Relief

     I fixed my hair nervously as I stood in front of the mirror in the courthouse bathroom awaiting the verdict of the trial against Kevin. I took in a slow shallow breath as I tried to calm my nerves and shook my head to clear my tangled thoughts. I had finished telling the jury every account of abuse that had happened to me. They even showed pictures of me with bruises on my face and body. I felt my heart start to beat painfully slow and I felt the tears begin to sting at my eyes. I closed my eyes shut as tight as I possibly could to keep the tears from falling. I couldn't look weak when I go back in there. I was strong and brave for putting myself and my family through this.

It had taken the whole summer for the trial to come to an end because there were so many things we had to go through. I had to postpone going to Columbia until next semester so I could finish this. The only upside of holding off on Columbia was that he would be in jail and wouldn't be allowed to ever hurt another girl like he had hurt me.

     I walked out of the bathroom and started to make my way towards the courtroom, but stopped in my tracks once I noticed Colton standing across from me. He was staring at me worriedly and I felt my heart sore at the sight of him being there. I let out a little sob of relief seeing him here then I jogged over to him and jumped into his open arms. He squeezed me as tight as he possibly could to his chest and buried his face in my hair. "I'm so glad you're here." I admitted as I ran my fingers through the back of his hair gently and he squeezed me a little tighter as he nodded in agreement.

"I wouldn't miss being here for you, Diana." He whispered and I smiled briefly then planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Colton?" I asked as I pulled back to stare at him. "I love you." I whispered just as my lawyer exited the courtroom.

"The jury's back with their decision, Ms. Walker." She announced and I nodded my head as Colton placed me back gently on the ground. I turned back to look at him and he was grinning at me. I giggled at him and bit my lip nervously.

"Well, aren't you going to reply?" I teased and he continued to grin at me as he took in a deep breath.

"I'll tell you my response as soon as they put him away." He informed me and I rolled my eyes as I smiled at him. "Let's go get this over with." He said and I nodded putting on my serious face.

The jury entered the courtroom as I sat next to my lawyers silently waiting for the verdict. "In the case, Walker versus Vincent on multiple counts of physical and mental abuse and one count of rape, how do you find the defendant?" The judge asked quickly and one person of the jury stood up. He looked at me with pity then looked back at the judge quickly.

  "We find the defendant, Kevin Marcus Vincent, guilty on the counts of domestic violence," He announced and I heard my Mother let a sigh of relief and I felt my lawyer pat my back gently. I took in a ragged breath as I nodded my head and tried to steady my heart and keep the tears at bay. "On the count of rape, we find the defendant guilty." And that was when I lost it and started to break down crying my lawyers started patting my shoulders and I heard my Mother start to cry as well and my Father whisper a thank you to God.

  "Kevin Marcus Vincent on behalf of the state of Florida I sentence you to the maximum sentencing of twenty years without the chance of parole for the count of rape and I also sentence you to ten years for 3 counts of domestic violence from the evidence provided by Ms. Walker. That is a total of fifty years that Mr. Vincent will have to serve. I hope you feel some sort of remorse for what you have done to this poor, young girl. Case dismissed." She finished with a loud bang of the gavel. We all rose as she left the courtroom.

I turned around toward my family as they were all grinning at me happily. "You did it, baby."
My Dad said proudly and I smiled at him as I nodded my head and jogged over to him. He pulled me into his arms and lifted me off the ground as he clutched me tightly to his chest.

"I love you, Daddy." I whispered and he rubbed my back gently.

"Oh honey, I love you more than anything in this world sweetheart. You know I would do everything in my power to make sure my little girl is okay." He said sternly as I nodded my head and cried into his shoulder. My Father was my protector, my super hero, and the only man who would never hurt me.

  "Grab him!" I heard someone shout from behind us and then a lot of commotion. I glanced behind me to see Kevin pulling up a gun and pointing it at me. What happened next seemed to all happen in slow motion. My Father spun around covered me with his body as Colton charged at Kevin, but not before a long shot rung throughout the courtroom. I screamed for Colton and my Dad to get down, but then I felt my Father let out a cry of pain. I looked up at him with fear in my eyes and then I noticed the blood starting to stain the front of his shirt.

  "No!" I heard my Mother scream as my Father went limp in my arms and I slowly lowered him on the ground. I began to apply pressure to his wound and I looked at him worriedly.

  "Daddy? Daddy, please talk to me?" I begged as my Mother was yelling in the background for someone to get an ambulance.

  "Are you hurt?" My Father gasped as he scanned my body frantically looking for any wounds. I shook my head at him in disbelief and began to cry.

  "No Daddy, you saved me." I sobbed and my Dad sighed with relief.

  "Oh thank God," He whispered and then my Mother sat down on the other side of him and placed her hands on top of mine. "Baby, I'm going to be okay. It's just a little gun shot wound." He teased at my Mother and she was looking at him like he was crazy.

  "You're okay?" She asked gently and he nodded.

  "I'm going to be fine." He assured her just as paramedics stormed into the room and charged towards us.

     I was sitting in the back seat of Colton's car with Theo laying next to me with his head in my lap and I was staring at my blood covered hands quietly. Colton parked the car in front of my house and started to get out. He opened my door and helped Theo out. Theo held on to Colton tightly and I stared at him with so much guilt. It was all my fault our Father was in the hospital. I began to sob as I hugged myself tightly. "Diana, please don't cry." I heard Theo say and I shook my head as I looked up  at him.

  "It's all my fault Dad's hurt. I'm sorry, Theo. I didn't mean to hurt you or Dad." I sobbed and then Colton walked over towards me and pulled me gently out of the car.

"You listen to me Diana," He said softly and placed his hands on either side of my face, making me focus my attention on him. "It's not your fault at all, okay? Kevin is crazy and none of this is your fault. I love you, your brother loves you and no one is blaming you." He said sternly. I stared at him for a few moments as I let his words process in my mind. He finally told me he loved me and I knew it wasn't my fault for what Kevin just did to my Father. No one could have known that was going to happen.

     I was laying on the couch with Colton later that night with my head in his lap as we watched TV, trying to escape from the nightmare that had just happened today. Colton was stroking my hair soothingly and I was so grateful to have him here with me. He kept me calm and collected and helped me take care of Theo. "Colton?" I asked softly and turned to look up at him. "Why did you choose me?" He knitted his eyebrows in confusion and I shook my head in frustration as I stared up at the ceiling trying to understand why he is with me. "I just can't wrap my head around why you wanted to be with me. I'm damaged goods. In the beginning of our relationship, I flinched whenever you tried to even hug me. That's not what normal girlfriends do, Colton." I huffed out in annoyance and began to sat up. "It took me forever to let you kiss me! I mean honestly, we just started kissing not even two weeks ago and we've been together for months now! I just don't understand why-" Colton pressed his lips firmly against mine as he placed his hand on the back of my head to keep me there. After a few moments, I began to kiss him back once the shock subsided and I felt my body begin to climb over and straddle his lap.

Our kissing began to heat up quickly and soon enough we were frantically pulling at each other's clothes, trying to be as close as we possibly could be to one another, but not taking them off. Colton pulled away quickly and I opened my eyes slowly to stare at him in confusion. His eyes were clenched shut as we both were breathing rapidly. "If we don't stop now," He breathed out, in his husky sexy accent and slowly opened his beautiful green eyes that were filled with lust. "I'm not going to be able to stop myself and I don't want to push you into doing something you don't want or not ready to do." He said softly as he slowly reached out and tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear.

     I stared into Colton's eyes and wondered if I was ready for this. I knew never in a million years would Colton every do anything to hurt me and I trusted him with my life. I was ready, I just wished he would've been my first before Kevin. "I don't want you to stop." I whispered and bit my lip nervously. A slow smile began to spread across his face and I couldn't help but smile back. I quickly jumped off his lap and started running toward the stairs. Colton followed after me eagerly. I was grinning like a fool as we ran up the stairs and I felt Colton grasp my waist and spin me around before we got to my room.

  "I love you, Diana. With everything I have. I want you to be the last girl I ever make love to." He whispered and I stared up at him in surprise.

  "A-are you proposing to me?" I squeaked out nervously and he chuckled softly as he shook his head and smiled at me.

  "No, I'm promising you that one day I will propose to you. I do want you to be wife and that you'll be the only girl I'll be making love to for the rest of my life." He said sternly and my smile slowly returned to my face as I leaned up on the tips of my toes to smash my lips against his hungrily. He lifted me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist and he began to carry me into my bedroom. He kicked the door shut with his foot once we were inside and we continued to make out as he held me in his arms. He gently placed me on my bed and climbed on top of me. "I love you, Diana. I want to be with you because you are absolutely amazing," He said gently as he started to slowly raise up my shirt. He looked at me, silently asking me for permission and I nodded my head. He slowly pulled my top off of me and then stared at my body I awe. I felt myself blush and feel self conscious as I slowly started to cover my body with my hands, but Colton pushed them away. "Don't cover from me. You are absolutely beautiful, inside and out, and I will remind you how beautiful you are every single day." He promised and I felt my body start to heat up from how his words had affected me.

  "Colton, I love you. Please make love to me." I begged and he smiled at me as he began to unbutton my pants.

    I woke up the next morning wrapped in Colton's arms and I hadn't felt more at peace than in that moment. I never knew I could be loved by someone as amazing as Colton. I couldn't live without him and as I laid there in his arms, I had decided to transfer to a college in Florida. Of course, I had to tell Kelsey but I knew she would understand. She was my best friend after all and I know she wanted nothing more than for me to finally be happy. I was blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life who loved and cared for me and I prayed that I wouldn't be losing one of them today.

     I sighed as I reached across and grabbed my phone off my bedside table to see if my Mom had texted about any information on my Dad. I sat up quickly once I saw that she had and a huge smile spread across my face and tears welled up in my eyes once I read the text. "What? What is it?" Colton asked groggily as he stared up at me.

  "My Dad's going to be okay." I sobbed and Colton sat up quickly and leaned over my shoulder to read the text. He looked up a few seconds later grinned at me and then pulled me in a tight hug as I began to cry on his shoulder. "Everything's going to be fine, Colton. Just like you promised." I croaked out as more tears cascaded from my eyes and down my cheeks effortlessly. I know I hated crying bc, but I couldn't help it. My Dad was going to be fine, everyone I love was safe.

  "Of course it is, baby. I don't make promises unless I know I can keep them." He said firmly and I giggled as I hugged him tighter and for once since sophomore year, I could finally breathe again.