All I Wanna Be (Spin off to Somebody To You- Nemi)

Chapter 6

Nick

Something was different with Demi after Apollo got the frame off his leg. I don't know what happened, I could only imagine in my head, but the images I had weren't good ones. Demi came home from work that first night after Apollo got situated & she was distant. She looked guilty if I was being honest. I didn't ask her if she was, I simply asked her if anything was wrong, the question getting a, 'No' from her. She barely made eye contact with me that whole evening & went to bed early, claiming she was tired.

This was how the next few weeks went, which wasn't giving me a good feeling. I would come home from training & ask her about Apollo & she kept it simple, then she would change the subject. She never wanted to talk about him & when she did, she wouldn't look me in the eye. It got to the point that I wouldn't even ask.

I was getting ready to start filming my TV show in mid June, so I was focused on that & trying not to think about my fear that my marriage was crumbling. I didn't even talk to Joe about it, because I knew he'd tell Chloe & it would get back to Demi. I didn't want to sound like a jealous husband & I didn't want to seem like I didn't trust her. A part of me  trusted her, but I still had a feeling that something was going on with her & Apollo. Maybe not a physical affair, but I felt like they could be heading in that direction. I tried not to push her toward him, though. I continued to be my usual loving, romantic self & even turned it up a few notches. I'd bring flowers home for no reason & send her "I love you, Beautiful" texts every chance I got. I put on an act when I was around her. I pretended everything was fine, but inside I was screaming. I was freaking out on the inside, thinking I might be losing her & I felt like there was nothing I could do to prevent it. I loved her the same way I always did, maybe even more so. I continued to be the most amazing step dad to Damon & acted like the perfect husband to Demi. Some days, it seemed to work, making it seem like she was my wife, other days, she seemed to be distant again.

When Apollo wasn't brought up, Demi was close to being her normal self. She still seemed distant. I would try to get intimate on evenings that I hadn't worked or had a burst of energy & most of the time she would turn me down, claiming she had a headache or was tired or some other excuse. I couldn't even remember the last time she initiated sex with me, another thing that bothered me. Demi used to lay on the bed, naked waiting for me to walk in the door after a day in the studio & now I was lucky if she even kissed me first. She was distracted, distant & I thought it was because of Apollo, since she wasn't telling me anything different. She gave me no other indication that something else was bothering her.

Mark called me up the Saturday evening before Father's day, the weekend before filming for 'Kingdom' was starting. Damon was with Joe for the weekend, since it was Father's day & I was at home wallowing in self pity. Demi was with me & we had just ordered a pizza & were going to watch a movie, when I got the call from Mark. Demi came in the room with our essentials for eating in front of the TV, just as I was saying goodbye to Mark.

"Who was that?" She asked, sitting the paper plates & napkins down, then she handed me a beer & sat next to me on the couch.

"Mark. He was calling to ask me to headline the All Star game concert in July. It's kind of a big deal. It's a huge event." I watched her face as I spoke & she showed a little excitement.

"Awesome, babe." She smiled at me then looked down at her phone. I wanted to throw her phone against the wall because she was always on it. She was either texting Apollo or her sister or Chloe or one of the nurses that worked for the agency. When she wasn't texting, she was on social media sites or stupid websites that seemed to be more interesting than me.

I sighed, not hiding my annoyance. "I guess I could have just let you read about it online." I mumbled, looking at the TV. I opened my beer & took a swig.