Fan to Family.

Back in the Court.

~Liz~
"Ya ready?" A voice asks from the doorway. I turn around, seeing Tyler standing in my doorway. I take a deep breath, smoothing out my skirt as though it will stop the spinning in my head.

His eyes look worried and tired, but he smiles widely anyway. His eyes run over my face, taking in my expression.

"Hey, hey," he says, stepping forward and putting an arm around me, "it'll be okay. Just breath. No matter what, Josh and I will protect you. You'll be okay. I promise. Everything will be okay."

I nod, breathing deeply.

Josh pokes his head in, a smile on his face as well but the same worry in his eyes, "Hello my people, are we ready?" He asks.

I nod, letting Tyler lead me from my room.

In the living room, I find Debby and Chase. Debby is in a fancy dress, and Chase is in a suit, just like Josh and Tyler.

Tom, Lily, AJ, and Kieran would be here too, I know they would, but it's a school day. They probably couldn't get the day off. Tom has work. So does James.

We quietly walk out to the car, and everyone talks the entire ride in an attempt to keep me distracted. My head is still spinning, and my thoughts are fighting each other to surface. I'm dizzy as I watch everything whiz by, and it feels like a scene of a movie, not reality.

It's all a blur as I walk up the steps of the courthouse with my little group. Tyler squeezes my shoulder in reassurance, smiling a little.

We walk into the big, nice building. It's open, and everything is sparkly and expensive. Apparently it isn't a busy day, because it seems empty and dead, and no one is bustling around. I recognize the lawyer from the other time we went to the court, and he leads us to a door, opening large doors that reveal a big and open courtroom.

There are a few people in the rows behind the gates, but I can't make any of them out. I see that there isn't a jury, which confuses me. Then my eyes find Dylan, a lawyer, and her at one of the tables.

The lawyer stops at the first row of seats, turning to me.

"Since you are a minor, you are allowed to have one of your guardians sit with us at the table," he says, looking between Tyler, Josh, and I.

I take a shaky breath, trying to choose which of them I'd rather have beside me. Everything keeps swirling in my mind, and I'm starting to get stressed.

"Um, Tyler," I say, watching Josh give me a supportive smile and grip my shoulder reassuringly.

"You'll be okay," he says softly. The lawyer opens the gate, and leads us through to our table while the other three head down the first row to sit behind us. I keep from glancing back, not wanting to cry.

Tyler, being the protective big brother he is, puts his hand on my knee and squeezes it. He keeps his hand there to keep me together.

After a few moments, the Judge stands up.

"Hello everyone. I'll be your judge for this case," he says, smiling warmly, "You may have noticed a lack of jury, and there is a reason for that. This is a civil case, and I believe that we don't need a jury due to the nature of this case. We'd love to get this all figured out and squared away as civilly, and soon as possible, so excluding a jury just makes that process a lot more efficient and feel safer due to having minimal people involved."

It all feels like it goes in one ear and out the other. The beginning blurs together, and all I can think of if how badly this can end, so to keep myself together, I continue to glance over at Tyler. He is listening intently to our lawyers opening statement, and then my dread rises as they allow Matt to make their opening statement.

His words don't seem real, and feel distant and don't really sink in.

Our lawyer is going first, and calls me up. Tyler squeezes my shoulder, and I slowly get up, fixing my skirt subconsciously as I walk to the chair.

He asks me simple questions, being kind as he does so. I'm not uncomfortable until the other lawyer comes up. This seems like an odd process, but I don't question it or voice concern.

Everything feels so big, and far away. The lawyers voice feels far away, and the shaky feeling in the pit of my stomach swirls around and bubbles up.

I find myself fishing for answers, or at least the ability to say the words. The lawyers slick black suit jacket and hard stare make me feel unsafe, and I find myself feeling more shaky. Somehow, I manage to keep myself together enough to look strong yet slightly vulnerable.

They allow me to go back to my seat beside Tyler and our lawyer.

Then they call on Dylan. I seem to blur most of it out, but she isn't nervous. If anything, she seems confident and proud. At one point, she looks straight at me.

I'm called back up and sit back in the chair.

I inhale sharply when the judge approves for Matt to question me.

His piercing blue eyes and black tie scare me, and his sharp jawline and deep voice shake my sanity a little.

"You and Abigail Dylan were dating, right?" He asks, a judgmental tone in his voice.

"Yes."

"Who asked who out?" He asks.

"I don't remember."

He continues asking pressure-filled questions, and I squirm a little, not understanding their relevance or why he is allowed to ask them, especially in such a harsh way. I glance at Tyler, that swirling feeling raising to my heart.

"I object," our lawyer says, standing, "those questions are not relevant and are only being asked in an attempt to attack my client."

The judge looks at Matt, "Mr. Edwards, be careful with your questioning and get to the point."

He turns to me again, "Did Dylan ever hit you prior to the incident?"

I take a deep breath, "no," I say, shaking my head. Matt nods, walking back to his seat.


Our lawyer comes back. He smiles at me.

"How are you doing?" He asks.
"I'm hanging in there," I say, my voice slightly wavering.

"So, from what he said, Dylan had never hit you before the incident?" He asks, his voice even and calm.

"No, she didn't hit me before that day."

"So she wasn't abusive?" He asks.

My breath shakes a little, "She'd manipulate me, make me feel bad about myself, make fun of me, and she'd push me when we fought, she'd kick me, and she'd throw things at me. She threw things at me a lot."

"Can you tell me what kind of things she'd throw?"
"She threw paper weights, and just whatever was nearby or already in her hand. A few times it was something pointy, like sharpened pencils or thumbtacks. One time I was afraid she was going to throw her steak knife at me."

"Did she end up throwing the steak knife at you?" He asks, still calm and even-toned.

"No, but she stabbed it into her steak very aggressively."

"Have you ever feared for your life while in her presence?"

"Yes."

"Is there anything else you'd like to tell us?" He asks.

I shake my head, "No thank you. I'd like to be done now, if that is okay."

The lawyer nods, "that's allowed. That will be all. You may go back to your seat now."

I hold myself together long enough to make my way back to my seat. Tyler puts his hand back on my knee when I sit down, comforting me. The swirling in my chest gets a little worse.

The judge looks to our lawyer, saying his name, "You may call your next witness to the stand."

Our judge stands up, looking back at us and the rows behind us. "I'd like to call Joshua Dun to the stand."

I watch Josh closely as he takes a seat, looking formal and strong.

The lawyer goes through seemingly standard questions. After many questions, he asks Josh to recount the incident.

"Tyler, myself, my girlfriend Debby, and her brother Chase were all at Chase's apartment. Liz was supposed to be at Dylan's, but she ran inside, looking terrified. She was beat up, badly. She had run miles from Dylan's," he says, continuing to explain it. I tune it out, just watching him without any sound.

Tyler is brought up, going through the same motions. Then Debby, and then Chase.

I'm surprised when James shows up on the stand, but not extremely surprised.

They ask him questions, and he tells them about how he had seen us fight and argue, and seen some of my bruises and cuts. He tells them about how I had confided in him, and told him about it.

"We are going to take a recess and return in a few hours."