It Was Always You

Mother

Y/N'S POV:

After about 30 minutes of random conversations, car games, and karaoke, we finally make it to the courthouse.

Christina finds a spot and puts the car in park, but no one moves. The conversations that were being had stops and all music is paused.

Everyone turns to look at me, waiting to see what I would do. I know that they want to make sure I'm ready before they get out, which is sweet of them, but I am. I've been waiting for this moment for a long time and I can't wait to take Brian down.

They watch as I unbuckle my seatbelt, prompting them to do the same. We all get out of the car and walk in silence to the big wooden doors at the front of the building.

As I'm walking, I feel a hand connect with mine. I look over and smile as I see Lauren with a worried expression on her face.

I lift her hand up to my lips and kiss it.

"I'm gonna be okay, Laur. I got this." She nods and looks ahead of her, not letting go of my hand.

"Ok, guys, we're here. Does anyone need to go to the bathroom before? We have about 25 minutes." Lisa says as she props open the door for everyone.

"Can you go to the bathroom with me, Y/N?" I look at her questioningly, considering we're not in elementary school anymore.

I chuckle and nod, following her to the bathroom.

"Not that I'm complaining, but why couldn't you go alone?" Her face turns red and she looks straight at the ground.

"You'll see."

We make it to the bathroom and Lauren starts opening every stall door, making sure no one was in there.

"Hey, what are you do-" She suddenly slams me against the wall and attaches her lips to mine.

I eagerly kiss back as her hands start making their way down my sides. Without warning, her hand wraps around my neck, choking me slightly. I try to contain myself, shocked at her actions.

Maybe Lauren's not such a bottom after all.

We break apart for air and she senses my confusion. She chuckles and looks me up and down.

"What? Just wanted to make you feel better before your big trial." My face instantly gets red and I can feel butterflies in my stomach.

"Well...It worked." Just as I say this the lights in the bathroom shut off.

Two arms wrap around me tightly as I hear Lauren gasp. On instinct I hold her closer to me, trying to calm her down.

I start chuckling when I feel her grip tighten.

"What's so funny?"

"Just the fact that a couple seconds ago, you were this powerful girl, and now you're afraid of the dark. It's cute." I can only imagine that she's rolling her eyes at me.

"Let's leave the bathroom, I think the lights probably just malfunctioned." I take her hand and lead her out to a room full of light.

Her breathing slows and she lets go of my hand.

"You never did tell me why you're so afraid of the dark." She takes a deep breath, obviously embarrassed to explain this to me.

"When I was about 10, my sisters and I were all playing tag in the dark. I guess I was being annoying or something, so Lisa decided to tell me a story about The Soul Stealer."

I stifle a laugh as I wave my hand to tell her to continue her story.

"Every night, The Soul Stealer would creep into every child's bedroom and see if they had their light off. If they did, he would sneak in and steal their soul. And no one would be able to catch him because you had your light off and couldn't see!" She finishes her story with wide eyes, expecting me to get scared.

"Lauren....you can't seriously believe that, can you?" She rolls her eyes as I laugh.

"I mean, it's like believing in Bigfoot!" She looks like she's about to say something, but quickly stops herself.

"Wait...you're not saying....come on. You believe in Bigfoot too?"

"See, I knew it was stupid to tell you. I'm sorry I'm a believer in REAL things okay? You just discredit every story you hear and that is your own fault." Lauren playfully pushes me as she says this, wanting to get a reaction.

"Okay. Sure. I'll let you have this. Now let's go to the courtroom before we miss the entire trial." I start walking and she quickly follows behind me.

She opens the door and motions for me to walk in, but I stop dead in my tracks as soon as I do.

Over to my right is my mother, sitting in a seat all alone. She looks over at me in disgust, which makes me sad.

I know that she's a terrible person, but she's still my mom. I still love her. I begin to walk over to her, but Lauren grabs my hand and pulls me back.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" I pull myself out of her grasp and ignore her, needing to talk to my mom.

"Why are you here?" She says angrily.

"To testify against your abusive husband. Why are you here?" My voice trembles no matter how hard I try to sound tough.

"To support my husband because someone is making false allegations against him." I can feel my anger starting to rise, fed up with how she treats me.

"You never liked me anyway." My voice was starting to get loud, almost on the verge of causing a scene.

"Y/N. Come sit over here with us, please." I can hear Christina call over to me from across the room, but I don't care at this point.

"All you ever cared about was him. You barely spoke to me as soon as you met him." Pretty soon I'm starting to yell, my mom sitting in silence shocked at my outburst.

"BUT YOU KNOW WHAT, MOM? I'M DONE WITH IT. I'M DONE AND I'M ABOUT TO PUT YOUR SHIT HUSBAND IN JAIL FOR WHAT HE DID. WHY WOULD I LIE? WHY THE FUCK WOULD I LIE ABOUT THAT? ALL I EVER WANTED WAS FOR YOU TO BELIEVE ME. I JUST WANTED YOU TO HUG ME AND TELL ME THAT EVERYTHING WAS GOING TO BE OKAY. TO TELL ME THAT YOU'RE SORRY." Tears are running down my face as the entire courtroom says silent, listening to my screams.

"BUT YOU NEVER DID THAT, DID YOU? ALL YOU DID WAS IGNORE ME AND BLAME ME AND KICK ME OUT. I....I just wanted a mom that loved me. A mom that cared. But I guess I wasn't good enough to get that. You don't deserve to be called a mother."

I turn around and see Lauren standing behind me with tears in her eyes. She understands that in this moment, I don't need a hug. I need justice. I take one last look at my mom, who still hasn't said a word.

I knew in my heart that she understood what she did wrong. Maybe she even feels sorry about it. I keep my eyes locked with hers for one more second, holding on to the hope that she'll say sorry. She doesn't.

I sigh and walk to my spot, the room staying in complete silence.

Thank you guys so much for reading!! I'm so so so sorry that this CHAPTWR took so long to write. Honestly, I don't have a good excuse. I've just been having some rough days lately and it went by so fast. I promise to put out chapters sooner. I hope you guys enjoyed and thank you to @theresa309 for the suggestion about Lauren and the dark. If you guys have any suggestions like she did, feel free to leave them in the comments or dm me!