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before you read:

Okay, hi, I know it's been forever. Some of you may have actually thought I dropped off the face of the earth, but no! I am here and very much alive. So what have I been doing all these months? well, actually...

  I AM GETTING PUBLISHED!

  If you haven't already heard, I'm part of the SNOW Anthology put together by KellyAnneBlount that is going to be published. You'll be able to preorder and actually own a physical copy of the book very soon. The SNOW Anthology is a compilation of sixteen stories that all share a common theme: forbidden love. We all worked really hard on this and would love if you would give it a read. You can purchase it as an e-book, or buy a million paperback copies (as I plan on doing, because I'm really freaking excited if you can't tell.)

  If you want more details, click on the story titled 'Seeing Him Again' on my profile! PLEASE go to it and comment a million times if you're excited for SNOW to be published.

  Also hey, hello, I really missed this story. Let's get back into things, shall we? If you can't remember what happened in the last chapter (like me), feel free to go back and reread.

mia

  Harry and I spent long hours on his kitchen floor talking about what to do. Matthew and my father's lawyers wanted us to completely back out and in return we were guaranteed to be left alone. It was a temping offer, because the trial process had the potential of being long and grueling, but we knew what we needed to do.

  "Are you nearly ready?" Harry asked, coming out of the bedroom door as he buttoned up his suit jacket. Cat immediately pounced off the bed and rubbed herself against his leg. As soon as she was done cuddling up against him he lint rolled his pants. We were staying at a penthouse Air B&B in Philadelphia, the city where the trial would be held.

  "Yeah, I'm ready," I nodded. "I'm so nervous."

  "You look beautiful," he complimented. "There's nothing to be nervous about, M. We have people speaking for us the entire time, all you have to do is sit through it. There won't be a verdict today, either."

  "I don't want to have to see them. I don't know what that's gonna be like."

  "And you won't know until we go in there, so there isn't any point of worrying," Harry said, rubbing my back. "I'll be right by your side the entire time, and then we'll come straight back here and order takeout."

  It wasn't that I didn't believe what he was saying. I knew that everything was going to be alright, but I couldn't process that information through my head to get myself to stop worrying. He could tell me a million times that everything would work itself out, and there would still be some part of me that was filled with anxiety.

  A driver took us to the courthouse. The windows were tinted and nobody leaked anything to the press about us being in Philadelphia. The trial was kept very quiet and had no media coverage. It was a bench trial, which meant that we wouldn't have to deal with a jury telling anyone about the case. Not that any jurors would have been allowed to, anyway.

  The lawyers on our team were hoping to take down my entire family. My father, for organizing everything. My mother, for the knowledge of the criminal activity going on and her failure to report it. Matthew's family- his mother and father for the same thing, but a count of domestic violence against him. That was if everything went according to the plan.

  Everything was really screwed up and complicated. I did my best to keep up, but all the legalities had my head spinning. The team of lawyers knew exactly what they were doing, which reassured me when things got over my head. They told me that they would speak for me in court and I told them anything they could use. All the documents that I had collected during those many months of entrapment were finally being put to use.

  The courtroom was busy. I held onto Harry and tried to hide behind him as well as I could. My family was sitting on the opposite side of the room, all dressed equally as fancy as I was. They all had their eyes locked on me. My mother's eyes were shameful. My father and Matthew were both unreadable and cold as stone. I nearly gasped and staggered backward when we made eye contact.

  I squeezed Harry's hand and gave him a panicked look.

  "Hold your head up," he encouraged me. "We're here to get justice for you."

  Harry and I sat beside the team of our attorneys and lawyers. I was sat farthest away from my family. They had dozens of papers on the table in front of them, including a paper that held their opening statement. Harry clenched his jawline and gave me a firm look, nodding his head. We both stayed silent but our hands were firmly clasped together underneath the desk that sat in front of us.

  Opening statements were read and both sides began to delve into the process of presenting their case to the judge. Some of the defendant attorneys said things that made me want to jump out of my seat and scream at them, but I held myself back. Harry must've noticed by the way I stiffened up. He traced circles into the palm of my hand, soothing me.

  Our attorneys did a phenomenal job at presenting my side. My spirits were lifted; they had turned over every single stone. Everything that I had to endure was said in that courtroom. Instead of it making me feel terrible, I felt empowered. I wanted everyone to witness firsthand the torturous months that I was forced to live with Matthew. I wanted my story to be told so that the people who hurt me could be put in their place. 

  The judge called for the end of the hearing and everyone was dismissed. I was surprised at how short the entire thing felt, but when I looked at a clock I realized that we had been in there for nearly two hours. As we walked out of the room, I did not bother looking at my family or Matthew. I didn't want to look into their eyes and feel sorry for what they were facing. I knew that they deserved it.

  Our entire team had a positive vibe about them as we exited the courtroom. Apparently everything was going according to their plan, but criminal trials were always a long and grueling process. They had worked at bringing up as much evidence as possible for months. The trial would take some time, and so would sentencing. After today, however, I knew that it would all pay off.

  "I think that went very well." Harry smiled once we had gotten back into the car.

  "Better than I anticipated," I agreed. "It wasn't easy seeing them, of course, but it definitely wasn't as hard as I imagined. They seemed like strangers in there."

  "As they should," He said firmly, laying his hand so that it rested on my inner thigh.

  Any mention of my family made him turn cold. In the past couple months he had proved to be especially protective of me. I knew that deep down he felt like everything that happened to me was his fault. Every single day he tried to make it up to me, even though I reassured him that nothing that happened was from his wrongdoing.

  I ran my fingers through his hair, which was starting to get longer. It was a mess for him to try and tame in the morning, especially since it popped up in small tufts all around the top of his head. He always whined and complained when his hair wouldn't cooperate. I thought it made him look even more attractive (if that was even possible).

  "I'm proud of you," he whispered against my lips. I was incredible thankful for the partition that separated us from our driver. "I want you to know that."

  I nodded against his lips, closing my eyes as I let him comb his hands through my long hair. I nestled one hand along his jawline as our lips moved together. Every single time was electrifying and new. My fingers traced back and forth along his jawline and I laughed and glanced up at him as he clenched it. He raised an eyebrow at me and I rolled my eyes, pulling him back in to kiss me some more.

  "So. Damn. Proud." He repeated as I practically sat on his lap. I nodded and bit his bottom lip lightly. His hands were dropped to my waist, where my dress that I wore to the courthouse had hiked up. Annoyed with my stupid getup, I yanked the dress back down to where it was supposed to be.

  We were completely breathless by the time our car pulled up to our building. Harry quickly fixed my hair as best as he could and I straightened his collar. Giddily, we walked to the building elevator and I laughed hysterically at the realization that Harry had my lipstick all over him and his hair quite closely resembled sex hair.

  "Everyone is going to think we just did it in that car," he grumbled. "I'm way classier than that!"

  "Feel you on my neck while I'm calling a taxi, climbing over me while I climb in the backseat," I sang. "Not as classy as you say you are."

  "Oh shut up," he said, rolling his eyes. "That was two year ago. You've heard my music, I've got a bit more depth than that, yeah?" When I didn't immediately reply, he obviously pretended to be offended.

  We opened the door to our Air B&B and Cat was waiting to greet us. Harry scooped her up in his arms and grabbed my hand, leading me to our enormous bed that looked tempting as ever. My anxieties from the day made me incredibly tired. A nap or three wasn't a bad idea.

  So the three of us took a nap. I stripped down to a bra and underwear and got comfortable in a sea of sheets and pillows. Harry peppered kisses all over my neck and face, and as much as I wanted to return the affection, I was getting sleepier and sleepier. Cat was snuggled up and passed out beside me.

  "Sleep, my girl," Harry whispered. "Today's been a big day."

  "Sleep with me," I groaned, stretching. He knew that I only meant to sleep.

  "I guess I could use it, too." He sighed, taking off his suit and joining me. 

  He slipped his phone out of his pocket, scrolling through things with his arm comfortably nestled around me. I cuddled into his chest and took in the strong scent of his cologne. We laid there for nearly twenty minutes before I felt him moving to get up off the bed.

  "Mm," I groaned. "Come baaaaack."

  "This is not good," he proclaimed. "Shit, shit, shit. This is not good."

  Sobering up from my deep sleep, I sat up straight and rubbed my eyes. Harry's eyes were glued to his phone, and a sinking feeling immediately grew in the pit of my stomach.

  "You're kidding me." I deadpanned.

  "Wish I was," he sighed. "I'm gonna have to make some calls about this. The paps are having a field day."

  "How much money did you spend for them to keep quiet? Are you serious?" I laughed dryly. He held up a finger to me for me to wait before speaking to someone with a very series tone on the other line of his phone. Frowning, I slid out of bed and threw on a t-shirt.

  "It's all over my feed," he explained to the person. "No, not anything. Yeah, we need to do that. We don't want this to affect the trial. Please do. Okay. Yeah, okay. I'll reach out to you if I find more. Okay. Right, bye."

  The phone call was over as soon as it started. He hung up the phone and looked at me, defeated. We had been dealing with paparazzi more and more recently, and it was draining. I couldn't even begin to imagine what it did to Harry. He tried his best to keep himself out of the media. He deleted all the social media apps on his phone and only a small amount of people knew personal things about him. Even though he tried his hardest, it still wasn't enough.

  "I'm sorry," he said sincerely. "This was bound to happen."

  "You didn't do anything," I reminded him. "We'll just have to roll with the punches. It can't have any effect on what goes on in that courtroom. Just try and block them out and we'll move forward."

  "I shouldn't have to block them out," Harry complained. "They should just be able to move on with their lives and stop stalking me!"

  "It's their job," I said lightly. "Like it or not, these people are paid to do this. They're not going to stop and leave it alone. The only thing we can control is how we react to it."

  "You're right," he complied, wrapping his arms around me and burying his face in my neck.

  About once a month, he would get like this. The media and attention would become too much for him and he would try to completely shut down. I was always there to help him through it, to remind him what was important, and to encourage him to press on. Usually these days were spent inside our house, in the company of each other. Sometimes he would go and visit his family. I always stayed back. I knew he wanted me to meet his family, but not when he was in such a slump. It was best for him to be alone with them, to feel normal in his hometown again.

  "We can't focus on them," I whispered in his ear. "We have a trial to win."

a/n:

if anyone can find the typo that either says "possible" or "probable", let me know because it's driving me crazy. i think i was supposed to say possibly or probably lol.

  -del