Will's POV

The past couple of weeks had been manic for me. On top of work and Glee club I had begun moving out of my apartment, glad to finally close the door on my past, the memories of a failed marriage and a fake pregnancy locked firmly behind. I had settled on renting a smallish bungalow a little further out of town, the thatched cottage style appealing to me with its wooden beams and unique fireplace. Now that Glee club had won Nationals, parents were keen on acting as a booster club for them, donating money and equipment raised through fundraisers. Figgins had also taken an interest, a nice sum of money finding its way into my pay packet, granting me enough cash to put a deposit down on the bungalow. I had spent the previous weekend organising my bedroom, painting the walls in a duck-egg blue colour and assembling the Queen Size bed together, frustrating myself constantly as I struggled with the wooden pieces, finding myself often cursing as they refused to go together. That afternoon however wiped away all my frustration as I received a call from Emma. After bidding each other farewell in New York, contact hadn't seized. Calls had gotten longer and longer and I often found myself exchanging emails with her on a day to day basis. She had rang to tell me she would be in town the following weekend visiting her grandma in the nursing home a few blocks down from me, asking if she was ok to stop by for a visit, wanting to see my new place. Immediately I said yes; excited at the mere prospect of just seeing her again. Despite heavy hours at work, I spent my nights cleaning the surfaces, the carpets and re-arranging the living room furniture, keen to make a good impression. I had yet to re-do the guest bedroom, only a single bed lay to bay of the window so I opted in my mind to take that when she visited, both of us agreeing that there was no logic in her spending extra money on a hotel that she didn't trust to have been cleaned properly.

Saturday afternoon arrived and I had been placing the three hanging canvas above the fireplace when I heard my phone go off. Double checking the paintings of the beach were all correctly positioned, I scrolled through my phone, double clicking on my unread message.

'Hey, think I'm outside? Fancy coming out and checking?'

Given the weather, I grabbed my jacket that I had haphazardly slung over the couch and headed outside, my smile shining brightly as I saw her black Golf parked a little further up the road. Getting out, she flashed me that beautiful smile as I embraced her, wondering how I had got by without this feeling. Showing her around, placing her carrier to the side of my bedroom I took her for a tour, pointing out my ideas for aspects that weren't quite complete yet. Lastly, I led her to the garden, watching her face fall as she saw it. The garden had to be the buying point for me. It was deceptively long in comparison to the bungalow, raised flower beds on stone ledges added vibrancy and colour to the dullish tones of the grass and earth. A small wooden deck sat at the bottom, two sun loungers and a small wooden table sat on top of it.

'Will it's lovely!' Although I hadn't expressed it to her yet, I picked this place out with her in mind. Every time I wandered through different bungalows, apartments, brochures in hand I found myself pondering whether or not Emma would like this, would it be too hard to clean, would she like the layout? I found it hard not to consider her opinion, I hoped, dreamed that one day she and James would want to share this place with me, James running around in the garden, Emma and I falling asleep together on the couch after a long day.

'So how was your grandma?' I enquired, ushering her to take a seat on the couch, green tea in hand.

'Not too bad today. At least she recognised me, most of the time she confuses me with my mum and I don't have the heart to tell her that I'm her granddaughter. I just hate what the Alzheimer's is doing to her.' I stroked her hand, a sense of accomplishment sweeping over me as she didn't jerk her hand away upon the sudden contact.

'How's James?'

'He's well. He's staying with my parents tonight; they were overjoyed when I rang up to ask them.'

'I bet, hey your shivering, do you want me to get you a jumper?'

'I didn't really come packed with anything fleecy, the woman reading the news said to expect sun so I don't have anything thicker than this cardigan'.

'Here, take this, I'll be back in a sec'. I passed her my tea as I went to the bedroom, searching in cupboards and draws until I found it.

'Here you go, don't worry I did a wash yesterday so it's clean'. I passed her my grey WHMS jumper, watching as she placed the top over her head, watching as the material engulfed her.

'Better?'

'Much. Thank you.'

'Do you fancy doing something, watch a film maybe?'

'Have you got any games? I don't think my eyes could focus on the screen for too long.'

I came out of the room, Scrabble board in hand. We both set up, both of us reaching into the bag at the same time, causing an awkward moment to arise as our hands found themselves connected with one another. The feeling of her hand so close to mine sent goose bumps travelling down my arm as my cheeks slightly flushed.

An hour later, we shared laughs and jokes as she tidied the game away, Emma having well and truly thrashed me. I watched as she stacked all the same letters together before placing them in the bag.

'Old habits I guess'.

'You are adorable'. I saw her smile, faintly blushing as she continued to stack the letters away,

'Even if I'm better at Scrabble than you?' The cheeky glint in her eye prompted her to laugh and before even thinking I began tickling her, watching as her nose scrunched up with laughter,

'You were lucky that's all'. I chuckled, watching as she squirmed with laughter under me, her hair falling across her face as I moved my hand from her side to swoop the hair from her face, the laughing seizing to a halt. In the rush of it all I had somehow ended up straddling her, her tiny frame lying below me as her eyes found mine. I thought about my next move, worried in case she jumped to the wrong conclusion. Slowly, her eyes closing, I lowered my lips onto hers, brushing her bottom lip ever so slightly, waiting for a sign of hesitation before continuing. Kissing her fully now, the familiar taste of spearmint and strawberry lip gloss acting as a comfort as I dared to deepen the kiss, slightly confused as her hand pushed on my chest causing me to stop, watching as she promptly sat up, smoothing out invisible creases in her skirt.

'I'm sorry, I can't'.

'No, no, I just thought, thought you were ok with it, you didn't- I'm sorry'.

'It's not that, I was ok, that's the thing.' I was confused as she ran her fingers along the hem of her skirt. 'I want to Will, I-'

'Emma, I wasn't, I didn't expect', my words came out as mere stutters as I tried to give her a coherent answer, frustrating myself as my words escaped me.

'You didn't expect us to have sex?' Shocked by her admission, I found myself leaning back on the couch, knees drawn to my chest as I looked at her dumbfounded, realising that in the two years apart, Emma had done more than become a mum, she had grown as a person, her fear overcoming all sorts of obstacles, even areas of conversation deemed once, too embarrassing to discuss.

'Erm no, I just'

'It feels so good to finally be close to you again Will' her accent become stronger as she nervously ran her fingers round the chain of her necklace, 'I just need to wait; for James' sake'.

'James'?'

'Yeah'

I listened attentively as she talked, the guilt eating away at my insides as I watched her eyes bore a sadness only a mother's could. I could see how much her heart ached; struggling to find a solution that would sit well for us all. I knew through my own selfish demeanour I hadn't stopped to consider what this must be like for her, for James and I wanted desperately to apologise to her for rushing, for not thinking fully before letting my emotions speak before my words.

'I just want to make this easier for James. It's always been the two of us and its going to take a while for him to get to know you, to trust you. I just think we need to take things slowly, work this out together.' I nodded, appreciating her honesty, ashamed a little at myself for being so selfish.

She shifted slightly, the large grey jumper sliding a little down her shoulder. She looked small and vulnerable in the cloud of grey. Edging closer, I ran my hands through her hair, trying my best to sooth her. At first I felt her body tense around me, eventually her head settling in the crook of my neck, her muscles relaxing to some extent.

'What do you propose we do then?' Her eyes searched mine for the answers, pleading almost to fix this. Truth be told, I was struggling to comprehend how we could make this work. Weekdays were impossible to work around with long hours and depending children. Weekends would be a struggle also, both of us lacking the funds to make the continual journeys back and forth. I was distracted from my thoughts by the sound of a text message coming through, Emma reaching into her bag to pull out her cell.

'Darling doesn't he look adorable?'

I saw her smile light up as she focussed on the image on her screen; James fast asleep, his hands curled up in little balls as his hair flopped a little over his face.

'We do that'. Realising my thoughts became vocal; I began to explain myself further,

'Pictures. You said James needs time to adjust right? Well me showing up straight away might scare him slightly. Maybe, I dunno, you could show him pictures of me OR we could Skype, keep in touch via the internet. That way James will be able to see my face, hear my voice, adapt to me this way and if and when you decide it's time for us to meet one another, at least I'm not some random stranger he's never met before.' I was excited with my plan. In all honestly, I was nervous about meeting James; knowing how important he was to Emma, I didn't want to screw this up. I loved Emma and I knew that overtime, by getting to know James, I'd love him too. What I feared was if he didn't feel the same way. What if he decided he didn't like me? Want me out of the picture?

'Hey, were you listening? You looked like you were in your own little world for a moment. You okay?'

'Oh sorry, what were you saying?' She chuckled slightly,

'I said that I thought it was a great idea, and then you seem to drift off, you wanna talk about it?'

'I guess I'm worried he won't like me.' Immediately I regretted speaking, wishing I had kept my thought to myself judging by the expression rising to her face, a slight hint of disappointment in her eyes.

'Will'.

'I know, I know, I'm being irrational. I just. I know I'm going to fall in love with him Em and I'm scared that he won't take to me, maybe even hate me. I guess I can't take having my heart broken again, losing you again.'

'Oh Will'. She cupped my cheek as my eyes began to sting with tears. I hated her seeing me this weak; this torn up inside. 'Will, look at me, all I'm saying is that we need to give it time for him to adjust having you in our lives. I have no doubt that James isn't going to love you. You are amazing role model to the kids at McKinley Will, I mean look at the way Finn used to turn to you whenever he was hurt or upset. He loved you Will, hell he probably still does.'

'I know but Finn was a teenager, it's easier when there his age. James is only 2; he's so young, still learning.'

'You think it's easier for a teenager to take to an adult than a 2 year old? Will it's so hard for teenagers to find someone to trust, even harder when their your teacher. All James will need is time to get to know you, that's all. It's not going to be easy, most things in life aren't but Will, James is going to love you.' She squeezed my hand, reassuring me of her words.

'I'm sorry Em; I'm just a little scared.'

'I know, but that's a good thing Will. Fear pushes us beyond our boundaries, helps us make decisions we will either love or grow to regret. Do you know how scared I was to follow Rachel and Finn into that auditorium in New York, knowing that you'd be there? I was terrified. Turns out, I made one of the best decisions in my life.' I saw her sweetly smile at me, kissing me chastely on the forehead, her breath warm to my skin. 'There's no need to be scared Will, I promise.' I looked her straight in the eye, finding everything I needed, confirmation, support, love.

'Thank you'.

'For what?'

'For being you.'


Sorry this is only short but there will be more action in the next chapter I promise! (The rating may also be altered slightly!)

Thanks again for all the kind reviews!