Chloe awoke to an empty bed. She ran her hand on Max's side, but she felt no residual warmth. She sighed, reaching for her phone - 5:49AM. They didn't need to arrive at the courthouse until almost ten. She tossed and turned for a few minutes, but after determining she was very much awake, she got up, sighing once again before leaving the bedroom.

Max was sitting at the breakfast bar, defined bags under her eyes. She was staring absently at the bar, but glanced up at Chloe as she walked in. "Hey."

"Hey," Chloe responded, trying to keep the concern out of her voice. "Couldn't sleep?"

Max shook her head, staring down at a full cup of coffee. "Too anxious," she muttered, hands curling around the cup. Chloe took the seat next to her, glancing around the kitchen aimlessly. "I think Victoria and Kate are up. Thought I heard them talking a while ago."

"What kind of 'talking' are we talking, eh?" She gently elbowed Max in the ribs, trying to draw a smile on her face. She got a heavy exhale, which was probably as good as she was going to get today. "When's the chef getting here? Thought that was standard with places like this."

"Chloe, we literally ordered take out all day yesterday." There was an attempt at humor in Max's voice, but it was still falling flat. Chloe bit her lip, uncertain how to respond.

Thankfully, the other bedroom door cracked open, revealing a disheveled Victoria. She slipped out of the room before closing the door behind her. "Dude, you look terrible," Chloe commented - she, too, had bags under her eyes.

"Morning to you too, Chloe," she groaned, rubbing her face as she walked to the coffee pot. Chloe watched her fumble through the cabinets until she found a mug. After pouring herself a cup, Victoria leaned against the bar across from them, staring at the bar top.

"How'd your, er, conversation go last night?" Chloe inquired, an eyebrow lifting somewhat suggestively. She felt Max stiffen next to her, but Victoria had finally met her gaze, calm.

"It went fine." She returned to nursing her coffee as Chloe gawked at her, full of questions and comments.

"That's all we get? C'mon, Vicky!"

There was a glint of fire in Victoria's eyes as she pursed her lips. "Not that it's any of your business, but we're going to wait until the end of the week to decide what we're doing."

Chloe's eyebrows dropped, knitting together. Of all the things she had anticipated, this was not one of them. "Is that Kate talking, or you?"

Victoria sighed, watching her coffee with unusual interest. "Me, I guess? She...she started getting all worked up about what her parents would say, I -" She cut herself off for a second, shaking her head. "I just didn't want her to keep freaking out."

Chloe was frowning, trying to figure out yet again what to say. Max cleared her throat, glancing up at Victoria for a second. "I hope things work out for you guys," she said quietly, before returning her gaze to her cup.

The corner of Victoria's mouth twitched for a second, almost wistful. "Yeah, that'd be nice."

The rest of the morning passed in a grey blur. Kate eventually joined them, dressed in her Sunday best. There was still a downer mood over the group, not made any better by how extra polite Victoria and Kate were being towards each other. More than once, Chloe had to bite her tongue to keep from telling them to get a room.

Victoria drove them in to the courthouse, dropping Kate off at the front so she could get ready. Both Max and Victoria watched her with worried eyes, but Chloe was more worried about the two of them. Even after getting ready, Victoria still had a strange look in her eye, and Max had been quieter than usual all morning.

Once inside, they found out Victoria was not allowed in to the courtroom, as she was a witness. She seemed ready to argue with the bailiff, but ultimately slouched down on a bench outside of the room. Chloe felt bad about leaving her out in the hall by herself, but rules were rules, as much as she enjoyed breaking them. She felt those anxious green eyes following them as they slipped into the courtroom with other visitors.

She let Max lead her into one of the back benches on the prosecution side - she probably wanted to be as far away from the defendant's table as possible. Chloe felt an odd humor to it - Max was so afraid of Jefferson, and that piece of shit didn't even realize what he had done to her.

Not that he hadn't been planning to or anything. But, still.

There was a sudden buzz in the air, and she noticed the jury sitting expectantly in their seats ahead of them. One of the side doors opened across the room from the jury, and in walked Jefferson, escorted by two guards.

He was instantly recognizable - and not just because of the chains linked around his wrists. He was wearing the same glasses that he had worn back in his Blackwell days, and a suit that Chloe thought she had seen before. Even with his hair buzzed close to his scalp, it was definitely him. She felt Max recoiled slightly, hand tight on Chloe's arm.

The longer she looked, though, the more she noticed how haggard he was looking. His suit hung off him in odd places, and his cheekbones seemed more prominent than before. He didn't look around the courtroom, almost as if he didn't care that a gallery of people was watching him. Prison, evidently, wasn't treating him well. Good.

She had expected to feel angry at the sight of him, but she felt oddly calm. Maybe it was knowing that he was going to get what was coming to him. Maybe seeing him as a broken man was enough.

Kate had a strange glint in her eyes, something between determination and pettiness as she was sworn in. She sat down on the stand, and Chloe noticed her purposely not looking in Jefferson's direction.

As they took her name and general information, Chloe noticed that Kate didn't seem as nervous as she had expected her to. She confidently stated her name and her main relationship to Jeffershit as a student.

The prosecutor continued asking questions, calm and unhurried. Chloe didn't know much about lawyers, but he seemed like a decent person at the very least. "Miss Marsh, where were you the night of October 4th, 2013?"

"I was at a party at Blackwell," she responded, seemingly unfazed.

"Was this a school sanctioned event?"

She shook her head, before remembering that she needed to speak. "The school allowed it, but they didn't run it themselves."

"Who did?"

"The Vortex Club. It was student-run." Chloe was glad Victoria wasn't in the courtroom now - she'd have hated to hear her former friend group drug through the mud.

"Miss Marsh, how long were you at the party?"

"Around three hours." Her statement was followed by a slight shrug.

"And did you consume any alcohol at the party?"

Kate's cheeks flushed slightly, even though she knew the question was coming. "Yes, a sip of red wine."

"Did you drink any other alcohol at the party?"

"No, I drank water the rest of the night, before I left."

There was a pause from the prosecutor for a few seconds - from where they were sitting, Chloe couldn't see him well enough to know what he was doing at his table. "When and why did you decide to leave?"

Kate's mouth opened and closed once; she looked a little uncomfortable, and Chloe couldn't blame her. She felt Max's hand wrap around her arm. "I remember feeling sick and dizzy. A classmate offered to help me to the hospital." Chloe cast a glance over to the jury, none of whom were showing any sort of emotional response.

"And who was this classmate?"

"Nathan Prescott." Fuck, I'm glad we told Victoria before this got out. Chloe could only imagine how Victoria would have reacted hearing about Nathan from the news.

"Did you leave with Nathan Prescott?"

She nodded. "Yes, I did."

"And did he take you to a hospital?" the prosecutor asked.

"No. I did not know where he took me at the time."

"Exhibit 36, Your Honor." Nothing showed up on the gallery-facing screens, but judging by the reactions of the jurors, photos seared in Chloe's own memory were being shown. At least they react at all. "Do you recall these pictures being taken?"

Kate had closed her eyes. Chloe wasn't sure if Kate had ever seen the photos herself, but they must be on her monitor as well. "No, I do not."

"Do you remember anything about this location?"

"I remember the white walls - the backdrop, that is. I thought I was in the hospital with a doctor. I remembered hearing Nathan there, and someone else." Kate was shaking her head. "I don't remember anything concrete until I woke up the next morning outside my dorm room."

Chloe could just barely see the prosecutor nodding from where he sat at his table, hopefully in approval. "Nothing further, Your Honor."

There was a pause before the defense attorney pulled his mic closer. Chloe noticed Kate stiffen a little as she looked in his direction, right next to Jefferson. "Miss Marsh, you mentioned that you did drink while at this party, correct?"

"I had a sip of wine, yes." Chloe felt a little smirk tug at the corners of her mouth as Kate clarified. Atta girl.

"Do you drink regularly?"

Even from the back of the courtroom, Chloe could see Kate frown slightly. "Besides communion at church? No."

"Miss Marsh, is it true you were keeping a bottle of wine in your room some time after the party?"

"Objection, Your Honor, relevancy." The prosecutor seemed so calm about it - nothing like objections in the movies, for sure. Kate, however, seemed a little shocked at the question. Chloe glanced at Max quickly, who was still watching Kate with a mix of confusion and concern.

"Withdrawn." The attorney didn't seem to be bothered by the objection, continuing on calmly. "Miss Marsh, do you recall seeing Mark Jefferson on the night of October 4th, 2013?"

Kate still looked perturbed as she answered. If Chloe had to guess, the wine question was meant to upset her. Fucking son of a bitch. "N-no."

"And Nathan Prescott was the one who drove you from the party." It wasn't a question. It was clear where he was going now. Even expecting this, it didn't make it any less frustrating as Chloe ground her teeth.

Kate had paused again - she, too, must know what was coming. "That's correct."

There was a slight pause before the attorney spoke again. "I believe you were a student under Mr. Jefferson for a little over a year, as your first class with him was fall of 2012, correct?"

Kate's eyes darted over to the prosecutor for a second, looking more and more concerned. "That is correct."

"You recognized Nathan Prescott's voice, but not the other person allegedly in the room."

"I did not recognize the other person's voice, no. At the time, I thought it might have been a doctor," she admitted.

"Is it possible that Mr. Prescott or someone else took these photos, and not Mark Jefferson?"

"Objection, speculative," the prosecutor responded, sounding a little frustrated.

The defense attorney didn't hesitate. "Withdrawn. Nothing further, Your Honor."

Victoria was chewing on her nails when Chloe and Max entered the hallway. There was a wild look in her eye as she stared off into the distance. Chloe had to put a hand on her shoulder before she looked up at them, as if she had forgotten they were in the same building.

"Thank fucking god, is she alright?" Victoria was on her feet already, eyes darting behind them.

"She's a trooper, I'll give her that," Chloe responded, watching the blonde carefully. Before coming down to Portland, she would have put money on Kate having issues on the stand, but it seemed like Victoria was going to be the one to worry about after all.

They sat in various levels of anxiety waiting for Kate to come into the hallway. After almost a half hour, she appeared, looking slightly worse for wear. She smiled weakly as she walked closer, and it was no surprise that Victoria was the first to reach her, meeting her halfway. Watching the two embrace actually brought a small smile to Chloe's face, and she felt Max's grip on her hand tighten for a second.

"They're going to be okay," Max said under her breath, and Chloe wasn't sure if it was meant for her or not until the brunette looked up at her.

She squeeze Max's hand in response, looking back up at the blondes, who were still hugging. "Yeah, we all are."