A/n: This imagine refers to another imagine I wrote called "Assault" and it's the 84th imagine in my third book of imagines. Also, I know that in that imagine, I wrote that Y/n and Shawn burned the dress, but let's pretend that they didn't, okay? I don't know much about trials and court and stuff so I apologize for any mistakes, but I did this as best as I could. MENTIONS OF ATTEMPTED RAPE! Explicit language in this one! Anyways, I hope that you guys enjoy. Okay, without further ado, let's begin!

Shawn's point of view

I've been married to Y/n Mendes for eight months and she's absolutely my best friend, my soulmate, my everything. She was recently diagnosed with PTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Two months ago her and I were in Los Angeles because I had a meeting to go to for work. There was a guy there that was from the record label that I had never met. Y/n left to go to the bathroom, and then all of the sudden a cop was coming up to me asking her to follow her. The guy that I had never met that was from the label - James - had attempted to sexually assault her. We immediately flew home to Boston.

My wife means the world to me, so when she wakes up in the middle of the night crying because of a nightmare, or when she refuses to eat, or when she refuses to fall asleep because she's too afraid that she'll have another nightmare, my heart breaks. I just want to take her pain away but I can't, and that kills me. She refuses to go out to dinner anymore. She's tense and on edge a lot and easily startled. She doesn't seem to enjoy certain things like she used to, and she feels guilty and blames herself for what happened even though it wasn't her fault at all. I was sitting with her on the couch while watching television when she looked up at me. I brushed some hair out of her face.

"Hey beautiful girl." I said. She just looked at me, her eyes pleading with me for something, but I couldn't figure out what. There are times when she just doesn't talk, which scares the shit out of me because I don't know what's going on in her head. "What's up my love? You okay?"

"I don't know. I don't think so." She said quietly.

"Why honey?" I asked. Suddenly, before she could answer, someone on tv screamed, startling Y/n and causing her to gasp and jump as she looked at the tv. I quickly turned it off. "Shhhh, hey look at me, look at me babe."

"Scared. I'm scared." She said as her eyes darted around.

"He's not going to hurt you honey. He's in jail and I'm right here to protect you." I said.

"Promise?" She asked. I nodded and when my phone rang, she jumped again.

"Shhh baby, it's just Andrew calling me, okay?" I asked. She nodded.

"Okay." She said as she held one of my hands. I answered Andrew's phone call.

"Hey." I said.

"Hey, um, I'm really sorry to bring this up, but that James guy is going to be going to court, so we need you and especially Y/n to fly out here for the trial." Andrew said.

"Hold on." I said.

"Okay." Andrew said. I looked at Y/n, my precious wife.

"I'll be right back honey. I'm just going to step out onto the back deck. You'll still be able to see me, okay?" I asked. She nodded.

"Okay." She said. I kissed her forehead and then stepped outside.

"Hey, sorry, I just didn't want Y/n to hear this conversation." I said.

"It's okay, that's understandable. So the trial should be coming up in two weeks and we really need you guys there. Can you do it?" Andrew asked. I sighed and rubbed my forehead.

"Would we have to fly out to LA for it?" I asked.

"Yeah." He said.

"Um, okay. I'll talk to her about it but she's going to be scared shitless. I told you that she was diagnosed with PTSD, right?" I asked.

"Yeah. Is there anything that I can do?" Andrew asked.

"No, but thanks anyways. Do we really have to go to the trial? How long is it even going to take?" I asked.

"Yes you really need to go. Well, Y/n needs to go, and I doubt that she would go without you, and I'm not sure about how long it would take." Andrew said. I ran my fingers through my hair.

"Okay. I'll talk to Y/n." I said.

"Okay." He said. We hung up and I went back inside. Y/n watched me as I came back in.

"Is everything okay?" She asked.

"That was Andrew. He said that James is going to be on trial and that you have to be there. It would be in Los Angeles and I would go with you." I said. Her eyes went wide and she shook her head.

"No. No, I can't face him. No please no." She said and I could tell that she was having a panic attack. I gently pulled her close to me.

"We have to go honey. I'll be right there with you and I won't leave your side. We'll have to bring the dress with us because they'll use it as evidence." I said as she began to cry in my arms.

"I don't want to see him again. I can't do it." She said. My heart broke as I put my hand to her cheek so she would look at me.

"You can do it. You're the strongest person that I know baby. I won't leave your side, I promise." I said.

"I'm scared." She whispered as she cried.

"I know, but I won't let anything bad happen to you baby and neither will the guards in the room." I said. She nodded.

"I'm only going because you said you won't leave my side. Your fans don't know about what happened. Is there going to be a big thing about you having to go to court and stuff?" She asked.

"Um, I don't know. Let me call Andrew. Do you want to stay in my arms?" I asked. She nodded.

"Yeah." She said. I rubbed her back as I called Andrew.

"Hey." He said.

"Hey, I talked to Y/n and she said that she'll go as long as I don't leave her side. Also, the fans don't know about what happened. They know that I suddenly canceled going on The Tonight Show, but they don't know what happened, and now all of the sudden they're probably going to hear about me going to court and they'll wonder why. What do I do?" I asked.

"Um, what if you do a live stream and, if Y/n's okay with it, explain what happened and explain that that's why you're going to court?" Andrew asked. I nodded even though he couldn't see me.

"Okay." I said.

"Shawn?" Y/n asked.

"What's up honey?" I asked.

"Do you think that I could write down what I want to say, and then when we get there, I'll be able to read it?" She asked. I thought for a moment before repeating the idea to Andrew.

"Yeah that should be fine." He said.

"Andrew says that that should be fine." I said. She nodded.

"Okay." She said.

"Do you mind if I do a live stream and explain what happened? I won't go in detail if you don't want me to." I asked and said.

"Um, maybe not everything but just summarize it." She said. I nodded and told Andrew.

"Okay." He said. We hung up.

"I think that I'll go upstairs to write the letter while you do the live stream. Do you mind if I use your office?" She asked.

"That's fine darling. Can I have a kiss please?" I asked. She nodded.

"Of course." She said and she put her sweet lips on mine. I felt my heart race as if I had just run a marathon, I felt butterflies erupt and fly around in my stomach, and I felt my heart race as if I had just run a marathon. Y/n went upstairs to write the letter and I began the live stream on Instagram.

"Hi guys. Um, wow this is hard. So, I want to explain some stuff. I want you guys to hear it from me, rather than gossip magazines and things like that. As you guys know, I was supposed to be on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon two months ago, but I canceled. I love being on Jimmy's show, so obviously I had a reason why. I'm going to explain that reason in a second. You guys might see in magazines or stuff online or whatever, that my amazing, resilient and strong wife, Y/n Mendes and I will be attending court in two weeks. The reasoning behind that is the same reason why I called Jimmy two months ago to cancel being on his show. I apologize in advance if I get emotional.

"So, two months ago I had a business dinner to go to. I know that I'm taking a break from music, but there was going to be a dinner with people from the label there. I asked my wife to come with me because I love being with her obviously, and she did. When we got there, there was a guy there - I won't say his name but his name will probably be revealed somehow because of the trial - and Y/n and I just instantly didn't get a good feeling, a good vibe, from him. At one point during the dinner, Y/n looked at me and said 'I have to go the the bathroom. I'm going to leave my phone and purse with you.' and she did. I didn't think anything of it when about thirty seconds later, the guy from the label that I won't say the name of, got up and said that he had to go to the bathroom.

"Y/n had been in the bathroom for longer than usual, and I was worried. I couldn't call her because I had her phone right next to me. All of the sudden, some police officers came into the restaurant. They went back towards the bathrooms, and one of them came back and asked for me to follow them. Um," I said before I got emotional. I then continued. "This next part is really hard to talk about. So, I went in the bathroom - the girl's bathroom - with the cop, and the guy from the label was on the floor in handcuffs, and Y/n was sitting on the bathroom floor, sobbing, and her dress was ripped. The guy had tried to um, he tried to sexually assault my wife. Thank God he wasn't successful though, but still, he tried.

"Since then, Y/n has been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Obviously more took place, but I don't want to go into details about how my wife was almost sexually assaulted. My wife has been having nightmares, she's barely been eating - which is causing her to lose weight - and she gets startled easily. Sometimes she doesn't even want to fall asleep because she's afraid that she'll have a nightmare, so I stay up with her and we talk about anything but what happened, or we watch something on television or we're just quiet. Due to the fact that it happened at a restaurant, she won't go out to dinner anymore. She doesn't really smile much or laugh much, or at least no where near as much as she used to. Lately her smiles have been fake ones when she's trying to convince me, and herself too probably, that she's okay. She's not herself anymore, but she's my wife so I'm going to help her get through this.

"Y/n is currently writing a letter for what she wants to say in court. This is why we haven't been all that active on social media, because we're going through a hard time. Okay, I'm going to go check on my strong and amazing wife. Also, please respect our privacy at this time, and if you see Y/n in public remember that I said that right now she's easily startled, but that's especially with males. When I told her today that my manager had called saying that we needed to go to LA for the trial, she instantly had a panic attack. Please send Y/n your love, thoughts and prayers. All right, I'm going to stop crying and go be with my wife. I love you guys. Bye." I said and ended the live stream.

I sat back for a moment before wiping my tears away and then heading upstairs. Y/n was sitting at my desk while writing the letter. Something that's been hard is finding ways to come into a room or something like that without startling her. I walked into the room, and she must have heard my footsteps because she looked up at me. I saw that she had her phone out.

"Hi honey. I watched the live stream while I wrote some of the letter." She said. I kissed the top of her head.

"You did?" I asked. She nodded, stood up, and hugged me.

"Yeah. Thank you for doing that before magazines and people online get to it." She said. I rubbed her back.

"Of course, anything for you my love." I said. She nodded.

"Do you want to sit with me while I write the letter?" She asked.

"Do you want me to?" I asked. She nodded.

"Yes please." She said. I sat down.

"Okay baby girl. If you want me to read it over at any point, just let me know, okay?" I asked. She nodded.

"Okay." She said. I sat there for a little bit before I heard her sniffle, so I looked up.

"What's up baby?" I asked as tears fell onto her cheeks.

"It's hard to write this letter because it's hard to even think about what happened, but at the same time, I know that I have to write this letter." She said.

"You don't have to if you don't want to honey." I said as she looked at me.

"Yes I do have to write it because if I don't, and I get up there to talk, I'm just going to mess up my words and get all flustered." She said. I nodded and leaned forward to kiss her cheek.

"I'm right here baby. I'll always be right here, right beside you and on your team, okay?" I asked before kissing her cheek again. She nodded.

"Okay." She said and went back to writing the letter. I stayed with her until she was all done. I watched as she put the pen down and sighed.

"All done honey?" I asked. She looked at me and nodded.

"Yeah. Would you mind reading it over please? If that's too much you don't have to." She asked and said.

"It's okay baby, I'll read it over. Let's go sit on the couch." I said as I took the papers in my hands and nodded my head towards the couch in my office. We sat down.

"Can I put my head on your chest please?" She asked.

"Of course you can." I said and she did as I wrapped an arm around her.

"Shawn?" She asked.

"Hmm?" I responded.

"I'm tired." She said. I kissed the top of her head.

"Close your eyes honey. I'm right here and I've got you." I said. She looked up at me.

"I'm sorry that we haven't been intimate since it happened." She said. I put the letter to the side, kissed her forehead, and then rested my forehead against hers.

"It's okay honey. We'll do it when you're ready. You know that I'm faithful and that I love you and that I'll stick by your side, right?" I asked.

"Yes and I love you so much for all of that." She said. I kissed her forehead again.

"I love you more." I said and she shook her head.

"Nope. I love you the most." She said and I chuckled. I then picked up the letter and read it. I loved the fact that she had called him a monster in it and said that what he had done, even though he was not successful in what he was trying to do, had still left her feeling violated. She even wrote her reasoning for writing in pen.

"I really like this part." I said.

"What part?" She asked. I read it out loud.

"James, you can't see it, but I've written this letter in pen. That wasn't just because it was the closest writing utensil to me, that's because ink is permanent, it can't be erased. What you did can't be erased either. It's in my mind and it replays whenever it wants to, which is quite often. I thank God for my husband Shawn for coming to me as quickly as he could and for sticking by my side." I read. She nodded.

"Yeah. Did you mind me mentioning you in the letter?" She asked.

"Not at all darling. You did a great job and I'm really proud of you." I said.

"Thank you baby." She said.

"You're welcome." I said.

Two weeks later on the day of the trial

Y/n had been on edge ever since we got to the airport in Boston. We're now at the hotel in Los Angeles, and she's very restless. She just wants to get this over with. Our lawyer asked me to write a letter just saying how this has affected my wife, so I did. I basically wrote what I said in the live stream, and I talked about her PTSD. I put on black dress pants, a white shirt, a black tie, and a sports jacket. Y/n stepped out of the bathroom and I smiled at her.

"How do I look? Is this okay for court?" She asked. She was wearing minimal amount of makeup with black dress pants, a white blouse, and a black jacket (A/n: outfit is in picture above!).

"Beautiful. It's perfect." I said as she hugged me.

"I don't want to do this." She said. I kissed the top of her head.

"I know honey, but I'll be right by your side, and we have a really good lawyer." I said. She nodded.

"Is the press going to be outside the courthouse?" She asked.

"I'm not sure babe, but we'll have security with us and I'll keep my arm around your shoulders. Sound good?" I asked. She nodded and then sat on the bed.

"Yeah. I'm scared Shawn. This will be my first time seeing that dick wad since the incident." She said. I sat down next to her and rubbed her back.

"I know honey. Everything will be okay." I said. She nodded as she bounced her leg.

"Do you know what I'm worried about them mentioning?" She asked.

"What?" I asked.

"Sometimes the victims get blamed for their outfits, for what they were wearing at the time. Will they do that to me?" She asked. My heart broke and I held her close to me.

"Y/n Mendes, even if they do bring up what you were wearing - which I'll be fucking bullshit if they do because it has nothing to do with what he did - it's not your fault. He could have tried to do it even if you were wearing a long sleeve and sweatpants." I said. She nodded her head against my chest.

"Okay." She said. There was a knock at the door and she jumped.

"Shhh baby, it's probably just Andrew and Jake." I said. She nodded but I saw that her eyes were wide with fear - fear that it would somehow be James. My heart broke. I opened the door, and it was Andrew and Jake.

"Hey, you guys ready to go?" Jake, my security guard asked. I nodded.

"Yeah. Honey it's Andrew and Jake. Do you have your letter?" I asked as I walked back into the part of the room that she was in.

"Yeah. Do you have yours?" She asked. I nodded as I grabbed mine.

"Yup." I said. I reached my hand out for her to take, and as our skin touched, I felt electricity spark through me yet I felt safe and warm at the same time. "Um, before we leave, I want to say something."

"What is it?" Andrew asked.

"I will be sticking by Y/n's side the whole time obviously, but I want you guys to stick close to her too. If there's paparazzi or anyone like that outside the courthouse, we can't let anyone even touch her." I said. They nodded and Y/n leaned on me.

"I just want to get this over with and go home." She said.

"I know. Let's go babe." I said and we all left. When we got to the courthouse, there were a bunch of people, mostly paparazzi, that were outside.

"Shawn." Y/n whimpered.

"I've got you honey." I said. I stepped out after Jake did and put my arm around her shoulders so I could hold her close to me. Andrew walked behind us and cops held back the paparazzi. Y/n held onto me tight but kept her head down and shielded her face with the envelope that had the letter in it even though she had big, over sized sunglasses on. We soon got inside.

"You're all set Y/n." Jake said.

"No I'm not because I'm about to come face to face with that guy." She said. I kept my arm around her shoulders as she kept her arm around my torso. I guided her inside the courtroom. James wasn't there yet. We sat down with our lawyer, John.

"Do you guys have your letters?" John asked. We nodded.

"Yes." I said. Y/n was too anxious to talk. After a little bit, James came in and I felt Y/n tense up and stiffen since my arm was around her shoulders.

"Don't look at him." John said. When he walked past us, she put her head down and stared at the table. When he sat down - I kept my eyes on him - I squeezed her shoulder lightly.

"You can look up, he's at his table." I whispered in her ear. She looked up and at me.

"I want to go home." She whispered.

"I know, but you're safe here." I said.

"I don't feel safe with him in the same room as me." She said. My heart broke and I held back tears.

"Well I'm here and I'm going to protect you, okay?" I asked. She nodded.

"Okay." She said. Soon, the judge came in and then Y/n was called up to read her letter. She did a beautiful job of controlling the tears as she read it - she didn't break down sobbing like she was worried she would - and she even looked right at James a few times as she read to make sure that she got the point across. I looked at him and he was looking at the table.

"She's doing great." Andrew whispered to me and I nodded. Y/n then finished reading her letter. I thought that she was about to come sit back down with me right away, but I couldn't help but smile with pride as I watched what happened next. She must have gotten a surge of confidence because she looked right at James and spoke to him some more.

"You know James, I find it interesting that the whole time that I read the letter, you just stared at the table. I think that you're too afraid to look at me but I hope that you at least listened." She said and then sat back down. I smiled at her.

"Great job babe! I'm so proud of you." I said. She gave me a small smile and nodded.

"Thank you." She said. Soon, I was called up to read my own letter. I talked about what happened, and described Y/n's symptoms and other things.

"Those that don't really know my wife and I don't really know and understand this, but my wife truly is my best friend. That's why it broke my heart when I saw her sitting on the bathroom floor with her dress ripped as she sobbed. That's why my heart broke again when she was diagnosed with PTSD. My heart breaks every time that I have to wake her up from a nightmare, or when she refuses to eat, whether it's at home, or out at a restaurant. When I first told her about the trial, she instantly had a panic attack. James, you have scarred my wife in a way that no one should be scarred. I try to forgive people, but you're a monster that I'll never be able to forgive." I said. I thanked the judge and then went back to my seat. Y/n reached out for my hand.

"Thank you for that." She said.

"You're welcome." I said. Soon, even though we had read the letters, Y/n was called up to the witness stand.

"Mrs. Mendes, what were you wearing the night of the incident?" James's lawyer, Richard, asked. My blood boiled.

"A pink dress." Y/n said, maintaining her composure.

"Was this dress short?" Richard asked.

"It wasn't very long but it's not like it was showing my butt or anything like that." Y/n said.

"Well this is the dress right here," Richard said as he pulled out the dress - he had to wear gloves because it was evidence. "And it looks a bit enticing to me."

"Objection!" John, our lawyer said.

"Mr. Goldberg, what does her outfit have anything to do with what happened?" The judge asked.

"Well she may have been leading my client on or maybe she was trying to look good for him." Richard said. My blood boiled even more and it took everything in me not to jump over the table and punch him.

"I had no clue who he was. I had, and still have, no interest in him. I'm very happily married. I was not trying to lead anyone on. The only person that I ever want to look good for is my husband." Y/n said. Soon, she sat back down and I was called up to the witness stand.

"Mr. Mendes, did your wife seem to be flirting with my client?" Richard asked.

"Not at all. The only person she was flirting with was me." I said, and it was the truth.

"Did it seem like she was trying to lead anyone on at all?" He asked.

"No. Her and I are very happily married and very in love. Why would she want to lead anyone on?" I asked.

"Mr. Mendes, what did you think of your wife when you first saw her in that dress?" He asked.

"I thought she looked stunning, just like she always does. Her outfit has nothing to do with what James tried to do." I said. After a little bit, there was a break so the jury could meet and talk.

"You did great up there honey." Y/n said.

"Thank you babe, so did you." I said. She gave me a small smile. Other witness went up - people that saw what James had tried to do to my wife - and spoke about what they saw. There were only two of them, but still, they helped us. After a little bit, there was another break, and then the jury said that they found James guilty. I looked at Y/n as tears formed in her eyes as she smiled. I hugged her. James would be going away for a while.

"We did it!" Y/n said. I smiled and nodded.

"Yup. I'm so proud of you honey. You did amazing." I said.

"Thank you baby. You did amazing too." She said and I smiled. We were able to go home soon. The PTSD is something that will never fully go away, but I noticed that after the trial, when we got home, Y/n slowly and gradually became herself again, or at least most of the time, and she got a lot better. I'm so proud of my beautiful, strong, amazing wife.