Dancingwithmyshadow6: Thank you so much. I do as well. I am quite proud of it and it's very rare that I like things I write. Thank you :-)

Ltfl: Thank you :-)

Chapter Thirty-Three

Lily couldn't believe what was happening.

She sat on a bench outside, staring blankly into the distance with her hands stuffed into the pockets of her coat. She took a deep breath and reached up to wipe a few small tears from her eyes. Her knees were shaking, she felt sick, and she just wanted to get up and escape to somewhere far away. For some reason, it felt as if she'd been glued to the bench though. She couldn't move.

"Lily!"

She turned round and saw that Iain was strolling towards her, just the person she wanted to see. She gave him a forced smile and he sat down beside her, pulling her in for a comforting hug. Immediately, Lily burst into tears and buried her face in his shoulder.

"Hey, I'm not going to ask if you're okay because it's pretty clear that you're not," Iain said. "A restraining order though, Lily. That's good, it means he can't get near you."

"But he isn't going to prison, is he?" Lily sobbed. "He was found innocent, Iain. After everything that he's done to me, he's been found innocent!"

"I'm sorry," Iain whispered, rubbing small circles up and down her back.

"You should be!" She yelled, pulling away from the hug and nudging his hands away. "You lied to me, Iain."

"What?" Iain frowned at her. "What did I say?"

"You promised me that it would be okay," Lily said. "You promised, but it isn't okay is it? He should have gone to prison. I know that I was scared about that, but...He should have done, Iain."

"I know," Iain said. "But it was his first offence, they didn't think there was enough evidence. A restraining order is still good though, Lily. If he comes anywhere near you, then he will get arrested."

"What am I going to do though?" Lily asked rhetorically. "I'm going to be sat at home, sat at work, sat on one of our dates, and constantly worrying about Archie coming near me. He's going to be living his life, knowing that I told on him, trying to get to me."

"But he won't," Iain said. "Because like I said, it'll get him locked away and he knows that."

He wrapped an arm around his girlfriend and Lily weakly rested her head against his shoulder. Just as the two sat there in silence for a few minutes, they were met by an unexpected visitor.

"Seb," Iain greeted the man, who had now left the ED for personal reasons. "What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to apologise," he said. "Lily, I...I know what a horrible man my dad is. In my opinion, he should have been locked up."

"You can't say that about your dad, Seb," Lily whispered.

"But they clearly don't know what he's like," Seb said. "I do. He's awful, Lily. Even when I was a kid, he was just horrible. You don't deserve the stuff that he did to you and I can't actually believe it."

Lily just gave a small shrug, continuing to lean against her boyfriend.

"I just wanted you to know," Seb said. "And I won't be speaking to my father ever again."

He waited for Lily to reply, but she never did. Shooting a small smile across at Iain, he sighed wordlessly and walked away, secretly hoping that Lily would shout after him. She never did.

"What's everyone at work going to think?" Lily asked quietly. "I'm such a failure."

"No you're not," Iain said, kissing her temple. "You're not a failure at all. I was really proud of you in there."

"Really?" Lily met eyes with him, and he slowly wiped away one of her tears.

"You did extremely well," he said. "Speaking up in court is not an easy thing to do. You told the truth, you were brave, and I think that I am a really lucky man right now. I love you."

Lily mouthed a small 'thank you' at him and he kissed her lovingly on the lips, desperately wanting to take her pain away.

"What the hell do they think they're doing?" Gem shouted at Connie, as they stood inside, allowing Iain and Lily to have their alone time. "Archie should have been guilty! Were they not listening or something?"

"Gemma, calm down," Connie whispered.

"It's Gem!" Gem corrected her and ran her hands through her hair. "Lily's never going to get better now," she said, her tone softening slightly.

"What do you mean?" Connie asked.

"Think about it," Gem scoffed. "If Archie was in prison, Lily would have nothing to worry about. Now he's out there, wandering the streets freely, and knowing that bit of information is going to make her feel way worse."

"We'll make sure that she doesn't," Connie said. "That's what the counselling sessions are for. Besides, Archie won't be allowed near her."

Gem shrugged her shoulders and took a deep breath, just as the judge exited the room. Anger and rage was soon to build up inside of her when she saw him, and she suddenly couldn't stop herself.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" She yelled, storming over. "Someone has been abusing my friend, and you let them off with a restraining order and a measly warning. Do you not send people to prison anymore?"

"Excuse me, young lady?" The judge frowned at her, alarmed to be spoken to in that way.

Connie gasped and pursed her lips together, knowing that she needed to do something. And fast.

"Gemma, stop it," Connie hissed, hurrying over and pulling Gem away by the arm. "Walk away. Now."

Gem scoffed and shook her head, her eyes fixated on the judge that stood before her. "You're lucky," she muttered under her breath, before reluctantly turning and walking away with Connie.

"I know you're upset," Connie whispered, an arm around Gem's shoulder. "But lashing out at the judge isn't going to do anything. Besides, it's the jury that decide the verdict. I thought you'd know that."

"Why?" Gem snapped, nudging Connie away. "Because I just happened to be inside."

"No, I didn't mean that," Connie said, shaking her head at her. "I just thought...Never mind."

"Whatever," Gem mumbled. "Where is Lily?"

"She's just taking some time out," Connie said. "Your brother is with her, don't worry."

"I wish there was something that I could do," Gem said.

Even though Connie had said that Lily would be fine, she knew that she wouldn't. The news had crushed her, and she was bound to go downhill. She didn't want Lily to feel that way, but also she didn't want it to badly affect her brother.

"I think we all wish that," Connie said. "But unfortunately, we can't change the verdict. Right now, we just need to be there for Lily."

Still though, Gem couldn't help but worry over her brother and his girlfriend.

Okay so I didn't exactly write the court scene because I do find them difficult, even when I do research. I thought it was quite good starting the chapter from the aftermath though x