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When you’re with a woman like Elle Woods, there’s a few things you need to get used to.
A four step skincare routine in the morning and night, salads with greens and grains you didn’t know existed, the piercing weight of her chihuahua digging into your jugular in the middle of the night while he stares straight into your soul.
Terrifying competence that is so much hotter than it should be while you carry your body weight in bags shopping, languid kisses that taste like fruity lip gloss with manicured nails scratching into your scalp, high pitched squealing that makes your ears ring.
And despite how absolutely foreign it had been at first, Emmett has found himself not just fond but completely and utterly enamored by it. By her.
Elle Woods is an enigma. Entering his life and taking everything he knows and flipping it upside down. She defied every assumption he had, making him reevaluate every prejudice he had about people like her. She looked inside him and saw something he hadn’t even known he had in himself.
He may have inspired her to strive for something more and she inspires him every day.
When she proposed to him, he was completely blindsided. Not in a bad way, never in a bad way, just… he hadn’t expected it.
Elle was never quiet about what she likes and Emmett had known her favorite ring cut and favorite gems and favorite prongs, galleries, and every other part of ring anatomy she had taught him. He was working towards it. He was! Really. He just… was waiting for the right moment.
But that was the thing about Elle. She learned that there is no point in waiting for the right time because time will not wait for you.
And, though he really should’ve expected it, he is really not ready for wedding planning with Elle Woods.
You’d think someone like Elle would have a stack of scrapbooks filled with her dream wedding, planned since she was fifteen.
And, well, yes. You’d be right. She does.
But she scrapped those (and the Pinterest boards, whatever the hell those are) and is starting from scratch because, her words exactly, “weddings are a celebration of our love, not just a celebration of me” and she wants him to be involved in every decision.
Collaborative, that’s the word she used.
And while collaboration is important, he doesn’t know if he’s qualified to choose between napkins.
Which, by the way, are the softest napkins he’s ever felt. He didn’t even know napkins could be that soft. He’d feel guilty wiping off food on them.
But yeah. Elle Woods knows what she wants and Emmett is quickly learning that he has no idea what he wants.
.-~*~-.
Emmett knows that he and Elle grew up different.
But knowing that Elle spends more on hair products than he does on groceries and drinking a twenty year old special reserve while comparing beachside wedding venues in her parent’s mansion are two very different things.
He’s almost gotten used to it. Almost.
He knows that the place they live in is nice. It’s nicer than any home he’s ever lived in, but considering he’s been on the opposite spectrum as Elle, he doesn’t exactly have a gauge of “well off” and “exorbitantly rich” because compared to how he was living before, everything felt like the latter.
But, no, actually it didn’t because apparently Elle is so much more loaded than he thought.
Elle is the one who takes care of all of the financial things, not because Emmett doesn’t want to know those things but because he hates math and Elle is ridiculously good at it. (Something to do with mental math while shopping, comparing prices and calculating sales.)
So, he didn’t really know the exact numbers.
But he’s realizing that maybe he definitely should’ve questioned it more.
Emmett will probably always be frugal and he’s definitely influenced Elle from not over-spending and budgeting, so seeing the numbers that Elle doesn’t bat an eye at, he realizes that maybe he’s not prepared for wedding planning.
Elle’s father said he’d cover the bill, unbothered by how many zeroes are in the total, just excited for his only daughter to get married to a man that he (thank God) approves of and warmly welcomes into the family. But his endless generosity makes Emmett’s itch with anxiety. He knows that the man would never consider Emmett and Elle indebted to him, but it doesn’t make him stop feeling that way.
It’s not until he and Elle sit down and have a long (and teary) conversation about Emmett’s guilt and discomfort about having something so grandiose and exuberant, that she really understands what they have to do.
So, they cut down the guest list. This isn’t something to mark status and invite acquaintances to. Instead, it’s cut down to family they actually want there, close friends in their current circle and from Elle’s sorority and law school, and their close coworkers from their respective firms.
And suddenly Emmett can breathe. Because now it’s not like some royal wedding in front of a crowd of strangers. It’s people he knows that will, like Elle would say, celebrate their love, and be there because they truly care about them.
Emmett convinces Elle on a wedding on the greens of the golf course in her parent’s neighborhood (which is surprisingly very easy to reserve because Elle and her family are beloved by the golf club) and Elle squeals so high that it makes his ears ring and kisses him so hard he’s breathless.
It not only costs exponentially less than the other venues in California but it’s got a “fairytale, secret clearing in the forest” sort of vibe with “so many trees to put lights on.”
It’s also big enough to fit everyone and have separate spaces for the ceremony and reception already set up.
Emmett doesn’t want to know how much they’ll be spending on renting out chairs.
Elle will do the chair budgeting. He’s good just being on the chair picking committee.
.-~*~-.
At first, the wedding planning was grueling, but now it’s almost… fun?
He’s started to get a more critical eye, the phrase “birch will clash with the sycamore” uttered from his mouth at one point and shocking everyone involved.
But wedding planning isn’t just making choices. It’s seeing Elle making choices and seeing her stick out her tongue in concentration while she looks at five shades of pink that look exactly the same to Emmett and watching her face light up when she finds the perfect flowers for the bouquets.
Because Emmett may not be thrilled about balloon arches but Elle is and anything that makes Elle smile like that is worth it for Emmett.
And then they get to something that makes Emmett light up just like Elle does at champagne glasses (they’ve got glitter embedded into the glass somehow).
Cake.
Yes, it is finally time to taste cakes.
Elle has brought herself a bright pink bib so that she doesn’t get anything on her dress and Emmett is dressed up in a button up and slacks just so he doesn’t look sorely underdressed next to Elle.
The assortment is mouthwatering just at the look of them.
Fluffy vanilla and dense carrot cake and bright red velvet.
Elle takes it upon herself to feed Emmett the spoonfuls herself and he would feel embarrassed if it weren’t Elle. She doesn’t do it because she’s patronizing him (or God forbid doing anything kinky), she just gets so excited and wants to be the one to give Emmett what makes her excited.
She always takes the first bite and after she lets out an inquisitive hum or a lewd moan, she cuts another piece and pops it into his mouth.
After the initial shock of the first spoonful clanking against his teeth, he is ready, mouth open for whatever is next.
Elle watches his expression carefully, brows furrowed with a focused eye on whatever his face is doing. She must see something because she rather has a little nod with a squeak of approval or her face scrunches with a sour hmph and shake of disapproval.
They eventually choose a lemon cake, something fresh and light that will hold up well after hours on the dancefloor.
When Elle presses a soft kiss to his lips, it’s sweet, and he smiles against her lips, savoring the taste.
.-~*~-.
The wedding approaches soon and Elle is completely prepared.
She finished all of the booking and planning months before and now they just have to face whatever comes in the days leading up to it.
Honestly, as much as they eagerly anticipate the wedding, they’re both lawyers, and the days go by quickly, wrapped up in their cases, days spent in court and nights spent tangled together beneath the sheets.
And suddenly it’s their wedding day.
There are some things that Emmett doesn’t know. Things that Elle kept secret, wanting to surprise him.
And as he stands in front of the mirror, looking at himself in his tux, hair neatly styled by Elle’s hairdresser, Paulette, he almost doesn’t recognize himself.
He’s never really gotten used to the look of him prim and proper, despite wearing the expensive suits Elle bought for him to court. He’s still not used to the idea of being someone who could look like this.
But Elle saw it in him. Has always seen it in him even when he couldn’t. And though it doesn’t feel the most natural, it doesn’t feel wrong.
Just… different.
Emmett walks down the aisle to an instrumental version of Faithfully by Journey, a song that his mother used to have burnt on a DVD, and he feels the anxiety dissipate just slightly at the ecstatic grins from Elle’s bridesmaids.
Serena, Margot, and Pilar are all in what Emmett can only assume were expensive individually designed and tailored pink dresses, Vivienne the odd one out in a pink jumpsuit.
Bruiser sits at the front of the line in a tiny tuxedo: Elle’s best man.
There’s a pause, just a few moments long but stretching so long that it feels neverending.
And then the curtains part.
If there’s music playing, Emmett can’t hear it, because all he can hear is his heartbeat rushing to his ears as he sees her at the end of the aisle.
She’s astonishing. Her hair pulled up into an intricate mix of braid and curls, her features accentuated by makeup that glimmers under the fairylights, and a pastel pink dress covered in flowers and lace, a giant train behind her as she walks by her father’s side, coming closer and closer to him.
He can feel the tears falling down his cheeks, ruining the makeup that Paulette had put on him, (some sort of eyelash thing and skin tint?) and he knows her blinding smile is mirrored on his face, his cheeks aching from it.
She finally arrives beside him, grabbing his hands as they stare into each other’s teary eyes.
‘I love you,’ Elle mouths to him.
‘I love you,’ he mouths back with a half chuckle, half sob.
They don’t get a priest. Neither of them are particularly religious and they wanted something that was more authentic.
When they get to the vows, he’s not surprised to see Elle has written it out. Pink stationary, scented with perfume, written with glitter pen in her loopy cursive.
“Emmett,” Elle says. She laughs wetly and wipes at her eyes. “Gosh. Sorry. One word in and I’m already crying. Thank God for Lancôme.” She takes a long breath. “Okay.” She smiles at Emmett. “Emmett. When I think of you, I think about your ridiculous fuzzy socks in my lap while we’re watching movies with more fighting than talking.”
A surprised laugh is knocked out of him, not expecting that to be the start.
“When I think of you, I think of the smell of your awful two in one shampoo that you use that makes your hair so unfairly soft. When I think of you, I think about the cute snort you have when you let yourself really laugh.”
She takes his hand again and squeezes it shakily.
“When I think about you, I think about the way you always tuck your chin over my shoulder when we cuddle. When I think of you, I think about the way I can feel you smile against my lips when we kiss. When I think about you, I think of the memories we’ve made, the memories we make, and the memories yet to come.”
She takes another shaky breath.
“When I think about you, I think about the future and how I can’t imagine one without you. When I think about you, I think about spending the rest of my life having fuzzy socks in my lap and smelling your two in one shampoo and cuddling and kissing and laughing and smiling for the rest of our lives.” She looks up at him, a tear falling down her cheek. “When I think about you, I see the rest of my life.”
Emmett carefully dabs the tear away with his thumb.
“Emmett. I vow to love you forever even though you use two in one shampoo.” Emmett laughs. “I vow to make you smile and be there when you aren’t. I vow to stay with you and to never give up on you. I vow to make you moisturize your neck after every shower because that’s where aging first shows.” Emmett laughs again, tears falling fast. “And I vow to always show you that you are loved and to never stop loving you.”
It takes both of them a moment to stop crying before Emmett pulls out his own vows typed and printed.
“Elle Woods,” Emmett says. “From the moment you met me, you saw something in me that no one else saw. You saw a potential in me to be something great. And you didn’t just see it, you believed it, and you made me believe it too. But when I looked at you, I saw not just a potential, but the greatness you already had. You are more intelligent than most give you credit for. You are stubborn and determined and once you get your mind on doing something, you won’t let anything or anyone get in the way, even me.”
Elle chuckles, running her finger under her eye.
“You inspire me. Every day, you inspire me to cross my self made barriers and push past the boundaries that keep me from being the best I could be. And every day, you understand when I can’t take that step across the line and stay with me, waiting on the other side of the line for whenever I’m ready to join you. You never hesitate to compromise because there is so much I can’t do yet but maybe never will. But because you care so deeply, without falter or fear, you know that even if we aren’t completely compatible in everything, that doesn’t minimize our love.”
Emmett cups his hand behind her neck. “I was going to put my hand on your cheek but I think I’d smudge your blusher.”
“It’s just blush,” she says with a teary laugh.
“Elle,” Emmett says. “I vow to believe in you the way you believe in me, every day for the rest of our lives. I vow to be unafraid to try, whether that be with you or with sushi that has raw fish on it.” She chuckles. “I vow to find you beautiful inside and out even if you’ve got a bare face and are wearing white after labor day. I vow to cherish your smiles even when they’re few and far between and to never take your love for granted. I vow to moisturize my neck after every shower—” Her head throws back in laughter. “I swear, I wrote this before I heard yours. It’s written right here.” He takes a shaky breath. “And I vow to never stop working to be the best I can be, not just for you, but for me too. Because you deserve someone who loves themself just as much as they love you. Because I love you, Elle Woods, and I will love you for however long you’ll have me.”
“Forever,” she says.
“Forever, then,” he says, smiling.
The officiant is saying words but Emmett is just lost in Elle’s eyes, crinkled with pure joy, and suddenly she’s leaning in and the officiant must’ve said it’s time to kiss the bride and so he does.
And accompanied by raucous applause, Emmett walks hand in hand with his wife, ready for whatever forever brings.