Tutor||l.h.

eighteen - court

"How are you?" Calum asked me as I repeatedly ran my hands through my hair nervously.

"Not good," I admitted.It was August 9th. Today was the court date. I had to see my father for the first time in forever.

"You're gonna do great," Calum whispered, resting his chin on my head and hugging me tightly from behind. "Just think of us and remember we all love you and you'll be fine."

"Thanks, Cal," I smiled, turning around and giving him a proper hug.

"Go talk to Luke," he smiled, "He's worrying himself to death."

I smiled and walked away from Calum in the large house the boys had rented out for the month while they stayed in LA to write songs, which worked out well considering the last 5 shows of the tour were in LA.

"Lukey?" I called, knocking on his bedroom door.

"Come in," he said back.

I opened up the door and slipped into his room.

"How are you?" he asked, looking up at me from the small desk in his room where he was practising his guitar.

"I'm... I don't know."

"Come here," he said, patting his lap as he placed his guitar on the floor. I sat on his lap and leaned into his chest.

"When do you have to leave?"

"Thirty minutes."

"Talk to me," he whispered, kissing my cheek, "I want to know what you're thinking."

"I'm thinking... I'm really nervous. And scared. And I don't want to do this."

"You're going to do amazing," he whispered.

"That's what Calum said," I mumbled, "and I still am nervous."

"What can I do to make it better?" he asked me, rubbing my arm gently.

"Just hold me," I whispered, leaning my head on his shoulder and kissing his neck gently.

"I can do that," he smirked.

~~~~~~

I nervously played with the sleeves of my button up blouse, not daring to look up at my father who was currently on the witness stand.

"Please explain to the jury why you believe Ms. Taylor is an unfit parent," the judge ordered.

"Of course, your honour," Steven said. "Well, for starters, she is a single mother who travels the world. Dalaiah hasn't had a stable home since she was probably 4 years old."

"Are you saying single mothers can't care for children?" the judge asked.

"No, of course not! But a single mother can't raise a child while traveling the world with bands and is constantly working!"

"Why do you believe she can't raise a child properly? What made you think this?"

"My daughter has depression, has threatened to and attempted suicide before. She cut herself for years and is struggling in school. I believe it's because of her mother's poor child care."

"I'm not your daughter," I muttered, what I thought was quietly. As it turned out, the judge heard me.

"What did you say, Miss?" I looked up, avoiding Steven's eyes. "Please, sir, you may be seated. Ms. Dalaiah, come to the witness stand. I was already sworn into oath so I thankfully got to skip that part and sat down in the plush chair. The judge repeated his question, "What did you say?"

"I said I'm not his daughter."

"Why do you believe you're not his daughter?"

"The word 'daughter' doesn't just mean you're related. It means you raised and loved a girl since she was young and protected her and made her smile and laugh. You want to know why I threatened to commit suicide? I did it when I found out that this was happening. I did it when I was told that Steven wanted to take me away from my mom. I told him that if he won this court case and I had to live with him, I'd rather kill myself because I couldn't stand the thought of having to be around him. The reason I cut and attempted suicide? All because of him. He's the cause of my depression. And the reason I'm struggling with my school work? No, it's not because I live on the road. It's because I'm dyslexic. Steven wouldn't know that, obviously, because he's a horrible father who abandoned us. And for him to sit here and say that he thinks I'm depressed because of my 'mother's poor child care' is actually funny. Today is the first time I have ever seen him in my entire life. He did nothing to help raise me. He neglected my mom and I and I never want him in my life again."

The judge nodded stiffly, "If it's not too personal, I'd like to ask how you attempted suicide."

"I cut myself enough times in enough spots deep enough that I bled out. My mom found me and took me to the hospital."

"And one more question, do you believe that your mother is a fit parent?"

I nodded, "Absolutely. She's amazing. She raised me perfectly. Yes, I know I'm a bit messed up, but aren't we all? She taught me wrong from right and let me learn from mistakes. She never gave up on me and made sure I was always happy. She made sure I got the education that I needed even though it didn't really matter much to me. I remember the day I asked her, 'Why don't I have a dad?' she just responded with, 'because we all make mistakes'. She taught me that everything you need to know in life doesn't come from learning the anatomy of a plant and how to graph parabolas... It comes from life. And life is all about making mistakes."

The judge nodded, "Thank you. Unless there is any more information needed to be heard from either party, I will make my final decision."

"No your honour," my mom and I's lawyer said.

"No your honour," Steven's lawyer repeated.

His family were the only people here. His wife and snobby looking daughter sat behind him. The judge nodded and looked at us carefully.

"Things will remain as they are now," he said, "Ms. Taylor, you can keep your full custody over your daughter. The only thing I am going to change, is Mr. Velin..." I had to stifle my laughter at the sound of his laugh name. It fit him perfectly. Velin, villain. It worked. "Mr. Velin, I believe that for the best interests of Dalaiah and her mother, that you have no contact with them whatsoever. She had obviously been dealing with depression and you are the cause of that. To help her mental well-being, I am filing a court restraining order that you must stay at least 100 feet away from her at all times and must not contact her in any way or form. If you fail to do so, you will be charged a fine, and, depending in the extent of the action, could be sent to prison. Understood? Both of you?"

"Yes, your honour," my mom beamed, wiping her tears of joy away from her eyes.

"Yes, your honour," Steven practically growled.

"Case closed."

~~~~~~~~~

We decided to just go the boys' rental house until the concert was over. Even the One Direction boys were staying here with us for the short time being.

"I'm so happy," I whispered, hugging my mom tightly, "He's finally out of our lives."

"I love you, sweetie. I'm glad this all worked out."

"I knew it would. The only evidence he had against us we could easily turn around and put something on him."

"I'm just glad he's not taking me from you..."

~~~~~~~~~

The boys practically ran into the house. My mom had gone to bed an hour earlier with a migraine.

"Dalaiah! How did it go?" Ashton yelled.

"Shh!" I said urgently, "My mom is upstairs asleep. She has a migraine."

"Sorry," he whispered, "How did it go?"

"Well I wouldn't be here if it went bad," I smiled, walking over and pulling Luke into a hug.

"So everything is back to normal?" Calum asked.

I pulled away from Luke and looked up at them, "Yeah. Except now we have a restraining order on him."

"That's good, right?"

I nodded proudly, "Yeah, that's good."