Her eyes shot opened rapidly as the music filled the previously quiet room, her hand desperately searching for her phone which continued to blast the pop song "Damn you Meghan Trainor!" She whined finally finding her phone silencing the "All About That Bass" singer once and for all before sitting up slowly rubbing her tired eyes. Today was the day, today she would have to face him, today she would have to look at the man who took her brother from her, today she would have to recall the memories she tried so hard to forget.
"Miranda?" Caleb said peeking his head inside his daughter's door "Are you awake?"
"Unfortunately" She groaned burying her head in her knees as she hugged them to her chest taking a deep breath before continuing "When do we have to leave?"
"In an hour or two" Caleb replied taking a set beside Miranda draping his arm around her "I know this isn't easy, but me and mom will be there for you and so will Emma, Ella, Jess" He paused unsure if he should mention the next name or not Miranda answering that question for him
"You can say Tori, it's okay dad"
"Have you spoken to her recently?" He asked looking down on his daughter as she leaned her head on his chest
"I talked to her the other day when we were all down at the beach, I told her about how I was doing, and she told me a little about her trip to Iceland" She explained thinking back to the night on the beach Tori sharing her expeditions in Iceland with the group "Were still friends, and I think that's all we should be"
"Why is that?"
"I don't know" Miranda admitted not having a true reason behind it "I just think we work better as friends, when we were dating there was so much drama"
Caleb gave a faint laugh "Manda there's always going to be drama, and you can't let that keep you from someone you love, if I had done that I would never have married your mother. There was so much drama in her life when I met her, and I willingly put myself into it just to be with her. Sometimes you need to do that for the people you love" He planted a soft kiss on Miranda's head before returning to his feet "Now start getting ready, today's the day we get to see that douchebag rot in jail"
"Okay dad" Miranda replied shaking her head side to side as she heard her father's choice of words "Today's the day" She repeated to herself as she grabbed the picture frame that sat beside her bed "This is for you Connor" She traced her finger over the photo, the picture showing her and Connor posing in front of the Empire State Building Connor wearing a scared look on his face as Miranda kissed his cheek. "I love you"
She lost her breath as she stepped into the courtroom, her heart beating rapidly as she descended into the row next to Jess grabbing hold of her hand as she sat down "Hi"
"Hi" She replied turning to face the brown eyed girl "I didn't know if you were gonna come"
"Of course I would, I have to be here for Miranda" Tori explained leaning her head on Jess' shoulder
"How hard do you think this is gonna be?" Jess asked gripping Tori's hand tighter
"Didn't you go to Emma's trial?"
"No, I missed it cause I was in the hospital with Liam" Jess admitted turning to look at Tori "Why what happened?"
"They tried to convince the jury that Emma was a slut and Ty didn't do anything wrong, they called her out on dating a teacher and bringing it all upon herself. And if this is anything like that I don't know if I can handle it" She lifted her head from Jess' shoulder her eyes connecting with Miranda's as she watched her approach the front of the court room taking a seat at one of the empty desks "I don't want to see her hurting"
"I'm here for you Tor, if you need to leave during this we'll leave" She moved her eyes towards the front of the room staring intently as they brought him in, his dark hair slicked back a thick scar lining the left side of his face "Is that Seth?"
"Yeah" Emma interrupted joining the girls in the row "That's the bastard that killed Connor"
"He looks familiar" Ella observed following behind her sister "Am I the only one that thinks he looks familiar?" She squinted her eyes taking in his looks thoroughly trying to remember where she knew him from
"Yes" Emma answered quickly "You've never meet him, you don't know him" There eyes connected for a moment a devilish grin crossing his face as he whispered something in his lawyer's ear "Fucking bastard" She said to herself
All eyes darted towards the front of the courtroom as the Judge smacked the gavel down "Attention! In the case of Seth Jacobs against the murder of Connor Rivers how does the defendant plead?"
"Not guilty your honor" Seth's lawyer replied quickly standing up taking a swift glance toward the jury
"Duly noted, Ms. Cavanagh your first witness?" He asked looking towards Spencer who flipped through her notes scanning the detailed pages in search of her witness list
"The state would like to call Emma Fitz to the stand" Ella let out a surprised gasp as she heard her sister's name
"Did you know she was gonna do that?"
She didn't answer Ella instead rising to her feet approaching the witness stand swiftly holding up her right hand as she took the oath her heart racing as she took her seat not prepared for what was coming.
"How are you today Emma?" Spencer asked walking towards the jury
"Objection!" The lawyer shouted angrily "Relevance?"
"Ms. Cavanagh please get to the point" He advised turning his attention back on Emma who sat uncomfortably in her chair
"Of course your honor, Ms. Fitz can you please tell me how you knew the victim"
Emma took a deep breath as she began to speak her voice stuttering violently "I…I knew Connor from his sister Miranda. Were best friends"
"Were you aware of Mr. River's affiliations with Mr. Jacob's gang?" She asked leaning on her desk her eyes firmly locked on Emma's as she buttoned up her blazer waiting for Emma to answer
"No" She answered simply avoiding any and all eye contact with Seth who stared at her angrily
"When you did learn about his so called involvement with the gang, did you try and do anything to 'save him'?"
"I didn't become aware of it until after he was jumped" Emma admitted wringing her hands nervously together
"Now please can you tell me about this attack?"
"From my knowledge, Connor was attacked in a parking lot late at night after he tried to get out of the gang, they beat him within an inch of his life and threatened his family if he told anyone"
"Now this threat? Was it ever fulfilled?" Spencer asked crossing her hands over her chest as she continued to probe Emma with questions
"Yes" Emma answered "Miranda was kidnapped late at night and taken to my father's old cabin…." She stuttered as she continued to explain the terrible situation her mouth feeling increasingly dry "They beat her with a baseball bat and cut her with knifes, and stabbed her in the chest" Her eyes were wet as her voice faded out unable to continue the story "I'm sorry"
"Don't apologize, its okay" Spencer reassured her "You said 'they' attacked her, 'they' stabbed her are any of them here today?"
Emma felt her breath becoming shaky as she gave a small nod "Yes"
"Can you point him out and describe him please?"
"He's wearing a black suit, with a red tie, he has dark black hair and a scar on the left side of his face" Emma described pointing towards Seth who sat unaffected by her description
"Let the record show the witness has identified Seth Jacobs as the attacker" Spencer said strutting back towards her desk taking a seat as she looked towards the other lawyer "Your witness"
"Ms. Fitz you said you knew Connor through your friend Miranda" He began placing his hands in his pockets as he walked closer to Emma "Was there ever anything more than that?"
"I'm not…I'm not sure what you're talking about" She lied the lawyer's intense stare scaring her to her very core
"I'm asking if you and Connor ever engaged in activities that Miranda wasn't aware of"
Emma was silent not wanting to answer the question afraid of judgement, saying the wrong thing, but most of all afraid of losing Miranda once again. Her eyes meet with Miranda's for a moment Miranda silently begging her to answer the question, the blonde desperate to know the answer.
"Ms. Fitz" The lawyer probed after a moment of her silence
"I slept with Connor the summer before my junior year" She confessed her eyes darting towards Miranda who sat with an unreadable expression on her face "But I'm not sure what this has to do with…"
"Would you say you were desperate to keep this a secret?"
"I wouldn't say desperate" She said holding back her tears as she felt everyone's eyes on her, knowing that they were judging her, knowing that they were looking down on her
"Would you say that you would do anything, to keep him from sharing this with Ms. Rivers?" He asked pointing towards Miranda "Even killing him?"
"What!" Emma gasped "Are you accusing me of killing Connor?"
"Ms. Fitz, can you tell me do you have any siblings?" He questioned changing the subject rapidly
"Yes" She groaned knowing exactly where this conversation was headed
"Are they in the court room today?" He asked turning to face the rows of people
"Yes"
"Can you point them out for us please?"
"My sister is sitting in the third row, wearing the light blue dress" She paused deciding whether or not to continue pointing out siblings
"Is that all?"
"No" She stuttered tearing her eyes away from Ella who looked at her pleading for an explanation "I have a half-brother" She admitted Spencer's face holding the utter look of complete shock unaware of that piece of information
"Is he here today?"
"Yes" She closed her eyes tightly wishing that this was all a dream wishing nothing more than to be home in her bed hidden away from the world "He's wearing the black suit, and red tie. He has dark black hair and a scar on the left side of his face"
"What's his name?"
"Seth Jacobs" Emma spat angrily
"So if I understand correctly your brother is Seth Jacobs? The man accused of murdering your best friend's brother, who you slept with? Ms. Fitz is it possible that you could have framed your brother for the murder of Connor Rivers to cover your own tracks?"
"Objection!" Spencer screamed jumping to her feet "Speculation!"
"I'll allow it" The judge answered waiting for the questions to continue favoring in side of Seth's lawyer causing Spencer to become outraged the anger clearly shown on her face
"Ms. Fitz?"
"Was there an actual question?" She asked completely tuning his previous statement out
"Did you kill Connor Rivers and frame your brother?"
"No!" She answered quickly slamming her fists into the stand "You fucking bastard how dare you.."
"Ms. Cavanagh control your witness!" The judge warned
Spencer shot Emma a deathly glance causing her to shut up almost instantly. Miranda her eyes damp with tears leaned over to Spencer whispering quietly in her ear prompting the older women to ask the judge for a recess giving Miranda time to take in everything that had just happened.
"I'll allow a five minute recess" He decided dropping his gavel on to his desk
Miranda rushed from the room wiping the tears that fell from her eyes disappearing into the bathroom collapsing onto the floor inhaling deeply as she tried to control her rapid breathing. She didn't want to believe anything she had just heard, she didn't want to accept that Emma had kept any of those things from her.
"Emma!" Ella yelled angrily approaching her sister who bawled quietly in the bench outside of the courtroom "What the fucking hell? Are you fucking kidding me? You fucking bitch! You fucking kept this from me!" She whined pushing Emma in the shoulder "What the hell! What were you thinking? Seth is our brother? You slept with Connor? Fucking shit Emma what's the matter with you?"
Question (answer in reviews): Do you think anyone will be able to forgive Emma after this?