Luke's Angel// LEMMA\\ #Wattys2016

Chapter Fifteen

Luke
The day of the trial had finally arrived and we were all dreading it. November 10th; one day before Emma's birthday and it couldn't be worse timing. Not only was it going to ruin her birthday, but she'd just started counselling, and it would just open up the box she'd tried to lock those memories in. She hadn't been sleeping, no matter how hard she tried to hide it, but the night before the trial was the worst. Even I couldn't sleep, so we lay in bed together (against Mum's rules) in silence, worrying about the day to come.

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"Luke? Come on darling, time to get up." My mum pushed open the door, carrying a tray full of food. "What have I told you about having Emma in during the night?"

"Mum, chill, it's not like we're gonna do anything. We both needed comfort, it's so scary." I sighed, getting up and taking the tray off her. Emma began to sit up, acting if she had slept well that night.

"Well, hurry up and eat, we're leaving in an hour." I began to wolf down my breakfast of toast and jam with orange juice, whereas Emma just picked at hers.

"You've gotta eat, Em."

"I'm fine, just nervous. I'm going in the shower, k?" A few minutes later I heard the sound of the water running, so I got up and got dressed, pulling on some black jeans and one of my school shirts so I could at least look presentable. I brushed my fingers through my hair and waited for Emma to get out so I could brush my teeth.

When she finally did get out, she was dressed in a white dress with black hearts on it, black tights and one of my black zip-up hoodies. She looked tiny in the hoodie.

She blushed, "it'll make me feel like you're there in the stand."

"I don't care, keep it, you look so cute." I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth and when I came back, she was sat on my bed, fiddling with the duvet cover. "It'll be fine. We'll just give our statements, have some lawyer yell at us, and then we'll wait a bit and the judge will tell us if they're guilty or not."

"You make it sound easy." I gave her a peck on the lips, and she wrapped her arms round my waist, burying her face into my chest.

"C'mon, we may as well be early." I led her downstairs, to find that my parents were already in the car waiting. It hadn't been an hour, no way!!

"We're going to be late, Luke!! Hurry up!" Dad shouted.

"Sorry Mr Cutforth." Emma replied as we got in the car. Dad just rolled his eyes, because for the millionth time, she'd called him Mr Cutforth and after a million times of him telling her otherwise, he'd just given up.

Emma began to tap her fingers against her leg in some kind of pattern; a sign she was nervous.

"It's gonna be fine." I whispered, kissing her cheek.

"You sure?" Her breaths were sharp, and her tapping had sped up. I took her hand in mine, as a sort of reassurance.

"As long as I'm there, they can't hurt you. And I'm going to be there." She gave me a small smile but despite me saying those words, I couldn't seem to stop my heart from thumping in my chest. I bit my lip, pulling the skin between my teeth. I was so fucking scared.

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We pulled into the court car park and walked into the building. The waiting room was empty, so we sat there, Emma and I at one end of the room, Mum and Dad at the other. We didn't speak, and suddenly all the sounds of the world became clear because of the silence. Emma's breathing, the sound of my heart, the clicking of the receptionist's pen, the tapping of Dad's foot.

It seemed like hundreds of years before we were called into the courtroom. Almost immediately, I was called up to the stands to give a statement. Emma gave my hand a tight squeeze and then I made the journey to the stand. At every step, my brain just played the Death March over and over.