Beating You

Chapter 33

Hi again! This chapter is dedicated to JoelleMason who nearly correctly guessed the little surprise that I've thrown in here ;) Nobody correctly guessed, it was nice seeing what you all thought would happen! :) Thanks for voting and commenting, but we've gone up to 14! :O I think this causes for a voteathon ;) please? :) Any-who a little shoutout for Originality who guessed my twist! It was touched upon in the last chapter, Daryl and Cooper's rivalry, so well done! I was very impressed :)

Chapter 33

"Please excuse me a second," I choked through the tears that were building up in my throat. The detective nodded as I pushed the chair back and pushed my way through the door. I couldn't take any more of that tough questioning, it was too much and to be frank, it was scary.

I felt a firm hand on my shoulder and I ran my hands down my face to stop myself from crying.

"Ally, you can take a break," Mr Banks, my lawyer, told me softly from behind me. I shook my head, turning to face him. I'd met him the day before, he had shown up at Cooper's house and introduced himself. He was alright, seemed nice but he didn't speak much, a lot like his wife. His almost white hair was gelled back as his eyes wandered over my face, following the tear that was making its way down my cheek.

"I'm okay, I need to get used to this," I replied, pressing my fingers against the pendant that was resting on my collar bone. I took a deep breath and felt my pulse slow down.

I was about to stroll past him to go back into the room but he stopped me. I'd spent the last hour in there with Inspector Skid, trying to get used to what the cross examination was like and to say that I was struggling, would be a massive understatement. I hated it when they told me that I was wrong, or that I was lying for attention. It sounded stupid, but it was worse than being beaten, it hurt every scar on my body and made my blood go cold.

"You don't have to stand in court," he told me for probably the hundredth time but I shook my head.

"I do, you probably don't understand, but I have to be in there, he can't go through it alone," I murmured under my breath and my lawyer sighed, leading me over to the sofa that was in the corner of the waiting room.

"I do understand. I have worked with hundreds of children that have been in your situation and most of them have been more comfortable away from the court room," he replied, his tone had softened and his speech had slowed which just made me feel patronized.

"Look, my dad has to go through this because of me. I've mucked his life up, again. I don't want him to stand in court alone, his wife isn't there and neither is anybody that cares about him. I care about him, so I want to be in there," I replied in a firm tone, letting him know that I wasn't going to change my mind. He sighed and nodded, pushing on his knees to get up.

"Okay, that's fine. What time is your shift?" he asked, glancing at his watch.

"Three," I replied, looking at the clock on the wall. It was half past two and there was no way that I would be able to get to work in time if I went back in for some more practise. In all honesty, I didn't want to go back in there, I wasn't sure how long I would be able to keep going without cracking.

"You should go, I'll tell Skid where you went," he offered, looking down at me and I nodded.

"Thanks," I pushed myself onto my feet and thanked him before making my way to the door.

The air outside hit me like a wall and I took a deep breath, making it go to my head to slow down my pulse.

Walking to work calmed me down, making me feel slightly better about the case. It was funny really, I didn't want him to break bail. I wanted him to get out on good behaviour in a few months time when I'd be gone, up the country, attending college.