Love In London • a Ross Lynch Fanfic [Book 1]

Chapter Forty Seven

"Well, well, well," Kyle said that evening and looked out at the view. "You want my blessing to marry my little sister-"

"Isn't she older?"

"By two minutes so, really, it doesn't count," he quickly objected and I chuckled. "You want to marry my sister . . . my sister will be married," he mumbled to myself and smirked. "That 'brother' already gave away my answer, didn't it?" Kyle asked and we both laughed.

"It kind of did," I agreed and he shook his head with a chuckle.

"Just . . . I need you to be sure of one thing," Kyle said and let out a deep sigh. "Tori's depression . . . it's not like it's going to consume your life, but it's not an easy thing for her to live with. She has one of the very worst levels of it. I read a quote once that explained it quite beautifully. I can't remember the exact thing but the writer said that:

Sometimes she gets quiet. She pulls herself away from people and removes herself from certain situations. And it's not because she doesn't trust you or because she's ashamed of how she feels. Sometimes things get a little . . . bad inside of her. And she doesn't want that to rub off on you. You just need to remember this. Because it will get bad, especially now," Kyle said and I nodded.

"I get that. I've tried to educate myself about it-"

"And she'll appreciate that very much. But it can affect people in very different ways. Tori tends to ignore her problems and feelings because she doesn't want others to worry about her. One day she'll start either sobbing hysterically or completely shut down because it got too much. I need to know that you love Tori's roots; not her flowers. Because when autumn comes and her flowers fall off . . . you can't leave," Kyle whispered seriously.

I knew that Kyle loved Tori very much. I knew he cared for her and understood her in ways I'll take a long time too. But I love her and I want to spend the rest of my life with her – with her roots and her flowers; with all of her.

So I told Kyle this; he got a small smile on his face and extended his hand to me. He said something that made my heart jump in joy.

"Welcome to the family, brother."

Tuesday, 18 October 2016
Tori's POV

"Mister Du Toit, how long have you known Miss Kors?" Julia asked Tyler who was on the witness stand. He let out a nervous breath.

"Well, since I was fourteen so about eight years," Tyler said and shot me a quick glance. I smiled at him encouragingly.

"That's a long time to know someone. Would you consider yourself close with Miss Kors?"

"Yes, definitely. We've been friends for a long time."

"You claim that you saw Miss Kors being raped the first time. Can you please tell us the whole story," Julia requested. I shuffled nervously and Tyler let out a big breath.

"I was visiting her in New York about two years ago. I was in the shower when it happened. I didn't hear anything when I was in the shower, but when I got out I could hear grunts coming from the living room. I knew she wasn't expecting any guests so I went to investigate and I saw him raping her. He was pinning her down to the couch and she couldn't call for help. I tackled him off of her," Tyler said and a tear rolled down his cheek. He wiped it away furiously.

"Are you sure it was Damon Degraw who raped Miss Kors?"

"Yes, it was him," Tyler nodded and wiped away another tear. I took deep breaths to calm myself, but I couldn't help the single tear that escaped my eye.

***

"Court will continue tomorrow at-"

"Your honour, wait!" Ross yelled suddenly. Everyone turned to look at him like he was insane.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Ross Lynch. I just received a video from an unknown number; it's from the day in New York," Ross said and murmurs filled the courtroom. I felt a shock run through me; one so forceful it made my body jerk at the news.

I never knew of any video that had been made.

"Order!" the judge yelled and it quieted down. "Would you please hand the video to Miss Kors so she can see if it's real?" he asked and my body jerked again in shock.

"No, no, I don't want to- I- I can- I can't see that," I stuttered out and a sliver of compassion appeared in his eyes before he nodded.

"I'll look," Tyler whispered and the judge nodded. Ross handed his phone to the police officer who handed it to Tyler. After a second Tyler looked at the judge and confirmed that it was real. The judge looked at the phone for a few seconds and nodded.

I softly heard him mumble 'can clearly identify both people involved' to the police officer. Ross was instructed to send the video to Gloria along with the number, then to delete it off of his phone.

***
Wednesday, 19 October 2016