This is in dedication to Raine, who has waited SO patiently for this! And Charlotte, who always supports me no matter what cuz she's the best fanfic buddy in the world. And to all you other readers who waited so long! I hope you love it!
Will stood off to the side of the decorated gymnasium his head rested back against the wall, and his arms crossed lightly over his chest as he observed the dancing teenagers. It wasn't his first time chaperoning a prom and it wouldn't be his last either.
He usually wouldn't mind chaperoning, he always loved observing the kids when they were able to have fun and not complaining about doing classwork or homework or throwing spitballs at each other when they thought he wasn't looking.
And now especially that he had his glee kids and they were able to attend the junior prom, he was happy to watch them be happy with their dates. The choir room had become so full of drama lately that glee was hardly fun anymore, for him and for the kids, and it was nice to see them getting along and dancing together. For the most part anyway, he kept an eye on Finn and Jesse who were eyeing each other all night.
But the reason he was not enjoying himself as much as he should have was because he had set his heart on having company for the evening.
A certain red-haired, doe eyed beauty that captured his heart, and was so recently annulled from her ridiculous (in his opinion, though he was slightly biased) marriage.
He was so close to asking her to accompany him to chaperoning duties, they had dove into the topic of prom easily at their usual lunch table conversation and seeing the conversation drifting somewhere else he picked it back up with, "So speaking of prom..." and she had looked at him with this big brown eyes, and that cute little smile on her lips, and her crinkly glove covered hands poised in mid air as she awaited him to continue.
And he froze.
Like a little chipmunk facing a beast, he froze, shaking in his boots (not quite literally) and waited for the fight-or-flight mechanism to kick in.
His body chose flight and he stuttered over a few consonants and vowels before mentioning that the glee club was asked to perform.
Emma giggled and told him that he'd already said that to which he stuttered again and quickly changed the topic.
He cursed himself for the rest of the day, especially after lunch ended and he walked Emma back to her office and chickened out again to ask her.
The rest of his classes that day he found almost every sentence he used to teach the kids had pollo in it.
He knew that he had one final chance at the end of the day to ask her and after a few classes of cursing himself, he started to build up his confidence. And when a quiet boy in his junior class asked one of the girls out to prom at the end of his class and she said yes, Will knew he had to go and ask Emma.
He gave himself a little pep talk as he marched confidently towards Emma's office, preparing the perfect way to ask her as if he was once again a junior in high school.
But also like a junior in high school, he caught sight of the woman of his affections and all his courage dropped to the floor. Thoughts screamed in his head, it's too soon! She just got out of a marriage! You can't mess this up again!
And so before she could see him he turned back on his heel and retreated back towards his classroom, his heart sinking deep into his stomach.
That left him standing alone in the noisy gym when all he wanted to do was go home and have a beer or two and drown himself in pitiful loneliness.
And to make matters worse, Sue, being the prom coordinator was also in the vicinity. And though she had yet to torture him she was heading his way and he rolled his eyes, glaring at the cheerleading coach.
"Schuester." Sue spat in a greeting and eyed him up and down with a critical eye. "You look absolutely disgusting tonight."
"Thanks Sue." He remarked dryly, trying to avoid eye contact with the devil incarnate.
"I mean honestly it looks you took a shopping spree in an ugly vest factory and there is so much grease in your hair I just worry about these kids safety, its a fire hazard William, especially with all these lights." She motioned to the elaborate lighting fixtures hanging from the ceiling.
He resisted rolling his eyes and slowly inclined his head towards her. "Did you just come here to insult me, Sue?"
"I must admit it was a major part of my plan for this evening." She contended.
"And the other part?"
"Keeping these hooligans in line, of course. We cannot have anybody spiking the punch, William, especially not after that whole alcohol fiasco a few weeks ago which you were so willing to encourage."
He opened his mouth to protest but she kept right on talking, "Can you imagine what would happen if these kids got alcohol? Especially your glee kids? Oh it would be terrible. Wonderful but terrible. And if it does happen, you will be the one cleaning up the mess, Schuester."
He sighed deeply, closing his eyes tightly and rubbing his temples. "Shouldn't you be torturing someone else?"
She shrugged. "No one else is as fun."
"Of course not." He muttered.
"Besides Will, I am not the one doing the torturing. You signed up to do baby sit these sex crazed little humans."
"It's not the kids that are bothering me, Sue." He retorted.
"The point I am trying to make here William before you so rudely interrupted," He rolled his eyes, "is that you're standing over here while your girlfriend is all alone."
He narrowed his eyes inquisitively, his interest now peeked. "I don't have a girlfriend."
The cheerleading coach shrugged her tracksuit clad shoulders. "Call that ginger pygmy what you will, I personally don't give a damn whether she's your girlfriend, your wife," His cheeks flushed at the thought and a small little smile tugged at his lips, "or your personal sex slave." His smile fell and he turned a glare on the blonde. "And quite frankly I think it would be hysterical to watch her try to mingle with these snot-nosed brats but the only thing I would find funnier is seeing you two doing it together."
His heart began to beat just a little bit faster as his eyes quickly scanned the room for Emma. At first glance through the crowds and dimly lit room he couldn't see her and he frowned, once again convinced that Sue was lying just to get on his nerves.
"Sue, I really have no idea what you're talking about."
"Are you having one of those midlife crises again, William? Because if you are that would make me extremely happy."
Will turned to look at her, his brow lifted and an inquisitive glare in his eyes. Sue groaned and grabbed him roughly around the shoulders, pointing across the dance floor. "Open your eyes Schuester. Frankly, I don't know how you could miss her, she sticks out like a huge zit on an ugly kids face."
He followed Sue's finger, over the heads of the dancing teenagers to where he finally saw her. Standing amongst a few side lined teens who didn't want to get in the dance mess was Emma Pillsbury, dressed in a simple but stunning green dress with her ginger hair curled and falling gracefully around her pale, creamy shoulders.
He swallowed hard, suddenly finding it hard to breathe. He was constantly in awe of Emma and how beautiful she looked every day in her skirts and blouses and heels. (Oh those heels supporting those calves.)But this was a whole new level. He had seen Emma in a wedding dress and thought she was stunning but he was married then and just starting to fall for her and couldn't really appreciate her beauty.
Now however was a completely different story. He was single and completely, madly in love with her and add that to the sparkling lights of the gym and the dress she was wearing...he was completely blown away.
Sue must have noticed his dazed stare because she suddenly slapped him, hard, on the back, snapping him out of his Emma trance. "Keep it in your pants, William."
He turned to once again glare at Sue but found himself staring at her retreating back as she disappeared through the crowd of teenagers. He sighed and shook his head, trying to forget all about Sue.
He scanned the crowd again and found Emma quicker that time, the smile growing on his face as he stared at her.
Her lips were turned up in a cute little smile and her hands were folded in front of her acting as some sort of barrier from the kids around her.
He straightened out his tie, ran a hand through his curls and then began to make his way around the side of the gym to get to her.
He wondered how long it would take for her to spot him and just when he was ten feet from her she turned her head and caught his eye. Her face lit up and her smile grew into a grin and turned her body towards him. He smiled in return and quickened his pace until he was standing right next to her.
"Hey there." He greeted, raising his voice over the loud music.
"Hello." She greeted back, giggling a little.
"Fancy seeing you here." He said and though it was dark he swore he could see her cheeks flush. "I thought prom wasn't your thing."
"It's not." She shook her head lightly and her curls bounced along with the swing of her head. "But, I missed my own prom and I do regret that. I know its only a junior prom but its important to the glee kids and I figured if I were to go to any prom it would be theirs."
He grinned and nudged her with his elbow lightly. "I'm proud of you, Em."
She ducked her head shyly. "Thanks Will."
He eyed her and discovered that she looked even more beautiful up close. He bit the inside of his cheek, debating whether or not to say so.
Be a man, Schuester. He scolded himself.
He swallowed over the lump in his throat and leaned in closer, noticing Emma's eyes widen as his face neared hers. "You look beautiful." He whispered near her ear.
He definitely saw her cheeks flush that time and she turned her head to the side to meet his eyes, a smile taking over her face. "Thank you." She smoothed her hands down the front of her dress and shrugged her shoulders. "I found it in my closet, I don't remember ever wearing it. It's not much but I didn't want to out shine any of the girls' beautiful dresses."
"It's perfect." He commented, his breath tickling the loose hair around her ears and a shiver ran down her spine.
Emma bit down on her lip softly, her eyes twinkling in delight and under the glittering multi-colored lights, trying to suppress a smile. Her eyes lifted slowly and locked on his and his breath caught in his chest. He wasn't sure he remembered the last time he and Emma were this close. And to be that close in a dim setting with semi-romantic lightning...it took all that was in him not to kiss her right then and there. Especially when her bottom lip slid out from underneath the gentle hold of her pearly white teeth, now pink and plump and inviting, and worked with her upper lip, just as pink and perfect, to form a beautiful smile.
He swallowed hard, catching himself after realizing, that he was, tantalizingly slow, leaning in towards her. He whipped his head away quickly, taking a step back before he did anything he would regret and hoped Emma hadn't noticed.
She had noticed and she tried to hide the disappointment on her face when he pulled away. She took a step back as well and tossed a little smile his way to which he returned albeit awkwardly.
They both focused their attention on the kids dancing around them, Emma, with her hands folded in front of her and Will with his hands at sides, mentally kicking himself for letting yet another awkward silence fall between them.
He desperately wanted to speak to her but his mind had gone blank and if he tried to say anything that resembled small talk such as 'So...how're you enjoying the weather?' it might come out as, 'You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen.' Which wouldn't be the worst thing to say of course but he figured as soon as she'd blush (because she most certainly would) he'd blurt out another phrase that wasn't so...gentlemanly.
He kept glancing over to Emma, hoping that she'd be the one to start a conversation, she usually did have something to say at lunch. But this was a different setting, they weren't at a lunch table, wanting to talk about anything and everything. They were at a prom, she in a gorgeous dress, and he in a - well a more fancy- vest. It was enchanting and romantic and true the glee club hadn't sung any slow songs yet (it was still early in the night, and they didn't want to be run off the stage for being 'losers') but that only gave him more time to work up the courage so when they did he'd be able to ask Emma to dance.
Nearly fifteen minutes had passed and not a word was said between them. Will had finally psyched his mind enough to start a normal, non- flirtatious conversation with Emma when there was a commotion near the drinks table. A couple, none of which were his glee kids, were arguing and the girl was wildly throwing her hands in the air, screaming at the boy over the loud music. Will, being the closest teacher near by, had to go settle the argument before it got too heated and the punch bowl ended up over that poor junior boy's head. He gently touched Emma's arm and she jumped at the sudden contact, looked over at Will and he nodded over to the table to let her know where he was going. She nodded with a smile and he lightly squeezed her arm before walking over to the table.
After he separated the couple, convincing the young girl to go dance with her friends for a while, he immediately searched for Emma. He was disheartened to find the spot she was earlier standing in was now taken by a couple kids who didn't quite want to go on the dance floor.
His eyes squinted against the dim lightning and he searched for orange and green. He eventually spotted her talking to one of the math teachers, Ms. Clarke. The two women were smiling and laughing and Will almost didn't have the heart to go and break up their conversation.
He didn't want to be rude and intrude, so he approached them slowly, standing just a few feet away, turning to watch the kids dance.
Ms. Clarke had just finished an obviously funny story since when he got there both Emma and the math teacher were all giggles. He pretended not to be listening and clearly Ms. Clarke didn't think he was in hearing range.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Ms. Clarke lean towards Emma and eye him knowingly. "Will is here."
Emma lifted her head and her eyes trailed over to where he stood. Her eyes were burning holes into his back and he wished he could go over there and smother the fire beginning to grow between them.
Emma then whispered something to Ms. Clarke that Will couldn't hear over the loud music and the other woman grinned at her with a nod. She gave Emma a subtly pat on the hand and then walked away, greeting Will with a smirk and a 'Good to see you' as she passed.
Will cocked an eyebrow as she watched her pass him and then to look at Emma, wondering what it is that Emma said to her. She bit her lip again once she caught his gaze and his heart skipped a beat. That woman would be the absolute death of him.
She bowed her head for a moment, fiddling with her fingers before slowly making her way over to him.
"Everything okay?" She asked once she was beside him and motioned over to the drink table.
"There were no casualties this time." He assured and she giggled.
"Good, I'm glad to hear that."
He turned to face her head on and smiled warmly at her. "So what were you and Rebecca talking about?"
"Oh," a laugh burst from Emma's lips but he also noticed the light blush that crossed her cheeks. "She was just telling me about a time when none of her kids had done her homework and she scared them with a pop quiz. She could see them shaking in their chairs the whole class and waited until the last minute to tell them that she wasn't counting it towards the final grade."
Will smirked at the story and made a mental note to use that tactic against his class sometime. "She's a smart woman."
"Yes." Emma agreed with a nod and a secret smile.
Will pretended not to notice the smile but it stuck in his brain and had all his thoughts centered around it. What had Emma said to Rebecca? Why did Emma think Rebecca was a smart woman other than her teaching methods? Why did Emma look nervous?
Why did Emma look nervous?
She was still fiddling with her thumbs, and biting down on her lip, occasionally looking up at him and then shooting her gaze back at the floor.
He was fully intrigued now.
Could it be actually possible that the reason Emma was nervous was for the same reason he was? That she was actually in love with him and wanted to ask him to dance but was too shy and afraid of rejection?
He saw more than heard Emma inhale deeply and turn to him with a determined look on her pretty little face. She opened her mouth to speak but she was cut off by Rachel suddenly taking the microphone on stage.
"Our next song, performed by Tina Cohen-Chang, is for all the couples out here tonight." She said shortly, a flicker of hurt crossing her face as she glanced over at Finn and Quinn and there were a couple of groans as Tina took the mic and several people left the dance floor.
"Come on, Danny!" A girl cried from behind Will and Emma and a blonde dashed past them, dragging along her reluctant boyfriend, and knocking Emma off her feet. She squeaked as she lost her footing and fell forwards into Will's arm's, colliding with his strong chest.
They both froze as they realized their current position and Emma held her breath, silently reveling in the feeling of Will's strong arms wrapped around her. She slowly tilted her head back and met Will's warm but slightly darkened eyes. Her lips twitched in a small smile as she gripped onto his vest but dared not move from his hold.
Tina's sweet vocals filled the air as many of the teen couples started to dance.
Here I was again tonight forcing laughter, faking smiles
Same old tired, lonely place
Walls of insincerity
Shifting eyes and vacancy vanished when I saw your face
All I can say is it was enchanting to meet you
Will swallowed over the lump in his throat and mustering up all the courage he had, whispered to the woman in his arms, "Would you like to dance?"
Emma's smile grew and she finally straightened herself, pulling ever so slightly away from Will. "I would love to."
A smile that sent her heart fluttering crossed his face and he slowly released her only to take a hold of her hand. She intwined her fingers with his as he led her out to the edges of the dance floor where not many of the kids were.
She slid her arms back onto his chest, keeping her eyes focused on the spot where his heart rest inside his chest, as his arms slipped lightly around her waist. Not having enough courage yet to look at his face she simply leaned forward and rested her head against his chest, her own heart rate climbing as she felt Will's heart beating rapidly against his ribcage.
She closed her eyes, a serene smile crossing her lips and hummed as she snuggled further into his chest. Will's arms tightened around her and he rested his chin on top of her head, her hair tickling the underside of his jaw and he smiled.
This night is sparkling, don't you let it go
I'm wonderstruck, blushing all the way home
I'll spend forever wondering if you knew
I was enchanted to meet you
Emma suddenly let out a little giggle as Will started to whisper the lyrics into her ear.
"Will, I had no idea you liked Taylor Swift." She murmured into his chest.
She felt a rumble of a chuckle in his chest and the smirk against her head. "Just...don't tell anybody. The glee kids might mock me for the rest of my life."
She laughed again, more breathlessly this time and shook her head lightly. "Your secret is safe with me."
His smile widened and he daringly dropped a small kiss to the top of her head. Emma though her heart would be right out of her chest at that action and she finally lifted her head to meet his eyes.
Her breath was stolen away at the look on his face. All the thoughts she had been convincing herself of the last few months with Carl were finally stripped away at this moment. Their complicated past be damned, Emma loved Will and that was that.
Biting down on her lip, which of course was Will's weakness for the evening, Emma slowly slid her hands upwards so her arms wound around his neck. A shiver ran down his spine as her soft hands ran over the hot skin of his neck. The tips of her fingers very lightly played with the hairs at the nape of his neck and he had to suppress a groan. He loved when women played with his hair and having Emma, the woman he loved most all, play with his hair...
This is me praying that this was the very first page
Not where the story line ends
My thoughts will echo your name until I see you again
These are the words I held back as I was leaving too soon
I was enchanted to meet you
Will lowered his head to rest near the side of hers, his lips ever so lightly brushing against the shell of her ear as he sang along with Tina.
Please don't be in love with someone else
Please don't have somebody waiting on you
Please don't be in love with someone else
Please don't have somebody waiting on you
Emma felt a sudden warmth throughout her body as the words were being sung to her. She knew they weren't just words...not for Will, not with them.
As the chorus started again, Emma backed away from Will and he, at the sudden loss of contact, lifted his head, a look of panic in his eyes. She smiled reassuringly, shaking her head. She then brought her hand to rest on his face and his eyes fluttered closed for a moment as he leaned into her touch. When he opened his eyes again his heart leapt into his throat at the sight of Emma leaning in towards him.
It took him a lot longer than he it should have to react when Emma's lips met his. It was their first kiss in almost a year and it wasn't because he was trying to desperately to win her back and it wasn't because she was being forced, it was because, here in this moment they were in love and nothing was wrong.
His arms tightened around her waist and pulled her closer, tilting his head and parting his lips to deepen the kiss. He mentally cursed himself when he felt Emma tense in his hold but then she took him by surprise and tightened her arms around his neck, delving further into the kiss, smiling firmly against his mouth.
He thought the best feeling in the world was winning Nationals in '93 and then his glee kids winning regionals. But he was wrong. Holding Emma against him, their lips molded together in an act of intimacy and love, standing there knowing they were there against horrible marriage, fake pregnancies, acts of bad judgement and stupidity, and forced marriages, it was breathtaking, and wonderful, and amazing and...enchanting.
Please don't be in love with someone else
Please don't have somebody waiting on you