A/N: Well hello again. This is number two, it's a little bit darker and more angsty than the first chapter but I hope you'll still like it.
Emma glanced anxiously at the clock ticking away on the kitchen wall. She had probably been scrubbing the dish in her hand for the last ten minutes. It wasn't because of her mysophobia either. In fact she wasn't even paying attention to the dish. Her mind was otherwise occupied.
When Emma had gotten up that Saturday morning she expected the house to be filled with the aroma of freshly cooked breakfast. It was Will's turn that day. See, she and Will had made up a plan. Everyday they would switch who would cook the breakfast. Will claimed he didn't mind making it all of the time but Emma felt bad for making him cook all the time so they made a deal that they would take turns. And that day was Will's. But she didn't smell anything. When she arose from bed she grabbed her robe and headed towards the kitchen. Just as she suspected Will was not there.
She came to the conclusion that he was still asleep. Will was usually not one to sleep in too late on a Saturday; she had come to know in the few months he had been living there. But the glee kids took him out the night before to celebrate their winning of nationals and he didn't get home until late.
But as she passed the guest bedroom she found the door open, the bed made and Will not in it. She poked her head in to see if maybe he was hiding near the closet but his room was vacant.
She then proceeded to check the bathroom and once again Will was no where to be found. There was no where else for him to be in her condo and Emma didn't think he would hide on her on purpose.
She made her way back to the kitchen to get herself some breakfast and that was when she spotted a note on the kitchen table. She walked over to it and lifted it up to read it.
Hey Em
Sorry I had to run you're on your own for breakfast today.
I'll make it up to you tomorrow.
Will
Run?
She placed the note back on the table, furrowing her brow in confusion.
Where did Will have to run to? And so early in the morning?
By lunchtime Will was still not home. Emma pondered calling him but she figured if he wanted to tell her where he was he would have in the note he left.
After lunch she decided to clean the entire condo. She hadn't done so in a while and it was long overdue for it. She cleaned for hours, avoiding Will's room not wanting to mess up anything in there.
When she finally was done cleaning the main room, her bedroom and the bathroom it was nearing dinnertime and still there was no word from Will.
She made herself dinner and ate alone and quietly. For years she had done nothing but eat alone except for the occasional visits from her parents and siblings. She had never had Ken over. She knew she couldn't handle having him walking all over her apartment and touching everything. She knew she wouldn't be able to eat if she had to watch him eat at her kitchen table. She cringed at even the thought.
But in the last few months she had gotten used to and so comfortable with Will joining her for every meal and the conversations they held. She would look forward to dinnertime just to hear what Will had to say about what happened in Spanish class or in Glee club. Emma would also enjoy telling Will about the kids (without naming names of course) that would come into her office. Some of the stories she heard were absolutely ridiculous but some of them had her and Will launching into deep conversations.
Then after they ate Emma would wash the dishes and Will would dry them and put them into their respective drawers and cabinets. Then depending on the day they would sit down on the couch and/or chairs in the living room and Will would grade his Spanish papers and Emma would pick up a book she was reading. Or if there was a good movie on, despite the fact that they both agreed to not getting involved in a relationship yet, Emma would let herself cuddle up to Will on the couch, he would sling his arm loosely around her and they'd enjoy the movie and each other's company.
However, now Emma stood in front of the sink, scrubbing a dish clean, alone and without her dryer. She finally placed the overly clean dish onto the side of the sink and picked up another. Then she glanced at the clock again. Only two minutes had passed since she last looked at it.
She sighed in frustration and let the dish fall back into the soapy water, splashing bubbles of dish soap into the air. She knew she should not be reacting like she was. She was not Will's wife; she wasn't even involved with him at all. Yet there she was acting like a worried old wife waiting for her husband to get home.
"Ridiculous," she muttered to herself, picking up the dish again and scrubbing it hard, "just ridiculous."
But her eyes were still drawn to the slowly ticking clock on the wall. She let out another quiet sigh and went back to finish the dishes.
Just as she had finished drying and putting away the last dish she heard the familiar sound of the keys in the door. He was home.
She dried off her hands as she heard the door open and close and then footsteps. She watched the doorway anxiously as if she were expecting the worst.
Will appeared in the doorway and she took in his appearance. He looked tired and worn down and she instantly wondered what had caused him to look like that.
He slowly walked into the kitchen, giving her a small, almost sad smile. He stopped right next to the table and she glanced up at him in wonder. He held up a manila folder in his right hand filled with papers and then he tossed it onto the table.
She furrowed her brow and followed the path of the folder from his hand to the table. She glanced at the folder with the numerous amounts of paper and wondered what they were. He took in his appearance, the long amount of time he had been gone and the papers and it suddenly clicked.
She gasped and looked back up at him. "Will…"
He shrugged his shoulders, raising his eyebrows slightly before sitting down in one of the chairs. She quickly moved to sit down next to him and switched into her guidance counselor mode. "Are you alright?" She questioned her voice sweet and caring.
"I just can't believe its over." He replied staring at the beige colored folder sitting on the table top.
Emma opened her mouth to reply but words failed her. She was usually good at giving people advice, it was her job after all but this wasn't just one of her students. This was her best friend and the man she was in love with.
"I never really believed in divorce." He continued and she sat and listened. "I always thought that you shouldn't marry someone if you're not completely sure that you want to spend the rest of your life with them. Usually people get divorced because they can't stand the person anymore. Why would you marry someone that you can't stand?"
Emma knew his question was rhetorical. She knew that he was just talking to himself out loud. He was so obviously affected by the divorce and she didn't want to upset him further.
"Well now I know."
"Will." She finally spoke and his eyes lifted to meet hers. "Most divorces are because people rushed into their marriage without fully knowing if they loved their partner. That wasn't the case with you and Terri."
"Maybe we did…" He mused. "Rush into things…"
She shook her head in protest. "From what I understand you and Terri were together since high school correct?"
Will nodded quietly.
"Right," She continued, "and you also told me that you had been married for five years. That leaves approximately ten years between high school and the time of your marriage. Will you did not rush into anything. And you loved her Will. Most people don't truly love their partner but that is a key difference, you did." And not wanting to jump to any conclusions she added, "…o-or do."
He didn't comment on her last statement, only shifted in his seat to lean forward slightly, nodding slowly. "I truly did think I was going to spend the rest of my life with her. I thought we were going to be a family."
She clenched her jaw and nodded slightly, trying to fight back her personal feelings and be his friend. "She hurt you Will, she betrayed your trust and it's only natural for you to want to separate yourself from her. The cause of your divorce was legitimate. She lied to you Will and that is nothing to take lightly."
He leaned back again in his chair with a sigh. "It wasn't just the baby either." At this point Emma knew he was back to talking to himself again. He was trying to work out his reasons for leaving her in his head and she knew she just had to listen. "She was selfish and controlling, she didn't treat me as her equal which is what marriage is all about. She didn't treat me in the way I deserved."
Emma could only nod in agreement. She had told Terri that herself that she did not deserve Will and at the time Emma thought she was going to have his baby and Emma hoped that Terri would shape up soon so she could be a good mother to the baby and be a good wife to Will without driving him up a wall.
"You knew that though didn't you?" He asked and her eyes widened when she realized he was talking to her. His eyebrows were raised in question and she pursed her lips softly.
"Well, she was going to make you give up your dream job to pay for a fake baby." Her eyes widened even more when she realized what she had just said. She bit down on her tongue when she saw him flinch.
"Oh my gosh Will I am so sorry…" She shook her head. "That-that was really harsh…I'm sorry."
"No-no you're right." He sighed quietly. "It's the truth."
"But it was really harsh Will I-I should not have said that."
He shook his head in protest. "The truth is sometimes harsh but we need to hear it. I…needed to hear that."
She clamped her mouth shut not wanting to say anything else.
"I don't regret divorcing her. I knew that I could never look at her the same way again. Maybe someday I'll forgive her for lying to me but I could never love her in that way again. I can't see family anymore when I look at her. Even if I somehow did manage to put the baby behind me I couldn't live with someone who doesn't respect me, who doesn't care about me enough to see my dreams. I worked so hard to try and get hers and she only brought down mine. She wanted things, she wanted money, and she didn't want to work for it, she wanted my money. She even tried to trick me into leaving my dream job for a pregnancy that she knew wasn't real."
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and running his hands through his hair. "I'm not going to miss her."
"Will…" Emma broke in quietly. "I know you are hurting but she was your wife and you did love her. Just because you are divorced now doesn't mean you can't miss her."
"I'm not going to miss the new her." He corrected. "I'm not going to miss the lies and the deceit and the woman she has become. I don't know that woman, I don't love that woman. I am going to miss the woman I met in high school, the woman who supported me and loved me all through college. That is who I miss and that is who I was trying to hold on to. That is who I perceived her to be when she was not. I should have realized that sooner."
"Don't blame yourself Will." Emma said. "You thought you loved her and I hate to sound cliché but love is blind."
"Which explains why I was so blind to this whole fake pregnancy thing." He muttered bitterly.
"Will…"
"It was all right there in front of me Emma." He lowered his hands to look at her. "She never got morning sickness, she never let me go to a doctor's appointment, she never let me touch her, even when I tried to hug her she would flip out and would tell me that I would "hurt the baby". Where as Quinn Fabray was in the cheerios for the first few weeks of her pregnancy, she dances all of the time in glee club, and now that she has gotten closer to the glee kids she is constantly hugging everybody and her sonograms and checkups tell her that her baby is fine! All of the signs were right there."
"You had a lot on your mind Will. You thought you were going to be a father and there was all the stress of running the glee club. You were blissfully happy Will and despite all of those other signs she did do a good job of pretending."
Will sat quietly after that. His eyes were fixated on the manila folder and he looked deep in thought. Emma had half a mind to ask him what was on his mind but decided against it. She knew whatever it was he working it out in his head and he just needed a few minutes to himself. So she rested back in her chair and looked around her kitchen, she didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable by staring at him.
After about five minutes of dead silence she looked back at him and noticed he was now looking away from the folder and looking off towards the side.
"How did Terri handle all of this?" Emma asked, breaking the silence.
He shook his head quickly to break himself out of his thoughts and looked over at her. He stared at her as if trying to process her question and then he shrugged. "She was pretty calm about it. She obviously wasn't very pleased but she didn't try to beg for me to come back. She obediently did what she had to, signed what she had to sign and that was that. She was very civil."
"Did you settle on who gets what?"
He nodded slowly. "Due to the fact that I have the higher paying job they ruled the apartment to me."
"Oh." She responded, feeling her stomach plummet. That meant he would be moving out soon.
"But I gave it to her."
"What?" Her eyes widened considerably in surprise. She was not expecting that. "Why?"
"Well for one I already have a home." He answered, quickly looking around the small kitchen and she held back the smile that wanted to cross her face. "And secondly, I couldn't live there anyway. There are too many memories good and bad. I let her do whatever she wanted with it, if she wants to live in it than fine, if she wants to sell it she can do that. I have to go within the next few days to pick up the last of my things and that will be it."
Her eyes flickered automatically to his left hand. There was a ring of paler skin where the wedding band used to be but other than that it was empty. Emma felt the butterflies in her stomach. Will was no longer married, Will was single again. And where she knew it was going to take a couple of months for him to start to get over the divorce and be ready to start another relationship, she knew she was that much closer to finally having Will Schuester.
"Are you hungry Will?" She asked out of the blue. Her question apparently surprised him as well and she gave him a sheepish smile. But he nodded and gave her a small smile in return.
"Yeah…I am."
She rose from her seat and took a step towards the refrigerator. "I just heated up some fresh chicken and added a little seasoning to it. Not much I know but…"
He shook his head, cutting her off. "That sound perfect Em."
She flushed at the nickname he had adopted for her over the last couple of months. She was so used to him calling her by her full name constantly but once he moved in slowly he started to call her 'Em' instead of 'Emma'. It was endearing and she loved it. "Alright. I'll just um, get it ready."
She headed for the refrigerator when suddenly Will grabbed her hand to stop her. She looked down at him in question. In one fluid motion he rose from his seat and pulled her into his arms. Her eyes widened at the sudden hug but she soon let herself melt into his arms.
"Thank you Emma." He whispered into her hair.
"For-for what?" She whispered into his chest.
"For listening, for giving me advice, for taking me in, for being there for me, for…for just being you." He placed a soft kiss to the top of her hair and an instant warmth spread through her body. "You're my best friend Em, and I wouldn't know where I'd be without you."
"I would do anything for you Will." She replied and all thoughts of dinner and the manila folder still resting on the table escaped the pair's mind.