The Calm Before the Storm - (8 Parts)

[tma]

GAH!!! This *SO* should have happened in the Sick episode. *sighs* This is Amazing. And seriously- Emma *Should* feel proud of herself. Go BraveEmma!

[obsessed]

gleeeee. <3

Agreed - totally should have been the sick episode.

[Evergreen]

((here we go! next part. i'm on a roll, people. but it's mostly because everyone here is freaking out for finals, and i've only got one. lol. yay me.))

Had he really just said he loved her!? Jesus Christ. She needed some water or something, because this was not good. As she entered his kitchen and rifled around in his fridge for a water bottle, she felt her heart racing. She really shouldn’t be here. She should be at Carl’s, and, yet, she couldn’t convince herself to leave. Part of it was because she genuinely didn’t think Will could be left alone and the other part… Well, she was ignoring that other part, which begged her not to leave, because even when Will was utterly disgusting with his germs and his snot, he was still… Will. Carl was great and all, but Will… She didn’t know what it was about him, but there was something there that got her heart beating like a schoolgirl. Oh, she was the worst girlfriend ever.

She paced for a while, checking in on Will in between her laps, where he was sound asleep, snoring softly, his mouth sagging open, one leg dangling from the bed. How… Cute. Oh, had she really thought he looked cute like this? Carl’s stuffed up voice was enough to send her running for the hills, and here she was finding Will’s diseased slumber cute. What was happening to her?

As if on cue, her cell phone buzzed, and one look told her Carl was calling, and also that it was approaching 8:00. God, she hadn’t known that this whole ordeal had lasted so long. She exited Will’s room, wandering down the hall as she answered with as much enthusiasm as she could muster: “Carl!”

“What do you say I come over?” he asked brightly, assuming she was done with her duties.

“Oh, Carl, I didn’t say I was spending the night at my friend’s house?” she asked, her voice high-pitched and nervous as she lied. She had always been a foul liar.

“Oh? I thought you hated sleeping at other people’s places? God knows what kind of germs those pillows have on them,” he attempted, clearly intent on seeing her.

Just the thought of the pillows crawling with germs made her shudder, and she found herself trying to come up with a reason why she was making an exception. “Oh, well, I just washed the pillow case and sheets myself, so it isn’t a problem. I’m sorry, Carl. She just really needs me,” she said softly, having re-entered Will’s room, murmuring that last sentence tenderly as she looked at his flushed face.

“Oh, alright, well you know I’m going to that dentist’s convention tomorrow morning, so I guess I’ll see you when I get back?” he said, his voice disappointed, and it made her chest ache with guilt.

“Uh huh. I’ll make you an amazing dinner,” she attempted cheering him up.

“Alright, well I’ll look forward to… What was that?” he asked abruptly after Will sneezed a soft hih’tschh’uh in his sleep.

Emma had panicked and clapped her hand over the phone, as if Carl hadn’t heard the sneeze, but she could hear his voice, muffled but still audible from her phone. “Was that a sneeze?” he asked, and she figured she could attempt to take the fall for it.

“Uh, yes, Carl. I sneezed. Sorry,” she said nervously, hoping he’d buy it. Will’s sneeze had been fairly soft and exhausted, so maybe it could pass as hers, especially when you take into account that Carl was hearing it from the phone.

“Oh, bless you, then. Are you getting sick?”

“Thanks, Carl,” she breathed out with relief. “No, I guess the candle that my friend is burning is getting to me.” This was like a disease. She couldn’t stop lying, and as Will began to stir, his eyes opening sleepily, she panicked even more. “Okay, Carl, I’ve got to go. I’m needed,” she said quickly, not even waiting for a reply as she hung up the phone.

“Udgg, Eb, why are you talkidg to Carl?” Will asked resentfully, much more lucid than he was earlier.

“Well, considering he’s my boyfriend, Will, it isn’t so strange, now is it?” she asked, her voice softening at the end at the evident hurt on his face.

He sucked it up fast, though, or perhaps his nose merely gave him a way out, and he tilted his head back, on the verge of sneezing, yet the tickle was apparently tormenting him. ”Hih’eh… Heh. Hih’ih…” It went on like that for what felt like an eternity with Emma shifting nervously between her feet. She touched her face mask, as if just insuring it was secure as Will finally managed to sneeze, and sneeze he did. “Hih’utsch. UTSCH. ETSCH’uh. Nxggtshhh. Ngxxt’SHUH. Uh’gnshhoo. Gnshh’uh. GNSH.” Eight sneezes later and he was done, his eyes watering so badly it looked like he was crying, and Emma felt on the verge of tears herself.

“Bless you,” she whispered sadly, wanting to console him, because that look of hurt that had been present, even if it was only there for a moment, was enough to break her heart. She knew she had been the one to hurt him, though, and thus she held her ground, reflecting sadly that it wasn’t just the fever talking earlier. He really did love her.

[tma]

Awwww!! Better and better. Absolutely perfect snow-bound reading. Thank you SO much for writing this, it is beyond fantastic.

[Sneesee]

Amazing story! Love it! I also had to laugh at Sue and her comments!! You nailed the characters, and this story rocks!! So awesome, thank you for sharing it!!

[SweaterWeather]

Grrr i'm really addicted to this story! SUCH A GREAT READ I LOVE IT!! <3

[TheCakeIsAlive]

So awesome. Can't wait to see what happens next.

[Evergreen]

((and now the final part. sorry for the delay. hope you like it.))

After her soft blessing, Will opened his mouth to thank her but couldn’t summon the energy to do so. In fact, he felt damn pissed again. Why the hell was she here if she was with Carl? They were friends, sure, but he loved her… And with that thought, his groggy recollection of how he’d truly discovered that and said it out loud to her as she tucked him in came back to him. That was… Unfortunate.

“Can I get you anything?” Emma asked gingerly, fully aware of the tension that had settled in like smog.

“Doh, you cad’t,” he mumbled bitterly, rolling over so that his back faced her. “I’b just tired.”

She tried not to let that sting and nodded to herself that perhaps he really was just tired, but that look, that heartbreaking look was now haunting her, a look that made her feel like she had seriously crushed his heart and rubbed her own romantic triumphs in his face at the same time.

“Okay, then, Will. Rest,” she murmured, unable to help coming over to him, a little grossed out as she saw the faint darkening of his shirt around the collar from his feverish sweat. She had protection from germs, though, she reminded herself, and she gently tucked him in again, letting her hand linger on his back a moment too long.

He turned over sharply, so sharply that she jumped back a little at the thought of him breathing those germs at her. She flinched a little, and he simply stared.

“Whad are you doing?” he asked, keeping his voice flat so as to not give away how hard her hand on his back had made his heart beat.

Emma didn’t say anything for a minute, slowly returning her hand to his back. “Making you feel better, Will, or trying to, at least. I’m sorry,” she said softly, meeting his glassy eyes and slowly lowering her mask after a moment.

“Ebba, whad are you doing?” he demanded again, this time with shock. “You’re godda gehhh’ngshh. Ngssh’uh. ged sick.”

Emma managed to keep herself calm as he sneezed. “I don’t care, Will,” she said simply. “But, I’d, uh, better get going. Carl is going out of town tomorrow, and I should probably surprise him tonight.”

“Yeah, of course,” Will said, not without a little sadness, but he understood.

“You’ll be okay?” she asked nervously, gingerly sliding her gloves off.

“Yeah, thadks, Eb. I feel a lot bedder,” he whispered.

“I’m glad, Will. Take care of yourself.”

“Take care of Carl. You’re going to make a great mom one day,” he said with a small smile.

Emma grinned despite herself and grabbed his clammy hand with her own, ungloved one. She then bent forward and placed a hesitant kiss on his forehead. “Thank you, Will. Now sleep,” she encouraged, standing up, her hands shaking slightly with what she had just done, kissing his forehead and holding his germy hand, but she didn’t regret it.

He nodded rolling over with a yawn as she turned out his light. “I love you,” he whispered, figuring she couldn’t hear it or she had already left, but as he dozed off he could have sworn he heard: “I love you, too.”

[djcatdj]

you keep calling Figgins, Higgins. other than that its is great.