With the morning of the court case inching closer and closer, Yixing wasn't sure on how he should have felt. In the beginning when he found out that he had to go to court, he was just tiniest bit excited because he would get the chance to see Yifan... then he realised that all the attention would once again be on him, there would be camera's in the court recording everything... to say Yixing was anxious, worried, it would be quite an understatement. 

"I don't think I can do it" he told Luhan as they were about to make their way to the court 
"You can do it Yixing" was Luhan's reply as he took Yixing by the arm and led him towards the door 
"Remember, I'll be here with you throughout the whole thing".

The ride itself wasn't so bad. After Yixing's meltdown, in which he completely destroyed his phone, the press kind of laid off of him and giving him the space he needed. Turning up at the court and seeing how many cameras and news reporters there were, he wanted to tell Luhan to turn straight back around and forget about it- he could see Yifan through a television screen! 

"We are going to do this whether you like it or not" Luhan said, dragging Yixing out of the car and towards the doors of the court. Everything was fine, perfectly fine; Luhan kept a tight grip on Yixing and made sure he didn't lose him in the frenzy of pushing their way through the crowd waiting outside. Yixing was as calm as he could possibly be... right up until he and Luhan were surrounded by men clad in uniform.

"W-why are they here?" he asked
"Uh... to help us through the crowd I guess" Luhan replied as reporters and the public alike were pushed to the side, some asking Yixing questions and shoving camera and microphones into his face, others standing there and pointing at him. He just wanted to turn back and go home already.

"Come on, we're almost there"

Too bad Luhan was with him and stopping him from doing so...

~

Inside the court, it wasn't any better. No matter where Yixing looked, he was sure that he could see a camera being set up here and there. Once or twice Luhan had to nudge him and tell him not to look, fearing that if the camera turned to face him and found him staring, it would latch itself onto him and never leave him alone.

"Why aren't we going in yet?" Yixing asked
"I'm not sure... maybe the judge isn't ready, or the jury" Luhan replied but could sense Yixing uneasiness
"But what if it's something to do with Yifan?" he asked, Luhan quickly shushing him.

"If something had happened to Yifan, we would have heard about it on the news. Whether the police tried to keep it a secret or not, with the attention surrounding him we would have found out instantly" he explained as people began walking towards the courtroom and the doors were opened
"See" smiling when Yixing took his hand and squeezed it tight, taking a deep breath in before the two of them made their way inside.

"Can you see him?" Yixing asked, looking around the courtroom
"He's not out yet Xing, stop looking around like that" Luhan replied as Yixing nodded his head and turned his attention back to the front.

"Besides, we would know when the two of them were here; they would be clad in a horrible orange uniform" Luhan added, managing to make Yixing giggle. All around them the court was beginning to fill with people, the jury filing in, new reporters making their last broadcasts before they were ushered to their desginated areas and told to sit in silence.

"Yixing" Luhan muttered, nudging him
"What?"
"It's Yifan"

Yixing didn't need to be told anything else. Upon hearing Yifan's name leave Luhan's mouth his head was whipped towards the front, seeking him out.

Two figures were led into the courtroom. One Yixing recognised well enough as the psycho who held a knife up to his neck. The other person, the person whose hair was now back to its original colour. He hoped that Yifan would look up and notice that Yixing was there for him, but he didn't. Being lead through to the front, his gaze was kept to the front and not once did he look back.

"You see he's fine" was the last thing Luhan said before the judge entered the room

"All rise"

~

As the case got under way, it was Guo Ling who was the first to be called. Throughout the whole of his questioning he was very good at playing the role of the good samaritan. Yixing thought that he should have taken acting classes instead of going around and killing people because he couldn't get his own way.

Everything he was spewing from his mouth was lies. Yixing knew that and kept trying to tell Luhan so, but Luhan kept shushing him; afraid that they would attract unwanted attention and that Yixing would never get his chance to tell his side of the story
"You'll have your chance soon, now keep quiet" he whispered and turned his attention back to the front.

When it was Yifan's turn, it was almost as though he wasn't even trying to defend himself. With every question that was asked he gave only short answers, he looked tired, fed up... Yixing was worried that Yifan was just going to give up and not fight to clear himself.

"I will say this though" Yifan piped up when the last question had been asked
"He can tell you all he wants, but it's all lies. Yes I was reckless in that I escaped from jail, broke into the bakery and forced Yixing to hide me in his house... but I'm not 'evil' or 'enraged with anger' and I didn't do anything to hurt Yixing. It was Guo Ling and him alone, and yet nobody is opening their eyes to see that"

With Yifan done with his questioning, Yixing just wanted the ground to open up and swallow him whole. With the questioning finished, it was now his turn

"Zhang Yixing" the defense began as Yixing waited for the first question
"In your earlier questioning with police, you stated how Yifan held a gun up to you, threatening you" they began as Yixing frowned and was quick to interrupt him.

"H-he never threatened me with it"
"Well then why would he hold the gun up against you like that?" the defense asked
"To scare me! He wanted to make sure that I didn't go running out telling people he was hiding in the place and scared me with the gun to make sure I wouldn't!" Yixing replied.

"So he never threatened to kill you?"
"No! Like I told the police; the gun was never loaded he unloaded it when the gun first came into his possesion" but Yixing knew hiw words were falling on deaf ears.

"Upon meeting Guo Ling, you said how he was polite to you, kind to you, correct?"
"In the beginning yes but that was be-"
"So earlier that day, ladies and gentleman, you could say that Yixing was quite unfortunate really; experiencing such kindess from such a man, only to have it all ruined later on in the evening by the ravage that held the gun up and threatened poor Yixing"

What?

What was this guy on about? It... it just didn't make any sense!

"What? I didn't come across the two of them on the same day, I met Guo Ling weeks after I stumbled across Yifan!" Yixing interrupted
"That's not what you told the police"
"I know exactly what I told the police! And everything you're saying at this minute in time is compete rubbish" Yixing shouted back, everyone holding their breaths as to what would happen next.

"If you could please calm down Zhang" the judge said but Yixing wouldn't listen to him, shaking his head
"No I will not calm down! This man here is twisting everything I said and is spewing up nothing but lies. I know what I said and yet he's twisting it in order to accuse the wrong person! Why isn't anybody doing anything to stop him?"

Annndddd I'll leave it there! I think this chapter has gone on long enough and there's still more to come in the next chapter.

Be warned, this fic is coming to an end very soon...

Until then!!