turned around into his seat. In doing so, he saw Puck whispering something to Brittany and Santana who were sitting behind him. Confused, he slid into his seat, next to Rachel who gripped his arm, in joy.
After about 15 minutes, Will grabbed a hold to the head rest in front of him, and stood. "Hey, Emma, I'll be right back. Gonna go give the kids a little 'pep talk' before the anxiety kicks in." With that, he smiled and did the jazz hands in the air as a joke. Emma laughed quietly, loving his sense of humor. She watched him as he made his way up the aisles, crouching down in the center, grabbing everyone's attention. He was so good with the kids, and they respected him. That was something she always admired, hoping one day she could break out of her shell. A couple minutes passed, and Emma was still focusing on the curly haired teacher. He slowly got up, sounding really confident, as well as the kids. That made her happy, to see such joy. Will began to walk backwards towards his seat, when suddenly one of the kids called out something frantic.
"Stop the bus!"
The driver slammed the brakes immediately, causing the vehicle to go to an abrupt stop. The kids all jerked in their seats, and Will lost his balance. In an instance, Emma saw him flying back and she grasped the handle bars tightly, shutting her eyes, to brace herself. Within a second, she felt a strong impact hit her, causing her to open her eyes. Still glued to the seat, she was forced back into the cloth, by Will he fell into her lap, completely oblivious to where he had ended up.
"Will!" She screamed, biting her lip. Slowly, he bent his head, brushing his curly hair against her chin. Rolling his eyes back, he saw Emma's face up close, and immediately jumped up, falling back onto the floor. Trying to get control of himself finally, he reached out, placing his hand on top of Emma's, which was firm on the arm rest.
"I am so sorry Emma! Are you alright?" He asked frantically, feeling bad about what just happened.
"I- um… oh gosh." Emma began to breathe heavily, looking at Will's hand on top of hers. Will slowly looked up at her, locking onto her eyes. She noticed him looking at her, and followed his eyes. For a few seconds, which felt like hours, they were in a gaze. Emma's face began to get red, as well as Will's. Quickly, she slid her hand from underneath his, shutting her eyes tightly. On the contrast, Will, still in the moment, slowly brought his hand back, where then loosened his collar and stood up.
"That was uh…"
"Mhm, don't say anything else Will." Emma looked up at him, still flushed slightly.
"You guys alright back there?" One of the Glee clubbers called out, but Will and Emma were to pre occupied to even know who asked. Will took a deep breath, and turned to them, nodding his head. At that moment, he realized why the bus had stopped in the first place.
"I- I'm fine. But, why'd you need to stop the bus, what happened?"
In the front, Brittany cautiously raised her hand, and looked back, with a dumb expression on her face.
"Well, Santana said I was pretty quiet today, and I must have left my voice at home… and I thought we would need to turn around it get… so I could sing and we would have a chance at winning…"
Everyone turned to look at her, totally lost. Will slapped himself in the forehead, keeping his cool. "Um… don't worry about it, we'll- we'll be fine Brittany." Reluctantly, he forced a smile, before taking a seat and taking a breath. He heard commotion in the front of the bus, but chose to ignore it, due to other things on his mind. What had just happened? He felt some type of way, looking into her eyes like that. Thing was, she was looking at him the same way. Did she have the same feeling too? Will turned his head, to find Emma fixing her attire that must have gotten messed up when he fell into her. He looked at her and couldn't help but smile. For a second, he thought he saw Emma smiling too.
"I see it! We're here!" Rachel called out, jumping out of her seat, waving frantically. A sudden eruption took place amongst the teens, which eventually reached the two chaperones in the back, who stood up simultaneously, feeling the same way.
End of Chapter 4: I had fun with that, hope you guys enjoyed it. Don't forget to review, especially if you think I could be doing better, cause that would be very helpful. Expect the next chapter in maybe two or three days, I'm on the roll!
Next chapter: The kids are gonna perform at regionals, and Will and Emma have a bit of a conversation ^^
