A/N: Another shorter chapter but I wanted to get this out. I know its been done before but you can never get enough of hero Will.
What if: Emma got a slushie facial and Will came to her rescue.
Emma stepped out of her office and locked the door behind her. The bell had rung about two minutes ago signaling the beginning of her lunch hour. She always waited a couple of minutes before she headed towards the faculty lounge to avoid the rush of students who were just as eager to get to their lunch period.
Once the noise of the rowdy students quieted down and the hallways were visibly less full, Emma ventured out into the hallway with her lunch bag over her shoulder.
Her heart leapt at the prospect of seeing Will in only a few minutes. Although they had agreed to stop dating for the time being the feelings that contributed to their brief time as a couple still lingered and were in fact stronger than ever. Despite her embarassment after running out on him, there was no awkwardness between them and they returned back to their normal routine of flirting and stolen glances, only now they weren't afraid to walk a little closer together, sit down next to each other and stare at each other without feeling guilty.
There were times when Emma wished she could follow her heart and do what she really wanted to do with Will but she knew that she needed to listen to her head for the time being. Will wasn't even divorced yet and that alone was enough to keep her from starting anything with him. But oh how she missed being that close to him, being able to kiss him if she wanted to, to hug him, to hold his hand, to have their faces so close that she could feel his breath. It was all she had ever dreamed about and it was right in her reach. But she had waited this long, she could wait a little longer until it was the right time for them to be together.
Things were changing between them and for the better. Her heart still fluttered at the sight of him but she no longer felt like her heart would break in two. She no longer felt like crying and she no longer felt the stab of loneliness that caused her to lose her appetite a few times. Emma was happy, truly happy just because soon enough Will would be hers.
Emma grinned to herself and let out a contented sigh. She shifted her bag over her shoulder and just as she was about to turn the corner, she gasped as she nearly collided with two students. Emma stumbled back slightly to catch their faces and found herself facing Rachel Berry and Finn Hudson.
Rachel grinned upon seeing her guidance counsellor and Finn smiled warmly.
"Oh um...hello Rachel, Finn." Emma nodded to each of them.
"Good morning Miss Pillsbury." Rachel greeted warmly.
"Hey Miss P." Finn greeted with a small hand wave.
"Are you two going to class?" Emma asked the pair of students.
Rachel shook her head. "No its both of our free periods and Mr. Schuester gave us a duet for glee club. We're going to rehearse."
Emma's face fell at the thought that she would not be getting to see Will at lunch. "O-oh." Her voice cracked and she cleared her throat. "Will um, Wi- um, Mr. Schuester be joining you?"
Finn shook his head. "No, he said we could have the choir room alone." He shrugged. "He said something about not wanting to miss lunch or something."
Emma didn't bother to hide the grin that spread across her face. Her eyes were surely beaming. Will didn't want to miss lunch? Was that because of her? Her heart swelled in her chest and she suddenly could not wait to get to the faculty lounge to see Will.
Finn and Rachel shared a knowing look. Even if their own relationship was on the fritz didn't mean they were blind to romance. Rachel had known about Emma's feelings for Will since she confided her own feelings for Finn in the beginning of the year. It was confirmed for most of the glee club when Will ran out of the choir room after their flawless rendition of 'My Life Would Suck Without You' that he had feelings for the redheaded guidance counselor as well. Rachel just hoped that her sweet teacher had better luck with the guy of her dreams than she did with hers.
Rachel cleared her throat and then giggled at Emma's flustered expression. "We wanted to thank you again Miss Pillsbury for taking us to sectionals. We never could have gotten this far if it wasn't for you."
Emma flushed slightly. "Oh it really was no trouble at all kids. You all have such an incredible talent, its a pleasure to watch you and you deserved to win."
Rachel beamed happily and even Finn smiled proudly. Emma smiled warmly at the once couple. She had heard about what happened between the two, Rachel had come crying into her office shortly after it happened and Emma gave her the best advice she could. She had heard through the gripe vine (Will) that Rachel started to date the male lead of Vocal Adrenaline and Emma couldn't help but notice that the young rising star had been a lot happier since her break up with Finn. However, being the guidance counselor she was she also noticed that Finn and Rachel still held chemistry. The looks they shared, the way they held themselves around each other, Emma knew it would only be a matter of time before the two got together again.
"Well," Rachel's voice brought Emma out of her musings, "we better get going." She glanced at Finn who gave her a half amused, half adoring smile. "We don't want to waste any valuable time."
"Yes of course." Emma nodded in understanding and smiled at the pair. "It was very nice talking to you both and I hope your rehearsal goes well."
Rachel grinned and nodded in confidence. "Oh we will Miss P."
They said their goodbyes and Finn and Rachel moved around Emma's side to continue to walk towards the choir room. Emma's grin brightened knowing she'd be getting to see Will in only a matter of minutes.
With her head held high, Emma turned the corner only to see a blue liquid flying at her. She gasped loudly as the cold slushie hit her face. Her bag dropped to the floor in a loud thud and although Rachel and Finn had heard the thud and came running, Emma did not hear their approaching footsteps.
Her eyes had slammed shut when the slushie had collided with her skin and all of her senses, except for that of smell and touch, faded. She could feel every drop of the sticky liquid dripping down her neck and slipping under her blouse. One single drop was even daring enough to slowly make its way down toward her chest.
"Shit." A mumbled curse cut through her pounding ears and she started to breathe heavily.
"Hey!...Karofsky!...moron!" Finn's blurred voice was screaming something at her slushie attacker but most of the words flying around her were jumbled together.
All she could think of, all she could feel was the mucky contents of the run off lagoon. The scent of the slushie that hit her was sweet and candy-like but the scent that entered her nostrils was anything but. Though the event happened over twenty years ago, she could still smell every little thing just as she could that horrific day. She was no longer thirty years old and in a high school hallway in Ohio, she was eight years old at a dairy farm a few miles outside of her hometown in Virginia. She was frozen to the bone, just as she was that day and she was screaming, or at least she thought she was. She could hear her eight year old self screaming inside her head but on the outside, her mouth was sewn shut to keep the constantly dripping liquid out of her mouth. Though her face was pained and horrified, no sound emitted from the frail redhead.
Her hands were bawled into fists at her sides and her body started to shake violently. Eight year old Emma continued to scream and thirty year old Emma could feel the muck soaking into every inch of her skin, even though the slushie only touched the skin of her face, neck and chest. Her memory remembered the feel of a pair of strong arms reaching into pull her out and thirty year old Emma waited for that relief but it never came and it only caused eight year old Emma to scream harder. A whimper escaped thirty year old Emma's lips and she heard a female's voice trying to break through the wall of sound that was her rapidly beating heart rate.
Something brushed up against her arm and the feeling of germs only intensified. She tried to flinch away but her body was frozen solid to the ground. Inside, she just kept screaming.
"Rachel...Schuester...now." Finn's distant voice broke through the wall of sound and another whimper escaped her lips. Even though she couldn't feel it, tears started to fall down her cheeks and mixed with the starchy liquid.
The scent of the runoff contents continued to pound into her nostrils and that combined with the slime coating her skin was enough to nearly make her sick. Her erratic breathing managed to keep her nausea at bay but she wasn't too sure as to how much longer she could hold out. Eight year old Emma was not being rescued from her murky prison and thirty year old Emma was losing control of her sanity.
Eight year old Emma had just about wore herself out screaming when suddenly, the strong arms wrapped around her and pulled her out to safety.
"Emma." His beautiful crystal clear voice broke through her barrier. "Emma." She could hear the concern in his voice. "It's Will, Em, can you hear me?"
Emma's breathing slowly began to return to normal and her senses came rushing back to her. The disgusting smell of the run off began to fade and was replaced by the sugar sweetness of the slushie but even that was overpowered by the smell of Will's cologne.
Her eyes lids started to flutter but they were weighed down by the liquid and she inhaled sharply, her breathing picking up once again. "Will!" She cried out and his hands grabbed both of her arms.
"It's okay Emma." Will's soothing voice started to calm her again and ironically enough, found herself relaxing at his touch. She could no longer feel the slime and muck soaking into ever part of her skin but the stickiness of the blue liquid still had her in a panic. "I'm here Em, don't panic, okay? We're going to get you cleaned up."
Emma could only whimper in response. The world was completely dark around her and the only thing that kept her rooted to Earth was the voice of the man who held her heart.
"Finn, go to her office and look in the bottom drawer of the far right filing cabinet. She should have a change of clothes." She heard Will's voice order his tall student and if she wasn't so distracted she would have considered the fact that Will knew that she kept a spare outfit incase of emergencies. "Rachel, go to the nearest classroom and get me a chair, bring it to the faculty women's room immediately."
Emma could not hear the teenagers responses and suddenly she felt herself moving. Will's arm slung gently around her shoulders as he led her down the hallway, whispering comforting words into her ear.
She reached out for Will when she felt the loss of contact from him and whimpered quietly. Her breathing picked up for a second before Will's arm came around her again. "I'm here Emma." His sweet voice reassured her. "I"m not going anywhere Em, I promise."
"Here you go Mr. Schuester." Rachel's kind voice spoke and Emma heard the scraping of the chair legs against the tile.
"Thank you Rachel." Will said genuinely and then spoke to Emma slowly and sweetly, "Okay Em, I'm going to sit you down now alright? Just led me guide you there."
Emma could do nothing but whimper in response and let Will guide her down to sit in the chair Rachel had brought for her. Her skirt rode up slightly and her bare thighs hit the cold surface of the chair and she cried out.
Will shushed her quietly and faintly, Emma could hear the rolling of paper towels. Will's warm hand rested on her shoulder and Emma shuddered when the rough paper wiped across the soft skin of her face.
"It's okay Emma." Will continued to whisper as he wiped the offending liquid off of her face. "We're gonna get you cleaned up, it'll all be okay."
Emma hands curled into fists so tightly her knuckles were turning pure white and she pressed them into her lap.
"Emma, open your eyes." Will's gentle voice commanded and she shook her head slowly, her lips pouting out.
"Emma, honey, please open your eyes for me." Will gently coaxed her and Emma continued to slowly shake her head, a whimper escaping her lips.
Emma's heart leapt when Will's lips gently brushed against her forehead and only a second later felt his hot breath near her ear. "Open your eyes for me, Emma."
His voice sent a shiver down her spine and fleetingly shut off her free will. Her eyes fluttered open and was amazed to see that her vision was clear. Over Will's shoulder she saw Rachel standing near the doorway. Emma let out a small shuddering breath and Will lifted his head so his face was only inches away from hers. A loving, warm smile twitched at his lips, his hand moving to brush her hair away from her face. "That's my girl." He whispered.
The hint of a smile broke through Emma's panicked expression as she stared into Will's comforting expression.
Her breath caught in her chest and she jumped when a knock sounded at the door. Will stood straight up and Emma felt the weight of the germs coming over her again. Will looked over his shoulder and motioned for Rachel to open the door.
"Um...here..." The awkward teen male hung in the doorway and handed Rachel Emma's change of clothes.
"Thank you Finn." Will said and Rachel walked the clothes over to Will.
Will accepted the clothes and carefully shoved them under his arm, cautious not to wrinkle the clothing.
"I think you two should go now." Will advised the two co-captains of glee club and Rachel nodded silently in understanding. She shuffled out of the doorway and let the door swing closed behind her.
Will turned back to Emma and saw that her eyes had widened in panicked shock and she was staring blankly ahead.
"Emma." He gently called out to her and Emma slowly lifted her head. "I have a change of clothes for you here. I'm going to step out for a moment and let you -"
"No!" Emma cried and lunged out of her seat, throwing her arms around Will and burying her face into his chest. "No." She whimpered. "Don't leave Will, please."
Will's arms gently surrounded her and he brushed his lips against the top of her head. "I'm right here Em. I'm not going anywhere."
She closed her eyes tightly and buried herself further into chest. She inhaled the scent of his cologne mixed with his fabric softener and his own unique smell and miraculously felt the germs disappearing. Even though Will had cleaned off most of the liquid from her skin, the stickiness still remained and part of her wanted nothing more than to go home and take a very long, very hot shower but with Will there she didn't find that need to be too great.
Her arms tightened around him, afraid that if she let go, he'd disappear. She didn't want him to ever disappear, she had never felt so protected, so much safer than she did in Will's arms.
At the tightening on her grip around him, Will tightened his grip around her, buried his face into her hair and gently started to rock them back and forth.
Emma let out a shuddering breath and Will mistook the contented sigh as a sob and he tightened his hold on her further. "It's okay Emma." He whispered into her hair. "It's alright, you're alright."
Emma was becoming so relaxed she didn't even both to correct Will. A small smile pulled at the corners of her lips and she turned her head so her left ear was resting right above his heart.
The continuous beating of his heart continued to relax her and all thoughts and worries of germs and messes completely evaded her mind.
Twenty two years ago it took months for Emma to feel comfortable to even touch her parents after the incident. Whenever something spilled on her in the years afterwards she still refused to let anyone touch her until she had taken a shower and felt completely clean of all germs. With Will to hold her and to take care of her, it took ten minutes and not even a shower for her to feel the most at ease she had ever felt around a mess. That thought alone was enough to provoke her already high emotions and caused salty, hot tears to escape her closed eyelids.
Once Will felt the tears soaking his shirt and heard Emma's sniffling, he started to rub Emma's back in comfort and pressed continuous feather light kisses to the top of her head. "Oh Emma..."
Emma laughed softly at his misunderstanding of her tears but the sound could easily be mistaken for a strangle sob.
"Thank you Will." She whispered.
"For what Em?"
She snuggled further into his chest, his warmth enveloping her in a blanket that shielded her from any worries the outside world might hold for her.
"For being my hero."