We Know What You Did

18: The Verdict

It had been nearly 4 hours and there was still no answer from the jury.
"Is it a bad thing it's taking so long?" Chelsea asked her uncle. Sonny, Chelsea, and Amanda had gone for lunch and were sitting in the cafe. Sonny and Amanda exchanged glances. They knew that the longer the jury was out, the higher a chance of a mistrial.
"Not necessarily" Sonny told her. "Eat up."
Chelsea glared at him but took a bite of her food. "What happens if he's found not guilty?" She asked. "I won't have to go back to him, will I?"
Sonny was speechless. Frankly, he was avoiding thinking about those things himself. "We'll cross that bridge only if we have to." Amanda answered, trying to be reassuring. Chelsea nodded. Amanda's phone buzzed and she pulled it out of her pocket. "Looks like we're about to find out."
———
"Has the jury reached a verdict?" The judge asked.
"We have, Your Honor." The juror spoke. "On the charge of rape in the third degree, we find the defendant, Tyler Stanton, guilty."
Sonny wrapped his arm around Chelsea's shoulder and kissed her head. He looked down at his niece and saw tears rolling down her cheeks. "You okay?" He asked.
Chelsea shook her head. "I need to go." She quickly got up and ran out of the courthouse, followed by Sonny and Amanda.
"Chelsea!" Sonny called after her. Chelsea didn't look back and continued running down the courthouse steps. Amanda and Sonny chased after her as if she was a suspect. "Chels!" Finally, Amanda caught up to her and wrapped her arms around Chelsea to stop her. Sonny ran up a few seconds later. "Chels, what happened?" Sonny crouched down to be at her eye level.
Chelsea was breathing quickly. "I... I don't... I want to go home." Chelsea started sobbing and Sonny wrapped his arms around her.
"It's okay, Seabug. We can go home." Sonny kissed her on the top of her head and shared a worried look with Amanda.
———
Chelsea didn't say anything on the drive back. When they got back to Sonny's apartment, Chelsea went straight to the guest room. That evening Olivia, Amanda, Fin, and Rafael came by to check in on the Carisis.
"How's she doing?" Fin asked.
"She hasn't left her room since we've gotten back." Sonny told everyone.
"Do you want me to talk to her?" Amanda offered. Sonny shook his head. He thought it'd be best to just let Chelsea be for now.
"And how are you doing?" Olivia asked Sonny.
Sonny shrugged. "I'm relieved that bastard will be behind bars. I'm just worried about Chelsea."
"Taking care of a teenager is a lot" Rafael commented.
"But we're all here for you guys if you need anything" Olivia added, glaring at Rafael.
The team decided to order in Chinese food for dinner and Sonny went to see what Chelsea wanted. "Chels?" He knocked on the door. There was no answer. "Chelsea?" He knocked again. Figuring the girl was likely asleep, he cautiously pushed the door open. "Shit! Chelsea!" He exclaimed. "Somebody call a bus!"

A/N
Hi everyone! Sorry for the long wait! I also know this chapter is much shorter than the others but I wanted to put something out there since it has been so long. Thank you for reading!
Also, I'm never great at ending stories so if there's somewhere you think this story should go or a way you want to see it end, please comment or message me!