BPOV

"Miss Swan, can you please tell the court exactly what your relationship status was with Mr. King," his lawyer asks casually.

I knew it was anything but.

I glance to where Edward and Gramps are sitting with my father.

They both slightly nod.

"We were in the same friend group," I tell him.

"But you were friends, were you not?" he asks.

"We weren't friends, we were friendly," I correct.

He eyes me for a second before turning toward the jury.

"Miss Swan, I have a text exchange between you and Mr. King. We have entered this in as evidence on behalf of Mr. King," he explains.

The projection screen lights up sharing our texts from before Prom.

You're all I can think about. – R

(wink emoji) – B

C'mon. – R

I'm excited for Prom too! – B

Jess told me how excited. – R

I bet. – B

It will be me and you, Saturday night. – R

(wink emoji) – B

Once his lawyer finishes reading the exchange, he is in front of me again.

"Miss Swan, would you agree that you were attracted to Mr. King?" he asks.

"No," I say simply.

"Then why flirt in your text correspondence?"

"Wink emojis are considered flirting?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"The connotation is there."

"Objection, your honor, leading the witness," the D.A. shouted.

"Sustained," the judge accepted.

"Mr. Molena, every time Royce King texted me I was uncomfortable. I'm assuming you have all our exchanges on record and recommend you look further into those. He always initiated the texts, I at the time thought nothing of his persistence until after he assaulted me," I say calmly.

He gives a contrite nod.

"Miss Swan, you currently have a boyfriend, correct?"

"Objection," the D.A. barks out. "Miss Swan's current dating life isn't on trial, your honor."

"Sustained," the judge says.

"Miss Swan, is it true that you are known to be popular?"

"I was popular once, until the assault."

"What happened after the alleged assault, Miss Swan?"

"I spiraled."

"Could you elaborate for the court?"

"I began drinking until one-night mid-summer when I had to have my stomach pumped."

"You were entered into the Port Angeles Rehab program, isn't that correct?"

"Yes," I gritted slightly.

"Is it true that you have a family history of alcoholism?"

"My mother is an alcoholic."

"Were you drinking the night of your alleged assault?"

"Objection," the D.A. calls out yet again. "Miss Swan's character isn't on trial, there also was a witness to her assault."

"Sustained."

"That was all the questions I had your honor," he says.

The D.A. stands giving me an empathetic smile.

"Miss Swan, can you please tell us what happened on the night of June fifth?"

"Our group of friends met at the King's house for pictures. Royce had been by my side since I arrived. His hand had been on me in one way or another, at times I'd tried to squirm away, but his hand kept pulling me back to his side.

When we arrived at the dance it was the same there too. He wouldn't leave my side and he made sure he had eyes on me all night," I explain.

"Miss Swan, what happened when you arrived at the party at Mr. Newton's house?" he asks.

"Royce kept bringing me drinks."

"Did you drink those drinks?"

I shook my head. "No, sir."

"Why not?"

"Something was off about it, the way he kept trying to pressure me. He'd get me a drink then I'd leave it somewhere around the house."

"So, Mr. King assumed you were drinking what he was giving you."

"Yes, sir."

"Miss Swan, can you tell us what happened at the party?"

"We were there for about an hour when I went up to use the bathroom. The downstairs bathroom had a line and I knew Mike wouldn't mind me using the upstairs bathroom. After I was finished, I opened the door seeing Royce on the other side.

He then pushed me back into the bathroom, closing and locking the door. I started to panic because at first I was shocked that he locked us in."

"After he locked the door what happened?"

"He pushed me up against the wall, he used his arm as a bar like this," I say, holding my arm up. "Then he lifted my dress up and ripped my underwear off with his free hand. I fought against him trying to push him off."

"Did you, at any point, tell him no?"

"I told him no multiple times, I even said fucking stop, sorry," I say looking at the judge.

He smiles softly and shakes his head to go on.

"What made him stop?"

"Jasper Whitlock busted through the locked door. He pulled Royce off me and made sure I was okay," I explained.

"You left after that?"

"Jasper took me home."

"You didn't report it?"

I shake my head.

"No, sir."

"Why not?"

"I knew that the Kings have a lot of pull in Forks and Port Angeles. I knew if I said something my dad would instantly want to pursue charges and with that, it would put a target on his back."

"What made you decide to finally come forward?"

"Rosalie Hale's attack."

"Can you tell me about the night of October twenty-fifth?"

"I was at the Homecoming game because I was a member of the Homecoming court. I did win the title of Queen, so I was expected to stay and watch the game, it was intense."

"Intense how?"

"Royce was the quarterback. He seemed enraged, I'm not sure if it was because he lost Homecoming King or if it was because he was losing the game, but he became physically agitated. He started taking it out on Rosalie, too."

"You saw Miss Hale at the game and at the dance, is that correct?"

"Yes, I saw Royce and Rosalie by the doors of the gymnasium and that was it, until later when I was in the hall talking to Jasper. "

"What happened when you were in the hall with Jasper?"

"There were three guys from the Junior Varsity football team that passed us first, Riley, Tyler, and Demetri. Not too long after that, Royce came from the same direction of the locker rooms. I thought nothing of it until I was in the girls' locker room and heard the sound of someone wheezing. That was when I found Rosalie on the floor broken and blood everywhere."

I don't know why, but everything passes in a blur from there. It's like I'm on autopilot answering the D.A.'s questions. I glance at Edward first and he looks as stony as my dad. Gramps keeps shooting me reassuring smiles until I'm being dismissed from the witness stand.

I take a seat beside them and wait until the judge calls for a recess.

Charlie pulls me into a tight hug first, then Edward.

"You did good," he murmurs in my ear.

"Why did his lawyer think he could question my dating life?"

"He was trying to question your sexuality," Edward explains. "That's why I hate criminal law, you have to prove your defendant innocent by trying to make the victim look guilty."

"Why not choose to become the prosecution?" I ask, holding onto the lapels of his suit jacket. "If anything, I'd want a person like you in my corner."

His stoniness becomes softer and Edward-like.

He cups my face and shakes his head.

"I'm trying to be open in my decision of what law I want to practice," he sighs.

Which was code for I might be breaking him down.

We all stay gathered near the doorway of the courtroom until the court is called back into session. They had me go before Rosalie who was the last witness to be called to the stand.

Rosalie looks defiant in her posture and never wavers as she is questioned.

"Miss Hale, you were in love with Mr. King, were you not?"

"I thought I was in love with Royce," she replies.

I watched her eyes go to Emmett who was in the back of the room.

Since she left Forks, Emmett had also moved to Seattle to work for his father's construction company, Edward had made several trips to hang out with him.

I think he liked working in Forks less without Emmett on the crew, but we'd be moving to Seattle once the summer was over and they'd be reunited.

I kept telling myself that the closer I got to graduation.

As much as I loved my dad, I was ready to move on to my next chapter. I wanted to leave Royce King behind and hopefully, he got the max sentence of twenty years and we'd never hear a single thing of him again.

"Miss Hale, when you had sexual intercourse with Mr. King it was consensual, correct?" Mr. Molena asks.

"No," she says bluntly.

He frowns looking back at Royce who is wearing a scowl.

"You never had consensual intercourse with Mr. King?" he asks again.

"No, he'd always force me to have intercourse with him," she responds. "I was clear in my statement with Detective Diaz."

"Your honor, may we approach the bench?" Mr. Molena requests.

Mr. Molena scrambles over to the judge who then calls the D.A. over.

There is back and forth between the three, but then the judge announces the court will be adjourned until tomorrow.

"Is that normal?" I whisper to Edward.

It's Gramps that answers me.

"It is when the defense realizes they're screwed," he says. "I'd wager a guess that Royce painted Rosalie as a dedicated girlfriend, which had the defense confident that she'd comply."

"But don't they have Rosalie's statement?"

"They do, but if her comments were general, they could try to poke holes in it or try to flip her," he explains.

"Does that mean I need to come back?"

"You gave your witness testimony, so you only need to come back if you want to," he says.

"So, if I want to be here for the sentencing, I can attend?"

He nods.

I take a deep breath not sure what I want to do quite yet.

A/N: Work has been an absolute nightmare so that is why I'm down to posting only on Mondays. CoppertopJ was a big help this chapter with her edits. Thanks to all who are taking the time to review.