Broken

chapter twenty-five

I stare at my reflection in the mirror. Today's going to change everything.

Downstairs, mom and Mike sit at the table, warily looking in my direction. I sit down, but am unable to eat anything substantial for the nerves. The caffeine doesn't help, it makes me feel more jittery, but at least I get a temporary reprieve.

Ezra arrives quicker than I thought he would, but one glance at the clock tells me that we'll soon be running late.

"Hey, you," he says as soon as he opens the door. "Are you ready to go or do you need more time?"

"We're almost ready. Have you eaten?"

He nods and follows me to the breakfast table where my mom is stressing instructions to Zak on the phone. I don't understand why he's coming to the trial, but I don't question him or my mother on it; not today. Mike sheepishly turns away from Ezra and finishes his breakfast, evidently remembering the argument when Ezra was last here.

The car ride is silent, none of us sure of how to comfort the other, and none of us wanting to make awkward small talk. The sight of News reporters and journalists gathering outside of the courthouse churned my stomach. I hear their aggressive shouting of questions through the open window and quickly wind it up as we pass by. The police attempt to restrain them, but their persistent efforts to take our photographs and talk to us are hard to stop.

Ezra holds me close to his side, his arm wrapped around my shoulder tightly. Inside the courthouse is no calmer, as soon as we enter, I feel the unwanted stares in our direction.

"Miss Montgomery, Mr Fitz. How are you both today?" Sarah asks, striding up to us confidently. It's good to see a friendly face in the middle of the chaos.

"I think we'll be better once it's over," Ezra replies.

Holbrook breezes up to five of us, asking the same question Sarah did.

"Look, you might want to tone down your affection in there. We don't need to give them any more reasons to embellish on the irrelevant details, okay?"

I look wide-eyed at her then to Holbrook, knowing we can't talk ourselves out of this now.

"Don't worry, Aria, I already know," he smiles, clearly amused.

"You do?" I ask.

"Of course I do. Don't worry, I'm on your side here, okay?"

I nod. "Thank you."

Spencer, Hanna, Emily, and Mona arrive, and I feel instantly relieved. Caleb walks in a few paces behind them, and Spencer finds Toby among the crowd of officers at the far end of the lobby. I greet Pam Fields and Veronica Hastings with a smile, and Hanna introduces me to her mom, Ashley.

"It's lovely to finally meet you, Aria," Ashley says.

"You too, Mrs Marin."

"Oh, call me Ashley please. 'Mrs Marin' makes me feel old," she chuckles.

"Thank you for coming, Ashley," I say.

She pulls me into a comforting hug, which is forward of her but I've been living in my head for the whole morning that I didn't realise how much I actually needed a hug until now. "We're all here for you. We're going to back you up every step of the way."

We're escorted into the courtroom and I can sense myself losing touch with reality. I inhale deeply and then exhale to calm myself.

"Ezra." I touch his arm to get his attention.