i woke up the next morning feeling half dead, i had spent most of the night arguing with my mom about the whole pregnancy situation, and i spent the rest of the night overthinking, leaving me on bad terms with my mom and running on virtually no sleep.

i had recently made a habit out of talking to my baby whenever i could, i would tell it everything that was going on with mattia and i, and shower it in as much affection as i could.

i knew for a fact that mattia was going to be an amazing father, and i felt like i had to get on his level.

the baby hadn't even been born yet and i already knew that there was nothing i wouldn't do for it.

i thought about how it would have mattia's eyes and nose.

sometimes the baby would kick, and i would literally be happy for the rest of the entire day, but this morning there was no response when i spoke, i got the sense that something bad was going to happen soon.

i tried to ignore it, though, i made myself a coffee and got in the car, my mom hounding me about being on time.

i prepared myself for the worse, knowing that most people had heard the rumours about my pregnancy, and i was terrified to see how they'd react once the rumours were confirmed.

i walked in to see that mattia was there already.

'hey!' i whispered, sitting down in the chair beside him.

'this man is so fucking stressed.' he said nodding towards the door.

through the window in the door i caught a glimpse of mr miller pacing back and fourth.

'have we literally fucked it up?' i said to mattia.

'no, no.. maybe.' mattia shrugged, 'but he'll figure it out.'

i chewed on my lip, wondering how everything was going to unfold.

'hey, hey, hey don't do that.' mattia noticed, gripping his cold fingers around my throat and using his thumb to pull my lower lip out from under my teeth, turning me on without even trying to.

he rested his hand on my neck for a moment, staring into my eyes.

'mattia, stop that,' i giggled, 'not here.'

'i try to compose myself, but you make it so hard.' he smirked, letting go of me.

'shut up.' i laughed, punching him in the arm gently.

'ouch!' he said overdramatically, 'i love it when you get aggressive.' he said, looking me up and down and biting his lip jokingly as he held his arm in the spot where i had hit him.

'you're going to be the death of me, mattia polibio-'

suddenly, everyone poured into the room, causing mattia and i to move our seats apart instinctively.

after around fifteen minutes, the courtroom was in full swing, and i could feel all eyes on me.

a collective inhale filled the room and hung above us like a cloud as we all restlessly waited for the information that was on all of our minds, including mine.

the energy continued to build up until it felt like the room was going to burst into flames.

'so, as you can see, sir, the footage that has been showcased has clearly been manipulated to work against my clients, mr polibio and miss l/n, as the documentary evidences B and C display y/n and mattia presenting the ordinary mannerisms of that of an ordinary friendship, which was confirmed by the outcome of the analysis performed by our digital behavioural analysis network, as you can see in evidence F. therefore, it is obvious that the relationship between my clients is nothing more than exactly that - an ordinary friendship. they are innocent.' mr miller concluded his piece to the judge and the jury, and came back to our table.

the other lawyer stood up and started moving towards the front of the room, a sly grimace outlining the edges of his face.

he was going to do it.

'your honor, i must admit, mr miller does have valid reasoning behind his argument,' the other attorney started, hardly able to contain his excitement, 'however, in light of the new evidence that was submitted this morning - evidence H - it is quite clear that-'

'objection! irrelevant!' mr miller called out in desperation.

'overruled.' the judge stated firmly, 'please proceed, mr pearson.'

so, mr pearson proceeded, and he proceeded triumphantly.

'as i was saying.. it is quite clear that the relationship between mr polibio and miss l/n is much more than that of a simple friendship.' he paused for dramatic effect.

the seconds seemed to pass by like hours, and i looked to mattia to see him growing pale, his eyes glossy with anxious tears.

it made me sick to my stomach, i just wanted to sit in his lap and play with his hair and tell him that everything was going to be okay.

yet, i couldn't.

'this is because evidence H shows that miss l/n, is in fact, pregnant. her baby is expected to arrive in approximately four months.' he said.

the last sentence was hardly even audible as the room exploded into loud conversation, the cloud that had been silently growing above us previously had finally burst, triggered by an enormous joint gasp.

the judge was striking his gavel against the wood, but everyone ignored his calls for calm.

i observed in silence, mr miller placed his head in his hands whilst the other lawyer was grinning towards his team, celebrating what seemed like a clear path to victory on their behalf.

fights were breaking out and many people had to be escorted out by security.

'on behalf of the people, we would like to request the death penalty for both y/n l/n and mattia polibio.' shouted mr pearson, his voice somehow rising above the rest.

the room somehow erupted into even louder commotion and upon finally registering his words i completely froze as if i had suddenly become paralyzed. the only thing i could feel was my heart, which felt like it was pounding out of my chest, aching for mattia's comfort.

i blinked rapidly, i was stunned.

this can't be real, this can't be real, this can't be real we're the words that looped around my mind, moving more and more rapidly after each full circuit.

the tears began streaming uncontrollably, all whilst i remained dead still, the moisture from my eyes flowed down my face and fell onto my lap, staining my clothes like a waterfall.

i felt like my life was flashing before my eyes, yet every memory i saw involved the presence of mattia, which was because my life had only really begun once i had met him.

the time he bought me a shirt and watched me change in the mall bathroom, the alleyway where we kissed when we were supposed to be on the run, our night together in the red room, practically every single day i spent with him in our pre-court house.

every single moment i spent with him was the happiest moment of my life, and they were trying to take that away from us, not to mention our fucking child.

the courtroom continued in the uproar, whilst i sat in my cold, dull chair, lifeless and powerless.

all of a sudden i felt mattia let out a deep exhale, and my baby started kicking wildly, sending me the alarm bells i had predicted were coming earlier on in the day.

my heart rate sped up even further, whatever mattia was about to do was going to destroy everything.

i could feel it happening.. we could feel it.

mattia stood up and yelled as loud as he could.

'no!' he said, causing the room to fall absolutely silent in almost an instant.

i looked at him out of the corner of my eye, internally frantic and confused, but still paralysed from the shock, including my tongue, which rendered me mute.

'mattia, it's over, just sit down.' i heard mr miller whisper to mattia.

mattia shot him a deathly glare before turning back to the judge, the jury and mr pearson.

his next words made my heart plummet straight into the depths of my stomach.

'she's pregnant because i raped her.'