Orphan

Chapter 48

Time for thought was over, now it was time for action. I knew that things would be different from now onwards, I just wasn't sure how different. My head and my heart were at war, yes, I wanted to see my family again, but not at the expense of Harry and the boys. They weren't the best people in the world and they had blood on their hands, but really who hasn't?

Everyone's done bad things before. We tend to label one thing worse than the other, but the truth is. Whatever wrong we do, the minute we do it, we're just as bad as anyone else. You aren't any less of a sinner for committing a different sin. No one has the right to judge anyone based on the fact that they sin differently to ourselves. These were the words which ran marathons through my mind, endlessly, on repeat.

I bit my lip harshly until I tasted blood. Funny really, the last time I had tasted blood was because of Harry, this time it was because of me.

"All rise for Judge Simmons, the case of Niall, Harry, Louis, Zayn and Liam for kidnapping, theft and murder is now in session." My heart pounded within my chest as I stared at my lap and lifted my eyes to be met with sullen, deep, sleepless nights from across the room. The same eyes which once held so much passion and lust and, dare I say it, love, was now lifeless.

In a void of self pity and doubt. The bright green, now a murky swamp of bitterness.

How did we come to this?

Everyone stood and sat down once again.
Then suddenly, and all to quickly, life had sprung up from the shadows. I was snapped into the moment I was forced to live when Hunter entered the courtroom and sat neatly on a bench on the other side of the room, unharmed, if I may add. Not that that would last very long. My jaw tightened, but it seemed I wasn't the only one who had noticed the weasel entering, as Liam's seasoned body sprung up from the bench, ready to remind his body of what it was so accustomed to doing, before he was quickly pulled back down and Louis had whispered something in his ear, which earned a nod and an irritated sigh.

Harry was all I could focus on, he seemed, embarrassed, taken down, destroyed. He couldn't look anyone in the eyes, and the boys hadn't given him the time of day. This was all my fault, everyone was blaming Harry because I had taken advantage of his frail state, and I had convinced him to let the boy free who had simultaneously caused our relationship to build up and crumble down.

"Your honour, I would like to call Abigail to the stand." A lawyer had asked, who was dressed sharply and seemed far too strict for his own good. I watched as Abigail stood up and made her way to the stand, and swore to be honest. Niall's eyes were stuck on her like a vulture to its prey. "So, Abigail you had been living with the Gang for quite a few years already, yes?"
"Mhm." she answered playing with the sleeves of her sweater and I swear you could hear a feather fall on top of another feather at this point, that's how badly the tension had escalated. "I'm sorry 'mhm' is not a proper response, I'm going to have to ask you to respond with either a yes or no in this courtroom,"
"Yes. There are you 'pleased'?" she tormented as she rolled her eyes and a sigh erupted from her lips, a few murmurs were heard throughout the courtroom, but it seemed only one thing had mattered to her at that moment.

Niall.

"I am, thank you. You living there or even going there in the first place, was this done with your consent? In other words, was it your choice to live there and leave everything behind for these men?" his question was with clear purpose and there was no way around it. The crowd of leaches awaited a response from the slightly frail and agitated woman stood before them.

"I wouldn't have stayed there for so long if I didn't want to, okay?" she spat back as the lawyer tapped his finger lightly on the wooden desk, unconvinced of this answer, or rather, displeased with it. "Now, that wasn't what I had asked. Yes or no, did you give consent to live with them in the first place?"