Work Text:
There were three things Emmett Forrest was one hundred percent certain about:
1. Star Wars is infinitely superior to Star Trek
2. Grilled cheese is the ultimate comfort food
3. Elle Woods is the smartest person on planet Earth
These were rules he held very near to his heart, and would never turn down the chance to make them known. Luckily, everyone in his life, or at least the ones who mattered, seemed to be in agreement. That was until, in the checkout lane of Target, his phone chimed with a new message.
Elle <3:
I don’t know if I’m cut out for this whole lawyer thing. Maybe I really am too blonde
If he hadn’t known the impossibility of it all, Emmett could’ve sworn the cracking of his heart was audible as his eyes skimmed his phone screen. He briefly considered responding before deciding that nothing he could say over text would sound as sincere as he needed it to, and instead bagged up his items, bracing himself for the walk back to their shared apartment.
The walk was brutal, as expected during February in New England. But the weather was no match for his heartache. How could she possibly think she wasn’t cut out for law? He knew that bar exam season was rough on everyone, he had been through it himself after all, and had doubted himself plenty. But this was Elle Woods, Harvard’s powerhouse that had blown everyone away within her first semester and hadn’t stopped since. Firms were already trying to recruit her and had been ever since the Wyndham trial. She was an unstoppable force. How did she not see it?
His hand shook from the cold as he slid his key into the lock, only fumbling slightly with his bag of groceries and drink carrier, before pushing the door open. On any other day, Emmett would announce his arrival with more than the sound of the door shutting and boots hitting the floor, but somehow he knew his yelling wouldn’t be appreciated much right now. Instead, he opted to quietly remove and put away his winter gear before taking the stockpile to its rightful owner.
The soft sound of Elle’s playlist became more apparent as Emmett made his way down the hall to their shared bedroom. The smile that crept across his lips was completely involuntary as he reached the doorway, even just being within Elle’s vicinity felt right.
Sitting at the desk opposite of the bed, Elle had her back to the doorframe, allowing Emmett the chance to just observe. The stack of textbooks next to her on the floor seemed to have grown in the short hours he’d been gone, going over some essays with a student of his. Her normally pristine workspace was littered with balled up papers and post it notes of all colors. She was definitely wearing one of his sweatshirts, not that he minded. Her blonde waves were pulled away from her face, a pencil tucked behind her ear, a tell-tale sign that she was stressed. As were the glasses pushed up on top of her head, an item Emmett wished didn’t have such a negative connotation as he found them adorable.
“Right, stop staring. Your girlfriend is gorgeous we get it.”, Emmett’s brain reminded him, his arm starting to hurt from carrying the bag for so long. Without letting his mind wander any longer, he slid up behind her, placing her drink on the desk.
“One extra large caramel mocha, extra whipped cream.” he announced rather dramatically before setting the bag of snacks on the floor next to her feet, “Amongst other things. We’ll call it brain food.”
Elle smiled half-heartedly, her eyes briefly leaving her notes to look up at him, “Thanks, I could use a lot of that right now.”
Emmett couldn’t help but frown as she turned back to her work, underlining a section of her textbook. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
She shrugged simply, setting her pen down in favor of winding her arms around his waist, her head leant against the side of his ribcage, “I can’t remember anything. It’s like these last three years have been completely wiped from my memory.” Emmett picked up her notes to see what she was working on, smiling softly at the doodles that filled the margins.
“It’s all in there somewhere, I promise.” he assured her, pressing a soft kiss to the top of her head. “You don’t just accidentally end up at the top of the class, Elle,” he chuckled softly, gently rubbing his hand over her shoulder.
She sighed, burying her face in the soft material of his sweater, “I don’t know if I can do it,” she paused, sniffling softly, and Emmett’s heart broke all over again as her arms tightened around his waist. “I’ve been working on this for hours but it just keeps slipping away again and I feel like I’m losing my mind, and I just want to make everyone proud, and I want to be proud of myself and I really can’t let you down after all the time you took to help and I just want to be a good lawyer and-“
Her voice caught on a breath that came out more like a sob, Emmett’s sweater gaining a small wet patch where her face had been pressed. How long had she been crying? Without any hesitation, Emmett dropped to his knees, hands immediately flying up to hold her face gently.
“Hey, hey, hey,” he spoke softly, his thumbs coming up to wipe the tears off of her cheeks. “Take a deep breath. You’re just overwhelmed. You know this stuff in your sleep, Elle.”
She obeyed, taking a deep breath, if not a little shaky, though her eyes stayed trained on the floor, avoiding his own.
“Hey, look at me,” he prodded, his fingers tipping her chin up slightly until their eyes met. “You are absolutely incredible. You work your ass off every single day without break, you’re constantly helping those around you, you only get put on the most difficult cases, and you’ve yet to lose. Honestly, Elle, you’re the smartest person I know” he smiled softly, thumb gently running along her jaw.
“And yet you’re still kind, and humble, and I am so damn lucky to have had the pleasure to watch you grow into an amazing lawyer. I am so unbelievably proud of you. Not that you ever need my approval of anything,”
That brought a small laugh out of Elle, a sound Emmett would do anything to hear all the time.
“But, I will always be your number one fan. Even if you fail, which you won’t,” he emphasized. “You’ve got this. I promise.”
Elle looked at him with still watery eyes and a small smile on her lips, “I know, thank you,” she pulled his hand away from her face and took it in her own, giving it a soft squeeze, which Emmett quickly returned.
With that, he pressed a kiss to her forehead and reached for her computer, scrolling through the playlist up on her screen before settling on a song and getting to his feet.
“What are you doing?” Elle questioned, wiping the remaining wetness from her cheeks.
Emmett smiled, extending a hand out to her, “Stop asking questions and come here.”
Elle complied, taking his hand and allowing herself to be pulled to his chest, her arms instinctively slipping around his neck. A smile spread across her face as he began to sway her slightly to the music coming from the laptop speakers.
“Emmett Forrest,” she gaped up at him. “are we dancing?”
He laughed, his arms tightening around her waist, “I believe some people would call it that, yes.”
“But you hate dancing,” she raised an eyebrow, her sternness lasting a whole five seconds until she relented and let herself be twirled around before being pulled back to Emmett.
“But you don’t,” he shrugged in response, “And I love you, so I can make do.”
There was still plenty that needed to be done. An hour ago, Elle would’ve kicked herself for taking more than a couple minutes to check her instagram. She honestly had no idea how long this break had been, but regardless, she couldn’t really bring herself to care. Not when her favorite person had his lips pressed to hers and had the ability to keep her grounded with a single touch.
And later, Emmett would sit on the floor and go over legal terms with her for hours upon hours while they ate popcorn, or would run through trials she could never remember, or would grade her practice tests. Things would get rough, Elle would probably cry again, and they’d both probably drink more coffee than the recommended daily intake within a few hours.
But that was later, and this, the two of them smiling like idiots and dancing terribly to Elle’s study playlist, this was now.
And that was all that really mattered.