Hammered

Chapter 22

   I wasn't afraid of Demi's ex-boyfriend, I was afraid of her going back to old habits. Ever since she mentioned Colton, I felt like I had to protect her. She was sad for days, then the days turned into weeks. She cried and cried and night after night, I held her telling her that it was going to be alright. One night, I turned to face Demi in bed. She had her nightstand light was on and she was sitting up writing in a black book.

    Her pen wrote and scribbled and she tore through several pages and threw them in the garbage. She scratched out certain things and eventually began to tear up. "Hey. What time is it?" I asked, acting like I had just woken up.

"It's early. You should go back to bed." She said wiping her cheek. She didn't want me to know the time because she knew I would worry. I check my phone and read the time. 3:46 a.m.

"Demi, what are you doing?" I ask in concern. "Nothing."

"It doesn't look like nothing." She gets up and picks up Momo. She softly pets his fluffy little head and takes her book. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

"Demi it's fine. I know sometimes you have trouble sleeping but it's okay. You have me and I'll be here for you. I'll stay up all night for you."

"Ryan, no. You need to get some rest for work." I didn't listen to her though. I stayed up watching her scribble and rip out pages. She then spoke about her disorder. All this time we have been together and she tells me this now. "The constant writing, the changing of my hair color all has to do with my bipolar disorder. It helps me." I felt worse now. I stayed up listening to her stories and comforting her for so many nights.

    A month after I started staying up with Demi, she finally began to sleep at decent times but I didn't sleep. I wanted her to know I was keeping my promise. The lack of sleep showed all over my face. I enter every morning to work and Mitchel gave me the "You look like shit" stare. My eyes were as red as the devil's ass after being spanked by his father. "You need to go to sleep. Rest is very important and I won't have any of my employees looking like that during work. You need to take a few days off okay?" I just nodded in agreement and took my things back to my car. Although I knew it was dangerous, my brain wasn't processing everything and I drove half asleep until I reached Exquisite.

    I trip over myself trying to get to the door and I spot Demi talking to her assistant, Samuel. I sit at a booth and fall asleep in a matter of seconds. When I woke up, the sun was gone. I looked out the window and spotted barely any cars. I checked my phone and saw the time. 11: 46 p.m. It was almost midnight. I looked to my right and saw a girl petting my hair. Her hair was blonde with a mixture of pink at the ends. I looked up and saw it was Demi.

"Hi sleepy head. Ready to go?" She asked with a smile.

"Demi, I don't think I can stay up with you anymore. I feel like death." She laughs and says, "Ryan, I stopped staying up late for a while now. I understand you need your rest. Come on sleeping beauty, let's go home now." I follow her and she decides to drive. "When did you dye your hair again?" I asked.

"While at work, I was playing spoons and I lost a bet. So I had to dye the end of my hair but I think it looks nice. What do you think?"

"It looks so sexy on you." I said. She smiled and flipped her hair to one side and began to stroke it. She knew that drove me crazy.