I had to testify on the trial against Brooklyn, Noah, and Caden for kidnapping and abuse. Beforehand, I was prepped for having pictures taken of my bruises so that instead of showing my skin, they could show the pictures. Oliver was there since he also had to testify for his sister's murder and I can tell that it was eating him alive. We were sitting on one of the benches outside the courtroom, waiting for the verdict.
"I can't believe it." He whispers and I wrap my arm around him and he lays his head against my shoulder.
"It's over. All it took was me getting kidnapped and abused." I put my hand up to my necklace and smile. Oliver looks up at me and smiles.
"You have it bad for the class clown."
"Maybe I do." I reply just as the District Attorney comes to get us, saying that the jury has reached a verdict. Oliver stands and helps me up, laying my hand on his elbow. We decided to stick together through this and Chip didn't mind, now that him and Oliver are now brothers. We take a seat down on the front row, right behind the barrier just as the jury comes in. Noah, Brooklyn, and Caden are brought in by the bailiff to take their seats. Caden shoots me a smirk that has my skin crawling and Oliver gently rubs my arm to calm me down.
"Will the defendants please rise?" The judge asks and they comply. The judge turns towards the jury box. "Has the jury reached a decision?"
"We have, your honor." The foreman says, holding a piece of paper for the bailiff to take and pass on to the judge. He reads off the charges.
"We find the defendants guilty of all charges." The judge hits his gavel on the bench and there's a bunch of noise. I look to Oliver, who most likely has the same look on his face as on mine.
"We did it." I say, smiling. He stands up and hugs me.
"Yes we did." He replies just as the District Attorney comes up to us.
"Great job you two. I understand it was hard, but i've never seen so much motivation to tesify."
"He hurt me. I had to." I shake her hand and she does the same to Oliver before he and I start walking out of the room. We walk out of the courthouse and sitting at the street was Chip's truck and he was leaning against it. We walk down the stairs and as soon as we're on ground level, I let go of Oliver and run towards Chip, who walks towards me a bit as I leap into his arms, spinning me around. "I'm free." I say, smiling. Oliver reaches us just as Chip puts me down and kisses me on the lips.
"I'd say the trial went well?" He asks Oliver.
"Yep. Guilty of all charges." Chip turns back to me and then we load up in the truck. We drop Oliver off at home and then we go back to my house. Mom and Dad now trust Chip and we walk inside to see smiling faces on my parents' faces and Danny's as well.
"We heard." Danny says, smiling.
"Yep." I say, giving everyone hugs. Chip grabs my arm to keep from moving anywhere. "What's wrong?" I ask.
"Wear something nice." He says and then let's me go. I shrug it off and head upstairs. It's now slipping into the winter season, which is always my favorite. I pull out my gray long sleeve shirt, my nice jeans, and boots and change into them. I walk into the bathroom and brush my hair, happy with my appearance, then walk downstairs when I stop in my tracks. Chip has on a dark grey suit vest, a light grey dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, exposing his nice forearms, a tie that's a middle shade between the two, and jeans. He stops talking to Danny to look up at me with that smirk that sends my stomach into butterflies.
"Like what you see?" He says, walking towards the stairs. I smile as he takes my hand and kisses it before laying it on his elbow. "I'll have her home by 10pm." Everyone nods in agreement and he leads me out to the truck, helps me into it and then shuts the door. He gets in the driver's seat and starts the truck. I look to the clock and it says 3pm.
"So what's the plan for today?" I ask once we've driven for a bit. We left the city limits and i'm starting to recognize where we're going. "Are we going to the beach?" I say and from the silence, i'm right.
"Man, you're good at this, love." He replies and I smile. We arrive and I hop out, smelling the fresh air and the mixture of saltwater. I can feel his presence behind me and I instinctively lean back into his arms.
"You told me about your homelife in a way and where we kissed." I whisper and he turns me around to face him as he lays his lips on mine. My arms wrap around his neck as he holds me tighter against him. He pulls back with a smile and then a familiar song comes on.
'Our love is unconditional. We knew it from the start. I can see it in your eyes. You can feel it from my heart'
"Shut up. This is my favorite song." I say as he pulls me into his arms, doing the exact same thing as our date that night. "I grew up with George Strait and all the other classic country songs." I whisper as we continue dancing to the song that's playing on his phone. We danced as the sun goes down and pause to watch the gorgeous sunset play out over the water.
"I also grew up with country as it was the only thing that reminded me of my dad." He says and I look at him to see a faraway look in his eyes.
"I'm sorry. I didn't me-" He shuts me up by kissing me on the lips.
"I'm okay. I just love country. Also to give you this." He pulls out another felt box similar to the necklace one and opens it. It was a charm bracelet with different charms on it. One was the wave of the ocean, another was a pair of wings, a heart with N and C, and the first name letters of our friends including Danny. I start crying again.
"Chip. It's beautiful." I say, smiling and he takes it out to put it on my wrist.
"None of us will leave you. Someone hurts you, it'll be over our dead bodies. I love you." He whispers, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me towards him to kiss me on the lips.
"I love you too, my little class clown." I whisper with a smile.