Teacher's Lounge

.....

will made his way down the hall, after having an abrupt chat with good ole' sue. Damn he needed a coffe.. he also needed to see emma. this desire had been taunting him all morning... As he made his way down the hall, he passed his students, casually saying hi. This day had a slow start. He pushed the door tothe teachers lounge open, and to his surprise.. he found emma sitting by the window, reading one of her health magazines. She looked beautiful, as always.. I stuttered a bit before any words came out.. "H-H-H-Hey Emma," he said, and managed a baffled smile.

(THERE)

As Emma flipped through the pages of her 'Women's Health' magazine admiring the health-conscious articles, she popped a few green grapes into her mouth. She was way past the stage where she had to sanitize each individual speckle of grape to maintain a happy lunch, yet she was still hesitant about the idea of eating without her rubber gloves. When she was just mid-way through an expose on "What Your Feet Say About Your Health", Emma was startled by a strained voice. It was no other then Will Schuester. "Will," she greeted, with a warm smile. "Hi. How you've been? Come sit." She ushered him to sit down on the chair across from him as she popped another grape in her mouth.

Will could not manage himself properly under these circumstances.. His palms were sweaty, as being in Emma's prescence always made him nervous. When she ushered him to sit down, he was very pleased with the idea. He walked over to the chair, stumbling over his shoelace > ironically, he was head over heels for Emma Pilsbury. Will pulled out a chair from the table. Emma looked up at him with her HUGE, yet beautiful brown eyes.. who knows what he had got himself into.. Will couldnt find the right words to say.. "T-T-Those grapes look good, and I'm fine thanks for asking, how are you?" the words barely slipping through his lips. All Will could focus on, was the ring on Emma's marrige finger. His eye began to twitch as he thought of them together.

Emma couldn't help but to snicker slightly at how intimidated he seemed around her, as much as she hated to admit it...it was rather endearing. A rush of memories flooded her mind of the times when she was the one with the adorable puppy dog crush on Will and she practically squealed with excitement every time he took the time to say a word to her.

Yet similar to their situation a year ago, one of them was settled and married. In this case, it just happened to be Emma who was bestowed with that rock on her finger that represented she was exclusive and committed to only one man. Although, she knew that as much as she convinced herself otherwise...Will and her still maintained that undeniable chemistry.

"They're delicious," she insisted, picking one up, dainty as could be. "Want one?" She offered, instead of waiting for a response she simply tossed it up in the air and watched as it landed in his mouth. Amused, she provided him with a golf-clap while giggling. "Bravo!"

"Um...how has my day been?" she questioned, biting on her lip. "Hmmm, let's see- brutal. I had a rough counseling session with Santana, Sam, and Quinn. Due to inappropriate, sexual behavior." She noticed that the last portion was unnecessary since with Santana in the mix...it was mostly a given. "I don't know how you do with, Will. Dealing with that glee club everyday but you always seem to pull through and feel passionate about what you do as an Educator. I admire you for that!"

It was Lily's first day at McKinley and she couldn't wait to get started. She walked into the teacher's lounge and smiled when she saw her old friend Will sat with another staff member. Lily walked over to them.
"Will Schuester." Lily smiled.

With a smile that just barely reached his eyes, Will listened to Emma compliment him. She admired him. She admired him, but apparently admiration wasn’t going to lead to her having feelings for him again. Although it hurt to know she was with Carl now, he had to learn to respect that. He wanted Emma to himself, and he’d do almost anything to have her back but he had to respect that Emma was happy, though he would never deny the feeling deep inside that told him she would be happier with him instead of Carl.

“They’re my kids,” was the only response he could come up with to her comment. “They mess up and make mistakes, but that’s what being a high school teenager is all about. We made mistakes when we were their age. I just love being able to watch them grow into wonderful young adults along the way.”

He heard a familiar voice and turned in his chair to see one of his best friends at McKinley. One of his best friends in general, if he really thought about it. He had lost touch with most of his old school friends, so the people he had met through teaching were some of the closest people he had, outside of New Directions of course.

“Lily! Long time, no see. I feel like we haven’t talked in ages. How’ve you been?” he asked, smiling and looking genuinely interested in what his fellow teaching friend had been up to this past year.

Lily smiled happily and sat next to Will before she hugged him.
"It has been ages wow. I've been great thanks, teaching in England it was amazing." Lily said cheerily.

Will returned the hug as Lily sat down, smiling from ear to ear at finally seeing his friend again. "That's great! I'm so happy for you, Lily. I always knew you'd be one to travel the world some day. What was it like? I want to hear all about it."

"It was fabulous, it's so nice out there, the students were very gifted in performing arts. What about you what have you been up to?" Lily asked. Lily was extremely interested in what Will had been doing, hell they hadn't spoken for years she was actually quite shocked Will still recognised her.

Will nodded and smiled, intrigued by what Lily had to tell him about England. When she turned the tables and asked about his previous couple of years, his smile brightened as he thought of the kids in New Directions. "I've actually taken over the Glee club here at McKinley. They just won at Regionals," he told her, obviously proud of how far his kids had come. "They've been working so hard this year, and I know they can't wait to go to New York for Nationals in a few weeks."

"Wow congratulations Will! I'm so happy for you and the kids! Speaking of singing, whilst I was in England I did a little coaching at the school as was in....we won Nationals." Lily grinned.

"Did you really?" Will couldn't help but beam with pride for his friend, though part of him was just a tad bit envious. He really needed his kids to win Nationals this year. They had worked so hard and they deserved it more than anyone he knew. "I can't say I'm surprised. You always did work hard to get what you wanted."

Lily smiled "Hey maybe I could help out with the New Directions?"

"Really? That would be awesome," he laughed in disbelief. It was hard running a Glee club when the entire faculty, minus a select few, was against the funding of any trips or costumes. "Right now we're mainly focusing on raising money to get to New York. I know the kids are excited about prom, so we're not stressing too much on performances just yet."

"Ooh I love fundraising!" Lily beamed "Aww remember our prom." Lily smiled.

"It's work, that's for sure, but I think the kids will really feel accomplished when we make it to New York knowing they raised the money on their own." Not like they had much of a choice. The school never gave Glee club the support they needed, but that wasn't going to stop them from reaching their dreams. He smiled fondly, recalling his own prom. "I do. Good times. I really miss high school sometimes, but you know, it's something else getting to watch the kids experience the same things we did back when we were younger."

"Mhmm...I hear you loud and clear....well I need to get to class....catch up later?"

"Oh, sure," Will answered somewhat regrettably, not having expected Lily to have to go so soon. "I'll see you later, Lils. I'd like to hear all about your time in England whenever you get the chance to tell me."

"Do you know where my room is? I'm free last period."

"Yeah, I think so. I'll stop by there after Glee club, sound good?" he asked, looking forward to catching up with an old friend, especially if she had won Nationals in England. It was very possible that she'd have tips for him and the New Directions.

"Sounds like a plan" Lily smiled "See ya!"

"Okay, Lily. I'll see you later, then. I'm definitely looking forward to it," he grinned, waving her off as she left the room.

"Sweet, see ya!" Lily waved back as she walked off.

The moment Lily had strutted in, Emma had remained silent in her seat and just focused on half-observing her conversation with Will. She'd confess that she was slightly intimidated by the drama teacher since she seemed to have all the qualities that Emma had been lacking lately. Lily seemed so spontaneous and free spirited while Emma on the other hand had grown to be even more reserved and painfully timid then ever. Her and Will really could have potentially hit it off, she wouldn't have been too surprised if their relationship had blossomed into something more...yet that was probably the envious little green monster from inside her talking.

When Lily had finally left, Emma cleared her throat after swiping a final grape and popping it into her mouth. "So," she said, taking quick sip of her drink. "She seems nice." Emma arched an eyebrow at Will, urging for him to provide her with a little more information on her.