Adore You // Harry Styles

The entire team is assembled in the courtroom behind Char and her attorney. Clinton, Zack, Brianna and the entire Citizen One band plus their road crew fill the seats. Each one of them is listed as a potential witness as of 8 AM this morning. Apparently, the judge on this trial is not a Curt fan after his showboating yesterday and approved the list immediately.

Behind us, the courtroom doors swing open as someone with heavy footsteps enters drawing our attention. Our heads twist to look as if choreographed, one smooth motion. I don't know what anyone else is thinking, but as soon as I see it register on Curt's face just who it is waiting for him in this courtroom, I realize Ryan knew what he was talking about. The color drains from Curt's face as he must know what we're all doing here. Ready to take him down. Ready to watch him burn.

All eyes remain trained on Curt as he visibly hitches in his steps. It's only a split second before he recovers, the smug demeanor he walked in with falling into place once again. But I know what I saw.

He may have just shit his pants. I hope he did.

Curt takes his place at the plaintiff's table shoulder to shoulder with his attorney, some blond bombshell that's supposed to prove he sees women as equals but it's really a smoke screen to cover his misogyny. The woman leans closer to him, whispering whatever lame strategy she's come up with at the last minute. I don't envy the ass kicking she's about to take but I can't truly find any empathy. This professional woman took him as a client. That doesn't say much about her skills in discernment. Someone with such a terrible judge of character is either an ambulance chaser or she graduated law school last in her class.

I take a deep breath and send all my positive thoughts toward Char, knowing that sitting in the same room with Curt can't be easy. I saw the evidence of how hard this actually is on her last night. Char clung to me. She needed my physical comfort in a way I've never seen before. I was happy to give it. I was glad I'd jumped on a plane to get to her and leave my superficial life for something much more significant. Char's my world now. She's all that matters.

My eyes are locked on her, watching as she sits perfectly still, not even the slightest sign of nerves even though she's got to be feeling them. Her red hair, back in the natural curls I fell for on day one, spills down her back. She's wearing a long flowing white lace dress paired with a brown corduroy jacket. It meshes her love of comfort with the look of a polished and professional music executive, a look I'm quickly growing fond of.

Although I wasn't here yesterday to hear whatever lies he spewed, I was present to see the carnage left in Curt's wake after he took the stand. Char gave me a cursory overview, not wanting to talk in verbatims with me after being emotionally beat up. I just held her, loved her, and silently plotted my revenge.

I didn't hold back in my text thread late last night to Clinton and the guys after abandoning her to that asshole, forcing her to face him on her own. I shake my head as I look back at the texts we sent back and forth late into the night. My thumb scrolls back to my first statement to the group, proud of myself for letting them have it.

Me: If you ever make her go into the fire alone like that again I will contact every single media outlet on Earth and tell them all the dirty secrets I have on all of you. FOR FREE. I've played enough of your TMZ style crazy 8's to have a shit ton of intel to do it. Fuck you for leaving her all alone in this and keeping me in the dark.

Ryan: Bro, you know we had to. Curt's ego showed up and ate him for breakfast. And that's a low blow to use our crazy 8's against us.

Sean: That's the only way to prove what an ass Curt is, give him enough rope to hang himself. Which he DID. AND The first rule of crazy 8's is what happens there, stays there.

Me: Not if you LEAVE MY GIRL TO FACE HIM ALONE.

Clinton: While I share your sentiment, she wasn't alone. I sent Colleen who I'd trust with my life and had a team working out of sight. She was covered.

Me: bullshit. If I hadn't hopped on a plane the second that headline hit, she would have been spiraling alone all night in a hotel room. Not one of you fuckers checked up on her.

Ryan: 1-we knew you'd show up, dickhead. She had better backup than our sorry asses.

Ryan: and 2-YOU SHOWED UP.

Ryan: and 3-you are never playing crazy 8's again.

Zack: I was literally setting up a flight for you for the morning in case you could get away. But we all knew your shooting schedule. How did you break out of that, anyway?

The whole Emily's-on-her-period scam. I didn't think she'd want me putting it out there how we worked that out, so I deflected.

Me: I had some behind the scenes help on that.

Me: REGARDLESS of how this all worked out, my original declaration remains. Do not ever, EVER, send her into battle alone EVER again.

Me: are we clear?

Sean: yeah

Clinton: of course

Zack: it was necessary. but agreed. Never again.

Ryan: I don't bend under duress.

The emoji ass kicking Ryan got for that one almost makes me laugh out loud in the silent courtroom, but I manage to hold it together. The thread of f-bombs and angry emojis went on so long that Ryan finally relented.

Ryan: FINE

Ryan: WTAF you guys are fucking nuts.

Ryan: Jeez I won't leave your woman unattended

I get their reasoning, but that didn't keep me from unleashing on them. It did help that they planned to show a united front today. And I will admit, the look on Curt's face when he saw us did soothe my anger. Some. But I'm still going to hold it over their heads for the next fifty years.

The judge is announced, and the entire courtroom stands as he enters. The guy is old as fuck and looks like a brisk breeze could knock him over but there's something in his demeanor that says don't fuck with me. I like him immediately.

"Be seated," he mutters as he takes his own seat. "Is the defense prepared with their argument?"

"Yes, your honor. We are ready to call Charline Davis to the stand."

"Objection. Misleading, your honor. Her name is Charline Wainwright until the official name change documents are filed."

"Denied. I had my clerk file them yesterday. Charline Davis, please take the stand."

I narrow my gaze at the judge, trying to determine if the glint I see in his eye is from smug satisfaction at shutting down Curt's attorney or part of my imagination. When his mouth presses into a hard line, I have my answer. He's itching to take both Curt and his obnoxious lawyer down.

I pocket my phone as Char takes the witness stand. My entire body reacts as the story finally turns to focus on Curt. I'm holding my breath for Char while simultaneously bracing for the hard truths to come out. The only support I can give her now is silent.

There's one thing in our favor so far today. The public has rallied behind both Char and Citizen One. Curt has said enough to turn the tide in our favor. But I'm wise enough to know it's fickle support and could change on a dime.

Char is sworn in and her attorney starts. Curt is visibly relaxed, probably thinking Char would do anything to keep her brother's name out of the headlines since that's what started most of this to begin with.

"Charline, can you tell us how your relationship with the plaintiff began?"

Char swallows hard and nods. "I had just stepped into the role as Brianna Royce's manager and it was common knowledge in the music world that we were looking for opening acts for the upcoming tour. Mr. Wainwright had been contacting me about his band for several months."

"Would you describe his contact as harassment?"

"Objection. Leading the witness."

"Sustained."

Char's lawyer doesn't flinch, but the damage is done. Now the entire courtroom is rethinking Curt's innocent feelers about joining Brianna's tour.

"Continue with your story, Ms. Davis," the judge says.

"I finally listened to a few videos the band had posted online and decided to give Mr. Wainwright a face to face meeting."

"And how did that meeting go?"

"Very smooth. We had a good conversation. I had a good feeling about the band so I organized an audition of sorts so Brianna could hear them live and start discussing terms. And for the most part things were fine until about halfway through the tour."

Her lawyer paused, leaving Char's last words hanging in the air long enough that they left an impact.

"What changed?"

"He told me his work visa hadn't gone through. He's Canadian. The rest of the band isn't. He started to really stress about it. Talking about it every time we were alone in an off handed way. He'd look torn up about something and I'd ask him. He'd tell me he didn't know what to do. He didn't want to let the band down. He wanted to finish what he'd started. And he was scared everything he'd worked for would crash and burn."

"Were you in a romantic relationship with him at that point?"

"No. Despite what Mr. Wainwright insinuated yesterday, there was nothing romantic about our friendship. No crush, no attraction, no longing. We were simply friends."

"But you ended up married."

"Yes. He convinced me it was the only way. I wanted to help my friend. But things got terrible almost right away."

The attorney returns to his table to review some notes before speaking again.

"The timeline shows you signed your marriage license two months before the incident on stage that hospitalized Mr. Wainwright with a concussion and subsequently removed from his role as drummer, is that correct?"

"Yes."

"And were you witness to what led up to the incident?"

"No, I was not."

"But it was your brother who attacked Mr. Wainwright, is that correct?"

Char takes a deep breath, looking first at Clinton then at me. "It wasn't an attack. It was a defense."

"Objection. Conjecture. Witness wasn't present by her own admission."

"Sustained."

"Ms. Davis, what is your knowledge of that night?"

"Objection. Hearsay."

The judge raises a brow at Curt's attorney. "Witness hasn't even answered yet. I'll allow. But caution that you only state the facts as you know them. Nothing that you heard or any interpretation."

"That night, Curt had been drinking." Char looks at Curt's attorney. "I watched him down three shots of whiskey before the show." She takes a breath. "For some reason, there were about 20 girls, fans of the band, backstage in the wings. I stood backstage as Curt walked through their group, pinching half of them on the ass, winking furiously and leaning in to whisper in their ears. This wasn't that unusual. Our marriage wasn't public knowledge and Curt kept up the playboy rock star persona. I didn't like it, but I understood it." Char looks down. I get the distinct impression that she did not, in fact, understand it.

"Your brother was in attendance that night, isn't that correct?"

"Yes. He'd come to find out what was going on. He'd found out that Curt and I were secretly married."

"How did he find out."

"I have no idea. To this day, I'm not sure."

Her attorney looks up at the judge. "Thank you, this line of questioning is over. I'd like to call a new witness to the stand."

The judge nods at Char then turns an expectant eye toward the attorney. "Proceed."

"I call Clinton Wilson to the stand. I'd also like to submit as evidence, Mr. Wilson's laptop which he has volunteered to hand over."

A murmur rings through the court. Clinton rises and walks to the stand as Char steps down. Her poker face is strong because I can't for the life of me tell if she knew about this or not. Glancing at Curt, who's mask has slipped, I can tell he's confused. Or shitting his pants again.

Once Clinton is sworn in, the questions begin.

"Mr. Wilson, you have intimate knowledge of Mr. Wainwrights activities during the incident we've been discussing, do you not?"

"I do."

"How did that come to be?"

"I became aware of the marriage between he and Ms. Davis shortly after their ceremony and made it my mission to keep tabs on him."

"How shortly?"

"Minutes."

More murmurs among the roadies and C1.

"How did you keep tabs?"

"I'm head of security. I had someone assigned to him for surveillance. We kept records in the form of recordings, videos, etc..."

"How much of this surveillance do you have?"

A long pause as Clinton looks directly at Curt. "Hundreds of hours."

Well. I lean back in my seat, arms crossed over my chest and finally feeling like we have the upper hand. Looks like we're going to be here a while.

FINALLY! It was so hard to find a minute to write, and then it was hard to find the motivation. Sometimes its like going to the gym, you just don't want to... But we are finally here. The end is in sight! Perhaps 3 more chapters at this point. Maybe two. We shall see.

Thanks for your patience. I appreciate it so much.

It's Harry for me right now. And this soft song is how Jacob feels when looking at Char up on the witness stand. Disclaimer: I have no knowledge of how law or trials work so this is 100% fabricated and probably violates all kinds of laws of the court. But I don't care lol, I'm just glad I finally finished this one!

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

Thanks for reading!!