Chapter 10

Beautiful Mess

"Don't forget—your essays are due next week!" Mr. Martinez called out to the class amidst the loud ringing of the final bell and the noise of students hurrying to pack their bags and exit the class room—students who were obviously, undoubtedly no longer listening to him.

Will was one of the last to leave, not wanting to go along with his classmates who have crowded the door, acting like prisoners who have just been set free from their prison cells; he had noticed Rachel, methodical and neat in placing her notebooks and pens back into her bag, was one of the few who had not yet left the room.

"Uh, hi, Rachel." Will walked over to where she was standing in the front row as she zipped her pink backpack shut. Rachel spun around gracefully and grinned warmly at him.

"Hello, Will!" She greeted him. "Have you seen Emma Pillsbury?"

Will was still getting used to Rachel's overt straightforwardness, but he responded anyway. "No, I haven't. Why?"

It was funny how she asked him about Emma because Will had been thinking about her for quite a while now—since last night, to be exact—ever since he woke up in the couch of their living room and found that Emma had laid her head on his shoulder, also seemingly possessively holding on to his arm as she slept. Even as Emma had apologized repeatedly that night for sleeping on him, the memory still made him smile every time he would relive it over and over in his mind—which was, well, almost all the time; to be honest, Will was only half-attentive in all his classes today because of that, and not having seen Emma yet (who was probably busy in the cafeteria's kitchen again) made him want to relive that memory until he saw the actual ginger-haired sophomore again.

"Well, she's part of the glee club, isn't she?" Rachel stated as though Will should already know why. They walked out of the classroom together after bidding their Spanish teacher goodbye. "I want you to do me a favor—and don't worry, it's for the club too, it's not like I'm ordering you around because I'm co-captain or something…." The brunette may be tiny but her presence was impossible to ignore. She looked up at Will, grinning widely. "So, are you up to it?"

Will shrugged. "Sure. What is it?"

"Could you get Emma to be present in the choir room today? We need to discuss song suggestions because they've just released the theme for Regionals this year and I want to make sure we have a perfect attendance today—no exceptions. Besides, everyone gets to say their opinions on the songs we'll be singing next month." Rachel paused and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear before she opened her mouth to speak again, seemingly unable to stop herself. "I don't mean to bother you—in fact I'd rather let Finn talk to her, really—but I figured it wouldn't be so hard for you to do, I mean who else will she listen to best if not the guy she's dating, right?"

Will's eyebrows shot up immediately, his eyes dilating. "No, no—we're not—no," he stammered. "E-Emma and I are not… dating." As he said it, a part of him wished that they were, but he knew that it would be a lie.

Rachel's face scrunched up in confusion. "Oh, you're not?" Then she giggled. "Are you sure about that? Because when Finn and I had started dating a few months back, he totally wanted to keep it a secret too but nothing ever stays secret in a small town like Lima, much less in this gossipy high school—"

"Seriously, Rachel—we're not." Will interrupted her babbling, placing both hands on her shoulders to keep her still because Rachel had started skipping giddily, rooting for Will and Emma as a pair. "We're not," he repeated, for emphasis.

"Someday, you're really going to regret saying that!" Rachel giggled, as she wiggled free from Will's grip, still beaming as she skipped away. "Show up at 3:30 with Emma, okay?" She yelled out to him as she left.

"Yeah, I will!" He yelled back at Rachel as she disappeared into the next corner. Will proceeded to walk alone, wondering where he was going to find Emma first; the obvious option would be to check if she was by her locker, so he made her way there, smiling reminiscently as he recalled his conversation with Rachel just a few minutes ago.

Rachel thought I was dating Emma… well, we're not, but I wish we were, though—wait, did I really just think that?! So… does everyone else think we're dating too?

Will slipped his hands in his pockets, occupied by thoughts of him and Emma dating, if possible, in the future; he wondered how it would be like, how it would feel like to be with Emma not simply as a friend… and he suddenly thought how much his deceased mother would have loved to meet a kindhearted, gentle girl like Emma….

Do I really want to date her? Or was it just the idea of dating Emma that Rachel put into my mind influencing my imagination? It was all so tricky to Will, but he made himself believe that these were merely thoughts anyway and thoughts couldn't do much harm than actually acting upon it, right? Little did he know that he was terribly, terribly wrong….

Having just passed by the girls' bathroom, a familiar voice called out from behind him. "Will!" Emma jogged a little to catch up with Will, who had stopped walking and turned as soon as he heard her voice.

"I was just coming to find you," she said, straightening out her long, wavy hair. "I need to talk to you about something."

Will chuckled. "Me too, actually!" He couldn't help but grin happily, sincerely glad that he finally got to see Emma again; there was something about not seeing her the entire day that made him miss her so much. "But you go first. What's up?"

Smiling back a bit nervously, Emma cleared her throat and clamped her hands together. She honestly had no idea how to tell Will she didn't really want to be in the glee club, but she knew she had to tell him sooner instead of letting it go too far; this was the longest time she has ever kept herself from telling the truth and it's making her uncomfortable, being the conscientious person she is. "It's about the glee club," she began, trying to keep her voice from shaking.

"Really? I was going to say something about that too!" Will chuckled again.

"You might as well go first, then," Emma mumbled, beginning to panic.

"No, I didn't mean it like that, you—"

"It's okay, Will. Please go first?" Emma's hands were sweating but she smiled up at him nonetheless, her mind still finding the right words that would hopefully not offend or hurt Will's feelings.

"Fine," shrugged Will. "The theme for Regionals is out and Rachel wants us all in the choir room today to talk about songs we will be singing!" He could barely hide his excitement, nudging Emma's arm playfully. "Exciting, right? I came to find you so we could go to the choir room together, but enough of that—what were you going to say?"

"Oh, um… nothing." Emma shook her head. "Nothing."

"Are you sure? You seem intent on telling me something…."

Will was too busy convincing Emma to tell him what she was planning to say, and the latter was just as busy dodging Will's constant questioning that they did not notice two boys, burly and wearing football varsity jackets, approaching them, snickering.

Everything else happened in a span of seconds; it was too late for both Will and Emma to get out of the way of the inevitable disaster that was coming.

"Hey, Schuester!" One of the boys yelled as he got behind Will, nudging the curly-haired boy as he instinctively turned to face whoever had called him.

"We wanna see how you sing and dance your way out of this one!" The other broad-shouldered boy laughed, and together, the jocks took out from behind their backs two large cups of slushies and threw it at Will's face without warning. He stepped back and fell against Emma—who supportively held on to him—as the two boys paraded away proudly, their laughter, sadistic and booming, echoed the corridors.

"Will, I—are you—oh m-my goodness—"

"Emma, my eyes are stinging!" He screamed desperately, his eyes blinking uncontrollably.

They were lucky to have been standing not so far away from the boys' bathroom; Emma hurriedly dragged Will inside and led him to one of the sinks so that he could rinse his face.

"Do you have extra clothes?" Emma asked, checking the stalls if anyone else was with them; thankfully, there were none.

"No," Will muttered amidst the loud rushing water from the faucet.

"No?" Emma repeated, feeling even more panicky than she was before the slushie incident.

"I said no—!" Will paused, splashing his face and his eyes with more water. "I had P.E. class yesterday, so I took all my gym clothes back to the house for washing, okay?"

Emma sighed heavily, slapping her hand to her forehead. "Okay," she heaved, setting her bag down onto one of the sinks. "Just stay right here; I'll be right back."

"Where—" Will tried to ask, but Emma had pushed the door open and left. "Ah, crap," he muttered to himself, his eyes still stinging. Struggling to keep his eyes open, he kept splashing water onto his face until he had flushed out the slushies that the two jocks had thrown at him—or at least until he felt he could blink properly again.

The door swung open again and Emma rushed in, panting. "S-so… how—are—you—feeling?"

Will turned to face her, blinking, his face dripping wet. "Much better, I guess."

"Really? Because your eyes are red around the edges," Emma's eyes narrowed at him as she set down on top of her bag what looked like a hoodie. She approached him, and standing merely a few inches away, began dabbing at Will's face with her yellow face towel. "You're soaking wet too… I mean how is that okay?" she mumbled to herself, frowning.

Will closed his eyes as Emma brushed his fingers above his eyelids, her face towel trailing close by; she carefully placed her fingers on his forehead, trailing down to his nose, cheekbones, lips, and finally his chin— his cute chin dimple that Emma had grown to love. "I should've warned you about this. I'm sorry, Will." Emma's voice cracked, and Will shot his eyes open, more worried than confused about what she had just said.

"Warn me about what?" Will took her tiny but warm hand, enclosing it in his two large ones.

Emma looked up at Will, a lone tear falling from her eye. "That this would happen… Karofsky and Azimio, well, they have this thing—against the glee club. Particularly after Finn and the some guys from the football team decided to join. Finn's the captain of the team, and I guess… maybe Azimio and Karofsky felt betrayed, and so they've been throwing slushies at members of the glee club since."

"Have they slushied—is that the right word, slushied—everyone in Glee?" Will ran his fingers through his hair, cringing at how sticky it had become.

"I think they haven't slushied the cheerleaders—Quinn, Brittany, and Santana—at least not yet, but I don't know for sure… I've only heard stories. And then there's me." Emma slouched, eyeing Will from head to toe before taking him by the hand and leading him back to the sink. "Bend over—I'll rinse your hair."

Nodding obediently, Will did what he was told and grasped both sides of the sink as Emma began soothingly massaging his scalp. "It tasted like strawberries and grapes," he said.

"What?"

"The slushies… that's what they tasted like."

"Oh. I'm sorry you had to taste it that way." Emma replied, to which Will couldn't help but smile grimly. She patted his shoulders gently, gesturing for him to stand upright again. "All done." Emma handed Will the damp face towel and took the red hoodie resting atop her backpack. "And since you have no extra clothes you can borrow this." She showed him the hoodie—blood red, with the McKinley High logo and Pillsbury printed out at the front in white letters. "It was my brother's, from when he was part of the school's swim team a few years ago. He's a bit taller than you—and larger—so you don't have to worry about it not fitting you."

"I didn't know you had a brother."

"Well, now you do," said Emma, smiling to herself. "I met Henry through him, actually. Patrick and Henry used to be in the same swimming class, you know. Although back then Henry was just getting started and my brother was already pretty advanced—anyway, enough of the history. You should change."

"Right." Will nonchalantly unbuttoned his shirt and shrugged off his slushie-stained clothing. "Emma, um…."

"Y-yes?" Emma had been trying her hardest to look away from Will's bare torso, but she couldn't; she choked nervously in response, forcing her head up so that she faced the ceiling instead.

"Are you okay—"

"I-I'm fine!"

"Could you help me wipe my back, if that's okay with you?" Will asked, all the while keenly observing Emma's face, which he found endearing; her tiny oval face was framed with her long locks of ginger hair, her doe eyes blinking at the nonresponsive ceiling, her lips pursed—her cheeks were furiously blushing red—and Will realized, a tad bit late, how uneasy she must be feeling, standing there with him, his chest bared, half-naked. "N-no, you know what, I could just do it myself. I don't want to make you uncomfortable—"

"I, uh—no, I-I'll do it." Emma immediately approached Will, despite her slightly shaking hands and the blush creeping down to her neck, and methodically began to clean him up, starting to wipe his broad shoulders, following the descent of his spine, down to the small spot in his back just above his buttocks.

"Thanks, Em." Will turned around and smiled gratefully at Emma. "Are you sure you want me to wear your brother's jacket?"

Emma had looked away and was rinsing her face towel by the sink; in the mirror, Will could see that she was hiding her face because she was still blushing, even redder now than her ginger hair—or so it seemed like to him. He was still quite unsure if it was because he kept putting her in uncomfortable situations like this one or if it was because—he hoped—she had begun to develop romantic feelings for him.

"Of course! It's not a problem, Will." Emma had squeezed her face towel dry and placed it back in a sealable plastic purse. She was determined not to look at Will until he's worn the jacket, just to make sure she wouldn't catch herself ogling at him again.

"Thanks—again." Will grabbed his soiled shirt and hastily stashed it into his backpack before slipping comfortably into Patrick Pillsbury's red hoodie. "How does it look on me?"

Emma's face lit up as she faced the boy who now wore her brother's varsity jacket; Will's curly hair was sloppy and wet and his face was quite pale, but he eagerly posed like Michelangelo's David nonetheless.

"Perfect fit!" she giggled, slapping Will's arm playfully. "You'd sell clothes better than those mannequins posing down at the mall."

Will laughed, slinging his bag over his shoulder. "Aw, geez—that's the best compliment I've heard in a very long time! Modeling isn't my thing but I'm glad I could consider it an option," he continued, still chuckling. Glancing down at his watch, Will rubbed his nape anxiously. "Crap, we're late for rehearsals. Let's go, Em…." He took Emma's hand and tugged softly at it.

"I, um—" Emma was yet again at a loss for words, unable to tell Will that she really wanted to pull out of New Directions. The whole slushie incident was very bad timing indeed, and now Emma couldn't bring herself to dampen the only thing left to brighten Will's day after getting soaked in ice-cold, brightly colored, and sickly sweet liquid. She cleared her throat and nodded, still weighing the pros and cons of her impending decision as they battled each other out in her head. "S-sure. Let's go…." Emma sighed helplessly.

xx

Opening the door as quietly as possible, Will and Emma tiptoed their way into the choir room to avoid interrupting Rachel, who was in the middle of delivering a speech which she usually gave the New Directions.

"You're late—" snapped Rachel, turning to glare at them, her arms akimbo, but a split-second later she went into a brief fit of giggles upon seeing what Will was wearing. "Oh, hello, lovebirds. Glad you could make it anyway. Take a seat," she said, winking at Will knowingly and suddenly sounding graciously kind.

Will glared back at Rachel, shaking his head in denial. "Ignore her, she's crazy," he whispered in Emma's ear as they sat down, while Rachel continued to fangirl over them.

"But guys, look!" Rachel squealed, giddily pointing at the red hoodie with Pillsbury standing out in a large, white letters. "You're adorable, Will—changing clothes to express your undying love for—!"

"Cut it out, Rachel," Will chuckled, but he wasn't enjoying the focus that had turned towards him and Emma. "I had to change, okay? Something came up—"

"Wanky!" Santana interrupted this time, pumping her fist in the air. "I called it you guys, I told y'all, these two are banging—"

"It's not like that—" Will shook his head again. "Can we talk about Regionals, please? We're having a pointless discussion here—"

"Yeah, but would you clarify something for us, man? What's up with the outfit change?" Finn spoke up; Rachel beamed, glad that her boyfriend was helping cheer on them too.

Will opened his mouth to speak but Emma nudged him. "He got slushied," she admitted before he could try to say anything, and the room fell silent as the wave of realization that they were still seen as losers by the entire school washed upon them all. "I let him borrow my brother's old varsity jacket because he had no extra clothes. That's it. Really," she added, when Santana and Brittany snickered behind them.

Rachel pursed her lips and crossed her arms. "I'm sorry you had to go through that. The perks of being in Glee, eh?" She joked, but even Will knew that the subject of being bullied for merely belonging in a club made Rachel and the entire New Directions uncomfortable. It was wrong in itself to be bullied, and to be bullied for doing things you love the most and expressing your heart out was sure to pull anyone down into a dark niche of worthlessness.

"I'll beat the crap out of Azimio and Karofsky! Those idiots," Puck grumbled, cracking his fist knuckles.

"Yes, and get suspended? Save it until after Nationals, Noah," Rachel snapped, and in an instant her war face was back on. "We can't let them get to us. No matter how… degraded, humiliated, and hopeless they make us feel—we'll rise above it. We're better off that way." A tear rolled down Rachel's cheek, but she rashly wiped it off before showing the group a long, brown envelope. "As I was saying before Will and Emma arrived, Mrs. Adler entrusted to me the envelope containing this year's theme for Regionals. She won't be present during rehearsals because her doctor advised against it following her diagnosed heart ailment—don't worry, we can still consult her in her office if we need anything—but still, because of this I need all of your help and cooperation to work as efficiently and perform just as enthusiastically as though our beloved faculty adviser is here, supervising us. We have a month to get this all polished; we have a month to prepare for what might be our last performance—but I hope it won't have to be; we have a month to prove to the rest of McKinley High that New Directions can and will have a reputable place in this school! Now Mrs. Adler had already opened this and told me what the theme was, but I still can't wait for you guys to find out for yourselves! Are you ready?"

New Directions hooted and cheered, while Finn, who stood at the side, hurriedly played a drum roll to add to the suspense; even Emma, feeling like she did not deserve to be part of this talented group of people, couldn't help but shiver in her seat as her heart raced.

"Hold on, here it is; the theme for this year's Regionals is—" Rachel announced, "—Sky's The Limit! Yay!"

"That's one seriously vague theme," Quinn Fabray, captain of the Cheerios, commented.

"But the possibilities are endless! I have a song suggestion, Rachel," Kurt said, swiftly raising his hand.

"Okay, I know we all have our ideas buzzing, but Finn here would like to start us off—" Rachel said loudly, as her tall boyfriend took a spot next to her, holding sheet music.

"Guys, I thought we could start warming up with this song," he said, handing out the sheet music. "When Rachel told me the theme, I don't know but, uh, this was the first song that came to mind—and maybe it's not Regionals-worthy material but, uh, well, it's still worth jamming to, right?"

"Not a bad song choice, Frankenteen," Santana said, smirking. "I can do lady jams to Panic! At The Disco."

Will received his sheet music and looked down at the title written at the top of the page. He'd heard this song on the radio a few times maybe five or six years ago; Santana was right—not a bad song choice. Not at all. "What do you think?" he whispered to Emma.

"I'm not a huge fan, but I actually really like this song," she replied meekly.

"So anyway," Finn continued. "I think the awesome part about this song was that it came from the band's 'Pretty. Odd.' album, and it just reminded me of what a pretty odd bunch of guys we all are, yeah? We're this misfit band of jocks, and cheerleaders, and divas, and smart kids, and yet we're all still friends…."

"Take it easy, Finn. Don't cry," Mike Chang, a tall Asian boy with spiked black hair jeered jokingly.

"I so agree with you, Finn. We are pretty odd," said Mercedes. "Well, I meant—I'm pretty, and I don't know… Rachel's just odd." The room burst into collective laughter.

Rachel rolled her eyes at the comment but high-fived Mercedes anyway. "Let's get our jam on!" Her high-pitched voice conveyed the anticipation that had stirred into life in the choir room.

"Puck—dude, you take the guitar," Finn called out to his best friend. "Artie—"

"I'm on it!" Artie wheeled himself towards the bass.

Will suddenly stood up, to Emma's surprise. "I'll play the piano," he volunteered.

"Sure, man!" Finn trampled back towards the drum set near Puck and Artie.

Puck started first, plucking at the guitar while Artie and Will followed suit with their respective instruments.

Finn began to sing, gripping his drumsticks tightly, ready to kick things off:

When the moon fell in love with the sun,

All was golden in the sky—

All was golden when the Day met the Night….

He started setting a constant pattern of beats, blending in with the guitar, bass, and piano smoothly. The girls, including Kurt, but with the exception of Emma had stood up and grouped together to sing the next verse:

When the Sun found the Moon,

She was drinking tea in the garden

Under the green umbrella trees

In the middle of summer….

Will had noticed it—how Emma had wanted to join the girls and Kurt, but was overcome by her shyness; the fact that it was only just her first glee club meeting and she didn't want to come off as trying too hard to be close to them only made it worse, and so she sat there alone in her seat, her eyes wide with anxiety.

When the Moon found the Sun,

He looked like he was barely hanging on—

But her eyes saved his life

In the middle of summer….

"Em!" Will called out to her, and as soon as he caught her eye he motioned for her to sit next to him while he played the piano; Emma was only too grateful and relieved to ignore his effort to make her feel included.

So he said, "Would it be alright

If we just sat and talked for a little while,

If in exchange for your time

I give you this smile?"

Singing the words of the song he knew well enough, Will allowed his fingers to glide through the piano keys as he gazed adoringly into Emma's doe eyes, unabashed.

Emma began to sing along with the others, her voice shaky but not out of pitch; her voice was not as loud as the rest of them but Will heard her perfectly clear anyway:

So she said, "That's okay

As long as you can make a promise

Not to break my little heart

Or leave me all alone in the summer…."

Finn waved his drumsticks in the air, signifying that he wanted the boys to sing the next verse:

Well, he was just hanging around,

Then he fell in love—and he didn't know how!

But he couldn't get out—

Just hanging around, then he fell in love….

The chorus came and they all sang together:

In the middle of summer,

All was golden in the sky—

All was golden when the Day met the Night;

Summer, all was golden in the sky—

All was golden when the Day met the Night!

Summer….

It was a messed up arrangement: they were merely a group of kids singing their heart out in the choir room, some of them—particularly Brittany and Mike—even prancing and dancing around choreographing their own moves; even so, they were interwoven bits of a beautiful mess that formed a harmonious bond of friendship, and produced a kind of artistic output that all their young souls craved and yearned for.

Emma had never experienced anything like this in her life; it was strange how she could feel exhilarated and anxious, afraid yet alive, all at once—but it didn't matter, because she had never loved a thrill like this before. Maybe she didn't have to quit glee club after all….

The song ended with an extensive exhibition of Finn's drum-beating skills and Puck's punk-rock guitar riff. New Directions cheered and applauded themselves after the two boys' talent display, which led Rachel to scream out, "This song has definitely made its way into our repertoire, you guys!"

In the midst of the noise, Emma had subtly inched closer to Will, fumbling her thumbs together with her hands on her lap. "Will, about that thing I wanted to tell you earlier…."

Will nudged her softly, pressing his arm to Emma's and closing the gap between their bodies. "What is it?"

"Thanks," she said. "For blackmailing me to audition with you. So now I'm here…." And I don't want to leave, she thought.

Will laughed, bumping his head lightly against Emma's. "I'm glad you're here too," he admitted. "I don't know why I always had this nagging thought that you'd leave, but I'm glad my gut feeling was wrong." He stood up and offered his hand, which Emma took without hesitation; together, they left the piano and returned to their seats in the front row.

"Now back to the task at hand!" Rachel called out again, as New Directions settled back down into their chairs. "Song suggestions! And remember, we need at least one solo number, with a minimum number of three songs…."

Finally, Emma made up her mind to stay in Glee! But poor Will—but hey, there's a time for everything: and apparently, it was his time to experience getting slushied.

What did you think about this chapter? Tell me what your thoughts are!

Note: The jamming session scene in this chapter is inspired by the Ride Wit' Me performance of ND in Season 1 Episode 7, Throwdown. I loved how it was so natural for them to break out into song and just sing with each other, so I made sure they had another jamming session like that in my story.

P.S: The song New Directions sang was When The Day Met The Night by Panic! At The Disco from their Pretty. Odd. album.