My heart stops. Only it doesn't. It speeds up instead. 

It feels like it's beating its way out of me, through my neck and mouth, even through my ears. It wants to leave but it doesn't. It stays inside tucked underneath my ribs, going overdrive with the mention of her name.

She steps through and even though I don't want to look, I can't look away either.

Unlike the last time I saw her at school, today she's put together. Dressed in black slacks and a white blouse, the only remnants of her edgy style are the combat boots and the cat-shaped eyeliner on her lids.

Our eyes lock and we both freeze. Time stops, everything else fades and it feels like my body shut down. She's stunning. As always. It takes my breath away, just like the first time I set my eyes on her. 

It's ridiculous how much has changed in just six months. And even though she broke my heart into a million pieces, she still is the owner of those pieces.

My hands itch to try and reach for her. I have never missed someone in this much in my life, it was only after losing her that I realized how much she grounded me. How much she kept me sane.

And fuck I miss it. I miss her.

I am still a fucking sucker for her. Whatever fate I get, I'll always be hers. 

The officer that was guarding the door, motions for her to sit down and she does. Right in front of me, with her back facing me.

Rubbing my face, I curse mentally.

Fuck. This is so freaking hard.

"Please, stand," the Prosecutor orders and she does, silently. " Do you promise that the testimony you shall give before this court shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?"

"I do," Luna replies.

"Tell us your first and last name, please."

"Luna Abblesboom." 

"You may be seated," the Prosecutor orders and she does it, once again.

"The defence may proceed," the judge orders next and my lawyer stands up again, this time talking to her. 

"Hello, Luna. Could you tell everyone present in this court what's your relation to the defendant?" 

"Yes," she answers. "I'm his girlfriend." 

A couple of gasps sound but they're muffled by the murmurs that grow behind us.

"Order!" With a hit of his gavel, everyone shuts up.

"For how long?" 

"Officially? Uhm, almost three months. But we've known each other for six, since the beginning of school." 

"And throughout all of these months. Can you describe what you got to know about Dylan?" 

"Of course," she nods before stealing a glance back at me. "I am not the best with words, but I'll try my best." A small pause and then, "The best way to describe Dylan is love and family." 

A punch. It feels like a punch to the heart.

"He is clumsy and funny, always in a good mood, a trait I think he got from his uncle. But the best? This man loves hard. And when I say hard is not the crazy stalker type... It's the 'here let's grab lunch because I know you're starving and too embarrassed to tell me', or the 'I'll pick you up at the end of the world because I don't want you walking alone at night' and especially because of the 'you can talk to me or not, but I'll be here." She sighs before continuing. "One who doesn't know will doubt because of his gender but if there is one thing I understood in his family is that Liam and Willow teach all of their kids to understand boundaries and consent. There isn't an ounce of evilness in him. None."

"Is that what you think of him?" 

"One hundred per cent," Luna answer my lawyer.

"Alright, I know you were supposed to meet Dylan on the night of the... attack on the victim. Can you tell us what happened?" 

"That night, Dylan told me to meet him at said hotel. He had sent me the bedroom number through text message and since we were supposed to stay the night and drive in his car to my dad's the next morning, I took a cab there. Except, when I got there my ex, Dean intercepted me and prevented me to enter the hotel."

What?

"When I attempted to free myself from him, he pointed a gun at me, forcing me to go with him to the hotel across the street."

WHAT?!

"Mr Davis, sit down!" The judge barks and only then do I notice how I stood up and walked to the wooden fence.

"Luna," I call her, ignoring her.

"Mr Davis! I will not repeat myself."

"Dy," Luna whispers, looking at me. "Sit down." 

He forced her? Fuck.

Slowly, I sit down and Luna turns back forward.

"I'm sorry your Honour," she laughs nervously. "He might be a golden-hearted boy but he is kind of impulsive. Where was I?"

The lawyer chuckles but helps her out, "Your ex forced you to go with him to the hotel across the street?"

"Ah yes. Dean, that's his name. He has been threatening me for a few months, trying to get me to go back to him and pressuring me to leave  Dylan, claiming he'd feel the consequences if I wouldn't."

"Are you saying this is a consequence of his threats?" 

"It could be," she nods. "In the hotel room, on one of the lower floors, he tied me up to a chair and placed me in front of the window, with a direct view to the entrance of the hotel Dylan was in. A few minutes later he received a call from Abby."

Another round of gasps and my eyebrows shoot up.

"Did you hear what she said?" 

"No, but from what Dean answered I gathered what they had planned. They planned to intersect me and not let me go meet Dylan so she could go instead and win him back. His exact words were 'Take your man back and don't leave that bedroom until you're back together'."

"And then?"

"If she failed to do it - as she did - the plan was to leave drugs in there so he could be charged. But instead, he left the room it seems so that wasn't viable anymore because he needed to be if the police came with an anonymous tip." 

Drug possession? This seems like a goddam soap opera!

"That didn't happen either." My lawyer comments, urging her to continue. 

I'm on the edge of my seat, anxious to know more about what happened. And feeling utterly stupid. She tried to talk to me twice and like the selfish bastard I am, I denied her that right. Too focused on my pain and self-pity and she had a gun pointed at her and was kidnapped for an entire night. 

"No." She agrees with him. "To try and draw attention to us I started to do a lot of noise. Yelling and thumping the chair I was attached to on the floor but to shut me up he drugged me." 

This time around, I feel my body move, into a stand-up position again, "He what?" I bark. 

"Mr Davis. Do I have to restrain you?"

"Sit down, Dylan!" Luna hisses and I sit down.

"Please do not address the defendant," Abby's lawyer chimes in for the first time.

"Sweetheart," my lawyer calls for Luna's attention, taking over the questioning again. "Can you continue?" 

"His drugged took me out, for the entire night but before I blacked out, he received another call."

"Who was it?" 

"Abby," Luna answers. "I heard her panicked yells, telling him Dylan had left her alone in the hotel room. Dean was pissed and told her to stay put because they needed a new plan B now that he wasn't even in the bedroom anymore." 

"You heard that?"

"Yes, right before I blacked out." 

"No further questions, Your Honour." My lawyer nods in acknowledgement before sitting down on his side.

"Accusation, do you have questions?"

"We sure do, your Honour." Abby's lawyers stand up and leisurely walk to where my lawyer was just a few moments ago. "So what you're saying is that my client and your... ex planned and invented the whole thing to frame Dylan Davis?"

"No." Luna shakes her head. "I told you what happened, what I witnessed while I was conscious. What happened inside that bedroom is something only the two of them - Abby and Dean - know."

"Because you blacked out, right?"

"I think that was pretty clear," she grits out.

"When did you wake up?" 

"In the morning."

"Where was Dean when you woke up?"

"In the bedroom."

"And where was he when you blacked out?"

"In the bedroom."

"So you have no way to prove he went there. Right? You're just assuming a conversation you think you heard after being drugged." 

"He was dressing his jacket," she counters but the aggravation on her voice is palpable. "I blacked before I could see him leave but I did listen to a door slamming shut. I am sure he left and went to meet with Abby."

"You were drugged by Dean, you said?" He presses.

Luna maintained her straightened position the entire time but I notice in her body language, how she stiffed at the sound of his words. She's uncomfortable and I understand why. The drug subject has never been an easy subject for her.

I grit my teeth in annoyance and anticipation. He better not say what I think he's about to say.

"Yes, I was."

"Or did you get high with him? Your mother is in rehab and he is her supplier as we've found out. It's not uncommon for children to follow in their parent's footsteps. And you don't need to be ashamed of the fact that you didn't have good role models growing up. That might explain why you're here defending a rapist."

What an ignorant moron.

"Objection Your Honour," my lawyer yells, visibly irritated as well. "The witness has done drug tests because of the possibility of those assumptions and besides the ones that showed up from the night she was drugged, she's been clean ever since. The witness lives a comfortable life with her father. This is not relevant to the case."

"Sustained." The judge agrees, thankfully. "The witness' mother's problems aren't relevant to this case. Do you have more questions?" She asks, looking from my lawyer to Abby's.

"No more questions, Your Honour." The lawyer nods. "Whether she is an addict like her mother or not, her testimony is not reliable in my perspective." 

"That seems to be a detail for me to judge, Mr Ashton. Please sit down." He obeys. "The witness is excused. Let's make a half a ten-minute break and we'll continue with the next witness." 

She hits the gavel on its baseband everyone stands up in respect. The Judge and the Prosecutor leave the room, permitting everyone else to leave as well, but I don't move. 

It's only when Luna stands up that I do too, ignoring everyone else around us. She comes closer to the wooden barrier with a sad smile on her face.

"I..." I cut myself off, short for words.

"I know," she whispers. "It's fine." 

"It's not fine." I shake my head. "First of all, I'm sorry that asshole said those things about your mum and the drugs, he should've been stopped. God, I wish I could-"

"Dylan," she laughs. "You're the one being accused of a crime you didn't commit and you're worried someone insinuated I am a drug addict? When will you learn? Also, I thought you weren't even talking to me..." Her right eyebrow raises as her head tilts to the side and I can't help but blush.

I'm an asshole, and I also can't resist you. That's what.

Completely wrapped around her finger.

With a clear of my throat, I say, "We need to talk, this is..."

"We'll talk when this is over. There's still a lot to go over with before this trial finishes." 

"What?" I lean back with a frown. "What do you mean?"

"Luna!" My dad calls. The lawyer is next to him and they're looking from a cellphone screen at us. "Your dad's P. I. located him and is on his way here with him!" 

"What? Who?" I ask.

"Finally!" She exclaims. "Thank God we put his name as a witness, all the same." 

My gaze jumps from both my dad and lawyer to Luna's still confused and out of the loop. Who are they talking about?"

"They'll be here on time and he'll witness. With his testimony, the judge will have no other option but to delay the decision." My lawyer informs us. "Because with his appearance, the police will need his official statement in writing." 

"Who the hell are you talking about?"

"You'll see," Luna tells me with a giddy smile. "Let's prove your innocence. Shall we?"

⛓️ Author's Note ⛓️

I promised and delivered. This court situation was supposed to last two chapters but  I guess it will have a third part, however it won't be as heavy as the first two.

I also want to thank every and single one of you because this is the first book of mine to ever reach 85k views before it's finished. The only other book that has had so much attention has been Back to Willow so... Thank you. Really. If I write and update as much as I do it's because of your votes and comments. It gives me more incentive to write more!

Now, they haven't talked ye but... Dylan is seeing things in a different light at this point. Right? 

I hope to be able to put the next one out there soon. By Sunday at the latest, but no promises this time around!