After the court hearing, where I am granted an Apprehended Violence Order against John Miller, preventing him from coming anywhere near me or making contact, I am finally able to close that chapter for good and move on with my life.

"How do you feel?" Ella asks as we leave the court building.

"Like a boulder sized weight's been lifted from my shoulders," I say with a long sigh. "I feel free."

"Good," she says. "Now you can live again, freely and without fear."

"Here's to that!" I say, lifting my glass at the small celebration we have at the Country Coffeehouse later that afternoon.

"To living freely and fearlessly!" says Ella, raising her own glass as he parents do the same. We clink them together, all smiles as we each take a sip.

"I'm glad he is finally out of your lives," says Joe. "Hopefully, knowing he cannot re-enter it will bring a little peace of mind to the both of you."

"Certainly Dad," says Ella. "It already has. For Sam here especially."

"Good," he says, "I'm glad."

"So are you girls ready to play later?" Annie asks. "Because Joe and I are more than certainly looking forward to having the night off to sit here, relax and enjoy watching the two of you."

"More ready than I've ever been," I say, allowing the excitement I'd been holding in to bubble through. "I cannot wait to do this. With this feeling like this massive weight's been lifted from my shoulders, I want to sing and shout about it from the rooftops. I want the world to share in my…" I stop myself, glancing at Ella, "sorry, our, song."

Ella nods. "I think this is the most pumped I've been for a gig in a while," she says. "I'm really ready to share Pearl, and our EP with the world."

"And what perfect timing that you're doing it tonight after your victory," comes the familiar voice of Dr. Murray and I look up to see him casually striding toward us. "I hope you don't mind," he continues, "but Ella's parents told me you two were debuting yourselves as a music duo and launching your EP this evening. I thought I'd come and cheer you both on. You've come so far, and I'm really pleased for the both of you with all the progress that's been made. Tonight is a celebration of all of that."

"That it is." Says Joe, raising his glass.

"Here, Dr. Wexler, sit, join us." Annie says, proffering him a chair and a glass filled with champagne.

"Thank you," Dr. Murray says, sitting down and taking the glass from Annie, who then takes her seat again.

"To tonight!" she says

"How far we've come!" I say, unable to resist actively joining in on the celebration.

"To Pearl!" says Ella as everyone raises their glasses and clinks them together.

"Good luck!" Joe says as we rise from the table.

"I think the phrase, in this instance Dear, is break a leg," Annie tells him in a whisper.

"That's in the theatre Mum," Ella says. "so either is fine here."

"Well break a leg then," says Dr. Murray, reaching over to pat me on the shoulder. "Though not literally of course." I nod, the smile inerasable from my face.

"Of course," says Ella with a laugh, slipping an arm round my shoulders so we can walk to the stage together, all but squealing with excitement.

I am surprised at how little time it takes me to settle in and get comfortable on my stool on the stage. Ella glances at me, and I nod, signalling that I'm all good to go. She smiles and begins tapping on the microphone with her nail. When the room quietens, she turns her attention to them. "We'd like to start by thanking everyone here for coming out tonight."

"It's a big night for Ella and I," I say, marvelling at the fact that my voice does not seem to shake at all, where once upon a time, it surely would have. "So we're really glad you could all be here to share it with us."

"Some of you may have seen us before," Ella says, taking over once more, "but for those who don't know us, I'm Ella, and this is the other half of our little musical duo, the lovely Sam!" The crowd claps politely, and I smile a thanks. "As Sam said, tonight's a big night for us. Tonight is the first with us performing together as Pearl, and we're also launching our debut EP tonight, which you can buy after the show if you like what you hear." She runs her hands together. "So, without further ado, let's get started!" At this, there is a resounding cheer of approval.

"Enjoy," I say only a minute before Ella starts strumming softly on the guitar.

We start with Wash Over You, perhaps my favourite song on our little CD inspired by all the water themed paintings in Dr. Murray's office. The music is quick to carry me away, though luckily we've practiced so much that I am able to sing the song on autopilot and let my mind wander at the same time. It seems quite comical when I think about it. As we sing about waves, I imagine myself at the beach, watching them crash over the rocks. While we sing of waterfalls, I picture myself bearing witness to one in all its natural, powerful wonder. As we're singing about rain, I can almost see myself watching the raindrops fall outside my window, hear them pitter-patter as they land on the rooftop over my head. All of this reminds me of the finished recording of the song on the EP, when all of these noises were used as backing sound effects.

Next, we do the first song Ella wrote, the one she tried to use to reach out to me, Speak Up. The passion in Ella's voice is incredibly strong, showing anyone listening that she really believes in the message this song is trying to convey. In the aftermath, I also find myself getting invested in the song, singing as hard as I can in the hope of instilling the message more in our audience. In hopes that just maybe, we might reach someone going through something like what we've been through and be able to help them.

We sing Precious as a Pearl and Butterfly before finishing with our newest song, The Sun Will Rise. The hope with this one is for it to be hopeful. We sing about how when the sun sets, you can leave that day behind, and how the sun will rise again to bring a new day, new opportunities, new chances, new hope.

We finish finally to thunderous applause. Some of our audience, much to my astonishment, have even risen to their feet as they clap and cheer as loud as they possibly can. Ella turns to me, her smile as bright as the sun. "We did it," she says in the sort of whisper that suggests she could either do that or scream it from the heavens.

"We did it," I say returning her smile with a dazzling one of my own, born from sheer elation at our success. I lean over, reaching as far as I can to take her hand in my own and give it a gentle squeeze before I speak again. "And this is only just the beginning."