I'd like to take a moment to say that everything I say about the court system is totally based on my imagination to fit the story, it probably doesn't really work like I make it out to, don't expect this if you get arrested for some crazy thing or someting!

Brielle's P.O.V.

...TWO WEEKS LATER...

I sat outside the courthouse, ready for my trial. A lot had happened in the past two weeks. I moved in with Addie. She had heard about Niall and was more than happy to let me bunk wither. We could relate to each other. Cameron cheated on her, Niall cheated on me. We cried about them a lot. Luckily, though, I wasn't alone. To me, that was more important than having a boyfriend.

After that, I got a call from the courts. My trial was for today, April 5th. I hired a lawyer and bought an outfit for court. I was terrified to death. Here, I would be publicized as a murderer, and the prosecuting lawyers thought that they had a good case against me. I couldn't really prove that I didn't kill him. All I could prove was that he was dead and I was a likely suspect. All I could really hope for was that they didn't have enough evidence to prove that I did kill him. At least, that's what my lawyers told me. My trial was for two, and I kept my eyes on the clock as it ticked to 1:50. Ten more minutes until doomsday. Addie sat next to me. She handed me a hot chocolate. I accepted it numbly.

"You're going to be fine," she said.

I sighed. "How? The prosecutors wouldn't take me to court unless they had real proof."

"Proof of what?" Addie countered. "Come on Bri, I know you. You didn't kill him. And if you're innocent, how can they prove that you're not?"

Good point. "I don't know," I said hopelessly. "I just know that they're doing it."

Addie hit me on the top of the head. "Brielle Williams, I refuse to believe that you are giving up. This behavior is due to the fact that you just went through a rough breakup."

"Keep believing that," I muttered.

Suddenly, the clock chimed two. I stood nervously and walked into the door. Adie waved me goodbye.

"You're going to do great, she called.

I tried for a thumb up. Addie frowned a little and shook her head, but waved and walked away. I would have preferred for Addie to stay in there with me, but she had to work. I didn't have a job anymore, and no one would hire me. I already felt bad for just staying with her, but she insisted on it. And then she had to work to pay the bills and for the food and all the other necessities.

I took my place next to my lawyer. He winked at me. I tried for a smile, but I think it came out of more as a grimace. I looked at the prosecuting attorney. He looked tough. When he noticed me looking at him, he waved at me. I'm sure it was sarcastically, so I smiled at him and waved my fingers, trying to look confident. I think it worked, because he looked startled and turned away to fiddle with his briefcase.

We all stood for the judge, who was a balding middle-aged man. I had heard a little about him. According to Google, he was fair, and always heard both sides before giving his verdict. I was hoping he would be on my side.

"The court will now be brought to order," he said, banging his gavel. He looked at the prosecuting lawyer. "Are you ready to present your case?"

The attorney nodded importantly. "We have collected evidence against Ms. Williams. We hope you will find it... eye-opening," he said, with a nasty glance at me. I

I wanted to stick my tongue out, but I refrained. For all I knew, the news channel could be broadcasting my every move to the general public. The last thing I needed was more publicity.

"Bring your witnesses up to the stand," the judge said.

The first person the prosecuting lawyer called up was my neighbor, an elderly woman named Mrs. Kimberly. I felt bad for her. She was so confused as why she was there. Every time the prosecutor would ask her a question, she'd babble about her cats or her grandchildren. When she caught my name, though, she did have something to say.

"Oh, Brielle is a lovely girl," she said, waving a hand in the air. "She always helps me with my cats."

The prosecutor let her return to her seat, looking like he's swallowed something sour. I smiled in victory. One witness was worthless.

The next witness wasn't. She was the busybody of the neighborhood, the one who had to gossip about everything, from a new haircut to the teenage girl who got pregnant down the street.

"Did you see Brielle that night?" the prosecutor asked.

The woman-her name was Mrs. Carson- nodded. "I saw her walking home," she said, with the air of starting a long, boring story. "At about four 'o' clock. She always came home at about that time, from school. I saw her then."

"Did you see her after that?" the prosecutor pressed.

"No," Mrs. Carson admitted. "I was watching reality TV."

She was switched with some other people, all of whom couldn't really prove that I was there or not. Some were girls I went to school with, and they didn't see anything. Others were people who swore they heard James yelling, but still others countered this, saying that he never screamed. They never knew anything was wrong until the sirens went off and the cops pulled up in front of our house.

Finally, the prosecutor called me up to the stand. Even though I knew it was inevitable, I was still shaking slightly when I walked up to the stand.

The prosecutor leaned forward. "You are Brielle Williams?"

"Yes," I answered, feeling slightly nauseous.

He asked me if I lived at my mother's address.

"I used to," I answered.

"Where to you live now?" he asked.

"With my best friend Addie," I said, and gave them her address.

The questions quickly got harder.

"Where were you the night of January 5th?" he asked.

"I was at my mom's house, where I currently lived, but then I left when James and I got in a fight," I said, my voice level. "I was angry and I left to cool off. When I came back, he was dead."

"So you're saying that you didn't kill him?"

"Yes," I said, slightly annoyed. "I've told you that before."

"Can anyone prove that you weren't in the house?" the prosecutor queried.

"No," I said, feeling defensive and snappy. "A bunch of witnesses already told you that."

The prosecutor looked at me, angry. "How are you dealing with your brother's death?"

"At first, it was hard," I said, my voice catching. "I missed him so much. I couldn't.... my brain wouldn't compute that he was dead. It was like a really bad dream, and I would wake up crying and he'd be there to comfort me, but I'm not waking up. It just keeps going on and on."

The prosecutor looked like he had no more to say. He let me go back to my seat.

The judge, who had been listening to the whole thing, said, "The defense will now present their case."

My lawyer stood up. "I'd like to call some witnesses to the stand."

He called up many of the same witnesses, and grilled them, making sure that they didn't hear anything and they couldn't prove that I was it the house. I wasn't sure how this was helping, but I trusted him.

"Brielle Williams," he called.

As I passed him, he winked reassuringly. When I was comfortable, he started the questioning. Instead of focusing on where I was that night, he focused on my relationship with my brother, and how I was dealing with his death. I answered his questions the best I could, making sure to explain how my brother and I were very close, more like best friends than siblings, really.

He was a protective brother; he always made sure that I wasn't having trouble at school or with guys. He was kind of like my dad in that sense. He made sure that I wasn't being bullied, and if I was, he'd go to my school and rough the kid up a bit. He was six years older than me, but he acted like he was my age. It was one of the things I'd loved most about him-his immaturity. He laughed at fart jokes, he'd get so weird about any words relating to puberty or anything remotely similar to that, and he was just the best brother ever.

I tried to convey all of this into my answers, but I don't think I did very well. I found myself rambling on and on, trying to make sure that the judge understood that I loved my brother; he loved me; he was almost the dad I'd never had.

"Your Honor, we have something that might help you believe Brielle's story on how she was dealing with her brother's death," my lawyer said, approaching the judge.

The judge waved his hands for the evidence. My attorney pulled out a small purple book. Even though we'd agreed that we would use it, I was still slightly nervous about having people read it, especially my lovesick entries about Niall. He placed it in front of the judge and the judge picked it up.

"What is this?" he asked.

"Ms. Williams' diary," my attorney said. "She wrote in it after her brother's death."

The judge opened it and read. I knew almost every word on those pages, and I mentally said them as the judge read. I counted the pages, and I knew when he was coming to my sixth entry. I wasn't sure if I wanted him to read it. Everyone was quiet as he read, even the prosecuting lawyer, although he looked sour, as if this trial wasn't going at all how he expected. Suddenly, the judge's eyebrow rose.

He looked up at me. "You tried to commit suicide?" he asked.

There was a collective gasp, like the ones you see on those stupid soap operas when the judge calls out someone, a huge intake of breath, like they can't believe what was happening. For my part, I simply nodded.

"Then why are you not dead, not to be insensitive?" the judge asked.

"Well, I was actually going to do it, but someone saved my life," I answered.

This answer made me explain that whole night, from when I wrote that entry to when I was tackled off the bridge. The judge leaned forward and looked at me intently.

"Who was the person that saved you?" he asked.

I swallowed hard. I didn't want to bring Niall into this. Clearly, he didn't care about me, so I didn't even tell him I was having a trial.

"Niall Horan," I said softly.

"Excuse me, your Honor, but isn't he famous?" someone asked.

I nodded. "He's a famous boy band member."

"Then, if you don't mind me asking, how do you know him?" the judge asked.

I took a deep breath. "Okay, so when he saved my life, he took my diary, the one you're reading right there. He used it to find me, then when he did, we started hanging out, then we dated for a while."

"Dated?" the judge asked.

"We broke up," I replied, feeling slightly nauseous.

"Why?" the judge asked simply.

"He cheated on me," I answered.

Another collective gasp echoed through the room. The judge sat back and surveyed me thoughtfully.

"Do you think he'd be willing to come and be a witness?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Maybe. You'd have to ask him."

I gave them his address and phone number, hoping sincerely that he hadn't changed either of them. The court was adjourned until tomorrow, where hopefully that Niall could come and give his testimony. I went home, nervous about seeing him tomorrow.

The next day, I couldn't even describe how I was feeling. I was slightly happy to see him again, slightly angry, because he cheated on me and broke my heart, and I was altogether freaking out. I had no idea what he would be like.

Luckily, I didn't have much to worry about. He came, alright, but he didn't even look at me. I was slightly reassured that his eyes didn't meet mine, because I know that I would have burst into tears. Finally, on his last answer, though, he showed his bitterness.

"Do you believe Brielle Williams killed her brother after what you saw that night?" my lawyer asked.

Niall shrugged, and for the first time in two weeks, his eyes met mine. I searched them for any sign of the love that they used to hold, but all I saw was bitterness and a lack of compassion.

"Maybe," he answered. "I mean, you can't prove it, but she could have done it."

I blinked hard, several times and I had to fight not to cry. He knew, he knew that I didn't touch my brother, but this testimony basically doomed me and he knew it. Gone was the Niall that was so eager to bail me out of jail, to have me come home after singing at Starbucks. The Niall that was on the stand was a Niall that cheated on me and called me a murderer.

He left soon afterwards and I ran after him. I caught up with him and shoved him, hard.

He stumbled backwards. "What the hell?"

"No, what the hell was that?" I shouted, angry now. "What was that back there?"

Niall shrugged a very unlike-Niall smirk on his face. "They asked me a question and I answered it."

"You know that I didn't kill him!" I yelled, pushing him again. "Is this about the break-up?"

"Of course it is!" Niall shot back. "You walked out the door without even giving me a chance to explain!"

"You cheated on me!" I yelled back. "You broke my heart! I wasn't about to stick around and let you do it again!"

"Your heart? What about my heart?" Niall yelled, throwing up his hands in frustration. "The past couple weeks have sucked without you. I thought I was in the clear and then they called me, asking me to help support your case!"

"Yeah, so I wouldn't go to jail for something that I didn't do!" I screamed.

"It's all about you, isn't it?" Niall shouted. "You, you, you, you! You broke my heart; you help me with my case, blah, blah, blah! You wouldn't even let me explain!"

"Okay," I took a deep breath, trying to calm down. "Let's talk then."

I was prepared for a nice chat, but the hateful look Niall sent me took me off guard.

"I don't need to explain anything to you," he snapped. "You're nothing but a clingy, slutty, bitchy murderer!"

He punctuated every word, making it feel like he was actually punching me. I have to say, I would have preferred the punches. I took several steps back, hand over my mouth. I was trying hard not to cry or puke, either one was happening.

Niall's face softened a fraction of a degree when he saw my expression. "Brielle I-" he reached for me, trying to comfort me, but I was already gone.

_____________________________________________________

Sorry, another cliffhanger, but it keeps ya reading, doesn't it? Haha I feel evil. But hey, it's super long and it has Niall in it, and it also kind of tells you what happens to Brielle, and I dunno, I just really wanted to do the ending, with Niall being a dick, I dunno I'm weird. But anyway, please check out my latest update on Waiting for Superman if you haven't, it's called Her Smile and I published it on Friday.... ummmm yeah. Oh, and pretty, pretty, pretty please go to my profile page and go to the message board and read my latest message, it's very important and too long to go on here. Basically, it's about my updating schedule, so please read it because for the past week I've been getting bugged about how I should update all the freaking time(Not to name anyone, but YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE) and stuff. Even though I appreciate that you want to know what happens next, I do have a life outside of Wattpad (cough cough Youtube cough cough) but seriously, my message explains it, please read it! Other than that, enjoy this chapter, bye!

Love ya!

-11tay99