Wrong-An Ethan Morales FanFiction

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑𝟑

𝓘𝓼𝓪𝓫𝓮𝓵

     Tᴏᴅᴀʏ ᴡᴀs ᴛʜᴇ ғɪʀsᴛ ᴛʀɪᴀʟ ᴀғᴛᴇʀ ᴡᴇᴇᴋs ᴀɴᴅ ᴡᴇᴇᴋs ᴡᴀɪᴛɪɴɢ ᴀɴᴅ ᴘʀᴇᴘᴀʀɪɴɢ ғᴏʀ ɪᴛ. Bᴜᴛ I really wasn't ready. I was the opposite of ready. Anxious and stressed out.
     My heart pounded against my throat and my breath shook, as well as my whole body as I tried to apply my lipstick with a shaky hand, making a mess all over. I would just take a cotton swab and clean it later, but the fact I couldn't even put on makeup properly from the overflowing amount of stress was concerning.
     All the organs inside my body felt like they were shutting down, my head feeling fuller than a balloon filled with air.
     Ethan was bringing me there, so he could walk through my bedroom door and see my sitting at my vanity, shaking like a leaf while I tried to make myself more presentable for the jury and everyone else.
      I was two fingers from grabbing a red lipstick and draw a clown smile all over my lips, maybe it'd be cuter if that was the case since my fucking hands won't stop.
     Probably shouldn't draw that smile, though, someone would file a report for "ugly lips".
     Tears started burning behind my eyes as I continued struggling with applying a goddamn lipstick, and I was starting to rage. So bad I was even thinking about stepping on the lipstick over and over until it was a broken mess on the floor.
     Right when I was thinking about him, the familiar steps of my boyfriend got closer, and the door opened. When I turned to look at him, I had to blink twice to make sure I was seeing properly.
     White button-down shirt. Beige slacks. The same dirty shoes. Beige blazer combining with his pants.
     My second heartbeat made an apparition.
     "You're still not ready?" He asked with a teasing smirk, walking in and closing the door behind him. My eyes locked onto his before I shook my thoughts away.
     Stupid hormones.
     "I just have to put on this lipstick then I'm ready. Sorry." The instinct of excusing myself for nothing kicked in, and I looked back at the mirror, taking a deep breath and trying to glide the creamy stick across my lips, but my hand shaking anyways.
     I heard Ethan sigh beside me before he grabbed onto the upper-thigh part of his slacks and pushed them up slightly, before kneeling at my side and grabbing my legs, making me turn to him, cheeks flushed at the sudden movement and how easily he slid me sideways.
     His fingers grabbed onto the metal, dragging it out of my hand before he looked at my lips, wiping the mess with his thumb.
     "Just open them slightly." He said gently, and I complied, opening my mouth slightly so that it would form an oval before he glided the lipstick over my skin, applying it perfectly for me. The way I could never apply lipstick with my stupid hands.
     Once he was done, he gestured me to rub my lips together while he took the cap from the vanity and popped it on, finally taking my hand and helping me off the chair and him getting up from the floor before he looked down into my eyes.
     "Why are you stressing out, cariño? They'll never hurt you again, I promise you that." He whispered sweetly, and I had to let the water behind my eyes burn them while I tried to hold back the tears because of my mascara.
     "What if the trial doesn't go well? What if they deny me? I'm just a kid, Ethan. I'm barely seventeen and I'm already acting like an adult. If I don't get the custody of my littler sister, I don't know what I'll do." I whispered back, my hands clenching at the sides of my dress while my voice was slowly starting to break.
     "They will never deny you, Isa. You're brilliant. They'll see the same shine in your eyes and determination to save your sister like I did when I first found out about everything." Ethan's hands came up to my cheeks, rubbing against the soft skin as it was getting harder to hold back all my emotions.
     "I don't deserve you." I mumbled, my knuckles turning white from the hard grip I kept on my dress.
     "You're right. You deserve the world and the stars. The sun and the moon." He answered, my hands going directly into his hair after he said that.
     "You're all I need, Ethan."
     "And you're all I need, cariño." He said before leaning down and pressing a kiss to my forehead.
     After the little cute moment, we left and went to his car, where we drove slowly to the court. His hand was on my inner thigh the entire moment. It wasn't sexual, or dirty, or sexy, or seducing. It was a soft and reassuring touch, making sure my knee didn't bob up and down from the stress, and his touch seemed to be working.
     Rain poured down against the windows of the car, the silence being so loud between us, but I wanted to say so much things.
     I realized something over the past few days. Ethan also needed to heal.
     He had his own demons. He watched his mom being abused when he was a kid, and nobody can recover from that. He killed a man for me and for himself. For his mom. For everyone. Not to mention, the man was the father he never had.
     My eyes drifted away from the window and I looked over at him between squeezing his hand with mine, feeling him squeeze my thigh in return.
     He changed. A lot.
     But what made him change?
     That would be a question I would never get the answer to probably, but I would know eventually.
     After what seemed like an eternity of driving, we finally got there, and my heart started drumming against my chest in a rhythm. I was scared. More scared than that one time where the girls of my old preschool cornered me and told me I was nothing but a worthless piece of shit, and that I wasn't supposed to be there with them.
     "Are you ready?" Ethan asked, breaking the heavy silence.
     Taking a sigh, I answered, "No."
     "Everything will be alright, cariño. I promise." I didn't have anything to answer anymore, so I nodded and just unbuckled my seatbelt, reaching backwards and taking my umbrella, opening the door and letting the panel burst open with a soft click, covering me as I walked over to Ethan's side, waiting for him to come out of the car so we could both walk together there.
     Once he did, he grabbed my hand and slowly made our way towards the front door. Walking down the alleyways calmly, while I kept squeezing his hand so tight I could break it, but he was stronger than me.
     The moment I entered the courtroom, everyone's eyes locked on me, and I could see the fury in my parents'.
     Maria sat on a bench, Devi's arm wrapped around her shoulders as they looked both at me, my little sister's eyes puffy and reddened. Devi looked normal, but worried. Nalini wanted to assist, too, as well as the girls. So I let them. But this was going to be the most embarrassing time of my life.
     Ethan's friends were here too, and for once, they were all quiet. Not causing any trouble.
     Speaking about him, we walked towards the front until he reached Maria's bench and squeezed my hand, before letting me go and sitting down next to my trembling sister.
     I was about to faint. I felt lightheaded. And there was a huge weight on my shoulders, begging to go.
     Strolling my way towards the plaintiff's table and sitting down next to Kimberly, I could feel the food I had eaten this morning make me sick to my stomach. Finally building the courage, I looked at both of them.
     They didn't even look back. They didn't even look at me.
     My heart ached harder as the tears fell down my face.
     Realizing that they were, I quickly wiped them away and looked back at the jury, feeling Kimberly's reassuring hand rub the top of my back making me tense slightly at the sudden contact.
     "It's going to be alright, girl. They'll get what they deserve." She whispered at my side before the judge, Mrs. Alridge, hit three times with her hammer.
     "Welcome, everyone! I'm sure we all know why we are here," She started before she cleared her throat, taking some papers from her bench and starting to read out loud, "We're all reunited here for Miss Isabella Belmonte's report against her two legal guardians, Juana and Carlos Belmonte, for child neglect, child abuse, and the custody of the younger child, Maria Belmonte. Where are my witnesses?" The few people on my side raised their hand, and it was just Maria, Devi, Nalini, Ethan, and Shrimp. Shrimp's mom, too. Since she had been invited here.
     Mrs. Alridge gestured for Maria to step further, and without hesitation, she did.
     Walking over there with patience, she finally reached the witness stand and sat down on the chair, waiting for something to be said while she looked at me.
     "Maria, ever since you have been in the same household as your sister, what have you seen? If you can't get the words out, you can write down on a paper, and a traductor will brought to service just to read your words, alright?" The woman said sweetly, but without any further hesitation, Maria answered.
     "Ever since I was a kid, I witnessed their fights. When I could do nothing and they were about to blame their anger on me, Isabel was always here. She would jump in front of me and fight for me. But it would never end well for her," She took a deep breath before continuing, "They hit her. Spat in her face. Pushed her. It doesn't end there. Insults soon started coming, and they neglected both me and her."
     "This is complete bullshit! We gave a lot for you two brats!" Mom said from her bench, and the rage quickly overflew.
     "Shut the fuck up and let your daughter fucking talk for once, you cunt." I angrily said, glaring at her before she went silent again and huffed.
     After that, the judge made each witness pass by. Shrimp's mom. Devi. Devi's mom. Until it was Ethan.
     I could tell he was two seconds away from jumping both of them, his jaw clenched and his hands gripping the edge of the wooden surface until his knuckles were white and his eyes were burning in anger.
     "I saw her scars. Every single one of them. These two bastards did them, and they were never there for her," Tears started forming again at Ethan's words, "Imagine she would have bled to death the day that asshole pushed her, would they have been worried? Would they have cried? Would they have laughed? One thing is for sure, they would have never felt pain for losing a daughter that they didn't even raise. Guess what? She raised herself. And she became the strongest person I know without these two cowards. So if they deserve to pay for the damages they created on God's creation, then they can certainly go to hell for all of it. I'll make sure I see them there so that I can just fucking—"
     "Woah, woah, woah, there little guy. No violence, alright? Even though at this point they deserve it. Mr. Petri, do you have anything to say to defend the two?" Mrs. Alridge asked the lawyer they had hired, and the tall man stood up.
     "Your honor, you need to understand my clients didn't do anything. They have been through a lot, too. And their non supporting children just—"
     "You think a four year old could have supported them? You think a four year old deserved to be beaten up and have a few ribs broken to the point it slashed her lung?" I started, getting up from my seat and glaring at the guy, "The last time I fucking remember, kids are supposed to be loved. Cared for. Spoiled. But when was the last time your clients told me they loved me? When was the last time they took care of me? When was the last time that they spoiled me with something? Tell me since you always have the fucking answers."
     While I was waiting for someone to say something, my heart sunk into my stomach.
     Silence drowned all of us in itself.