Dandelion- Jess Mariano

♡Chapter 27: Trial and Error♡

Possible TW: talk of abuse

Parker looks in the mirror, straightening the last piece of her hair, before clipping it up into a formal knot at the back of her head.

She walks over to the mirror, pulling out her dress to wear for court. The prosecutor had told her to go with white, to seem innocent and angelic, compared to her foster father, who would be dressed in prison clothes.

After saying goodbye to Luke in the diner and kissing Jess quickly, she walks over to the bus stop. She was supposed to get there early, to get briefed on what would happen, so she was taking the bus there, and Jess and Luke would come after, separately.

She walks on to the bus, and gets a loving smile from the driver.

"Hello again Doris." She says, sitting at the nearest seat to the front.

"You look good darlin' " she says, smiling at her. "Made a good life?"

"Better than I could ever imagine." Parker answers. "I'll be getting of at the courthouse today though."

"The courthouse?" Doris looks at her questioningly before starting to drive. "Whatcha going there for?"

"Just... Tying up some loose ends." Parker responds. The two chat for the rest of the ride catching up on the new details of Parker's life.

_________________

"Jess! I'm leaving, you have to start coming soon, or you'll be late!" Luke yells up the stairs. He is dressed in a fancy suit that Lorelai bought him the day before, looking very handsome.

"Yeah yeah I know!" Jess yelled back. "I'll see you there, alright?"

"Okay I'm going now, don't you dare be late." Luke says before leaving the diner. He drives off to Lorelai's house, and then hops out of his truck up to the front door.

He knocks, and the door swings open to reveal Lorelai, who pauses in front of him, looking him over.

Lorelai clears her throat before speaking. "Luke, you look... I mean, you look.." she stutters a bit.

"Yeah yeah, I know, I look weird." He says, waving her off.

"No, I was going to say you look really great." She says as she regains her composure. "Very handsome."

"Oh uh- thank you" he says, and if anyone had asked, he would have denied it, but he was blushing, as he started to walk back to his truck. "Here, get in, we have to go, it'll start soon."

"Yep, coming." Lorelai says.

__________

In the courthouse, Parker sits on the benches behind the prosecutor and lawyers fighting for her side of the case. Luke and Lorelai watch from across the way as they turn around every now and then to show her papers and talk to her. She was told not to turn around, and to sit tall, to seem powerful and not as anxious.

Luke nudges Lorelai with his elbow, whispering to her. "Do you see Jess anywhere? He should be here by now."

Lorelai glanced around the courtroom, scanning for Jess. "No, I don't. I don't see Rory either." Luke looks at her confused after that comment.

"Rory? Why would you see Rory?" He asks her, curiously.

"She told me Jess was giving her a ride here, she was already on the way there when we left." Lorelai says as though it should have been obvious.

"Jess didn't say anything about tha-" Luke starts to say, before the people behind them lean forward and shush them loudly. "Okay, okay sorry." He says, and they sit in silence, eyes scanning the room for any sign of either of the other teens.

But then, the court starts to buzz as Ray was led in by guards from the boots on the right side of the room. Luke immediately looked back to Parker, worried about how she was reacting. He noticed that her breathing seemed fast an shallow, but he couldn't do anything about it, as Ray stares straight at her with a glare.

Then, the judge walks in, and the court officially begins its session.

________________

"We would now like to call our lead witness, Parker Gilmore to the stand." The prosecutor says. Parker stands up and is escorted through the door and led up to the witness stand. Her eyes scan the room, a quick smile flashing onto her face as she seems Luke and Lorelai, but disappearing as soon as it appeared as she noticed Jess wasn't there.

"So Parker, you are the former foster daughter of Ray Anderson, correct?" The lawyer asks her.

"That's correct, yes." She responds.

"And you lived with him for over a year before you ran away?"

"Yes, I did."

"And during that year, did Ray hurt or abuse you in any way?" The prosecutor presses, and Parker takes a deep breath in before continuing.

"Yes he did." Parker said, already wishing for this to be over.

"Would you mind talking about some of the incidents?" The lawyer asks then.

"Well, usually he would get very drunk on Sundays, and he's a very angry drunk, so I would get bottles thrown at me or get hit." Parker says, her voice starting to waver a bit, but she collects herself before continuing. "And the day after he would be hungover and angry, yelling around the house, until that night when he would go drink again and the cycle would repeat like that."

"And do you have any lasting evidence of this abuse?" The lawyer asks.

"Objection, your honor." The defendant says, and Parker looks to the judge to see what the answer will be.

"Overruled" the judge said, smiling down at Parker.

Parker turns back to the lawyer, before starting to answer the question. "Yes I do, I have a line of 4 scars down my left abdomen and the scars you see on my lip and eyebrow." She pauses before talking, thinking about more. "I can't come up with others, but I am sure there is more than what I have found."

The judge continued this questioning and after the defendant didn't have any questions, they all looked towards the judge for an answer. The judge looks towards Ray, before speaking.

"The court rules Ray as guilty on all charges. We also release all bank accounts and assets that were stolen back into the hands of Parker and her new official guardian, Luke Danes." the judge says, and Luke and Lorelai lean forward in their seats.

"And Ray is sentenced to 15 years in prison with no chance of parole." The few people who stayed in the courtroom cheered, and once dismissed, Parker immediately ran over to Luke, hugging him. Then she realizes Lorelai is there too.

"Oh hey! I'm really glad you came." She says,and hugs her.

And then she searched the room, looking for Jess again. Luke avoids her eyes as she talks to him.

"Is Jess in the bathroom? Or did he get caught in traffic?" She asks, curious and not wanting to believe that he would miss this.

"We aren't sure. Rory said she was going to come too, but she's not here either." Lorelai says, shrugging her shoulders.

"I'm sure everything is fine, here let's go back to the diner and celebrate with some pie, how does that sound?" Luke offers, trying to cheer her up.

"That sounds great." Parker smiles softly. "Thanks Luke." The three walk out of the courtroom in silence, all of them in their own thoughts.