"Nathan Daniel Carter, you are being charged for the murder of Ricardo Madeira in the second degree. How do you plea?" The judge asked.

Nate looked around the courtroom, and locked eyes with Jessica once more before facing the judge and saying, "Guilty, your honor."

* * * *

Earlier...

A pounding on the door woke the two up from their slumber, startling them. Jessica quickly pulled her underwear back on, throwing one of Nate's button ups on while he quickly rushed to put some pants on.

"Give us a minute!" He called out, hopping on one leg as he pulled his pants up. But the pounding on the door again made them both stop what they were doing and look at each other. Regular housekeeping wouldn't knock like that. So who was at the door?

Jessica got up and went towards the door instead, looking through the peephole. She jumped back and let out a surprise shriek, making Nate look up. "What's wrong?!" He asked, concerned.

"It's-"

The lock on the door broke as someone forcefully kicked it in, letting themselves in. "Room service!" Rico cheerfully calls out.

Both Jess and Nate fearfully took a couple steps back, Nate shoving her behind him. "How did you find me?" Nate asked.

Rico simply smirked at him. "I gave your little friend Andy a visit," he says. "It's amazing what a little bit of...pressure, does." He then looks over at his guy behind him and nodded his head towards them. Rico rushed forward and tackled Nate to the ground. But Nate was giving him hell, struggling and fighting against him. The other goon simply grabbed Jessica, tightly wrapping his arm around her midsection, preventing her from moving or helping like she wanted to.

Jessica screamed, making the guy slap a hand against her face, muffling her screams. Both guys got it on, fighting each other with such brute violence. Rico smashes his fist into Nate a couple of times before Nate fights back by kicking him off of him. By doing that, the gun that was on him flew off, and both guys stopped moving and looked over to where the gun fell, a couple feet away from them. They both looked at each other, breathing hard, and then Rico decided to dive after it, causing Nate to slam into him and away from the gun.

He reached for it himself, but felt himself getting dragged by his legs, away from the gun. Rico jumped on top of him, successfully grabbing it. But not before Nate gets his hand on it to. Both guys roll around, wrestling for control as Jessica watched in horror from the corner of the room.

Rico finally gains the upper hand and pins Nate to the ground with his knee on his chest, both hands still fighting for control over the weapon. "You think after everything you've done to me, I'm just gonna let you live?" He seethes.

"I've never done anything to you," Nate growls back.

"You're wrong!" Rico barks. "You made a complete fool out of me. And now, I'm gonna make your life a living hell!"

Pop! Pop!

Nate closed his eyes as Jessica screams in the background. Slowly, he opens his eyes and looks up to see Rico lying on top of him, lifeless.

Oh no...

The room goes completely silent. Nate slowly gets up and looks over to Jessica, still being held hostage. Nate points the gun at him now, blood spattered on his face, hands and torso now. "Let her go, now," he demanded. The guy simply lets her go and points his hands up, taking a step back before running out the door scared shitless.

Jessica slowly walks over to Nate, her hands up now, non-threateningly. "Nate...put the gun down."

"I️...I️ shot him. I️ killed him, didn't I️?" He sounded hysterical, waving the gun around. "Holy shit!" He freaked.

"Nate...please," she pleaded. "It's okay baby. It's gonna be okay," she walked closer to him. "But I'm gonna need you to put the gun down," she wrapped her hands around his, looking into his eyes. "We're...we're gonna be okay," she nods at him, taking the gun away from him and putting it down.

The door slammed open again, now with the hotel manager and two cops behind him, startling them both. They looked between the dead body, a blood covered Nate and a scared Jessica. They quickly raised their guns and pointed it at Nate. "Hands up where we can see them! Step away from the gun and the girl!" The white cop ordered.

It was like she was watching everything in slow motion. The cops walked up to Nate and turned him around, bringing his arms down behind his back before cuffing him. Jessica was sure she screamed at some point and reached out to grab him, only to be pulled back by the other cop. Tears streamed down her face as they took him away in one squad car and escorted her in the other, wrapping her in a blanket and taking her down to the station.

* * * *

Jessica sat in the courtroom with her mom, watching Nate's defense attorney hard at work. His parents and him may have had a disagreement but the second they heard his was in trouble, they got him the best defense lawyer money could buy. Larry Richardson was the top DA in the state and wow, was the man was good.

"Ricardo Madeira was a drug dealer! A menace to the neighborhood," he presented his closing statement to the jury. "Nathan Carter and his girlfriend were constantly threatened, and when the moment came where it was kill or be killed...Nathan only did what anybody would've done in his situation and defended himself and his woman," he stated.

Jessica's mom reached out and took her hand into hers, comforting her. But not by much.

"Although we can all agree that Ricardo Madeira has his faults, we can also agree that Nathan Carter had no right to take the life of a man. Who is he to determine who lives and who dies?" Prosecutor Gabriel Ochoa rebutted. Jessica couldn't help but roll her eyes at his testimony as he tried to paint Nate as the bad guy here.

After hearing both lawyers speak, the judge slammed his gravel and declared that court was done for the day. "We will pick this back up tomorrow at 8 A.M," he announced, dismissing everyone.

Jessica and her mom were making their way out of the courthouse when she was stopped by Mr. Carter and an older women next to him, Nathan's mom, she assumed. "Oh. Hello-"

"I️ hope you're happy with the way everything turned out," Mr. Carter hissed at her. "You ruined my son's life!"

Jessica flinched at his words. She couldn't even respond, she was so shocked. So her mom fought back instead.

"Excuse me?! Last I️ heard, Nate went to your home, begging for your help and all you did was turn him away," she scolded.

"You should be ashamed of yourself, dragging him into your mess," his mom spoke up now, glaring icily at both of them.

Jessica's mom almost launched herself at her, if it wasn't for security rushing over to break them up. "Bitch, I️ will cut you-"

"Mom, stop!" Jessica pulled her mom back and guided her away from them. "It's not worth it mom. They already see us as ghetto, we don't need to be feeding into their bullshit," she said as they made their way to the front of the courts to wait on a cab.

Her mom just lets out a huff. "I'm sorry. But it hurts me that they just attack my baby. And in front of me too!"

"Well, the same way you're feeling is the same way they're feeling," she reminded her.

Her mom simply sighed and gave her a sad smile. "When did you get so wise?" She said, reaching up to touch her face. Jessica simply smiled and opened the cab door for her mom to get in. When her noticed she wasn't following behind, she raised her eyebrows, perplexed.

"I'll be home in a bit," she tells her. "There's just something I️ gotta do first." She shuts the door to the cab and waves her off, waiting for the next cab to arrive.

An hour later, she pulls up to the prison and gets out of the car. "I'm here to see Nathan Carter," she tells the correctional officer through the glass.

She's escorted to the visitor's room and anxiously waits for him there. Her legs bounced up and down from anticipation and as soon as she heard her name being called, she practically jumps up out of her chair, turning around to see Nate in an orange jumpsuit. He had quite a bit off scruff on his face and his hair grew even longer but despite all that, she still thought he was the handsomest man ever. "Nate," she breathed out before running over to him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

"Hey sweetheart," he greeted with a smiled, squeezing her back. Once they let go, he led her over by a table and they sat down. But once the happiness of seeing him passed, it was quickly replaced by a deep frown. "Jess, what's wrong?" He asked.

"Everything," she replied. "I️ hate seeing you like this. You don't deserve this," she whispered, tears starting to overflow.

"I️'ll be okay Jess!" He said, trying to make her feel better. "Look, with this guilty plea and Richardson's strong case for me, I️ might actually have a chance at a light sentence," he says enthusiastically.

Jessica wanted to be happy for him, but she also couldn't help shake the feeling that they might give him a light sentence because he's...light himself.

Nevertheless, she took his hands into hers and look at their entwined fingers. "I️ miss you so much," she says softly. "I️ just really hope you come back to me. Soon," she looked up at him.

"Soon," he nodded his head.

_________________________

I️. Am. EVIL! 🤣🤣

One more? Two more? Three more? What y'all think?