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

Just Friends

I headed to the bus after I finished talking to John. The conversation lasted longer than it should have, so when I got to the bus, Demi was already asleep. We were heading out soon to drive straight to Albuquerque. Demi was excited about the next show because she had a bunch of family coming to it. When we rolled into town, we were heading straight to her Aunt's house, even if it was in the middle of the night.

I got into bed, after taking off my jeans, & laid down next to Demi. My mind was racing, which it normally did whenever I toured. I was thinking of all sorts of things regarding the tour & I was thinking of my life & how it was unrecognizable from what it was a year ago. A year ago, I was in a happy, amazing relationship with, who I thought, was the love of my life. Now, that love of my life was almost a stranger to me & the woman I had only known as my best friend was my wife & was carrying my baby. If someone had told me that this would be my life in a year, I would have laughed in their face & told them they were crazy. Moments like this bothered me. I could feel my heart & head almost arguing within my body. My head was telling my heart that it should let itself love Demi, but my heart is scared, having been hurt, badly, by Olivia. I hated when I had these doubt's. I hated when I didn't feel like I was in love with Demi. It really pissed me off, to be honest. It was like one minute I felt so in love with her, my chest would feel like it was going to explode, then the next minute, I would hear this voice in my head telling me that she should just be my friend.

The bus stopping woke me up at about 6 a.m. I looked out the window to see we were parked in front of Demi's aunt's house. I saw a light flip on inside the house, so I knew someone was waiting up for Demi to get there. When I laid back down, Demi woke up & rubbed her eyes.

"Are we here?" Her voice was raspy & it kind of turned me on. I was sexually attracted to her, that was for sure, but I still could feel my heart's hesitation.

"Yea, we just rolled up." I answered, trying to sound like I was okay. I was feeling bad that I felt this way & I wished it would stop. It was going to drive me insane sooner or later, I just knew it.

Demi jumped out of bed & started getting dressed, while I just laid there. After she pulled her shirt on over her head, she looked at me. "Aren't you gonna get dressed?"

I shook my head. "I'm gonna stay on the bus while you visit your family."

Demi looked at me, clearly disappointed. "What? Why?" Her shoulders slumped as she pulled her shirt down over her belly.

"I'm tired & I need sleep & I haven't met this part of your family, so you can have a chance to tell them about the baby & me & I'll meet them later."

She sighed, clearly angry now. "I want you to meet them now. I already told them all about you. How is it gonna look if you don't come & meet them now?" Her fists were balled at her sides.

I got out of bed, slowly. "Okay, okay. I'll come in. Calm down." I slipped a pair of shorts on, then a shirt & followed Demi into the house in silence. It wasn't too bad, meeting her real father's side of the family. They were all pretty amazing. We talked for a bit, then Demi & I went to bed for a few hours.

I woke up to Demi's low mumbling voice. I opened my eyes & saw her standing by the window, holding her phone up to her ear. I heard her, but couldn't make out what she was saying. I sat up after I stretched & strained to see if I could hear her better. I couldn't, so I waited until she was finished. She turned her head to look over her shoulder & she jumped when she saw me watching her. She freaked so badly, she almost dropped her phone.

"I gotta go. I'll see you tonight." Demi mumbled into the phone, then hung up.

"Who were you talking to?" I asked, wondering why she was so freaked that I might have heard her.