'such a pity, a boy so pretty'

17. (court) date

Keith was pacing in his room, him and his dad were supposed to leave in a few minutes, to go and meet Lance and his family at the town's courthouse. Keith was nervous, but he could only imagine how Lance was feeling.

"Keith! Time to go!" His Dad called from downstairs, he grabbed his phone and walked down, where his dad was waiting in the car. He locked the house and got in, tapping his foot, his leg shaking impatiently. "Keith it's going to be fine." His Dad told him, with a smile, as he drove down the road, past the school and towards the middle of town where the courthouse was.

As soon as his Dad had pulled the handbrake Keith had jumped out of the car and made his way up the stone steps, straightening the off-white shirt that he wore beneath his regular jacket, a dark red tie hanging a little loose around his neck. He walked inside and instantly felt inferior to the other residents of the building, who, in their posh expensive suits, bustled past him through the halls.

Keith was frozen for a while before he remembered what he was here for, their case was in court room four and he made his way up the second set of stairs, not waiting for his dad who had just walked in behind him. He turned the corner and walked down the hall where he spotted Julian drinking from the water fountain, his own lawyer, who looked a bit like a rat, standing a few feet away, holding his briefcase so tightly his knuckles were white.

Rage boiled up inside of Keith. How dare he. How dare he stand there in his three piece suit, his stupid shining shoes with his expensive lawyer and act like he owned the place. How dare he smirk in Keith's direction and act as if all this wasn't a big deal, the black-haired boy glared at him, until he turned away and back to his lawyer, who looked relieved to talk with his client. Keith clenched his fists And was about to go over when his Dad caught up with him and placed a hand on Keith's shoulder.

He too glanced at Julian, his gaze unfriendly, but steered Keith away and past him, down the hall where Lance was pacing, vigorously, just like his sister had at the hospital. Robert  was standing next to Lance, trying to calm him down. "Your boyfriend's here." He smirked and Lance looked up to see Keith.

The first thing Keith noticed was how red Lances eyes looked, the usual blue had paled a little and they were bloodshot. He had dark bags underneath his eye. At least his hair was the same, though tamed a little, probably his mother's doing. He was wearing a suit, not unlike his poor excuse for a father's, the material a dark grey, almost black, the navy blue tie hung messily around his neck.

Keith practically ran to him and pulled him into a hug, Lance was shaking, and Keith could now see just how nervous and terrified he was. Lance held him just as tightly back. It's gonna be fine, he thought, why am I so nervous anyway, it's not like it can get worse, can it?

They both stood there for a good five minutes, not moving, just hugging, holding each other, before Lance pulled back and looked at Keith. Though Lance was taller, Keith didn't think he'd ever remember seeing Lance look so small. He took his hands and looked him in the eyes. He then looked down at his tie and pulled it up a little, tightening it for him, then he wiped his eyes and cupped his face.

"It's gonna be fine." He told him, and walked towards the bench, pulling Lance with him and they both sat down, where Lance rested his head on Keith's shoulder.

"I thought you hated that word." Lance sighed, and Keith held his hand.

Every else filed in the courtroom, Keith sat in the crowd, somewhat near the front. He could see Lance, who had walked in before everyone else, sat with his brother and Keith's Dad, he was still shaking. He judge took his place, and the jury was silenced.

"The McClain family, against the father, Julian Elliot McClain, accused of physical assault and abuse on two accounts, to his son Lance Charles McClain." The judge introduced the case to the court. "To testify against Mr Julian McClain, the victim and his brother, Robert Julian McClain." The judge nodded and looked at the papers gathered on his talk desk. "The defence may present their case." The judge turned to Keith's Dad, who stood up.

"I'd like to ask Lance McClain to the stand." His Dad said, nodding reassuringly at Lance, as his brother squeezed his shoulder and he got up and walked over to the witness stand, sitting down and looking out onto the court. The room spun and he clutched the side of his chair, looking down.

"On the night of July 18th, Lance had spoken in confidence to his mother, regarding his sexuality. He had picked a time when he thought his father wasn't home, why was that Lance?" Mr Kogane asked him, one of the questions he'd already prepped him on asking.

"I didn't want him to know yet." Lance said, calming the edge in his voice.

"Why not?" He asked.

"I didn't want him to get mad."

"And has he gotten mad before?"

"Yes."

"What happened?"

"When I was 12" Lance fumbled with his hands, looking down again. "He threw a beer bottle at me." Lance looked up, coughing a little.

"And what happened after that?"

"We went to the hospital, I got stitches, and then we never spoke about it again." Lance said, a little more confidently, looking past Mr Kogane and at Keith.

"And what happened on the night of July 18th?" Keiths Dad asked him, and Lance brought out his statement, staring at the words he'd printed out, his rehearsed story. Lance felt a lump in his throat and swallowed , his eyes following each paragraph. He looked back up to Keith, who smiled at him.

"Mr McClain?" The Judge said, and Lance nodded and began to explain.

"My father had overheard me taking to my mother and had come into the room and pinned me up against the wall, and shouted in my face." Lance sighed and carried on. "He asked me if I was being serious and told me that I was disgusting and.....a disappointment." Though Keith had helped Lance write it, sitting there and listen to him read it was a completely different experience.

"And then what happened?" Keiths Dad asked.

"He grabbed my head and hit it against the wall, and carried on shouting."

"Did you know if he was intoxicated or not?" Mr Kogane asked.

"I don't know, but he did smell like alcohol." Lance said.

"Thank you Lance, you may step down now." Keiths Dad smiled at him and Lance folded up his piece of paper and walked back to his seat, when there he craned his neck and smiled at Keith, who smiled back.

end of chapter 17