The bright sun shone on Levi's face, coloring half of it in mild yellow as the other half remained the same. He stood with Evelyn beside him as they overlooked her car from the stairs of the court. 

They had celebrated together. However, as they exited the court, their minds were different things; Levi's on his father and Evelyn's on Noah. In fact, Evelyn had more than one thing on her mind. 

As she waited for Noah to complete his formalities and walk out, her eyes were pulled to a shadow of Andrea. Shadow, because of all the bright enthusiasm and carefreeness was snatched out of her and she was nothing more than a dead girl walking. 

Evelyn was conflicted; it was Andrea who put everything into action but at the end of the day, she was only following her mother's order. Evelyn was a huge part of the change in Andrea since it all began with her. She had held on to the guilt she felt towards Andrew for more than two decades but finally let it go; you simply don't feel guilt towards someone who wished for your death. 

But with the absence of guilt came fear. She could not fathom ever facing Iris again for the mere thoughts of her sent shivers down her spine. The case had kept her distracted and she knew that she would only ever be at peace if it was Iris who went to jail, not Andrea. 

So, she had one other task before she wrapped up this chapter of her life and flushed it down her toilet. 

Evelyn swaggered over to Andrea, snapping at her to pull her attention. 

"That wasn't favorable, huh?" Evelyn asked. 

"You little bitch!" Andrea exclaimed louder than she should have. She received inquisitive glances from the people around, causing her to lower her voice. "How dare you speak to me! You made me cover up what you did to my brother! And now you have the audacity to speak to me?"

Evelyn sighed,  "I think we can all agree that you have done a lot worse. And that's not why I came here."

"I don't care-" Andrea began. 

"Hasn't it ever occurred to you that your mother basically played you? You did all her dirty work and now she gets to play the role of a disappointed mother while you go down for her mistakes," Evelyn said. 

"It wasn't like that, don't pretend like you know it all!" Andrea spat. 

"Why do you think she didn't show up to the court today? She has enough resources to make sure Andrew is well taken care of so don't pull that card on me. She's trying to distance herself as far away from the case as possible," Evelyn said.

Every word she spoke was a lie but she held herself confidently to ensure no one else felt that. Iris was a terrible person but no one could ever call her a terrible mother. Except for Evelyn. 

"The point is, you won't be punished as severely if the court knows that your mother was the mastermind. You wouldn't be lying either, would you?" Evelyn asked quickly, noticing the shift in Andrea's demeanor. 

"Either way, it's not my job to protect you. Not after what you and your family did," Evelyn said before walking away. 

She felt the heaviness in her heart slip away as she approached Levi. His hands were stuffed in his pocket and his eyes seemed to be searching for Alec. He hadn't turned up. 

"How long is he going to stay in there?" Levi asked, moving away from the sunlight. 

"As long as he needs to be ready to face you again," Evelyn answered honestly. 

Levi slumped, his head focused on the distance between his black shoes. Evelyn sighed as she lifted Levi's chin up, their faces inches away from each other. 

"Don't sulk, not when you have so many things to be grateful for. The sun, for example. You're finally standing out without anyone ready to drag you into a confined space," Evelyn said. 

"But my father... He hates me now," Levi said, hesitating. 

Evelyn chuckled, "You've said this a million times. And it's never true."

Before the slightest smile could form on Levi's face, his body stiffened up. His eyes were affixed beyond Evelyn's gaze and he cleared his throat, banishing the awkwardness that only he felt. Noticing this, Evelyn turned around to face what Levi was staring at; Noah. 

"Oh, Noah. Hi!" Evelyn said, her voice pitching up as she spoke. 

"Hello," he greeted stiffly before turning to Levi, "Hello, Levi Coleman. Congratulations on winning the case."

"Oh," Levi said, taken aback. This was the first time they had conversed with each other non-formally and Levi didn't know how to respond. "Thank you. You were great, I think."

Noah chuckled. "There's no need to feel awkward now. You won the case because you were innocent, I think everyone can see that. It's not a lost case for me if justice was served at the end."

"Very deep," Levi commented and his face flushed as soon as he said it. 

"Right. Well, enjoy your freedom," Noah said. He turned to walk away but Evelyn showed up in front of him. 

"You should know that I'm really sorry, Noah," Evelyn said. 

"I don't care, Evelyn. You've known for a while now that you don't see me as anything so you might as well have broken up ages ago," Noah said. 

"I know. Nothing I say or do will change the past but I really do care about you. I know you don't think that's true and frankly I don't blame you. I just can't see this go," Evelyn said.

"I gave you so many chances, you know?" Noah said, hanging his head. 

For the first time, Evelyn saw more than anger in his mien towards her. She always knew that she had hurt him but he hadn't let her see it, not until now. In a way, seeing him now made her feel much worse than she had throughout the last week. 

"I know. I'm sorry."

They both stood in silence. All the anger had seeped away from Noah and he didn't have it in him to confront her anymore. It was a silence filled with longing; Evelyn wished she could go back in time and let him down slowly and Noah wished that they had broken up mutually. Instead, they were stuck in a cycle where Evelyn would continue to apologize but that lead nowhere. 

"You were great back there," Evelyn said, changing the topic. 

"Yeah, you too. Congrats," he said, glad to be done with their conversation. 

As he walked away this time, Evelyn didn't object. Her attempt was a futile one as she realized that the issue was far beyond solving. However, she saw a glimmer of hope as Noah turned to face her one last time. 

"You know, I didn't want to let this go either. Maybe someday I'll bring myself to be able to speak to you again," Noah said. He waved a rushed goodbye before studding down the stairs. 

Evelyn stared at his back the grew smaller and smaller before it disappeared behind the white doors of a cab. She sighed as she turned to Levi who seemed as though he was contemplating something. 

"That guy is too nice. Way too much for you," he said, rubbing his chin. 

"Thanks, Levi," she said, shaking her head.  

"I don't know what I expected from the dude, you know. But he seems like a sweetheart. I wonder why he was so scary during the case," Levi said. 

"Because he was in the middle of his case, dumbass," Evelyn said. 

Perhaps Levi was trying to make Evelyn forget the sad bits but she didn't want to. This was something she wanted to remember, to never repeat. More than anything, she didn't want to forget the hope that maybe one day, Noah and she could be just friends. It might've been a delusional wish but she wasn't letting it go. 

"Well, what now?" Levi asked. 

"Get in my car and we'll celebrate, I guess," Evelyn said. 

They looked at each other; neither of them was up for celebrating and all the enthusiasm left as they left the court. 

"I still need to talk to my father," Levi said although his tone suggested that he wasn't looking forward to it. 

"Go inside and talk to him, Levi. I'll come with you because I have some things to say as well. Let's be honest; at this rate, he's not coming out any time soon," Evelyn said. 

"You're right. Come on," Levi said. 

They walked back in, heading towards the waiting room with hopes that Alec hadn't wandered off elsewhere. There was something about the high ceilings and the monotonous colors inside the building that brought back some of their enthusiasm. Their emotions would always be a part of this building and now, the good ones overruled the bad. 

Evelyn pushed open the waiting room's door to find Alec seated in a corner. He wasn't in tears as Evelyn had feared, rather he was on his phone. 

Evelyn was the first to walk up to him. She placed her hand on Alec's shoulder and he grinned at her grimly. 

"I can't say you haven't made me proud," Alec said, feigning warmth. 

"Today I got everything I ever wanted," Evelyn said, "and it wouldn't have been possible without you."

"I'm glad someone sees it that way," Alec exhaled. 

That was Levi's cue to join in. 

"I don't know what I was thinking," he said. 

"You didn't do anything, Levi. You just removed a sign, big deal," Alec said. 

"Really?" Levi asked. 

"Not at all. What do you think, Levi? You've messed up so many times and each time I try to let something go, you drop another bomb on me! You're pathetic," Alec exclaimed. 

Levi staggered back. It had been a while since his father had completely gone off on him, making him forget that it had ever been a daily occurrence. Levi knew Alec was right but he couldn't bring himself to stand there and take all the blame. 

"I fucked up, okay! But maybe if you had stopped yelling and listened to me, I would have never done it. You just keep reminding me why I ever thought that was a fucking good idea! In fact, I should have done much worse!" Levi exclaimed. 

"Not this again," Evelyn muttered before placing herself in between them. 

"Listen, Alec. I know you're angry at him, I would be too. But he's carried this guilt for too long and all of this happened because he was afraid of what you'd do. I'm not justifying his actions but he's not the only one in the wrong," Evelyn said, trying to calm him down.

"This is a private matter," Alec said.

Evelyn sucked in a deep breath, taken aback. Alec wasn't wrong, as usual, but his words didn't sit with her. "Fine then, you can come when you're done, Levi."

As she hurried out the door, Levi grabbed her hand, "Oh I'm coming with you. I should've been celebrating but look where I'm at."

Evelyn wanted to protest; she couldn't see their relationship fall apart as hers had with her parents. But it seemed that Alec had a process and screaming at the people around him was a part of it. 

She looked at Alec who seemed to have calmed down after all but not enough to settle things with Levi. She shook her head before guiding Levi away from the room as all the positivity in the court's air turned to ash. 

"This is not how today should have been. We should have been celebrating," Evelyn said as she pulled him back onto the stairs. Maybe it was the world's way of urging them to get away from the court before the day got worse. 

"He always manages to anger me," Levi said and paused. He looked at Evelyn as he realized something, "And I suppose I always find a way to anger him."

"I know I say it so much but you need to know this. The man loves you. He stayed till the hearing ended because of that, he even let go of his anger for a while," Evelyn said. 

"I wish things didn't have to be so complicated all the time. I mean between him and I," Levi said. 

"Some things take more time to change. The Alec I used to know wasn't like this so it's clear he's capable of change. You just need to give him some more time," Evelyn said, "until then, maybe you can change yourself as well. Because, let's be real, the only reason he gets riled up is because of you."

Evelyn walked down the stairs and Levi followed. As she opened the lock to her car, she found herself wishing that she hadn't waited by the court at all. She thought that maybe then, either of them would be keener to celebrate. 

But then she remembered her talk with Andrea; it wasn't much but at least she had sowed an idea in her head. She remembered about Noah and the hope he had given her - that perhaps someday, they'd talk freely again. 

If you pray for the rain, you gotta deal with the mud too. That's a part of it. 

There was no way to divide the good from the bad, to decide that a day would only be fantastic or terrible. There were many lines in between, lines that could not be ignored. 

"Just because this sucked, it doesn't mean we can't celebrate," Levi said, reaching into Evelyn's mind and pulling out words from it. 

Evelyn smiled; she didn't need to force it for she threw out the bad for just a moment and thought of the good. In a way, she'd made Alec proud and she'd probably proved to everyone that she was not her parent's influence. But more than anything, she had the time to hang around Levi who had shown her how to live. 

Gone was the girl who tried to stay away from the drama, the good girl who'd never make a mistake again. Evelyn had done things she could never tell anybody but she shared those secrets with one person; Levi. 

Her face bubbled with joy as she let go of any hesitation. There wasn't a thing or person in the world who was holding her back from saying the words that had been beating with her heart for the last week. 

"Levi, I love you too."

"What?" he responded but his mouth broke out into a huge smile. 

"I really do," Evelyn reassured, wiping the tears of joy that formed on her face instantly. 

They stared at each other, both afraid to make the first move. Evelyn's heart was beating fast as she pulled Levi's hand and held it. Levi's head was filled with anticipation as he moved closer to her. With no warning, Evelyn snaked her arm around Levi's neck and pulled him lower to match her height. She felt his warm breath on her neck as their hearts beat in a synchronized manner. Then, their lips met. 

Levi was the first to make a move. Evelyn expected an awkward pause every second but there were none. The only thing that mattered was him and her and the lack of space in between. 

Levi couldn't have asked for a better celebration. 

As their hands were entangled in each other, they came to the realization that both of them were finally standing on the grey area in their life. 

Neither of them minded that for they ascertained that there was no black or white. While Levi struggled to get out of the black side, Evelyn struggled to stay in the white but that wasn't possible, not when such an area never existed. 

There was only grey and because they realized they were in it for the first time, together, they knew they'd be just fine. 

The court building cast a shadow, covering Evelyn and Levi from the harsh rays of the sun. As Evelyn looked away from Levi to inspect it all, she realized something else; 

It all started in front of the court and it ended there as well. 

The worst chapter in their lives had come to an end. 

And the new one had just begun.