“How was it?” She asks, trying to remain casual, cool. Like it isn’t a big deal, even though it is. She doesn’t like this feeling that was in her stomach. This feeling that tells her that she hoped his date was awful, that the girl was dumb and had no interest in him. She doesn’t know why she wanted it to go poorly, but she does. Jealousy, no, that isn’t it. She isn’t jealous of this mystery girl. It’s just that he’s her best friend and she doesn’t want some floozy coming along and ruining his life and screwing things up. She’s just… protective.

Nick plops down on the couch next to her, putting his feet up on her coffee table. She quickly bats his legs down and he laughs a bit, knowing she didn’t like it when he did that but he always did it anyways. He puts his legs back down and sips his water. “It was good. I had fun.” He shrugs.

“Are you gonna go out with her again?” Demi bites her lip gently and picks up her phone, checking to see if anyone has texted her, but it’s a blank screen. She wants to act like she doesn’t really care, that his date is of no importance to her, but she’s just being protective, right? She has to ask, has to find out. She’s looking out for him is all.

“Probably.” He nods. “I could see something working.”

“Really?” She raises her eyebrows a bit and he looks over at her.

“Yeah, why not? We had a good time.” He leans back against the couch and sips his water again, shrugging.

“She just seems a little… Ditzy to me.” She offers and Nick laughs lightly.

“You haven’t even met her.”

She smiles lightly. “I know, but Joe told me about her. I don’t know, she just doesn’t seem your type.”

“Oh?”

She sighs a bit. “Well, like… Joe says she’s tone deaf. And she really isn’t into music all that much. So I just can’t see you with someone who’s like that. Plus, she majorly needs to touch up her roots cause that’s not attractive. Her brain cells are probably all dead from bleaching her hair that god awful blonde.” She laughs a bit and he shakes his head, smiling.

“Says the girl who just got back from being platinum blonde.” He teases.

“Horrible mistake.” She laughs and looks up at him. “Seriously, though. She just doesn’t seem good for you.”

“Why does it matter? I’m just trying to have fun.” He shrugs. “I’m not looking for anything serious.”

“You’re wasting your time with her.”

“So?”

“So… don’t.” Demi sighs, getting a little frustrated now.

“Why not?”

“Because!”

“Because why?”

She takes a deep breath, thinks ‘screw it’ and leans up quickly, her lips crashing into his. Surprisingly, he doesn’t pull back, doesn’t freak out or push her away, he kisses her back, as hard as she’s kissing him.

“Oh.” He says simply, a little breathless as they pull away.

She doesn’t know what to say, what to do next. She’s freaking out on the inside, panicked and confused. She doesn’t know why she did that, what the hell what she even thinking? Nothing, except that she wanted him. She wanted him and she has wanted him for a while. And shit, there’s no going back now.

“I mean, it’s good…” Demi bites her lip gently, offering a shrug. But he can tell she doesn’t like it. They exchange a look and she sighs. “It is! I like it, it’s just… I don’t know. Some of the lyrics sound kind of… dumb.” She says simply.

“Dumb?” Nick raises his eyebrows and leans back in his chair, his arms crossing in defense. “You do realize that this is our first single in three years, right?”

“I know! It’s good, Nick, really, I like the beat and it’s fun, I just…” She sees the look on his face and sighs, knowing he’s pretty furious at her. “You told me to be honest! I’m being honest!”

“Don’t talk about bad lyrics when you’re over here singing about a ken doll. Those are dumb lyrics!” He says harshly, mostly just angry that his best friend is doing this to him.

She rolls her eyes at him. “At least I’m not asking girls to shake their boobs at me.”

“Okay, that is not – !”

“Oh, isn’t it? Come on, Nick! Seriously?” She gives his a look and he just shakes his head and gets up from his seat, starting to grab his stuff. “You’re acting like a child. Am I not allowed to dislike one of your songs?”

He ignores her question as he slings his bag over his shoulder, not looking at her and quickly putting on his sunglasses to avoid her gaze. “I’ll see you later.” He mutters. And just when she thinks he might be calming down, he walks out and slams the door behind him.

“Power’s out.” Nicks says with a sigh as he walks into their room. Demi’s sitting in one of the arm chairs in front of the fire that he made earlier and in the glow, she looks more beautiful that ever. She frowns and looks up at him as he walks over to her. They were just sitting and talking in their room when the lights when out and then the dogs started barking and panicing so Nick went to the basement to check the breaker. But the whole street’s out due to the weather, so it was no use.

“We’re gonna be freezing if it doesn’t turn back on.” 

“Well you’re also wearing only a tank top and yoga pants.”

“But don’t I look hot?” She says teasingly and he laughs, nodding. 

“You always look hot.” He smirks softly and then walks over to the bed, grabbing one of their blankets and brining it back over. He sits on the floor and she joins him, crawling into his lap as he wraps the blanket around them. He rubs her arms and kisses the top of her head as she shivers, getting adjusted to the new warmth that surrounds her.

“I wouldn’t mind staying like this all night…” Demi says with a sigh, closing her eyes and nuzzling into his chest. He smiles, leaning back against the chair behind him and, too, closes his eyes to rest for a moment.

“It’s nice… I’m kind of glad the power’s out. Now I have a better excuse to be close to you.”

“You never need an excuse.” She laughs lightly.

“I know, but it’s nice to have one anyways.” He chuckles and leans down to kiss her gently as she smiles up at him.

“You’re a dork.” She shakes her head.

“I may be, but at least I’m a dork who’s keeping you warm and heated.”

“I feel like there’s a sex joke in there.” She laughs and Nick just smirks.

“There is, trust me.”

Demi lets out a light squeal as he runs up behind her, almost making her drop the ball in her hands as he wraps his strong arms around her, laughing and kissing her cheek. “Don’t drop it,” He whispers playfully.

“If you keep doing that, I will and then I’ll break my toe!” She laughs, trying to balance the ball now as she turns to his smiling face. He chuckles, kissing her lips gently and squeezing her sides to make her laugh again. “Nick!”

“If you break your toe, I’ll take care of you until it’s better.” He smiles and she raises her eyebrows.

“Yeah? Are you gonna preform my shows, too? I’d like to see you singing Who’s That Boy.” She laughs.

He just smirks. “Hey, you don’t even sing that anymore. It’s all about Who’s That Girl.” He tickles her sides again and she giggles, still holding the bowling ball tightly as she squirms, hardly able to move in his firm grip.

“I can’t help that girls are in love with me. Sorry I’m so sexy.” She smirks and he just shakes his head at her. 

“You’re full of it sometimes, Lovato, you know that?” He says with a chuckle, holding her even closer to her body now.

She laughs. “Hey, I’ve earned it!” 

“Damn right you have.” He says quietly, placing a kiss on her neck and tugging at her shirt gently. “I like your bra by the way.”

She smirks, leaning her head back gently. “The underwear matches.”

“Oh really?” He chuckles and his hands travel down, rubbing the skin just below her shorts gently.

“Can I bowl now? This thing is getting heavy.” She laughs lightly and he sighs. 

“Right when I was getting warmed up.” He shakes his head and chuckles, kissing her cheek again as he straightens up and holds his arms out, placing his hands underneath hers to help her support the ball. 

“Yeah, it’s not like we’re in a public place.” She smirks at him.

“With no one here. ” He says lowly with a smirk, and she can hear the hint in his voice as he steps closer to him.

“You wish.” She laughs.

“Damn straight I do.” She looks up to see him lick his lips eagerly and she just shakes her head.

“If my arms weren’t occupied right now I would hit you.” She says with a smile.

“In the kinky way, right?” He raises his eyebrows and she laughs loudly.

“No!”

He laughs heartily and smirks. “Well we could if you wanted. That’s the bonus that comes with showing at 2am, babe. Plus you know, connections help. Cause this places closes at midnight.” He smiles proudly.

“We only got here at 2am because you insisted on staying at the studio for so long.” She rolls her eyes playfully. 

“Hey, you could have gone home. But then you wouldn’t get to come bowl after hours.” He smirks.

“As if bowling was my incentive to stay. And you know, with you attacking me every time I pick up a ball, I haven’t done much bowling.” She laughs.

He chuckles and kisses her cheek once more. “So what was your incentive, then?” He asks, though he already knows the answer.

She just smiles and presses their foreheads together, kissing him slowly for a moment before she speaks. “I stayed because I love you.”

He sighs happily, unable to hold back the grin that’s taking over his entire face now. “I love you, too.”

She smiles, trying not to laugh with the pure happiness that always takes over whenever he says that. “Now can I bowl?”

“Are you sure Ariana said I could have it?” Demi asked, feeling a bit nervous about the whole situation. Because here she was, in a studio with one of her ex best friends recording a song. Well, ex best friend might be a little harsh. It’s not like they explicitly said ‘we’re not friends anymore’. It’s just that after she got out of treatment, they never really got back in touch.

Until now, that is. When Nick called to say that the girl he had been working with, Ariana Grande, had a song that he thought might fit what Demi was looking for for her new album. It was sweet, and she appreciated that he thought of her, but it was all just kind of weird to be here with him. The last time they were in a studio together was when she’d had him listen to her first recording of Skyscraper. She can still hear his words even now, almost a year and a half later.

“It’s incredible. Seriously.” He had said, leaning over a bit so he could see her pretty face.
“You think so?” She sniffed a bit. Trying to hide the fact that she was crying was nearly impossible with him. He knew every one of her tricks and just how to get past them. It was just proof of their friendship.
“I know so.” He smiled, reaching out slowly to push a loose piece of hair behind her ear. “All the emotion, the passion that you put into it… I can feel it, Dems. It’s gonna be a hit, I guarantee you. Because this is actually you.”
“What do you mean?”
He shrugged a bit and looked down at his hands. “Well anyone can record this song and it’ll sound great. Toby hand it to Kelly Clarkson and it everyone would love it. But he gave it to you… And you just put your heart and soul into it. I can tell and I know everyone else will be able to tell. I can hear what you’ve been through and how much you hurt in just the first minute. You need to share it with everyone.”
She smiled softly and looked up at him, seeing the loving sort of look he always gave her when he was trying to help her through all her shit. Because let’s face it, she had a lot of shit in her life. “Thanks, Nick.”
He just nodded and leaned over, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. “It’s great, really.” He smiled reassuringly and she nodded, letting herself relax against him.
“You always know the right thing to say.” 

But here they were, her sitting right next to him as she was all that time ago. But nothing is the same anymore. He’s with Delta, she’s sort of seeing Wilmer with this whole on and off thing. They’ve both grown so much and so apart that it seems like it would be out of character for him to wrap an arm around her now. It would be awkward and uncomfortable because let’s face it, they’re just not friends anymore. She wishes they were, wishes she could go back to the lazy nights of Camp Rock filming where they would all sit around and tell jokes and laugh. Now they were just two people who let themselves fall out from each other who could do nothing more than sit awkwardly next to each other.

“Yeah, she isn’t gonna use it.” Nick shrugs, adjusting his Yankees cap on his head. He can feel the tension between them. He doesn’t like it, this whole being weird with Demi. She was his best friend, now it’s like they’re nothing at all. “So uhm, we already have Iyaz on it, so all you need to do is go in and… do your thing.” He smiles a little, glancing over at her for a moment before looking back down at the sound board. He felt like he was 14 again, sitting next to this gorgeous girl who had no idea how he felt about her. And he couldn’t vocalize it because there were other factors - such as the people they were dating - who were now present. He just wishes things could go back to normal.

Demi nods and takes a deep breath as she stands up and walks to the sound booth. She tosses her hat on a nearby couch before walking inside. It’s quiet now and suddenly she feels like some animal in a zoo. Trapped behind thick glass with Nick staring at her, waiting for her to do a trick. Jump! Sing! Dance! Do something! He seems to say it all with his silence. And for a moment, as he looks up from his lap and their eyes meet, they both just remain where they are. Unmoving. Unblinking. Silence.

She looks right at him and she swears she sees something that screams guilt. Guilt for not telling her his feelings earlier, guilt for not protecting her more, guilt for only visiting that one time and guilt for not reaching out to her after she got home. And she can do nothing but stare right back at him, trying to convey the message to him that it’s okay. Because what happened happened and there’s nothing they can do to change it now. 

“Dammit.” Nick muttered with a sigh as he handed Demi her luggage. He could see the flashes from the inside of the airport. To him, camera flashes meant only one thing - absolute and certain death.

“What?” Demi asked as she looked over at him, pulling up the handle on her Louis Vuitton suitcase. The camera’s meant nothing to her; she wasn’t as private as he was. She always smiled and waved and went about her business as if they weren’t there. But not Nick - he couldn’t stand having a forty year old man shoving a camera in his face. And it’s not like Demi didn’t get tired of it, too. She just dealt with it better than he did.

“Uh… Nothing.” Nick shook his head, taking his own backpack and throwing it over his shoulders. “You ready?” He held out his hand for her and she nodded, taking it and lacing their fingers easily. He gave her hand a light kiss and smiled, glad to see the brilliance reflected in her face. He almost wished they had stayed in Cabo, just lived there for a while. But they had to get back to reality eventually. And it’s not like their realities were bad or anything, it was just nice to get away for that one week. To just lay on the beach and not have to worry about futures or failing careers or anything. They just had each other and it was simple enough to work. And that’s just the way he liked it.

They walked out of the airport hand in hand, Nick pulling along her suitcase and leading her to where their car would be pulled around by none other than Big Rob. But in the less than two minutes that it took for him to drive around, they were in a chaotic mob of flashes and questions. 

He tried not to sigh, but something about the lateness of the hour and the dark of the night meant that to suppress such an emotion would be nothing short of impossible. Demi, hearing this, knew there was nothing she could do expect hold his hand tighter. It was reassuring to know she was right there with him, bearing the same burden (if you could even call it a burden without sounding spoiled) he was but with more grace and elegance that he could even hope to capture in a million lifetimes. 

He didn’t know how she did it, especially after treatment. All the questions being shouted in your ear, all the lights blinding your eyes. It was annoying to say the least and he sometimes felt like giving them all a good punch in the face. So he didn’t get how she could just smile and stand there.

But it just worked that way, he supposed. Because he balanced her out in this in the same way he balanced her out in dealing with stress. When she would freak out and claim she just couldn’t do it anymore, he would just pull her into his arms and talk quietly until he could get her to laugh and calm down. So they had different strong points in their relationships and he liked it that way. And as far as he could tell, so did she. It’s kind of what made them absolutely perfect for each other.

“How was Cabo?!” “Where did you go?!” “Did you drink?!” “Is it true that you’re living together?!” “Nick, have you picked out a ring?!” “Demi! Do you think you’ll ever marry him?!” “How does it feel dating your brother’s ex?!” “Is it all for publicity?!”

“Hi guys.” Demi just smiled, standing up on the curb next to Nick and leaning into him the way she did whenever she was tired.

“Give us a kiss!” “What’s your favorite thing about each other?!” “Did you guys see the trending topic the other day?!”

Nick somehow compressed another sigh, wrapping his arm around her protectively as he watched for the black SUV to be heading around the bend. He saw it after another moment and took a deep breath of relief, half thankful and half angry for the fact that Big Rob wasn’t there the second they’d walked out of the airport. He just needed to go home and go to bed at this point.

He looked down at Demi, a small curve of a smile emerging on his lips as he saw her politely grinning at the cameras. “They just want a show.” She had told him when they’d first started dating. “So I figure why not smile and let them have their pictures? It doesn’t do me any harm.” He wished he could think of them in that light, but they were just so goddamn obnoxious. 

But he figured if he wasn’t going to smile, he might as well just look up and make eye contact. Give them a show, even if it was a small one. After all, it wasn’t like it did him any harm.