Hey! So I’ve only recently discovered Legally Blonde the Musical (can’t believe I didn’t discovered it sooner!), and needless to say, I’m obsessed with it! I discovered your blog and love reading your headcanons! Anyway getting to the point of this ask: I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind talking about the moment when Elle fell for Emmett. I’ve seen lots of posts about the moment Emmett fell for Elle but not much about the other way around. Thanks and sorry for this long ask 😝!
hi! thanks so much for the kind words and the question! I’d be so happy to talk about that.
so here’s the thing: Elle was falling for Emmett for a lot longer than she realized. but she was still wrapped up in Warner and trying to do well in school, and she was just grateful to have such a sweet and supportive friend in Emmett. he helped her when most people around her turned their backs, and he never assumed that because of her looks and background that she didn’t belong at Harvard and wouldn’t succeed if she tried.
and there were a lot of little things, little moments, between them that Elle brushed off as just nice friend actions. his genuine happiness and pride when Elle started to turn around her performance in school? the reaction of a friend/tutor who was happy to see results of all their hours of studying together. a bottle of 2-in-1 shampoo/conditioner for Christmas to make her beauty routine more efficient? a very sweet gift from her friend who, clearly, knew nothing about hair care. Emmett’s going with her and Paulette to get Paulette’s dog back? just another instance of how supportive he was, and a good friend to be there for the two of them.
throughout that whole school year, Elle learns so much about the kind of man Emmett is. he’s driven, kind, funny, supportive, deeply intelligent, desperate to rise to his full potential to show himself/his mom/Callahan/the world that he could, and a genuinely good person and sweet friend. so when she takes him shopping, she knows that it’s her job to help him unlock the same potential that he’s helped cultivate in her throughout the past few months.
she doesn’t want to change him or mold him into being a clone of every other Harvard lawyer, but she knows that if she can help him change his appearance to match everything inside of him, then he’d be that much closer to reaching the success he so longs for. and the moment when Emmett steps out of the dressing room finally looking amazing in his suit and every bit the successful lawyer he was destined to be is the moment that Elle’s perception of him changes and oh wait he’s super hot.
she spends the next few minutes feeling kind of dazed as she reflects on her time with Emmett over the course of their friendship. she starts to realize that moments that she thought to herself, “what a nice and supportive friend Emmett is!” were, deep down, times when she felt like she was getting a crush on him, but she ignored those feelings and brushed them off because winning Warner back was still so important to her.
what comes clear to her in that moment, too, is that she’s not looking for another clone of Warner. sure, Emmett resembles him in the dark suit, but he also resembles any respectable lawyer. Elle wants someone kind and supportive and determined and sweet, someone who doesn’t care about what others think of him and his appearance, someone who cares about helping others and lifting people up. she knows she doesn’t want Warner anymore, she wants Emmett.
and as they’re leaving, Emmett turns to hug her and wait, what was that? Elle hesitates and goes for the hug because Emmett wasn’t going for a kiss, was he? of course not. definitely not. she hugs him back and brushes it off, because there’s no way that he just tried to kiss her. though if he had...well, that was something to think about later. for now they have a trial to win.