When was the moment he realized? When was the moment that he realized that he had become co-dependent on Elle? Elle, who both defied the stereotypes her peers put on her and exceled far past anyone's expectations. Elle, who had come to Harvard for all the wrong reasons but stayed for all the right ones. Elle, who he now looked at and felt a certain something in his chest.

Their shopping trip slash retail therapy had started the same way most of their hangouts tended to: Elle came up with the activity, the location, and then dragged Emmett there, ignoring his flimsy and occasional objections. She decided that after their discussion on their shared ethical standards and subsequently being told not to come back to the office by Callahan, that some serious retail therapy was in order. It wasn't until they arrived at the mall that she had informed him that the subject of the makeover would be him.

She had probably figured out that his normally futile objections would be a lot sturdier knowing he would have to try clothes on himself, and decided to only tell him once it was too late to back out. She was right.

Thinking back, Emmett couldn't exactly pinout the time where their tutor/tutee relationship had evolved into an unlikely best friendship. At the start of the year they had pulled long hours in Elle's dorm discussing malum prohibitum and malum in se. He usually left feeling frustrated at her lack of drive and focus, as well as with a very empty stomach. It wasn't until a month in that Elle suggested they go Dutch on take out, so she wouldn't feel like she was abusing both his kindness and his stomach. He had insisted that he was fine, but that would be his first lesson on how when Elle set her mind to something, there was little that could steer her away from her goal.

At Thanksgiving, Emmett informed her she would probably be at the bottom of her class if she went home for the break (which, he could admit, was probably harsher than he should have been). After seeing her disappointed that she wouldn't be able to see her family (and stalk Warner home), Emmett suggested that they take a brief break from the admittedly dry first year law books. He ushered her to his favorite hole in the wall pizza place. From there, their strictly study buddy relationship evolved to occasional textbook free hangouts to finding each other being their favorite part of being at Harvard.

"Do you want Blue or Black? OH! Maybe slate!" Elle spun on her heal before he had a chance to respond, chattering to the sales associate about inseam length and the merits of skinny ties.

Emmett startled, his reverie about the history of their friendship broken. The warm feeling in his chest seemed to grow by the day. He was madly proud of her. She had thrown herself into her studies and earned a spot in the most prestigious internship on the eastern seaboard. He wasn't quite sure what he used to fill his time with before they started studying together. The thought of her no longer needing his help had crossed his mind and he dreaded the looming day where she realized she didn't need him, the training wheels, anymore.

Glancing over to the sales floor, he saw Elle bustling towards him with her arms full of an almost comical amount of suit jackets. Groaning, he realized that even though this wasn't his idea of an enjoyable time, any time with her was time he relished. He simply couldn't say no to her.