After - The Society Fanfic.

29.

10:16. Day of The Trial.

Lexie clears her throat. Grizz's eyes narrow. It's been a couple of hours and he is already at his wit's end. "We're going to take a 15-minute break to prepare for the next witness. Clark, escort the Jury back to their room, please. No one is allowed to discuss the trial with them." He stands and saunters over to them. "The room must be filled again by twenty-five past and we'll start promptly at half past." She stands and excuses herself. It's silent for a moment but then one by one people start to whisper, then slowly the noise level returns to a normal.

Helena and Gwen turn on Grizz. He grimaces at them. "Yes?" He knows exactly what it is they want to say to him. They talk over each other, both essentially saying the same thing. Don't antagonise the woman who'll sentence. Stop making an arse out of yourself. The jury won't like it... It goes on and on. He stands up, ignoring their irritated calls as he strides over to Becca and Sam. He doesn't want to deal with Gwen and Helena right now.

All the frustration melts away as Sam smiles at him. It's nice to see Becca welcome his presence warmly too. People around them hush a little. He can feel the eyes on the back of him. Curiosity taking over the individuals closest to them. He starts patting his legs slightly. Sam reaches over Becca and takes his hand squeezing it. He rubs the back of it. Sam apologises to Becca as her face falls for a second, annoyed by his arm in her face. Grizz crouches down by the end of the aisle.

Suddenly people around them hush. Only Becca and Grizz notice, both start feeling uncomfortable. Sam glances between the two of them.

Grizz has been pretending to be straight for an extraordinarily long amount of time. Before everything, he used to longingly stare towards Sam. Now he and Sam were sort of, kind of, dating, in a weird way whilst he raised Eden with Becca. Not the exact relationship he'd wanted with Sam but just having Sam in any form feels better than not having him. He wants to be open about it, he'd argued with Sam about how open to be about it. They're probably going to die here and he doesn't want to hide away in shame. With that said, having everyone's judgement on him right now is intense. Becca signs something out the corner of his eye and Sam lets go of Grizz's hand. His heart clenches. As intense as the crowd's gaze is, holding Sam's hand is bringing some sort of comfort towards him. He reaches out for it again, grasping at it. Sam's eyes widen and he can sense the fear flit through Grizz. Becca puts her hand on top of theirs.

"It's fine. We're three friends comforting each other about the trial." Grizz stares at Becca, wide-eyed. She lowers her voice so it's barely audible, even Grizz struggles to hear. "It's okay if you're not comfortable if you're scared. I'll be the buffer." He shifts his hand so he's holding Becca's too. Appreciation floods his heart. Becca smiles sweetly towards the curious eyes, some of who have cocked their heads confused at whatever is happening between the three.

"I didn't think I'd be this..." He waves his other hand about, unable to describe it. They stop holding hands as Becca shifts Eden. Grizz lets her grasp onto his pinkie. It's his favourite thing she does. Just a reflex according to Kelly. It's too early for anything else but he likes to think she chooses to do it.

"It must be paralysing sometimes. Being so sure in yourself, wanting to be who you are but then the years of fear and secrecy come crashing in. Everyone you know is here. It's fine. It's overwhelming. We all understand, no one's annoyed." Becca strokes Eden's head, trying to soothe her as she starts kicking up a fuss. Grizz is thankful for Becca's understanding. Sam smiles at him, only able to pick up half the conversation. Grizz will speak to him properly later.

"You're very rude." Sam signs and Grizz frowns. Standing up again, he places a hand on his hip, staring into the sparkling blue eyes of Sam. It's incredibly hard not to get lost in them.