In Real Life (Nemi)

Here We Go Again

It was almost music to my ears to hear Nick laugh. We had gone downstairs, to his kitchen, to get a drink & we were talking about about something that had happened on the Neon Lights tour & we both busted out laughing. He was smiling. He was snapping out of the depression. I had hugged him in his room & told him that even though I wasn't in love with him, I would always love him & be his friend. I was speaking the truth, but leaving out the part where I was actually still in love with him. He didn't need to know that right now. It would just devastate our friendship again. I didn't want to lose that again. I thought it would be easier to be away from him, but it wasn't. It didn't make me love him any less. It just made me miss him more. I missed the parts of him that I loved before my dumb heart fell in love with him.

Denise came into the kitchen, almost running. Her face was lit up as she looked from me to Nick. Nick looked at her with a smile on his face & one eyebrow raised. "Where's the fire, mom?" He asked.

"I heard you laugh." Denise breathed as she put her arms around Nick's shoulder. "What an amazing sound." She let go of Nick & turned to me, a huge, grateful smile on her face. She pulled me into a tight embrace. "Thank you." She choked. I saw a hint of a tear in her eye as she pulled away from me. I saw Nick roll his eyes over her shoulder & I laughed.

"Mom, stop being dramatic." Nick said rummaging through a cupboard.

"You gonna tell me what happened with Olivia?" She asked. Nick shot me a look over his mom's shoulder & I smiled with my lips pulled in. He had asked me to help him come up with a story to tell people, before we had come downstairs.

Nick took a deep breath. "She lied about something pretty big, something I can't get past. I guess you could say I saw her true colors & I didn't want to be with that for the rest of my life." Nick shrugged his shoulders. "I'll be fine, mom. I felt like I had lost everything, but at least now, I got my best friend back." Nick winked at me & I felt my heart do a flip.

I felt my phone vibrate, then heard it ring, so I pulled it from my pocket to answer it. Nick was talking to his mom, so I held up a finger as I answered my phone. "Hello?"

"Demi? It's Benjamin. From Africa. How are you?"

"Oh, Ben. Hey." I was smiling, hearing his voice. "I remember you. I'm great. How are you doing?"

"I'm good. I was just thinking about you. Heard your song on the radio a little bit ago." Ben chuckled, making me smile even bigger.

"Aww. Glad you are thinking about me." I smiled into the phone.

"I've been thinking a lot about you, actually." Ben said, giving me butterflies.

I giggled, biting my lip. It felt good to have a guy think about me. I glanced up to see Nick was watching me with a curious expression on his face. His mom was gone & now he leaned on the island in the middle of the kitchen. He looked intrigued as he took a sip from his water bottle.

"Ben, I'm actually hanging out with my friend, so can I call you later?" I said into my phone, watching Nick with a giddy smile on my face. Suddenly, I thought maybe he looked jealous & I got excited.

"No problem. I'll just keep thinking about you until I hear from you." Ben said.

I felt my face get warm as I grinned, looking down as if Ben was standing in front of me. "You promise?"

"Yes. Talk to you later, Demi." Ben said, then the line disconnected. I was staring at my phone, remembering Ben's handsome face in my head. He was a nice distraction from Nick. Nick. I looked up at his face now.

"Who's Ben?" He asked, standing straight.

"A guy who went to Africa the same time I did."

"A friend or... um... like a romantic thing?" Nick looked down at his water bottle, then back up at me.

I shrugged. "Who knows? We're both so busy, so I guess we'll just have to wait & see." I gave Nick a big, toothy grin. "What do you want to do today?" I took a drink of my water.

"You don't have to stay. I'm good now. Thanks for cheering me up & being my friend again."

"I have nothing to do today. We can do whatever you want."

Nick pressed his lips together, thinking hard. "I should get out of the house. I feel like I haven't seen the sun in a month."

"Let's go play putt putt golf!" I nearly shouted with excitement.

Nick laughed. "Okay. Let's go." Nick left the kitchen & I followed him. We took my car to the putt putt place. We had a lot of fun & I was glad we were hanging out again. Nick & I laughed a lot & I was glad he was enjoying himself & not thinking about the whole Olivia fiasco. We met & took photos with some fans, so of course the rumors, of us dating, started again.

Nick & I stopped at a restaurant, after we left the golf place, so we could grab dinner. We met more fans, which only added to the rumors that we were on a date. In the car on the way back to Nick's house, Nick was playing with the radio, stopping to sing along to a song every once in a while. We were laughing about something that had happened earlier, when the song, "Sleeping with a friend," came on the radio. Nick & I exchanged a look, then Nick smirked as he changed the station. I suddenly remembered how attracted to him I was. I laughed, nervously.

"I had a lot of fun today." Nick said, after a few minutes of silence. I smiled at him. "I missed hanging out with you."

"Me, too."

"When do you go back to L.A.?" He asked.

"In a few days. You?"

Nick sighed, looking out the window. "Not sure, actually. I'm not in any hurry to get back to the house of memories that are waiting for me." His voice was sad.

I was, seriously, a glutton for punishment. "You could always stay in one of my spare rooms until her stuff is out of the house. I won't be there much, anyway." I smiled, slightly, at him.

"Thanks. Joe offered his place, too." Nick leaned his head back on the headrest. He seemed to still be deep in thought as I pulled into his driveway. He turned his head toward me. "Can we hang out tomorrow?"

"Sure." I smiled & shrugged at the same time. "Want to come to my house? We can go to that new trampoline place that opened up. I had so much fun when we did that on the tour."

"Sounds like a plan." Nick said as he opened the car door. "I'll see you tomorrow. Good night, Dems. Thanks again."

"Good night." I shouted before he slammed the door. I watched him walk into his house, lusting after his gorgeous form. I leaned my head back for a moment to catch my breath. I was in so much trouble. I was putting myself in hell again.