Black Into Gold // Demi Lovato // 3

22. Worry

After Rosie left for school during the next couple weeks, Demi always ended up leaving. Sometimes she'd be back after just a few hours, but other days she was gone for a lot longer. And she would never say what she was doing.

On one Friday, before Rosie got home, I finally decided I'd had enough with her secrecy. Part of me was terrified that she had started using again. She'd hid the signs so well during the tour, so it seemed likely.

"Maia, what a surprise!" Dianna's voice came through my phone, crackly and a little distorted. I told Demi earlier in the week that if the only thing I got for my birthday was a new phone, I'd be happy. As far as I knew, she wasn't planning anything too big. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. I was just wondering about Demi."

"Oh?" With just that one word, I felt the concern. "Is she okay?"

"I'm not really sure. Every day she leaves and she won't tell me what she was doing when she comes back. I just, um, I don't know. I'm worried. Worried that there might be something going on. I didn't think you would know if she was actually using again, it's just, I didn't know who else to call." I tripped over a lot of my words, rambling on, but Dianna didn't seem to mind. She could probably understand why I was feeling this way.

"Oh, okay, well, does she say anything about what she does?"

"She just says she has plans and just recently she said she's working on something. Any idea what that could mean?"

Dianna was silent for a moment. "She told me, but it's a surprise."

My eyes widened. "She told you? What is it?"

"I'll let her tell you, but I promise it's nothing bad. But if you're still worried that she's using, confront her about it. Just be careful about how you do that."

I nodded to myself. That was something I was going to do when I had a chance. Sometime when Rosie wasn't around to hear. "Okay, well, thank you so much. I'm sorry if I bothered you, but I just-"

"Sweetheart, don't apologize. It was wonderful hearing from you. And don't worry, alright? Everything will be fine." I could hear her smiling.

"Okay, I'll try." I let out a short chuckle. "Thanks again. Bye."

"Bye, honey."

I hung up, going downstairs to wait for Rosie to come home. School had just ended, so it shouldn't be long.

~//~//~//~//~//~//~

Later that night after Rosie was in bed and Demi and I were about to get in bed, I noticed her gaze on me.

She looked exhausted, her under eyes a little darker than normal.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

She smiled weakly. "Yeah, just tired. But I do need to talk to you."

I pulled back the covers on my side of the bed and crawled in, Demi getting comfortable on her side so she could look at me. I had turned the light off next to me, because my head had started hurting and the brightness of two lamps was too much.

"What's-Is everything okay?" I asked, head resting on my arm.

"Of course, I just have to tell you I've been talking to someone."

My heart skipped about four beats, but she didn't elaborate until I said, "Who?" It came out a little forceful and accusing, but I couldn't help it.

"An interior designer. I, well nobody knows if Rosie is staying with us, but if she is, I'm setting up a game room."

I believed it, I really did, but I also knew Demi enough to know that there was more to the story. She wasn't out all day, literally every week day working on a game room. "Demi, be honest. Is there anything else I should know about?"

She hesitated, trying to get her words to come out. "Yeah, there is."

I waited for her to continue, but it was the same deal. "And?" I prodded to get her to talk.

"It's not bad. I'm just not ready yet."