California Love? •ON HOLD•

Personal talks with a friend

DEMI'S POV

I was in my room and had just finished playing an original song on my guitar when someone started to clap.

"Wow. I know we've talked a lot about music, but I had no idea your voice was that good."

"You fucking scared me."

"Sorry, sorry. I just didn't want to interrupt. You have a beautiful voice."

I got up and gave him a little bow.

"Thank you. Thank you. So what are you doing here, besides being a creep and watching me while I don't notice."

"Ha-ha. Aren't you funny Ms. Lovato. I actually just came by to say hello. Your sister called me over to hang out." He rolled his eyes as he said that last part.

"Well you said it, you can leave now."

"Why the urge to get rid of me so quickly?"

"I just don't want drama. I've been here like a month and I've managed to keep a low profile. That all went to shit when she found out we hung out last time."

He looked confused.

"What? She didn't tell me anything. She said it was nice that I'm getting along with her sister."

"Okay, number one, we are not sisters nor will we ever be. Two, she's a two-faced bitch. She came barging in here telling me how I should stop trying to steal her boyfriend because, and I quote, 'he only dates skinny hot girls'"

"That's ridiculous. We're friends."

"Yeah, try telling her that. So I'd rather not cause any drama."

"I'm not gonna leave just because you don't want her to tell you anything. You're my friend, I don't care what she thinks. As a matter of fact, I'm gonna tell her I'm spending the day hanging out with my friend and I can't spend it with her."

"No, it's just gonna cause more drama. Just go, please."

"No." He said, moving to sit on my bed.

"So, friend, what do you want to do today?"

***

It's dark out and we decided to just lay on the grass and watch the stars. It's been about three months that I've known Harry now and I'm surprised at how close we've actually gotten. He even kept in touch with Michael after that day I first introduced them.

"Hey, can I tell you something. Like, something you can't tell anyone." He asked me.

"Of course." I told him.

"I'm thinking of maybe quitting my job." I turned to look at him. Quit his job? He always talks about how much he loves his job.

"What? Why?"

"I've realized that it's not really my thing. I mean, I never actually wanted this job y'know? My dad thought it was my time to take over the family business, but I've realized I don't want to be in charge of all these people making music, being on the boring old paperwork, and business side. I want to be on the creative side of things. I want to write music, I want to be involved in the creative side."

"Wow. I'm happy for you. Do you think you're actually going to do it? What's your dad gonna say?"

"He'll probably just say I'm making a big mistake and how if it doesn't work out, I can always get my old job back." His dad sounds like a real supportive guy. He's lucky. So I tell him that exact thing.

"Yeah, he is. Okay, I hate to change the subject, but what about you? Why do you hate your dad so much?" He's been asking me this question for a while now, but I keep avoiding it. I guess now would be a good time to tell him. I can feel him staring, waiting for my reply, but I keep my gaze up at the stars and say,

"Ha! Where do I even start with that guy. He- he umm, he basically abandoned my whole family way back when. But even before that, he was never around much. He had a bit of a drinking problem. No scratch that- he had a massive drinking problem. But one day, he- he just stopped coming around. We started to struggle financially and that was all too much for my mom. We could all tell it took a big impact on her. Me and my other brothers basically raised Jess by ourselves. She just stopped caring about what happened to us. So as soon as I turned 13 I got a job. I had to lie about my age, but that's a another story. I was working at a grocery store in the nice part of town and one day I saw this man that looked really familiar so I decided to take a closer look."

Flashback

I was just minding my own business stocking up on cans when I see this man who looks awfully familiar. No, I thought, it can't be him. This man is wearing a suit, my dad couldn't even keep on a clean pair of jeans.

"Excuse me, do you mind if I ask what your name is?" I ask him. He gave me a confused stare but then said,

"Emilio Lovato. And you are?"

"It's me! Demi! What happened to you? Why did you leave us?!" Some women came up next to him and looked at me like if I was nothing.

"Emilio, who is this person. We don't have time for this. Cara wants to go now." She told him.

"I have no idea who this is. She must have me confused with someone else."

"No! Dad, it's me! Demi. Remember Jesse, and Jordan, and Jacob. Your kids, remember? Jordan kept looking for you after you left, but he couldn't find you." I tell him. He has to remember.

"Please, if I had a daughter she wouldn't be you. She wouldn't be fat, and look like she hasn't showered in days. Now run along little girl."

"Excuse me sir, is this employee bothering you?" Asked my manager.

"Yes she is. This has to be unsanitary. You're having this dirty worker work with fruits when she clearly looks dirty. And she's trying to get some money from me claiming i'm her father." He told my manager. I told her how he was lying and that I wasn't doing anything, but his word counted more then mine. He said he would never shop here again as long as I worked here and that's when I got fired.

I couldn't get fired. It was my turn to buy us groceries and pay some of the bills. It's going to be another couple of days without us having warm water.

"And that's when he broke 13 year old me's heart. I wouldn't say I hate him. I mean, I do. But I'm more hurt than anything." I finish telling Harry. It takes a while for him to respond.

"I get where you're coming from. I'm not going to say that I understand, because I didn't go through it. My parents have always been there for me and my sister, even after they had divorced. But that must have hurt a shit load. I mean, he outright denied he knew you and abandoned your whole family, then he went off and played dad with a whole different family. I'm sorry, Demi. You didn't deserve that."

"Thank you. Going through that made me who I am today, and as everyone from my old school you used to call me, 'a heartless bitch.'" I said, giving a sad smile.

"I don't believe that'a true. I see that it might have made you a stronger person, but heartless, no. I don't see it. What I do see is how much you take care of Jesse. You give him so much love and support and no one can take that away from him. He's lucky to have you."

I take a minute to take in all he's said to me. He's right. Since I don't know exactly how to respond, I just lean over and give him a kiss on the cheek and thank him. We let silence consume us, but it didn't last long.

"Speaking of Jesse, he's going on his first date this Friday. My little baby is growing up." I say, wiping away a fake tear.

"Ha! Good luck with that. I heard the teenage years are the worst."

"Tell me about it. You should have seen how I was, an absolute mess. My older brothers had no clue what to do with me." I say, smiling at the memories.

Sorry for the long wait. I had writer's block with this story, but I'm back (sort of). Hope you enjoyed the chapter, tell me what you think xx