chip on my shoulder - Ellemmett (Elle Woods x Emmett Forrest) (Legally Blonde)

emmett

Elle inhales, ready to speak, but Emmett cuts her off.

"Wait. Before you say anything, you should know that this door is not soundproof at all ," he warns. "Wanna go for a walk?"

Elle just looks at him with that unreadable expression for a moment before straightening her back and nodding. She walks down the steps to the front porch of the Delta Nu house and looks back at Emmett as he follows her and they begin ambling down the sidewalk.

They walk for almost three blocks before any words are spoken, but when they finally are, it's not at all what Emmett had wanted to hear.

"You shouldn't be here."

Emmett stiffens, but before he can respond, Elle seems to rethink her wording and scrambles to correct herself.

"It's not that I'm not glad to see you! I am, I really am, but..."

"But what?"

"I just don't want you seeing me like this."

At this, Emmett looks at her sharply.

Elle, caught up in her thoughts, carries on: "I'm just so different from the girl you helped study for finals, the girl who you worked with on Brooke's trial... How is Brooke, by the way?"

She hasn't changed that much, then, Emmett thinks to himself. She still cares deeply for others, and still has that quickly-shifting train of thought—both key parts of the personality he so quickly fell for. But she's also right: She's different, maybe not as much as she believes, but still noticeably so. It's most evident in her voice, a voice that only months ago was filled with excitement and determination. Now she just sounds tired.

"Emmett?"

The tall man is shaken from his thoughts and sees Elle peering up at him curiously as they plod down the street, a memory of that glint in her eye he had grown to love back at Harvard—the expression that had shown she was ready and excited to learn.

"Sorry, what did you say?"

"I asked how Brooke is doing. I feel so bad for leaving, but... I know Callaghan is a great lawyer, even if he's a complete creep. And you and Vivian, you two are incredible, as well, I know you must have helped find her not guilty. So, is she out of prison? How's her fitness empire?"

Oh.

It won't be fun to break the news.

"Elle..."

The blonde raises her eyebrows in question. "Am I going to be disappointed by whatever you're planning to say?"

Emmett's stomach sinks. "Elle, Brooke was found guilty. She's still in prison. Will be for a long time."

Elle's face visibly pales. " How? What!? I trusted the team to do what was right when I left! And I have amazing judgment, despite what people think, so I find it really hard to believe that you and Vivian didn't find a way to save her!!"

Elle seems almost wild now, a mixture of anger, disbelief, and deep grief painted on her face.

"There has to be another reason. There had to have been some factor that kept you from winning that case! What is it, Emmett?"

Emmett purses his lips. "Vivian and I... We quit the case. We didn't want to work with a person like Callaghan, so we quit."

He can't bring himself to look at Elle, so they continue walking in silence for a while before turning off the main sidewalk into a park and stopping in front of a bench.

Elle collapses onto the bench. "Oh my God."

Emmett stands awkwardly beside her, not feeling worthy of taking a seat. He nearly apologizes, but Elle speaks again.

"So it really was all my fault."

Emmett looks at her incredulously, but she doesn't seem to notice as she continues talking. "I left, which made the only other smart people on the team leave, which landed an innocent woman -- my friend -- in prison? God, I don't believe it, I can't believe it, I can't believe I left her all alone and let her be condemned --"

Emmett, seeing Elle beginning to spiral, quickly sits down next to her and places a hand on her knee, cutting off her rambling. Elle looks up at him with wide, terrified eyes.

"What happened to Brooke was not your fault," Emmett speaks calmly and clearly. "It wasn't anybody's fault. Call it bad luck, blame Callaghan, hell, blame me. But do not blame yourself. Please."

Elle is quiet for a moment, and Emmett worries he may have said something wrong.

And then suddenly, her arms are around his neck and they're hugging, hugging for the first time in what feels like forever.

Emmett tentatively wraps his arms around her in response, while Elle buries her face in the crook of his neck.

"It's not your fault, either," she mumbles against his skin. "I don't blame you at all. Vivian either. But Emmett, I--"

Her voice catches in her throat, and Emmett thinks she might be crying. Honestly, his eyes are feeling a little wet, too.

"I missed you so much," Elle finishes.

Emmett pulls her even tighter. "I missed you too, Elle, more than you know."

He debates for a moment whether he should say what he's been thinking this whole time, but then thinks, what the hell, and just decides to be honest.

"You know... I think that if things hadn't gone down the way they had, I... I think I would have been really happy back at Harvard. With you. Not that you need to feel pressured to come back or anything, but... Yeah."

Elle nods against him. They're still wrapped up in each other.

"Yeah, I think I would have been happy, too."