Second Chance

14

Suggested by thetea13 franzixidfc kbrooklyn4 28babies

They spend the rest of the weekend with Louis' lawyer to build a case. Harry is right by Louis' side the whole time.

On Monday they are both nervous. They put on suits and head for the court. Liam, Niall, and Zayn are waiting for them outside and they walk in together as a collected troupe. Louis might be the one on trial but they're all in it together. They're planning on taking down Modest once and for all.

They take a seat on the first row except for Louis who walks upfront to his lawyer. The boys give a thumbs up. Louis looks over at the jury and sees that the majority of the twelve members are looking at him curiously so he fires off a sunshine smile. Three of them return the smile but the rest of them looks away. Oh well.

The judge arrives and Louis gulps seriously. He doesn't know what he'll do if he doesn't win this.
"This court is in session." The judge says and bangs her club.

"Will the defendant please rise? What are the charges?" The judge asks.

"Breaching a contract." One of the jury members answers.

"And how do you plead?" The judge asks and looks directly at Louis.

"Not guilty your honor." Louis answers in a shaky voice.

"Okay, let's hear the opening statements." The judge says.

Mr. Lucas's lawyer, the prosecutor Mr. Arnold stands up and walks in front of the jury.
"It's a simple case. Mr. Tomlinson signed a contract and he broke it. What the contract conceals doesn't really matter. What matters is his signature on a contract that states that he has to pay Modest Management 100 million pounds if he reveals the information in the contract to anyone. We can prove that Mr. Tomlinson told several people of the content in the contract he signed willingly."
He looks firmly at the jury before he returns to his seat.

Mr. MacManus stands up instead.
"I would have to disagree. The content of the contract is very relevant, as to how Mr. Lucas blackmailed Mr. Tomlinson into signing it. I can present evidence of the conversation that took place before Mr. Tomlinson signed the contract. I also have several witnesses that can reveal how Mr. Lucas and his management treated not just themselves but Mr. Tomlinson in particular. Last but not least, the content of the contract itself is something that needs to be discussed. I can see that I made you all curious now." Mr. MacManus says and winks.

Some of the jury members laugh and Mr. MacManus takes a seat. Louis looks over at Mr. Lucas. He looks pale and Louis hides his smirk.

The prosecutor stands up again.
"When Mr. Lucas suspected that Mr. Tomlinson was about to breach his contract he hired a private investigator. I represent Evidence A. Photos of Mr. Tomlinson with his former band members, Mr. Payne. As you can see Mr. Tomlinson hands him the contract and Mr. Payne reads it. That's a direct violation of the terms of the contract. I also have a video regarding the same event, Evidence B. Let's take a look shall we?" Mr. Arnold says.

A video without audio starts to play. It's shot through a window. Louis watches it with the rest of the room. It shows Louis handing Liam a paper and Liam reading it. If there hadn't been photos from the same night Liam could as far as anyone knew be reading a grocery list.

"Evidence C is a recording of a phone call between Mr. Tomlinson and Mr. Payne."

The recording is played in court. Louis hears himself telling Liam that the meeting with the lawyer regarding the contract went well.

"The next evidence is a recording that will show you that Mr. Tomlinson is an unstable man with rage issues. Let me present you Evidence D."

Louis watches himself storm into Harry's house and punch Mitch. He grunts. That doesn't look well taken out of context.

"Moving on. Evidence E is a movie and pictures of Mr. Tomlinson giving the contract to Mr. Styles. Someone who's listed in the contract as someone Mr. Tomlinson can not share this contract with."

Another movie plays where Louis shoves the contract on Harry before he storms off and Harry reads it. Close-up pictures show the date and management logo of the paper.

"Evidence F is security footage of Mr. Tomlinson threatening Mr. Lucas. Let's have a look."

A security tape plays on the monitor. Louis furrows his eyebrows. The film is cut so the only thing that's seen is Louis yelling at Mr. Lucas.

"Cut the crap. You're ending my contract now! Tear up the fucking contract or I will tell the whole damn world what you've done."

He sounds furious. Not good.

"Finally, evidence G, the contract itself. The content of the contract is confidential so that's crossed over but as you can see it's signed by Mr. Tomlinson and it says that he can't reveal the nature of it. Case closed."
Mr. Arnold takes a seat looking pleased.

There's a low mumble among the jury members and Louis' heart sinks. He turns around to look at Harry who gives him a reassuring smile. Mr. MacManus gets up.
"I beg to differ. I will meet your accusations before I proceed with my own pieces of evidence. Regarding evidence D, I call Mr. Rowland to the witness stand."

Louis' eyes widen in surprise. Mitch is here? He turns around and the man in person walks past him and smiles at him before he takes the stand. He swears the oath.
"How do you know Mr. Tomlinson?" Mr. MacManus asks.

"I can't say that I do yet but I would like to get to know him in the future." Mitch answers with a smile.

"Even though Mr. Tomlinson hit you?"

"Louis was just protecting Harry." Mitch answers.

"What's your relationship with Mr. Styles then?"

"I'm the guitarist in his band and his friend." Mitch answers.

"Tell us what happened the night that video was taken."

"Harry was drunk and I took him home. Louis didn't know who I was back then and there was a misunderstanding. He was under the conception that I was taking advantage of Harry and that's why he punched me, to protect Harry. He apologized for it afterward. There are no hard feelings."

"Thank you."

"Does the prosecutor want to interrogate the witness?" The judge asks.

"Yes. Why would Mr. Tomlinson think that you were taking advantage of Mr. Styles." Mr. Arnold asks.

Mitch looks uneasy.
"Because they talked on the phone and Harry made it sound like he was going to sleep with me."

"No further questions."

What happens next? Well, I have to continue with the trial. 😘