Cup of Roasted Coffee

27; no, its legally blonde

[ again: i really want to thank you for all the love this fic gets still. it astounds me that people are still reading this considering i wrote it in 2019 as a joke. time is weird. anywho, enjoy!

also surprise this is barely spell checked

In the kitchen of his apartment, Paul held up his phone's camera, which was switched to 'selfie mode.' There was a smile on his face and a coffee in his free hand. It was time for his weekly tradition: a nice vlog.

"Hey! Today, I'm–"

"Are you— are you vlogging?"

Perhaps he should've locked the front door. Paul fumbled with his phone to end the recording, shoving it behind his back to play it cool. His eyes fell on his guest. Emma stood there in her plain black dress, some short heels paired with curled hair. It took him a moment to take it all in. He was certainly head over heels for this woman still.

"Paul?" Emma furrowed her brows a little. He wasn't saying much.

"Oh– vlogging? Uh, no! Not at all. What even is vlogging?" He tossed his phone on the dining table, very much failing the task of playing this off cool. "Vlogging sounds like a made-up word, Emma."

She gave him a look. Maybe he wasn't getting out of this.

"I prefer to call it video documenting."

Emma knowingly rolled her eyes, stepping further into the apartment to grab herself a bottle of water from the fridge. "What's it for? You got a YouTube page or something?" she joked.

Paul sighed, shaking his head. "Uh. . .sorta. I can't visit my moms as often as they'd like so I just kinda. . .you know."

Emma laughed softly, sipping from the bottle. "And you're embarrassed about that because. . .? Oh no, you've got a good relationship with your parents. Aha, your big secret is out," she teased. Her foot shut the fridge behind her. "You look nice though."

Trying to ignore how red his face had gotten, Paul looked down at his outfit. "Oh, yeah. I didn't want to disappoint Bill tonight. He's been. . .waiting on this for a while now."

"Huh, if that's the case, I should sign us up for things like this more often." Emma looked him up and down. "The button-up is kinda hot."

Paul laughed. "Oh shush. You ready to go? I can drive."

"You've got it."

—♡—

Clivesdale High School was packed. So much so that the couple had to park a whole block away. Needless to say, their expectations for the show were getting higher by the second. They found Bill and Charlotte quite quickly though, just outside the doors to the theatre.

"Oh good, you made it!" Bill cheered. "We got your tickets, we've just been waiting for you out here. Oh! I'm so excited. Alice is–"

"The lead, yes, I've heard," Emma cut him off, trying to sound as loving as possible. Paul was entirely too grateful for that one. "We should head in before the show starts. Wouldn't want to lose the good seats, yeah?"

The theatre itself was actually a lot calmer than the commotion of the lobby they'd been in. The seats were mostly filled with families and friends of the performers, each one keeping their conversations strictly between their groups. Bill managed to find them some excellent seats near the orchestra pit despite Paul's wishes to sit near the back. Emma had to quietly remind him that this was Bill's night as they sat down.

Reading through the program, Emma nudged Paul's side. "Has Alice always been blonde?" she asked, her brows knitting together as she looked over the headshot.

Paul's eyes followed her line of vision. "Oh, she's naturally a brunette but after a couple court cases, she got switched to legally blonde."

Emma paused, her head slowly turning to look up at him. Some part of her was visibly doing its best not to laugh. "That. . .is the dumbest thing I have ever heard you say."

At this, Paul feigned offense. "Wow! Really? Oh, that one hurt. I don't know if I can recover from that one."

She gave him a look, willing to play along. "Oh yeah, you better learn to get used to living with your injury. That kind of dent can really damage an ego."

"I can confirm that one. My ego is incredibly hurt. You owe it money for its hospital bills." He leaned in a little just to tease. To his surprise, Emma copied the motion. Oh. A blush spread onto his cheeks as he watched her bite her lip.

"I owe your ego nothing of the sort, but if it's really that injured. . ." She closed the distance between them for a soft little kiss, which he happily returned just as the lights began to dim around them. They were pulled apart by an eager Bill on Paul's other side, spending most of the show hand-in-hand.

—♡—

Waiting near the back of the lobby, Emma and Paul were left to make sure Bill didn't explode from all the pride built up in him. Charlotte had left during intermission to help Ted out with some paperwork(Emma wasn't buying it) so now this laid in their hands. At least it was a shared responsibility.

It felt like years while they waited there for his daughter to appear. Even when she was finally in the room, Alice was much more focused on her friends and the kids asking for autographs. Bill was near the end of that priority list.

"Alice!" Bill beamed as the girl approached. He wrapped her up into a big hug before handing her the bouquet he'd gotten from the grocery store. "Oh, I'm so proud of you. You did– you did so good!"

Alice sighed. She took note of the tears welling up in his eyes. "Dad, please don't cry right now." Her attention drifted to the couple standing nearby. "Oh– Hi, uncle Paul. Is this. . .?"

Paul smiled warmly. He loved showing off his girlfriend. "This is Emma. Emma, this is Alice." The two girls shook hands. "You did really good up there, Al. I'm liking the new hair, too."

For the first time since she was with this group, Alice smiled. "Thank you! It's incredible what boxed hair bleach and voice lessons can do—"

"Ally!"

The group all turned to see Deb, Alice's girlfriend, approach the scene. Bill watched as her face lit up in a way that felt rare to him.

"Ah, I have to go, but it was nice seeing you, Paul. Dad." Alice reluctantly gave him another hug. She knew that'd help. With another wave, the two girls ran off.

Bill sighed. "God dang it, I can't escape her! Deb's ruining my life, Paul!"

Emma wasn't even being spoken to and yet she spoke up before Paul could. "Deb is a seventeen-year-old girl, Bill."

Bill paused. "I don't like your attitude."

She nodded, exchanging a look with Paul. "Uh. . .yeah I really think we should head out, Bill. Paul and I have some plans to get to," she fibbed.

It took a minute for him to get the hint— or at least what he thought was a hint. "Oooh, I get it. You're leaving me for some fun time at ho–"

"Bye, Bill!" And like that, Paul quickly dragged Emma out of the building. He didn't want to face whatever Bill thought they'd be doing tonight.