“serena! oh, thank god-- your timing couldn’t be better.” he’s bouncing on the balls of his feet, both giddy and restless. the usually composed lawyer was clearly frazzled, if the bags under his eyes and generally unkempt appearance were any indication.

she’s dragged to the corner of the room with a hand on her forearm before she even gets a chance to respond, his usual sheepish nature forgotten in the excitement. “sorry, i just-- i really need your help with something. you’re... you’re only the second person i’ve told this to, so i’m trusting you to keeep it a secret, but i figured you would know what to do.” deep breath is taken into uncooperative lungs, a hand carding through hair only serving to make it messier than it already was. “okay, here goes: i’m planning to propose to elle. n-next month, after her graduation ceremony, i’m taking her out to dinner, and i figured it would be a good time to, y’know... pop the question. should i go for it?”

ofpeculiariity.

“mmm, no, i think it’s more like ‘thank you, emmet, for putting your morals and your career aside to make me happy’.” he reciprocates with a nudge back, and the smile creeping across his face, though genuine, still betrays his worry. tom hasn’t changed his opinion, but he’s made a good enough point against acting on those feelings, at least for now.

“yeah, y’see, that’s exactly what i would do if i wanted you to hate me. which i literally just said is the exact opposite of what i want.” tom’s wariness, while not appreciated, is understandable-- emmett had proven himself rather bullheaded in the past, so he could see where the concern came from. “that’s... not exactly reassuring. this guy still sounds like bad news, but hey, that’s not my business. i just want you to be careful.”

ofpeculiariity.

“oh, no, no, no, don’t try to shove this off on me!” this wasn’t about emmett, or the fact that he wasn’t sure what he would do in such a situation. he liked to think that he would do the right thing, but now he realized that maybe it wasn’t quite so clear-cut. “it’s not just my civic duty, it’s also literally my job... but it’s not yours.”

a hand carded through his hair, wincing at the prospect of accepting defeat as if it were a physical blow ( a weakness which he noted seemed to run in the family ). “listen... it goes against my better judgement, but i’m not gonna force you to turn this guy in. i mean, if you could get him to stop commiting crimes, that’d be great, but... yeah. i can tell how much this guy means to you, and i’d rather not make you hate me. just don’t ask me to represent him if he gets arrested.”

ofpeculiariity.

“it’s not ‘holier than thou’, tom-- you’re dating a fucking mob boss! i don’t have to be a lawyer to know that’s a terrible idea!” uncharacteristic anger is born from worry-- worry that his cousin was in danger, worry that he was so nonchalant about the fact, worry over what would happen to tom if the man were to be arrested and tried-- or even executed-- for his crimes. “i don’t know what you expected. i want to be happy for you, i really do, but-- i-i don’t know what you want me to do with that.”

hoo boy y’all are gonna HAAATE ME when ren posts that submission

“well, now i know where the kids got it from. for the LAST TIME, i don’t have the power to arrest anyone. that’s, like, the opposite of my job.”

“JARE...” words cut down any defense he had built up, anger immediately replaced by overwhelming guilt. emmett had always felt guilty about years spent working like a dog at the expense of neglecting his family ( he missed the kid’s bar mitzvah, for god’s sake ), but he didn’t think it had affected jared so much. hearing his regrets spat back at him was a realization of emmett’s worst fear ( or one of them, anyway ). hands hovered awkwardly, not daring to touch jared, but desperately seeking some way to comfort him, to begin to atone for all the times he’d let him down. if he weren’t so shaken, he would have retorted his other comments, or at least joke that the kid might make a good lawyer, but all the fight had drained out of him and he slumped in defeat. “jared, i... i’m sorry, kid. you know i am. i know that ‘sorry’ doesn’t make everything better, and i can’t promise you that i would do everything differently if i had the chance, but... i hope you can forgive me. i know that might sound SELFISH, but, hey-- i guess it runs in the family.”

@insanelycooljk cont.

“i don’ need jared to take me to parties. i get invited to all sorts a’ parties on my own. i just don’t like ‘em that much, alright? JEEZ, leave me alone. an’ leave the kid alone while you’re at it.”