"Well, what do you think?" Leroy Berry asked the glee club. It was the Friday before the fundraiser, and after school had let out for the day, the kids traveled downtown to Magnolia to help get things ready for the next night. Rachel's dad, along with members of his staff, had already gotten a head start by the time the kids arrived.

"It looks beautiful, Dad," said Rachel. All the round tables in the room were decked out with white tablecloths, vases filled with fresh-cut flowers and candles. The plants were strung with clear lights to give an illusion of starlight. The stage at the front of the room was simply decorated with a draped black cloth backdrop behind which more clear lights hung, the only other things on stage were a stool, a microphone and a guitar stand. Two staff members worked on setting up the sound system

"We got the auction items set up in the lobby," Kurt said as he, Santana and Mercedes entered the main room. In a corner near the kitchen, Quinn was on her cell phone talking to the caterers, who assured her that they would be at the club the next morning. Near the bar, Puck and Matt were busy setting up two long tables – one to show off glee club photos, the other to display items from the sponsors they had been able to get. Tina, Artie and Finn had done tremendous work in the publicity department, the posters around town and the full-page ad in the Lima News had made a huge impact because the entire fundraiser was sold out.

"Does anyone know when Mr. Schu is going to get here?" asked Finn. Just then, Will entered the main room. A garment bag was slung over his right shoulder and he carried a guitar case in his left hand. Setting them down, he took off his sunglasses and put them in the pocket of his black leather jacket.

"Sorry I'm late guys," he said. "I had a few more papers to grade, and then I needed to find another song to finish off my set for tomorrow." Will had decided to do an entirely acoustic set for the night's entertainment, he had spent many of his free periods at school in the auditorium practicing his songs and perfecting them to make sure that they sounded just right. He had found his last song just moments before he left the school for the club, he felt it was the perfect song to let Emma know how he truly felt about her.

"It's okay," Rachel said. "Dad and his staff got most of the tough things set up, we're just finishing up the easy stuff."

"Hey, Mr. Schu," Artie called from near the stage. "The sound guys want you to run through a few of your songs so they can test the audio levels."

"I'll be right there, Artie," Will called back. He picked up his guitar case and walked over to the stage, climbed up the stairs and began setting up. Opening the case set down by the microphone, he took out the guitar, sat on the stool and tuned up.

"Test test, one two," he said into the microphone, adjusting it with his right hand until it was at the right height. Artie watched the sound person check the levels and wheeled over to get a better look. The sound person nodded, and Artie gave Will a thumbs-up to let him know that the levels were perfect. Someone offstage plugged a cable into the side of the guitar so the guests could hear the music better. Then a hush fell over the room as he began to play the first song, all the while thinking of Emma as he began to sing.

"You sounded great up there," Finn said as Will finished his mini-set/sound check, Tina and Kurt hanging out with him. "Were you keeping some of those songs under wraps?"

"Believe me, Finn, I was trying," Will replied. "I know what you guys go through when you're up there, it just felt so good when I was on that stage going through some of my songs. I practiced in the auditorium every chance I got and I think I'm ready for tomorrow night."

"What was that first song you were playing, Mr. Schu?" asked Tina. "I really liked it."

"It's called 'Afterglow', it's by INXS," said Will. "It's a good song, one of my recent favorites. I liked stripping it down and making it sound simple."

"What about that last song you have planned?" asked Kurt curiously.

"It's a secret, you'll just have to find out till tomorrow night," Will said with a wink. "It's a very special ballad that I thought would be perfect." With one last smile, he walked over to where Rachel and Quinn were talking, and started a conversation with them.

"There's just one more thing to do," said Finn as he walked over to the table closest to the stage, which was topped with a vase that contained several delicate purple orchids. He found an empty place card, picked up a gold pen and wrote something on it in his best handwriting before setting it back down on the table. Kurt handed Finn a red rose, and he placed it down on the table in front of the place card.

Reserved for Miss Pillsbury