` pocket full of regrets

[Summer Jackson]

The couple weeks that came before the trial hadn’t been easy for Summer, to say the least. However, everyone around her was doing a great job at making her feel at ease. Michael and Victor had managed to put their differences aside for the time being and really hadn’t gotten into too much since the first night of their time in Colorado, or at least to Summer’s knowledge and what she didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her for now. Summer knew that she had been a little clingy lately and refused to go anywhere alone ever since she found out that Scott had gotten out on bail. In fact, she wouldn’t even be alone with Michael or her father in public after she found out that fact because she didn’t want to walk into the bathroom alone either, so one of her sisters usually tagged along. She was sure Michael wasn’t exactly happy with that, as they had a few dinner or date nights planned, but she could only do so much and Mike would have to know how much Scott scared her so she hoped it wasn’t too bothered with the fact.

Beyond that, Summer was holding herself together shockingly well. Once or twice Michael had to calm her down after waking up to an unprovoked panic attack or just hold her when she would start crying out of the blue, but that was basically all. She had been back and forth from the police house to talk to the detectives working her case and the prosecuting attorney. She had gone over her story so many times that she wasn’t sure how she wasn’t crying and tripping over herself all the time. Michael, however, had yet to hear the story. She didn’t want him to have to hear the story more than once as it wasn’t a pretty thing to hear, and she felt that it was quite embarrassing for her as well. Whenever she had to say it again, run it again or whatever else she would always ask Michael to get her something out of the vending machine or be asked to be taken into a witness room while Michael waited for her return. She was even considering telling him that he didn’t need to be in the room during the trial to avoid hearing the story altogether, and hearing what others may have to say about her, but she did feel that he would want to be there so was slightly nervous about giving the offer.

So far during their trip, however, she felt Michael had little room to complain. She had stopped her father from digging at him, her mother was nothing but pleasant and once they were back in the privacy of their hotel room Summer herself was more affectionate and intimate than she had been for a couple weeks leading up to their departure from Pasadena. The clinginess may not be such a bad thing in that respect, and Michael will have found himself with a few more liberties than he had before. Most nights were ended with a fair bit of intimacy in the bed they were sharing, with more sexual thoughts in the intimacy than Summer thought she would be comfortable with but after the first time or two in which Michael had taken her bra off for her (with her, or his, shirt still over it of course) she didn’t think a thing of it and just saw it as another way for them to be intimate. In fact, this last night she found herself encouraging him to cop a feel while his hands were under her shirt, which she was shocked she was doing once she realized she was, but was actually very proud of herself as well. No matter how much Michael tried to convince her that he was fine waiting she did know that a few sexual acts would make things easier for him as well.

Now, though, it was around two in the morning the day before the trial and they were both asleep in bed. Summer had her back to Michael and was sleeping on her side. She held his hand in hers around her waist and her back was basically pressed up against him. She was sleeping rather soundly when a terrible dream troubled her mind. It was a dream she knew all too well. She was in an alley, a familiar alley, but still dark and uninviting, even more-so in her dreams than it had been in actuality, and we all know what happened to her in that alley. Her point of view shifted from being herself, trapped against the cold, hard ground and screaming for it all to stop, pounding against her faceless attacker’s chest and kicking as she could to watching the scene from above. At those times, the vision of herself that she looked down upon was silent, small and helpless. Her blonde hair appeared to have been hacked short and her face more closely resembled that of a child than of the sixteen year old she had been at the time while her body was limp. When this happened she was yelling at herself to fight back, which was only greeted by a reappearance in her own body. She therapist has suggested those out of body experiences represented the times during the attacked in which she had been unconscious, but it was anyone’s guess really.

Actually, as this dream troubled her thoughts, Summer was fussing in bed. A first she just gave a few scared moans before she started to talk in her sleep. She had been told she always spoke in her sleep during these dreams, and always the same words in the same way, a pleading, sobbing and begging tone that got louder the louder it went on. “No… no stop… stop. No! No! NO!” finally she just let out a screech and her eyes snapped open. She glanced around the hotel room, sweat dripping from her brow, Boggart busily licking her hand and face from his spot beside her on the floor and blue eyes as wide as they could be and full of fear. As she looked around her she turned and saw Michael, with his arm over her. With such a short time to think she gave a short screech once again, flung his arm off her and with the momentum pushed herself off the bed. She managed to avoid falling hard, clinging to the blankets and head boards, which also gave Boggart enough time to move out of the way before she fell onto the fairly soft bed she had stolen from her parent’s house for Boggart’s use.

Summer was actually a little shocked on how she ended up on the ground. The sequence of events didn’t make sense in her mind, in fact, nothing made sense right now. She could hardly remember why she was in a hotel and it took her a few moments before she realized that Michael slept next to her almost every night now. It could easily be said she wasn’t all there, her mind wasn’t thinking clearly and she wasn’t thinking through her actions before she preformed them. Nothing made sense to her right now. Her mind was spinning; her hands were shaking and her breathing unsteady. She was scared, she was uncomfortable and she, all in all, didn’t want to be here. Here in the hotel room, in Colorado and here as the place in time when she was about to face the man who had hurt her so badly those few years ago. What is normally her conscious mind was now the unconscious, screaming at her to calm down, take her medications and curl back up to Michael to fall back asleep and that she would feel much better in the morning. However, for the first time in a long time, this part of her mind was being ignored completely and she was acting on impulse and instinct. She wanted out of there, out of the town that caused her so much pain and away from the confrontation that frightened her so. She stumbled towards her suitcase and started to throw everything into it, in a way in which it wouldn’t close, but, as was said, she wasn’t thinking clearly. She just wanted to be taken home, at least, that was what was in the forefront of her mind at the moment.

[Michael Brentley]

The past several weeks had been rather stressful for everyone, but Michael seemed to be adapting well to the situation. Victor had given him a lot of trouble in the beginning, but as the days progressed the focus turned to Summer and the trial, rather than their relationship. Every now and then Mike would hear a comment from Victor that Michael didn’t exactly appreciate, but it was becoming more tolerable because no matter what the subject matter was, it was usually always focused back on the trial within a moment or so. It wouldn’t be fair for Summer to have to worry about her father and boyfriend fighting on top of the already overwhelming trial. Michael cared about her too much to do anything that would add to her stress level and he knew that her father felt the same way. That was probably one of the only reasons that the two of them were able to tolerate each other to some degree at this point.

Michael was getting a little anxious about the trial, but he did his best not to let it show. He hadn’t heard the story of what happened and he knew it was going to be extremely difficult for him to hear. He just hoped he could remain calm and not let any emotions get the best of him. He was here to support Summer and that was exactly what he intended to do and he planned to do it without interfering with the proceedings of the trial. Everyone wanted it to go as smoothly as possible and the best way to ensure that was for everyone to cooperate and hope that there weren’t any surprises along the way. He realized by now that Summer didn’t intend on him hearing about what happened more than once, so whenever she asked him to retrieve something for her, he wouldn’t ask any questions and made sure to be gone long enough for her to finish telling whoever it was about what happened before he returned.

Despite the stress of the trial as well as dealing with Summer’s father, Michael couldn’t say he was having too much trouble with the trip thus far. He couldn’t be happier that they were able to stay at a decent hotel rather than at her parents’ house. That wasn’t to say the hotel was nicer by any means, of course, but he highly doubted either of them would be too comfortable fooling around in her parents’ house and he knew her father wouldn’t approve of them staying in the same room either. He was enjoying the new freedoms that he had with Summer and definitely could not complain about anything in that aspect. Michael had been worried that Summer would be too worried and stressed about the trial to be in the mood to do anything, but fortunately she seemed to be coping well with everything thus far. He wanted to be able to keep her mind off of things as much as possible and being intimate with her was one way to do that. He wanted to comfort her and show his love for her physically in addition to his words. His support was more crucial now than ever and he didn’t want her to doubt for a second that he would be there for her no matter what.

As the trial drew nearer, Mike was thinking more and more of what things would be like once it was all over. He hoped it gave Summer the kind of closure she was seeking by putting the man who had violated her behind bars. He looked forward to being able to put the trial behind them and he knew Summer would continue to make progress towards living a more normal life. The next several days weren’t going to be easy, but looking to the future seemed to help ease the stress a little. Summer’s parents had done well in preparing Michael for the trial as best they could since he hadn’t been a witness of anything like it before. They made sure he understood that he could leave the courtroom at any time if he became uncomfortable, but he promised himself he wouldn’t do that. He had to stay strong for Summer even if parts of the trial became difficult to hear. Mike had thought a lot about how the trial would affect his relationship with Summer and he still wasn’t quite sure. His feelings for her wouldn’t change, he knew that much, but after finding out what happened to her, he feared there would be a certain awkwardness between them since the event was such a personal matter. That brought to mind whether or not he thought he should just avoid hearing about what happened altogether. Then again, he didn’t want to remain wondering about it and force her to bring it up later. He hoped that this trial would be the last time she would have to discuss the event in detail.

Although he was quite anxious about the trial that was to occur the following day, Michael was able to fall asleep after about an hour. They had to be up fairly early and he didn’t want to deprive himself of any more sleep that week. Michael couldn’t quite remember what he had been dreaming about, but Summer’s first high-pitched screech had somehow been incorporated in his dream, thus failing to wake him up. The second time, however, was more than enough to wake him. His eyes flew open and it didn’t take him long to notice that Summer was absent from the bed they had been sharing for the past few weeks. He blinked quickly a few times before quickly sitting up in the bed and glancing around the room frantically. “Summer?” he said into the darkness before being able to see her on the ground. He threw himself out of bed and followed her as she began throwing things into her suitcase. “Summer! Summer, it’s okay,” he said in a light attempt to get her to calm down, but it was also simply to let her know he was there so as not to startle her and add to her panic. He moved in front of her and grabbed the shirt she had in her hand, forcing her to stop even if it was only for a second. “It’s okay. Just breathe, baby. Try to breathe.” he said softly, a bit hesitant about touching her just yet. He didn’t want to make things worse. He knew she needed her medication, but he needed to calm her down a little before that would happen. He didn’t want to force it down her throat, after all.

[Summer Jackson]

It was no secret that Summer liked the ways things were going between Michael and her father. However, she was very worried that after the trial everything would regress back to where it had started and she really didn’t want that, for obvious reasons. Though she was aware that Victor and Michael would doubtfully ever be friends she hoped that they would be able to deal with each other after this. They would be in the other’s life for a very long time if everything worked out the way she hoped it would so having the two of them regress was something she couldn’t help but worry about. She hated being stuck in the middle of her loving father and the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. She hoped they would both finally realize that it wasn’t fair to her to constantly be at each other’s throat with her in-between them.

Things had been going well, no one could deny that. The trial seemed like a basic slam dunk from what her attorney had been telling her, she’d gone through her story multiple times and though she did not enjoy telling the story she knew it was going to help when she had to in the court room and all in all she was staying nice and calm. Well, until tonight that was. Sure, she had a fair number of panic attacks over the last few weeks but nothing to this extent. What was happening to her tonight hadn’t happened to her since right after the attack. If she was more in her conscious mind she would know that and know it happened because she had to face Scott tomorrow, which scared her more than anyone around her could possibly understand. She wasn’t even sure how to explain how she was feeling right now. She knew she was having a panic attack but a part of her felt this panic attack made sense, when most of them didn’t. She didn’t want to fix it, she wanted to follow all the crazy thoughts that were popping into her head, and those were simply telling her to get out, which she had to admit, that sounded like a pretty good idea.

Summer was used to her screams waking Michael up, even if they weren’t in the same room that particular night, but she had encouraged him to just let her screams roll off his back unless she actually acted as if she needed something from him. Normally the dreams were just like any nightmare in which she would wake up in a cold sweat with her heart pounding but soon be able to go back to sleep with no other problems, and Mike would know that by now. Tonight was different, of course, and a part of her was shocked that he didn’t wake up right away, but that didn’t matter now. She had to get ready to go, get out of this town and do it as soon as possible. It wasn’t safe and she didn’t want to be here and she didn’t want her boyfriend here and she didn’t want her parents here, but she knew that wasn’t going to change so the most she could try and do was get her and her boyfriend out before anyone else got hurt, because she was currently convinced that was going to happen.

Summer ignored Michael calling her name, but the reason for the words were not lost on her. It did let her know that Mike was close by and not to spook if he suddenly came into her line of sight. Her heart did give an extra slight jerk when Michael came in front of her, but it was nothing compared to how fast her heart was already pounding in her chest. When he took the blouse she had in her hand she quickly reached back out for it, grabbing it in her slim fingers once again as he tried to calm her down and told her to breathe. “Stop!” she said in a panicked, but still soft and pleading voice as she pulled at the blouse to be able to put it into her pink suitcase. Seeing Michael’s figure was easy, the light she required Michael to keep on in the bathroom flowed over onto his frame. She didn’t like the dark, and Mike knew that by now. “Give it back! We have to leave,” she said through her tear filled eyes and tight throat as she gazed up at the man she loved. “Michael! Give it!” she pulled against the blouse harder, putting a bit of her weight against it this time.

“I… I don’t wanna do this anymore,” she said as she started sobbing a little more firmly as she started throwing other things around her into the suitcase, giving up on the blouse if he wouldn’t let go, and if he did starting with that so she could continue. It made her feel better, having something with her hands to do but Michael was right in trying to get her to stop. She needed to focus on something beyond her crazy thoughts right now, and focusing on her breathing or on Mike would be perfect but she didn’t want that. She felt better throwing stuff into a suitcase at the moment. “I’m scared… I don’t wanna see him. I just… I wanna go home. You’ll take me home, right? We have to go. He’s gonna hurt me again, I know it. We hav’ta go,” she begged as she finished with everything around her in the suitcase and began to stand once again, to get the things from the other places in the hotel room. After all, they had been living there for a few weeks, their stuff was everywhere. As she stood up, Summer trip over her own feet and stumbled into Michael. One hand gripped firmly into his shoulder, her lengthy nails digging into his skin as she managed to get her feet back under her again.

“Sorry!” she said quickly as she realized what she did, but didn’t move from her spot for a few moments as she gazed up into his blue eyes. She stood back up on her own two feet and wiped tears away from her eyes with a shaky hand. She bit her lip to the point where it caused her a decent amount of pain as she shook her head slightly. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but in the end she just turned and walked towards the bathroom, grabbing her make-up and blow dryer and flat iron and gathering everything she could up into her arms, even though it wasn’t working and things kept falling onto the floor and back onto the counter. She just wanted to go home.

[Michael Brentley]

Summer had had several panic attacks since they’d been together. It wasn’t really anything new to him, but this time it was different. Normally she was willing to calm down if she could help it and it would only be a few minutes before she requested her medication. After that, things always improved within a matter of minutes, but right now he didn’t even know where to begin. He hadn’t known her to act on her emotions this way and he was sure that words simply wouldn’t be enough to stop her. Just when he thought he was doing well in handling this type of thing when it came up simply by following the advice she had given him, something unusual came up that he had no clue how to deal with. The last thing he was going to do, however, was force her to handle it on her own. He was here to support her and comfort her when she needed it and it would be a huge mistake to not offer his help now in any way he could.

Everything appeared to be going well and Michael hardly expected any surprises at this point. They were only hours away from the trial and it seemed like Summer had overcome all of the obstacles leading up to the trial, but clearly her dreams had other ideas. Well, nightmares, rather. The expression on her face tore at his him as he attempted to calm her down. She looked terrified and was obviously panicking to an extent that left her seemingly out of control of her emotions. After grabbing the garment that was in Summer’s hand, he refused to let go. He knew if he let go she’d go right back to throwing things in her suitcase. He hoped that if he could just stop her for a few seconds, she might be able to collect her thoughts and think more rationally. Unfortunately, instead of giving up on packing, she simply gave up on fighting over the blouse and went right back to throwing things into her suitcase. “Baby, I know you’re scared, but running away won’t solve anything,” he insisted, staring back at her while trying to remain as calm as possible.

He listened carefully as she spoke. He sighed and shook his head slightly. “Summer, I support whatever decision you make, but I don’t think that’s what you really want,” he responded quickly. He took a few steps closer to her. “He can’t hurt you. Not anymore. That’s why you’re here, Summer. He’ll never hurt you or anyone else again,” he assured her, hoping he was making some sort of progress. As she got up, Michael was expecting to go after her, but she ended up falling into him. He winced slightly as her nails dugs into his skin, but quickly recovered once she started towards the bathroom. He followed her into the bathroom and grabbed the hairdryer out of her hands quickly, causing most everything else in her hands to fall as well. Before she could react, he took her hands in his and held them firmly, forcing her to face him, just tight enough so that she couldn’t turn away without pulling back with a bit of force. “You’ve gotta stop this. Just try to calm down, Summer. Take a deep breath. Please…” he pleaded with her. His eyes showed concern and affection as he looked at her, refusing to take his eyes off of her.

“I’ll be with you every step of the way. I know it won’t be easy for you to see him, but you have to be strong, Summer. You need to do this for yourself. You’ll regret it if you leave now,” he continued, still not sure if he had much of a chance in calming her down in this way. He knew she couldn’t stand being restrained and it was possible he had made it worse. As soon as he finished his words, he released her and waited to see what she would do. He wasn’t going to hurt her by any means and he knew she knew that, but in the state she was now, he wasn’t quite sure what to expect. This was all extremely overwhelming for Summer and it was a different experience for Michael as well. A part of him wanted to concede and take her home as she requested after seeing her so hurt and afraid, but he knew that would be a mistake and she’d realize it soon enough.

He kept playing with ideas in his head as far as what he could do. He was tempted to grab her medication out of her purse, but he wasn’t yet sure if she’d be willing to take it. Boggart was close by, but was forced to focus on not getting stepped on for a few moments. It was never a good thing when he had to turn to the dog for some help when Michael couldn’t calm her down himself. It was impossible to know how Summer felt at that moment and he knew he would never fully understand the magnitude of it all, but he was determined to make sure to stand behind her and help her to move forward. He knew that if she backed out of the trial now, it would be a big step backward in her progress and he wasn’t about to let her do that to herself.

[Summer Jackson]

Summer was actually impressed on how well Michael could now handle one of her panic attacks. He seemed to know exactly what to do any how to help her, but once she calmed down she would realize that she should have informed him how to handle something like this. It was more than obvious he didn’t know what to do and how to calm her down and she couldn’t tell him what he was doing wrong now. Hell, she didn’t realize he was doing anything wrong right now. The only thing that made any senses at all was getting out of here and finding somewhere she could feel safe again. Little did her panicked mind remember that being wrapped up in Mike’s arms was about as safe as she had ever felt in years, but that didn’t matter, not now. She just wanted out, wanted to leave and wanted to give up on the idea of justice. Or, at least that’s what she thought she wanted. If she was in her right mind there was no way she would even suggest going home. Sure, she’d probably cry into Michael’s shoulder one more time, tell him how scared she was and complain about how he simply didn’t understand but wouldn’t even think about turning around and going home without getting this done. Scott McMillian deserved nothing more than to be behind bars and she deserved to have the pleasure of putting him there.

“You don’t know that!” she complained, her voice significantly higher than it normally was due to the tightness of her throat. Now, she would have realized the logic in his words and the nonsense of her own if she had been in her right mind but she wasn’t in her right mind so she didn’t realize what the conversation between them actually meant. She couldn’t even be glad he listened as she spoke at the moment; she just wanted him to start making phone calls to get them on the next plane back to California. No, she also didn’t realize it was the middle of the night and generally you would have to go to the airport to get tickets now, and there was doubtfully any planes leaving for five hours yet, but that was something else that just didn’t matter. She could hardly listen to him speak. She didn’t care, she didn’t want to listen to him try to logic his way through what she was feeling because that just wasn’t possible.

“You don’t know him!” she interrupted, shadows from her hair falling over her face as her neck jerked up to look at him, but you could still tell her eyes were bloodshot from her tears and the fact that she was simply tired. Sleep. That sounded like a good idea. If she could only get back to sleep… but that thought was in her brain for a very short time. She didn’t want to sleep; she wanted to leave, right? Well, no, but that’s what her adrenaline was telling her right now, so that’s what she was going with. “He’ll find I way, okay? I know it, he will and I… I don’t want him to. That’s why we hav’ta leave!” she tried to explain, a part of her thinking her logic was, well, logical. She wiped tears from her eyes and pushed at her hair so it would stay out of her face and eyes.

Once in the bathroom Summer was really convinced that she had to gather her stuff, and try to convince Michael to do the same. However, she was still shocked Mike had a different idea as he took he hairdryer out of her hands. “Michael, stop!” she whined, managing to keep anything but her fairly light make-up bag from falling on her feet by taking a slight step backwards, but only managed to stay standing because Mike grabbed her hands before she fell onto her ass. However, the second Michael took her hands in his she struggled against the restraint. “Let me go!” she screamed, still not quite loud enough for anyone else in the hotel to hear, which Michael had to be happy for. The last thing he really needed was for some man to come up to the room just to make sure nothing was wrong, but only cause Summer to panic more.

As he spoke all she could think to do was struggle to get away, but she was scared to pull back too hard and just fall over backwards. “Let go,” she pleaded, interrupting him as she did. “Mike, you’re hurting me. Let go,” now, that was a bit of a lie on her part. He was holding her tight enough so it wasn’t exactly comfortable but he wasn’t hurting her at all. She just wanted him to stop and she knew him well enough to know that, normally, if she said stop he would let go as soon as he could. See, he should see it as a compliment, or something. She only half listened to his words as he said them and the second he released her arms she stumbled backwards slightly, feeling her whole body continue to shake. “You don’t get it,” she complained as she leaned back down to start cleaning up what was dropped in order to pack it, as she had originally wanted to. “I’m scared, okay? I don’t wanna do this, please! Don’t make me do this, baby. Please, I don’t want to,” she tried to explain as she stood back straight, still having a couple things fall out of her hands.

Summer brought what she could back to her suitcase and simply threw it all on top of her mess of clothes. She closed up the suitcase, but it was nowhere close to closing completely. She put her weight against it for a second before just giving up and sitting on the floor, crying into her hands. Her heart was pounding too fast, her breathing was too shallow and her head was spinning due to the lack of oxygen. She felt sick to her stomach, but still wouldn’t tell you she needed her medication. She was just scared, that was her excuse at the moment. For a moment she cried on the ground, Boggart licking her face and she wrapped her arms around the canine and pushed her face into his neck. For a few moments she stayed there before deciding this wasn’t getting her any closer to getting home and stood up, using Boggart to help her onto her feet, as usual.

Her shaky legs brought her to Michael and she gazed up at him with a longing, scared and confused look in her eye. Wrapping her arms around his neck she stood on the tips of her toes and rested her head on his shoulder. “Why can’t you just take me home?” she asked, her hand rubbing up and down his back affectionately as she sobbed into his neck and shoulder. she wept, starting to accidently use her nails against his skin once again, but also was leaning her full weight onto him and in doing so brought her face down to the level of his chest, which she managed to cry into as well. She had nothing else to say except what she had been saying. The only thoughts in her mind were how much she wanted to go home, how scared she was and how that she felt she had be insane to ever want to do this. There was a reason she backed out three years ago and it was finally coming back to her. McMillian scared her, and that’s all there was to it. However, if she was in her right mind she would want nothing more than to finally give him what he deserved.

[Michael Brentley]

Mike was beginning to feel helpless about the whole situation. There didn’t seem to be any proper solution for what was happening, but he was doing his best not to panic. The instant he became nervous and distant would be the time in which he decided to give up, which was something he had no intention of doing. Despite Summer claiming she wanted to leave, he knew she wasn’t in the right mind and that it wasn’t what she really wanted. Giving in to a request like that wouldn’t be a wise move at this point. Day one of the trial was only hours away and he was beginning to wonder whether Summer would be able to sit in the courtroom all day without having any disruptions due to her emotions. Then again, he had seen her talk about what had happened to her over and over again to police, lawyers, and nearly every important person involved in the case. He knew she would be able to get through this, he just needed to figure out a way to bring her out of her current state-of-mind and get her thinking clearly again.

He had no choice but to listen as she nearly yelled back at him about Scott. “That’s not going to happen. You’re here to put a stop to this. You can do this, Summer. He won’t get away with what he did and we all know it,” he replied sharply, hoping she would listen to him and start to see the logic in his words. He wasn’t sure what else to do. It was up to her to be able to stop and realize that leaving wasn’t what she wanted to do. Until then, all he could do was make some seemingly harmless attempts to calm her down in hopes that they would soon get to a point in which she would be willing to take her medication so that she could breath more easily once again. He knew it was good for him to experience something like this so that he would know what to do the next time, but he really wished they could have avoided it. Then again, he almost expected something like this to happen around the time of the trial, knowing it was extremely difficult for Summer to be able to go through with it.

Michael wasn’t ready to let go of her when she asked him to, only because he was desperate for her to stop and listen to him. If he just let her continue her frantic packing, it could be a long while before she was able to calm down. For all he knew, she could be ready to dodge out the door in just a few moments and he’d end up having to run after her. He instantly let go when she claimed he was hurting her. It had become his instinct to take his hands off her immediately in any situation if she told him he was hurting her in any way. This time he wasn’t entirely sure if he actually was or not, but he would never take that chance. He was ready to lunge after her as he noticed her stumble, but she was able to regain her balance quickly enough so he didn’t have to move much. He watched her attempt to gather her things once again and gave a small sigh as she spoke. He followed her out to the room and observed as she clumsily threw her things into her suitcase. “Nobody is making you do this. This is what you wanted, remember? If you leave now, you’ll regret it forever.”

His heart sank as he watched her sit on the ground and cry. If Boggart hadn’t gotten there first, he would be sitting right there beside her. It seemed to be better to just let her be for a moment or too. He believed this showed progress now that she had stopped packing and was allowing herself to break down and maybe find a more reasonable solution. Unfortunately, that didn’t appear to be the case. Mike bit his lip as she attempted to stand up again, but she didn’t get very far. His arms instantly came around her as she fell into him. He hugged her gently and looked down at her as she spoke. “Because that’s not what you really want,” he said frankly. There were a few moments of silence as he allowed her to cry into his shoulder, but he then decided that standing probably wasn’t the best thing for her right now. He hadn’t failed to notice the way her legs had given out on her as she attempted to stand just moments before. He could feel her heart racing as her body was pressed against his and he had to find a way to slow it down.

Michael waited another minute or so before slowly reaching down and lifting her up into his arms. Hoping she had no objections to the idea, he walked over to the bed and sat down. He held her close to him, letting her rest on his lap until she decided to move. He kissed the side of her head. “It’s going to be okay. You have so many people here who love you support you. You’re doing the right thing. It’ll all be over soon,” He spoke softly in attempt to relax her a little. He wasn’t sure if it was doing any good. It was possible she could spring back up at any moment and begin rushing around the room all over again, but he prayed that wouldn’t happen. She needed to rest for the long day ahead and it would be ideal for her to be able to think with a clearer mind when they entered the courtroom.

[Summer Jackson]

Summer had never had a very good handle on her emotions. The smallest thing made her cry or smile or laugh and those that spent a good deal of time around her found out they could quickly know what she was thinking just by looking at her. She had been trying to control herself a little better ever since she had started school at Faith Academy because the students there were, well, much more ruthless than she thought they would be but it hadn’t seemed to work. Whenever she walked into history Michael had always been able to tell if she had been having a bad day. Of course he couldn’t do anything for her at the time except ask if she was all right because they still had to hide their relationship at that point, but it was nice to know that he cared. After they moved in together she had obviously been happier from day to day but now that the trial was coming up everyone around her seemed to notice that from time to time they would look over and she would be simply out of it. She would randomly cry into Michael’s shoulder when back at the hotel or get a hug from her mother or father when with them. It just hadn’t been an easy time for her over these last few weeks, but she had been fighting her way through it the best she knew how and it was almost over. Well, almost over if she managed to get to the next morning, which was still up in the air right now.

When he responded to her rambling about Scott Summer couldn’t help but that that he was being a little harsh with her, but she wasn’t going to say anything. Not now at least and should would doubtfully remember or care that she thought that the next morning. “But what if he does?”she couldn’t help but ask, the logical part of her brain knowing that she was worrying over nothing, but he logical part of her brain wasn’t in control right now. Right now, to her, anything could happen. She wouldn’t be surprised to see the President down in the lobby at three in the morning chatting away with the hostess, honestly. She just wishes Michael could see things the way she was seeing them right now, but it was a good thing he wasn’t. Having two people panicking in one hotel room may just be a little too much.

“How do you know that!” she screeched after he told her she’d regret leaving. If only she could understand that he was just trying to help her and was speaking with more logic that she would understand. It would make his life easier too; if she could just connect that Michael would never put her in harm’s way. She actually wondered, a few times, how Michael would deal throughout the trial. She knew that he didn’t like to see her upset, which everyone knew she would be, and she also highly doubted that being in the same room as the man who hurt her so badly would be any easier for him than it would be for her. She knew her father clenched his jaw and fists every time he even thought about Scott and Michael, obviously, had a closer physical connection to Summer in a way that hearing about anything forced on her would just upset him, or so Summer could only assume. As far as she knew, Michael would take it all in stride and not get too angry. They’d have to wait and see.

“I changed my mind, okay? I just want to go home,” she once again repeated, as if thinking saying it more than once would make him understand and agree to find a flight that left that night. Of course, that wouldn’t happen, but she didn’t know that, not right now. After she started to cling to him she was no longer even sure what to think. “But it is,” she tried to convince, feeling his arms around her once again, making her feel safe but not safe enough to have her mind start to think logical thoughts again. All it did was make her remember that the man she was close to wouldn’t let anything happen to her if he could help it, and it would be hard to get Summer into a position where Michael wouldn’t be able to help her tomorrow. She was going to be clinging to someone all day and everybody knew it.

After a while of standing there, holding to her man as if her life depended on it, she felt him start to move. “H… hey,” she started saying as she felt him lean down and move is arms to a different place on her body. “What… what are you doing?” she started to move away, but before she could even get back a step she felt his arms under her knees and across her shoulders and felt her feet off the ground and as he was lifting her she dug her nails into Michael’s shoulder once again. The poor man, his shoulders and back were going to be nothing but red, swollen and scratched by the end of the night if things kept up. She was normally very careful about keeping her nails from scratching anything at all, but right now she wasn’t paying attention, of course. Once Michael had her fully off the ground she stopped struggling against his movements and just clung to him, both arms around his neck and holding onto her own elbows to keep her grip nice and tight. When he went to sit down she gave a slight struggle once again, a bit like a dog that wasn’t used to being held being picked up one could say. Once she felt that there was no way she would fall she stayed comfortably on his lap, but still clung around his neck like an infant to the finger they managed to get their little hand around.

“But I’m scared,” she begged with her face pressed up against his flesh, feeling her lips move across his skin. “Michael, please. Please baby,” she wanted to say more, but physically couldn’t. Her throat was too tight, she couldn’t breathe and her head was spinning. She spent some time crying into his shoulder once again. “I… can’t… breathe,” she finally admitted, pulling her body further onto Michael’s lap, trying to get him to hold her closer. Having his arms around her was helping slightly, she was thinking a bit clearer now, but only a bit. “I’m so cold,” she relayed, the thought suddenly coming to her as she was pressed up against Michael’s warm body. She was shaking from the panic attack and the cold feeling that came over her was simple chills from the same thing. Sweat caused her lengthy hair to stick to her face and neck and she simply felt like she had nothing in her control anymore. “Make it stop. Baby, I know you can, please make it stop. All of it, I just want it to be over. I can’t do it…” she had to pause to get some air back into her lungs. “I need it all to be over now,” she placed sloppy kisses along his neck and face, with her hands in his hair. “Can’t you… can’t you do that? Please, I’ve gotta be done, I can’t do this anymore.” Summer shifted her weight, not being nearly as careful as she usually was when she was sitting on his lap, but she could hardly also focus on what all was going through her mind and not hurting him at the moment.

[Michael Brentley]

Michael wasn’t sure how to reason with Summer at this point. It didn’t seem to be an option knowing that she wasn’t thinking clearly at the moment. He understood that none of this was easy for her and he was very proud of her for making it this far. If he let her give into her irrational thoughts now, he knew it would turn into a mess later and they’d both regret it. She had come too far now to quit and he was going to do whatever he possibly could to make sure she was in the courtroom in the morning for day one of the trial. This really put his own anxiety about the trial in perspective. He had been worried about his own reactions when being in the same room with Scott, but now he realized that he wouldn’t have much time to focus on that because he would be far more concerned with Summer’s emotions than his own. He was going to be strong for her and make sure she could rely on him no matter what happened.

He ignored her question because he didn’t feel the need to repeat himself. If she didn’t believe him, there was nothing he could do, but he knew a lot of that had to do with her current state-of-mind, rather than her second-guessing his response. Arguing with her wasn’t going to help anything at this point so all he could do was be supportive and not be too harsh with her. He wasn’t going to just sit back and watch her emotions unfold. He wasn’t sure what would happen if he wasn’t there with her, but he knew it wouldn’t be good. Mike didn’t realize the extent of the impact mentioning Scott’s name would have, but it wasn’t as if neither of them were thinking of him already. In fact, Michael had a hard time getting her attacker out of his head. He still couldn’t believe someone could do something so terrible to Summer and being able to see her attacker for the first time wouldn’t be easy.

Mike had to admit he was relieved that Summer didn’t struggle against him much as he picked her up. He had taken a risk with it, but he figured if there was a chance it would help her calm down, he would take it. He winced as he felt her nails digging into his skin, but he didn’t let it stop him. Unless she started screaming at him to let her go, he was going to continue and see if he could comfort her a little. Once he reached the bed, he let her lean against him and simply waited. Patience was crucial at times like these and he knew that very well by now. “I know, baby. I know,” he said softly after she told him she was scared. He held her closer as she continued to speak in spurts. It wasn’t easy to see her in such a fragile state, as he’d seen before, but it was especially hard now because of what she had gone through with the trial and what she had to face in the very near future. “Get some sleep. If you still feel the same way in the morning, we’ll figure things out from there, okay?” he responded, trying to reassure her without making any promises. He knew she would feel differently in the morning, so right now he just needed to get her to relax and get some sleep before the trial.

It was a while later when he felt Summer finally relax and soon after fell asleep. He looked at the clock and realized they still had time to get a decent amount of sleep before the trial in the morning. He carefully laid her across the bed and tucked her in. He then walked around to the other side and crawled into bed beside her very slowly to make sure he didn’t wake her. The most important thing right now is that she got some sleep. Michael just hoped he would be able to catch a few winks himself since the stress of the trial was something that could easily keep him up for a few hours now that he had his mind on it. He was more curious than ever as to what happened to Summer exactly, but at the same time he was afraid to find out. It would certainly affect his emotions and he hoped that he would be able to remain somewhat calm and controlled throughout the trial proceedings.

---------

The following morning, Michael woke up shortly before the alarm sounded, which was something he did every once and a while though he wasn’t quite sure why. He had drifted away from Summer in his sleep and so he looked over to make sure she hadn’t gotten up before him. Seeing her still asleep, he watched her steady breathing for a few moments before deciding to get up and shower. He turned off the alarm, figuring it was no longer needed since he would be the one waking her at this point and he was sure to allow her enough time to get ready since he always made a big deal out of being punctual. He was never late for work or any type of appointment. It was simply a habit of his and it would be impossible to break now. Not that there was any reason to.

After a quick shower, Michael got dressed and wandered back into the bedroom. He glanced at the clock and saw that it was about time to get Summer up. Before he could reach the bed, however, he heard his cell phone ring. He rushed over to the nightstand where his phone sat and saw that it was Victor calling, probably to make sure they were up. He answered and was greeted instead by Summer’s mother. Perhaps she figured that the less contact he had with Victor, the better. “Yeah, okay. Sounds good. Thanks.” He hung up the phone and looked over towards Summer. He walked around to her side of the bed and nudged her awake if she wasn’t already. He leaned down and kissed the side of her head. “Come on, babe. It’s time to get ready. Your mom just called to tell us where we need to be and whatnot,” he said before moving towards the desk where his laptop was so that he could check the weather, which was one of his morning rituals. Michael was just about ready to go. All he really needed was a suite jacket and a tie if he decided he needed one. Okay, if Summer decided he needed one. He always consulted her about his dress, after all. He hardly wanted to embarrass her if she thought what he was wearing looked weird or whatever else.

[Summer Jackson]

“If you knew you’d take me home,” Summer sobbed back at Michael after she had tried to portray her fear to him. All she could really think at the moment was that Michael simply didn’t understand why she was so scared because she felt that if he did understand he wouldn’t be telling her that doing this was the right thing. She knew it was hard for a man to really understand what she had been through, but all of her original emotions were just flooding back to her now and she didn’t know how to deal with it, which had to be obvious to poor Michael at the moment. When he spoke again she did her best to listen, still trying to be as close to Michael as possible, constantly pushing herself further onto his lap and hoping to be held tighter. “You promise?” she asked, looking up at him with tears still in her blue eyes. “Why can’t we go now? I just… please Michael. This… this is gonna be horrible,” as she spoke her voice faded away and she turned to look away, her head resting against his shoulder as she did. She couldn’t stop her crying or shaking, but finally her exhaustion took over and she just drifted off to restless sleep.

After that the night was pretty much uneventful. Summer did wake up once more that night, but it was a much calmer moment than it had been before. She just looked around her for a moment before shifting closer to Michael. She was a cuddly sleeper; she always liked to be touching him, it made her feel safe. She had no idea how he felt about her clinging or if he rolled her away from him the second she drifted off, but it didn’t bother her as long as she got to hold him as she fell asleep. Anyway, and still had her head on her pillow, but shifted and laced an arm over Michael’s back and kissed his back a few times, able to feel the slight heat and swelling from where her nails had found their way into his skin, which made her feel horrible. Since she didn’t want to wake her she relaxed against his frame and allowed herself to slip back into a deeper sleep, knowing that she was going to be tired the next morning due to her waking up twice that night.

Summer didn’t notice Michael get out of bed the next morning and continued to sleep calmly, even with the sun shining into the bedroom of the hotel and Boggart moving around to Michael’s side of the bed when he got up to get a pet from at least one of the humans. It wasn’t until she heard Mike’s cell phone ring that she started to wake up, though she tried to ignore both the ringing and the one-sided conversation she could hear. When he nudged her she moved away slightly while brushing at his arm, obviously showing that she was awake, but not exactly happy to be so. It was only after he kissed her that she opened her eyes and smiled up at him, though still not moving from her position. When he spoke she gave a slightly confused look right away before just nodding before he walked away. She lay there, closing her eyes for another second. She was surprised that her mother would call Michael instead of her, but it was obviously the smart thing to do since she wasn’t up and she shouldn’t have to worry about being late or anything like that today.

It was a little while later when Summer opened her eyes, flipped over onto her back and sat up. She couldn’t deny the butterflies in her stomach and the feeling that she couldn’t stop her hands from shaking, but she knew she had to do this. Well, she knew that this morning. After a little while she stood up, petting her dog on the head as she moved over to her boyfriend. She placed her hands on his shoulders and allowed them to slide down his chest softly. “Hey, you handled last night really well,” she said softly, reaching forward to kiss his cheek. Moving over beside him she gently pulled at the back of his chair, trying to get him to back up from the table a bit, and if he did as she wanted taking a seat on his lap, doing so much more carefully than she had the night before. She was always careful when sitting on his lap, the last thing he deserved was her knee going somewhere they both knew wouldn’t exactly feel good. For a moment she just leaned against him, breathing deeply. “I’m sorry… I… I should have told you how to handle that but I… I haven’t had an attack like that for years. I didn’t think you’d need to know,” she tried to explain, looking to him with a small smile across her face before resting against him again, obviously still quite tired.

“But um… why didn’t you call my parents. They’d be able to talk you… you know? Never mind,” she forced a chuckle as she leaned back once again, her hand running up and down his chest. “You were great, and I’m sorry I scratched you,” she looked down at her hands before pulling her nails gently over his neck, in a tickling fashion. “Those can’t feel too great,” she started she shift as if to stand, but before she could she glanced back at him. “You know, you’re gonna make a really great dad one of these days,” she said with a gentle smile. She gave him the slightest kiss on the lips before standing up and walking away, glancing over her shoulder only once on her way to the bathroom, stopping at her suitcase to grab her clothes as she did. Okay, yeah, maybe a little sneaky there Summer, throw out the baby idea when he knew that bringing up the topic that day may be a bad idea, but she had to admit that the idea of children was the one thing that still worried her about their relationship. She felt that he had thrown out some hints here and there to say that he would be all right with having children with her, in the future when the time was right of course, but she was still worried because she knew she wanted children and if he was set against it she wasn’t sure how far their relationship could really go.

Anyway, Summer quickly showered, well, as quickly as she could, before dressing into a pair of gray pinstriped dress pants and a blue button up shirt with a fairly large ruffle down the middle. She had asked what she should wear to the trail, but when they said a dress she refused more strongly than she thought capable of. There was no way she was going to be in the same room with the man who had raped her while wearing a dress or skirt, even if everyone assured her that nothing was going to happen. She was going to do everything she could to feel comfortable, and if that included wearing pants so be it. After dressing she left the bathroom to the vanity area and blew her hair dry and straight, though it would curl up a bit by the end of the day if she didn’t flat iron it. By now, though, tears had started to fall down her face, making the addition of make-up difficult. She was terrified and couldn’t believe she was going to do this.

It took her significantly longer with her make-up than it normally did, but once she was happy with it, which was nowhere near what she normally put on but she didn’t want to look hot today for obvious reasons, she went out to find Michael, after stopping by his suitcase and grabbing his suit jacket from the hanger this time, hoping he had decided to eat breakfast while she was showing. “Hey babe,” she said, her throat obviously tight and eyes obviously swollen as she walked over to him. “You think this is okay?” she asked, looking down at herself, as if asking him about her choice of clothes, but she highly doubted he would say anything if he didn’t approve. Generally she knew more about clothing, which was why she was holding the tie in her hand. “Come on, let’s put this on,” she said, still having trouble speaking but trying to hide it. She walked up to him and reached around his neck, folding up his collar. She tied the tie around his neck herself. She would have no clue how to put one of herself, but she had gotten decent at putting one on him. She tightened the knot around his neck and folded down his collar, but didn’t take a step back as she looked up at him with red eyes. “So… think we’re ready?” she asked, glancing at the clock, but no one had told her anything to do with time so she didn’t really know when they had to leave. One less thing to worry about.

((Sorry for the length, trying to get things moving If she says or does anything that you feel he needs to respond to fell free to ignore the rest of my post past that pont lol))

[Michael Brentley]

Michael was doing his best to not think too much about the night before. It really tore at him to see her like that and he wished he could have done more to help her. He was a little worried she’d have to correct him on a few things he did, but he figured he didn’t do too badly considering he had never been taught how to handle the state she was in. What he wanted to focus on that morning was getting to the courthouse on time to prevent any complications that could be easily avoided. A part of him felt that the reason her mother had called him was because of his punctuality. She had to trust that he would get them there on time and he was usually the first one up in the first place out of habit. He hadn’t been able to go on his morning run for a while, but he did suggest hiking and other things so that he could keep fit and also maybe get Summer’s mind off of the trial for a little while. The area was beautiful and it would be a shame not to take advantage of the scenery.

He smiled up at her as she approached him and was happy to hear her compliment his actions from the events of the previous night. He moved his chair back a little once he realized she wanted him to do so and allowed her to sit on his lap as well. He wrapped his arms around her gently and held her securely. Michael immediately shook his head when she began apologizing. “No, it’s okay. I’m just glad you were able to calm down enough to get some sleep,” he said with a small smile. He wasn’t sure exactly how much or how little sleep she got, but at least she wasn’t up all night, right? What mattered most to him was that she didn’t get hurt and save for a few scratches, he was okay as well. He didn’t want to dwell on it too much, but he knew she’d have to let him know what to do for the next time. He wanted so badly for it to not happen again, but now that he had experienced her in such a condition, he knew they needed to make sure he was prepared.

When she mentioned her parents, Michael bit his lip slightly and shrugged. “I guess I just never thought of it, honestly. With all that was going on…I don’t know. I just didn’t have a lot of time to think, I guess,” his words trailed off and he looked up at her, trying to read her reaction. He really preferred to change the subject, but he felt he needed to clarify that if she was curious about it. He just hoped he didn’t end up making her feel guilty about what happened because he knew very well that it wasn’t her fault. He almost chuckled as she apologized for scratching him. He had been reminded of their presence while in the shower, but he wasn’t going to worry about it too much. “It’s okay. Just as long as you promise to put some ointment on it every night,” he teased, grinning at her. As she started to leave his lap, he prepared to shift a bit, but then looked back at her when she spoke again. He looked a little confused for a second, but found himself smiling soon after the brief kiss. Children was something they had never gotten around to discussing. He had been curious, but had always been afraid to bring it up. It was important that they were on the same page on the subject and now Michael finally had his answer. He definitely wanted a family and he had really hoped his future with Summer involved kids, but was never quite sure whether or not she wanted any. Now he was a bit more certain about the subject.

Michael couldn’t help but glance at his watch every few minutes to make sure they would make it on time. They seemed to be on schedule so he wasn’t too worried as of yet. He sure felt a lot better once Summer was dressed, however. He stood up from the computer and made sure to grab his wallet and phone before beginning to search for the car keys. He quickly turned around as he sensed Summer in the room and smiled towards her, which seemed to be his natural reaction to her by now. He took a moment to look her over since she asked him to, though he was never entirely sure why she bothered since he was about as knowledgeable about women’s clothing as she was of the War of 1812. He certainly wasn’t complaining, though. “Yeah. Looks great,” he assured her with a small nod. He didn’t fail to notice her eyes were a little red and swollen, but he wasn’t going to say anything since he knew what the tears were for and talking about it might only make it worse. There would be plenty to say on the subject once they reached the courthouse.

He noticed she had picked out a tie for him, which wasn’t unusual for her if they happened to be getting ready at the same time or if she got up early enough to spend a little time with him before he went to work. His hands rested at his sides as he let her put the tie on properly. “Yep, just got to find the keys,” he replied before searching for the keys once again. He found them in the pocket of a jacket he had worn the day before and started walking towards the door after indicating he found them. He checked his watch again on their way to the car, just to make sure they were okay on time. They were. He opened the passenger side door for Summer and closed it behind her before opening one of the back doors for Boggart. Michael tried to keep the conversation light on the way to the courthouse, such as mentioning the scenery or asking her about small things from her childhood that she wouldn’t mind talking about.

Once they reached the courthouse, Michael parked the car relatively close and helped Summer out before walking her up towards the building. “Are you doing okay?” he decided to ask, despite feeling her nervousness as he held her hand. He supposed he wanted to make sure she could at least think somewhat clearly for the proceedings. Maggie and Victor met them inside along with Summer’s lawyers. Michael could feel his own nerves build up a bit by this time, but he did what he could to hide it. He had never taken part in any sort of trial like this before and it all seemed a bit surreal. However, his focus was to remain on Summer to make sure she was okay. It was important that he didn’t let his own emotions get the best of him and he knew he’d have to leave the courtroom altogether if that were to be the case and that certainly wasn’t something he wanted to do.

[Summer Jackson]

Summer couldn’t help but giggle at his joking tone about the scratches she had given him. “If you really need me to,” she answered, her hands running down his shoulders and the top of his back, where she knew the injury had occurred. As long as she didn’t get deep enough to really break the skin she supposed it couldn’t be too bad. He should just be glad she kept her nails to herself when they were intimate; she made very sure of that, because she liked them long so cutting them wasn’t much of an option. Michael’s reaction to her musing about children was exactly what she wanted to reaction to be. It was reassuring, which she needed right now. She really didn’t need to worry about anything but the trial right now, which was actually why she brought up the child idea now; hoping Michael would understand that talking about it right now wouldn’t be the best idea.

Summer was glad Michael didn’t ask about the obvious fact that she had been crying, and was still fighting back tears. This was very difficult for her, and he also knew that if she was upset with him for any reason she would let him know, but she also had no reason to be. He was treating her well and he hadn’t angered her or her parents and everything was going fairly well. Mike and Victor had generally been staying out of each other’s way, which was nice. A few conversations here and there, a nod when they first saw each other, asking for the salt in a civilized way, it was getting better to say the least. When he said something about finding the keys Summer couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “Men,” she said, a grin across her face. She always kept her keys in her purse so never really had to go to look for them so she didn’t really understand how he could lose his keys as often as he did. “I really don’t know what I love them… or you, more specifically,” she teased as he finally found the keys and grabbed her purse, slid on her heels and followed him out of the room.

Summer thanked him when he opened the door for her, and made sure to ask if he was going to take care of Boggart as well. Normally, she let Boggart in while Mike opened her door, but he was a little ahead of her today. On the way to the court house Summer couldn’t even make herself talk much. She held onto Michael’s hand, letting go when he needed it to drive of course, and was petting the dog as well. She answered Michael’s questions and agreed to statements, but beyond that didn’t say too much. At least he realized to stick to things such as her childhood. She had a happy childhood with her parents here, snowboarding and riding horses.

Once they got to the courthouse she allowed Michael to help her out of the car and opened the door for Boggart to jump out behind her. She reached down and took his leash up in her left hand and took Michael’s hand in her right before allowing him to lead her towards the door. When he spoke she glanced up and him and shook her head. “No,” she answered simply, looking down at her feet as she heard the clanking of her heels on the concrete. “This was such a stupid idea,” she continued, grabbing onto his hand tighter and leaning her head against his shoulder. “I’m just… I’m scared, you can’t let him even touch me, all right? Please, just, keep me safe?” she questioned, glancing up at him. She trusted Michael and even though she knew that the people in the court wouldn’t allow him anywhere near her she wanted the man she loved to tell her that he was going to make sure no one harmed her.

Once they got inside Summer had Michael hold Boggart as she hugged both her parents. Her lawyer and the detectives on her case said hello to both her and Michael as she stepped back, took her dog and stood with her back to Michael, reaching back and gently taking his hand to wrap his arms around her waist, making sure her father saw that the movement was her idea. “Have you two eaten?” Maggie asked, to which Summer shook her head. “But I can’t eat,” she said, glancing over her shoulder. “You’ve eaten?” she asked, thinking he would have grabbed some food but unsure, hoping he would just speak up if he didn’t so he wouldn’t get hungry, and generally that included a little grumpy, which no one needed today. After an answer was given Maggie nodded, “Well, I’m getting you both some coffee anyway, how do you like yours Mike?” she asked, a question to which Summer knew the answer but decided to allow him to answer. After everything was done Maggie left. Victor went with the lawyer to sign a few things and the detectives were talking amongst themselves, when Summer grabbed onto Michael’s arm and led him a little ways away.

“Come on,” she said, deciding to avoid the “we need to talk” phrase because he didn’t need to be nervous over anything. Once she had found a place fairly private for the two of them to have the conversation she needed to bring up. “So, I’m… I’m sure you know that they’ll use photographic evidence in this and, um… I’ve been told that they’ll just hand copies of the pictures to the jurors, but… can you not look? I mean, I don’t know what pictures they’re gonna show or what they’re gonna blur out or anything like that and I know… I know you’ve been a little deprived but just don’t look, kay? You don’t need to see me that beat up, and you will see me, probably sooner rather than later too,” she said softly, smiling up at him in a bit of a sheepish manner, knowing he would understand that “see me” referred to seeing more of her than he got to on a daily basis.

“Another thing…” she said sheepishly, after giving him time to give an answer to her first concern, “I’m not sure who’s testifying when but… but there’s gonna be two guys… men testifying as a character witness for me… at the time,” she paused for a second and took a deep breath. “They’re… they’re… oh come on. They’re saying that… that I didn’t like anything rough or… whatever. I just… don’t take it to heart? It was a long time ago and… oh God,” she looked up, trying to hold back her tears as she also tried to form sentences in her mind. She took a step forward and resting her frame against his. “I’m sorry,” she said, her voice now higher from the sobs trapped back in her throat, and a few of them getting through as well, “I’m so sorry you have to listen to that and… maybe you should leave the room when they’re there or… I don’t know,” she pressed her face into his chest, tears spilling from her eyes and down her cheeks by now. “I wish… I wish I would have saved myself for you. I just wish I would have waited, you deserve that. I love you, I’m sorry,” she leaned back and ran a hand over his cheek gently before resting her head against him again, feeing horrible, but glad she had been able to tell him what to expect when they showed up.

Summer and Michael never talked about their past sex lives, it was just a bit of a taboo subject for the two of them and she would prefer for it to stay that way as well. They both knew the other was a little wild when they were younger, but questions about it were never voiced. She couldn’t say anything about him, but she had no want to know how many girls he had slept with or when the last time he had sex was. Knowing that information just sounded painful and she was sad she had to bring it up now, however he did deserve to know what was going to happen. Especially if hearing what the two men had to say would hurt him as much as hearing about his sex life from his past partners would hurt her.

((sorry for the quick reply lol. Had an idea and homework that I needed an excuse not to do lol))

[Michael Brentley]

Michael laughed at her comment as he was looking for his keys. This certainly wasn’t the first time he had forgotten where he put them while they were at the hotel. At home he normally put them on the key holder they had by the door (purchased mostly for his sake, of course), but now that they were at the hotel, he was having a few issues keeping track of them. It would probably be smart to be more conscious of where he put them considering he didn’t own the car that they went to, but he preferred not to think too much about that in order to prevent any panic. He was already having a hard enough time trying to get Victor to warm up to him and losing the keys to one of his cars or having something happen to the car wouldn’t help him out at all. Michael wanted to show Victor that he was responsible and if he couldn’t even take care of one of his cars, he was sure Victor would question his ability to take care of his daughter.

On their way up to the courthouse, Michael had to admit he was a little surprised by her response to him asking if she was okay. Not the fact that she was scared, but her claim that it was a stupid idea. He decided to shrug off the statement, but instead focus on reassuring her safety. “He won’t come near you, I promise,” he said softly in an attempt to reassure her. He was sure all members of the court would be full-aware of all the precautions that needed to be made to make sure Summer didn’t have to face Scott directly under any circumstances. Eye-contact was the most anyone would allow if things were handled properly. Mike couldn’t imagine letting anything happen to her, and he knew he wasn’t the only one there that felt that way. Once they were inside, Michael greeted Summer’s parents after she did and easily allowed her to take his arm around her afterwards. He had to admit he felt a little guilty after hearing Maggie’s question. He had a granola bar that morning, but nothing else and he hadn’t even bothered to try to feed Summer, which he now realized was rather foolish. When the question was reflected on to him, he gave a small shrug, “not much,” he admitted sheepishly. He was thankful when Maggie offered them both coffee. “just a little cream and sugar is fine,” he answered after being asked about his coffee. It would certainly help if he could stay alert that morning.

Michael wasn’t sure what to expect when Summer pulled him aside. He had a feeling she wanted to talk to him about something, but couldn’t be sure what it was. It was doubtful she’d bring anything up now if it didn’t have to do with the trial, however. As soon as she said the words ‘photographic evidence’, he immediately felt a little uncomfortable with the subject. He did his best to maintain eye-contact with her and listened carefully to her words, despite his concerns about the subject. He was a little confused when she mentioned that he had been deprived. He knew what she meant of course, but wasn’t exactly sure how it related to the subject. Surely she knew he wouldn’t want to look at the photographs for any such purpose, but he did understand why she wouldn’t want him to look. Michael didn’t want his first time seeing her like that to be through a photograph during a trial and obviously that wasn’t what she wanted either. “I won’t, I promise.” he replied as he looked at her, letting his expression show that he meant it. He was glad the subject was out of the way, but that was before he realized that there was more she wanted him to know about the trial.

Her next statement made him a little more uncomfortable than the first, but he did his best to not make it noticeable, though he was sure she’d understand why he would be. He couldn’t help but avert his eyes as she continued. “It’s okay. I understand,” he said softly. He wasn’t going to judge her for whatever he happened to hear in that courtroom. He knew that the fact that he and Summer hadn’t had sex would make the testimony of the two men that much harder to hear, but he would do his best to not let it get to him. It wouldn’t feel right for him to leave in the middle of the trial. He wanted to be included in it all, no matter how hard it might be for him to hear. He wanted to know what happened and he didn’t want to make Summer have to explain it once again just for his sake. The curiosity was had been getting to him, especially in the weeks leading up to the trial and this was his chance to find some answers. Of course, if Summer had requested that he never hear about it, he would respect that and leave it alone, but he was sure she knew that he had a lot of questions about what happened to her that have never been answered. He wrapped his arms around her gently and allowed her to finish. “Summer, why are you apologizing? I’m no saint either, but that’s not what’s important now. We’ve both grown and things are different. I couldn’t imagine being with anyone more perfect.” Once he was finished speaking, he took a step back so he could look at her, moving his hands to gently grip her arms. “I love you so much and nothing that happened in the past is going to change that,” he told her, a small smile appearing on his lips. He really didn’t want her to worry what he was thinking about the things that were being said during the trial.

Michael wasn’t entirely sure if what he said helped anything or not, but he was trying his best to make her feel more at ease. The most important thing he had wanted her to know was that the trial wouldn’t change his view of her. It was difficult to be reassuring in that sense, however, when Michael didn’t know exactly what was going to happen in the trial, but he figured that he would be able to handle most of it as long as he controlled his temper and kept in mind the time frame in which all of this happened. It was important for him to stay strong and keep a clear mind because Summer would be relying on him for support and he would never forgive himself if he was unable to give that to her.





((gosh, I dunno. hope it makes sense. I was quite tired when I finished it so....there. lol))

[Summer Jackson]

“What would you like?” Maggie immediately asked when Michael said he hadn’t eaten much. She was a mother, there was no way she was going to let anyone go hungry if it was in her power to help it. It was only after she got her answer, insisting if she really had to, before she led her husband away to get food. Summer felt that her mother realized she needed a little more time with just Michael before going into this. Her parents knew the story she was going to tell and she knew they had prepared themselves for this day for years, had just been waiting for Summer to decide the man who hurt her needed to be put up against what he did to her and hopefully be found guilty of the crime and put away from it for a long time. Michael ,well, Summer had no idea how Mike was doing with all of this and while she knew her parents loved her, she also felt this would be the toughest for Michael. It was him who had the intimate relationship with her and she wondered how it felt for him to know that the last person who touched her in the way he did forced the touch on her. And now that man was going to be in the same room as them both. This might get interesting.

The conversations Summer had to have with Michael were conversations she had been hoping to have before the day of the trial, but she had always been a little nervous to bring the topics up, especially if they were alone. It’s not like she was expecting him to get angry to the point where he scared her or anything like, but she didn’t want him to break down or anything like that and she knew he would make sure not to do that while they were in public, though he probably wouldn’t in private either. She was just overly cautious about everything right now and wasn’t really going to risk anything. His reaction to her first concern made her smile. She reached down and took his hand, playing with his fingers gently. She hadn’t really expected him to want to look and see her bruised and beaten, but what did she know? She also knew she wouldn’t be surprised to find a Playboy magazine under his mattress at home, to be honest. Hey, she trusted that he hadn’t seen a naked woman in over a year but she didn’t trust him completely when he said it didn’t bother him. He was a young, handsome man who knew what he was missing out on, Summer just had a hard time believing he wasn’t supplementing somehow but she would probably shock him if she would tell him that the magazine wouldn’t bother her… too much at least.

Once Michael called her perfect she forced a giggle and then allowed him to step back. Her eyes glanced to his hands on her arms for a second before looking back up at his face. When he was talking Summer reached up and wiped tears away from her eyes, but kept her eyes up to his. Once he finished Summer wasn’t sure what to say right away. She just stood there, staring at him with her hands down by her sides. It took a while for her to break the gaze, when she looked down at her feet and then wiggled her shoulders slightly, asking him to let her go only so she could move close and hopefully be held again. She rested her head on his shoulder, but her face was turned towards his neck, her warm breath on his skin. “You’re… you’re so amazing. I really don’t see how you could love someone like me,” she said softly, her hands falling to her lower back. She wanted to grab his ass, but figured that would be inappropriate for a court house right before they went to trial. “I just, I figured you’d be jealous, and I hate that feeling so,” she shrugged, “I’m sorry for that, I guess,” she said, trying to answer his first question but realizing that it may have been rhetorical, but she still wanted to say something because she felt awful for what he had to hear.

“My parents are behind you,” she whispered as she turned to look up once again. She figured she should let him know so he didn’t say something about their sex life or start kissing her neck or what have you, however, she did not want him to let her go. Not yet. She kept clinging to him as her parents walked up to them, her father carrying a cup holder and her mother with a bag of food. “Everything okay?” Maggie asked, catching Summer’s eyes. “Yeah, of course,” she said softly, giving Mike one last squeeze before leaning back and kissing his cheek. She then leaned back slightly more and looked at him for a second. They still hadn’t kissed in front of her parents yet, but right now it felt so right and she felt Mike needed it before he heard about all that had happened to her. And besides, she knew she had to be the one to initiate it if she didn’t want her father to forcibly pull her boyfriend away, and she didn’t want that. So she reached up and placed a kiss on his lips. It wasn’t exactly a peck, to say the least, but it wasn’t like she was putting her tongue in his mouth either. It was a pretty mellow kiss, but lasted longer than she thought may have been needed when all was said and done. Anyway, when she pulled away she avoided looking to see her father’s reaction. “I love you,” she said softly, with a smile over her face. She reached up and gently removed some of the lip gloss that had stuck to his lips before moving away.

Maggie went about giving both of them their coffee, Michael his food and offering some to Summer, which she refused and it was left at that. Her eating had really been on and off and she had been losing some weight since she had been there, which if anyone would notice, it would have been Mike, but it was nothing dangerous as of yet, and hopefully her eating habits would return to normal after the trial was over and she felt in control of her life again. They all spoke a little before Summer’s lawyer came to get her, telling Mike and her parents that they could take their seat in the court room. “You okay so far?” Victor asked Michael, looking over at him, not with mean or cruel eyes but with an expression that was actually caring and concerned. He didn’t really want to admit it, but for now he was warming up to Michael.

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When called to the stand Summer took a deep breath before finally standing up from her seat and making her way to the witness stand. She was sworn in before taking a seat. She sat on her hands to try to hide the fact that they were shaking so badly. Saying she was scared was an understatement, saying she was terrified would be a better explanation. For the first time in three years she was in the same room as the man who violated her. She glanced around the room, her eyes landing on her parents, on McMillian, on her prosecuting attorney, Hannah, and finally came to rest on Michael. She was so worried that now once he heard this story their relationship would change, start being awkward. She was scared he was going to start viewing her as damaged goods, if he didn’t already, but there was no way around this. She knew he had to be curious about exactly what happened and she honestly felt he had a right to know since he was here at the moment and such a huge part of her life.

“Ms. Jackson,” Hannah said, mostly to get Summer’s attention, “Can you relate the sequence of events on the day of August 14, 2006?” Summer nodded in response, looking back at Hannah as she had been told to do through the entire trial, just to be comforted. “Um, we, um, Scott McMillian and I, had gone to Hollywood and Vine, a club, that night. When we left and were walking down an alley between the club and a Coach store to get to my truck. While we were in the alley he, um… he grabbed me, my arm, but I pulled away and started back towards my truck, but then he grabbed my arm again. When I… uh… tried to pull away he grabbed me harder and pulled me in towards him. When I kept struggling he pushed me up against the wall of the alley.” Hannah then pulled up a picture from her folder and held it up for Summer to see. “He fractured your skull, right?” “Yes, it hit the brick wall.” “And these are pictures from that injury?” “Yes.” Summer assured with a nod of her head. Hannah left for a second to give the pictures to the chairman on the jury, when Summer glanced at Michael to see if he was looking, though it wasn’t as if he couldn’t see this one. It was just a few pictures of different views of the back of her head, blood in her blonde hair. The injury had been fairly minor, nothing that caused permanent damage except for a raised section of her skull due to the calcification of bone, which Michael had asked about at least once if she remembered correctly when he had been running his hands through her hair.

“Please, continue,” Hannah said, to which Summer nodded. She took a very deep breath and pushed hair away from her face. “So… he forced me to the ground, just with his weight and pulled up my,” she glanced to Michael for a second, but Hannah followed her gaze to block her view so she was forced to look at her attorney, “my skirt and got my underwear off.” She looked down at her lap and took a couple deep breaths as tears started to pool up in her eyes. “H…He,” she leaned down and covered her face with her hands for a moment, but Hannah asked her to continue “He unzipped his jeans with a hand on my stomach and got over me and began to… to rape me, putting his weight against my chest to… to keep me down,” she indicated either side of her ribcage. It took her a couple of moments to compose herself again, keep the tears from spilling from her eyes, which was impossible by now. She didn’t want this many people to know exactly what happened to her, but this was what she signed up for when she decided to finally bring McMillian to trial. She was shown a picture of her bruised side where her ribs had been cracked, confirmed the bruises were from the fractures during the attack and the pictures were handed to the jury once again. “And these bruises are from?” Hannah asked again, showing Summer a picture that showed the inside of her thighs. “His… knees, to force my legs apart he put his knees on either of my thighs,” she answered, then watching her put another picture in front of the first of her black and blue hip. “This one?” “The bruises to my hips,” Summer answered, with a deep sigh, “I got them it when he was… putting his weight onto… pushing into me.”

“Continue,” Hannah said again, giving the pictures to the jury, “It’s okay, just keep telling your story,” she said, placing a hand on the edge of the rail between Summer and herself. Summer once again took a deep breath. “Um… while he was raping me he pulled off my blouse, it buttoned up the front and then got my uh… my bra off over my head. He then…” she looked down again, tears spilling from her eyes, her hands shaking even under her thighs, her eyes searching for a way around Hannah in order to view Michael’s face, but that wasn’t possible. She really didn’t want to say this, not in front of all these people and not in front of Michael, but once again she had no choice in the matter. “He then grabbed my… breasts and squeezed them, really hard. It just… it hurt so bad… All of it hurt so bad…” she was basically sobbing now, her elbows on her knees and her face in her hands for a few moments. She looked quickly at a picture of the hand shaped bruises that had been on her breasts, horrified that the jury would be seeing that but nodded and gave a quiet “yes” in response before the pictures were given to the jury once again. Summer took a second to glance up to look at Michael, hoping beyond hope that he was keeping his eyes down while the pictures were being passed around the jury. Her father’s face was firmly looking down at the ground. Hannah gave her only a few moments before once again asking her to continue. “He was really hurting me and… I scratched him and tried to kick and scream but it was around then that I… started to go in and out of consciousness due to the skull fracture. The next thing I remember was McMillian getting off me as another man ran up. McMillian ran off and the other man put his jacket over me and called 911, when I passed out again,” she finished, still looking towards the ground. Before the other man came, how long would you say he was raping you? ”It felt like hours. Like he’d never get out of me and I was helpless. Really? I don’t know, before she could really answer, Hannah jumped back in, ”Before you lost consciousness, did you ever tell him to stop?” Summer looked to Hannah as if confused before opening her mouth to answer. ”Of course. I was yelling ‘no’ and ‘stop’ the whole time,” she said, still gazing in front of her shocked, but Hannah continued her questioning.

“Thank you,” Hannah said, before going to sit back in her seat, looking Summer directly in the face to remind Summer that she should look at Hannah, not around the courtroom at stuff that may scare her, even more than she already was that is, as the man sitting next to McMillian stood up and walked over in front of Summer. “Ms. Jackson,” he asked as Summer pushed her body against the chair behind her. She didn’t like how close this man was. “What was your relationship with my client directly before the date in question?” he asked. Summer looked to Hannah before answering, never looking at the other attorney, Yeats, she had heard him called. “I was his girlfriend,” she said quietly. “For how long before the date in question?” Yeasts asked, still uncomfortably close for Summer’s taste. “About two months,” she said, but her voice went up in question at the end of her words, unsure why she was being asked this. “Had you and Mr. McMillian had consensual sexual relations before this date?” Summer looked to Hannah once again, who nodded to inform her to go ahead and answer the question. “Yes, but I don’t…” she was interrupted by Yeats. “So, on the night in question it wouldn’t be out of the question to assume that this encounter was also consensual?” Summer opened her mouth to argue the point, but was cut off again. “And that when someone heard the two of you you were so horrified and embarrassed that you were having intercourse in an alley in the back of a club that you made up the story of rape?” Summer shook her head, looking around, not even sure of what to say but not having a chance to say it anyway. “And who is this man that came back and found the two of you? Do you have him to testify for you? You say that you don’t remember a lot of it clearly? Is it possible that this man was the one who broke your bones and gave you bruises?”

“Can you back up?” Summer asked in a whisper, twirling her hair around her finger. “Please, I don’t like you so close…” she asked again, looking up to Hannah, then to her father and then to Michael. “Objection!” Hannah finally yelled out as she stood behind her table. “Is she allowed to answer the questions?” The judge looked down at Yeats with a nod of her head. “Yes Mr. Yeasts, allow Ms. Jackson to answer. And take a step back, you’re making her uncomfortable,” she said before turning to Summer. “Go ahead and answer,” she said, waiting for Summer to nod. “I know what happened. I only blacked out because he broke my skull, but I stayed conscious long enough to tell you that he raped me. What… what girl would consent to that?” she asked redundantly, of course. “There are plenty of women who consent to pretty… kinky stuff every day,” Yeats said, turning back to walk towards the table with McMillian still sitting behind it. “Yeah, but not!” “That is all,” Yeats interrupted again and sat back down. “You may return to your seat, Ms. Jackson,” the judge said. Summer nodded and moved Boggart off her feet before standing up on shaky legs. It took her some time, while using Boggart to balance, to get back to her seat before she collapsed into it, never looking at Michael even though she did look towards her parents. She was embarrassed, what could she say? She just had to tell the story of her forced sexual encounter in front of her boyfriend, it wasn’t something she wanted to talk about and she was sure it wasn’t something Michael was comfortable hearing.

McMillian was called up to the stand next. He was sworn in and took his seat. Summer refused to look up. She looked at the pin stripe in her gray pants, the pinks and blacks and yellows. She just wanted to ignore what was going on around her. She wanted the leave the court room, just be done with it and believe he had been put in jail but she knew she couldn’t do that. She wanted some sort of comfort. Knowing her parents and boyfriend were behind her helped, but knowing that the man who raped her was glaring at her pretty much counteracted all types of support she could get. She tried to avoid looking up as Yeats got McMillian’s side of the story.

”We went to the club, like she said,” McMillian started, even though Summer tried her hardest to ignore his words and voice. It just wasn’t possible. ”And we were going through the alley and I did grab her, but seductively. You know… not attacking her or anything,” And at this Summer was shaking her head, feeling hot tears fall on the back of her hands and then Boggart lick them away. She bit her lip as she wrapped both arms around the white canine, leaning down slightly but never in such a way that the back of her head or neck would be in McMillian’s line of sight. He was the reason she wouldn’t sleep with her back to a door after all. “From there we, well, you know,” he gave a shrug of his broad shoulders and pushed hair from his face. He had a similar build to that of Michael’s, but his face was much different. Michael was also significantly shorter, which Summer had to admit that she liked. She was so short that having a man more than six foot tall just wasn’t something she appreciated too much. It hurt her neck and she got tired of standing on her tip toes.

Summer knew that McMillian’s defense was that it was consensual sex and after he left someone else came around and beat her, but she still wasn’t prepared to hear what he had to say. She shook her head at his words, but for now kept looking down. “Was that type of spontaneous sex common with you two?” Yeats asked, causing Summer’s heart to skip a beat as she turned her head slightly to see Michael out of the corner of her eye. ”Yes,” and at that single word Summer’s head jerked up and she looked to Hannah, her head shaking so much that her curls were bouncing against her shoulders. He’s lying, she whispered, but still intensely, towards her attorney. She turned to look at her parents, avoiding Michael’s eyes. ”Summer, it’s okay,” Hannah tried to sooth with a hand on her shoulder but Summer just continued to shake her head. Hannah whispered into Summer’s ear, telling her she had to stay calm, all while McMillian was explaining his answer. ”She had always been willing to… try new things, if you would. Doing it in an alley wasn’t really a stretch,” he said while glaring at Summer, almost seeming amused by her distress. ”But it was! I’d never… that’s not true! Isn’t that… didn’t he. Hannah, he’s lying,” she said through her tears and tight throat, but Hannah just did what she had been doing, reminding Summer that there was still a cross-examination to go, though that didn’t seem to help Summer feel any better at all.

“Were any of the injuries Ms. Jackson suffered your doing?” Yeats asked as he paced the court room slowly, apparently something he was known to do. ”Well, yeah. I mean, she liked it rough,” he said, once again causing Summer to burst out into an extra loud sob, when her hand flew over her mouth. The last thing she wanted was for Michael to hear this and think it was true, think it was just him or that, when they did have sex, she would be attracted to doing some … interesting things but she knew that if she said anything it could hurt the trial. Still, she didn’t understand how Hannah was just letting him get away to lying to the court, but she also didn’t know law either. “Which injuries?” Just the bruises, to her thighs and breasts,” and at those words he glared at Summer and winked at her. Summer winced back and crossed her arms so that they were over her breasts. “You’re sick,” she mouthed towards him before looking back down at her lap, petting her dog behind the ear with a rough hand as tears continued to fall from her cheek and now onto the top of Boggart’s head.

Scott finished his version of events, and Hannah went up and cross examined him, poking more holes in the story than even Summer had managed to see, though Summer wasn’t trained to see them of course. That day the doctor who had originally examined Summer also testified, saying that the trauma she had found was consistent with rape victims and there was no way Summer had been aroused if she had sustained such injuries, and therefore the intercourse that had taken place would have had to have been painful and very unlikely something any women would consent to. She also commented on the other injuries Summer had received, of course. The detectives also testified, saying that Summer’s reaction was consistent to someone who had been raped. It was then that the judge decided Summer couldn’t do any more today and called the trial until the next morning at nine. She left the room, Summer cringed in her seat as Scott was taken out and her lawyer turned to her to tell her how she felt everything was going, very well apparently. Yeats had little to say so the he-said she-said trial was really spinning to favor Summer simply due to the evidence, which was nice.

After that Summer stood up on shaky legs and turned back to her parents, having a hard time keeping her eyes on Michael. He now knew exactly what happened and she had to admit that she was terrified that he no longer viewed her the same way he had done that morning. She allowed her father to hug her and hold her close, spending a little time to try and control her tears. Due to recesses taken to allow Summer to collect herself and her feelings it was now early in the evening, but it did look like they would be able to finish up the trial tomorrow and then would just have to wait for the jury to come back with a verdict. “Summer, honey,” Victor said, looking down at his daughter, “we have to leave, come on,” he said, gently moving away with one arm around her shoulders and led her out of the court room, where she took a seat and buried her face in her hands. “Mike’s gonna stay with you, okay?” Summer gave a small nod, “your mother and I are going to talk to Hannah quickly and then we can go home. I’m sure Stacy will have something good for dinner,” with that Victor motioned that Mike should take a seat beside Summer and left with Maggie to take to the attorney. Summer looked up to Michael for only a second before moving closer and resting her head on his shoulder. She really hated this so she hoped Michael would have an idea of how to get everything back to normal because she was lost.


((Okay, yeah, that's insanely long, and I'm sorry about that but I suppose it was a little needed and... yeah. From here we can either go on with that night or skip to the rest of the trial the next day or whatever works =] ))

[Michael Brentley]

It was fair to assume that Michael was less patient about their intimate relationship than he let on, but he was determined not to give Summer any reason to feel bad about it or anything like that. He hadn’t gone this long without sex since…well, probably before he had experienced it for the first time. It wasn’t easy for him, but he found ways to deal with it. He hadn’t yet resorted to porn (though he’d be lying if he said he didn’t peek every once and a while), but there was more than one reason for exercising as much as he did. It helped relieve any built up sexual energy. Of course, that didn’t help when they were being intimate without having it go as far as he would like, but he simply reminded himself that it wouldn’t be like that forever. Michael understood that there were clearly some things that had to be dealt with, such as the trial, before they could really go much further with that aspect of the relationship. He was willing to wait until she felt comfortable with it, but he certainly wouldn’t claim it was easy.

As Summer moved closer to him again, he once again wrapped his arms around her, almost as if it were an instinct. He tilted his head and made a confused face in reaction to her response. “How could I not?” he said softly, smiling towards her. When she mentioned him being jealous, he chuckled slightly. “I think I’ll manage…somehow,” he replied. It wasn’t something he really wanted to talk about, and he did hope that jealousy wouldn’t be a factor, though it was difficult to say that he wouldn’t experience the feeling at all without knowing exactly what was going to be said. At least he had a fair warning now. Michael turned his head to try to look around as she mentioned her parents being behind him. It wasn’t long before they were in his line of sight without him having to really move from his position. He really hated having feeling as though he had to act differently in front of her parents. Well, obviously there were certain things he didn’t want her parents to see or hear, but it would be nice not to have to monitor his every move while they were in the same room.

He stepped back after Summer kissed his cheek, being careful not to initiate anything at the time so as not to risk any unfair accusations from Victor. He was admittedly curious the look Summer gave him, but he didn’t have to wonder for too long before their lips met. It was surprising, to say the least, but he certainly had no problem with it. Michael was always a little disappointed when he didn’t get to kiss her simply because her parents were around. He managed to relax and enjoy the kiss for the seconds that it lasted and smiled at her once she pulled away. “I love you, too,” he said softly before turning his attention back to her parents. He took the coffee from Maggie and thanked her. When Summer refused the food, Michael sighed heavily before taking his own share of it. He had noticed that she had lost weight, but he was just hoping that she would gain it back once the trial was over. It was hard to expect her to eat normally throughout all of this, but Mike would do what he could to make sure her eating habits didn’t get too out of control.

When Victor came up to him, Michael was afraid of what he might say. Once he spoke, it was actually quite surprising to hear him genuinely ask how Mike was doing. Michael smiled slightly and nodded. “Yeah. Thanks,” he replied, still noticeably surprised and perhaps even confused by Victor’s act of kindness. Perhaps getting along with Summer’s father wasn’t a lost cause after all. He followed Victor and Maggie into the courtroom and made sure he was clear on where to sit. This was becoming a bit nerve-wracking even for him, but he knew he would regret it if he didn’t sit through the trial. He already had enough unanswered questions as it was and he wasn’t sure how many more he would be able to handle before he would start having to ask about them and he didn’t want to have Summer explain everything again just for his sake.

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Michael felt his nerves skyrocket as Summer took the stand. He wasn’t sure what to expect. This would be the first time he had heard the details of what happened to her and needless to say, it wouldn’t be easy for him to hear. He listened attentively, noticing the lawyer’s effort to block Summer’s view of him, which he fully understood, and seemed to make it easier for him as well. As the pictures were passed around, Michael didn’t hesitate to look away as Summer had asked him to. He couldn’t help but look at his feet or hands as she gave her testimony. He used all the self control he had to not look over at the man who had violated her. If Michael were to ever have met him outside of the courtroom, there was no telling what he would do, but he knew it would be ugly.

He, too, was surprised at the question about whether or not she had asked Scott to stop. He supposed it was just to make sure all the bases were covered and the jury wasn’t left with any uncertainties about the encounter. As soon as the cross-examination began, Michael could feel the anger rage inside of him. He knew every piece of the defense’s side was untrue. Well, at least it seemed apparent after hearing Summer’s testimony about what happened and knowing there was absolutely no reason for Summer to lie. If that were the case, it wouldn’t make much sense for it to take this long before Summer was emotionally stable enough to go through with the trial. The assumptions that the lawyer were making were clearly absurd, and Michael hoped that the jury would find that obvious as well. He was relieved when Summer was dismissed from the stand, it was hard to see Summer struggle to walk back to her seat. He wanted to be right there by her side to help her, but that wasn’t an option at that moment so he was forced to stay put.

As Scott was asked to take the stand, Michael refused to make eye contact with the man. There was too much anger towards him already and he didn’t think a nasty glare would help the situation either. It was hard to believe the claims that Scott was making and from what he observed from Summer’s reactions, she was more than appalled by what he was suggesting. He realized she might be concerned with what he thought of what Scott was saying and he wanted to just tell her right then that he wasn’t going to believe anything Scott said, but that wasn’t possible. He didn’t know much about what Summer liked and didn’t like when it came to sex, but he wasn’t about to let Scott fill his head with things that were very likely to be nowhere close to the truth. It was an understatement to say Michael was uncomfortable with Scott’s words. It was hard enough knowing that he had been with Summer without adding details to that, whether they were true or not. Yes, this all happened years ago, but reminding himself of that wasn’t helping as much as he hoped it would. Michael could easily picture himself giving Scott a severe and merciless beating at this point, but he continued to make an effort to control the various emotions he was feeling.

Michael was able to relax a bit when Summer’s lawyer began her cross-examination. He felt she made it obvious to the jury that Scott was lying about several things and Scott didn’t seem to be able to answer most of the questions without it seeming like he was just making things up as he went. Mike felt significantly better after Scott’s testimony was over. The testimony of the doctor and the detectives helped keep him sane since they really seemed to help backup Summer’s testimony and simply added to the mountain of evidence that already was present in the case. Mike couldn’t help but glance at Summer frequently throughout the trial. It was killing him to see her like that and he wanted so badly just to hold her and tell her everything was going to be okay. He, too, was afraid of how the trial might affect their relationship, but at the same time he knew they would get through whatever obstacles might come about. He already noticed Summer’s inability to hold eye contact with him, which concerned him to say the least. He knew she was embarrassed, but he hoped she wouldn’t think he would believe Scott’s testimony about their sex life. Despite it being an uncomfortable subject for both of them, he felt it was something they needed to discuss sooner rather than later since there was obviously an awkwardness between them now.

He went to sit next to Summer and wrapped his arm around her, though he was more fragile with her than he had been in a long time, with his hand barely grazing her side. He then realized how the trial had affected him so far. After hearing what had happened to her, he subconsciously felt he needed to be gentler with her than he normally was. He hadn’t seen the photographs of her injuries, but there were plenty of images in his head that developed just from hearing the testimony. He sat there with her while very lightly rubbing her side as they waited for her parents to finish speaking with the lawyer. He couldn’t think of what to say to her. He knew he should probably say something, but he was too overwhelmed at that moment and was worried he might say something that would only make things more awkward.

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After eating dinner with her parents, they returned to the hotel before it got too late. Michael wanted to make sure Summer got some sleep that night after such a stressful day. Things were still a bit awkward between them, and Mike believed it was mostly his fault. They hadn’t been able to discuss the trial too much as of yet and he felt there were thoughts and feelings between them that needed to be sorted out. He locked the door behind him and glanced around the room as if looking for something to do, even though he knew they needed to talk. Then again, he wasn’t sure he wanted to bring up the trial again. That was probably the last thing she wanted to talk about. He sighed and started towards his suitcase. Normally he didn’t hesitate to be a little intimate with Summer if she was willing as soon as they were alone, but tonight he didn’t think of it. It wasn’t as if he saw her differently, it was more along the lines of being too consumed with thoughts about the trial to go back to how things were before it started. “I guess we should just try to get some sleep, huh?” he asked, turning to look at her as he began unbuttoning his shirt. He was hoping things would go back to normal once the trial was over.

[Summer Jackson]

Hearing that Mike didn’t think he would be jealous while hearing of her past sex life from her past partners wouldn’t have been easy for Summer to do with, but luckily she didn’t take his words that way so it was one less thing for her to worry about. If there was one thing that worried her about their relationship it would be that she sometimes felt she was more invested in it than he was. Of course, that didn’t really make sense when she really thought about it, but there were times when she wondered if she may care about him more than he cared about her, and that thought alone was just painful, so she did what she could not to let herself think like that at all. She knew it was pointless to worry, she couldn’t imagine Michael sticking with her for this long if he didn’t really feel for her, especially since he also had to deal with her father and her breakdowns so the nervousness was unwarranted, but she had a right to be slightly nervous, right? She knew she had a catch who could really be with any woman he wanted to be with, but reminding herself that he chose to be with her always helped a bit.

After the trial was over for the day saying that Summer was embarrassed was such an understatement. She was more than embarrassed; she was humiliated, horrified and confused, angry, violated and scared. There were so many emotions running through her right now that she didn’t even know how she hadn’t burst due to trying to think about so many things at once. Her mind was swimming and she was having trouble keeping it afloat. She just wanted to breakdown once again, cry into someone’s shoulder, talk to someone who understood how she felt, but she couldn’t do any of that. She had been doing that for three years and it was now time to be strong, but obviously she was having trouble with that as well. Being strong when all you wanted to do was curl up into a ball and be invisible just didn’t feel right. What would have felt right would have been running away and never thinking about going into that court room again, but hell, that didn’t happen, now did it? Which had to be a good thing for other women, but it was tearing Summer apart.

After the day at court was over it wasn’t hard to tell Michael wasn’t completely himself. She noticed the lighter touch on her side, but wasn’t going to say anything about it then. She wasn’t even sure if she would be able to talk, honestly. The whole time spent with her parents just held a bit of awkwardness between them, which actually had Summer crying a bit through the night, when she just went to spend time with her sisters, who reminded her of the way Mike would look at her and got a couple laughs. She just didn’t need to be feeling everything she was and have her boyfriend treating her differently, but talking about it now certainly wasn’t the right thing to do. They needed to have a chance to be alone without being interrupted and she knew it as well as he did. They ate dinner, and Summer actually ate some as well. Stacy, while making everyone else steak, cooked Summer some salmon with teriyaki, which Summer found out she really liked. She still only ate about half her portion, but it was better than nothing, after all.

After watching some television Summer agreed with Mike that they should head back to the hotel for the night. The car ride was fairly silent, Summer resting her head on the window with Boggart’s head on her lap. Once at the hotel she let Mike help her out of the car and thanked him. In the room, she wasn’t exactly sure what to expect, but she wasn’t looking forward to it at all. She really wished that they could leave everything about the trial at the court house, but obviously that wasn’t possible. She, of course, noticed that he didn’t even attempt to get some intimacy, as he usually did when they got back to the hotel room, though it wasn’t like Summer was really in the mood now either way. Summer went straight to the room and fell onto the bed, lying on it sideways with her legs, from the knees down, hanging off the side of the bed. She took a couple deep breaths before hearing Michael speak again. She turned to look at him, watching as his hands worked at his shirt before moving back up to his face.

“You’re not okay,” was all she said right away, looking up at him. She turned back over onto her back and stared at the ceiling before finally sitting up to look over at him. “You… you know as well as I do that we need to talk about whatever you heard that upset or… confused or… whatevered you because… well, I hate this. I hate being treated like this,” she sighed deeply and pushed her hair, which had taken some of its curl back and was now pretty puffy, from her face and behind her ear. “And I just mean that… you haven’t really talked to me, well, you’ve hardly looked at me and… I know… I know you feel it too, so let’s just talk about the elephant in the room. I’d rather talk about it now than let everything just multiply when we have to go back tomorrow,” she threw up a hand, almost as if indicating to the animal she had been talking about. She was sure that what she just said didn’t make complete sense, but she hoped he’d be able to fill in the blanks that needed it. She licked her lips before lying back on the, diagonally and on her side, to look over at him.

“So… what are you thinking about? What… what’s bothering you?” she asked, blue eyes searching his body before reaching out and motioning him to come closer. She wanted him by her while they discussed all this, which she knew was going to be very painful for her. “We can just… we can start from there. I’ve had three years to deal with this, and I know it’s obvious I haven’t, I realize that it can’t be easy to have it all thrown on you at once, so…” she gave the slightest shrug, which wasn’t easy in her current position as she moved her arm to pillow her head. “It’s not that you… believed something he said, is it?” she finally asked, the look was almost angry, but that wasn’t really what she wanted it to look like. She was just concerned that he would actually take Scott’s side of the story over hers.