Hey guys, I'm back! Just as a disclosure I have absolutely no knowledge of how a court of law works, so I just imagined it in my head and how I envisioned it, but I hope you guys enjoy!

Chapter 16

It was the day of Tom's hearing, and to say both Beca and Chloe were nervous was an understatement. Chloe had been a pile of nerves the past few days, which was understandable, and Beca has done all she could to take the redheads mind off of it. She even resulted to watching a movie, she fell asleep mind you about 30 minutes in, but she tried.

Beca had started working out with Chloe as well in the mornings, that had only lasted three days though. Chloe seemed to train like an animal, she would start with a 5-mile run, then move onto weights, core, upper body, and finally legs. All before 8 am. That just wasn't right in Beca's mind, why on earth would anyone put themselves through the physical pain I waking up at 5.30am, and then going to practically kill themselves. But, again, she tried. However, she found a much better solution to helping the redhead. Cooking. Chloe was an amazing cook, that she had already established, but the fact she could teach Beca how to cook was unbelievable. It was the way she did it, she took her carefully through each step and then explained what she was doing. And to be honest Beca actually found it quite interesting. So she has started cooking a few more complex dishes, well more complex than salad. They made the effort to cook together at least 5 nights a week, and the other two Beca would either be working late and they'd order takeout, much to Beca's liking.

But today was the day. The day where Tom would face the jury and the judge. Beca had been called to be a witness along with Jesse. They also had CCTV footage and physical evidence from where Tom had hit Chloe. Aubrey had said the case was very strong and Tom had practically no chance, but with all cases, there would be a chance no matter how slim it may be. Tom's parents had a lot of money meaning he had an impressive lawyer, but Aubrey was one of the best in the country and Beca had complete faith in her.

Chloe's family had come down for the court hearing, they had all been very alarmed when they received a call from the redhead. But once she a good them everything that had happened they had immediately come down. Beca had let Chloe's parents stay in the penthouse, she knew how much Chloe would need them and having them close by would be wise. Her brother had deceived to stay in a nearby hotel, Beca had of course offered but he didn't want to impose.

Chloe had sat down and spoken to her family the day they arrived. It had been very emotional, everyone was in tears. Beca had gone into her studio while Chloe was speaking to her family, she didn't want to invade, but when she came out she saw Chloe asleep in her mother's arms. Chloe's mum was in pieces but who could blame her, her little girl had been hurt, beyond belief.

It hurt Beca's heart to have to see Chloe like that, she was normally her happy, bubbly self but now, the closer it came to the day of the trial, the more anxious Chloe was, she would sometimes space out and she was a lot quieter especially at work, but all Beca could do was try and make her laugh and keep her distracted, and it seemed to work, for a while.

But as the day had got closer, it became harder and harder for Chloe, she was scared and nervous, seeing Tom again was something she wasn't sure she was ready to do. But she knew she had to do, she had to be one to put him behind bars, to make sure he never got to do this to anyone else. She would have her parents, her brother, Aubrey, Stacie had even said she would come for moral support and of course she would have Beca.

Beca had been amazing these past few weeks, she would never be able to repay her for her generosity and kindness. The brunette had made sure Chloe felt at home with her, and hadn't made her feel awkward at all, she had been nothing but welcoming and given her more than she would ever know and she would be forever grateful.

Beca had organised cars for everyone so they could all arrive together, she had insisted on it and she also wanted to keep the media and press to the minimum so arriving in her private cars was the best option and for extra precaution she had got more security in just to be safe, the lengths reporters and photographers would go to, to get a picture was beyond belief and Beca didn't want to compromise anything when it came to the privacy of Chloe and her family.

Once Alex had arrived at Beca's, they all set off, Chloe would be driving in a car with her family and Beca would be driving by herself. She figured if she went first, hopefully, they would be distracted and Chloe could try and sneak in un-noticed but it would, of course, be hard, everyone would want to know why Beca Mitchell was at the courthouse, all wanting to get a piece of gossip or headline news.

Chloe was sitting in a car with both her parents and Alex, she hadn't said much that morning, and hadn't eaten much for breakfast, Beca had made her pancakes, something she had recently learned to perfect with the redheads help and sat with her until she had at least eaten half, she needed to eat, was what Beca had told her. She was glad she did, she knew she'd feel a lot worse if she had to do this on an empty stomach. She looked over at Alex, he had been nearly out of control when he found out what had happened at started shouting and saying he was going to, "Kill him" when he saw him, but luckily Chloe's dad, Andrew had calmed him down saying, "It won't do anyone any good if you just shout, you need to be there for your sister, she's what's important now." And that's what he did, he'd made sure he was there for her, they ended up having a few small conversations about memories from their past, something that would take her mind off the trial.

Chloe's mum, Mandy saw her daughter looking out of the car window, a little lost in her thoughts. She put her hand on her thigh, causing Chloe to look around.

"Penny for your thoughts," her mum said with a warm smile.

"I'm scared," Chloe said, her voice slightly cracking tears threatening to fall, "I'm scared, mum. I don't think I can see him again," she confessed.

"Oh honey, of course, you will be scared. I'm scared. What that man did was unforgivable. But, today, is when you say goodbye, and move on. Begin a new chapter in your life, one where you can live every day, not in fear, but in hope. Hope that each day will be better than the next. That's what today is about. And by tonight, it will all be over, and you can be free again," Mandy said with tears in her eyes, she wanted to take all the pain away from her daughter, but she knew, in the end, this would make her a stronger and better person, she only wished it didn't take this for that to happen.

Chloe held onto her mum's hand and squeezed tightly, it had always been their way of saying, "thank you,".

"Looks like we are nearly there," Andrew called out from the front, he was sitting alongside the driver which just so happened to be James, Beca's security and valet guy that worked at the label. Chloe seemed to visibly tense up at her dad's words, panic rushing through her veins again. Alex noticed and moved over so he was closer to his sister.

"Hey, Chlo. Looks at me, you are going to be fine, okay. You are going to go in there and tell your story okay. You are going to be your confident, incredible, honest self and both you and Beca are going to come out winners from this trial. Okay?" Ale said, he knew Chloe would be nervous, so he just said a few comforting words to get her confidence back, and it seemed to do the trick, he could see the spark had come back in her eyes and the motivation and determination behind them was there.

Chloe felt better after her brother had spoken to her, but she was really nervous still for Beca. She was having a trial as well today, for when she "attacked" Tom, and Chloe was, of course, worried for her, she hadn't really spoken about it so she wasn't really sure how she was feeling about it.

Meanwhile, Beca was on the phone to Aubrey, she had phoned her just to make sure everything was in place for both her and Chloe's trials. Neither of them was going to go to work, as they didn't know how long they would last, Aubrey had said it can last anywhere between an hour to the whole day, depending on how many questions would be asked and how good tom's lawyer was, but the blonde said it would be best for Tom to plead guilty as it would make the entire process a lot easier and a lot shorter. However, if he didn't it would take a long time, especially with the complexity of the case as it involved both her charge and Chloe's. Luckily, if Chloe's case goes to plan it will be easier for Aubrey to prove Beca's alleged attack was purely self-defence.

She could already see a sea of reporters which were getting held of by the extra security she had put in, she knew it was going to be bad but she hadn't realised how many people had actually known about it, she'd tried to keep it on the down low as much as possible.

She decided to phone Chloe just before she got out. She called her number and waited for her to pick up after the second ring the call went through.

"Hey Chloe, how are you feeling?"

"Nervous, but I'm doing okay," her mum gave her a reassuring smile.

"Good, okay so it's got pretty crazy out here so tell James to go around the back, I'll meet you there okay. Hopefully, the buzz will all go down when I go in,"

"Okay, thank you, Beca. For everything."

Beca waited a moment to respond, thinking of what to say, "Of course Chloe, I'll see you soon,"

"Bye Beca." Chloe hung up the phone. "Hey James," she called out to the driver.

"How can I help you, Chloe," he asked.

"Beca said that we should go around the back, it's getting pretty crazy out there,"

"No problem, I'll drive us now, we should be there in about 10 minutes," he said, his eyes on the road.

Beca had just arrived, she could see Aubrey standing outside, security shielding her from the press. She got out of the car, sunglasses on, and immediately three bodyguards surrounded her and pushed their way through the flashing lights and questions.

" , what's going on?"

"How will this affect the label?"

"Will you be going to jail?"

" , is your new manager the cause of all this?" That one question made her stop in her tracks, she was ready to yell profanity after profanity at him, how dare he. This was one of the parts of fame that she despised, people thinking that they have the right and the decency to ask whatever they what, without any consequences, but her bodyguards kept her moving through the crowds. She was happy that she made the decision to tell Chloe to go round the back, it would have been absolute mayhem if she arrived through the front entrance.

They managed to get through all the people and was met with Aubrey who was at her side the minute she walked through those doors.

"So what's the game plan General?" Beca asked she was met with Aubrey's cold hard stare.

"Don't push it, Mitchell, I'm saving both you and your girlfriend's asses today,"

"Wait, what? Girlfriend? Yeah, she works for me Aubrey, none of that happening," Beca rambled off.

"Yeah sure thing, Hobbit," Aubrey fired back with a smirk, "I know a crush when I see one and you, are in love, the way you were holding her after the whole Tom fiasco, I don't call that an employee Boss relationship, do you?" Aubrey said walking off, not giving Beca a chance to respond. Not that she would anyway, her mouth was agape and she couldn't move from her spot. Had it been THAT obvious that Aubrey had noticed. Aubrey, who avoided any conversation about sex or anything that was above PG-13 in any circumstances, and the girl who nearly banned Beca from being a client at her law firm because of one of Stacie's explicit college stories. So to say she was a little shocked would be an understatement.

She informed Aubrey of where she was going to pick Chloe up, and that she would see Aubrey in a little bit. She rushed around the back and was thankful that there weren't any reporters in sight, she then saw a car pull in, she tapped her foot nervously as the car pulled to a stop. Then the familiar mane of red hair stepped out, followed by three other sets of red. Chloe and her family all approached Beca and they went in to go and meet Aubrey who was probably pacing, wondering where they are, she had a very strict itinerary for whenever she had a case, everything needed to be done to her exact times.

It was a little over an hour when someone came out to tell them the trial was about to begin. Beca looked over at Chloe and decided to give her a few comforting words before she stepped in, "Hey Chlo, you are going to be great okay. I'll be up there the whole time, just look over to me if you get nervous okay?" Chloe nodded in response, she pulled Beca into a hug and felt a lot better when the brunette didn't pull away.

"Thank you, Becs," Chloe whispered.

"Always," Beca said honestly.

Everyone was ushered into the courthouse room and the trial began.

Chloe was sitting next to Aubrey, in front of the judge and the jury was on the right-hand side, everyone else was sitting behind. The judge called for everyone to stand. This was the moment, Chloe's hands were shaking, she turned and saw Beca, she smiled at her. She can do this she thought, she will do this.

Tom walked in, two guards holding his wrists that were still handcuffed, his face was sporting a few dark bruises across his jaw and cheekbones. He had dark circles under his eyes, a beard beginning to grow and his hair was a mess. Chloe had to admit he looked terrible, life in prison wasn't treating him well, and it showed.

Once Tom was at his place, everyone sat down and the judge called for Tom to state his plea, he rose from his seat. Everyone in the room was holding their breath, awaiting his response.

"Not Guilty,"

Aubrey sighed and she could see Chloe deflate at what he said, why did he have to plead not guilty, the evidence was way too strong, he had only made it worse for himself. Surely his lawyer must have told him that! Anyway, it was going to be a long day, that she knew.

The trial began with a few promises, to tell the truth, and only the truth, then Chloe was called to the stand. Tom's lawyer stood up to begin questioning her. Beca's palms were sweating and she felt herself getting anxious for the redhead, she didn't know what was going to be asked, but she hoped Chloe would be okay.

"So , I understand from your statement, Tom had allegedly been abusing you, is that correct?" he asked patronisingly

"Yes," Chloe replied.

"May I ask how long this had been going on?"

"Around 3 to 4 years roughly, it started with a few things here and there, shouting names at me, small shoves. I blamed it on the alcohol, he always seemed drunk whenever it happened, but he apologised straight after claiming it wouldn't happen again, but it did,"

"So, why didn't you do anything about it?"

"Objection," Aubrey called.

"Sustained," the judge called out.

"I'll rephrase, why didn't you ask for help, surely you have people you could have spoken to?"

"I did," Chloe answered honestly. "But, having to tell them something so big as this, I didn't want to be a burden," Chloe could already see her mother was crying, "I never wanted to have to tell them, I was ashamed. Ashamed that something like this had happened, I blamed myself for it all. But, after everything I've been through, I now know, it wasn't my fault. It was his,"

"No further questions at this point, thank you,"

"Tom James Hunt to the stand please,"

Tom walked over to the stand, and Aubrey got up and approached the middle of the room, this is where she strived, this was her territory. And no one would take it away from her.

"Tom, you claim that you aren't guilty of the attacks on , but we have physical evidence of this," Aubrey pointed to a digital board that showed some pictures of bruises. "These are bruises that were on 's body specifically her upper arms and thighs, do you have any comment on that?"

"She liked it rough, what can I say. Can't blame a guy, there. Give the lady what she wants." Tom said cockily. Alex's grip tightened on his trousers and Andrews's jaw clenched. Beca's hand curled into fists, and she glared at Tom, her eyes practically burning into the side of his skull. She could kill him at any moment, but doing that in front of the court of law, wouldn't be a good thing.

"Right. So you are going to deny these have anything to do with domestic abuse?"

"Correct."

"We also have allegations made against you, saying you forced Ms Beale to have sex with you is that correct, that you manipulated her?"

"That's not true. She liked to please me, I'd never force her to do anything she didn't want to. I don't know what she told you, but from what I experienced she loved it," he said with a coy smile, almost as if he was proud of his answer. Aubrey felt sick, this man had the decency to say these things in front of Chloe, in front of her family.

This only made her more determined to win, she was going to put this pathetic excuse of a human behind bars even if it was the last thing she did.

"You drank quite a lot is that fair to say?" Aubrey asked, trying to go in another direction.

"I suppose," Tom answered a bit unsure of where she was going.

"Would you say you were intoxicated around at any point?"

"Yes,"

"So you could also say that you may have said or done things that you weren't completely aware of when drunk?"

"Well, I don't -"

"And it could be said that on multiple times these bruises could have been caused from when you were drunk,"

"No, that's not,"

"Meaning that you could, in fact, be a danger to society and these many assaults a consequence of your actions,"

"Hold on, a second,"

"No further questions your honour,"

Aubrey was happy with how everything had worked out, her main aim was to get Tom to panic, not necessarily ask any questions that would prove her point, but make him realise that he wasn't going to get away with it.

Chloe was called to the stand for the last time, they had all been there for around three hours by now and Beca was becoming restless, she didn't know what was taking so long. Chloe was clearly the victim in all this, why was nothing happening? She looked over to the redhead's family, they all seemed to be sporting the same expressions as her.

"Chloe, you say that you had multiple bruises along your wrists as well, correct?"

"Yes," Chloe said her fingers nervously entangling with each other.

"Now, I have your medical records here, and it says you were admitted for self-harm 6 years ago. Now, we could say that this is what has gone on here and you are simply calling for attention, and want to someone to blame it on, therefore bringing us to this point,"

Chloe looked over to Beca, her mouth was agape, but she looked a cross between shocked and almost...hurt. She looked down, not wanting to have to look. Aubrey couldn't make any facial expressions otherwise it would show that she had no clue of this, and judging by Chloe's reaction she hadn't known this would come up. She would have to find a way around this, this could be bad, it goes against anything she says, she needs to take care with anything she says next as it could now all compensate for the entire trial.

Tom looked elated, he was glad that Chloe was now suffering, he wouldn't go down for this, he would make her pay, for everything.

"No. That's..that's not true, the medical records are yes. I'll admit to that, but I'm better now, I've been clean for 5 and a half years. I've moved on from that part of my life, I'm a new person, I'm in a much better state of mind even when everything was going on, I never resorted to going back to that time in my life, and I don't intend to. Using my past history with my mental health doesn't have anything to do with what's on today. I am a victim of domestic abuse, and I'm not afraid to say that, I'm not afraid to speak out and tell the truth. He has hurt me in more ways than one, past the bruises and the injuries, he has damaged me and my life. I will never be able to forget what happened, what I had to go through. But, I will surround myself in the people I love, and the people that truly care about me, because I don't have time to deal with people like Tom, people who don't care and never will. I am better than that and now, I know that" Chloe said tears running down her face. It had been hard saying that, but she knew it needed to be said, this was her truth, her story and she wasn't afraid to tell it.

Tom's lawyer didn't have anything to say against that, so he just sat down receiving glares from a now very angry Tom, his jaw was clenched and his fists curled.

"You bitch. You skiving little bitch, you are a liar, you know you are. Trying to blame all this bullshit on me," Tom shouted. Immediately two guards had walked over and held Tom down his face now pushed down against the table. Alex was ready to stand up and walk over there himself but his mother's hand kept him down, he looked over to her but only saw tears running down her face, he rested his hand on top of hers and squeezed, he needed to be strong for his mum, and for Chloe.

There were some talks amongst the jury which caught Beca's attention, she wanted to know what was going on, half of her was worried that is was bad news and the other half was relieved that there was the chance they could have already decided the verdict.

The judge called for silence, "The jury will go and decide, court adjourned,"

Everyone stood up, Beca and Chloe's family exited quickly and walked around to where they would see Aubrey and Chloe, as they had to go out through a separate exit. They all waited anxiously for them to come out, Alex was tapping his foot, Beca was tapping her fingers against each other subconsciously creating a melody on her hand.

Chloe had practically rushed out, as soon as the doors were opened, she wanted to go out and see her parents and Beca, wanted to give her Mum a hug and never let go, her Mum's hugs always made her feel safe and warm.

So when she burst through the door and saw everyone waiting for her, she catapulted into her Mum's arms and held her tight. She felt like crying but didn't want to waste any more tears on Tom, he wasn't worth it.

After spending some time talking with her parents and brother she went over to Beca who was sitting in one of the lounge areas playing Candy Crush on her phone, it was a good distractor for her, but most of the time just made her mad.

"Hey," Chloe said sitting down next to Beca.

"Oh hey, Chlo, how are you feeling?" Beca asked putting her phone away.

"To be honest I don't know, my head's all a bit mixed up," Chloe admitted.

"Well that's okay, I can't imagine how you must be feeling right now,"

"I just wanted to say thank you in person for all this, with Aubrey and letting me stay with you, I really appreciate it,"

"You've done me a favour really, it's getting pretty lonely living by myself and with regards to Aubrey, it's the least I could do, I'm just glad he didn't seriously hurt you that day. I..I know he did hurt you, but, you know didn't hurt you anymore," Beca rambled off nervously.

Chloe was about to respond when Aubrey came over, Mr and Mrs Beale and Alex in tow.

"Hey so I just wanted to let you guys know, what's going on. So, I first said some things that I knew would get under his skin, which worked he wasn't able to get much in, and that all works in our favour. The jury would have seen how he panicked and take that into consideration. Now, regarding what Tom's lawyer brought up, it could have definitely made a difference. It was something neither of us was prepared for, I didn't think he'd stoop that low, but anyway, what you said really made an impact. The jury was listening, I could see, they took every word you said to heart. And, Tom's little outburst at the end, did us a massive favour. That made a dent in his plea for sure, so now all we have to do is wait,"

'

"Thank you so much, Aubrey, I couldn't have done this without you," Chloe said giving the women a hug, which she reciprocated.

A member from the court came out to tell them the jury had made a decision. This was it. This was the moment, it was make or break.

Everyone entered the courtroom, there was a strange atmosphere in the room this time, something Beca couldn't quite put her finger on. Her heart was beating a million miles a minute, she was unbelievably nervous, but she put her nerves aside and focused on Chloe.

The judge re-entered the court, and the jury followed in after. It seemed to take hours before everyone was seated and the spokesperson of the 12 stood up.

Everyone in the courthouse held the breath awaiting the verdict.

"Members of the jury have you reached a verdict?"

"We the jury have decided that Tom James Hunt, on trial for Domestic Abuse against Ms Chloe Beale is in fact,

Guilty."

I will be posting a part 2 of this next week. Leave a review, they really help me and motivate me to keep writing and I love hearing your guys thoughts on where the story is going!

Thanks for reading, until next time!