Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. (Does anyone know if, since I've said it so much, I can stop putting disclaimers up?)
He chuckled "What's it look like I'm doing? I'm carrying my love down the stairs." I just rested my head on his shoulder and let him bring me down to our waiting dysfunctional family.
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EPOV Trial Day 2 (Sorry guys but I think the story dragged on a little too long to do all the days in between.)
Bella hadn't slept well last night she'd woken up whimpering and crying twice, so around six a.m. we decided to forget going back to sleep and just lay there in bed. "Are you ready for today?" I asked her as we both stared up at the ceiling. She was on my chest with her arm around my torso and I had my arm around her waist.
"Not really."
"Just look at me and Charlie and Emmett and the rest of the guys. We're all there for you and always will be. You have nothing to worry about." I murmured into her hair.
She smiled up at me "Thank you Edward." She whispered and tears welled up in her eyes. I wiped them away before they spilled over.
"Don't worry about it." I changed the subject. "When do you want to start school again? The teachers told me that they decided to keep your grades as they were when you left and because you're in all advanced classes when we take finals, they'll give you the tests for the classes below us, so you'll know the material. The school board agreed with their decision." Bella bit her lip and her eyebrows knit together as she thought.
"A couple days after all this trial stuff is over." She finally decided and I nodded.
"That sounds good. What are you going to tell Renee when she gets back from her cruise in a month and a half?" (Way back in chapter 8.) I asked trying to keep her mind off the court with other important and unfortunate details. Renee needed to know.
"I'll have to talk to Charlie, but I think he'll take that one problem off my hands… at least I hope he will." She sighed and closed her eyes. I watched Bella doze for a few minutes as I drew invisible patterns on her arms. She woke up around half an hour later looking a little more rested. "What time is it?"
"Eight o' clock. Let's go downstairs and get some breakfast."
Three hours later, we were walking back into the same court room as before. This time Riley and his family had beaten us here. I saw Bella glance in Riley's direction for the first time and she froze a little bit, but kept trudging her way up to her chair. She was stronger than we gave her credit for. Her teeth were clenched, her hands in fists, and her back rigid, but she could look at Riley. And she was livid. And obviously afraid. From what I could see of her face, her mood kept changing between anger and fear.
"Bella?" she looked back at me, still showing fear, but also curiosity and love. I leaned over the small gate separating us and kissed her lightly on the lips. "I love you." I smiled crookedly, showing my dimples. She visibly relaxed and smiled back slightly.
"You always seem to know what to say."She whispered.
"It's a talent." I chuckled and she smiled again.
When Judge Grayson entered the room, we all stood like last time. We sat after she did and waited while she looked through a couple papers for a minute. She looked up and took a look at Riley and his lawyer, then Bella and Mr. Hale. "We've set bail, which was not paid, given opening statements, and heard the charges, and the plea from Riley Johnson's attorney."She summarized and sat back in her seat. "Make you cases." She sounded kind of nonchalant for a judge, I thought absently.
Mr. Rhoton stood first and said "I would like to call Ms. Angela Kay Weber to the stand first. I was told she found Ms. Swan after the alleged rape." He stated loud enough for the court to hear and looked back to where Angela and her parents sat two or three rows behind us. I forgot that she had found Bella. We all owed her a thank you. Angela stood and made her way to the front of the courtroom where she sat on the stand.
"Ms. Weber, is it true that you found Ms. Swan?"
"Yes, sir." She answered in the microphone.
"Would you tell us what happened?"He questioned and she nodded.
"I was driving home from school when I saw a bright purple spot on the side of the road. I had time so I stopped on the side of the street to investigate. I saw it was a shirt and was about to get back in my car when I heard a moan from between the trees so I walked a few feet in and there was Bella." Her voice started to sound a little choked and it looked like tears were starting to form in her eyes.
Before she continued, Mr. Rhoton asked a question. "Bella? Are you referring to Ms. Swan?"
"Yes, sir." Angela answered and wiped her eyes with her hands.
"Please continue."
I tuned her out. I couldn't listen when she explained how Bella looked laying on the filthy ground beaten and broken. Bella had a tear sliding down her cheek and she was looking away. She wiped it away quickly.
"Thank you, Ms. Weber." Mr. Rhoton said when she finished speaking and he turned and sat back down next to Riley.
"Do you have any questions for Ms. Angela Weber, Mr. Hale?" Judge Grayson had listened to Angela carefully and so had the jury.
Mr. Hale stood up next to Bella. "Yes, I do, Your Honor." She motioned for him to continue and he looked at Angela.
"So, Ms. Weber, you said that your father came after you called him when you found Ms. Swan, correct?"
"Yes, sir. He came in his car and we took Bella to the hospital after wrapping her in some blankets and leaving my car. It was out of our hands after that."
"Thank you. No further questions, Your Honor." He took his seat and Judge Grayson let Angela leave and sit back with her parents. By the time she sat, she had two tear trails running down her cheeks.
They questioned Carlisle next. We hadn't really expected that but they only wanted to know one thing. If the DNA they got off Bella, matched the DNA they got from a swab they took on Riley. It was a match. Another doctor had come and he verified what Carlisle said. Then a police officer from Seattle spoke. They had found the gun that Jasper and Officer Mills had been shot with and Riley's finger print on the gun.
Also unexpectedly, Mr. Rhoton asked both Emmett and I to tell about what we saw occur at Riley's house. I'd been worried at first but all I had to do was tell the truth after swearing on the Bible that I would.
Then it was Riley's turn. He went up to the stand and the first thing Mr. Hale said asked was "Did you know Ms. Swan before the alleged rape?" I hated how they said alleged; we all knew it happened.
"I went to school with her from Jr. High to our first semester of high school. My family moved during winter break, between semesters."
"Why did you move?"
"It was time for a change." Riley ground out through his teeth.
Mr. Hale nodded in acknowledgement. "It wasn't because of Ms. Swan's constant rejections?"
"Objection, Your Honor!" Mr. Rhoton jumped up.
"Withdrawn." Mr. Hale said. Riley was seething and I almost laughed at his anger. "Do you have an alibi, Mr. Johnson?" (Withdrawn basically means forget I said that.)
"I had just gotten home from school; I was at home doing homework."
"Do you have a witness to verify that?"
"No, sir." Riley said reluctantly.
"I have a surprise for you. Can you please step down from the stand for a moment?" He did so and Mr. Hale turned to the back of the room.
"Mrs. Rollins would you step onto the stand?" He asked and I noticed Riley's eyes widen at the older woman's name.
She sat down at the stand after swearing to tell the truth. "Mrs. Rollins, you are the principal at Riley Johnson's high school, correct?"
"Yes, Mr. Hale."
"Was Mr. Johnson on the record for being present at school on the day of the alleged rape?"He had them, I smiled grimly, they hadn't anticipated this.
"No, Mr. Johnson was recorded absent all day." Mrs. Rollins answered. Mr. Hale thanked her and when Mr. Rhoton said he had no questions she sat back down and he called for Riley to get back on the stand.
"So, Mr. Johnson, since you weren't in school, were where you?"Mr. Hale almost looked smug; almost.
Riley didn't respond for a moment, but just stared blankly at Mr. Hale and then looked at his attorney who nodded. Then, he switched gears completely, apparently they were prepared. "I went for a drive, when I found myself driving through Forks, I saw Bella and stopped a bit ahead of her. When I got out of the car and she saw me she turned and walked into the forest on the side of the road, so I followed her." Maybe he was going to confess… that would make things a lot easier. "When I found her again, she was waiting. She said she hadn't seen me in a while and it was good to see how I was doing. She said she took back all her former rejections and then she practically ambushed me and wouldn't stop kissing me; she started pulling my clothes off." Riley launched into this story where he became the victim. I was shaking I was so angry at how he described my Bella.
When he finished telling his vulgar lie, Judge Grayson looked at Bella. "Ms. Swan, is this true?"
"No, Your Honor, it's not." A tear rolled down Bella's cheek and even though it was too late and people had seen it, she wiped it away as quick as she could. I couldn't even see straight now. I was ready to rip out Riley's jugular and shove it up his nose for treating her like this and making her cry. Emmett wasn't in better shape than me and was making plans on torturing Riley under his breath next to me.
Then Bella took her turn on the stand. "Ms. Swan, can you please tell us your side of what happened?" Mr. Hale looked regretful to ask her this but he had to do it anyway.
"I was walking home from school when I saw Riley. I walked into the forest a few yards so I could just go around him through the forest, but he came after me." She took a deep breath and her eyes never left me or Emmett or the others, she always had her eyes on one of us. "He said he hadn't seen me in a while and I told him that my rejections from before were still valid, if not stronger." She looked at me. "He wouldn't listen to me, he kept saying I must like him a little bit, when I refused it he slapped me across the face." You could still see the faint healing bruise on her cheek to prove it. "Before I could recover from the shock, he pinned me against a tree." She gulped and took a shuttering breath "He started to kiss me again and his hands went under my shirt…" I couldn't listen anymore. I almost got up and left. But I kept my eyes on Bella. I needed to be strong for her, she was counting on me staying. That didn't mean I needed to know the details of what happened though. "… He finished and spat on me before getting up and leaving me there. I thought he took my shirt with him but he must have left it on the side of the road and that's what Angela saw. It felt like forever had taken place before Angela showed up and helped me. Is that all you need to know?" Bella was silently crying most of the time she spoke and she tried to wipe the tears away again.
"Yes, Ms. Swan. You may sit down. I believe the jury has heard all they need to hear. We will give them six days to talk amongst themselves and make a decision."Judge Grayson stood and left the room and Riley was taken away again. Bella came through the gates and I immediately pulled her close and wiped away her tears.
"Shhh, it's okay." I reassured her for a moment and she kept her head on my chest. "It's over, we've got him. Here, Charlie wants to see you." She nodded and pulled away so Charlie could hug her too. He muttered something in her ear and I turned to the back of the room. Angela's family was getting up to leave.
I caught up to them. "Angela?" She turned around.
"Yeah, Edward?" I stopped in front of her and smiled.
"Thank you. For helping Bella and for testifying in court." She smiled back and we hugged for a second before saying good-byes and her family left.
I went back over to my family and they were all getting ready to leave as well. Bella was in the middle of them so I walked over to her and took her hand in mine. Something on her face made her look almost… jealous for a reason. "What did you say to Angela?"
"I just thanked her for helping you and for testifying to help get Riley behind bars. I hugged her because she helped make this possible." I leaned down and kissed Bella softly.
She smiled and pulled away. "Okay, that's fine. While you were over there Charlie told me that he would talk to Renee but when she gets back I should expect a frantic phone call anyways."
I chuckled "That sounds about right, knowing Renee…"
An hour later, Bella and I were at her house. She gathered a few things that she could bring to my house and started the laundry which it looked like Emmett and Charlie hadn't done since she left. She had decided that she needed to be with her family for the day so I was staying for dinner then I'd go home and she'd sleep here. She had a phone on her bed side table if she needed anything.
I helped her make spaghetti for dinner and when Emmett and Charlie got home they practically suffocated her, they hugged her so tightly. "We're going to live!" Emmett yelled and Charlie chortled and patted Bella on the shoulder.
"Nice to have you home, Bells, you're hardly ever over here, especially lately."
"I'm avoiding Emmett." She teased and he stuck his tongue out at her.
"Ah, brother and sisterly love." Charlie chucked and sat down at the kitchen table. "So, what are we eating?"
"Spaghetti." Bella told him as she turned off the stove. "Who's hungry?"
"Me, me, me!" Emmett yelled and waved his hands around from his seat at the table.
Dinner was a pretty quiet affair. The only really talkative one of us was Emmett and he was busy shoving food in his mouth. Eating was the only time he was quiet.
Emmett and Charlie did the dishes when we were all finished and they left to go watch a basketball game after that. Bella and I wandered up to her room and sat on her window seat. We didn't say anything, just watched each other, I'm not sure what she was doing but I was memorizing her face for the millionth time. "I know we've both kind of said it, but I don't think it's really official and I want it to be." I reached over and pulled Bella into my lap. "Will you be my girlfriend? I want it to be official, that you're mine." I smiled crookedly and she touched my cheek.
"You really have to ask, Edward?" I just shrugged and she smiled softly.
"I think it's safe to say I'm yours."
A/N: Woo, so the trial stuff is almost done! Then you'll know the verdict and such!! Ok, so I'm not sure at the moment, but I think there's only going to be three or four chapters after this… including the epilogue. Maybe. I know, finally, right? So, I'm not sure what exactly I'd write about yet but if you guys want me to and if you give me ideas, I could do a sequel? Your choice really. Remember my little hope for this story? To make a thousand reviews before it was over? Well, I don't think that's gonna happen :( So I've lowered the bar to 800 reviews, unless you guys think you can do better than that…? –wink, wink, nudge, nudge—Review please and go check out my story on Fiction Press, link on my profile. Oh yeah, and a 'shout out' to my first beta EVWTForever! You rock! :D Thank you, thank you very much.