Piper ~ H.S

~Thirty-Five~

A/N: The first update of 2018 for me is finally here :3 I'm so sorry for the wait - explanations at the end of the chapter. For now, enjoy xx

(Earlier...)

~Leah~

Ashley pulled up in front of the Worthing Courthouse – with both of us looking up at the building in silence as she slowed her car to a halt in a nearby parking space.

"Leah," Ashley finally spoke to me softly, "Leah, we're gonna be fine. There's no way the judge will think that Heath is worthy of any visitation rights."

"I don't know, Ash..." I sighed, "Heath's a pain in the ass, but...he's clever, as much as I hate to say it. I mean, he's studying to become a fucking lawyer, for God's sake. He's gonna know exactly how to argue all his points convincingly to the judge..." I lowered my eyes.

"So what? We can be convincing too!" Ashley insisted, "We're winning this, Leah. I know we are."

I sighed again. "If you say so..."

"Have faith, babes! We'll be out of this courthouse in no time," Ashley reached over and gave my hand a squeeze, "come on. Let's do this."

I bit my lip and nodded slowly, and she gave me a soft smile before we both climbed out of Ashley's car – just in time to see Heath and Danica climbing out of theirs.

"Well. Hello, Leah," Heath's voice was cold.

"Heath," I replied curtly.

"So, no hanging around Harry today, eh?" He crossed his arms, "That's a first."

My face hardened. "You know what? How about we just skip all the civilities? Clearly, it's torturing both of us. Let's just get this over and done with."

"Fine by me," he replied with a shrug as he slid an arm around Danica's waist, "I'll see you in there, then. And when the judge sides with me, try to keep your cool, if you can. We don't want you embarrassing yourself – or me, for that matter."

"Whatever," I scoffed, "just make sure you don't flip the tables when the judge actually takes my side."

Heath scowled at me but didn't respond – and he instead locked his car before going ahead into the courthouse with Danica.

Ashley immediately rolled her eyes at him. "I can't believe he's brought Danica as his witness. What's she gonna do? Bribe the judge by promising to design him a flash new robe?" She scoffed, "Please. We've got this in the bag, Leah."

"Hopefully..." I took a deep breath, "who knows what the hell Heath has up his sleeve..?"

"Don't overthink it, babes," Ashley placed a hand on my shoulder, "no use in thinking the worst when the court case hasn't even started yet."

"Yeah...you're right," I let out a shaky sigh, "...OK. Let's go. We can do this."

"That's my girl," she smiled at me and gently patted my back, "come on, then."

I gave her a small smile back, and she reached down to give my hand a comforting squeeze before we both made our way up to the courthouse together.

Oh, Christ. This is it.

Here goes nothing...

***

(Back where we left off...)

~Harry~

I took the towel that I'd taken from the apartment out of my car – taking a moment to smile down at Piper who was beaming back at me excitedly. It was just as well I'd decided to bring a towel just in case – because she was really dying to at least dip her feet into the water.