I wake up with a start. Liza is shaking and tears are streaming down her face.

'Leave me alone.' She says while in her sleep.

Some time passes without anything happening, then she starts getting up, at the same time while whimpering. I know with a start that she is having a nightmare which is leading her to sleepwalk.

I wrap my arms around her and pull her back into a sleeping position and whisper soothing words to her all the time thwarting her efforts to walk away.

After a while, I think my words get through to her and she calms down. She shifts and snuggles into my chest and goes back to sleep peacefully.

I look at her sleeping face, her teeth slightly showing and her halo of hair disheveled around her head. I wonder what happened that made her have so many demons. I wonder what happened between her and her ex.

I sigh. I shouldn't be thinking about this. She'll tell me eventually. I wipe away the tears on her face and hold her tight as I try to go back to sleep.

"Kystan." Someone shakes my shoulder. I open one eye, but close it again because of the light. I shield my eyes before opening them.

"Wake up. I have to go back to change." Liza says and jumps off the bed. She is in a great mood today.

I stretch my arms and get out of bed. "What's the rush? We don't have to go until around 10 am."

"It's 9 already." She pulls me to the door.

"I haven't even brushed my teeth."

"Just drive me there, you'll do the rest when you come back." She tugs at my arm, "Please."

"Fine." I lead her to my car and hurriedly take her to her apartment.

"I'll meet you there." She says and jumps out of the car. What's with the bounciness?

I wait until she is already inside before I drive off.

I take a shower and brush my teeth immediately when I reach home.

One of the guys returns when I am in the shower, "Kystan, are you done?" It is Luca who is back.

"I am in the shower." I say loud enough for him to hear from his room down the hall.

"I put the suit on your bed."

"Thanks man."

"No problem." I hear water running in his room.

I dry myself off. Before I put on the suit, I pause for a while. This suit was my father's, it was actually the last suit he bought before the accident. I want to wear it as a good luck charm.

I put it on for the first time, and I am surprised at how it fits me so well. Looking back my dad actually wasn't that burly, he was lean with a few tenacious fat around a couple areas but that was it.

I stash the thoughts away and proceed to finish dressing. I head downstairs to wait for Luca. He is coming with me, Asher will meet us there as will Frank, Molly, Rehan and Liza.

"Oh my, you look like a snack." Luca says in a girl impersonation. I roll my eyes.

"Thanks. You look like boiled veggies too." I reply in my best girly voice imitation. "Let's go dude." I return to my normal voice.

Instead of coming to the door, he goes to the kitchen, "Have you had breakfast?" He asks.

"No, I don't want any." He gets some random packets of food and comes to the door.

"Suit yourself. Let's go."

"Where will you eat that from?"

"Your car." He answers like it is the most obvious thing. I shake my head in disapproval but I know I can't do anything about it.

I see Liza standing near the entrance waiting for us. I park as close to the entrance as possible and get out.

She sees me and walks down the steps towards us. She looks me up and down with an appreciative smile.

"Is there an outfit you can't rock?" She asks with awe.

I opt to not answer but rather hug her. She laughs at the suddenness of it.

"Look who I found." I hear Luca say. I turn my head in his direction and notice my brother with him. I remove my arms from around Liza.

Rehan smiles mischievously like he has caught me doing something naughty. I raise an eyebrow at him. He keeps smiling. "What's with your face?" I ask him.

"Nothing." He answers innocently, as if. He turns to Liza and extends his hand. "I am Rehan." He says.

Liza shakes his hand, "Liza. I've heard a lot about you."

"Oh, really?" He looks at me with a smirk. Why do I not like this one bit? "I also heard about you, between sobs and buckets of ice cream."

Liza laughs. I change the topic before I get lied about more. "Where is Frank and Molly?" I ask Rehan.

"We are here." Frank says from behind us. I turn to them.

"Have you been there the whole time?" I ask.

"Sort of." He answers. He takes a step forward and gives Liza a hand to shake. "I am Frank and this is my wife Molly."

"Nice to meet you." She shakes his hand and turns to Molly who is standing besides Frank but rather than shaking Liza's hand, Molly hugs her.

"Honey, what happened to your face?" Molly exclaims.

Liza looks at me before answering, "It's a long story." Molly opens her mouth to say something else but Luca interrupts us.

Luca calls to us from the entrance, I didn't even notice him leaving. "It's time."

I nod. A chill runs through me at the prospect of facing a jury again. I remind myself that I am ready for this and I have all these people here for me.

We walk into the room and I go through the bar and sit at the claimant's desk. Hughes gives me final instructions before the judge enters.

"All rise." The bailiff says and we stand up as the judge goes to the bench. The jury is called in and the court clerk gives a brief summary of the hearing and all the relevant developments from the preceding hearings I was in.

I am called to the stand to reaffirm my claims before the jury. I am sworn in and the questions begin.

My lawyer starts, "Why do you think you deserve legal guardianship of Rehan Mitchells?" He asks calmly.

I look at Rehan where he is sitting in the crowd, wondering why I actually want to have legal guardianship over him. "Uhm," I hesitate for a moment.

Some among the jury raise their eyebrows wondering whether I even actually want this. I had rehearsed a speech with my lawyer, with a lot of legal gibberish, but I can't seem to remember it all; well fuck it, I'll say what I feel, what I would have said the last time, had I been given a chance. "When I was young, it was me, my dad, my mom and Rehan." I start. My lawyer starts sending me discreet signs asking what the hell I am doing. I just give him a reassuring nod, like I know what I am doing. "It was a... good time. But when their boat sank, we weren't whole anymore. A part of us had disappeared forever. It was more rightly so with Rehan especially because on top of our loss we were put in the child care system and had this looming likelihood of being separated. That didn't happen, fortunately, but I couldn't feel at peace when I still had my brother in the care of someone else's family. I couldn't manage being unable to fulfill my father's request, to take care of my little brother. I filed for custody as soon as I was eligible to by law. That time I was mixed up in some bad habits like fighting, drinking."

I meet eyes with Liza. "The jury denied me custody, and I deserved it. Today though, I come in a different light, I want to take care of Rehan. I want my father to rest knowing I didn't let him down. I want to be able to see my brother everyday, know that he is alright," I look at Rehan and see the smile he is giving me, "Not seeing him, once in a week or a fortnight. Please make that happen for me." I take a pause. "That's all." I conclude looking unsure whether I should have said that much, luckily everyone seems like they wanted to hear more.

The judge clears his throat and proceeds, "Any other questions Mr. Hughes?"

"No, your Honor." He retreats to his seat.

"Very well, does the prosecution have something to say?"

"Yes, your honor." The prosecution lawyer steps forward with some documents in hand, he lays one onto Hughes' desk and another he requests to hand to the judge and is permitted. "It seems Mr. Mitchells has been preoccupied recently. He was involved in a fight less than sixteen hours ago which led to the injury of a man named Dr. Glen Torsina." He pauses. Murmurs erupt in the crowd, I see people frowning at the turn of events. Frank's look of shock trumps them all though, but I can't go over to explain myself.

"Order." The judge says and the murmurs die down.

The scrutiny from the jury overpowers me as the prosecution lawyer continues, "It is really hard to tell if this isn't something he does often considering he admitted to having a record for getting into fights even from his early years. What says this won't happen to Rehan, over a fight about who gets the bigger room, or other trivial thing?"

The judge interrupts, "Get to the point."

"My question is, what can assure any of us who are sitting here that you won't beat up Rehan the second no one is around?"

As Hugh had told me to, I stick to the truth because we didn't get to plan for this from a lawyer's perspective. "I'd like to clarify one thing first, Mr. Glen and I had a confrontation because he was physically assaulting my girlfriend, who is his ex-wife and he has been bothering her for sometime. I think it was the shock and revulsion at seeing a man hit her, more or less any woman at all, that prompted my actions."

The prosecution lawyer interrupts me, "Mr. Mitchells is derailing from the question, your honor."

"Overruled." The judge says firmly and tells me to continue.

"I am not that kind of person, I don't see violence as acceptable and I was wrong to stop violence by violence. As for the question, I am very certain nothing would make me want to hit my brother, I love him a lot and I want to make my father proud, and doing harm to anyone would not make him proud."

I feel like I've bared my soul to these people. There is a moment of silence in the room, I start feeling really uncomfortable. My eyes meet with Liza's and she smiles at me. It releases some of my discomfort and I smile back. Rehan also catches my eye and he does a thumbs up, I know I won't live down the fact that I said I love him, he knows but we are not that sentimental, me and him.

"Any other question?" The judge asks.

"That's all, your honor." The other lawyer says.

"Very well then. The court will reassemble after a five minutes break in which the jury will deliberate." He says and dismisses the jury who are escorted by the bailiff to another chamber. I am finally allowed to leave the stand. I go back to the claimant's desk and hold a small conversation with Liza and Rehan who are nearest to the bar.

After four minutes, we hear the buzzer from the jury's room. They are escorted back to the courtroom and they resume their seats.

"Will the foreperson of the jury please stand?" The judge begins. A woman from the jury stands. "Have you reached a verdict?" He asks.

"Yes, your honor." The woman says.

"You may read the verdict." He says.

"The jury has decided that Mr. Mitchells' request to gain guardianship over Mr. Mitchells, be granted." I feel my heart swell with happiness. Despite the judge having the last say, it is a big victory for me to convince the jury. A step in the right direction.

"The jury has spoken," he says, "and I do not object." Yes. It is final. "Have a great day." The judge says and smiles. "Court dismissed." He then stands up and leaves the room.

There is a resounding cheer from the crowd. I get up in a stupor of happiness and go past the bar to the crowd. Molly throws her arms around me while shedding tears of joy. Frank also congratulates me.

"You did it." Rehan says when I finally reach him. I nod. I open my arms for a hug and he yields. "Thank you." He whispers into my ear.

"Anytime." I answer. The hug lasts a few seconds before it starts getting weird.

I notice Liza nearby talking to one of the prosecution lawyers. I walk over. Liza turns when I reach them, she looks extremely happy. She pecks me on the lips and loops her arm in mine, "You were amazing out there." I find myself grinning. She turns to the other guy, "Kystan meet Andre, my lawyer. Andre, Kystan, my boyfriend." She says.

We shake hands, I can see an envious look in his eyes and it confuses me.

"You're a lucky man." Andre tells me.

"Get over that already." Liza tells him playfully.

Andre turns to me and whispers, even though we can all hear him, "I once asked her out but she turned me down fiercely, I am now terrified of her." He says it comically, I find myself laughing.

"She can be fierce." I say in agreement.

"Jeez, you're all ganging up on me." She frowns at us.

"You know we are just kidding." He says to her but mouths a 'not' to me.

"By the way, I thought you didn't do such cases." Liza asks Andre.

"I was trying out something new." He says monotonously, "On the bright side, I got to meet you."

"Please." Liza says with disbelief.

"I have to go. Nice meeting you, Kystan, and congratulations." Andre says.

"Thanks, you too." I answer. He leaves. We walk out and find the others till waiting for us.

I notice Frank standing to the side absently staring across the street. I stand next to him, snapping him back into reality. I look ahead faintly hearing the sound of Liza, Molly, and Rehan talking by the door.

"Charles would be proud of you." Frank says out of nowhere. He turns to face me, he looks at me with utter seriousness but at the same time like he is proud of me. "You are really brave." He goes back to staring ahead. "I am proud of you."

My confident masquerade crumbles. It means a lot to hear this from the person I consider to be my father now. I wrap my arms around him with gratitude. He hugs me back without saying another word. Tears well up in my eyes. It's the first time I've hugged him since I was ten and it is worth the wait for in that moment I am more connected to him than ever. No pun intended.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Molly standing smiling at us. I unwrap my arms from around Frank and wipe my tears before they fall.

"Come on you two." She says so endearingly I can tell she is on the verge of tears. Frank, Molly and Rehan leave after a final goodbye.

"Will Rehan start living with you?" Liza asks when we are finally on our own.

"Not right now. I'll first find a place for us which is near his school." We sit down on the empty stairs.

There is a pause before she asks, "How do you feel right now?"

"Happy, relieved."

She smiles, "I am too. Let me buy you lunch." She declares. "As a celebration." She clarifies.

"But, I am paying." I retort quickly.

"No. Would that be buying you lunch?" She argues. "Come on, let's go."

We find a beautiful restaurant nearby and have our meal there. Despite her protests, I convince her to let me pay three quarters of the bill.

I return to an empty house after dropping her off. I remove my coat and fall on the bed. Extremely exhausted. A grin makes its way onto my face. Finally, I can rest knowing that Rehan is finally under my care and I do not have to burden Frank anymore. Not that I would ever tell him that; he would be very disappointed.

I get up again and head to the window. The air feels different. A lot lighter and enjoyable; The more I gaze at the dewy sunset, my eyes grow heavy and I start yawning. I am more tired than I thought.

I change out of the suit and lay down. My phone goes ringing like crazy. In my sleep induced haze, it is more annoying than usual. I feel around the bedside table until I find it and answer.

"Hhm." I grunt into the receiver.

"Can we talk?" Belle's voice reaches me carrying many levels of misery and despair than I've ever heard her express. I sit up immediately.

"Yeah. what's up?" I ask with concern.

Slowly but surely she starts crying. 

*********************************************