One Goal Achieved (Patrick Kane)

Remember Me

-Skylar's POV-

I sit in the courtroom and look around at all the cameras and people I've never seen before. I sit beside Jake in the front of the room with my father and his lawyer next to us. If looks could kill. Both sides make their opening statements and the evidence known is shown. It feels like hours pass and I seem to shut it all out. Today wasn't as important as tomorrow was and I just wanted to leave. Pictures of my mother and sister laying in the house I once called home, dead. I couldn't take it, why I agreed to dig up things that took me years to bury is beyond me. I look back at Natalie who is with Jonny and Pat and she mouths a "I'm sorry" so I give her a nod. Jake puts a hand on my knee and squeezes it. I wasn't going to talk till tomorrow and I didn't want Patrick to speak because we didn't want them to use the fact that he's a hometown hero to sued the jury one way or another.

"Anyone else care to speak" the judge asks, ready to close for the day and let the jury talk.

"I would" a young man says standing up and making his way to the stands.

"What is your name son" the judge asks. I look at the boy who couldn't be older than 22, he seemed so freaking familiar but I couldn't put my finger on it.

"Anthony Kurt sir" he says quietly.

"Are you speaking on behalf of prosecution or defense" he asks.

"Prosecution" he simply replies and I look to Jake for answers, but he seemed just as confused.

"What is your relationship with the prosecution" he asks and I turn to the kid curiously, I wanted to know the answer too.

"I went to college with Skylar, I also was involved in a car accident that almost killed her when I was driving intoxicated" he says and my heart sank. He was so young and I couldn't imagine what hell he has been through. Jake hops out of his seat and I quickly step in front of him.

"You're going to sit and listen to what this man has to say, he's trying to help us. Understand" I ask poking his chest. He looks at Anthony then back at me. Once we make eye contact he relaxes and sits down and I return to the seat next to him. After he says his oath he gets to make a statement and I honestly had no idea what to expect.

"Skylar was a girl I always looked up to, even though she's much younger than myself. In fact she was younger than everyone in the class we had together but was head and shoulders above the rest. She's super smart but will never admit it. I don't know if she remembers me but one day in journalism class I was struggling real hard. I never asked for her to help me, I know she had a hundred things to do that day, but she put them aside to help someone in need. I couldn't figure out this article we had to annotate, I just couldn't find what I needed. She told me that I needed to stop looking at the words and look through them, that there's always something that seems irrelevant but changes everything. This case was originally overlooked because lack of evidence or trust in a young girl, but maybe instead of looking at the evidence, if you guys look through it then you guys can see what you need to see, like I did" he finishes. The judge allows Jake to approach the bench and I pray to god he's as good of a lawyer he says.

"That man over there, he took away half my family" he starts off by pointing at my dad as he sat there, impossibly still. "And you almost took the last important piece of my family away from me, you understand that" he asks and Anthony nods.

"I wasn't supposed to drive that night. I shouldn't have gotten behind the wheel" he admits.

"I'm glad you get that. My sister means the world to me. You understand how special she is, she means a lot to many people. You might not be my favorite person but I like you a hell of a lot more than someone who makes mistakes and doesn't take responsibility for them" he says with a nod. I space out for a little until my brother nudges me.

"Would you like to ask questions, Ms. Davis" the judge repeats and I nod.

"What did you find in that article, you know, that you missed the first time" I ask.

"Everything" he laughs and I nod.

"You know, I loved that class, and I'm happy I could help you. But I'm more than happy to see it's helped you with more than class" I conclude.

"Listen I'm really sorry-" he starts but I cut him off.

"I don't want a apology, they don't do much for me anymore. An apology doesn't undo what happened and becomes extremely overused. A apology won't bring my mom and sister back. I really don't want a apology, I've heard a million of them. The greatest gift life can offer is knowledge. You took what happened and you learned something. That's better than a apology" I say looking in his eyes. I can see tears form and I can tell he felt bad. "I don't know what's going to happen after this but promise me something, promise me that you'll finish school and find something that your passionate about. Because I know you have to potential to find something in someone that others will overlook" I say. A small smile spreads across his face and he nods.

"I promise" he replies.

After I sit down the defense grills him but he holds his own. We're dismissed and hopefully have a verdict soon.

As my father leaves he tries to stop me and I fall into Patrick.

"Don't you dare touch me" I whisper. After everything he should know better than to lay a hand on me.

"I just want to say I'm sorry" he says, still emotionless.

"You just don't get it, do you" I say shaking my head.

"Why won't you just accept my apology" he asks raising his voice.

"Because you apology doesn't mean shit, it never will. Sorry is what you say when you know you've done something wrong and it can't be fixed. It's what you say when you've gone too far and can't undo it. I can't stand to even think about you, you've clouded my mind and caused me so much pain for far too long. But not anymore. After tomorrow you will rot in hell for what you did and I won't feel the smallest bit of sympathy for helping you get there. My life isn't over, it's just started, and you might have ruined one family but I'm going to make one of my own, and you won't come within 500 feet of us" I say nearly yelling.

He steps towards me until Patrick and Jonny appear besides me.

"I wouldn't do anything too stupid, don't want to end up on death row" Jonny says and he steps down. He eventually walks away and I let out a long breath.

Natalie pulls me into a hug and for once I didn't cry or have a panic attack. I was over crying over him, I finally found my strength.