fan behaviour

• Statement

PICTURED!: Ellie Ryan means business as she arrives at court hearing over custody of nephew Jax.

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Ellie was out in public for the first time since her sister died to attend the court hearing over Jax's custody. She had realised last night that she had nothing to wear and raided Aishling's wardrobe to find something appropriate rather than having to leave the house and panic buy.
She had a good cry while she was at it too.
Turns out that the smallest things can trigger you like smells or clothes.
Ellie felt that it was important to dress properly so she looked like she had pulled herself together for Jax's sake and was more than capable to take care of him.
She was - for the most part.
She didn't fully feel 'pulled together' but the court didn't have to know that. If she was confident enough she'd get what she came for and that was more than enough.

Ellie's lawyer has explained to her that getting custody should be a walk in the park. Scott's parents were elderly and openly admitted to not wanting custody ; they weren't even coming to court today , and given Scott's history and the fact that he was currently in jail waiting to be sentenced , Ellie should have custody of Jax by the end of the week.
And then she could pack all her stuff , all his stuff and all Aishling's stuff and cart it all back home to Ireland with her.
Even though Aishling was staying here.
In Adelaide.
The Ryan family felt that it was only right. Yes she had suffered the worst there , but she loved it nonetheless. Anytime anyone spoke to her about Adelaide her eyes lit up. She could talk for days about that place , so it was only fair that she got to live there forever.
Even if she was living in a box under the ground.
She was happy.
At least Ellie hoped she was.
Orla was flying back to Australia sometime before the end of the week to help Ellie move everything home.

Ellie was not pleased with all the paparazzi waiting for her outside the courthouse. This was private , it was a personal family matter and the paparazzi were exploiting her vulnerability. It made her sick.
What was worse too was the paparazzi were the only thing that could potentially stop her from getting custody.
I say the paparazzi , it was her whole lifestyle really.
The fame , the constant events that needed attending , potential world tours , the paparazzi ; they could stop Ellie from ensuring her nephew was in a safe , loving environment.
They could take away all she had left of her sister in a heartbeat.
Ellie's lawyer was ready to fight her case , explaining to the court that many celebrities had children and balanced both their work and their family perfectly well.
Ellie was ready to tell the court she would sacrifice it all for Jax.
I mean she had a degree , she could always teach music or work in the technical or production side of the industry. If the court wanted her to drop everything to have custody of Jax she would.
But Ellie's lawyer wanted to prove that Ellie wouldn't let Jax be pictured by the paparazzi and so she took Jax to court a whole hour and a half before Ellie had to be there.
The paparazzi didn't even bat an eye.
And Ellie looked like a goddess to the court for showing her intelligence and how she would handle keeping Jax hidden from the publicity of her job.
And the court was impressed.
However , they ran out of time and the court wasn't fully ready to just hand over custody straight away like Ellie and her lawyer were hoping they would do , and so Ellie was asked to come back again first thing tomorrow morning to finish the hearing.
And so to show the publicity their initiative and intelligence Ellie left the court first , followed an hour and a half later by Jax and her lawyer.

Ellie was back first thing the next day with her lawyer , this time followed by Jax and a parent of one of the students from Aishling's Irish Dance and Music School in Adelaide. The paparazzi once again didn't even bat an eye and the court was very impressed and pleased with Ellie. Her and her lawyer both fought her case , promising that Jax would never be purposely exposed to the public and if he was , God forbid it ever happened , Ellie was willing to give up her fame and lifestyle to ensure it never ever happened again.
And that was just what the court wanted to hear.
And so , Ellie was granted both physical and legal custody of her 3 month old nephew Jax by the Australian court.
But the court had one condition.
Ellie and Jax had to return to Australia at least once every two years so Jax could visit his grandparents and know his family.
Scott was not included in that family by the court , a relief to both Ellie and her lawyer.
Ellie agreed and Jax came safely home with her that afternoon.
Well , after leaving the courthouse through the back with her lawyer obviously.

Ellie started packing almost immediately. She was so ready to leave so fast and then -

Her phone rang.

It was her lawyer.

"Ellie , the court needs you to testify for your assault at Scott's sentencing"

Ellie sat on the sofa for practically the rest of the evening , only getting up to feed , change and put Jax to bed. Didn't the court have enough evidence? I mean , the cunt confessed and they had it on footage from one of the policemen's body cam.
Why would she have to come back to face this man again? Couldn't she just be left off the hook?
Scott's sentencing wasn't until next year though so maybe she'd have time to find someone to talk to between now and then.

Speaking of talking to people , Ellie still hadn't replied to anyone who'd messaged her over the last few weeks. She also had to make a statement and so she decided , instead of putting it off over and over again , to just get it over and done with.
And so that's what she did.
For the next hour and a half , Ellie wrote and rewrote and wrote again the statement she eventually felt pleased enough with and posted it to her social media.

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ellie_ryan added to their Instagram Story!

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That should do the trick.

Now she had to respond to people.
People who acted like they knew what she was going through.
People that didn't even like her but wanted to be there for her now so she'd befriend them and bring them places and make them famous too.
And now she didn't want to respond to people anymore.

But she couldn't put up a statement and then decide "Oh yeah , I'm just going to ignore all the genuine people offering me help because I'm scared of the phoney's that are offering the same thing."

So she spent the next hour nit-picking through all her messages to find genuine family and friends who wanted to support her.
I say nit-picking but she had these peoples phone numbers , the majority of them were going to be genuine.

Ellie felt a sense of almost nostalgia or relief when she saw texts from Carmen , Luisa , Lily , Charlotte , and their respective boyfriends. Being able to rewind to a mere few months ago and remember all the time they had spent together on the yacht sunbathing or swimming or going to a beach or a restaurant or a club and just having fun almost rejuvenated Ellie.

And then she realised why she had to be rejuvenated.

She was a child's legal guardian. She had a child in her care , in her custody. This was it. Her social life? Over.
Well , maybe not.
Maybe though.
Actually no , screw that.
There were young moms all over TikTok that still go out with their friends or on holidays with their girls or-
But they had partners.

And then Ellie realised she was all alone.

And before she even replied to anybody , she switched off her phone and called it a night , crying herself to sleep with the idea that she was alone.

She was never alone.
Nor was she ever going to be alone.