FicWad

Hey guys, sorry it's taken me so long to update but my teachers are really piling on the homework because I have my exams at the end of this year D:
I have two essays to write so I didn't spend as much time on this chapter as I usually would have, so that's why it's shorter and not as good as the rest of the chapters (plus it was really hard to write about a trial xD), but I wanted to post it so I didn't have to worry about updating for a couple of weeks (':. So yeah, enjoy? :)

Chapter 7

The minute I close the door when I get home mom wraps me in a hug.

"It's okay Frankie," she says, sounding close to tears, "You don't have to worry anymore."

I look at her, confused. "What do you mean?"

"I know all about what Gerard did to you at the hospital. I got a phone call from a Mrs Emily Brandon. She explained everything, and-"

"Wait, I didn't even tell that bitch my name, so how did she get your number?!"

"I believe Gerard told the doctors who you were. He didn't see any point in lying about your identity, because in his opinion he did nothing wrong. Just proves how much of a sick bastard he really is, eh?"

"Mom, he didn't hurt me."

"Honey, you don't need to lie. They're going to take Gerard to court, he'll get locked up, and you'll be safe again! Of course, you'll need to attend the trial. I told them it's crazy, getting you to talk about how he touched you, when the doctors saw it with their own eyes, but they didn't care. I think they're going to be focussing more on Mrs Brandon's son though; he got raped by Gerard, would you believe it?"

I believe it more than mom could ever imagine, but I don't say anything.

"But anyway," mom finishes, "Gerard's not going to hurt you again."

"Mom, he didn't hurt me in the first place! You don't understand! He didn't touch me; I went to the hospital apologise for- I mean, to talk to him, and then-"

"And then...?" mom urges me to go on and I sigh heavily.

"Look mom, nothing happened."

"Frank, you don't need to lie about this. The doctors know what they saw. Now go and get some rest, and try not to worry about Gerard; we're going to fix things."

I say nothing, but walk past her and through into my bedroom, slamming the door behind me and sticking a Nirvana CD in the stereo, turning the volume up loud. I lie down on the bed and stare up at the ceiling.

Just when I thought things were starting to get better they get worse. That's just fucking typical; nothing can ever go right for me. It's funny though; this time last week I would have been jumping for joy upon finding out Gerard was getting taken to court, but now I'm dead set on finding a way to help him avoid prosecution.

I'm pretty damn sure that the doctors know what they saw, and know that it wasn't anywhere near how bad they're making it out to be. And that she-devil Emily probably knows just as much. I can understand that, yes, she does have reason to hate Gerard, but she doesn't need to drag me into it when I honestly don't care about what happened in the past anymore. Yes, shit happened, and yes, I don't think I'll ever quite get over it, but I've forgiven Gerard, and that's all that matters, right?

I certainly don't want him to go to jail now that I've finally gotten to where I am now.

I shut my eyes, sighing.

Maybe this will somehow turn out okay eventually.

Maybe.

-----------------

"Frankie, we're going to be late! Hurry up!"

I study myself in the mirror, not bothering to answer. I'm dressed in my usual tight jeans, along with a white shirt. My hair's clean and brushed down in front of my face, hanging just below my eyes.

I bite my lip ring nervously, and notice that some of the colour has left my face, but try and tell myself that it's going to be fine. I just need to calmly tell the courthouse that Gerard hasn't done anything to me (even if this isn't entirely true), and hope for the best.

"Frank!" mom opens my bedroom door and pokes her head into the room, "Come on, we need to go now!"

I take one last look in the mirror, and nod. "Okay."

I follow her out of the flat and down into the car park. I open the car door and sit down in the passenger seat, leaning my head against the window. Mom smiles encouragingly as she starts the engine, but I don't smile back. I feel as if I'm about to throw up with nerves, and shut my eyes tightly.

Neither of us say anything on the way to the courthouse. I concentrate on not having a complete breakdown, and mom's probably praying that she's not going to get covered in my vomit.

I breathe deeply.

It's going to be fine, Frank. You can do this.

No, it's going to be horrible. Gerard's going to get thrown in prison and I'm not going to be able to do anything about it. I can't do this.

I'm half tempted to throw open the car door and jump out, but then mom stops the car and when I open my eyes the courthouse is right in front of me, almost taunting me.

"You okay, Frankie?" mom asks gently.

I don't reply.

"Well, of course I know you're not, but if you feel sick or anything, you can-"

"I'm fine," I mumble, feeling the complete opposite as I stumble out of the car dizzily and almost fall over.

I clutch the roof of the car as mom locks the doors, and then she takes my arm and carefully leads me to the door.

"You're going to be fine, love. Just be honest about what happened; no one is going to judge you."

I nod weakly and she smiles, leading me down a long hallway and up a flight of stairs.

-------------

"Mr Iero, could you please tell us exactly what happened to you in Gerard Arthur Way's room at Belleville Royal Hospital?"

I don't say anything for a minute, just casting my eyes across the many faces in the room, terrified.

Gerard is sitting at a table at the front of the room with his lawyer, watching me. He's looking bored; like he doesn't care less about being here, but every few seconds he glances around the room nervously, before focussing on me again.

I glance over at the jury who are staring at me, stony faced, waiting patiently for me to speak, then look up to the public gallery. There are several journalists sitting at the back of the room, scribbling down details to add to the reports that will be in the newspapers by tomorrow. In front of them sits a blonde woman. She has her head resting on the right shoulder of the man sitting beside her, presumably her husband, and looks as if she can't believe she's here. She's watching the back of Gerard's head closely, her lip trembling every now and then.

The man beside her is staring at me through his glasses, waiting for me to say something, but he looks away for a moment to smile at the guy sitting beside him. The boy looks about twenty five or so. He doesn't look like he wants to be here at all; the way his eyes keep darting around the room frantically, the way his hands are folding and unfolding on his lap, and the way he's biting down on his lower lip hard enough to draw blood.

The boy glances up at me, peering out from underneath his glasses and mousy brown hair, and I offer him a small smile which he tries his best to return.

Then I meet Mrs Brandon's eyes. She narrows her eyes at me, mouthing 'Say something' and I silently tell her to fuck off.

"Mr Iero, could you answer the question? What happened between you and Mr Way at Belleville Hospital?"

I take a deep breath, looking at my mom who smiles encouragingly at me.

"Well, I went to the hospital to see Gerard, and-"

"Why exactly did you go to see him?" the attorney asks me.

"Because I-"

I stop. I can't say I needed to apologise to him; they would ask what for. And then if I kept talking after that everything would end up out there, and then Gerard would go to jail.

"Because I... I..."

"You...?" the attorney presses.

"I just... I guess I..." I look down at Gerard and meet his bright green eyes. He's still keeping up his couldn't-care-less exterior, but from the moment I look into the shiny orbs I can tell that he's afraid, very afraid. There's fear dancing in the glittery spheres, and his pupils are large, almost as if he was drugged.

"Frank..." the attorney says, "Why did you go to visit Way?"

'Say something!' I tell myself. 'Make up some complete bullshit, just say something!'

"I went to visit Gerard because I figured... I just wanted a chat, you know? I never got a chance to talk to him when I went to the hospital with my mom."

"What did you want to talk to him about?"

"Just... Stuff," I shrug.

"Frank, I'm afraid you're going to need to give more detailed answers while in the courtroom."

Well that's just lovely.

"I... Because, umm... Because last week at school I was talking to him about, just, you know, some stuff that happened after school last Monday, and I just really needed to talk to him."

"And what exactly was it that happened after school last Monday?"

"Just... I got beat up," I mumble, "And then through the week I was speaking with Gerard about depression and stuff."

"Okay..." nods the attorney.

"Now, Frank, Dr Arthur Carter at Belleville Royal Hospital has told us that he walked into the hospital room to give Way his medicine, and he found Way holding you against the wall, obviously against your will. Would you kindly tell us exactly what happened?"

I almost start laughing, Dr Carter's story is so factually incorrect, but I manage to control myself.

"No, nothing like that happened," I shake my head, "I mean, yeah, I was against the wall and Gerard was kissing me, but I was totally for it."

I go red, remembering that my mother is sitting across the room. I glance up at her, and she's looking absolutely horrified, her cheeks pink, her eyes wide and her mouth a little 'o' of disgust.

I'm probably going to get grounded for the rest of my life.

But hey, now I've said that in front of her, I guess I can say anything else to do with the matter because the damage is done.

A couple of the journalists at the back mumble quietly to each other, but other than that the room is silent.

The attorney is the first to break the silence, asking me what led to Gerard pinning me up against the wall.

I shrug, "We were talking, and I guess things just kinda progressed."

"How exactly did things progress? What were you talking about?"

"Like I said, I went to talk to him about the shit I get at school. You need to remember that I am a teenager, it's not like I can help the crazy messed up hormones or whatever it is that makes me... Well, you know what I mean."

"Mhm... And you are quite sure that Way has never touched you inappropriately without your consent?"

I nod. "Never."

"Okay, thank you Frank."

The attorney turns and nods to a man in a suit who is standing at the back of the room. He nods back, walks towards me, and leads me out of the courtroom and through to the small room where I sat alone for the first half hour of the trial.

As we're walking down the corridor, we pass another man in a suit who's leading a boy who doesn't look much older than me in the other direction. I make eye contact with the boy for a moment, before he shakes his blond fringe in front of his eyes and chews nervously on his lip ring, allowing himself to be dragged up the hallway.

The man wearing the suit smiles awkwardly at me when I sit down on a small plastic chair in the tiny waiting room.

"Do you want a drink or anything, kid?" he offers.

"No, thanks," I shake my head and he nods.

"Okay, I'll be back to get you later."

He closes the door and I lean back in my chair, glancing around to see if I can find something to fuck around with while I wait.

----------------

"Frank Anthony Iero!"

I open one eye, annoyed that I can never nap for more than ten minutes before someone disturbs me.

"What?" I mumble.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing, allowing teachers to kiss you?"

I open both my eyes then, looking up into the fuming face of my mom.

I smile weakly, scratching the back of my neck. "Uh..."

"Well?" she raises an eyebrow at me.

I shrug. "Pass...?"

She glares at me, grabbing me by the arm. "Get up, we're leaving."

"What happened at the end of the trial?" I ask her, allowing myself to be pulled out of my seat. She doesn't answer, just leads me down the corridor and out of the front doors of the courthouse.

She doesn't say anything until we're in the car.

"Guilty."

I feel my eyes widen. "Wha-?"

"He's guilty. He's going to jail. That's it. It's over."

She starts the engine and pulls out of the parking lot, gripping the steering wheel so tightly that her knuckles go ghostly white.

I lean back into the headrest and shut my eyes tightly.

I play those two words over in my head several times.

'It's over.'

'It's over.'

'It's over.'
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Rate and review guys, and I'll update soon :3
By the way, I'm majorly in love with Boy Division and Tomorrow's Money. Eeeep, I love MCR :D