Trigger Warning for mentions of violence
"Jesus, Lauren. Breathe." Dinah places a comforting hand on the older Latina's leg.
"I'm trying, but it's easier said than done." Lauren bounces her leg nervously.
Currently, Dinah, Lauren, Ally, and Normani are sitting on a wooden bench in the local courthouse awaiting the trial of Camila's attacker. The night after all the girl's celebrated Ally's restaurant success, Camila received a call from the Miami Police Department that said that the trial for her attacker would be the following weekend.
Currently, Lauren is a nervous wreck and it doesn't help that she hasn't gotten to see Camila the past couple of days. The girl has been at the courthouse in a room somewhere with her lawyer prepping for the trial. The green-eyed girl cannot shake the sick feeling in her stomach because she knows she is going to have to see and hear things today that won't be pleasant. One of those being the man that caused her wife to forget every bit of time that they spent together. Camila also warned her that they would be showing images of her after the attack. Just the thought of seeing her wife in that state absolutely petrifies Lauren.
The green-eyed girl has effectively tuned out everything around her, but when she sees the judge enter, she immediately rises to her feet. Soon after, Camila enters with her lawyer and Lauren's heart skips a beat. She looks absolutely adorable in her little pencil skirt and blouse, but there is fear laced in those beautiful brown eyes of hers and Lauren just wants to hold her and promise that it will all be okay.
Unfortunately, she doesn't get long to enjoy her wife's beautiful presence because seconds after Camila walks in, the back door swings open and a scruffy man in an orange jumpsuit enters. As he passes by, Lauren catches a glimpse of the spiderweb tattoo on his neck. He is wearing a smirk as he gazes forward and Lauren follows his eyes to see that he is smirking at her wife. Camila, however, has her head down, her sight is on her hands that are folded neatly in her lap. The younger Cuban cannot bring herself to look up and Lauren cannot bring herself to stop drilling holes in the side of his head. She's been told all her life that her eyes are piercing and today she wishes that that was a literal thing so she could pierce actual holes right through that asshole's head.
The brunette is broken from her thoughts and her staring when she feels a hand cover her right hand, the one currently gripping the edge of the wooden bench. She averts her eyes from Camila's attacker and locks eyes with Ally's sympathetic ones.
"We'll get through this." Ally assures the nervous girl and her tone is so convincing that Lauren finds herself believing the shorter girl.
The trial begins shortly after the attacker enters the courthouse and Lauren finds herself tuning out most of it, up until Camila is called to the stand.
"Ms. Cabello, can you please describe what you remember the night of the attack?" The defense attorney questions.
"I uh had brain damage so I can't remember much, but I do remember being pushed up against a brick wall and having a knife pressed to my throat. I remember the guy had a spiderweb tattoo on his neck." Camila shudders at the memory. "I remember my head being shoved against the wall and then when I fell to the ground, I was kicked in the head until I blacked out.
"So you don't remember anything else?" He asks.
"No." Camila shakes her head.
"The girl has brain damage and memory loss. How can she adequately accuse my client of attacking her?" He questions the jury.
"If I may, your Honor." Camila's lawyer stands up. When the judge nods, he speaks. "The police found that your client's DNA matched the DNA on Ms. Cabello's body after the attack."
"Well what if my client stopped to help the girl and that is why she remembers him being there?" The defense attorney counters.
"Well, call him up on the stand and we will find out." Camila's lawyer circles the table and stands in front of it. The judge motions for the defendant to stand up and Camila does the same. She leaves the stand and cringes as she walks past the man in the orange jumpsuit.
"Hey, baby." The man whispers and Camila freezes. More images from the attack come back in flashes and she remembers walking out of a hotel and coming face to face with a man, who immediately shoves her against a wall. She remembers feeling a cold metal object being pressed to her neck and then she hears a raspy voice whisper "hey, baby."
Lauren watches as Camila freezes after she passes the criminal. She immediately scoots to the edge of the bench as she watches the girl completely zone out. She sees the blood drain from Camila's face and Lauren goes to stand up, but Dinah stops her.
"Ms. Cabello." Camila hears someone call her name and she immediately snaps out of her thoughts. She quickly scans her eyes around the court house and sees everyone staring at her before locking eyes with the judge. The woman gestures to the table she was previously sitting at and Camila walks over and sits down.
"Mr. Chandler can you please describe to us what you were doing the night of August 18, 2016?" Camila's lawyer questions.
"I was coming home from the bar and I bumped into that chick there." He points to Camila.
The lawyer just nods. "Well then how do you explain your DNA being on her wrist, head, and neck?"
The man tenses. "I told you, I bumped into the bitch!" He raises his voice and Lauren immediately clenches both of her hands into a tight fist.
"Well if you bumped into her, how do you explain your blood being under my client's fingernails?" The lawyer steps closer to the stand while the man just shrugs.
Camila has flashes of her clawing the man's face as he presses the knife deeper into her throat. She reaches out a shaky hand to get her water. She takes a sip to try and wash down the lump in her throat, even though she knows it's not going anywhere anytime soon.
"Well, what I think happened is you were coming out of the bar in the hotel and you saw Ms. Cabello leave so you decided to follow her and rob her." The lawyer continues when the defendant doesn't answer his last question.
"You have no proof." The criminal spits.
"I have pictures." The lawyer grabs photos from his briefcase and a bag with a bloody knife in it. "I also have a knife with your fingerprints on it." Camila's lawyer hands the pictures to one of the members of the jury and they place them under a camera so that they are displayed on a screen for the rest of the jury and everyone in the courthouse to see.
Bile rises in Lauren's throat as she watches the slideshow of pictures. The first is a picture of Camila laying in a hospital bed with white bandages wrapped around her head and neck, her face and body bruised and bloody. The second is of the place where it happened. You can visibly see the blood lining the pavement and Lauren's stomach comes up in her throat because she knows all that blood belonged to her wife. The third picture is what causes the tears to start to fall freely. It is a picture of Camila in the ambulance right after the attack. There are paramedics surrounded her and blood is pouring down the front of her face from the gashes on her head. Lauren can also see the deep gash in her throat from where the knife penetrated it. The sight of Camila covered in so much blood and looking so completely lifeless causes the green-eyed girl to release a sob. Dinah, having heard the small whimper escape Lauren's lips, places her arm around the girl's shoulder.
"It's okay. She's okay now." Dinah whispers in the trembling brunette's ear. Lauren just nods and looks back toward the front of the room when Camila's lawyer speaks up again.
"I think that you placed a knife at Ms. Cabello's throat while you robbed her of her belongings. Then you proceeded to bang her head repeatedly against the brick wall so she wouldn't remember or be able to identify you." The lawyer takes a breath. "So I ask again, why did you rob Ms. Cabello the night of August 18, 2016?"
"Because she was a fucking easy target! The bitch had been crying at the hotel bar all night and I knew she was weak!" The attacker yells and Camila immediately flinches. Her lawyer smiles momentarily, after getting the confession, but it quickly fades when he hears his client's ragged breathing coming from behind him.
"Thank you. I have no further questions." The lawyer approaches the judge. "Can we take a recess?" He asks and the judge nods.
"Fifteen minute recess." She bangs the gavel and Lauren immediately stands up and makes her way to Camila. She gets to the girl as soon as the defendant is being escorted from the stand.
"I should've fucking ended your pathetic life when I had the chance." He lunges at the younger girl. Lauren is quicker though and before he can close any more distance, the girl collides her fist with his face and sends him stumbling back. The man is immediately detained by two more guards and so is Lauren. The green-eyed girl has her eyes narrowed on the man in the orange jumpsuit, but all her rage fades away when her eyes fall on a panicking Camila. She immediately struggles against the hands holding her so she can get to the younger brunette, but the guards just tighten their grip on her.
"Please let me go I have to calm her down." Lauren begs and the guards holding her look to the judge. When the judge just nods, they hesitantly release the girl who immediately scrambles to her wife and pulls her into her arms. Lauren tucks Camila's head into her neck and wraps both arms around her trembling body.
"You're okay. You're safe." Lauren whispers into Camila's ear. "I've got you." She cooes while placing kiss after kiss to her wife's head.
When the 15 minutes are up, Camila is considerably calmer and Lauren is thankful for that. She feels her tense up again when her attacker re-enters the court room, three guards around him. He glares at Lauren and the girl glares right back. A satisfied smirk makes it way across her face when she sees the dried blood around the man's nose and the stitches lining the bridge of it. She breaks her gaze from him when she feels Camila start to shake and she immediately brings her finger up and turns Camila's chin so she's looking at Lauren instead of the man in the orange jumpsuit.
"Just look at me, okay? Not him." Lauren coaxes and Camila just nods. The judge bangs her gavel and Lauren hesitantly stands up. When the two break contact, Camila whimpers and Lauren's heart breaks. She kneels down in front of the sitting brunette. "I'll be sitting to your left so if you get overwhelmed or scared just turn to your left and look at me, okay?" Lauren grabs the tan hands and places a kiss on each before placing them gently back on the girl's lap. "See Dinah?" The green-eyed girl points and Camila searches the courtroom for her best friend. Her eyes finally land on the Polynesian who currently has her head resting on Normani's shoulders, her face tear-stained. "I'll be right there." Camila hears Lauren say and she just nods solemnly.
"Ma'am, I need you to return to your seat please." A guard comes to get the green-eyed girl and she places a kiss on Camila's tear-stained cheek before retreating back to her seat in between Dinah and Ally.
"How is she?" The Polynesian asks as she slowly raises her head from her fiancé's shoulder.
"She'll be okay I think." Lauren offers her a sad smile.
"How are you?" Dinah questions.
"Not so good." Lauren replies almost immediately, her bottom lip quivering.
"Well at least you got to deck the asshole. That must've felt liberating." The blonde examines Lauren's bruising knuckles.
"That was nothing compared to what I want to do to the bastard." The brunette replies as she clenches her jaw tightly.
"Court is back in session!" The judge announces. "Will the jury foreperson please stand? Has the jury reached a unanimous verdict?"
"Yes, your Honor, we have." A man stands up and addresses the judge.
Camila watches as another man walks over and takes a piece of paper from the jury and gives it to the judge. The judge reads over it and hands it back to the man.
"The jury finds the defendant guilty of attempted murder, assault and battery, and armed robbery." The clerk announces and Camila sighs in relief.
"The defendant is hereby sentenced to 35 years in federal prison. Case dismissed." The judge bangs her gavel and the security guards immediately escort Camila's attacker out of the courtroom. The brunette stands up and immediately engulfs her lawyer in a big hug before walking toward her friends. Dinah immediately scrambles over Lauren and Ally to get to the girl.
"Walz." She breathes out as she embraces the Latina in a bear hug. "Are you okay?" She mumbles.
"The man who ruined my entire life is going to prison for at least 35 years so yeah that definitely is somewhat relieving." Camila steps back when Dinah releases her and runs her fingers through her hair.
"He just better be glad I didn't get a hold of his sorry ass." Dinah grumbles and Camila lightly chuckles.
"Stand down, Cheech. I think Lo hit him hard enough for the both of you." The younger Latina smiles fondly at the green-eyed girl as she hooks her arm with Dinah's.
"Let's go home." The Polynesian smiles.
"Actually, I was thinking we could go back to my restaurant and I could cook us up some pizzas." Ally pipes up.
"Yes!" Camila eagerly chimes in. "Sorry Cheech, but going to eat pizza is better than going home."
"I could go for some pizza." The blonde shrugs.
"Me too!" Lauren smiles as she walks up to Camila and absentmindedly interlaces their hands. Her eyes widen when she realizes what she just did, but her fear of rejection dissipates when Camila just looks over at her and smiles.
"Hey Dinah, before we leave, maybe you should go ahead and confess to that time you graffitied the side of the school wall our senior year of high school." Camila smirks and Dinah's eyes widen before she clamps her hand over the smaller Latina's mouth.
"Jesus, Chanch. I want pizza, not jail time." Dinah looks around to make sure no one heard Camila's confession.
"Orange Is the New Black ft. Dinah Jane." Camila states as they all walk out of the courthouse. "Now that's a show I would watch."
"Well if Ruby Rose will be in jail then maybe I should go back in there and turn myself in." Dinah wiggles her eyebrows and Normani scoffs.
"Why do you need Ruby Rose when you have Normani Kordei?" The dark-skinned girl tosses her hair back.
"You're right, baby. Ruby doesn't stand a chance at stealing my heart, it already belongs to you." Dinah leans in and captures her fiancé's lips in her own.
"Slowly losing my appetite here." Camila announces as she lets go of Lauren's hand and back peddles to the car, a smirk evident on her face.
"So dramatic." The Polynesian rolls her eyes.
"You're one to talk, Hansen." Lauren chimes in, laughing when the girl shoots her a dirty look.
"Jesus, you are all about defending your girl's honor today, aren't you?" Dinah smirks at the brunette.
"Always." Lauren replies as she watches Camila slide into the car, Ally and Normani following behind her.
"You got it bad, Jauregui." Dinah smirks at the brunette before looking in the direction of her fiancé. "But it's okay, I do too."