They shouted loudly, their voices overlapping each other as they desperately tried to vie for her attention, doing their best to pull her from the daze she was in. She ignored them all, her eyes locked on the dark ocean, watching as the waves crashed onto the shore sweeping the sand away with it, she felt her heart race, as beads of sweat dripped down her temple. She couldn't think, she couldn't even breathe it all felt too much. Everything in her life was too much, she didn't understand why she couldn't just have a normal life. She didn't understand why she could be a normal teen whose only problem was studying for her next test, or finding the perfect way to ask someone to prom, but no she had to deal with her brother's murderer!

She clenched her fist tightly her knuckles draining of color as they turned bright white, her face was blank as she tried to understand everything that had just happened. Her dad explained it all but she still didn't comprehend what she was told. "They got him" those words played on a loop in her head, no matter what she did she couldn't forget them, they just keep repeating over and over and over again! All she wanted to do was have one night out with her friends without any of her drama interring with her life could she have that? Of course not, because her life was so fucked up no matter what she did something was always standing in her way forbidding her from being happy.

"Mira!" Tori screamed her voice straining from overuse her eyes staring deeply into the deep blue ones that sat opposite of her "You need to say something"

"Fuck" She stuttered quietly shifting uncomfortably in her chair the crisp breeze sending shivers up her arms "Fuck" she repeated her mind unable to think of any other words that came close to how she was feeling

"Good" She smiled reaching her right hand to stroke Miranda's bicep "Say it again"

"Fuck"

"Louder" Tori demanded wanting nothing more than for Miranda to release all the anger she knew the blonde was holding inside

"FUCK!" She screamed at the top of her lungs tears sprouting from her eyes as she released the conflicted emotions that were battling inside herself

"There we go" Tori grinned moving closer to Miranda embracing the older girl in her arms pulling her into a tight hug laying her head on the blondes shoulder as she whispered in her ear "How are you feeling?"

"I..don't…know" She admitted her voice cracking at her confession as she felt Tori's hand trail along her back sending goosebumps up her arms

"Do you guys want a room?" Ella interrupted the corners of her mouth turning up into a smile as she lifted the bottle to her lips

"Excuse me!" Emma yelled stealing the drink from her younger sister "What do you think you're doing?"

"Having a drink what does it look like?"

"Your 15 you can't drink!" She said pouring the beer out onto the golden sand watching as an angry look crossed her sister's face "Pout all you want, I'm older than you and what I say goes"

"Whatever" Ella groaned pushing herself to her feet sliding her converse back on as she strutted towards the car

"It's getting pretty late, I have to take Jamie home and feed her. Miranda are you sure you're okay?" Jess asked following Ella's previous action lifting herself off of Liam's lap climbing onto her feet

"I'm okay" She whispered wiping at her wet eyes as she made contact with Jess desperate to prove that she was alright "Go, be a mother" She faked a quick grin before linking her hand with Tori a sense of relief washing over her as she felt Tori's hand grip her own tightly the normal action almost instantly slowing down her racing heartbeat.

"I should probably drive Ella home before she gets tired of waiting and walks home, do you want a ride?" Emma asked turning to face Noah who sipped casually out of his straw the liquid being sucked through it rapidly giving the girl a small nod "I'll meet you by the car, Miranda?" She stepped closer to the blonde "Are you…"

"I'm fine, I promise. I'm not gonna go crazy. Okay?" Miranda whined hating that all the attention was focused on her

"I just don't want this to be like last time" She warned quietly hoping Tori hadn't heard

"It's not going to be, Okay" Her voice was harsh as she spoke to Emma staring at her intently her eyes saying everything that her mouth wouldn't

Emma understood what Miranda was silently asking reluctantly deciding she had to go "I got it" She shifted her eyes to the ground nervously "I'll see you at home Tori, and I'll call you later" She stated looking back towards Miranda before turning on her heels heading back to the parking lot where both Noah and Ella waited

"Last time?" Tori questioned after a moment of silence the two of them the only ones left on the darkened beach the only other sound coming from the violent waves that flowed a few feet from their seats "What was she talking about?"

"Nothing" Miranda answered dismissing the question quickly her eyes making their way to their hands which sat on her lap the two of them still intertwined

"Miranda" Tori probed gently rubbing her thumb against Miranda's soft hand "Don't shut me out, please just tell me"

"I can't"

"Please Mira, I want to know what happened when I was away. I've missed a lot, I was gone for an entire summer, do you realize we haven't spoken since that fight we had in the park?" Her heart break at the mere thought of that fight, as she remembered Miranda's tears trailing down her face as she heard about the plan to send her to rehab, remembering the betrayal she felt when Miranda admitted that she didn't care if they broke up. "I want to know"

"I don't want to disappoint you" Miranda confessed finally meeting Tori's glances "I don't want you to think less of me"

"I could never do that, Miranda no matter what you do you're still the same Miranda, your still the same obnoxious, snotty, funny, bitchy, intelligent perfect girl you've always been" She grinned brightly as she heard Miranda's faint laughter "Tell me"

Miranda took a deep breath as she readied herself to reveal her secret "In July my parents got a call from the police saying that there was a sighting of Seth and they thought it was only a matter of time before they caught him, anyway they explained that I would have to go to the trial and.." She paused for a moment her hands beginning to shake as she recalled the memory "They said I would have to go to the trial and talk about what I saw or heard, they want me to be a freaking witness in my brothers murder case"

"Mira" Tori said sadly seeing the blonde breaking down in front of her, her tears overwhelming her as she dropped her head onto her shoulder soaking Tori's shirt with her tears "I don't understand, what was Emma talking about?"

"After my parents told me about the phone call, I got scared and angry and…" She stuttered searching for the other emotions she was feeling "pissed off at the world! I just couldn't stand the thought of seeing him, so I trashed my room. I broke everything inside, my TV, my bed, my pictures…my piano" She said desolately avoiding Tori's eyes

"You broke your piano?" Tori asked knowing how much Miranda loved playing her music "But you.."

"I know, I didn't want to break it but I was so mad that I couldn't contain it. I ended up fracturing my wrist"

"Why didn't you call me? Why didn't you tell me, you know I would have come home, I would have been there for you"

"That's exactly why I didn't call you" Miranda confessed struggling to her feet her leg throbbing in pain as she leaned her weight on it "I didn't want to rely on you, that's what our fight was about. I was relying on you for everything, that's why I went to rehab. I needed to learn how to deal with my PTSD on my own I needed to deal with my anger, my fears, my flashbacks I needed to do it on my own, that's why I didn't call you I wanted to prove to you that I was making progress"

"I'm actually glad you didn't call me" Tori said jumping to her feet their hands finally disconnecting "It means you really are getting better, speaking of which how's your leg?"

"To be completely honest, it fucking hurts" She groaned rubbing her leg before she began walking back towards the parking lot "I mean I know it didn't heal right but I didn't expect it to hurt this much"

"Miranda your leg was broken with a metal baseball bat, it's obviously gonna hurt"

"Bitch" Miranda whined shoving Tori in the side "Did you need a ride home?" Miranda asked as she approached her car grabbing the keys out of her purse clicking the button to unlock the doors

"Yea if you don't mind"

"Of course not" Miranda said swinging the passenger door opened as Tori climbed inside before making her way over to her own door "Thanks for coming tonight, it was great seeing you"

"Yeah" Tori grinned "I really missed you"

"I missed you to" Miranda said pulling the car out of the parking lot cruising down the deserted road heading towards the Fitz house "Believe it or not I missed your crappy jokes"

"Crappy!" Tori repeated sounding completely shocked "My jokes aren't crappy"

"Really?" Miranda laughed as she stopped at the red light "There pretty crappy"

She turned to face Miranda an angry looked burning in her eyes as she spoke "My jokes are never crappy and the fact that you think they aren't truly hurts me" She wiped at her eyes giving the appearance that she was crying

"Tori, I'm so sorry I didn't mean to upset you" Miranda reached over to Tori placing her hand on her shoulder before beginning to drive again the light in front of them switching to green

"Wow you bought that?" She laughed "Damn, I'm good"

"You bastard!" Miranda chuckled smacking Tori on the arm as she pulled into the driveway "Get out of my car" She watched as Tori slipped from the car practically skipping up towards the front door "That girl" Miranda giggled to herself as she began driving back to her house fearing what her parents were going to say about her already breaking curfew after one day back in school

"Welcome home" Hanna greeted angrily crossing her arms over her chest as she watched Miranda stroll inside "You're late"

"I know, and I'm sorry but I had a breakdown when Dad called" Miranda admitted following her mother's voice into the living room taking a seat on the couch resting her feet on the nearby coffee table

"Are you okay?" Hanna asked worried at the mention of her daughter's new problem

"Mom, you don't need to freak out. I got it out of my system without breaking anything I listened to what the doctor said and I focused on my breathing and thought everything through" She glanced down at her shoes admiring the bright red color before continuing "Where's dad?"

"He had to pull a double shift at work, he'll be home in a few hours. Did you want to stay up and talk to him when he gets home?"

"No, its fine"

"Miranda" Hanna said stopping Miranda from disappearing upstairs "Do you want to talk about the trial?"

"When does it start?"

"Two days" Hanna answered quickly "I know it seems rushed but they just want to get this guy, and if at any time it becomes too much just tell us and we'll deal with it" She moved closer to her daughter draping her arm over her shoulder pulling her into a tight side hug "Now get some sleep and we'll talk more in the morning"

She hugged her mom before running up to her room throwing herself into her bed covering herself with her blanket more than happy to close herself off from the rest of the world. Her head laid comfortably on the soft pillow, sinking into it as she drifted off into a restful sleep her thoughts consumed only of her friends, of everything they had done for her over the past year, of everything they had helped her through. She felt herself smile in her sleep as her thoughts shifted to Tori, those dark chocolate eyes full of love, warmth, perfection her bright smile shining through any and all light, her hair styled in her normal side braid, her new nose ring adding a look of rebellion to her. She wanted her so badly, she wanted to be with her again, she wanted to tell her how she felt, she wanted to tell her everything that was in her heart but she couldn't. She couldn't risk all the progress she'd made over the summer, she couldn't ruin everything she worked for, she couldn't wreck her life again but then again life without Tori was wrecked enough.

Question (answer in reviews): What do you think will happen at the trial? Who do you want the next chapter to focus on?