Chapter Two: Hey Baby // D.J. Otzi
Emma and Will sighed simultaneously as they left Figgin's office, still attempting to figure out how they got roped into chaperoning the annual "Snowcoming" dance.
"There's no way it's been more then two years since I last did a dance," Will thought out loud, "My mom always says that time speeds up when you get old." He slid a hand into his pocket, the other taking his wife's hand.
"I knew this day would come..." Emma huffed as they shuffled along, "The first thing that they asked me at my interview was about my willingness to volunteer my time when it came to extracurricular activities...I thought that SAT prep and babysitting kids during the actual testing was enough. I hated school dances when I went to them, and I somehow doubt it's going to be anymore fun as an adult."
Will eyed her, "Aw, come on, I'm sure you had some fun."
"For a little while, you know, when it's just the awkward standing around time before the older kids would get things going...but then it's just a sea of people sweating all over each other and it smells to high heavens and everyone's touching in inappropriate places. There's nothing fun about that."
"Well, when you put it like that..."
"And I don't think that you men realize just how much pressure there is on the girls for these things. They get so worked up about finding a date and no matter how many times a girl says she just wants to go with her friends, she's crying on the inside because all the pretty, popular girls have dates and she doesn't."
"You never went to a dance with a boy?" He asked quietly.
"No, I did a few times...but I've seen enough girls in my office over the past few years to know how upsetting it can be. They feel terrible about themselves, everything from body image to their personality. Then they don't get invited to an after party and their live's are just simply over. And all I can tell them is that there's a boy out there for everyone and they're never satisfied with that."
"It's true though, isn't it?" Will kissed the top of Emma's head and lead her into her office.
His lop-sided grin always made her smile as well, "I guess we're proof of that."
They kissed again, not caring about the typical socially appropriate behavior for relationships in the professional world before Will left and a crying Rachel entered the small, sterile room moments later.
"You know, I wonder when the last time Sue had to supervise a dance was," Will said with a look that screamed 'I'm-up-to-something' at lunch that day.
Emma was half-tempted to roll her eyes. Ever since Sue Sylvester had come back as captain of the Cheerios at the start of the school year, Emma had done everything in her power to keep she and Will apart. For the most part, Sue had stayed away, only bothering Will when she was having an exceptionally off day.
As Emma looked up from her sandwich, she cursed whatever fates were in control that day, for lone-behold, Sue Sylvester had entered the faculty break room.
Clearing her throat, Emma murmured, "Just don't start anything."
"Oh, he can start something all he wants, he knows he's never going to win," Sue had a devilish smirk on her lips, "William. You have some sort of problem with me? You know, I don't appreciate the Odd Couple griping about me behind my back. I'd much rather you say whatever it is to my face, I could use a good laugh."
"There's nothing more I would love to say everything I thought about you to your face, Sue, but I'm afraid half of it isn't even legal."
"Want to talk about legalities? You and Little Orphan Annie over here were seen kanoodling in her office this morning by one of my Cheerios. Do you have any idea how emotionally scarring it may be for a student to see their educator's getting fresh in the workplace? I can only imagine the pain she's in. If I were you, I'd keep my hands off of Ellen whilst in this building. You never know when someone's going to capture an image of this inappropriate behavior and get you both fired. It'd be real depressing to see that group of misfits you call a club, abandoned when they think they're finally going somewhere in life," Will glanced at Emma with the realization that Sue had her once-in-a-blue-moon points as the crazed coach continued, "And losing your jobs would also be quite the road block in your current state."
"What current state?" Emma baffled.
For a moment, Sue's face actually looked surprised, "Hey, it's not my place. I'd hate to ruin a surprise." With another satisfied smirk, she began to walk away.
"Don't lie, you'd love to ruin something—"
"Not this one Schuester," She interrupted, "This one's going to be truckloads of fun to see play out all on it's own. Gotta jet. My Champion team's waiting for me...you wouldn't know what it's like, second place."
Sue danced her way to the door, leaving Emma and Will to mull over whatever surprise could be waiting for them.
"Hey, guys. I've got to cut practice short today—"
"You and the Mrs. have a hot date, Schuester?" Puck asked with a smart-ass smile.
Kurt cleared his throat, "Someone's just jealous because they don't have a date to the dance this weekend."
"None of that today; let's get started. We need a pop song for regionals, and as promised, you guys are going to pick it, because according to Mercedes, I don't know what's up."
Mercedes flipped her hair over her shoulder, "Glad you've finally come to grips with it. People should just understand that I'm always right and—"
"What we're going to do to pick this song is partner up and shuffle your iPods until you get a pop song you can both agree on. You'll each do this and write your songs on slips of paper and in the end, we're going to make an epic mashup out of your selections. But we'll get to that later...partner up!"
As chairs scrapped against the tile, Will sighed and turned to the clock. His goal was to be out within a half an hour so he and Emma could go shopping for something to wear to the dance and over the break at her parent's Christmas party.
He looked around, noticing Finn and Rachel working together, which he had not expected after Emma mentioned to him that the young couple had been arguing for the better part of the week. Quinn was working with Kurt, which made him smile. Their friendship had blossomed over the summer when they began an intense workout regimen to get Quinn's pre-baby body back. He had just noticed Britney and Mercedes singing Lady Gaga loudly, when he jumped at a hand on his shoulder before he could rip his ears in distain.
"Hey," Emma breathed, "Sorry to scare you." Her face was laced with stress, he pulled her close with one arm and stroked her cheek with the other, "I needed to be out of my office."
"It's okay," Will kissed the top of her head, pulling her to an open chair, "We're not singing, it'll only take a few more minutes."
"I knew it was a hot date," Puck said just loudly enough for the rest of the club to chuckle quietly and Mr. Schuester to send him a glare.
"Do they have to be current pop songs, Mr. Schue?" Tina asked with a wide smile, clearly formulating a perfect mashup.
"Nope. Just no Michael Jackson. We're tackling that beast later."
"Did you hear he died?" Artie announced with mock-awe.
"Oh my God, are you kidding me?" Mercedes gasped, "I didn't know!"
Kurt interrupted their goofy dialogue with an all serious, "He's not dead. There's no way. He's alive. You just wait. He'll be back. It'll be like the second coming of Jesus."
Emma giggled, feeling some of her troubles from the day melting as the kids continued their song selecting and witty banter. Will's hands had just begun their magic on her shoulders when some of the pairs began turning in their choices to their director and saying their good-bye's until the next day.
Once Rachel had left after a long-winded explanation of the songs she and Finn had selected, Will placed his head in his hands, "Oh, you were right about those two weeks off, Em. We really, really need them."
She stood, winding her arms around his neck from behind, their fingers lacing, "I don't even want to go to my parent's. Or yours, no offense. I just want to go home, lock the door and lay in your arms for fourteen days straight."
Will turned her around, her words always found just the right place in his heart to make him want to kiss her forever, "You know what, I think that one of us just might have to get sick," he winked and dove in for a kiss.
After several moments, they pulled apart, she wore the same sweet smile she did after their first kiss.
"Let's go, we've got to get you into a new dress."
With their fingers still woven tightly together, the couple headed off to the nearest department store.
As they drove, Emma closed her eyes, fatigue settling into every bit of her bones. Overwhelming thoughts of the masses of people who would be attempting their Christmas shopping began to seep into her mind. Hundreds of people, all packed tightly into an over-heated area with snot-nosed kids running up and down aisles, touching everything they could get their unwashed hands on. The perfect breeding ground for germs.
She must have been breathing deeply, and Will being the amazing man he was knew exactly what paranoia was flowing through her veins, "Hey, it's going to be okay, sweetheart," He said quietly, placing a comforting hand on her knee. Suddenly, she was prepared to burst into tears and it took every ounce of will power she had to hold them in, "Emma. Do you want to skip it?"
"I don't—I just, I mean..." She took a few more deep breaths, "I don't know what's wrong," She choked the last word. They had just arrived and he pulled into a parking space and put the car in park. Will unbuckled, did the same to Emma's and pulled her close.
"Hey, hey. I'm here, whatever it is. Tell me, Em."
"I would if I could, I just don't know. I'm tired and overreacting to everything. This morning, a freshman got dropped his book and I nearly screamed at him to pick it up...and then, Sue...and one girl's divorced parents are making her chose where to go for Christmas and all I wanted to do was find them and rip their hair out!"
Will kissed her temple, stroking her back, "Maybe it's the new medication. There is a list of side effects, we can check when we get home."
Emma sniffed, he had a point. She wasn't really a big fan of any sort of psychotic supplement, but her anxiety had been significantly lessened once she started taking it.
"Okay," she whispered.
He cupped her face, wiping the few stray tears that found their way down her cheeks and kissed each one, "It's going to be fine. We'll get to the bottom of it. Smile for me."
Words could never express just how much Emma loved Will. He loved her—no matter how irrational she could be, he loved her. She complied with his request and breathed deeply one last time, "I love you."
Kissing her one last time, he whispered, "I love you too."
"Well," She started, reaching for a tissue to open the door with, "We're here, we might as well go in."
Once inside, Emma cringed. The first sight she saw was a clearly overwhelmed young mother, holding a screaming toddler with one arm, pushing a stroller with a crying infant with the other, and being followed by two moody preschoolers, each of whom had something to say about their hunger and boredom.
Will placed a strong hand on her shoulder, steering her towards the ladies section, "Real quick, so we can get out of this place."
It wasn't long before Emma found a dress that made Will whistle once she tried it on. The strapless, subtly glittered turquoise ensemble fell just above her knees. As she adjusted it in the mirror, Will placed his arms on her hips, "Looks gorgeous, Em. I'm a bit worried the boy's might think so as well, though."
"Maybe something on top," She muttered, turning to the rack behind her, where a silvery, capped sleeved half-sweater was screaming at her. With a wide grin, she reached for it and slid it on over, buttoning just the top.
With a nod of approval, Will kissed her cheek, allowing her to change back. On the way out, they stopped in the men's department, finding a matching tie. And as luck would have it, their items were apart of the holiday sales.
Dinner was simple, neither of them were in much of a mood to cook when they returned from their nearly disastrous trip.
True to his word, Will sat down with Emma, reading through the list of potential side effects from her medication. With nothing jumping out at them, they decided it might be best to at least lay off of it for a few days and see if anything improved.
When they had reached the conclusion, Will pulled out the songs from earlier that day. Some of them went to an immediate discard pile, (Party in the USA and She Wolf among them) while other's were up for consideration. Emma laughed, picking up one of the last pieces of paper, "Jessie's Girl? Who knew that kids still listened to that?"
Will smiled devilishly, taking a song from the keep pile and putting it together with Emma's.
"Now that's what I call a mashup."
Deciding to work on the calibration of the actual songs later, he groaned and took out his dreaded Spanish papers. Emma sat down next to him and before he could protest, she picked up a red pen, putting the answer key between them.
Will opened his laptop, starting up his Christmas playlist as they sat comfortably, singing along occasionally. This, he thought, is what a marriage is supposed to be.
He didn't often have thoughts about Terri and his previous relationship, but in moments like these, when Emma was exceptionally kind and loving, even for her, that he couldn't help comparing his happiness.
Emma was happy. He was happy. They felt good about themselves, and they never had to hurt the other to feel that way.
And when either of them wasn't feeling so great, like that afternoon, the other was right there for support. There were no buried secrets, lies or earth-shattering forgeries; his and Emma's marriage was wonderful, blissful happiness.
When they had finished, it was nearly eight o'clock. Emma's face was plastered with exhaustion and all Will wanted to do was hold her until she fell asleep.
It was finally Friday, and while they had the dance that evening, it was exciting nonetheless—especially considering the following Friday would mean the start of their vacation.
Emma had hoped to wake up feeling energized and refreshed after a good night's sleep, but she found herself feeling like someone had punched her in the gut. When Will opened woke up to an empty bed, he sat up and groggily called out to her, "Em?"
"Bathroom!"
He fell back down, "You okay?" When he didn't get a response, he walked over to the open door, seeing her bent over the toilet put him into emergency mode. He had witnessed her throwing up once, after entirely too much wine at her parent's anniversary party, and the panic attack that had followed was one of the worst he had ever seen from her, "Do you want me—"
She stood up, "False alarm," she said hoarsely, "I'm okay, I'm okay, I'm okay." Will wasn't exactly sure who she was reassuring when she suddenly squeaked, "Oh my gosh," she drew her face closer to the freshly Windexed mirror, "Is that a zit?" She stared at her forehead with a mix of shock and anger which Will could only describe as adorable, "I haven't broken out since my sophomore year of high school!"
Holding back his laughter, he hugged her tightly from behind, "It's fine. No one's going to notice or care."
Emma was feeling quite dramatic, "I think these high school kids are rubbing off on me, Will. It's like my hormones are suddenly on fire and everything's in that awkward phase where you want to put on a paper bag before you leave the house."
Continuing his attempt to make light of the situation, he kissed her cheek and teased her, "You're probably just worried that your date's going to stand you up at the dance tonight."
"He wouldn't do that. He's a real nice guy...real charming."
"I'm awful jealous," Will kissed up and down her neck, occasionally stopping to whisper something sweet and comforting.
Emma glanced at the clock on the wall and pulled him off, "We never get anything done in the mornings, you hopeless romantic."
"Hey, I can't help the fact that my wife is so easily distracted," Will turned her around, pulling her hips toward his, "How about a quick—"
"Not now. Maybe I'll let you have your way with me after the dance."
"That's the only reason a good looking guy would go to such an event. Chicks like to dance. Us studs, we all really only want one thing," He winked and Emma attempted to give him a disgusted look that ended in giggles.
The day went by in a blur as Emma attempted to stay focused, however, a combination of her promise of a hot night and tiredness were winning the battle over productiveness.
She hadn't even realized that the final bell had rung until she heard the Glee kids singing the mashup Will had created last night. She couldn't help but smile as she heard the song she picked combined with Will's selection.
"And she's watching him with those eyes,
And she's loving him with that body, I just know it.
I wanna hold her in my arms late late at night,
And I'm not even scared of him!
She wants to touch me whoa,
She wants to love me whoa,
She'll never leave me whoa, whoa, whoa.
Don't trust her,
Never trust her,
Don't trust her, don't trust me!"
Sure, Will had taken a relatively clean song and turned it into one about moral debauchery, but it sounded great when Finn took the lead.
An hour or so later, they were on their way home and ready to return for the dance.
They had found themselves a place where they could observe the kid's for behavior that was just entirely too inappropriate, yet still enjoy each other's company and maybe even catch a song or two for themselves.
The first thirty or so minutes hadn't been terribly bad, they'd escorted a few stumbling teenagers to the awaiting police for breathalyzer tests and a few ladies had been removed for wearing far too little clothing. It wasn't until the Glee kids found the couple that things started becoming increasingly awkward.
Finn had challenged his teacher to a dance off, to which Will couldn't help but take him to the floor. Puck had dedicated a ridiculous techno song to Emma, which caused her to blush a Christmas red as the boys danced around her, singing "Hey, hey baby! I wanna know if you'll be my girl", and Kurt had started taking off his shirt when Single Ladies came on.
By the time it was finished, however, Emma and Will were able to dance quietly to I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing and Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop. When the last few students filed out of the gym, they were off for home.
Emma was glad she had finished washing the sheets from their love making a few nights previous when they walked in the door and Will had already begun his magic in readying her for what was sure to be another messy night. But it was okay, she felt herself smiling into his warm kisses, she didn't seem to mind these kind of messes.
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Review to tell me what I screwed up...or completely owned. I don't want to get too great of an ego over how freakin' cute I can make these two =D