[GFS Exchange Fic] Watch Her Go by elva_barr for milk_and_glass
Title: Watch Her Go
Author: elva-barr
Beta: sceptick
Rating: PG-13
Recipient: milk_and_glass
Word Count: ~1,200
Summary: for the prompt “Emma/Rachel - "The boy is mine". Allude to Emma/Will and Rachel's crush on Will.”
Notes: title from the Lady Gaga song “Brown Eyes.”
It’s been a while since Rachel has come to her office, so it’s a surprise to Emma to see her sitting primly in the chair across from her desk. She’s just coming back from lunch, and she had thought that she’d left her door locked, but it’s no worry.
What does worry Emma is that all of her blinds are closed. She’s actually never closed the blinds in her office; she prefers to have an open atmosphere, and in any case, there’s only so much that she can clean the blinds without taking them off, which would violate Figgins’ policy against removing school property.
Before she can fret about it too much, Rachel starts to talk. For a girl who has such a beautiful singing voice, her speaking voice just does not appeal to Emma’s auditory aesthetic.
“I know we haven’t spoken recently, Ms. Pillsbury, but I have come to you in hopes of resolving an important matter,” Rachel says. “This is a touchy and difficult subject, so you may want to sit down, ideally in the chair across from mine, because I’ve heard that eye contact is essential for delicate conversations.”
Emma nods. The chair across from Rachel is, of course, her office chair, so it’s not like she’s sitting there because Rachel wants her to. Rather, it’s the only option available. When Rachel stares expectantly at her, Emma tells her to go ahead.
“I don’t know how to say this, so I’ll just go ahead and plow on through. I’ve deduced that your fiancé is still harboring some affection - and possibly lust - for me. Now, you may require some background information. Mr. Schuester and I had a very brief and torrid fling two years ago, but don’t worry: out of respect to the educational institution that brought us together, we decided against consummating it.” Rachel pauses to take a deep breath, and smoothes out her skirt.
Emma takes advantage of the brief silence to cut in. “I’m glad that you decided to share this with me, Rachel, and I’m sure that it took a lot of bravery to do that, but do you have something else you want to share?”
“Thank you, Ms. Pillsbury, that leads me to the meat of my story - figuratively, of course - which is that if you would only look to see how Mr. Schuester looks at me when I sing, you would realize that he’s clearly still besotted at best, and in love at worst.” Rachel raises her eyebrows and tilts her head, to indicate that she’s finished. Her face is alight with a superior expression, and Emma has to take a few deep breaths to contain her immediate anger.
“Rachel…” Emma starts off with a slow warning, but she can’t seem to contain her ire. “You are a sweet, wonderful girl, but self-delusion is not an attractive quality. Will - I mean, Mr. Schuester tries very hard to foster a caring environment for you kids and this is not the way to repay him. Now, I know that his teaching style can be quite - intimate, but I think that at your age, a young woman should be able to distinguish gentle, fatherly care from something amorous.”
Rachel continues staring at her with the same expression on her face. Clearly she hasn’t taken the point to heart yet, and now Emma feels less anger and more pity. Now that she has a moment to think about it clearly, she has a pamphlet called It’s Elektric: Authority Figures Are Not Boyfriend Material, but she’s not sure that it would be appropriate for Ms. Berry.
Emma looks down at her desk, and tries to put it as simply as she can without being terribly rude. “Mr. Schuester and I are engaged, and - well - he is a grown man, and he is not interested in little girls.”
She knows that was harsh, maybe too harsh, and Emma winces, closing her eyes. She breathes in slowly, and opens her eyes to the sight of Rachel standing right next to her. It’s a bit disrespectful to her personal space, but Emma makes an effort to be patient, and she waits for Rachel to speak.
There is nothing in the world more surprising than the kiss, when it comes.
Rachel's mouth is soft, her lips slick with gloss. She's pushy, thrusting her tongue in between Emma's lips, and while it's certainly forceful, it is also pleasant. So pleasant, in fact, that Emma finds herself kissing back, letting Rachel cup her cheek with one hand. When Rachel bites at the corner of Emma's mouth, they both gasp, and the kiss breaks naturally.
Emma doesn't know what to do. This has never happened before, she's never kissed another woman before, and she's definitely never kissed a student before. Before she can try to regain some control in the situation, Rachel pipes up.
"You'll make a beautiful bride," she says, and Emma's surprised to note that her eyelashes are damp with tears.
There's a moment of shock, of complete and utter stillness. Emma can see Rachel gather herself: it's a very vulnerable process and she feels like she's intruding on a private moment, even though Rachel's the one who came to Emma's office, uninvited.
It's easy to tell when Rachel has become collected again, because she starts talking again.
"Yes, you're right. It's very easy, you know, for an artist like myself to get confused about matters of the heart. It's because we are so passionate; our hearts are fragile." She clears her throat, and begins again. "I would personally vote for a summer wedding, since the natural color scheme would complement your hair. Of course, it's your decision, but I would consider myself a newly minted expert in wedding planning, so I would follow my scholarly recommendation."
Rachel nods with a sort of finality, wiping at her eyes surreptitiously. She scampers out of Emma's office without any further ado, and leaves Emma wondering what the heck just happened.
Emma's not sure what to tell Will, or if she even wants to tell him what just happened. She thinks that Rachel must simply still be besotted with him, even though Emma thought she was quite happy with Finn Hudson. Of course Will doesn’t want to have any relationship with Rachel outside of an educational capacity - Emma has been saying this to herself for a long time, but she really does believe it’s true. If Will wanted Rachel, Emma would know. He’s not exactly subtle.
As for the kiss, Emma's determined to clear it from her memory. It's irresponsible that she didn't do anything to stop it, but it must have simply been shock. Rachel's kiss stunned her, and that's the extent of it. It's disappointing that Emma didn’t end the situation as soon as it started, but she can’t be expected to have an action plan for students kissing her.
Now, Emma's glad that Rachel closed the blinds. She breathes a deep sigh, wipes the lip gloss off of her mouth, and stands to straighten the room back to its proper condition.
Author: elva-barr
Beta: sceptick
Rating: PG-13
Recipient: milk_and_glass
Word Count: ~1,200
Summary: for the prompt “Emma/Rachel - "The boy is mine". Allude to Emma/Will and Rachel's crush on Will.”
Notes: title from the Lady Gaga song “Brown Eyes.”
It’s been a while since Rachel has come to her office, so it’s a surprise to Emma to see her sitting primly in the chair across from her desk. She’s just coming back from lunch, and she had thought that she’d left her door locked, but it’s no worry.
What does worry Emma is that all of her blinds are closed. She’s actually never closed the blinds in her office; she prefers to have an open atmosphere, and in any case, there’s only so much that she can clean the blinds without taking them off, which would violate Figgins’ policy against removing school property.
Before she can fret about it too much, Rachel starts to talk. For a girl who has such a beautiful singing voice, her speaking voice just does not appeal to Emma’s auditory aesthetic.
“I know we haven’t spoken recently, Ms. Pillsbury, but I have come to you in hopes of resolving an important matter,” Rachel says. “This is a touchy and difficult subject, so you may want to sit down, ideally in the chair across from mine, because I’ve heard that eye contact is essential for delicate conversations.”
Emma nods. The chair across from Rachel is, of course, her office chair, so it’s not like she’s sitting there because Rachel wants her to. Rather, it’s the only option available. When Rachel stares expectantly at her, Emma tells her to go ahead.
“I don’t know how to say this, so I’ll just go ahead and plow on through. I’ve deduced that your fiancé is still harboring some affection - and possibly lust - for me. Now, you may require some background information. Mr. Schuester and I had a very brief and torrid fling two years ago, but don’t worry: out of respect to the educational institution that brought us together, we decided against consummating it.” Rachel pauses to take a deep breath, and smoothes out her skirt.
Emma takes advantage of the brief silence to cut in. “I’m glad that you decided to share this with me, Rachel, and I’m sure that it took a lot of bravery to do that, but do you have something else you want to share?”
“Thank you, Ms. Pillsbury, that leads me to the meat of my story - figuratively, of course - which is that if you would only look to see how Mr. Schuester looks at me when I sing, you would realize that he’s clearly still besotted at best, and in love at worst.” Rachel raises her eyebrows and tilts her head, to indicate that she’s finished. Her face is alight with a superior expression, and Emma has to take a few deep breaths to contain her immediate anger.
“Rachel…” Emma starts off with a slow warning, but she can’t seem to contain her ire. “You are a sweet, wonderful girl, but self-delusion is not an attractive quality. Will - I mean, Mr. Schuester tries very hard to foster a caring environment for you kids and this is not the way to repay him. Now, I know that his teaching style can be quite - intimate, but I think that at your age, a young woman should be able to distinguish gentle, fatherly care from something amorous.”
Rachel continues staring at her with the same expression on her face. Clearly she hasn’t taken the point to heart yet, and now Emma feels less anger and more pity. Now that she has a moment to think about it clearly, she has a pamphlet called It’s Elektric: Authority Figures Are Not Boyfriend Material, but she’s not sure that it would be appropriate for Ms. Berry.
Emma looks down at her desk, and tries to put it as simply as she can without being terribly rude. “Mr. Schuester and I are engaged, and - well - he is a grown man, and he is not interested in little girls.”
She knows that was harsh, maybe too harsh, and Emma winces, closing her eyes. She breathes in slowly, and opens her eyes to the sight of Rachel standing right next to her. It’s a bit disrespectful to her personal space, but Emma makes an effort to be patient, and she waits for Rachel to speak.
There is nothing in the world more surprising than the kiss, when it comes.
Rachel's mouth is soft, her lips slick with gloss. She's pushy, thrusting her tongue in between Emma's lips, and while it's certainly forceful, it is also pleasant. So pleasant, in fact, that Emma finds herself kissing back, letting Rachel cup her cheek with one hand. When Rachel bites at the corner of Emma's mouth, they both gasp, and the kiss breaks naturally.
Emma doesn't know what to do. This has never happened before, she's never kissed another woman before, and she's definitely never kissed a student before. Before she can try to regain some control in the situation, Rachel pipes up.
"You'll make a beautiful bride," she says, and Emma's surprised to note that her eyelashes are damp with tears.
There's a moment of shock, of complete and utter stillness. Emma can see Rachel gather herself: it's a very vulnerable process and she feels like she's intruding on a private moment, even though Rachel's the one who came to Emma's office, uninvited.
It's easy to tell when Rachel has become collected again, because she starts talking again.
"Yes, you're right. It's very easy, you know, for an artist like myself to get confused about matters of the heart. It's because we are so passionate; our hearts are fragile." She clears her throat, and begins again. "I would personally vote for a summer wedding, since the natural color scheme would complement your hair. Of course, it's your decision, but I would consider myself a newly minted expert in wedding planning, so I would follow my scholarly recommendation."
Rachel nods with a sort of finality, wiping at her eyes surreptitiously. She scampers out of Emma's office without any further ado, and leaves Emma wondering what the heck just happened.
Emma's not sure what to tell Will, or if she even wants to tell him what just happened. She thinks that Rachel must simply still be besotted with him, even though Emma thought she was quite happy with Finn Hudson. Of course Will doesn’t want to have any relationship with Rachel outside of an educational capacity - Emma has been saying this to herself for a long time, but she really does believe it’s true. If Will wanted Rachel, Emma would know. He’s not exactly subtle.
As for the kiss, Emma's determined to clear it from her memory. It's irresponsible that she didn't do anything to stop it, but it must have simply been shock. Rachel's kiss stunned her, and that's the extent of it. It's disappointing that Emma didn’t end the situation as soon as it started, but she can’t be expected to have an action plan for students kissing her.
Now, Emma's glad that Rachel closed the blinds. She breathes a deep sigh, wipes the lip gloss off of her mouth, and stands to straighten the room back to its proper condition.