Figure Five: The College Years

Court

"All rise, the honorable Judge Lindsay Weinert presiding. Case is Anderson-Hummel V. Jackson."

When the day came for Evie to appear back in court, she sat in the car with her parents, Lucas and Lyla, the windows tinted but she could see the crowd. Jackson's protesting side looked smaller compared to her side which was booming with people cheering and screaming for her, their signs waving. "Ready?" She heard Lucas ask, his hand on her lap, palm up and Evie looked down at it before looking at her brother. "Let's do this." She took his hand as he knocked on the window and the door opened, the cheering and shouting getting louder even from the other side of the courthouse street, police keeping the crowd and news reporters back. On Evie's other side, Kurt took his daughter's hand and kissed it, smiling at her when Evie smiled back. Blaine took Lucas' other hand and the core four walked through the pathway and up the stairs, Lyla and her team following close behind through the doors.

Inside was Quinn, Beth, Mercedes, JJ, Santana, Brittany, Valerie, Rachel, Sadie, Tyler, Finn, Daniel and Landon, the latter smiling at Evie who released her family's hand to hug him, Landon kissing her head before pulling back. "You okay?" He whispered and Evie nodded, releasing a shaky breath. "Hey Evie?" A voice called and Evie turned to see none other than Lucy. "Lucy? What are you doing here? I thought you were still in Paris?" She removed her sunglasses and noticed the almost hidden marks on her neck and red mark on her cheek. "I heard what happened and tried to confront him. I'm really sorry that happened to you." She said and Evie looked into her eyes. "Hey, it wasn't your fault." She placed a hand on Lucy's arm, Lucy smiling softly. "If it's alright with you, I wanted to testify for you. It's probably late but..." She looked down and Evie understood, taking her hand and squeezed it. "Why don't you come talk to my grandma, she can tell you what to do." Lucy nodded and the two, hand in hand, walked over to Lyla and her team.

Ten minutes later, Jackson, James and their lawyers came through the doors, the former acting arrogant until he saw Lucy and tried to hide a glare. "Don't look away from him. He can only scare you if you let him." She gave her own glare back and Lucy followed suit until Jackson was out of their sight and she wilted once more. "Were you..?" Evie looked at her and Lucy nodded. "He got me knocked up and then one night, we went to this party and...when I came to, I was bleeding and he was above me. He had spiked my drink and took pictures, said if I tried to leave, the pictures would be everywhere." Evie was shocked as was the others while Lucy stood, holding herself. "Jesus, this kid is Devil incarnate." Santana spat while Kurt offered Lucy a hug, the girl willingly going into the hug. "Oh sweetheart, I'm so sorry." He said and Lucy sniffled, pulling back. "I'm sorry for not speaking up. If I had, maybe I would've warned Evie." She said and Evie shook her head, taking her hand. "I already forgave you." Lucy smiled and hugged her, Evie hugging back.

Soon they were all called in, Evie taking her seat next to Lyla and her team, not sparing Jackson a glance, the teen glaring at her. When the bailiff spoke, everyone rose as the judge entered and sat, everyone following her. "Mrs. Anderson, I will allow you and your team to go first." She said and Lyla rose. "Thank you, your honor and good morning." Lyla said before facing the jury. It made Evie smile softly as seeing her grandmother exhume confidence as she spoke, taking confident steps as she gave her opening statement. If Evie wasn't so into music, she'd go into law. "And so I ask you, this amazing, smart jury, to please think about your wives, your mothers, sisters, aunts and daughters, think what you would do in this situation. My client couldn't consent, she could barely even breathe. My other client, when he burst through the door, had no choice but to act. Rash, it was but just think, wouldn't you?" She left it open, nodding at the judge who called for the plaintiff's opening statement which Evie and Lucas had to fight rolling their eyes at and Kurt had to keep a grip on Blaine's knee to keep him from wanting to stomp Jackson.

Soon it came to Lucas to sit at the witness stand and the young adult rose with grace and confidence, head up high as he went and sat down, Jackson's lawyer, Edward, coming over. "So, Mr. Anderson-Hummel, how are you related to the 'victim'?" Edward said in a tone and Lyla was quick to catch it. "Objection, that's in the tone of victim shaming, your honor." Judge Weinert nodded. "I'll sustain. Mr. Fields, please rephrase your question." That made Edward mad and Lucas happy, hiding his smirk. "Apologies, your honor. Mr. Anderson-Hummel, how are you related to Miss. Anderson-Hummel?" Lucas leaned into the mic. "She is my blood sister." "And by blood sister, you mean?" Lucas had to resist a sigh. "She's my sister by birth." "Objection, relevance?" One of the Lyla's lawyers called out and another sustained as Edward spoke. "You've been known to be overly protective of your family, have you not? Many around campus, according to my client, have said you are always around your sister when she is around males." Lucas cocked an eyebrow but deep down, he was feeling rage and one quick glance to his parents meant they understood too. "Honey..." Blaine whispered and Kurt gave a tiny shake. "Don't.."

"Would you say that she is your sister wife?" Some people gasped at the question out of disgust. Evie had to swallow her vomit while Blaine had to close his eyes and ball his fists up, Quinn holding one of them while Kurt held the other. Brittany and Valerie had to keep Santana seated. "No mamá, no." She whispered. Lucas didn't know what to say, the question shaking him. He gaped while hiding his fists. "She is not." He said harshly. "I'm sorry?" Edward asked and Lucas clarified. "Ever since I was little, our parents have gone through intense scrutiny for just having me, for having us. They nearly died for it and I didn't want my sisters to go through that. It's my job as an older brother to protect my sister." He said, the jury admiring his words. "Would you say that stomping someone into the ground would count as protecting your sister?" Yes. Lucas thought. "If you saw what I saw, wouldn't you just lose it?" He could feel eyes on him as he spoke. "I got a bad feeling. It felt like ice and then fire in my veins. Like something was pushing me and I couldn't figure out what it was until I noticed that the stairs were being guarded almost. Something you really only see in movies but—" He paused and Edward took over. "And that's where you attacked Mr.Williams and Mr.Younger?" Lucas tried to keep a glare off his face. "They provoked me first. When I got them out of the way, I found the door locked." "Perhaps he was sleeping?" Edward said and Lyla rose. "Objection, speculation." "Sustained." Edward hid a glare and Lucas gave a small smirk before continuing. "It took me a few tries but I broke it down and there he was, raping my sister who was in tears."

No one said a word or moved. "No further questions." Edward said and Lucas sighed, Lyla rising. He took a quick glance at the jury and noticed some women and men were wiping their tears, others were fuming. "We will take a brief recess, what was said in this room doesn't go outside." She rose and for a second, Lucas thought she was moving quicker than normal. Lucas got down from the witness stand and Evie took his hand, squeezing it. Lucas smiled at her and squeezed it back, walking out with the others. Blaine had to go take a walk while Brittany hugged Santana tight. Evie took a deep breath once she sat on the bench next to Beth and Lucy, the latter looking at her. "How you doing?" Evie shrugged and put her head in her hands, leg trembling. "I think I saw a vending machine somewhere. I'm gonna get you a snack." Lucy said and Evie said nothing even as Beth scooted over and hugged her, her blonde hair covering Evie's back. "Sister wife? Really?" The brunette started to chuckle and Beth couldn't help but crack, chuckling herself as she sat up so Evie could too. The others noticed the two laughing and Lucas came over. "Oh look, my brother husband." Evie joked, still laughing and soon even Kurt was laughing till almost the whole group was laughing as Blaine came back.

"Oh have we all decided the crazy approach?" He worried and Evie shook her head. "No, it's just stupid that that was the best he could come up with. We're from Canada, not Alabama." She started to giggle again and Blaine cracked a smile, shaking his head. "What am I going to do with you?" Evie giggled and hugged her father. She didn't know why she wanted to laugh but it made her feel better, it made everyone feel better. Soon it was time to go back in and if anyone was smirking or silently giggling, no one else was none the wiser.