Chapter 12- Count on Me
Author's Note- Hey guys! Chapter 12 is here! And on time ;)
It was around six-thirty at night on Sunday night and Will was going over his social studies notes. Yesterday, he had fallen asleep on Emma for about an hour and when he woke up, she was still there. They played Mario Kart for a few hours to get his mind off the dyslexia news and they made ice cream sundaes in the kitchen. It had ended up being a pretty good day instead of a horrible one. Sure, he was still mad about the dyslexia issue but Emma had been able to cheer him up for a bit. After Emma left, Will had a long talk with Jewell about being diagnosed. Today had been a bit of a lazy day and Will had just studied some homework, texted Emma a bit, and watched reruns of How I Met Your Mother.
Jewell had fallen asleep about thirty minutes ago on the sofa while watching the news, so it was relatively quiet in the house other than the turning of pages and the tapping of Will's pencil. Will's phone buzzed and he scooped it out of his pocket, eager for the distraction. He smiled when he saw Emma's name lighting up the screen.
6:30 PM Message from Emma Pillsbury to Cookie Monster
Hey. You busy?
6:31 PM Message from Cookie Monster to Emma Pillsbury
Just going over SS notes. You?
6:31 PM Message from Emma Pillsbury to Cookie Monster
I'm just sitting around. Do you think I could borrow you for a bit?
6:32 PM Message from Cookie Monster to Emma Pillsbury
Pretty sure. ;) Jewell's asleep so I'll leave a note. What's the plan, Em?
6:32 PM Message from Emma Pillsbury to Cookie Monster
It's a secret. Can I walk over?
6:32 PM Message from Cookie Monster to Emma Pillsbury
Secrets, secrets are no fun unless you share with everyone.
6:33 PM Message from Emma Pillsbury to Cookie Monster
I'm guessing you've never seen Pretty Little Liars.
6:33 PM Message from Cookie Monster to Emma Pillsbury
Oooh what's that? Should I be watching it?
6:34 PM Message from Emma Pillsbury to Cookie Monster
Haha no, it's a girl show, Will.
6:34 PM Message from Cookie Monster to Emma Pillsbury
Now I know what DVDs to rent if you ever get sick. ;)
6:35 PM Message from Emma Pillsbury to Cookie Monster
While that's incredibly sweet, we're getting way off topic. ;) Can I walk over now?
6:35 PM Message from Cookie Monster to Emma Pillsbury
I thought you were already on your way. ;)
6:37 PM Message from Emma Pillsbury to Cookie Monster
Well I am now. ;) See you in a bit.
Will glanced out the kitchen window; it was sunny out and looked warm for an October day. He guessed it was mid-sixties out; warm enough so he didn't need a hoodie. Will's gray Hollister tee and American Eagle khaki cargo pants would be fine. He quickly cleared the table of homework and lasagna leftovers and then headed to the front door. Will pulled on his Adidas Sambas, scribbled down a note for Jewell and left it on the coffee table (in case she woke up), and grabbed the house keys. Emma appeared at his door a few minutes later, dressed in a gray cable knit sweater, dark blue skinny jeans, and ballet flats. Will opened the door and stepped outside to meet her. "Hey Em," he greeted, locking the door behind him.
"Hi Will," Emma replied, leading him down the porch steps.
"We're walking right?" Will asked, smiling at her.
Emma nodded. "Yup, we're going to the left," she instructed. The two of them walked in silence to the end of the block, and then kept going straight. It was a comfortable silence though, one where the quietness did all the talking. They didn't need to speak to each other with words when they could look at each other with feelings. They walked another block and by then, their feet were practically in sync. Will shoved his hands into his jeans pockets and then back out and then back in. He knew where he wanted them to be, but he couldn't gather the courage to reach out and take Emma's hand. With each step, he tried to swing his arm out a bit further, hoping for accidental brushes of the skin. A few strides later, their pinkies finally brushed and Will bit his lip. Suddenly, he felt Emma's small hand slide into his. Will felt his cheeks heat up and looked at Emma. She was biting her lip and hiding a half smile beneath her rosy cheeks.
They continued on for a few more blocks, the only sounds being their shoes hitting the sidewalk and slapping the leaves of practically every tree they passed. But their hands never left each other's. Will looked up and noticed they were approaching Lima Park. "Are we going to the park?" he asked, pointing to it with his free hand.
Emma shook her head. "We're going through it."
"What does that mean?" Will raised an eyebrow.
"It means it's on our way," Emma started. "And you should really stop asking so many questions; it's not like I'm kidnapping you."
This got a laugh out of Will. "Okay, okay, fine," he relented, remembering when he guided her to Waffle World. "So, what'd you do today?"
"You already know most of it from what I told you on my phone," Emma replied, stepping around a patch of mud and leading Will around it with her hand as well.
"That's okay," Will smiled. "I like hearing it from you." Will really did though; he loved seeing Emma's eyes light up as she talked about something she loved or something she did. It was in those moments when she was all big brown eyes, wide smiles, and glowing cheeks. Will only hoped that maybe she looked something like that when she talked about him to someone. Not that he was trying to be selfish or anything; he just hoped he made her that happy. Because, more than anything, he just wanted her to be happy.
"Well," Emma started. "I studied AP Chemistry for a few hours, and then I read some…"
"Why do you like reading so much?" Will interrupted. "Sorry. I was just wondering."
Emma was surprised at his question; it was rare that Will would ask about something school related outside of a tutoring session. But then again, maybe with his disability reading had never been really fun for him, perhaps he even hated it. Will had never got the chance to escape through a book like Emma did frequently and suddenly she wished he could. It was a great thing to escape, just a moment where your troubles could disappear and everything else around you just stops spinning. "Um, well, it's hard to explain," Emma started. "It's like you start a book and you become attached. You're able to escape into this little world momentarily and nothing there can hurt you and no one can take that away from you. So, you fall in love with these characters and their stories and maybe it's because you see yourself in them, or maybe it's because they're everything you wish you could be. These words, these books; they make you feel things. And maybe that's what the greatest thing about reading is. The fact that those little black typed out letters, written by people you've never even met, carry so much emotion that you just want to stay in there forever. Does that even make sense?"
Will smiled and looked into Emma's eyes. "Yeah," he said, softly. "It really does."
"I'm sorry," Emma stammered. "I shouldn't be talking about that with all that happened yesterday."
"No, it's fine," Will assured her. "I wanted to know because, you know, I may never really be able to appreciate a book like you can."
"It's not your fault," Emma replied quickly.
Will nodded, subtly. He just realized they were nearing the end of the trail that Emma had led him through, in the trail they were surrounded by trees, shrubs, and dirt. Now, there was a vast valley of grass in front of them with a set of raised train tracks cutting through it. The tracks were about four feet off the ground but looked easy to climb, they were a bit worn but not enough so that there were loose screws. For some reason, the sight was so ordinary but it was the beautiful kind of ordinary, the kind that still took Will's breath away and made his eyes widen.
"Train tracks," Will breathed.
"They only operate at night," Emma explained. "So, I come out here to read and just…escape, but I wanted to show you them."
"Thank you," Will said quietly, walking towards the tracks. He dragged his hand along the top of the tracks; feeling every indent and crevice on the rusty track.
Emma followed behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. "Come on, Will, let's sit," she suggested.
Will climbed the beams in a few swift movements of his arms and legs. He leaned over and gave Emma a soft tug, pulling her up onto the tracks. Emma sat beside him, close enough so that their legs were touching and she could feel the heat radiating off his body. Will's hands were gripping the edge of the beam and his feet were crossed as well as swinging back and forth. He looked happy and that was honestly all that Emma wanted to see. She had already accomplished her mission before even telling him about the tracks or possibilities to make things better for his future. "It's nice out today," Emma noted.
Will nodded before turning towards Emma. "Em…do fish drink water?"
Emma looked over at Will and realizing that he was serious, she erupted into a fit of giggles. "What do you mean 'do fish drink water'?"
Will's brow furrowed. "I'm serious." Emma bit her lip to keep from laughing again. "Like they live underwater but it's really confusing, because if they drank that water then it would be like drinking your home."
"And?" Emma urged, her cheeks hurting from laughing.
"I think all living things need water to survive," Will continued. "But's it's like if they drank that water, it would be bad, because there's like poop and pee in there. Also, they might choke because they're surrounded by it. Imagine if they opened their mouths and water just flooded them. It might go down the wrong pipe! Or even worse, it might fill up their whole body so it would blow them up like the fish with spikeys in Finding Nemo."
Emma rocked back and forth for a few more minutes, giggles and snorts leaving her mouth. "How did you even come up with that?" she cried, a big grin on her face.
Will shrugged, smiling. "Just thought of it."
"First off, that fish from Finding Nemo is called a blowfish and he doesn't get that way from inhaling too much water. It happens when they're aggravated, I think. I don't know. But anyways, fish drinking their home? Will Schuester, you have a creative mind."
"Thanks but really, do they?" he wondered, scratching the bridge of his nose.
Emma smiled at Will, genuinely. "I honestly don't know. That is a really confusing question but you seem to have a good theory."
"Yes!" Will pumped his fist in the air. "I found a question that even the all-knowing Emma Pillsbury doesn't know the answer to."
Emma blushed. "It was like an impossible question, Will. Fish are the only ones who know the answer, if that. They probably swim around and choke on their water, how are we supposed to know?"
Will laughed. "The new greatest mystery of all time," he announced.
"Definitely," Emma agreed, beaming. She loved how they could go from being completely open about their thoughts and having deep conversations to talking and giggling about the silliest things, without it being weird at all. It was simple and right now, that was exactly what the two of them needed.
"So," Will started, the smile on his face as wide as that of a five-year-old.
"So," Emma mocked, teasingly.
"I've done some thinking," Will continued.
Emma poked his thigh. "You? Thinking?"
Will smiled, rolling his hazel eyes. "Remember our deal?"
"Of course," Emma exclaimed. "If you sing for me, I get to go to one of your football games."
"Right," he nodded. "I've been practicing a lot and I was thinking that maybe you'd like to hear me."
"Maybe you'd like to hear me?" Emma repeated incredulously. "Of course, I'd love to hear you, Will!"
Will smiled, bashfully. "Okay, just checking. I think I can sing it tomorrow after we're done tutoring at my house," he suggested.
"Tomorrow sounds lovely," Emma replied, nudging his shoulder.
He blushed, watching Emma out of the corner of his eye until a side of his mouth curled up into a smile. "I'll have my guitar ready," Will announced.
"I get the double whammy? Guitar and singing? I can't wait," Emma beamed.
Will laughed. "Don't get too excited, I'm not that good."
"You say that about everything," Emma started. "But you're so much better at all those things than you'll ever believe."
Will nodded, his heart soaring as it did whenever Emma complimented him. "Thank you," the boy whispered, looking at the ground below.
"That's kind of why I brought you here today," Emma explained. "To explore your options, I guess."
"What kinds of options?" Will arched his left eyebrow.
Emma pulled a loose strand of hair behind her ear, one that Will had been aching to push back since they sat down. "Ones for your future," she told him.
"I really don't want to talk about my future or if I even have one right now," Will sighed, scratching that same phantom itch on the bridge of his nose.
"Don't be like that, Will," Emma said. "You do have a future and it's beyond just Lima. You're going places."
"If you say so," Will shrugged.
"This is why I brought you here to show you these train tracks," Emma announced, gesturing to the tracks they were sitting on.
"I'm not following…"
"These train tracks are in the middle of nowhere, right?" Emma started. "But they go places all over the state of Ohio. They started small; it was just for getting around Lima and its surrounding cities but then new tracks kept getting attached and they went further and further out. They go in all directions and make it to all kinds of different places." Will glanced around, noticing that indeed four more branches of tracks were attached. "They made it, Will. These tracks started small, in the middle of nowhere, and they went places. Just like you will someday. You can't change where you come from, Will, but that's okay. Because it's not where you come from, it's where you go from there."
Will looked around at the different branches and wondered how far in each direction they all traveled. Then he wondered if Emma was right. If he would ever make it someday, if he truly was going places, just like the train tracks. And, looking around, for the first time, he truly believed that he would make it one day. After a few minutes, he turned back to Emma, a small smile on his face. "Thank you, Emma," he said quietly.
Emma reached out and took his hand in hers. For a while, the two of them just sat like that in complete silence. Their hands intertwined, wind rustling behind them, Will's legs swinging and Emma's still, and in that moment it was okay. For those minutes, Will forgot about paying the bills, taking care of Jewell, his dad in danger, Miles and his mom leaving him, and even his newly diagnosed dyslexia. He could only think of the girl sitting beside him and that was okay.
Monday's school day seemed to drag on slowly for both Will and Emma unfortunately. Emma was dying to hear Will sing but the classes seem to go on forever. It's like the clock was set twenty minutes behind usual time. Not even AP Chemistry was fun for her, which was extremely rare. She couldn't stop thinking about Will, which was normal, but today it was becoming exceedingly hard to focus with thoughts of Will's lovely voice singing later on. Not just singing, but singing to her! Emma felt like the luckiest girl in the world and couldn't help but wonder if she ever made Will feel this special. So when the final bell rang and her AP English class began filing out the door, Emma practically ran to her locker.
Will was putting the last of his textbooks in his backpack when Emma tapped his shoulder. "Hey you," Will grinned, dropping his Physics book into his backpack.
"Hi Will," Emma replied, following him as he shut his locker and began walking towards the door. "How was your day?"
Will hooked his thumbs into his backpack straps and stepped outside, right behind Emma. "I have got a lot to tell you," Will replied. "About my day, that is."
Emma nodded, promptly. "Once we get into the car, I want to hear all about it." The outside of McKinley was very noisy as soon as school let out with sports teams taking the field, couples making out, boys arguing and whatnot. About a minute later, they reached Emma's Honda in the lot and she unlocked it. Will piled into the passenger seat and Emma slid into the driver's seat. She started the car and began maneuvering it out of the parking lot.
"Okay," Will started. "I had my first "special" class today. You know, academic assistance and stuff."
Emma nodded. "The one we talked about on Saturday morning?"
"That's the one," Will agreed. "Ms. Drew was my teacher. There were three teachers and six kids in my class. So, like two students to a teacher."
"How were the other kids?" Emma asked, turning onto Will's block.
"They were…normal. I mean, they weren't like with Down syndrome or anything extreme. Most of them had a learning disability like ADD, dyslexia, or this other one called dysgraphia. They were all really nice to me," Will explained.
Emma smiled. "See? It's not that bad, Will."
"Ms. Drew worked with me on reading. She gave me this packet and it's like a story but it's shorter and easier than books for our age. But I had to read the words on each page four times, luckily, there's just a few sentences on each page," Will continued, smiling a bit.
"Was it a picture book?" Emma wondered.
"Um…sort of," Will replied, blushing a bit.
"Hey, don't be embarrassed," Emma told him. "You're reading stuff that's perfect for your level and that's how you get better. I'm proud of you."
Will's smile returned. "It was actually kind of fun though. We got to sit on bean bags and all the teachers there were really calm and quieter than other teachers. Plus, there were snacks."
"It seems perfect for you," Emma laughed, pulling into his driveway.
"I really liked it, Em," Will replied, as she cut the engine.
Emma made eye contact with him above the cup holders and smiled. "I'm glad," she told him, honestly.
After getting out of the car and into the house, the two of them said hi to Jewell who greeted them with a plate of chocolate chip cookies to take to Will's room. As always, Jewell was super kind to Emma and Emma noticed that she was beginning to treat her like family. Not that Emma minded of course.
Once they were in his room they started going over his English homework. For the first time, Emma was the one wanting the homework to be over with instead of Will. Luckily, as she filed through his backpack, she noticed he barely had any. With the work he had to get done, she figured they should be done in about an hour which was extremely fast for them.
"Okay, we're done!" Emma declared, about an hour later. She tucked his English paper into his backpack and Will put the pencils back on his desk.
"So…" Will grinned. "I guess it's time."
"It's finally time," Emma beamed.
Will pushed aside his backpack and sat up on his knees. "Um. Should I sing now? Because we can do this later if you want."
"No," Emma laughed. "Come on, you said you would."
"No, no, I'm not backing out. I just wanted to make sure you still wanted to hear it," Will assured her.
"Of course I still want to hear it!" Emma exclaimed, loudly. Will raised an eyebrow, teasingly. "I mean, of course I still want to hear it," she repeated, quietly.
Will grinned. "I left my guitar in the den. I'll be right back." With that, he dashed out of the room in typical Will fashion and went to grab it. Less than a minute later, Will returned, equipped with a guitar in his hand. He plopped down on the bed beside Emma and smiled shyly. "Just let me tune the strings real quick."
"Go ahead," Emma gestured.
Will tuned his strings, humming softly to himself. When he was done, he looked up at Emma, biting his lip. "I'm ready, Em."
Emma beamed, gesturing for him to start. She was so glad to see the part of Will that he had kept hidden for so long. Even though, she hadn't heard him sing before Emma had a feeling that he would be really good. Will started strumming his guitar and had a cute look of intense concentration passing over his face.
Oh uh-huh
If you ever find yourself stuck in the middle of the sea
I'll sail the world to find you
If you ever find yourself lost in the dark and you can't see
I'll be the light to guide you
Will lifted his head and gave Emma the most innocent look, and she swore she felt her heart melting. Those stunning hazel eyes suddenly fixed on her and the slow smile starting to spread on his face, not to mention the fact that his voice was flawless. He was perfect and Emma felt herself falling in love with him all over again.
Find out what we're made of
When we are called to help our friends in need
Will's eyes were still locked on hers but they weren't so intense anymore. They were soft and so bright; the look in them was so tender. Just the way he was looking at her, it was like she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever laid eyes on. He was making her feel beautiful without even doing anything and perhaps that's why she felt that way about him.
You can count on me like 1, 2, 3
I'll be there
And I know when I need it
I can count on you like 4, 3, 2
You'll be there
'Cause that's what friends are supposed to do, oh yeah
Ooooooh, oooohhh yeah, yeah
If you're tossin' and you're turnin'
And you just can't fall asleep
I'll sing a song beside you
And if you ever forget how much you really mean to me
Every day I will remind you
Will's fingers were still nimbly dancing along the chords and his head was bobbing up and down to the beat. Emma thought she had never seen someone so handsome in her life as Will in this moment. She decided her new favorite sound was Will's singing voice.
Oooh
Find out what we're made of
When we are called to help our friends in need
You can count on me like 1, 2, 3
I'll be there
And I know when I need it
I can count on you like 4, 3, 2
You'll be there
'Cause that's what friends are supposed to do, oh yeah
Ooooooh, oooohhh yeah, yeah
You'll always have my shoulder when you cry
I'll never let go, never say goodbye
You know…
Will thought back to all the times that they had been there for each other. When he told Emma the truth about his past, when a football player chucked a slushie at Emma and Will was there to help her clean up and wipe her tears, and when Will found out he was dyslexic and Emma was his shoulder to cry on. They had an unbreakable bond of friendship and early on, Will had felt he trusted Emma with anything which was rare for him.
You can count on me like 1, 2, 3
I'll be there
And I know when I need it
I can count on you like 4, 3, 2
You'll be there
'Cause that's friends are supposed to do, oh yeah
Oooooooh, oooohhh
You can count on me 'cause I can count on you
Will strummed on his guitar for one last note and then glanced up. "That song was for you, Emma. I meant every word," Will told her, softly.
"I loved it," Emma replied, her voice nearly breaking. "You have a beautiful, beautiful, singing voice. One of the best I've ever heard. You are so talented, Will, please don't ever forget that."
"Thank you," Will whispered, his hazel eyes blazing through with light. "I just wanted you to understand that you can always count on me and I hope that I can always count on you."
"You can," Emma nodded. "You can always always count on me."
Ta-da! Will sang for Emma. ;) I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter; I felt it was pretty crappy. Especially since I only spent yesterday and today working on it. :P But hey! It's still Monday and I updated on time! Woohoo. ;)
My sister and I are watching Valentine's Day (best movie ever!) so I was wondering…what are my readers favorite rom-coms or romantic movies? I could use some new ones to watch. My favorites are Valentine's Day, The Vow, Dear John, and Bride Wars. ;) What about you? Tell me in your review!
Hope all my readers have a lovely night. Or really day since most of you will be reading this in the morning. But it's 11:45 pm and I updated on time! Yeah buddy!
Oh yeah and please review! ;) ps song creds are Count on Me by Bruno Mars
