"Hi, I'm here to see Elle Woods?"
The brunette in a cheerleading uniform standing against the doorway of the Delta Nu sorority house looks him up and down with a strange glint in her eye—it's kind of frightening, Emmett thinks.
"Well, well, well, she's shown us photos of the two of you, but they really don't flatter the way you look in real life, do they?" The girl smirks a bit before extending her hand. "I'm Serena. You're Emmett, right? Emmett Forrest?"
Emmett cautiously takes her hand and gives it a firm shake.
"Um, yes, I am," he responds. "Elle's mentioned me?"
Weirdly enough, he almost can't believe she even remembers him. It's only been about two months since Elle quit Callaghan's defense team and went back to Malibu, but considering how easily she seemed to decide to completely cut ties with him and Harvard, Emmett's always thought he must not have been a terribly significant part of her life. Which makes him being here even crazier, but. Love had always been Elle's strongest argument for everything, ever since he had met her. So maybe she'd understand, if she was even still here...
"Yep," the girl—Serena—replies, popping the 'P'. "She told us everything. "
"I see..."
Emmett feels his cheeks warm a bit. As a last-ditch effort to get Elle to stay after the Callaghan incident, he had confessed to having feelings for her. At the time, he still hadn't been quite sure about how he felt, as he had never felt so strongly for anyone before, but he had been desperate to get her to stay, pulling out all the stops. Once Elle was gone, though, his feelings were only confirmed. The past two months had been awful without her.
"Well, is she here? I'm here to visit her."
"Yeah, you said so when I opened the door, silly," Serena giggles at Emmett, "She's in her room. She'll be totally stoked to see you, and since you're not Warner, I'm def chill with letting her know you're here. One sec!"
The door slams in Emmett's face, and he can hear Serena yelling ( "ELLE! There's a boy here to see you!" ) for her friend through the thick material. He waits for about thirty seconds, hearing giggles and coos from the other Delta Nu's, and can hear footsteps pounding as who he assumes is Elle races down the stairs. A hushed conversation then starts on the other side of the door.
" What do you mean, a boy? I haven't been seeing anyone since Warner!"
That's definitely Elle's voice. Emmett can't help but feel a little glad at the fact that she hasn't been dating since he last saw her.
" I think you'll be happy to see who it is!" Serena's whisper sounds.
" I'm not prepared to see anyone but you girls, I look like a hot mess. "
" Boo, you look stunning as always, and honestly, I don't think he'll care. Opening the door now!"
Emmett barely has time to straighten up and adjust his hair before the door swings open, revealing Serena and the love of his life standing there, a gaggle of sorority girls crowded behind them, trying to see what's going on.
Elle. She looks tired, Emmett notices first. A little older. Well, not older, but more mature. She's wearing sweats and a parka, her long blonde hair in braids. She doesn't look sad, but she also looks like she hasn't been happy in a very long time. She's just as beautiful as Emmett remembers.
Seeing Emmett, Elle's eyes widen, a mixture of emotions flitting across her face. Before anyone can say anything, Serena shoves her out the door and slams it shut once again. Elle stumbles a bit, not taking her eyes off of Emmett. Her face is still very difficult to read, but one emotion is very clear: shock.
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."