In The End (Sequel to In Real Life - Nemi)

Neon Lights (Demi's POV)

Nick was busy being a creative director, so I didn't get to see him much, before my show started. Christina Grimmie was opening up for me & she was so sweet. I watched almost her entire set, in awe. She was a great performer & reminded me of myself sometimes. I had a feeling we'd be great friends after this tour, since we got along so well.

Right before I was to get on my platform that was going to lower me to the stage, Nick surprised me, wrapping his arms around my protruding middle. I giggled as he squeezed me against him, kissing my cheek. "Knock em dead, Beautiful." He murmured into my ear. I turned around & Nick melted my heart when he knelt down & kissed my belly. "Now, hold on baby girl, this might be a bumpy ride." He said, looking up at me with a sarcastic smile on his face. I shook my head as I laughed & rolled my eyes. "I hope she doesn't suffer from motion sickness." He smirked.

I smacked his chest. "She'll be fine. It'll be fun. And maybe she'll see the neon lights coming through my belly button." I laughed out loud.

Nick laughed, too, louder than me, actually, which was surprising. "She better get used to them because her name will be in neon lights one day."

"And hopefully not under a neon sign that says girls girls girls." I gave him a big cheesy grin.

Nick groaned, shaking his head. "No. Don't even joke about that." He kissed my lips again. "Have a great show, girls." He winked, patted my belly, then helped me onto the platform. I watched his face for any signs of trepidation, but he seemed calm. He watched my stomach as the guys strapped me onto the pole. I got the feeling that he cared more about something happening to our baby than to me. I shook my head to remove the thought when Nick looked up at me. He gave me an encouraging smile & then kept his eyes on the contraption as I was raised up.

My show was amazing & the crowd was incredible. It felt so good being back onstage once again & surrounded by all the neon lights. I was right at home. I actually forgot, while I was onstage, that I was pregnant. My stomach didn't get in the way as much as I thought it would. Of course, I had really cute & really comfortable maternity clothes. I forgot that I was pregnant, so that meant I was running & dancing on stage, much to Nick's dismay. It was a good thing I couldn't see him from the stage, because his worried face probably would have distracted me.

I saw that face, when I came off stage, however, almost smacking into him in the hall backstage. "Oh. Hey. How'd the show look?" I asked, out of breath & grinning. "I thought it was amazing but you had a different view." I poked him in the stomach.

"From my view, I saw you running around like you aren't even pregnant. I thought, in rehearsals, we had talked about how you would be doing more walking & less running." Nick's voice was low & aggravated. "We talked about how your balance is off from the pregnancy & that it was best if you didn't run around the stage as much."

I started walking toward my dressing room after I rolled my eyes. "You're driving me crazy. I'm about to fire your ass as creative director." I mumbled, looking over my shoulder at him as he followed me. I laughed when his eyes looked as if they would bulge out of his head. When I got in the dressing room, I jumped when Nick slammed the door.

"You think this is a joke?" He fumed.

"Do I think what's a joke?" I almost laughed, but when I saw Nick's face, I decided he wasn't in the mood for my laugh.

"I'm trying to make sure you don't turn your show into a tragedy, Demi. I really don't appreciate you being so blase' about this. This isn't a joke. It's not going to be funny when you fall down the stairs & freak your fans out because they all know you're pregnant."

I sighed, knowing he had a point. "You're right. I guess I just forgot."

"You forgot that you're pregnant?" Nick asked, sounding like he didn't believe me.

"Yea, I'm not that huge & my clothes are so comfy...." I smiled at him, trying to be cute so he would stop glaring at me. I stopped smiling & groaned. "I'm sorry. I will be careful from now on."

"Good." Nick looked relieved, but he didn't look happy. "I'm going to go find John. There are some things we had to talk about." Nick headed toward the door & I called out his name, making him turn around.

"What kind of things do you have to talk about?" I asked him.

"The lights. Why?" Nick's hand was on the doorknob & he looked annoyed.

"What's wrong with the lights?"

He sighed, pressing his lips together. "There are a few spots that are blinding for way too long. You couldn't even see you for like thirty seconds. And then when the light went away I was seeing spots for five minutes."

"Well that is what neon lights do." I smirked.

Nick took a deep breath & let it out. "They shouldn't blind you."

"Okay, go do what ya gotta do. I'll meet ya on the bus."

Nick nodded, then left. I was pretty euphoric at the moment, but even in this state, I had this feeling. It was bothering me a lot. It was a nagging sensation, a question I had been trying to find the answer to for several days now. If I really gave it some thought, I'd be bawling, so I tried to push the thought out of my head whenever it came. When I looked into Nick's eyes now, I didn't see the same thing as I had before we got married. His eyes seemed clouded with uncertainty. It bothered me, but when I asked him questions to get him to open up to me, the cloud would lift. So either something else was bothering him or he knew how to disguise his feelings in order to spare mine. Maybe I was just paranoid. Maybe I was reading into something, that wasn't there, because of my own insecurities. Or maybe he wasn't sure he made the right decision in marrying me. If that was the case, maybe I didn't want to know the truth.