Chapter 4

AN: I 3 your reviews. Thank you! I'm so so sorry for the delay in updating but have had a full house and no spare time to myself to write!

Don't worry Emma is going to start being a little nicer to Will now, but there will still be more angst before the Wemma-ness

As Will stood there, watching Emma walk away from him, he felt numb. His pride was telling him to walk away, however, it took him only seconds to realise that if they left things like this now, that would be the end of any sort of relationship between them.

"Emma, Emma I'm sorry. Please, wait", he chased after her.

She continued, heading towards the exit, although he noticed she had slowed down slightly, and took this as a good sign.

"Please don't do this. Please don't walk out of my life", he begged her retreating back, and she stopped.

"I can't handle losing my best friend as well as everything else", he went on, in a pleading tone.

She turned around slowly. She had never really wanted to walk away and it had been killing her with every step she took. She wanted to believe that they could go back to just being best friends, but, then again when had they ever been just friends without a hint of something more between them, without the subtle flirtation and the longing looks, without them both wanting that bit more…

"Em, you've always been there for me, through everything, so whatever you need from me I'll be here for you. I just.. I can't take not haviing you in my life", Will's voice was filled with emotion, his eyes were glassy and he was trying very hard not to tear up. He knew how hard it would be, just being her friend.. again. Harder this time, after they had had a taste of what it would be like to be together.

Emma bit her lip. Despite everything, she had to admit that having Will as her friend was better than not having him at all.

"Will, I don't want to lose you either…", her voice was soft and sad, "your friendship means a lot to me", she knew had to make it clear to him and to herself what they were to each other.

"Friends?", he asked, wondering if he would be able to keep this promise.

"Friends", she smiled, although it didn't quite reach her eyes. Of course they could be friends, she thought, they had done it before for years, despite their feelings for each other, so they could do it again.

Will opened his mouth to say something more, but their conversation was interrupted by the sound of the door opening at the end of the corridor. They both turned towards the noise, and saw a tall, middle-aged, dark-haired man enter the building.

"Carl", Emma sounded surprised to see him for a minute, then she recovered "I'm sorry I kept you waiting".

"Don't worry about it honey", he smiled at her and kissed the top of her head lightly. Will was annoyed to see that she didn't flinch at his touch, as she had done with Ken. He felt a sharp pang of jealousy, he had loved being the only person Emma was that comfortable around, and he couldn't help glaring at the two of them. Luckily, Emma didn't notice, she was busy thinking of how she could get the two apart and quickly.

She was saved the trouble, as Will mumbled some excuse and practically ran down the hall to his classroom. He couldn't take another second of seeing her with Carl, it was tearing him up inside. He sat down mindlessly behind his desk and buried his head in his arms, his heart breaking everytime he replayed what had just happened in his head.

Meanwhile, Emma and Carl walked out to the parking lot awkwardly. Carl was first to break the silence.

"So," he exhaled slowly "that was the famous Will Schuester".

It was more a statement than a question really, but Emma felt she should respond, should try and explain things to him. He already knew most of her and Will's history but of course, she had left out how she used to engineer meetings during the day, or sit in her car crying because she knew they'd never be together. Basically, although he knew the facts, he had no idea of the feelings that had been involved, or so she thought anyway. In the end, she contented herself with a casual nod and swiftly changed the subject.

Back in Emma's condo, the couple were relaxing on the couch watching a movie. Emma was sitting right beside Carl, his leg brushed against hers every so often when one of them adjusted their position. This was a big step for her, but somehow she felt very comfortable around him. Sometimes she felt things were going perfectly, but other times she was unable to stop wondering what certain moments would be like if she was sharing them with another man instead, if she was sharing them with Will.

Surprisingly, Emma had discovered, that despite what she would have thought, she didn't enjoy Carl's chaste, predictable kisses half as much as she had enjoyed Will's reckless, passionate ones. She knew Carl was trying to respect her, and her intense dislike for getting messy, but in her weaker moments she couldn't help but compare him like this, unfavourably.

A little later, when Emma had drifted off to sleep, Carl sat, wide awake, mulling over the day's events. He had seen the look on her face in the hall while she was talking to Will and he was no fool. He knew that look. He also knew how her face lit up whenever Glee club or Will's name came up in conversation. At first, he had dismissed it, thinking it only natural that she had some lingering feelings for her sort-of ex, but now, he was getting tired of it. He was falling for Emma, hard, and he wanted to make sure that he wouldn't have any competition from the curly-haired Spanish teacher. So, he had a plan. A plan to push Will out of Emma's life, and to make her completely sure she could never trust him again.

OOH a little bit of a cliffhanger :) I promise I'll try to get the next chapter up quicker than this one. Reviews are love :D