I don't own Twilight

On the Stand

Terror and fear were all I could register. I could barely acknowledge my lips hurting from chewing on them, and I had lost track of the number of times Edward had reached over to still my shaking leg. After weeks of preparing with both Charlie and Kate, the day of the trial had still come quicker than I would have liked, or could believe.

Edward and I sat side by side in the uncomfortable chairs of the courtroom, and Charlie, Renee, Esme, and Carlisle sat directly behind us. We watched silently as Mike was led in through a side door of the courtroom. Edward's hand found mine as the two bailiffs holding Mike's arms brought him to sit at a table just one row in front of us. Mike's head was down and he was wearing an ill fitting suit, making it clear just how much weight he had lost. As he was about sit, Mike's head came up and his eyes, full of sorrow and regret, found mine. While he sat I took a deep breath to try and control the emotions bubbling up in me.

A minute later the Judge entered and we stood while we waited for him to take his seat. Once we were situated we listened as the prosecuting attorney and the defense attorney gave their opening statements. The defense attorney was trying to plea insanity. The prosecuting attorney was disputing the plea, arguing that Mike was in his right mind and knew exactly what he was doing. Once they were done with their statements, they started calling witnesses. They started with a teacher who had witnessed what happened in the hallway, and listening to her recant what she saw opened wounds that had just hinted at closing. Then they moved on to Angela's parents. My grief over losing Angela was still fresh, so it was excruciating listening to them describe what it was like losing their daughter. Once the Webber's were seated I heard the words that chilled me.

"The prosecution calls Isabella Swan to the stand."

Edward gave my hand a squeeze as I stood up on shaky legs. I smoothed out the skirt on the new dress Alice had bought me, and I walked forward slowly with as much deliberation as I could muster. As soon as I made it to the witness stand they had me place my hand on a bible and swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Once I had, I sat carefully in the uncomfortable wooden chair.

"Ms. Swan, is it true you were in the hallway at the time of the incident?" the lawyer asked.

"Yes," I replied.

"Will you please take us through the events of that day?"

"Um…ok," I replied nervously.

"I know this is difficult. Please take your time," the lawyer said as he gave what I am sure was supposed to be a reassuring smile.

"Well, I was walking to Biology with Edward, and when the classroom came into view we saw some of our classmates standing outside the door."

"Was one of those classmates Mike Newton?"

"Yes," I replied.

"What was Mr. Newton doing?" the lawyer asked.

"He…he was clutching his backpack and glaring at Eric and Tyler," I said.

"Then what happened?"

"Mike pulled a gun out of his backpack and aimed it Eric and Tyler."

"Did he use the gun?"

"Y…yes," I stuttered, "He pulled the trigger, and when we heard the shot, Edward pulled me to the ground."

"Did you stay there?" the lawyer continued.

"No, Edward and I went into a nearby classroom."

"And were you safe in that classroom?"

"No, the door didn't lock and Mike came in."

"What happened when Mike came in?"

"Mike was mad at me," I said as fought back tears, "and he wanted to hurt me."

"So he shot at you?"

"No…no, he knew that I had a crush on Edward, so in order to really hurt me he shot at Edward." I looked over at Mike, and as my eyes caught his he looked down, but not before I saw the tear tracks on his face.

"Did Edward get shot?"

"No, not then," I said, "I…I jumped in front of him and Mike ended up shooting my arm." I lost it at this point, and all the tears I had been holding back came flooding out. The lawyer walked back to the table he had been sitting at, grabbed a box of Kleenex, and offered me one.

"Was any damage done to your arm?"

"Yes, I have nerve damage," I replied as I wiped my eyes, "I have been going to physical therapy to get it back to normal."

"But you didn't just suffer physical damage, did you Miss. Swan?"

"No. I was pretty messed up after it happened, and I have been seeing a therapist to help with PTSD," I said, and looked at Edward who gave me an encouraging smile, "I lost my best friend that day, A…Angela."

"Do you remember anything else from the day of the shooting?"

"I lost a lot of blood," I said, and had to stop to take a breath and calm myself, "I passed out, and when I woke up I was in the hospital. My…my dad was there and he told me about what happened to Edward and Angela and Mr. Banner."

"Thank you Miss. Swan. Your honor, I have no further questions for Ms. Swan at this time." The prosecuting attorney sat down and the defense attorney stood up and walked over to where I was sitting.

"Miss. Swan, earlier you said that Mr. Newton was mad at you. Why was that?" she asked.

"Um, I…I had seen him getting picked on earlier in the day and I didn't stop it."

"Was this a frequent occurrence?"

"Mike getting picked on?" I asked.

"Yes," the lawyer replied.

"Yes, it was," I said quietly.

"Thank you. Your honor, I have no further questions for Ms. Swan at this time," the lawyer said as she walked back over the table and sat down next Mike.

"You may step down, Miss. Swan," the judge said.

I nodded and quickly made my way back over to my seat. Once I was back in my seat I put my head down and desperately tried to control my emotions and stop my tears. I felt my mother and my father's hands on my back trying to comfort me, and Edward's hand on my knee.

"You did amazing, Bella. It's over now," Edward whispered in my ear. I nodded and looked up to give him a small watery smile. The smile left my face a second later when Edward was called to the stand.

Edward grabbed his crutches and slowly made his way to the stand. I listened as Edward talked to the prosecutor about that day, about fighting Mike for the gun, getting shot, and having to do physical therapy in order to ever walk again. The prosecutor let him tell the story in as much detail as he wanted to, although it was clear Edward just wanted to get it over with.

The defense attorney asked similar questions as he posed to me.

"Mr. Cullen, would you consider Mike Newton a victim of bullying?"

"Sometimes he was, yes."

"Was he frequently targeted as an outcast?"

"No," Edward replied, "I wouldn't say that."

"No?" the defense attorney questioned. "Would you have considered him to be popular or well-liked?"

"I guess I never really gave it much thought until that day. That day I just thought of him as the kid that brought the gun to school."

"That will be all, Mr. Cullen. Thank you," the defense attorney said.

When Edward was sitting next to me once again, I rested my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes. I was drained and I quickly realized Edward must have been too, because his head came to rest on top of mine. I drifted as the lawyers questioned teachers and students who had been in the hallway, as well as Kate, Charlotte, Peter and even my dad.

The day of the trial seemed endless, and when it was all over and the jurors left to make their decision I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding, and we left. Both my family and Edward's went to my house to wait for word on what would happen to Mike.

Edward I were both exhausted emotionally from the day, so we sat on the couch and cuddled. We didn't need to talk; we found all the comfort we needed in each other's arms. Our parents, however, did talk. They sat around the table and talked about the trial, rehashing the attorney's questions and the answers that were given, as well as other random things to distract them from the clock ticking.

A short while later all talk was sharply cut off by the ringing of the phone. I tensed in Edward's arms, and he rubbed my shoulders to try and calm me. I tried to make out what my dad was saying on the phone, but I couldn't. Shortly after, he thanked whoever was on the phone and hung up. Edward and I straightened up as Charlie and the rest of our parents walked into the room.

"That was the Assistant District Attorney's office," Charlie said, "They came to a decision regarding Mike."

"What did they decide?" Edward asked.

"Well, the defense insanity plea didn't work," Charlie explained, "They found Mike guilty, and they gave him a life sentence with a chance for parole in thirty years." We were all silent as we let this information set in.

Charlie had said that this trial would give us closure, but he was wrong. After seeing Mike today, the thought of him going to jail for the rest of his life didn't fill me with a sense of closure. But I knew something else that might.

AN: Thanks to my beta Jenn! Thanks also to everyone who left a review it means a lot :)

Ok you guys I suck. I am so sorry it has been like 4 months since I have updated. My computer started over heating and then shutting down every ten minutes so it took me forever to type this chapter. The good news is that I finally got a new computer so that won't be an issue anymore. Also, I know I usually reply to all of your reviews and thank you personally in my AN but that would have taken even more time and I figured you guys would want this chapter ASAP. I will get back to that next chapter, I promise.

Please Review! Thanks :)