a/n: This is my first Glee fic. It came to me in the middle of my anthropology lecture today and needless to say I stopped paying attention and here is the result.

I just love Will and Emma so much… they fill me with such joy. Hopefully this fills you with some joy as well. Enjoy!

Mistakes

"Everybody makes mistakes," she whispered, still somewhat breathless, looking back at him with her doe-like eyes from so very close.

It was true, he realised. He could name so many he had made. And they could both trace the mistakes that had brought them to this moment here.

His first mistake had been marrying Terri. Fresh out of school, he had felt like the luckiest man alive to be with her, his crush, his unattainable dream. She the cheerleader, he the boy from glee. And he had loved her. So much. But life and time are merciless, and neither stops, even for love, and neither could they. Into adulthood they crept, slowly becoming the people they were actually meant to be. Will was loving, creative, and inspired. Terri was sometimes these things, but to a lesser degree, and Will's constant stream of affection and indulgence had turned her vain and selfish.

Had they met at the age they were now, they never would have gotten together, let alone gotten along. Will had adopted the "love the one you're with" approach, and held onto the affection he still held somewhere deep inside for the woman she used to be, and who she still was every once in a great while.

Emma's first mistake had been allowing herself to get to know Will. She had hardly spent ten minutes in his presence when she found herself utterly enraptured, which had brought about the pivotal mistake shared by both:

Falling in love. Emma was painfully aware of this particular blunder every step of the way, but Will had been less conscious of his feelings for her until the possibility of losing her had morphed into a certainty that afternoon in the hallway, where mistake number three occurred.

That moment, in the darkened corridor when she announced her engagement. He hadn't come clean. Mistake number three. But what was he supposed to say? He couldn't love her, wasn't supposed to, couldn't do that to Ken… couldn't do that to Emma. It was best to let her go. He thought he was protecting her somehow.

Emma's mistake had been agreeing to marry Ken at all. Engagements should be born out of great love, not heartbreak, she thought as the realisation dawned upon her that her every intention for marrying Ken stemmed from the latter. She asked him to give her an alternative, but he couldn't… just couldn't. And though she couldn't love Ken, she could tolerate him, maybe. And she could marry him.

Now every move they made became mistakes. Whenever he came to her office for no reason other than just to be alone and in the same room with her, mistake.

Whenever she looked into his eyes for just a little too long, she mentally chastised herself. Mistake.

And even as he leaned close and reached up to tuck the stray strand of hair that had come loose from its other, perfectly positioned counterparts, his mind was screaming, mistake!

And as her eyes fluttered closed at his touch, and she unthinkingly placed her hand on his chest, she knew deep down it was all such a mistake.

But when his lips touched hers, the voices shut up.

He wasn't thinking about mistakes; his mind completely taken hostage by an overwhelming and all-consuming delight, a thrill he had never felt so strongly with Terri.

She wasn't thinking about mistakes, and even more remarkably, neither germs nor microbes crossed her mind a single time. She just thought of the warmth of his skin though his shirt, the feel of his hand at the small of her back, pulling her fragile frame close, and the feel of his lips on hers, which were as soft as she had always imagined they would be.

Reality finally caught up, as it always must and always does, and when he drew away, his eyes were almost as wide as hers. But she wouldn't let go. Not after this long. As with many mistakes, she had a feeling they would only make this one once. She didn't want it to end. So she held him as tightly as she could, and he apologised, their mouths still centimetres apart.

"Emma… I'm so sorry,"

She almost smiled in spite of herself. Apologising was just so… Will of him. Instead she just looked straight back into his concerned eyes and whispered three words,

"Everybody makes mistakes," if she could give him an escape, an excuse, their friendship might not be ruined.

And so they traced the mistakes that had gotten them both there, and Will finally broke the silence said what they were both thinking, he smiled a sad and ironic half smile that made Emma's knees go weak, "This doesn't feel like a mistake,"

"No," she shook her head ever so slightly, her eyes still locked on his, "no, it doesn't."

He looked back into the eyes of the woman he loved who so desperately loved him, and it all came clear. He didn't know what the future held, or even what was coming next, but this, here, now, could not be further from a mistake. He rested his forehead against hers and heard her sharp intake of breath, tracing small, calming circles into her back. She relaxed into his arms, and he smiled, murmuring into her hair, "I think this is actually the first thing I've done right in a long, long time."

R&R =) And sorry if there are any typographical or grammatical mistakes. hah.