This is one of those episodes where there was literally nowhere for me to put Emmeline. So while this is technically "filler", I also feel it's really important to Emmeline's character.


"Here, Mom, I made some chicken," Emmeline said as she came to the living room and tried to hand the plate to her mother.

"No, thanks, hon," her mother replied. "I'm not hungry."

"I know, but you haven't eaten all day. You need something or you're just going to feel worse. Come on."

Her mother sighed as she took the plate. "You're so bossy," she teased.

"Only because I care about you. Finish that, then eat a little bit of yogurt, and I won't hound you anymore."

"All right."

"And yes, I will put granola in it. You're drinking your water, right?"

"I thought I was supposed to be the mom here."

Emmeline laughed lightly. "You're helping me practice for potential motherhood."

She returned to the kitchen and prepared a very small bowl of vanilla yogurt with granola pieces in it.

"What do you say?" she asked as she took away the empty plate and handed her the bowl. "Legally Blonde tonight?"

"Sounds good."

Emmeline put the movie into the DVD player and crashed on the couch next to her mother while she fixed her pink bandana on her bald head.

When the montage of the main character, Elle Woods, showed her attempting to get into Harvard so she could follow her ex-boyfriend and convince him to love her again, her mother turned to look at her.

"Speaking of, how are college applications coming along?"

Emmeline groaned. "So many essays and transcripts and awful SATs! Can't the admissions people just accept us if we put in a request?"

"It would be easier, but then it wouldn't be college. What's the hardest essay you've had to write so far?"

"Um…there was one where I had to imagine I worked for admissions and what kind of qualities I'd want to see in potential candidates."

"What did you say?"

"Grades are important, but character is what makes a person. If a person only makes good grades, where will that get them? Someone doesn't have to know what they want as soon as they enter college because college is all about finding an identity and getting an idea for the future. But someone coming into college needs to have at least some fundamentals. Are they a genuinely good and kind person or do they only focus on their own wants and needs? Do they make an effort to help others or do they spend all their time thinking about how to improve their own lives?"

Her mother smiled at her. "Seems like a good answer to me. Have you thought about what you're going to study?"

"I'm not sure. Chloe's been pushing for me to do something in Journalism, but as much as I love working at the Torch, it's not my passion. But that takes up so much of my time, I haven't really done anything else. I don't even know what my passion is."

"College is the time to find your passion. Like you just said, you don't need to have it all together right now."

"I know."

"I have no doubt that you will find something that you love. You're good at that."

They continued to watch the movie until they got to the scene where Elle was consoled by the man with whom she would eventually fall in love with.

"You have your sights on anyone?" her mother asked her daughter.

Emmeline lightly scoffed. "No, I do not."

"What about Clark?" she teased.

"Mom!"

"What?"

"No, I do not like Clark like that."

"Honey," Audrey said, her voice becoming gentler. "I know you miss Pete. But I don't want you to miss any opportunities that may come your way."

"Believe me, Pete is not the only reason I'm not seeing anyone."

"But he is a reason."

Emmeline didn't answer her.

"Clark is such a sweet boy, and he has done so much for you these past few years. You've done a lot for him too."

"Clark has done way more than I'll ever be able to do for him."

"He may do the actions, but you have the words. In my opinion, they're equally important, and I think he'd agree with me."

"I don't know, it would feel kind of wrong. Chloe likes him too. Back in freshman year, we both made a deal that if either of us ever dated Clark, the other would be happy for her. But it still kind of feels like I'd be betraying her, you know? She's liked him for a lot longer than I have."

"So you do like him?"

"I did when I first met him. But it doesn't matter how I feel about Clark now anyway because he only has eyes for Lana."

"He's liked her for a while, hasn't he? Back when she was dating that Whitney boy?"

"Probably long before then."

"She's dating someone else now, isn't she?"

"Yeah, Jason, some guy she met while she was in Paris."

"Can't he take a hint?"

"Mom!" Emmeline laughed.

"I'm just saying!"

"Lana confessed that she did love him last year, but after her leg was shattered, things got a little tense between them and sort of have been ever since."

"As unfortunate as that is, if he only allows himself to desire her, he's going to miss out on knowing another great girl. You, for instance."

"What's the deal with you wanting me and Clark to get together all of a sudden?"

Her mother smiled fondly and gently pushed a strand of Emmeline's hair behind her ear, running her fingers along the length of the long brown locks. "You're such a beautiful and intelligent girl. I just want you to be happy."

Emmeline smiled back at her mother. "I am happy. If Clark and I are meant to be, it'll happen in time. If not, I'm sure I'll find someone someday."

"I know you will."

Emmeline leaned into her mother's arms as they continued to watch the rest of the movie. Her mother's fingers gently trailed through her hair, lightly grazing across her scalp.

When her father walked through the door home from work, he looked at the couch and smiled as he saw his daughter wrapped protectively in his wife's arms, both of them sound asleep.


"Hey, Em, have you finished proofreading those two articles?" Chloe asked as she edited the next issue together.

"Yeah, this one's done and I'm just finishing up the other one."

"Great."

Emmeline circled a few more errors in the article and then handed both of them to Chloe.

"Hey, Chloe?"

"Mm-hm?"

"Look…I know you've been acting differently lately."

"What do you mean?"

"Clearly, you know and Clark know something that I don't."

"Em—"

"I'm not stupid. And as much as I want to know what this is, I trust you, and I know that you must have a good reason for not telling me."

Chloe sighed. "It's not my secret to tell."

"And I respect that. But you don't have to keep acting like there's not some secret because I know there is."

"Believe me, I want to tell you. But you know…Clark doesn't even know that I know this secret. I want him to tell me when he feels it's right."

"I don't think Clark realizes how lucky he is to have a friend like you."


Emmeline smiled as she knocked on the wooden steps leading up to Clark's loft. "So, you want to tell me why you dropped everything and went to China?"

Clark laughed lightly as he turned to her. "Well, Lana needed—"

"Yeah, okay, you don't need to say anything else. The lengths you are willing to go to for that girl are astounding."

"Come on, Em, you know I'd do the same for you."

Emmeline smiled a little. "You know…I'm not sure if that's true."

Clark started to protest, but she stopped him.

"I have no doubt in my mind that you would do a lot for me or Chloe or someone else you care about. But if we needed to go to a foreign country for whatever reason, I don't know if you would come with us. The fact is that you care about Lana in a way that runs deeper than the way you care about other people. And that's understandable because you were…excuse me, are in love with her. And because of that deeper connection, you're going to want to do more for her."

Clark looked at her for a moment, pondering what she was saying to him. Finally, he told her, "No. I'd go with you to a foreign country in a heartbeat if you needed me to."

Emmeline smiled wider, impressed with his reply. She certainly hadn't expected it.

"I think the real question here is why did you not take me with you to China? I want to travel."

"Shanghai is huge and incredibly busy. You would hate the crowds."

She laughed lightly. "I suppose you have a point."