I chew my lip slowly. "Trial's today."

Gale nods. "I know. I'm sorry I won't be going with you.

"Gale, I know that if you did go, you'd strangle him."

My boyfriend nods again and heaves a great sigh. "Probably." The atmosphere in Gale's room is tense. He's not very happy that I'm going to the trial, but I feel like I need to go. And since Gale is... out of operation as of late, Hazelle offered to go with me. "You do realize that my mother is probably going to want to strangle him as well?"

"Probably." I echo quietly.

Gale sighs. "Look. You know I'm not happy that you're going. I'm angry that this is even happening and I'm even angrier that it happened to begin with. But if you feel like you need to go, I'm not going to stop you."

I wrap my arms around his neck and he kisses my ear quickly. "I love you." He murmurs, and I blush a little bit.

"I love you too," I say quietly, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. He smiles slightly. "I'll be back soon." I stand up quickly and start to gather my things. He swats my butt quickly and I stick my tongue out at him.

"Just claiming what's mine," Gale laughs, pulling me back to him so he can kiss me. He groans when our mouths make contact. "God, I miss you."

"I'm right here," I respond, rolling my eyes.

"You know what I mean." He waggles his brows. I blush and cover his lips with mine. His hands wrap around my butt and pull me closer to him, squeezing lightly. His fingers brush under my shirt and tug on my bra. I've missed his fingers against my skin.

I stiffle a gasp, "when you get out of here I think we can take care of that." He grins and kisses me again.

There's a knock on the door and Gale groans, letting me go. Hazelle comes in and gives us both a warm smile, clueless to what we were just doing.

"Ready, Madge?"

"I'm ready," I murmur. Posy travels into the room and pops a squat where I was just sitting on Gale's bed and starts talking to him. I give him a smile and follow Hazelle out of the room.

The drive to the courtroom is silent. I had already had contact with the girl who was last with him, and she wanted the few who were coming to testify to arrive a little bit early so we could compare stories and talk about what was going to happen.

Luckily, court gets on track smoothly. The five of us (and whomever we brought) sit nervously in the first and second rows, awaiting our turn to speak.

Kenton enters the room in the orange jumpsuit and I'm pleased to say that he looks miserable. Even his lawyer doesn't look very happy to be here.

The judge clears her throat and begins to speak. "Kenton Miles, you are charged for at least one account of rape and one breaking and entering by Amanda Cheers." The judge reads off the penalties towards Kenton and Hazelle is scowling next to me.

The trial gets into full swing next. I'm the second to speak, after Amanda. Her lawyer asks a billion questions to her, and then Kenton's lawyer fires them to her at rapid speed. She starts crying at some point, and she's unable to continue.

"The prosecution calls Margaret Undersee to the stand." I shakily stand up and Hazelle gives me a soft smile. I wring my hands together and slowly make my way up there. I'm sworn in.

Amanda's lawyer gets right to it. "Ms. Undersee, what do you recall happening the night that Mr. Miles sexually abused you?"

I take a deep breath and avoid looking at Kenton. "I remember that we had gone out on a date, or what I assumed was a date. We went to some sort of bar, and Kenton kept giving me drinks. After a while, everything... it got really fuzzy and I was disoriented. I don't remember much of what exactly happened, I just remember waking up, naked, in a place that I didn't know."

"And, Ms. Undersee, can you tell me what happened after you woke up?"

I swallow quickly and force the bad thoughts out of my head. "I woke up and I was naked, just like I said. There were mysterious marks all over me and I was very sore."

"Marks?" The lawyer interrupts.

"Yessir. Slap marks, bruises and hickeys, all over my body." I take another breath and continue. "I found my clothing on the floor and quickly put it on, going out into the main part of the apartment. Kenton was sitting there, with this horrible grin on his face. I asked what had happened and his temper rose very quickly. He slapped me across the face, and I ran out of the house.

The lawyer paces. "Where did you go?"

I hesitate. "I... I want to my... my friend's house, Gale Hawthorne. He gave me ice to put on my cheek that morning."

"Is Mr. Hawthorne present today?"

"No sir, he's in the hospital." I tell him quickly.

The lawyer nods. "And, Ms. Undersee, do you remember any abusive behavior from Mr. Miles?"

I nod. "Yessir. He had only wanted sex, and when he didn't get it, he would get angry and start to yell at me."

The man pacing in front of me rubs his cheek. "Have you suffered from any disease because of this incident?"

"Yessir," I say quietly, blinking back tears. "I have a mild case of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and I have common anxiety and panic attacks."

The lawyer nods, and then Kenton's lawyer questions me. I finish my testimony in tears because of the questions I had to answer. They were horrible questions.

I have to leave the courtroom for the twenty minutes after because I have a panic attack. I check my phone when I've finally calmed down, so I can text Gale and tell him what happened.

Instead, I find twelve missed calls from Wren. So, I text her because I can't call her here.

Something wrong? I tap out and send it.

Not even five seconds later, Wren sends back, I need you to come over as soon as you can.

Okay, I reply. My brows furrow. Quickly, I venture back into the courtroom and back to Hazelle. "Everything alright?" She whispers.

I nod. "Just pretty overwhelmed." Gale's mother nods and runs her hand down my arm.

"It'll be alright. By the looks of it, he's going to jail. The jury seems pretty convinced." I nod again and listen as the trail continues. It goes for another two hours before the jury disappears into another room. I call Gale while they're in there.

"Hey," he murmurs quickly, "everything alright?"

"Yeah," I reply quietly. "Jury's deciding now."

Gale sighs. "How was your testimony?"

I get quiet before sighing. "Alright. It got... it got really hard near the end. I had an attack." Hazelle tactfully looks away at the people in the room.

He sighs again. "I'm sorry. Hey, I gotta go. I'm going through a test thing in a little bit. Come back to the hospital when you're done."

"Okay," I murmur, "I love you."

I can almost hear the smile in his voice. "I love you, too." We hang up quickly and then Hazelle raises a brow at me.

"Y'know, Madge, he loved you when you two came to 12 for Thanksgiving."

I laugh a little bit, blushing. "Posy told me."

"He is wrapped around your finger." I blush. Hazelle starts to say something else, but the jury comes back out. A piece of paper is handed to the judge. She reads it quickly and then announces, "the jury has decided unanimously, the defendant is guilty of five accounts of rape and two accounts of drugging." A breath I didn't realize I was holding releases. "A sentence of 10 years in the District jail will be placed upon Kenton Miles. Case closed."


Hazelle and I hurry back to the hospital so she can pick up Posy and go back to Gale's apartment. I walk briskly to his room and he's tapping something on his phone. He smiles when he sees me. "So? How'd it go?" I cross the room and drop my bag on the chair, climbing onto the bed. Gale gently tugs my hair out of the ponytail it's in and runs his fingers through it as I get settled next to him.

"Convicted as guilty for five accounts of rape and two of drug abuse. 10 years in jail."

Gale lets out a low whistle and adjusts his arms around my back. "Wow. I never thought it was that much." I nod. "What did my mom think of all of that?"

"She looked furious the entire time. I figured she wanted to strangle him, and I knew that you would've if you had been there."

Gale nods. "You know I would." He pauses and curls one of the strands of my hair around his finger. "Hey, guess what."

"What?" I murmur, rubbing my hand over his stubble. He's been in here for two weeks, and I know he's itching to leave.

"They're letting me out of here in two days."

A smile spreads across my face and he grins. "Really?" Gale nods. "That's great! All healed up?"

"Mostly. Ribs are almost there, but everything else is alright. I can go home, Madge." Gale grins again, pressing his lips gently on mine. "I've missed you."

"I know," I murmur, kissing him again. My phone buzzes and I groan. Quickly, I check it and Wren's calling. "Hey, are you alright?"

"I need you to come over now. Is the trial over?"

My brows furrow. "Yeah, it's over now. Is something wrong?"

"Kinda," she stresses, "please come over now."

"Okay. I'll be there in ten."

I hang up and start to gather my things. "Everything alright?"

I sigh and shake my head. "I don't know. Wren's freaking out about something." Gale nods and I give him a quick kiss. "Love you. I'll call you in a little bit." He smiles, and then I'm out the door.

"Wren? Is everything alright?" She's in her bedroom, flipping through channels worriedly.

"It's Finn," she murmurs, eyes giving away her anger.

I sit gingerly on her bed and look towards her. "Are you going to tell me?"

Wren chews on her lip for a moment. "He's started talking about marriage." I raise a brow and she shakes her head. "I'm not... Madge, I'm only twenty, almost twenty-one. He's Gale's age. We're not..."

"Is that what you were freaking out about?"

Wren nods guilty. "I'm sorry for freaking out. I just, it's weird. I love Finn, you know that. I love him so much. He... he's everything to me. I don't see us getting married anytime soon, though. I mean, in a couple years, yeah, maybe, but now? No. We're not ready for it."

"Then tell him that. He'll understand, he knows you best and he'll know that you two aren't ready. Maybe he meant a few years down the road, not now."

My best friend shakes her head. "I don't know what he wants, Madge. I'm just confused." She flops back onto her bed and covers her face in a pillow. "Have you and Gale talked about it? Marriage, I mean." Wren's muffled voice comes from the pillow.

"No," I admit, and she looks up. "We haven't, really. I'm not..." I sigh and pause, thinking. "Actually, yeah, we have." She raises a brow, "we decided that we're going to wait until after I graduate college, if we make it that far."

"You will," Wren muses, "I'm positive. But me and Finn?"

I roll my eyes. "Stop that. You two are fine. You honestly just need to talk to him about it. He'll know that you mean well and want to wait."

"You think so?" I nod. "Fine. I'll call him. You go home, Madge." I chuckle and let myself out once I hear Wren talking.


I make it back to Gale's apartment and flop onto his bed before calling him.

"Hey," he murmurs, "she alright?"

I sigh. "Boyfriend problems. Finn started talking about marriage and she freaked."

"Hm." Gale says, sighing. "she panicked, I assume?"

"You bet." I respond. "We have made it clear that we're waiting until after I graduate college, right?"

Gale chuckles. "And not a moment sooner." I blush. "Or would you rather before you graduate?"

"Gale," I giggle, "you know I want to be able to pull my own weight. That would require me having a job, which I can't get without a diploma." Gale groans loudly and I laugh. "Impatient much?"

My boyfriend groans. "Yes. Very." He starts talking about something that happened today, but I've zoned off. I'm thinking about what Gale said, that he's impatient. I'm in no hurry to get married, I'm only nineteen, twenty next week. It's too early. But a life with Gale makes my insides tickle. That would be... lovely. There's no other word to describe it. He's such a good guy, and he's the only person who really gets me. "Madge, are you even listening?"

I sigh. "Sorry," Hazelle enters the room and gives me a smile.

"Everything alright?"

"Yeah, just on the phone with Gale."

Hazelle nods, "I'm starting dinner, Gale really doesn't have a lot of food here." I snort and nod, going back to my conversation with Gale.

"Hey, I'll call you tomorrow. I'm really tired and it's just... it's been a long day and I have a lot to process."

"I understand. Love you, babe. I love you so much." A warm smile spreads on my face and a bubble expands in my stomach.

I sigh. "I don't understand why you feel the need to tell me that, I know you do Gale."

"Because I want too. God I can't wait to get in bed with you again."

"In which way?"

I can almost hear his grin. "Both."

"I love you," I murmur quietly, "goodnight."

Gale replies softly, "goodnight baby, I love you."

That night, I don't get much sleep. Too lost in my thoughts. The fact that Kenton's in jail and Wren and Finn are thinking of marriage and Gale is finally getting out of that hospital gives me so much to think about. Kenton deserves to be in jail, that much I know. Wren and Finn will figure something out, they always do. And Gale and I will definitely be getting back to normal. I'm almost done with high school, and then on to college but I know he'll be there with me the entire ride.


A/N: This story is coming to a close! I'm going to finish this one before I start working on my other one again, so enjoy this! I'm expecting it to end very soon, but I'm not exactly sure how many chapters there are going to be. School is starting soon, but I want this one finished before school starts. Thoughts?