I was staring at nowhere when I saw Joe sitting on the bench alone. What is up with this boy? Ok, this is your chance Demi. He's your friend. Go talk to him. It's just Joe. I don't have to tell him, “Hey, Joe, I still love you, but let's be friends.” I just have to talk to him, tell him that we can have our friendship back. I learned that I'd rather have him as my friend than not have him at all. And I will get over him eventually and until then, we don't have to be like this. Yeah, that's exactly what I'm going to tell him. I'm going to get my friend back. I sat beside him on the bench, and he looked at me curiously.
"Hey," I greeted, "nice game out there."
"Eh, Nick did all the work anyways," he shrugged. Okay, this is NOT what Joe’s like. He's cocky and conceited. Even if Nick had done all the work, he would never give him the credits like this.
"Joe, is everything okay?"
"Yeah, why?" He's not even looking at me.
I sighed, "Joe you're acting weird, okay? I thought things were okay after that day you came by my dressing room."
He still didn't look at me, "We are, Demi. I don't know what you're talking about."
"Joe, can you look at me?" I said raising my voice a bit. I sighed again. "Look, I'm sorry, I-I just want to talk to you."
"About wha-"
"About us," I interrupted. He finally looked at me, and I couldn't believe I had just said that. "I mean, about the tour and our friendship, Joe. We're letting the break up thing ruin our friendship... And I don't want that," I felt tears come to my eyes but I held them back. Not the time. He sighed this time. "Joe, we barely talk. We only enjoy being around each other when we're performing.
Look, I'll be honest with you. Ever since you b-broke up with me I didn't want to see you or talk to you, but now that we've been here on tour doing something we've done before and something that we love doing together, I realized that all this time I've been avoiding you. It was making things worse. Not having you in my life is what was making me take the break up so hard. You're my best friend, and the idea of losing that is what was driving me crazy." He was about to say something, but I cut him off. "No, let me finish. Joe, now we have this chance to recover our friendship. We have these four months to spend together and make things go back to the way they were before. And I've been trying, but you won't let me in anymore. You're the one avoiding me now.
The other day when we talked, I thought everything was okay, and then you just started ignoring me again."
"Demi, I'm not ignoring you, it's just that I-I..." He sighed and grabbed my hand. My heart skipped a beat. He gave me a small smile "Demi, I don't want to lose you either. I've missed you all this time, too, and I'm sorry for not trying to talk to you. I just thought you needed time. You know how sorry I am for brea-"
I interrupted him not wanting him to go there, "I know you're sorry, I know. You don't have to tell me that anymore."
"Good because I am. But I want things to go back to normal, too, Dems." Dems. I smiled at the sound of that. "I hated not having you in my life during these past few months, too, and I'll be more than happy if you ever take me back as your friend."
My smile kept widening until it couldn't get any bigger, "Gladly," I said before he pulled into a hug. I was feeling so many things that I don't even know. I was happy but also sad at the same time. It feels good to be hugging him again, doesn't matter if as a friend. It feels good to think that now maybe I'll have the same awesome relationship I had with him before we dated. But it also makes me want to cry, because deep inside my heart still wants him to look at me right now, tell me he loves me and kiss me, but I know he won't.
Nick's POV
I saw Joe and Demi hugging, and I felt something weird, something similar to... jealousy? Why would I be jealous of them? Ugh, whatever. The point is why are they hugging? Are they making up? Are they friends again? Are they getting back together? Oh God, are they getting back together? No, they can't be. Joe wouldn't. He doesn't love Demi that way or he wouldn't have broken up with her... right? Yeah… no? They probably made up and are hugging it out. Wait. Why did the thought of Joe and Demi dating again just make me flip? I don't know, and I also don't know why my heart just broke a little when I saw them hugging. Maybe I am a little jealous, but I mean, that's normal, right? Demi's my best friend and we've been spending a lot of time together, so it's normal for me to feel jealous about her and other guys, even though the other guy is my brother and her ex-boyfriend, isn't it? Wait, I’m blabbering. I hate blabbering. It’s stupid.
I walked over to them, and they were pulling away, both smiling and looking at each other. I rolled my eyes without them seeing. "Hey" I said while drinking some water.
"Hey, Dude," Joe said.
"I see you still didn't take a shower," Demi joked.
"Well, that didn't stop you from hugging Joe," I said serious. Shit. I shouldn't have said that. Now, it's awkward because it looks like I'm jealous.
"That's because she likes me better, right, Dems?" Joe said putting an arm around her shoulder. I guess they are back to being BFF's. At least I think he didn't realize I was actually mad she was hugging him, but didn't want to hug me. Demi giggled. Okay, Nick, stop being so bitter. I faked a small smile.
"It's good to see you two getting along. Now, if you excuse me, I'll go take a shower," I said looking at Demi before leaving for the lockers room.
---
We all went to the hotel and just waited until sound check and the concert afterwards. I was taking a nap but a knock on my door woke me up. I didn't bother opening it. I was too tired. The person knocked again, and again. I groaned and got up.
"What?" I said as I opened the door.
"Oh, someone's a little moody."
I sighed and stepped aside to let her in. "Sorry, I didn't know it was you." I walked back to my bed and lied down using my arm to support my head.
"So, um, I owe you a hug, remember?"
I looked at her, and she was smiling. Ugh, how can I resist that smile? Be strong, Nick. "Yeah? Joe's room is the next door to your right."
She hit me in the stomach, "Nick, don't be ridiculous."
"What? You rejected me, but you were hugging him," I said getting up from the bed.
"Nick, come on. You don't know what was going on, okay? We talked, Nick, Joe and I. We talked about everything. That's why we were hugging."
I turned to look at her. "You talked about what?"
"About everything. About what happened ever since we broke up, and how we weren't talking, and it was bad for the both of us, and now, we're finally okay, and it's all good Nick. We're going to go back to being just like we used to be. Best friends," she said with such happiness in her voice it made me mad. I smiled back at her, and she jumped in my arms. I lifted her with my arms wrapped around her waist.
"That's great, Dems. I'm happy for you." I put her down. "So, can I get my hug now?" I said raising an eyebrow.
She laughed, "Nick, you just got a super hug."
"That doesn't count. It was to celebrate that you and Joe made up." She smiled that amazing smile of hers, and I smiled along. She wrapped hers arms around my waist and rested her head in my chest and put both my arms around pulling her close to me and leaving absolutely no space between us. I kissed her head, and we just stayed like that for a while.
Demi sighed happily, “Thanks for the flowers and breakfast.”
I smiled, “All the for the best.” She took her head from my chest and smiled at me.
She giggled, “You’re the most amazing person ever.” I felt my face burn slightly, and I kissed her forehead. She put her face back into my chest. This felt so right.
