I wipe my tears before entering my apartment. I don’t want Caroline to see me distraught. She has enough to worry about for now. I like the idea of being there for her, and being her rock, but I’m not sure if I’m strong enough for anyone to break against right now. When I walk into the foyer, I expect to see the door to Caroline’s room closed as it had been for days. When I see that it is, I head straight to my room.

“Hey,” Caroline says from the couch.

“Oh hey. How are you?”

I want to climb under my covers and go to sleep forever. But Caroline hasn’t been out and about under her own volition for a while. I know that I wouldn’t be a good friend if I didn’t take a few moments to acknowledge this momentous achievement.

“How are you?” I ask, heading to the refrigerator.

After staring absent-mindedly at the empty shelves, I pour myself a glass of water. I hope that I’ve wasted enough time that my eyes no longer look like they’ve recently seen tears.

“Okay,” she shrugs. “I ordered some Chinese. Want some?”

Wow, she actually took the initiative to order takeout? She must be feeling a lot better.

“No thanks. I just got back from dinner.”

“With Aiden?”

“And my parents.”

“Wow, that must’ve been intense.”

“Tell me about it,” I say. And just like that, within practically a moment, things suddenly feel somewhat normal. It’s almost as if Maine never happened.

“So…” Caroline says, changing the channel back to Property Brothers on HGTV. “Oh, I love this part. The reveal.”

We watch the transformation for a few moments and comment on how much nicer the new house looks. When the episode comes to an end, Caroline puts the TV on mute and turns to face me.

“So…Tom has been arrested.”

I’m so stunned, I nearly choke on my water

“My lawyer called and told me today. He pled not guilty, of course.”

“So, what’s going to happen now?”

“There’s going to be a trial,” she says. I lean a little closer to her to see whether her eyes are actually lit up or whether it’s just the light from the screen streaming into the living room.

“You seem happy,” I say, cautiously.

“I am,” she nods. Her lips curl at the edges forming a delicate smile.

“Well, in that case, I’m excited for you.”

“You’re surprised,” Caroline says.

I nod. Actually, she’s right. I am more than surprised. I’m shocked. I’ve never been part of any situation like this, but I’ve read about other victims and witnesses and most of them are not that excited about the idea of going to trial. When I tell Caroline this, she just laughs.

“I’m actually kind of caught off guard by this as well,” she admits. “All of these days I didn’t know what I was feeling or how I was supposed to feel. And then my lawyer called and told me about the trial and it was like this big weight was lifted off my shoulders.”

“And you’re not afraid of what might happen at trial?” I ask before I get the chance to stop myself. I hate it when I speak before I think. I mean, why even bring this up if she’s feeling so good right now?

But Caroline just laughs. “Of course, I don’t know what’s going to happen. But I’m sort of looking forward to testifying. The thing is Ellie, that I’m really angry. Mad. I feel it all the way down in the pit of my stomach. And telling the jury what he did to me so he can pay for it, well, actually, I can’t wait.”

“Oh my god, you are much braver than I am. You’re kind of amazing, Caroline,” I say and wrap my arms around her.

“You know, you’re going to have to testify too,” she adds. My heart sinks to the bottom of my stomach and my fingers turn ice-cold. But I force a smile.

“Of course, I will,” I say quickly. “That asshole needs to go to jail for what he did.”

Before we get a chance to talk about this anymore, the buzzer rings. Someone’s at the front door.

“Who is it?” I ask into the intercom.

“It’s me,” Aiden says. A big wide natural smile comes over my face as I buzz him in.