Mental Fiction Follows Me

Syd's POV:

"Syd, are you okay?!" Brian yelled as he ran towards me. Nikkita still had a firm grip on my waist, and I smiled at him.

"Yes, mother, I'm doing just fine," I said.

"How bad was it?" he asked.

"It wasn't that bad, honestly," I said and placed my free, and hurt, hand over my heart.

"Yeah, it wasn't that bad, so quit hassling her," Jimmy said. He stepped around Brian, pushed him back a little, and stood in front of me. He nodded his head at Nikkita, who slowly released me. Jimmy's arm instantly took her place, and Nikkita walked over to Matt's side. Jimmy smiled down at me, and I smiled back.

"How ya feeling?" Jimmy asked.

"I've had better days. Right now I just want to go to sleep," I said.

"We'll take a nap as soon as we get on the bus," Jimmy said.

"Promise?" I asked, making my eyes wide.

"I solemnly swear," Jimmy said very seriously. I nodded my head and then dropped my forehead to his shoulder. I felt something touch my lips, and I opened my eyes to see Jimmy using his shirt to wipe my sore lips.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Just getting rid of the extra blood," Jimmy said with one last dab.

"Oh, thank you," I said.

"Sorry to break the party up, but the judge is ready to go and get this over with," some guy said.

"Yes, Donnie, we're coming," Tara said.

"You know how the judge gets," the guy, Donnie, said.

"Oh, believe me, I know," Tara said.

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Robert asked.

"For you to move your ass," Tara said and smiled up at him.

"Fuck it, I'm going. I've got things to do later," Matt said and pulled Nikkita along behind him.

"You heard the man! Move it!" Craig yelled. Everyone began moving, following behind Donnie. Within minutes we were walking into a courtroom, and we were lined up on the right side of the courtroom. The men we had been fighting were lined up on the left, and the judge was seated at the very front.

"Now, would someone tell me what caused Ms. Jakobs to run from my chambers like a bat out of hell?" the judge asked. Obviously, this wasn't going to be the usual courtroom proceedings.

"That would be my fault, sir," I said. I felt Jimmy give my hip a squeeze, and I kept my eyes focused on the judge.

"State your name."

"Sydney Haner."

"Care to tell me what happened, Ms. Haner?" the judge asked. I thought about just saying I'd had a nightmare, but then I changed my mind and decided to go with the whole truth.

"I was over in Iraq, sir, where I became a POW. From time to time, I have nightmares, or flashbacks," I said. The judge's face softened, a little, and he cleared his throat.

"My name is Judge Collins. I want everyone here to state their whole name, starting with you," the judge said and pointed to Tara, at the very end.

"Tara Lynn Jakobs."

"Robert Ortiz."

"Brian Elwin Haner, Jr."

"Zachary James Baker."

"Matthew Charles Sanders."

"Nikkita Nicole Johnson."

"Jonathon Lewis Seward."

"Aiden Fiction Angelis."

"Craig Edward Mabbit."

"Tiana Grace."

"Maxwell Scott Green."

"Deandra DeLuna."

"Monte Bryan Money, Jr."

"Krystal Marie Flowers."

"James Owen Sullivan."

"Sydney Haner, again." The judge had been furiously scribbling down every name, and now he looked up at the other side of the room. The guys who had started everything, and looked worse than we did, were all looking down. We, on the other hand, had kept our heads up and looked at the judge as we spoke.

"Just for the record, state your names," the judge said.

"Paul Marcus Jakobs."

"Christopher Dewayne Helms."

"Michael David Garrett."

"Jonathon Jay Michaels."

"Brett Logan Cross."

"Kyle James Lewis."

"Kevin Lance Carlton."

"Greg David Johnston."

"Brandon Vincent James."

"Now, I want Ms. Tara Jakobs to tell me the truth. And you are swearing on the Bible, Ms. Jakobs," Judge Collins said.

"Why does she get to testify?!" Paul yelled out.

"Because as many times as she's been in my courtroom, she's never lied! You, Mr. Jakobs, better learn to control yourself because you are already in more trouble than you even know about!" Judge Collins yelled, rising from his seat slightly. His entire face was red, and it looked like he was sweating. His deep country accent echoed throughout the room, and everything went silent.

"Thank you, sir," Tara said quietly. If I didn't know even better, I'd say she sounded scared. But that wasn't like Tara, not the one I used to know anyway.

"Please continue, Ms. Jakobs," Judge Collins said, calming himself down. I sighed and waited to hear the whole story, once and for all.

Brian's POV:

I saw Robert take Tara's hand out of the corner of my hand, and I mentally sighed. Here comes the truth, all of it. Tara squared her shoulders and then began speaking...

"Me, Paul, and all of his friends were gonna go out and have a drink. I was at the back of the line, when it suddenly stopped. I went to the front, and Paul was talking to Mr. Haner and his friend, Mr. Baker--"

"What were Mr. Haner and Mr. Baker doing before Paul walked up?" Judge Collins asked. Dark brown eyes met mine, and I nodded my head.

"Well, sir, from the looks of it...they had been...well, intimate," Tara said, almost in a whisper. In the quiet courtroom, it sounded like a scream.

"Carry on."

"Paul was saying a lot of stuff to him, and Brian, I mean, Mr. Haner kept repeatedly asking him to stop. But Paul just kept on, getting in Mr. Haner's face and saying stuff, and Brian hit him."

"That's not the only thing that upset Mr. Haner though, is it?"

"No, sir."

"What else upset Mr. Haner?"

"Paul kept putting his hands on me."

"Do you have proof of that statement?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well, then, let's see it." I turned to look, and so did everyone else. Tara let go of Robert's hand and rolled her short sleeves up. There, on the very top part of her arm, were nearly black bruises that wrapped around her entire arm.

"Proceed."

"So, as I said, Brian hit him. Then Paul tackled him, and Lance, Mr. Carlton, jumped on Mr. Baker. I went inside the bar to get help, and when I came outside five guys were on Mr. Haner and the other four were on Mr. Baker, which obviously meant this wasn't a fair fight," Tara said. The judge turned, looked at all the guys on the other side of the courtroom, and frowned.

"All of you will go back to your cell. I'll give you your punishment later. Before you leave, Mr. Jakobs, you will no longer be Ms. Jakob's guardian. Is that understood?" Judge Collins asked.

"Yes, sir," Paul said, his head still hanging low. All nine of them were marched out, and then Judge Collins looked over at me.

"Come here for a minute," he said. I nodded my head and worked my way past all my friends. I approached the judge, and he looked down at me.

"Now, according to Tara's parole, someone has to be in charge of her. Her parent's are gone, her brother is uncapable, and there's no one else. I'm asking you, Mr. Haner, to watch over her," Judge Collins.

"Yes, sir, that's fine. But we're on tour, so we'll be out of the state," I said.

"I know, and I have some connections and old favors. She can leave the state, just make sure she stays out of trouble, okay?" Judge Collins asked.

"Yes, sir. I'll do my best," I said.

"Alright. Sign here," he said and pushed some paper work in front of me. I started signing the sheets of paper, and when I was finished I looked back up at the judge.

"Judge, I gotta ask," I said.

"Go ahead," he said, flipping through the same papers and signing his name as well.

"It doesn't bother you that I'm...you know," I said.

"Not at all. My oldest son is gay. He brings his husband home with him, and I don't think my son could have ever found someone more perfect for him. It's cases like these that makes me wonder what's wrong with the world," Judge Collins said.

"Thank you, sir," I said.

"Anytime," he whispered, and then to everyone else, "You're free to go!"

"Yes!" That sounded like Nikki.

"Hey! What about me?! I need parental supervision!" Tara yelled. I turned around and smiled.

"You're looking at it, kiddo!" I yelled.

"Seriously?" she asked, dark eyes wide.

"It's official," Judge Collins said and waved the papers.

"Sweet!" Tara yelled.

"New friends!" Tiana yelled.

"Can we please leave?!" Matt yelled. He was holding the courtroom doors open, and I nodded my head. Everyone started towards the door, towards freedom, and back to the road...

Roughly Ten Hours Later
Syd's POV:

Nikkita, being the genius that she is, got the guys's next show put off for a day, so we're now on our way to...I'm not even sure. We've spent the last few hours in a motel, where some of us got some sleep. Jimmy and I were the lucky ones to be beside Matt and Nikkita, and we both fell asleep with pillows on our head. Now we're back on the bus, all of are on one bus even though there's two, and only two people are standing.

Medium brown eyes met mine, and I could see the nervousness in them. The person standing next to him didn't look any less calm. I'm not sure why they're freaking out, but I can understand in a way.

"Why didn't either of you tell us you were together?" Matt asked.

"We weren't," Brian answered quickly.

"Until last night," Zacky added. Brian looked at me again, and I smiled at him before wording "They'll accept you."

"I've always been gay," Brian said, with his head down.

"So why didn't you tell anyone?" Johnny asked.

"Yeah, man, we wouldn't have cared," Jimmy said. I watched Brian switch his weight from what foot to the other.

"Just tell them, Bri. It's okay," I said.

"We'll be here for you," Tara said. I had almost forgotten that she had been there, every step of the way. And she didn't even know it had all been true. She had seen the actions, I had seen the after effects. Neither were pretty.

"Brian?" Nikkita asked softly.

"I got a lot of shit in Texas, okay? It wasn't just the teasing and taunting either. I can handle that. But I was only fourteen!" Brian was pacing by now, and I was almost worried. He'd be okay though. He was stronger now.

"You don't have to--" Brian raised his hand, cutting Zacky off, and ran a shaky hand through his hair.

"A couple of guys, men really, beat the shit out of me one day for being gay. They broke a few ribs and made sure to 'mess up my pretty face'," Brian said, while making air qoutes.

"You know we would never do something like that though," Johnny said, staring up at him.

"Yeah, I know, but I was still...scared," Brian said.

"You don't have to be any more," Matt said.

"Nope. We're all for it," Jimmy said with a wide smile.

"So, you and Zacky, huh? Sounds kinda hott," Johnny said. All eyes turned to him, including Aiden's. Johnny looked around at all of the people staring at him.

"What?! I'm just saying what we're all thinking!" he yelled.

"You've got a point there, little man," Craig said.

"I thought you only loved me!" Max yelled.

"I thought you dreamed about me!" Deandra yelled.

"Please, stop yelling!" Tiana yelled.

"Here they go," Robert mumbled.

"Are you always like this?" Krys asked quietly.

"All the time," Monte whispered to her.

"Shut up! I got a phone call!" Zacky yelled. Amazingly, the bus went silent. Zacky was mumbling something into his small phone, but I couldn't understand what he was saying. After a few minutes, he hung the phone up and smiled at us.

"Think we have room for a few more?" Zacky asked. We all looked around at each other before looking back at him.

"YES!"