guy in a chiffon skirt《brallon》

Chapter 56

Ryan's trial lasted three days. Dallon watched as Brendon's normal energy slowly faded during this time, he had become stoic and even more overly-anxious than normal, all at once. He thanked whatever higher power might exist that the trail was relatively short.

Ryan was found guilty of aggravated sexual assault and abduction. His sentence was 20 years without the possibility of probation. Not long enough in Dallon's opinion; he'd never been one for supporting the death penalty but he truly believed that Ryan deserved to die for what he did. 20 years felt like forever, and no time at all at the same time. Dallon tried not to let himself picture life in 20 years when Ryan would possibly be walking free again- at the moment, he was going away for a very long time and that was a big enough relief. It truly felt like a weight had been lifted, especially after the added possibility that Ryan would not even be found guilty for what he deserved.

John and Travis had also obviously been sentenced to prison time for their role in the situation- there had been talk of another man being involved indirectly, but of course Jon and Travis refused to talk so there was little to be uncovered there. Dallon wasn't too worried about this, he knew Ryan (and his obsession with Brendon) had been the mastermind behind everything. Travis even admitted in his own questioning that he'd only been in it for the money; money that he'd only received half of before being incarcerated. It's not like that mattered now. God only knows why Jon went along with the scheme- Dallon had a feeling that he was not all there and got some sort of personal pleasure from stalking another person.

A week had gone by since Ryan was imprisoned. Dallon thought Brendon had lived through enough trauma for three people before this, and now? Dallon could not even imagine how traumatized Brendon must be, deep down. He could obviously tell that Brendon had been putting on a brave face, after all it was absolutely pertinent that the truth be told and that Ryan would be found guilty. But he could also tell that it had absolutely mentally killed Brendon to relive every detail of what had happened to him, and on top of that being interrogated in an incredibly condescending and seemingly hostile way by Ryan's attorneys.

Dallon was angry. Not at Brendon, obviously. But at everything else. He was angry at himself for allowing this to happen- he didn't care what Brendon or anyone said, it was a simple fact that his leaving Brendon alone at the bar led to all of this. He had known that Ryan was plotting, and even knew that Brendon had been feeling paranoid. But he still left, stupidly, just to take a piss. He was angry at the county and city police force, for basically giving up and leaving Brendon to sit, being assaulted and essentially tortured, for beyond a week. How telling it was, that Pete fucking Wentz was able to find more evidence on an abduction than an entire team of police officered and "detectives." He was angry at society, as cliche as that sounded, for the added shame that comes with being a male rape victim- and the way Ryan's attorneys were able to so freely demean Brendon in court due to him simply being a man... Asking questions that implied he should have been able to physically defend himself better if he truly felt threatened and was not consenting. As if he had not been drugged for 80% of the abuse from Ryan.

Most of all, Dallon was angry at Ryan Ross. Not just angry, he was absolutely, violently, livid- seething at the thought that the man was still breathing. He knew that this line of thinking, in a way, made him just as "in the wrong" as Ryan himself- but there was nothing short of watching him die that would make Dallon feel that justice had been dealt. This was actually causing a bit of mental strife for Dallon as well, he had never had such angry, dark thoughts about another person before. But then again, he had also never been in a situation like this. He comforted himself by assuming that most people would probably feel the same, had it been their loved one who was a victim in the ways Brendon was.

And it didn't matter to him much anyway, Brendon's healing was much more important. He could pick apart and deal with his emotions around the subject later, for now Brendon was his entire focus.