Important Note: I am not a law student; I researched a little bit, and had gotten help from someone who has taken a few courses that benefited me. But besides that I'm pretty much just taking what I know, and what I've seen on episodes of TV, and what I've heard of cases. If you aren't happy that it's not down to the book and perfectly written for a law case in Ohio then I'm sorry and you don't have to read it.
Just a Note (but you should read it anyway): Also just a reminder; I posted an author note at the beginning of the story telling everyone the 'Lucy' storyline didn't apply to this story because it worked better without it. Therefore, I made up a middle name for Quinn.
Chapter 24
::Flashback::
Leroy sat at the kitchen table, a bunch of papers sprawled out in front of him. He may have been a lawyer, but he couldn't handle getting legal guardianship of Quinn; that was something he needed to do through a lawyer that was not himself. The doorbell rang and he slowly got out of his seat to answer the door.
"Hiram, the lawyer is here." Leroy called up to his husband as he walked toward the door. He opened it with a slight smile on his face and the lawyer returned one back.
"Hello Mr. Williamson, nice to see you."
"Nice to see you too Leroy." The lawyer said, they had known each other from when they had to sign out papers with Shelby and making Rachel their child. But that, that was easy this was harder. They had to go through many steps to become legal guardians of Quinn. They had to make sure family wouldn't take her-because that's where she would've been placed first-and proof that without them taking her in Quinn wouldn't have a place to go. They had chosen today to have the final meeting between them all, because Rachel had spent her day with Quinn at the hospital.
Hiram traveled down the stairs, he basically had no say in the matter of if Quinn stayed with them or not. Leroy practically told him what was going to happen and he followed along. He may not have approved of Quinn before, but the blonde was making a place for herself in Hiram's heart. Also seeing her so fragile and weak in the hospital made that place for her soften even more. At first he had been skeptical of letting her stay; in fear that she'd be like her father but with some help from Leroy he saw that Quinn could never and would never be like him.
Leroy led Mr. Williamson into the kitchen and they took a seat. It wasn't a real case, but Leroy definitely needed his help to gain custody; however until the case that would determine Russell's guilty, Judy was still her guardian until the court ruled otherwise. But just in case, he needed to have a back-up; he needed to have the papers, signed and dated in case Quinn does need a place to go. Everyone already assumed she'd be taken out of Judy's custody anyway.
Hiram sat down, and crossed his arms.
"So I contacted Miss. Fabray's sister and grandparents on the mother's side and unfortunately Miss Fabray's sister denied taking her in on the grounds of she couldn't support her financially; especially while being a university student. Her grandparents informed me that it's a really hard decision to say no, but if Miss Fabray wasn't in school it'd be a yes. They'd gladly pass the rights to you, so that Miss Fabray can finish her schooling at McKinley without having to move out of Ohio to stay with them. As for her grandparents on the father's side they refused to have any communication with their granddaughter in any form due to her sexual orientation."
"How did they even know of Quinn's sexual orientation?" Leroy asked.
"They didn't state how they knew; they just claimed they were informed. Shall we move onto the papers? If Miss Fabray is taken from Mrs. Fabray's custody; you are able to request legal guardianship in this case. However if you sign these papers, and Miss Fabray is still able to stay with her mother, these may not be useless. Miss Fabray may have a say in where she wants to stay and you could still fight for her."
Leroy nodded, "I'm well aware of that, I just would like them all taken care of so that she can stay with us; if needed."
The lawyer nodded, "Everything you need is in these forms and papers. If Mrs. Fabray isn't suitable, then you'll need these to prove that you've also become Quinn's legal guardians."
"Thank you Mr. Williamson."
...
Quinn groaned and snuggled into the warmth that was coming from the person next to her. Their legs were tangled together and Quinn's arm was resting over Rachel's abdomen and Rachel's head was in the crook of Quinn's neck. The sun shone through the blinds, and curtains lighting up the room a little bit. It would've been a good day if it wasn't for the fact that the trail was today. Quinn's eyes slowly fluttered open and she yawned, wanting to go back to sleep. Rachel was still softly breathing, snoring just a little lightly; and Quinn didn't want to move because she didn't have the heart to wake her up. Her eyes adjusted more, and she blinked a few times to get use to the natural light. She took in how Rachel looked, beautiful with her hair in her face, and the way her lips were parted slightly in her sleep. She still held the after sex glow, and Quinn smiled at that. Rachel began to shift and she moaned softly as she moved closer to Quinn. The blonde smiled and placed a soft kiss on Rachel's forehead which caused the diva's eyes to flutter open.
"Goodmorning." Rachel said her voice groggy and a bit scratchy from sleep.
"Morning." Quinn said in response. She pulled the girl closer and placed a soft kiss on her bare shoulder. "How did you sleep?"
"I slept well, thank you." Rachel said. She felt a bit sore, due to the events that took place the night before; after all it was her first time.
Quinn smiled and pecked her lips softly. Rachel smiled and gently connected their kiss, creating a soft and slow kiss between them. Suddenly a knock on the door caused them to jump apart. Rachel's eyes widened and it occurred to her that she was naked and in bed with her girlfriend. She wondered how quick she could get up and get dressed and decided to attempt it. She hurried out of bed, wrapping the sheet around her which caused Quinn to gasp as her naked body was touched by the cool air. The blonde grabbed a blanket and was quick to wrap herself up. The knock happened again and it was followed by a loud booming voice.
"Girls...are you awake?"
Quinn quickly stood as well and just as they were about to find their clothes from the night before, Leroy, who didn't receive a reply opened the door.
"Daddy!" Rachel said loudly, with a squeak. She stood there, like a deer caught in headlights and pulled the blanket that was wrapped around her tighter. Quinn held her blanket tighter as well and she blushed, but at the same time fought back a laugh.
"Rachel Barbra Berry!" Leroy shouted, his eyes shifting from one girl to the other. He wanted to believe it wasn't what it looked like, but he took in the clothes on the floor, and the fact that they were only covered up due to blankets and sheets. Rachel was mortified and wanted to crawl into a hole, but Quinn-for some reason unknown to her-found it rather funny, but embarrassing all the same.
Rachel wasn't sure what to say so she turned to Quinn, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open in a shocked way. "I thought you locked it." She said in a hiss.
Quinn arched a perfectly sculpted eyebrow and hid a smirk, "there was a lock?"
"Yes!" Rachel said, with a stomp of her foot while making sure the sheet wasn't going to fall.
"Well, I didn't know that, and I was to...busy to think about that." Quinn said, and pulled her bottom lip in between her teeth and gently chewed on it.
Leroy sighed, and rolled his eyes and decided to grab their attention again. "Rachel Barbra Berry and Quinn Elizabeth Fabray!" he yelled. They both stilled and slowly turned to look at him. Quinn didn't think it was funny anymore and Rachel held her sheet tighter for comfort.
Hiram heard his husbands yell all the way downstairs and he knew something was going on; he slowly got up from the kitchen table and made his way upstairs. Once he got to his husband he froze and widened his eyes.
"Oh my god!" Hiram said, and then shook his head.
"What is going on here?" Hiram added.
Leroy turned to him, still angry. "What do you think is going on Hiram?"
The man deflated and allowed Leroy to take control.
"We can explain!" Rachel said, trying to defend herself but she knew she lost already.
"Don't you think they know what happened Rach?"
Rachel turned to look at Quinn and sent her a pointed glare, "Shut up Quinn, you are not helping." she snapped.
Quinn rolled her eyes and gently sat on the bed.
"Girls, you're in serious trouble. Rachel you know the rules, and you broke them. You both will be punished for this but right now you need to get ready for the trial or we'll be late." Leroy said, "Oh and also we're not done talking about this, we will continue this conversation later tonight." He added.
Both girls nodded and as soon as Leroy closed the door so they could get ready they let out a loud sigh.
"This is just lovely." Rachel said.
"Babe, just relax, there's more important things to focus on. Like the trial."
Rachel nodded, "That is very true Quinn. I'm going to go shower." She kept the blanket around her, left the room and headed towards her room and her bathroom.
...
Quinn sat in the court room, in a chair beside her lawyer who was assigned to her; her name was Mrs, Edwards. She was tall, had long blonde hair and was dressed in fancy black blouse and a black skirt, with matching heels. She organized the papers she needed on the table and Quinn sat there nervously playing with her fingers. Rachel, and the rest of the witnesses were seated close behind Quinn on a bench. Brittany and Rachel were seated there, along with Finn-her ex boyfriend and her current enemy; and that was to Quinn's surprise. She didn't want him there, but according to her lawyer Finn had been questioned due to the fact that he was around her house when they were dated and Finn had admitted to seeing some violent activity. Although Brittany was the one she ran to before she got involved with Rachel, Finn had also witnessed a few hard pushes and pushing around here or there. But normally he thought nothing of it. The cop who was called, the night Quinn got taken to the hospital was also there.
It was a small case; so it didn't require a jury; so the outcome of what was going to happen to Russell was up to just the judge. It only became a case like this, because Russell didn't plead guilty, in Russell's eyes he did nothing wrong, so they had to hold a court case with witnesses and the like.
Rachel whispered softly, "Quinn..." The blonde turned in her chair to look at Rachel while she did she realized the glee club, were all seated behind the witnesses, for moral support. "It'll be okay sweetie, I'm right here." Rachel added and Quinn just nodded, turned back around in her seat and blanked everything out. She became secluded in herself, she blanked what the judge was saying out, what the lawyers were saying out, and she just sat there with her mind unsure of what to think, so it was pretty much blank. She was pulled out of her head when the chair beside her; that belonged to her lawyer screeched. The blonde looked over at where her lawyer had gotten up and she swallowed thickly when she came back down to earth. Somehow she was so zoned out, busy blanking out the world that she didn't even realize that the lawyer had called up the first witness. Mrs. Edwards, the lawyer had called up the smaller witnesses first, which made Quinn assume that they were going from less important to most important. She looked up at Finn who was sitting there, beside the judge. He looked at her, and his eyes actually held sympathy in them; or so it seemed like it. Finn looked away from her and had gotten sworn under oath. He was nervous, and that was obvious but she still didn't trust him.
Mrs. Edwards was standing near the witness stand, she looked Finn in the eyes and he looked as if he was going to wet his pants. "Mr. Hudson, for the record can you please state your relationship to the victim?"
Finn cleared his throat and glanced at the lawyer. "We use to date; she's my ex-girlfriend."
Mrs. Edwards nodded and continued questioning him, "So does that mean you were over at the Fabray household a lot?"
"A little bit. I wasn't usually allowed over because they didn't want me there."
She nodded again, "When you were over at the Fabray house, did you see anything unusual between the victim and Mr. Fabray?"
Finn looked at Quinn, with almost an apologetic look. "He got her in trouble a lot, mostly for small things. Like not doing her homework before having me over or he'd yell at her if he walked in on us kissing. It was nothing major, but sometimes I saw him push her around; but it wasn't hard, or too bad." Finn looked smug as Rachel glared at him.
The lawyer wondered why she even questioned him, and why he claimed he was a witness in the first place. His information seemed pointless. "No further questions, your honour."
The judge nodded and looked at the defense lawyer, who sat beside Russell looking calm. The defense Lawyer, Mr. Torrance shook his head, thinking this witness was pointless. "We have no questions for this witness."
"Are you sure you don't have questions for me, we almost had a baby well until I found out it was Puck's baby and then I punched him. Oh, I was there when he kicked her out!" he said.
The judge looked at him, "Go sit down Mr. Hudson."
Finn sighed, "Oh come on, him kicking her out was voluble freak out story." He mumbled to himself as he got off the witness stand and walked back to his bench.
"Can the prosecution please present their next witness?" The judge said. The judge was an older woman who seemed emotionless in Quinn's eyes. If the blonde was being honest, the judge kind of freaked her out.
"We'd like to call Brittany S. Pierce to the stand."
Brittany looked at Santana from where she was seated, "Santana I'm scared." Santana who was seated somewhere behind her just whispered an "it will be okay".
Brittany headed up to the stand and she sat down nervously. She was sworn in, even though Brittany was confused by the whole process, however Santana had explained before they arrived to the court house that she couldn't lie on the stand, even though she wouldn't anyway.
"Miss Pierce, what's your relationship with Miss Fabray?" The lawyer had already talked to Brittany, in meetings before this and was aware she'd have to be a little unprofessional with her for her to understand what she was saying.
"We were friends since..." Brittany got quiet and then smiled, "Since San and I played in the sandbox and some kid stole this other girls toy. Santana pushed the kid out of the sandbox and then asked if Quinn was okay and gave her the toy back, we were friends ever since."
"So, Brittany when did you first find out that Mr, Fabray was hurting Quinn?"
"He pushed her really hard when I was over once."
"Is that all you've ever seen him do?"
Brittany nodded, "we were little-well more little then we are now, and I saw him push her really hard. It looked like it hurt and Quinn has called me every time he did something since then. He'd hurt her and then she'd sneak out and come to my house for the night because she told me once that she felt safe with me. A while ago she came over after he hurt her wrist and my dad had to bandage it for her. I never saw any marks or bruises but I hugged her sometimes, and she'd be in a lot of pain. I even offered her one of my stuffed ducks when she had come over once, but this was when Quinn was beginning to think stuffed animals were childish. I think we were 12 and then she slept with the ducky the duck that night anyway."
"You're honour the witness is getting off topic." The defense said.
The judge just smiled, "The witness is still answering; I'll allow it."
"The night Quinn had hurt her wrist; did she tell you exactly what happened?"
"She told me a little bit, not a lot. Quinn is a closed book; she didn't like to talk about what was happening to her. But when she came over, I always knew. She knew I knew...I think. So it was one of those things, you know, when you don't need to tell them, because they already know how it got hurt. Like Rachel and Quinn don't need to tell me their sweet lady kisses turned into sweet lady moans last night because I just know when they've had sex. So they know they don't need to tell me."
Mrs. Edwards had to fight back a laugh and keep her composure. Brittany was an amusement for her. Quinn and Rachel's eyes widened and the blonde was completely stunned; Rachel on the other hand let her words get free, "How the...she amazes me."
Santana just shrugged and smiled. "She's good."
"Did Quinn ever show up at your house with more injuries then just her wrist?"
"Probably, she didn't show me them, but I knew she had bruises everywhere because it always hurt her when I hugged her. Are we done yet? Because I have to go to the bathroom and Lord Tubbington has an appointment."
Mrs. Edwards gave Brittany a soft smile, "We're not quite done, the defense has to ask you some questions now." She looked at the defense lawyer, "You're witness."
Russell's lawyer got up from his seat and walked over to Brittany with a sly smile. "Worst part of the job, dealing with dense and stupid people". He mumbled to himself. He thought nobody noticed but the judge raised her eyebrow and Santana clenched her jaw.
"Oh you didn't just call my girl stupid!" Santana tried to get up from her seat, but of all people Rachel had to keep her down; which was hard because Rachel was sitting in front of her, so she had to turn around and hold her down by her arm. Which proved difficult because Santana was much stronger then her. "Brittany is not dumb; if anyone's dumb it's you for representing such a disgusting human being!" Santana yelled, earning a warning glare from the judge. The lawyer straightened out his suit as if nothing affected him and he sent Santana a small smirk.
Santana pushed Rachel away from her and managed to stand up. "Watch it up-tight lawyer dude, because I will go all Lima heights on your ass."
"Santana sit down." Rachel said firmly, "do you want to get kicked out?"
Santana sent Rachel a glare and the diva raised a challenging eyebrow. She had been taking lessons from Quinn, at least that's what Santana thought. "If you get kicked out, you won't be here for Brittany."
"But he-"
"Order in the court!" The judge said, cutting Santana off. "This is your first warning." She looked directly at Santana and then looked back at Brittany and the defense lawyer. She sent him a nod and he took in a deep breath, puffing out his chest a little bit.
"If Mr. Fabray had hurt Quinn's wrist, why wasn't it reported?" He said, brushing down his tie.
Brittany looked at Santana and the Latina sent her a smile. "It was obvious that Quinn was scared, she also didn't want anyone to know. I think Quinn wanted to look strong and not weak so she didn't want anyone to notice or find out. Quinn's always been like that ever since me and San knew her. She doesn't like to show when something is wrong."
"If you father supposedly wrapped up Quinn's wrist, why didn't he report it, or ask her what was wrong?"
"My daddy asked what was wrong, and Quinn didn't want him to know. So she told him that she fell-or something like that. My dad believed her."
The lawyer tried to hide a satisfied smile, "So miss Fabray lies?"
Brittany shook her head a lot "No, she was just scared. Quinn is one of the most honest people I know. She says stuff even when it hurts, which isn't nice but its Quinn."
Russell's lawyer seemed to falter for a second, and he cleared his throat. "No more questions your honor."
Mrs. Edwards got up and dismissed Brittany from the stand. The blonde hurried back down to her seat and sat down beside Santana, instead of her original seat. Normally she would have to return to her witness seat but she buried herself in Santana and nobody had the heart to remove her.
"The prosecution calls Officer Clarkson to the stand." Mrs. Edwards said and awaited him to take his seat at the witness stand.
The officer was sworn under oath and he straightened his posture, his chest puffed out a little bit.
"Officer Clarkson, when you got called to the Fabray house what was it that you saw, and please describe the incident."
"When I first got to the house, I saw Miss Fabray's friend holding her wrist, as if she had been hurt. She ran over to me, freaking out and began telling me everything. She suggested I call an ambulance unit, so I did, unsure why. They showed up, and looked at her wrist while I knocked on the door. No one answered, and I could hear some yelling and a scream inside. I broke down the door, while my partner called the rest of the squad. It seemed fishy so we called for back-up. When I had gotten in the house it was suddenly silent, I missed the incident but saw Miss Fabray laying down on the ground, in very bad shape. She was bruised up and was unconscious, so I immediately yelled for the paramedics. Mr. Fabray had been standing over her. I took Mr. Fabray into custody because it seemed obvious to me and my squad that he had been the cause for the fall. Miss Fabray looked as if she had been pushed, or possibly dragged down the stairs."
"You said Miss Berry, Quinn's friend had an injured wrist as well as Quinn being injured?"
"Miss Berry, when reporting what had happened to us, claimed Mr. Fabray pulled her out of the house resulted in a painful wrist, it wasn't a serious injury. But when we placed that together with Miss. Berry's statements, and how we caught Mr. Fabray we brought him into custody."
"So it seems Mr. Fabray could have been violet to people, and not just Miss Fabray."
"That could be quite possible, ma'am." The officer said.
Mrs. Edwards nodded and walked away. She looked at the defense and gave him a nod, "You're witness."
The lawyer got up and once again, looked smug. It was clear that he was cocky. Quinn took in a few deep breaths, hearing everything was making it hard for her. She didn't want to be there, and she didn't want to relive it all in her head, which was starting to happen.
"You say that it was obvious that Russell hurt Miss Fabray, but what made you so sure of this. How do you know that Quinn didn't just fall down the stairs and Russell was simply trying to be a caring dad and rush to her aide?"
"It was clear to me, even though I am not a paramedic or a doctor, I could tell her bruises were caused by blunt trauma, and not just the falling down the stairs kind. Also Mr. Fabray looked guilty, and the expression on his face was pure disgust and hate. He also was intoxicated and he had his foot raised as if he was about ready to kick Miss Fabray, when she was down. He was definitely not a concerned father."
"Is it possible his foot was just raised because he had been walking down the steps, and was stepping down the bottom step?" The lawyer said. Rachel was sure that she could see the sweat beading on his forehead. Rachel smirked at that, knowing that the lawyer was aware that he wasn't doing as well as he expected in the case.
"That definitely is impossible seen as Mr. Fabray was already off the steps and standing right over his daughter, on the floor." The cop held onto a smartass tone.
"No further questions." Russell's lawyer said, and then walked away.
Quinn took in a deep breath from where she was sitting. It was her turn soon, and she knew it. That made her emotions worse. Hearing everything made her want to break down in tears, it wasn't fair that she even had to be there. In her opinion her dad should just be locked away and not be able to fight for his freedom. She felt broken-hearted, because Russell just sat there, denying he did anything wrong and the worst part for her was that she knew in his mind, he most likely thought he didn't do anything wrong. The blonde rubbed her sweaty hands on her skirt, and bit her bottom lip in nervousness. The only people left to be called up to the stand were her and Rachel; and that made her want to crawl into a small, dark, black hole and never come back out.
...
Rachel sat at the stand and looked at Mrs. Edwards who had just asked her a question, that question being 'what is your relationship with the victim' she never took a law class but she knew if she told them, the defense would use it against her it was that simple, but she was under oath and took in a deep breath.
"Quinn and I are in a romantic relationship." Rachel said, looking at her girlfriend.
"How long have you known the victim Miss. Berry?"
"Since freshman year, but we didn't get close until quite recently."
Mrs. Edwards nods and continues, "So you are close to the victim, how did you find out that Mr. Fabray was hurting her?"
"Quinn is a closed book, and it takes a lot to open her up. But it was Brittany who actually came to me at first. She didn't tell me what happened, but Brittany had let it slip that Mr. Fabray had moved back home and Quinn was unhappy. Brittany seemed scared, as if Quinn was in danger. I made it my personal mission to get closer to Quinn after I found that out. Quinn always had a certain..." Rachel struggled with a word. "...vibe about her and that vibe is what made me crush on her in the first place, but even before Britt mentioned anything, I knew that her vibe had gone down and she seemed different. Just looking at her made me feel depressed, I could tell something bad was going on with her. The last time I had seen her that lost was when she was pregnant."
Rachel stopped and took in a deep breath, Mrs. Edwards sent her a nod signaling it was okay for her to continue.
"Quinn managed to let me closer to her, after years of attempting to be her friend, and I was happy to finally be close to her. I had already fallen for her, I've been in love with her since freshman year, and it killed me to see her so depressed. I kept trying to get Quinn to open up and eventually she came to me, but it was slowly and she told me everything it parts. Quinn didn't know that I had already pieced everything together; I didn't confront her because I wanted her to come to me. She started by telling me her dad moved back home, and she was about to tell me he hurt her but my parents coming home had caused her to close back up. I found out he had been hurting her that same night when I walked upstairs to my room and she had been changing. I caught a glimpse of her, and was shocked when I saw the bruises. She then explained everything, and I was worried about her. The bruises Mr. Fabray had given her looked like they needed medical attention, but it was clear to me Quinn wouldn't allow that."
Mrs. Edwards said, "You managed to answer a few other questions I had, but I would like to know, what exactly happened the night-"
Rachel straightened her posture. "Quinn and I had returned to her parents house to grab her belongings, she had been staying at my house because she felt safer there; I always found it odd that her parents never contacted us to make sure their kid was okay, or even tried to find out where she was." Rachel began, cutting the lawyer off.
"Quinn didn't expect them to come home so soon, we thought we'd have more time to get her things before her dad got home. We had been trying to avoid him, because she was scared of him and for her safety. When Mr. Fabray came home he heard us and we had no idea what to do. I tried to stand up for Quinn when he started yelling, but he didn't want me in his house. He thinks that since my dad's are gay that we're toxic people or something, or that I'd make Quinn gay, or that's how I view it. However Quinn was gay long before her and I became romantically involved, she just didn't want to admit it. I'll admit, I understand why Quinn is scared of him, because I was even scared of him that night."
"Objection, the witness is talking too much and is getting off topic your honor." The defense said.
The judge looked at Rachel and then at the defense, she was about to open her mouth when Rachel beat her to it.
"Excuse me Sir, but I do not talk too much or ramble, I simply voice my opinions and everything I say leads up to a point, I just think things should be told in more detail sometimes. How will you get the full story, if you don't let me talk about it, the way I want to?"
The defense slowly stood up and crossed his arms. "You're out of order."
Rachel straightened her back and stared pointedly at the lawyer, "No, you're out of order."
The judge cleared her throat, and tried not to crack a smile because Rachel was quite amusing. "Miss Berry that is your first warning in disrupting the court room, two more and I will have to kick you out. Please get the point, and spare us some of the unrelated detail."
"He was out of order first." She mumbled and then sighed, "Fine, back to the events that occurred that night. Mr. Fabray kicked me out of the house; he grabbed my wrist area and dragged me out. He then slammed the door in my face. I thought Quinn would be okay long enough to hurry out of the house, but when she didn't come out for a bit, I knew she wasn't or suspected it. I called the cops, because I couldn't do anything seen as Mr. Fabray locked me out, and as much as I looked and tried I couldn't really find a way in without making it obvious, so I called the cops because I couldn't let anything happen to my girlfriend."
"So to confirm, he hurt you as well?" Mrs. Edwards asked to confirm it.
"Technically yes, it hurt but it wasn't serious, and the pain went away at a fair pace."
Mrs. Edwards had no further questions, "Thank you, your witness." She said to the defense. He nodded and slowly got up, straightened his tie once again. Rachel couldn't help but think that he was a stuffy, rotten guy for defending a creep like Russell Fabray.
Rachel folded her hands and rested them on the stand in front of her. "I am not talking to him, unless he can discuss this with the respect I deserve." Rachel said, in a diva like tone. Quinn had been sitting there with wide eyes since Rachel had gone out of order the first time; she was just hoping this wouldn't count as her second warning. Quinn looked up at Rachel, who glanced at her.
"Watch it." Quinn mouthed and it caused Rachel to roll her eyes.
Quinn bit her bottom lip, and awaited the judge's response to the diva.
"Miss Berry, I'm afraid you do not have a choice in the matter. Do not make me give you a second warning."
The diva sighed, defeated.
"Ms. Berry let me start off by saying, you're in a relationship with the victim, which if I'm not mistaken means you care about her deeply. How do we know that you're not lying for her, and that your opinions and story on the events, aren't biased and effected by your romantic involvement?"
"First off, I try to avoid lying; also I am under oath so I assure you I wouldn't be stupid enough to lie to you. Secondly, I may be biased because I love Quinn, and I may stand up for those I love, but if she was ever in the wrong I wouldn't be afraid to tell her, and she is not in the wrong in this case sir."
The defense sighed, hating Rachel. He wanted to choke her up, but he was realizing with this one it would be hard and difficult.
"If you knew Mr. Fabray was physically harming the victim, why did it take you so long to seek help and call the cops all because of an incident you claim has happened?"
"I did seek help. I went to her best friend Santana, in hope she would know what to do, and that didn't work as well as I hoped it would. It was hard to seek help for Quinn, when Quinn barely even wanted my help. I would've called the cops earlier, but I had no evidence to back me up. The only reason I called the cops that night was because I knew she was in trouble, and I couldn't have something bad happen to her, I just couldn't."
"So let me get this straight, you never called the cops when you found out what he was supposedly doing to the victim, because you had no evidence, but now you're sitting before us, with no solid evidence either."
"I may not have solid proof, like a photo or a video but I will always be there for Quinn, and I'm up here fighting for her because no child deserves to be abused by their parent." Rachel cleared her dry throat and looked at him, "Let me ask you this, if you had kids, wouldn't a case like this choke you up? Do you even have a heart, because if so why are defending a rat like Russell Fabray?"
"Objection." The defense said.
"Miss Berry, please focus on the questions, or I will be forced to give you a second warning."
Quinn looked up at the stand, she was now holding back tears and she was trying to hide her vulnerability but it wasn't working. "Rachel, please stop..." Quinn said, loud enough for people to hear it. Her quivering voice was obvious to most and the court room went silent for a little bit, "Please don't get yourself kicked out, because I need you..." The blonde muttered, and the defense rolled his eyes and ignored Quinn.
The young, defense attorney sighed heavily at Rachel, growing fed up with her. He had a short temper as it was and Rachel got under his skin. "I have no further questions your honor." He said with gritted teeth. He stormed back to his seat and plopped down in it. Rachel sat there with a satisfied smirk.
...
Quinn stood there, she had gotten up out of her seat when she was called to the stand but she felt glue to where she stood up. She didn't want to go up there, and she was already breaking down. She knew if she went up there, she'd lose it completely.
"Miss Fabray, please make your way to the stand." The judge said, it had been almost 5 minutes since they had called her up.
"Please give her time." Rachel said, the brunette slowly got up and made her way over to Quinn. The judge stayed silent for now and watched the two girls. Rachel reached out and pulled Quinn into a hug, who went limp against her girlfriend.
"Baby, it'll be okay. Just try and compose yourself, I know it's hard but I promise I will be there with you when we go home and I'll let you cry for as long as you need. We need to win this case Quinn, just focus on me the whole time and I promise, it'll be okay. I love you."
"I-I love you too." Quinn said before burying her head in Rachel's shoulder. Rachel rubbed her back a little bit and it was too soon for her, when Quinn pulled out of her embrace. The blonde gave her a sad glance and then walked up to the stand. She was sworn under oath and Mrs. Edwards was quick to start her questioning.
"Miss Fabray, I know this is hard but I need you to tell me everything that had happened, the night the police arrested your father."
Quinn took in a deep breath and swallowed thickly. "To be honest, I don't remember a lot of it because I have forced myself not to." Her voice wavered and she was already close to tears. "Rachel basically told you why we were there, and the story as to what happened in her prospective. Basically, once Rachel was thrown out, he started yelling at me and criticizing Rachel and myself." Quinn swallowed thickly again, "I said something to set him off, and well I must have because that's what it always seemed like. I wanted to stand up for myself, and I also wanted to get out of the house. So I tried both. My dad was drunk and I'd like to believe it happened all those times because of the alcohol but I believe that he is just a cruel man. Eventually I found myself being pushed and these parts are like shattered glass in my memory. I remember seeing him, and knowing he pushed me which caused me to tumble down them. I was in too much pain, halfway down the stairs and then everything went dark." She kept it short and sweet.
Mrs. Edwards asked her about the other times he had hurt her and Quinn explained everything. From the first time he ever pushed her, to the first time he slapped her, and then she took them back to the stair incident. Rachel had to hold back her own tears, and by the time Quinn was done talking, a few tears strolled down the blonde's perfect porcelain skin.
"I have no other questions." Mrs. Edwards said, Quinn had explained everything and she also felt bad because the blonde was sitting up on the stand, about to break down.
The defense got up, and looked at Quinn, "You say your father was drunk when he hurt you, most of the time he had been. Isn't it possible that his so called abuses were caused by being under the influence?"
"Drunk or not he should've never hit me; also he wasn't always drunk just most of the time." Quinn felt a tear slide down her cheek.
The defense cleared his throat, "Now, you claim he hurt you, but why is it only you. Why didn't he ever go after your mom or your sister?"
Quinn took in a deep shaky breath, "I am not sure if he had gone after them, but I know he targeted me because I wasn't perfect like my sister, or obedient like my mom. I also was gay, and in love with Rachel and he knew that- so he punished me for it."
"If he punished you for being with Ms. Berry, why didn't you just stop seeing the girl, so that he wouldn't hurt you Miss. Fabray, seems kind of foolish to put yourself at risk, and makes this seem like a waste of time."
Quinn choked back a sob, more tears had began to trail down her cheeks, "I-I did what he told me to do once, and stayed away from her, but it got to hard and I fell in love with her. Besides," Quinn took in another deep breath and rubbed her red puffy eyes, "even if I had stayed away from her he would have still beaten me for being gay."
"Then why not just hide that you were gay Miss Fabray, or make the choice not to be."
"It isn't a choice!" Quinn snapped.
Mrs. Edwards stood up and glanced at the judge, "Objection, relevance."
Quinn began to sob on the stand and she allowed herself to finally break down. Rachel tensed in her seat and began to get up, but she stopped herself when the Judge gave her a look and shook her head.
"That will be all." The judge said.
Quinn ran off of the witness stand and out of the court room, "Miss Fabray!" the judge said after her.
Rachel sighed and got up and followed her girlfriend. She looked around when she entered the hall and sighed when she couldn't see her. The brunette followed her gut and walked outside of the court house. She hurried over to Quinn, who had been sitting on the steps with her head in her hands, and her elbows resting on her knees.
"Baby..." Rachel whispered and walked over to her girlfriend. She slowly sat down and pulled the other girl into her, "It'll be okay."
The blonde buried her face in Rachel's chest, unable to speak. She continued to cry, and Rachel held her close while rubbing soft circles on her back.
The court house door slowly opened and the sound caught Rachel's attention. Santana and Brittany stood there, and looked at the diva.
"Is she going to be okay?" Brittany asked, concerned about her friend.
"Eventually." Rachel answered. "Why are you guys out here?"
"They're deciding on the verdict now, so it's just a fucking waiting game at this point." Santana said.
Rachel nodded and pulled Quinn closer. She had never seen Quinn break down this much, or this hard-especially in public.
...
It had taken a while for them to come to a verdict. As Quinn sat there, barely recovered from her breakdown, she looked at the Judge and then at her dad on the other side of the room. The court room was loud, because everyone was talking and debating what the outcome would be. The judge looked at Quinn, and then looked at the whole court room.
"Order in the court!" The judge said which caused everyone to become silent. The judge looked at the Jury and sighed, "Has the jury reached a verdict?"
Quinn looked at her dad; her eyes grew cold and empty as she stared at him. She loved her dad, but she felt hate rise into her gut, and it made her feel sick to her stomach.
"We have your honour."
"How do you find the defendant?" The judge asked.
Quinn clenched her jaw, and took in a deep breath; this was the moment she had dreaded. She kept the deep breath inside, and held it.
"We find the defendant, Russell Fabray guilty."
Quinn released the breath she had been holding and the room began to spin, she closed her eyes to try and relax. The stress didn't sit well with her and she took in a few deep breaths, trying hard not to faint.
...
The blonde sat on the steps in front of the court house once again, her eyes focused on anything before her. Rachel drew small circles on her girlfriends back as she attempted to relax Quinn. The blonde's muscles began to unwind and Rachel smiled at that.
"I told you it'd be okay." Rachel whispered. Quinn still stared in front of her, and didn't respond. Rachel could tell her girlfriend was numb and she hated it.
Suddenly the sound of someone clearing their throat got both girls' attention.
"Quinnie, can we talk?" Judy Fabray asked, as she walked down the steps and stood in front of Quinn on the ground.
Quinn looked up at her mom, with icy eyes. "No."
"Quinnie please, I don't want us to be like this."
Quinn laughed, but it wasn't a nice laugh. "You don't care, you chose this. If you would have stopped him, or said something...I knew you knew mom, and you didn't help me. You just stood there and let it happen. He could have killed me, and you didn't give a shit," Quinn spat.
Judy looked down at the ground. She looked guilty and ashamed but Quinn didn't care.
"Quinnie, I tried standing up for you one night, and he hit me too. I was scared of your father to be honest; I didn't know exactly what to do to help you."
Quinn stood to her feet, causing Rachel to get up and stand beside her. "Just leave me alone, I don't want to see you again." Quinn said, before walking down the stairs and pushing past Judy. Rachel followed her girlfriend, shocked at how fast the blonde was walking. When they arrived at the car Quinn leaned against it and looked at the girl who owned her heart.
"I love you." Quinn blurted out, while she looked Rachel in the eyes.
Rachel smiled and grabbed Quinn's belt loops and pulled her own body against the blonde's. "I love you too. I'm sorry all of this had to happen."
Quinn pecked Rachel's lips, "It's not your fault, but thanks for being here with me."
"You're welcome Quinn; I will always be there for you."
...
A/N: Finn was only there for comic relief. Also sorry for the mistakes, I didn't feel like reading it over because it was really long, and it took me a long time to write this chapter as is.