A/N: Ok, so I know I said it was going back to that morning, but we're going to start late the night before (the night Elle is first kidnapped), Emmett's POV. Enjoy!

You Found Me

What happened last night? (Emmett's POV)

Emmett paced in front of Elle's door, his mind reeling, clouded with worry. It had been two hours since he saw Elle last. They were leaving Callahan's little celebration, and he had asked to speak to her privately. She had said ok, with the promise to meet him at her dorm room in fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes. It had definitely been more than fifteen minutes. All manner of gruesome reasons for Elle's absence floated through his mind. A man with a gun, and Elle lying, bloody and dead on the streets of Boston. A driver not paying attention, and Elle lying, crushed and dead on the streets of Boston. A rapist, and Elle lying, broken and unconscious on the streets of Boston. But he attempted to reassure himself as he continued to pace hopelessly. Elle was fine, if anything had happened to her the police would call Elle's boss. And Elle's boss was Callahan who would surely call Emmett. He knew how close they were. He often made fun of them, calling them "ratty corduroy, and legally blonde". If something had happened, he would let Emmett know. In an act of desperation he pulled out his cell phone and checked for missed calls or text messages. Nothing. Emmett felt like screaming, but at 10:00 at night he doubted many studying or sleeping law students cared for, or wanted to hear his agitation. Desperation, more like it, he thought to himself. Here they were, so close to winning this case, and Elle, the girl he was madly in love with, the prime reason for their success. He was so in awe of her, and had finally made his decision. Tonight was the night. He was going to confess to her how he felt. And she was nowhere in sight. He wondered if maybe, he was being obvious about his intentions and Elle, not returning his feelings, had found another refuge for the night to escape an awkward confrontation. He shook his head. That was ridiculous, he thought. But here, all alone, with no one to reason with him, he had trouble convincing himself otherwise.

OMIGODxOMIGODxOMIGODxOMIGODxOMIGODxOMIGODx

After a night of restless sleep Emmett arrived at the courtroom early. He intended to speak to Callahan before everyone else got there to find out about Elle. She had never returned to her dorm and his mind was on red alert. Somehow, he knew something was horribly wrong. He had been waiting for five minutes, when he saw Professor Callahan strolling up the steps to the courthouse. Emmett ran outside to greet him.

"Professor!" he called.

"Good morning, Emmett."

"Professor, do you know where Elle is?" Emmett was out of breath from running, but that didn't stop him, from gasping his question out, as he bent over to catch his breath.

"She said that she would meet me back at her dorm room last night so I waited for hours but she never showed. I called all her friends, but no one knows where she is. As far as I can tell you're the last person she saw last night, please tell me you know where she is!?"

"California," said Callahan. "She left last night for Malibu. From what I could tell she won't be back. She told me to give her things away, that she would get more upon arriving home. She also asked me to tell you that she didn't want any contact with her friends from here. So you can put that away right now." For Emmett had pulled out his phone and was halfway through dialing Elle's number.

Emmett was stunned. He felt like his heart was being slowly, excruciatingly ripped in half. Malibu? It couldn't be true. She hadn't come back for her things, and she hadn't said goodbye. It was all very un-Elle-ish. Why on Earth would she want to leave? She was doing so well here…

"Did she say why?" His voice shook as he addressed Callahan once again. Elle must have had a reason. Perhaps Margot, Serena, or Pilar were dreadfully sick and she didn't want any distractions. Maybe it would keep her long term and she didn't know when exactly she would be back. But she couldn't just be gone. There was no way. Not Elle.

"She gave no reason whatsoever besides saying that the people here were too serious, and too boring, and she was sick of trying to be a lawyer. I'm sorry." He didn't sound very sorry, nevertheless, Emmett allowed himself to be patted on the back, not noticing the little black speck that stuck to his jacket, as Callahan walked away.

California. Emmett still couldn't bring himself to believe it. Elle was doing brilliantly here. The reasons Callahan gave him were simply too ridiculous to believe. Emmett's first instinct was to call Callahan's story a bluff. But why would Callahan lie to him? And Elle was definitely not here, or with any of her other friends. Where else on Earth could she possibly have gone? Emmett was forced to conclude that there was nowhere else he could think of. Callahan must be telling the truth. His whole self grew numb. She didn't want to stay in touch with him. There was no way she felt the way he did. He felt like his heart was ripping in two for the second time that day. It was better that way, he thought to himself. It would only have bothered her to know. He tried the whole court session, to convince himself that it was better off this way, but to no avail. He was inattentive all morning, barely even noticing that they won. He declined the invitation to celebrate with the rest of the team, in favor of returning home to his apartment alone. Upon arriving, he spotted the box of things he had confiscated from Elle all those months ago, the night he had found her on the bench in that ridiculous bunny getup. Usually that memory brought a smile to his face, but not today. Today it caused his heart an extra hard pang, as it sensed a breakdown coming on. Suddenly the power of the realization hit him harder than before. Elle was gone. He would never see her bubbly face surrounded by blonde hair, or hear her chirpy voice as they studied late in the night, powered by Red Bull. She was gone, out of his life for good. A tear slid down his cheek, and he put his face into his hands, sinking to the floor of his apartment in utter misery.

A/N: So I guess that one was a little intense too. Next chapter will probably bring us back to Elle as I think we all understand exactly what's going on in Emmett's world right now. For those of you who are wondering where the "Romance" theme comes in, it should only be one, maybe two chapters away. Be patient!

Reviews make my day, so please respond with lots of them! I want to make it to twenty before I post the next chapter. Thanks

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