The Beautifully Reckless

Chapter Twenty Nine

Mila-Rose's POV
Court day. The day I've been dreading. Luckily Jonah and the boys, Jake, Logan, and Max are going to be there. I lay in bed under my covers until Jonah comes in and slides them off of me. "Come on Milly. I don't want you to go through this either but I'd rather get it done with." He says. I nod and crawl out of bed. I change into a pair of leggings, a gray long sleeve and low top black Vans. I put my hair into two French braids and put on some mascara. I leave my room and head downstairs. Jonah squeezes my hand and we head to the car. The car ride to the court house is silent, no one wanting to speak.

We get to the court house and we meet Logan, Jake and Max by the doors. They all give me a tight hug and we walk in. We get to the court room and I shake hands with my lawyer, Emma. "I'm not letting you go back." She whispers. I nod my head and sit next to her. My mom walks in and my hands start shaking. Jonah walks over and picks me up. He sits down and pulls me on his lap. "Anyone else you want up here?" He whispers. "Corbyn and Daniel." I say. He nods and Corbyn and Daniel sit on either side of us. Jack, Zach, Max, Logan and Jake sit behind us.

The trial starts and we go through a bunch of shit until I have to go up and testify against her. "Mila-Rose, you have been in the care of Ms. Paul since you were fourteen, correct?" My mom's lawyer asks. "Yes I have." I answer. "Is she here today?" He asks. "No she isn't. She lives in Ohio and couldn't make it." I say. "You are seventeen and you live in a different state then your caregiver?" He asks. "Yes. I moved here with my brother Logan and I now have a job the requires me to be here." I state. "And what job would that be?" He asks. "I'm a vlogger on YouTube and I recently got a record deal with Atlantic records." I say. "Ms. Paul isn't providing for you correctly. Therefore you are not under proper care." He says. My mom smiles. "Actually she cares more about me than that bitch back there. She let me move out here so I could thrive. I have over fifteen million subscribers and I'm staring a music career. I make more money in a day than you ever will. And if you think for a minute I'm going back to live with her than you have another thing coming asshole." I snap.

The judge raises his eyebrows in shock. "Mila-Rose, if you don't mind, may I ask why you don't want to live with your mother anymore?" He asks. "She abused me. She does drugs. That's why I'm sitting here now. She called me and told me if I didn't give her money to help her problem than she'd take me to court. She doesn't care about me. I have depression and anxiety because of the shit I went through. I was tortured, starved and raped. She killed the happy little girl I used to be and now that I'm finally happy again she wants to ruin it again. I have family here in California. People who actually care about me. That boy whose lap I was sitting on is my boyfriend, Jonah. He loves me. And he's helped me realize that I'm worth loving. Whenever I feel down, he is there to pick me up."

"The boys next to him are Corbyn and Daniel. They are my older brothers. When I told them I had court they immediately said they were going to be here. Corbyn is a goofball and he makes my mind think in ways I could have never done on my own. Daniel is the sweetest person alive. He's an absolute angel and he's so caring. Behind Jonah is Jack and Zach. Jack is another older brother who teases me endlessly but he would still take a bullet for me. His curls are fake by the way but he pulls them off like no one else. Zach is my baby brother. He can make me laugh when I feel like crying. He's one of a kind. Logan and Jake are my older brothers. They would do anything for me. They were there when I first left my mom. They helped me out of my shell. And Max. He's been my best friend for years. He's made me the performer I am today. He pushes me to do my best. And there are so many other people who have helped me be who I am today and I'm not going to loose that." I say.

"Ms. Gray, do you have anything to say?" The judge asks. My mom stands up and slams her hands on the table. "She isn't under proper care! Plus she's a bitch! No one loves her! She doesn't deserve to live! She killed her father!" My mom shouts. I flinch at the last two statements. "I've made my decision. Mila-Rose. You will be staying in California and Ms. Gray you are sentenced to life in prison for abuse of a child, drug abuse and many other things." The judge says. Jonah runs over to me and hugs me. "You don't have to deal with her. And don't listen to her babygirl. You deserve to live. You didn't kill your dad. You had no control over that. It isn't true." He says. The judge smiles at us. "You two are going to live a happy life together. He really loves you dear." He says. I smile at him.

My mom's shouts ring out through the room. "I'm not done with you bitch! I can have you killed tomorrow! You watch your back you whore! This isn't over with!" She shouts at me. Jonah pulls me into his arms. "She can't hurt you anymore. I won't let her." He says. She gets handcuffed and dragged out of the room. Logan and Jake jump over the barrier and run towards me. We talk a little bit and everyone leaves. The boys and I make it back to the car and Zach randomly pulls me into a hug. "What's this for?" I ask, hugging him back. "Just checking to see if you're still here. If we lost you today it would have crushed all of us." He says. My heart cracks slightly at his statement. I pull him closer and bury my head in his shoulder, letting a few tears leak out.

"Zachary Dean Herron. You are never gonna loose me. Not now. Not ever. If I were to leave with her I would have found my way back to you guys. What I said in there was true. You are my family and if I had to leave you guys I would personally hate myself. You boys don't deserve half the shit I put you through but you still put up with me. I am so grateful for each and every one of you." I say. The other guys join our hug and we end up hugging for a minute or two. We release each other and I wipe any stray tears. We climb into the car and Jonah's hand never leaves mine. "What do you wanna do?" he asks, glancing at me. "Go home and take a nap for a couple hours. It's too early for any human to function." I say. He smiles and we head back to my house.

We get to my house and I immediately go to my room and change out of my gray shirt. I grab a random Why Don't We shirt and slip that on. I heard back downstairs and see the guys on the couch, watching TV. I walk into the kitchen and grab a water bottle. I walk back to the couch and claim the spot in between Jonah and Zach. "Nice shirt." Corbyn says. I lazily smile. "I don't even know who's on the back of it." I say. Zach leans back and reads it. "It's my shirt." he says. "Well there you go Herron. I like you enough to wear a shirt with your name on it." I say, leaning my head on his shoulder. "When are you going to come out with merch so I can wear a shirt with your name on it?" he asks. "That's not a bad idea. Maybe I should do merch." I say. "You gave her an idea. That's never good." Jack says. "I'll make a shirt and it will be covered with pictures of Jack and I. It will be great." I say. Jack groans as I laugh. "You started it Avery. You were just mad that I didn't wear your shirt." I say.

"That's totally the reason." he says. "Don't forget I was the one who wiped the blood off your face and hands when you decided to pull a stupid and trip." I say. "She's got you there Jack." Corbyn says. I stick my tongue out at Jack and yawn. "Go to sleep Mills. It's clear you're tired." Daniel says. I roll my eyes. "Okay mom. I'll go to bed." I say. My eyes flutter shut and I let sleep overcome me.