Hi guys! Thanks as always for all your reviews. I appreciate them so much. Again, I'm sorry the updates were so far apart last week. Now that I'm back from vacation, they should get more regular. This chapter is one of my favorites. I'm not a court expert, but I did try my best. Hope you enjoy and review if you want me to keep going!
Chapter 25: The Trial
Finn sat in his room at the loft, carefully studying for his history test. The test wasn't for another week, but Finn needed something to keep his mind off the upcoming trial. Rachel came into Finn's room. "Hey babe."
"Hey Rach," Finn said, handing Rachel his flashcards. "Maybe help me study for the test?"
Rachel looked like she was coming in for another reason, but she took the cards. "Okay. What's the Stamp Act?"
"It required for printed materials in the US colonies to be produced on stamped paper and to have a revenue stamp, and imposed a tax on the US colonies," Finn said. He knew that, but he didn't want to talk about the upcoming trial. "The colonists didn't like it, they thought that the British were violating their rights."
"Okay, good," Rachel said. She picked up Finn's next index card. "What about the Sugar Act?"
"It was an indirect tax," Finn said. "It required three cent tax on sugar and also raised taxes on coffee, indigo and wine. The British passed this without permission from the colonies."
"Finn, you seem to be ready for the test," Rachel said.
"I need to get an A," Finn said.
"I'm sure you will," Rachel said.
"There's no way to be sure," Finn said.
"Finn, is this about the trial?" Rachel asked.
Finn sighed. Rachel knew him too well. "I don't want to have to see her again."
"Of course you don't," Rachel said.
"It's not just that," Finn continued. "She'll see how terrified I am of her, and that'll be a victory for her."
"My dads talked to our attorneys, and they said things look good for us," Rachel said. "Lucy's going to be labeled as a sexual assaultor, and she might be looking at jail time."
Finn looked at Rachel. "I just wanted to have a normal first year of college."
"I know you did," Rachel said. "But once this is over, you can."
Finn didn't know what else to say. He just leaned over and pulled Rachel in for a tight hug. Rachel gently rubbed Finn's back. "I love you so much," she said softly, kissing Finn's head.
"I know you do," Finn said. "I love you too."
Finn heard a knock on the door. He looked up and saw Kurt. "Finn, you have some visitors."
Finn saw Carole and Burt coming in behind Kurt. "You guys didn't have to come."
"Are you crazy?" Burt asked. "We aren't letting you go through this alone."
"Rachel's dads are going to be here later tonight, too," Carole said.
"Thanks for being here," Finn said.
"Finn, when you were a baby, I remember promising myself that I wouldn't let you get hurt," Carole said. "I'm so sorry. That's something parents can't do for their children. You've been hurt, and I wish I could protect you from getting hurt, but all I can do is love you and try to make things better for you."
Hearing his mom broke Finn's heart. "Mom, it's okay."
"It's not," Carole said. "I feel horrible that this had to happen to you."
"Finn's really strong," Rachel said. "He's been going to work and school on his own, and his therapist said he's making progress."
"I love you, Finn," Carole said. "I can't stress that enough."
"I love you, too," Finn said, giving his mom a hug.
"We're always here for both our sons," Burt said. "If either of you ever need us, you know we're on our way to New York."
"Both your sons?" Finn asked.
"Finn, I didn't help your mom make you, but I've always loved you like a son," Burt said.
It meant so much for Finn to hear that. He walked over to Burt and hugged him. "Thank you Dad."
"Dad?" Rachel asked.
Finn hadn't even realized that. "Oh, I'm sorry..."
"Finn, there's nothing to be sorry about," Burt said. "If you want to call me Dad, I have no problem with that."
"It's just... my birth dad..." Finn didn't know what to say. Yes, he always wold feel a bond with the man who helped Carole make him, but Burt had been there for him the past few years when he'd needed a dad. Although Finn felt slightly guilty for feeling this way, he felt that although Christopher Hudson was his father, Burt Hummel was his dad.
"Your dad would be happy that you and Burt have a father-son bond," Carole told Finn, as if she was reading his mind. "If you're wondering who your real dad is, they both are."
Finn smiled. "Okay."
Kurt came to the door. "Finn, someone else is here to see you."
Finn turned to Rachel. "Guess your dads are here."
"I guess they are," Rachel said as the two of them walked to the living room with Burt and Carole.
However, it wasn't Rachel's dads who were in the living room. Finn was surprised by who he saw. "Mr. Schue! Mrs. Schue!"
"Finn!" Mr. Schue said, coming to give his former student a hug. "Are you okay?"
"I'm okay as I can be," Finn said. "I just can't wait for this to be over."
"Of course you do," Mr. Schue said. "I could never imagine something like this happening to one of my glee kids."
"I'm sorry, Finn, but this is way too serious for a pamphlet," Mrs. Schuester added.
Finn managed to laugh. "So, how's the baby doing?" In April, Mr. and Mrs. Schuester had found out that they were expecting their first child.
"Great," Mrs. Schuester said. "He should be here in January."
"He?" Kurt asked with excitement.
"Yes, he!" Mr. Schue said. "We're getting a little boy."
"I'm going to buy some nice gifts for him," Kurt said. "If it was a girl, I'd probably have an easier time."
"I think we can trust you to get something great for our son, Kurt," Mr. Schue said.
"Santana and Blaine are both still at classes, but they'll be so surprised to see you," Rachel said. "I'll have to text Tina, Sam and Artie to tell them you're in town, too."
"We weren't originally planning on coming, but we had to come support Finn," Mr. Schue said.
"Well, I appreciate it," Finn said. The more support he had, the better. But he didn't want to talk about the trial right now. "So, how's the glee club?"
"The glee club's great," Mr. Schue said. "We got two more members, and rehearsals for Wicked have for the most part been pretty good."
"Is Harmony still mad about the Wicked casting?" Rachel asked. "Kylie said she seems to have calmed down about it, but she's got lots of solos in mind for herself at Sectionals."
"I think she's over the Wicked casting," Mr. Schue said. "Marley and Kitty offered Harmony and Unique one performance as Elphaba and Glinda, so I think that helped out. But yes, she does have lots of solos in mind for herself for Sectionals."
"Wow, she really is like Rachel the first year of glee," Kurt said.
"Isn't she dating Rory now?" Finn asked, remembering the text Rory sent him.
"She is," Mr. Schue said. "I have to admit, their voices sound pretty good together and they seem like a nice couple."
"Any other couples in the glee club right now?" Carole asked. "I remember when Finn and Kurt were in glee club, there were so many couples, it was hard to keep track of who dated who."
"Well, Kitty and Artie are doing a long distance relationship," Mr. Schue said. "Ryder and Marley started dating this summer, Sugar and Joe have been dating since last year, and then Rory and Harmony just started dating."
"My sister said she thinks Jake's still into Marley," Rachel said.
"What about your sister?" Kurt asked. "Any boys she's into?"
"I don't know," Rachel said. Finn knew by the look on Rachel's face that she was keeping a secret for Kylie. "Kitty thinks someone in the glee club is into Kylie though."
"She's your sister, how could there not be someone into her?" Finn asked.
The door opened, and Blaine and Santana came in. "Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Schue!" Blaine exclaimed.
"Hey guys," Mr. Schue said.
"So, Mr. and Mrs. Schue are getting a boy," Kurt told Blaine and Santana.
"So exciting!" Santana said.
"What's his name going to be?" Blaine asked.
"We were thinking Daniel, because when I wanted to sing with her when we were getting the nursery ready, we sang a song called Danny's Song," Mr. Schue told the group.
"Daniel Schuester sounds good," Finn said.
"We were thinking Daniel Finnegan Schuester," Mr. Schue said.
Finn felt surprised. "After me?"
"Of course," Mr. Schue said. "You've done so much for me."
"Thank you," Finn said. He felt so honored.
x
"I don't want to do this," Finn whispered. It was the next morning, and Finn and Rachel were hanging out in the court corridor.
"I wish you didn't have to do this," Rachel said. "I wish I could be the one to speak for you, but they might need you to give a statement."
"I've already talked to the police plenty of times, and our lawyer," Finn said. "Shouldn't that be enough?"
"I wish it could be, but it's not up to me," Rachel said.
"We might as well go in there," Finn groaned. He'd have to do it at some point.
"Okay," Rachel said. She took Finn's hand and walked into the court room. Finn took a seat next to his mom on the bench that was designated for them. Burt and Kurt were on Carole's side. On the benches behind them were Blaine, Santana, Artie, Sam, Tina, Rachel's dads and Mr. and Mrs. Schuester. Then Finn felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned and saw Puck and Quinn.
"Hey," Finn said.
Puck patted Finn's shoulder. "Hey man. How are you holding up?"
"I'm just waiting for this to end," Finn said.
"Yeah, I wouldn't let you go through something like this without me," Puck said.
"And I can see lots of people feel the same way," Quinn added, waving at their other glee friends.
"Finn's very loved," Rachel said, kissing Finn on the cheek.
Puck and Quinn went to join their other friends from glee. Finn gulped as he saw Lucy escorted in by two police officers. As if Rachel knew that Finn was looking at Lucy, she leaned over and whispered, "Don't look at her. It'll only give her power."
Finn nodded and stared at the podium he'd have to speak at later today. A few minutes later, the judge came out and called the court to order. Finn's family and friends were called to the stand, as were people from the law firm. Finn could barely listen to the things the other witnesses were saying. He just held Rachel's arm tightly and fought back tears, just wanting to get out of there. When Rachel was called to the stand, he clung to his mom.
"Are you okay, sweetie?" Carole whispered.
Finn shook his head. "I can't do this."
"I wish you didn't have to do this," Carole said, kissing her son on the cheek.
Rachel finished her statement and came back to the bench when the judge called Finn's name.
Finn gulped and walked up to the stand, trying not to face Lucy. He turned and saw his family members and friends giving him encouraging looks.
"State your full name for the record," the judge said.
Finn looked at the judge to avoid eye contact with Lucy. "Finnegan Christopher Hudson."
"Mr. Hudson, can you tell me about the first time you met Miss O'Reilly?" the judge asked.
"Well, the first time I met her was my first day at the firm," Finn said, feeling his heart beat fast. "She pretended to trip and touched my leg as she pretended to do so."
"And that made you suspicious of her then and there?" the judge asked.
"Yes," Finn said.
"Look at him!" Finn heard a voice call out. He turned and saw his mom. "He's terrified! Wasn't this covered in depositions?"
"Ma'am, please keep your court conduct appropriate," the judge said. "Mr. Hudson, I can tell by your body language that you are afraid of her."
"She gives me nightmares," Finn admitted. "Before I got the restraining order, I was having trouble sleeping and eating and I was afraid to leave my apartment."
"I'm sorry," the judge said. "Was this the first time you were made uncomfortable sexually?"
"Yes," Finn said. "She knew I was in a serious relationship, and like I said in my statements I released, she would stalk me and look for opportunities to touch me in places that I didn't want to be touched."
"We also have records on our security cameras that the apartment complex gave us of her at your apartment," the judge said. That was news to Finn. He didn't know the complex had provided cameras. "And we do have some documentation of her making statements online..."
Lucy jumped up. "Stop right there!"
The judge turned to face Lucy. Finn clutched the judge's table, wishing that it was Rachel's hand that he could clutch.
"Miss O'Reilly, sit down," the judge said.
"No!" Lucy shouted. "This is a big waste of time. I shouldn't be here! He's trying to get me in trouble over something completely innocent."
"He doesn't look like this is completely innocent," the judge said.
Lucy jumped out of her seat and began running toward Finn. Finn's heart began racing even faster. But just in time, Rachel stepped in front of Finn. "Don't you ever touch Finn again," she snarled.
Finn thought he heard some more talking, but he couldn't hear anything very clearly. He just collapsed on the ground.
x
Finn opened his eyes and looked around. He was in a hospital bed. Why was he in the hospital?
Finn looked and saw Rachel sitting by his bedside. "Finn, you fainted."
The events of earlier today began replaying in Finn's head. "What happened to her?"
"I don't know," Rachel said. "After you fainted, they called 911 to take you to a hospital and let me leave with you. Everyone else is waiting at the court."
Finn burst into tears as Rachel cradled his head. "It's okay. You're going to be okay," she whispered.
"I hate this," Finn blurted out. "What did I do to deserve this?"
"You didn't deserve this," Rachel said. "And that's what makes it so horrible. But you're going to get through it, because I'm going to help you, and so are all of our family and friends."
Finn squeezed Rachel's hand. "Want me to get you something to eat or a drink or anything like that?" Rachel asked.
Finn shook his head. "No thanks. I'm fine."
"Okay," Rachel said as her face lit up. "Look who's here!"
Finn turned and saw his parents and Kurt walking in, along with Rachel's dads, Mr. and Mrs. Schuester and all their friends who'd come to support him today. "Sweetie, she's gone," Carole said, kneeling at Finn's bedside. "You're never going to have to see her again."
"She's going where she belongs," Burt said. "Behind bars."
"What happened?" Finn asked.
"She eventually pled guilty," Puck said. "I don't think she was left with any other options. She basically admitted that she did it. She couldn't deny it any longer, we had too much proof."
"Good," Finn said. "I hope that bitch rots in hell."
The doctor came in and looked at Finn. "I see you've woken up."
"Yeah," Finn said.
"I'm just going to check your blood level and you can probably go home soon," the doctor said.
"You gave us all quite a scare when you fainted in there, Finn," Kurt said.
"I'm sorry," Finn said.
"Well, at least you're okay," Blaine said.
"Physically okay, anyway," Finn said.
"And you're going to be mentally okay," Sam said. "You have a whole network of support here."
"Yeah, I do," Finn said.
"You're never going to have to see her again," Rachel said to Finn. "I'm so proud of you. You did great in there. I couldn't have done it."
"I couldn't have done it without all of you there," Finn said.
Chapter 26: Finn goes home from the hospital and returns to school. Will people at school know about what happened? What will their reaction be? Rachel also receives some news that could make her complicated family situation even more complicated.
10 reviews unlock Chapter 26!