Restoration [Shawn Mendes] AU

Chapter 95

After spending the afternoon and early evening of Thanksgiving Day with Gran, Michelle had found some private time with her grandmother to explain what had happened with Aaron and how he had been stalking her, sending her messages and had videotaped her and Shawn at the beach house. Of course Gran was very upset by this whole sordid ordeal, but true to form she gave Michelle her love and support as well as her sage grandmotherly advice that was always welcome no matter the situation. 

"Sweet girl, I understand how disturbing this has been for you and I want this man to be punished for not only the crimes he's committed against you, but also those other poor girls he's harmed."

"I know Gran, me too. I've talked to one of the assistant attorneys who works in the AG's office and will be prosecuting this case and she's been very helpful explaining everything to me and going over the whole pretrial process and what to expect, including the possibility of a plea bargain being made since he has multiple cases against him pending. He's already had new charges brought against him from tracking me with his phone so he knew where I was at any given moment on top of everything else he did, and the number of women he assaulted now stands at three, which includes the rape of that poor girl last summer, when he pulled her into a wooded area while she was running on one of the nature trails over at Oxboes Park."

"Well then he should be put away for a good long time," Gran replied, patting Michelle's hand.

"I really hope so, but I don't know how that works if he gets convicted on any of the crimes in Rhode Island, but then Massachusetts is going to charge him for what he did at the beach house with the video voyeurism. I just want him to be held accountable for all the harm he's caused, even though what happened to me isn't nearly as bad as what he did to those other women."

"Michelle, what he did to you is not NOTHING! Don't dismiss his actions against you as trivial, because they're not!" Gran countered, her blue eyes flaring.

"I know what he did to me wasn't trivial, I just mean that what they endured was so much worse because it was physical. What he did to me was more to mess with me mentally. And I didn't even KNOW all the things he did like with my photos and tracking me with his phone, until he got arrested and the police gathered all the evidence from his apartment and his electronics and the burner phones he used."

"Yes, but he also violated your privacy when he took all those photos and a video of you without your knowledge or consent, as well as invaded your intimate moments with Shawn, so to me that's more than just him causing you mental stress. Anything that violates your body or your mind, or makes you feel unsafe or unsure in your home or surroundings can cause problems down the road that can pop up when you least expect it. Woman have always carried the burden of feeling like they can't just walk around unbothered in the world, without being aware of all the things that can happen to them at the hands of a man. It starts early, about the time a girl's body begins to change during puberty and males of all ages start to look at her and treat her differently."