Author's Note: Wow, with no school, I'm cranking these out. Hope you like it! Thanks to BluCrayons for being such an awesome and inspiring beta!
Chapter 9: Court
Over the next few weeks, Mike and Valerie tried to find the time to talk to Micky and Ginny, but there really wasn't a very good time. They were busy trying to finalize everything on the house and get the stuff moved in and set up. And they were never really alone. The only time they were alone is when Sebastian's trial started. Ginny was the first to testify against him and as much as Mike and Valerie wanted to be there for her in the courtroom, the court wouldn't allow it because they would have to testify too, and if they saw any part of the trial, it could skew their testimony. So they all waited for her out in the hallway after the clerk called her inside.
"I just don't understand why he would even think he can get away with something like this!" Valerie growled angrily as she paced the hall. "How is he not just pleading guilty!? How does he possibly think he can fight this!?"
"Valerie, please calm down," Mike said from his spot on the bench next to Peter, Micky and Davy. "I know you're upset, but he's not gonna get away with this."
"We shouldn't even have to deal with this," Valerie said. "That son of a bitch should just take what's coming to him. Instead, he's putting her through this. It's killing her doing this."
"No, it's not," Mike said. "No more so than it is you. She's strong. She's scared, yes, but she can do this. That's what he's banking on. He's hoping she's gonna be too damn scared to testify against him. That she's gonna go in there and see him and freak out. She's gonna change her story."
"She's not gonna do that," Valerie said continuing to pace. Micky, Peter and Davy stayed silent knowing if anyone could calm her down, it was Mike.
"I know she's not," Mike said standing up and grabbing her by her shoulders to forcefully stop her. "I swear I can see smoke coming out of your shoes. Stop. Breathe. Relax."
"What if we're wrong?" Valerie said so softly that he barely heard her. "What if she does change her testimony? She gets so scared he's gonna hurt me or you? That's what this was always about. She stayed with him to protect me."
"Don't think that way, sweetie," Mike said pulling her tightly into his arms and kissing the top of her head softly. "She's smarter than that. And she knows that I'm here now. You've got me looking out for you. And Micky and Davy and Peter. Whether you like it or not."
"I know," Valerie said smiling against him and pulling him close to her. "I'm just scared. There's always a chance…"
"Not this time," Mike assured her. "He can't get off. Not even his dad's supporting him. That's why he doesn't have a fancy, high powered attorney like we thought we would. He has a court-appointed one. His dad cut him off. He's got nothing left so he's clinging to his innocence."
"Thanks, Mike," Valerie said looking up at him with a smile. "You always know what to say. I love you."
"I love you, too," Mike said leaning down to kiss her.
"Get a room," Micky laughed.
"Jealous?" Valerie quipped laughing at him.
"Valerie Miller?" came the voice of the bailiff before Micky could even answer. It was Valerie's turn to testify. After Valerie testified, Mike did. He saw her and Ginny sitting next to each other in the seats behind the prosecutor's table. Valerie nodded at him to let him know everything was ok and he proceeded to once again tell his story. The defence attorney tried to discredit his testimony, but Mike stood firm behind everything he said he saw.
Micky, Davy and Peter all said the same exact thing. No detail varied. They'd gone to the hotel to talk to Ginny on suspicion she was being abused based on multiple bruises and injuries. They'd heard Ginny cry "please don't" behind the door. They'd heard him tell her to shut up. They'd heard a crash. They pushed their way in thinking Ginny was in danger. They'd found her naked on the floor with just a towel around her and Sebastian standing over her with his pants undone and fists clenched. They'd confronted him. He'd pulled a gun on them. They'd fought back. They'd called the cops. They'd taken Ginny to the hospital. Yes, Valerie had thrown a fire-poker at him, but she was angry. And she'd missed.
After the boys all testified, the trial ended for the day, but they wanted to watch the rest of it. So the next day, they filed in and watched as the forensic side of the trial started. The prosecutor called the doctor who'd treated Ginny in the hospital. He testified that her injuries were consistent with battery, not an accident. Not falling down the stairs or walking into the door. The defense tried to assert that she caused the injuries herself, but the doctor stood firm saying it was impossible. The injuries she sustained were far too painful for to have done them to herself. And she could not have hit herself in the back of the head causing the lacerations back there.
After the doctor, the two detectives testified to what they saw and the information they'd gathered. They'd apparently interviewed numerous people back in New Jersey, including a few ex-girlfriends who'd filed claims of abuse against Sebastian. No charges had been filed in those cases because the victims always dropped their complaints before anything ever went to trial. There was even an incident of attempted rape reported to the headmaster at the prep school he went to as a teenager. That case was buried under red tape and eventually forgotten.
The defense then called their witnesses the next day; they didn't call very many and Mike was thankful that the attorney seemed so inept. Mike didn't know much about the law, but he knew that the prosecution shouldn't have been allowed to bring up old charges that Sebastian was never tried for, but the attorney never once objected. The first witness he called was a character witness for Sebastian who tried to claim Sebastian was a good and peaceful man. Luckily he buckled under the pressure of the prosecutor and eventually admitted that sometimes Sebastian has a temper. Luckily the next witness went much the same way. It was an ex-girlfriend they'd found who eventually buckled as well and admitted that Sebastian liked to control what she wore.
The trial was over quickly. Much faster than Mike thought it would be, but the defense barely fought back. Mike wasn't exactly going to complain; that just meant it was better for them. Sure enough, the jury only took an hour to come back with their verdict: guilty on all counts; attempted rape, aggravated assault, and multiple counts of domestic battery. The judge decided that he would sentence Sebastian the following week and court was over with a bang of the gavel. It was as if this sound was a shot that rang through the room. Sebastian, who'd been smug and defiant the who trial, finally seemed to realize what was going on. And he snapped.
"You little whore!" Sebastian exclaimed attempting to climb over the railing and reach Ginny and Valerie. Even though he was really much too far away to do any real harm, the boys each grabbed the girls and pulled them far away into the the corner to keep them protected.
"Get your client under control!" the judge demanded. But Sebastian was too angry and too unruly. The court bailiffs immediately moved to restrain Sebastian but he put up a fight and kept screaming.
"This isn't over!" Sebastian roared. "You think you won, you little bitch? This isn't over! I will get you for this! You can make damn sure of that! I'll fucking kill you! All of you little bastards!"
"Get him out of here!" the judge yelled over the chaos. The bailiffs eventually tackled Sebastian to the ground and cuffed him before dragging him, still screaming and yelling, out of the room.
"You ok?" Mike asked turning to Ginny when he had finally been dragged from the room and they couldn't hear him screaming anymore.
"I'm so sorry," Ginny said breaking down in tears. "I…"
"Don't," Valerie said pulling Ginny close to her. "Don't apologize. Don't worry. He can't touch us. He won't."
"He's in jail now," Peter said. "He can't hurt you anymore."
"You don't know that," Ginny said wiping tears from her eyes. "He could…"
"Stop it," Valerie said pulling her even tighter. "He's not gonna get to any of us. It's gonna be ok. It's all over now."
"Why don't we go get some food or something," Micky suggested placing his hand comfortingly on her back.
"I think that's a great idea," Mike said. "Let's go get some burgers. You love burgers."
"Yeah," Ginny said, though she still looked very upset by everything that had transpired. They drove to a nearby restaurant and ate happily. Ginny cheered up after a while, but she still seemed a little depressed and upset about Sebastian's explosion in court. Over the next few days, however, she seemed to get better and better with it and by the time it came for them to completely move in to their new house, she was excited.
The house itself was a beautiful two story, two bedroom beach house, not unlike the one the boys lived in. But it was a lot smaller. The boys had helped paint the walls and arrange the furniture the way the girls liked it and Peter had even set up a planter box on their porch that overlooked the ocean for them to plant flowers in whenever they wanted to. Mike helped Valerie and Ginny unpack Ginny's room while the others were downstairs unpacking the kitchen.
"Hey, Ginny, I wanted to talk to you about something," Valerie said sitting on the end of Ginny's bed folding a box of clothes.
"What?" Ginny asked.
"Do you like Micky?" Valerie asked.
"Well, isn't that blunt," Mike laughed.
"What are you talking about?" Ginny blushed.
"Micky," Valerie repeated. "Curly haired drummer who's downstairs helping us with our kitchen? Do you like him?"
"Well, he's cute," Ginny admitted.
"That's not what I asked," Valerie smiled slyly. "I already know you like him. I can see it the way you look at him."
"Ok, yes, I like him," Ginny sighed. "I like him a lot, but I'm just not ready."
"I know you just got out of a bad relationship, but you can't let that control you," Valerie said. "If you have feelings for him, you should do something about it."
"And what makes you think he's even interested in me?" Ginny asked.
"Because he is," Mike answered.
"Then why hasn't he shown me he likes me?" Ginny asked.
"Because he's afraid of this friend code thing," Mike answered. "Don't worry, I'll talk to him. But we wanted to make sure you were ready first."
"I just said I wasn't," Ginny said. "Especially after what happened in court."
"You are," Valerie said. "You're just too scared to admit it. And what happened in court is nothing. Sebastian just being stupid. It's time you got back on the horse, girly, and with someone you really, really like."
"Gee, thanks for expressing my feelings for me," Ginny laughed.
"You know I'm right," Valerie said.
"I think what Valerie is trying to say is that you deserve to move on," Mike said. "Forget about Sebastian. He's nothing. Put him behind you. You deserve to be happy. And we both know you well enough to know that you'll be happy with Micky. The way you two look at each other...you're nuts about each other. You're just each too damn chicken to do anything about it. Too busy getting hung up on something and using it as an excuse."
"None of this matters if he won't go out with me," Ginny said.
"Like I said," Mike smiled. "I'll talk to him. Don't worry about that."
"Fine," Ginny said taking the clothes from Valerie and putting them in the dresser. Later that night, the boys had moved all their stuff back into their own separate rooms and as Mike and Micky started getting ready for bed, Mike brought up Ginny.
"Hey, so thanks for everything you've done to help Ginny out," Mike said. "It really means a lot to me."
"Don't mention it," Micky answered. "It's nothing. Any friend of yours is a friend of ours."
"That's just it, Mick," Mike said. "You know it doesn't have to be that way."
"What are you talking about?" Micky asked.
"Well, if you ever wanted to...you know, be more than friends with someone, I'd support you," Mike said. "Even if it was one of my friends."
"Where is this coming from?" Micky asked.
"I'm not blind, Micky," Mike said. "We all see the way you look at her. You like her."
"Like who?" Micky asked. "Look at who?"
"Ginny," Mike said getting annoyed. "You like her. She likes you. Everyone can feel it. Everyone knows it."
"She just ended a horrible engagement," Micky said.
"Yes, she did," Mike answered. "All the more reason for her to find the right guy. One who'll treat her right. Don't you think?"
"Of course," Micky said. "But I doubt she's even ready. And you're right, she's your friend."
"I just told you that doesn't make a difference to me," Mike said. "I appreciate you wanting to look out for me and my feelings, but honestly, I'd rather her be with someone like you than anyone else. After what she's been through, I really don't even trust anyone else. And we already talked to her. She likes you a lot and Valerie and I both think she deserves to move on."
"So what are you saying?" Micky asked.
"What I'm saying is that Valerie and I are returning the favor," Mike smiled. "We've already made arrangements for you and Ginny to have dinner tomorrow night at the same restaurant you had us go to. We just wanted you both to be prepared so you could both get over your hang ups about being with each other."
"I'm not hung up," Micky said.
"You're very hung up, Micky," Mike answered. "You're hung up on this notion that you can't date her cause she's my friend. Get over it, cause you're going out tomorrow night and that's that."
