MAY 23rd, 2012

11:05 AM

Alfred was really quite shocked at how natural Arthur looked in the courtroom. He looked similar to a polar bear on a glacier or a shark in the ocean. Alfred chuckled for a moment, dwindling on the amusing shark reference. He had never been to court before, so he really wasn't sure how this whole thing was going to work. It did seem that Arthur knew what he was doing, which calmed Alfred's nerves a bit.

Suddenly, Alfred realized someone was saying his name.

He came out of his stupor to see that the judge was asking that he stand and go to the box-thingy next to the judge's box-thingy (he had totally zoned out when Arthur was explaining the names of these things to him.) He blushed when he realized that Arthur was chuckling softly to himself.

This wasn't going too well so far.

As he made his way to the box-thingy, he glanced around the courtroom to take note of who was there. On one side of the room, there were a lot of elderly conservative-looking people glaring at him disapprovingly. He smiled at them as brightly as he could.

He glanced over to the other side of the room. There really weren't very many people here to support him… Pretty much just his mom, Emily and Amelia, Feliciano and Ludwig, and some other of his college friends… He sighed. No sign of John anywhere. Guess they'd have to do without him.

He finally got to the box-thingy and sat down. The seat was wooden and really cold, making him shift around uncomfortably.

Some dude brought a bible over and made him swear to tell the truth or whatever, and Alfred just smiled at him and said, "Sure, dude!" earning some laughter from his family and a smirk from Arthur.

The guy with the bible rolled his eyes and walked away.

To Alfred's surprise, it wasn't Arthur that stood up to ask him questions, but Kevin's lawyer. This dude looked wicked smart and like a total bastard at the same time. To be honest, Alfred probably would have shot spitballs at him if he were one of his teachers back in high school.

He had black, slicked back hair and little rectangular glasses. He was clean-shaven and had piercing gray eyes. His looked perfectly polished, not a single wrinkle in his suit. Alfred swallowed hard. This man clearly knew what he was doing.

He shot a glance in Arthur's direction to compare him to this professional looking man. Arthur was chewing his pencil and drumming his fingers on the table in front of him, his emerald eyes piercing into Alfred's soul.

Damn, he'd zoned out again. The professional dude had asked him a question.

"Could you repeat that, man?" Alfred asked, giving his most innocent smile.

The man stared at him through cold, uncaring eyes. "I said, you are Alfred Fitzgerald Jones, correct?"

Alfred smiled. "Yep, that's me!"

"Where were you on the night in question?" He asked.

Alfred raised an eyebrow. He'd asked a question? "What question, dude?"

He noticed several people in the room giggling like crazy.

"Mr. Jones, I am not amused by you avoiding the question. Where were you on the night in question?" The scary lawyer's voice managed to get more severe than before. Alfred laughed nervously.

"Uh… Do you mean where was I when the shi- stuff went down?" He stopped himself before he could swear. He wasn't completely certain, but he was pretty sure that wasn't allowed.

The other lawyer was unfazed, his gaze getting colder. "Yes, Mr. Jones."

"I was with my boyfriend behind Kevin's store."

The lawyer smirked. "What were you doing there?"

Since Alfred had promised to tell the truth, he sighed and let it out. "My boyfriend was vandalizing private property."

The lawyer crossed his arms. "Mr. Jones, according to my client, you were the only one there and you were the one vandalizing his property."

"BULLSHI-" He cleared his throat, chuckling nervously. "Um, I mean, that is not true, sir…"

He could see Arthur in his seat covering his mouth, and for a moment it looked as if Arthur was ashamed of Alfred. Then Alfred realized that Arthur was giggling.

He smiled widely at the other lawyer, who didn't seem nearly as amused as Arthur was.

"What, then, were you doing there? You DO realize that it is a crime in and of itself to stand by and do nothing when someone is clearly committing and offense?"

Alfred tried to speak but he could only get out a small squeak. He cleared his throat and looked at the man before bursting out with, "I was trying to stop him! That's why I was still there! I woulda just left but I cared about him and I didn't want him to get arrested."

The man crossed his arms, somehow making this casual gesture seem very important and professional. He glared at Alfred for a good few seconds before turning to the judge and saying in a clipped tone, "That is all, your honor."

The bloody git.

Why was Arthur giggling? He should be furious. Alfred had just made himself out to be immature and unprofessional. There was no way that would work in their favor. He tried his hardest to glare at Alfred, but he was finding it difficult to look severe when Alfred was so cute.

Alfred looked almost childlike. He had this huge, unaware smile on his face. As if he didn't know what was going on and he thought they were all playing a game. But Arthur knew better. Alfred knew damn well what was happening and he was probably terrified at that moment.

As Arthur watched Kevin's lawyer go sit back down, he bit his lip hard. That guy was a real arse. Alfred followed, being led by two police officiers.

Arthur glanced up at Alfred again. How could anyone think this man capable of sexual assault? Sure he was tall and strong... so strong... Arthur blushed a bit when he realized what he had just thought. He shook his head and reached over to his water bottle and took a swig to try and calm himself a bit.

Kevin was being led to the stand, and as he stepped into his place there where Alfred had previously been, he turned and smirked ever so slightly at Alfred, who was furiously glaring right back at him.

Then, it was his turn to ask Kevin questions. When he stood up, his feet felt like lead and his throat swelled up a bit.

Alfred didn't deserve to be here. Who knows what awful things the guys in that prison had done to him in his time there? He didn't deserve it. He hadn't done a single thing wrong. It was so heartbreakingly silly that Arthur just wanted to cry right in front of the entire courtroom. He glanced at the jury, silently pleading them to just let the bloody git go.

He swallowed hard and turned his head to look at Alfred, who was staring at him with very large, child-like blue eyes. Arthur fought back another round of blushing so as not to seem unprofessional. He breathed out heavily and, for the first time, he got a good look at Kevin. He was an overweight man, clearly not from overeating, but most likely from a over-consumption of alcohol. He was wearing a suit today, but Arthur could tell that the wardrobe he was in made the man fidget. Other than that, he looked to be very confidant with his situation.

"Mr. McWilliams... Can you tell the court exactly what happened that night?"

Kevin rolled his eyes and said, "I went out and saw the two fag- young men, I mean- vandalizing my store. That brat over there," He pointed at Alfred with a meaty finger. "decided to try and have his way with me. He had me up against a wall n' everything. I kicked him in the shin, which luckily got him off of me-"

A mistake. That's all Arthur needed.

"Mr. McWilliams, I believe you made a mistake." Arthur interrupted.

"Excuse me?" Kevin said, looking angry and confused.

"A mistake. I believe in your file," he turned to the judge. "correct me if I am wrong, your honor," he turned back to Kevin. "you explicitly stated that you punched him, not kicked."

Kevin looked taken aback and he started to visibly sweat a bit. "I- you- he... You didn't let me finish, you damn coward!"

The judge spoke up then after looking over the files. "Yes, Mr. Kirkland. That is correct."

Kevin turned several shades of red before looking down and then saying, "Well I, uh, punched him after I kicked him..."

Arthur smirked. That was all he needed.

"Thank you, your honor."

He turned around proudly and walked back to his and Alfred's seat.