Demi Lovato Imagines

Reaper

It was a normal Sunday. Up at eight-thirty. Church at ten. In charge of teas and coffees afterwards. Mrs Donnely complimented your ironed blouse you wear every week again, her son quickly taking her elbow and giving you a sympathetic smile over his shoulder as he led her away out the front. She's getting worse, you hear some of the others quietly mumble, sinking their teeth into the soft tiffin your mom brought. But the conversation quickly moves on to other topics such as the new pastor's hymn choice of the day or the fact Miss Susan's daughter dropped out of college the week before. 

Pastor John stood by the church doors waving as you and your mom packed the empty Tupperware and spare napkins into the back seat of the car, slowly rolling along the gravel path and out onto the quiet road. 

"He's nice," she hummed. And her eyes flicked towards the rear-view mirror to check if he was still there. Pastor John has a tendency to spray a little too much cologne and, personally, you don't like his choice of haircut but you can't deny his hospitality. "Must be rough leading a service full of people you don't know."

"Mhm," you replied, staring out the window. You were trying to remember to send a message to Zoe, your childhood friend who finished her last med exam on Thursday so had travelled home Saturday morning. She always had loads of stories to catch you up on. And you always made an effort to keep the grimace off your face when she would gush about how great it was living away from home and being in a college dorm with a bunch of other students. It's not that you didn't want that too. It's that you couldn't face leaving your mom. Since your dad died in your final year of school, her every action reassured you that you made the right decision in withdrawing your applications from all colleges not within the immediate vicinity. Which left you with one. Which was a rejection.  

"You alright?"

You turned back to face her, blinking rapidly. "Yeah? Why?"

She shook her head, a delicate smile tugging at her lips. "You just seem a bit down. Nothing's worrying you, is it?"

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if your mom got closer to Pastor John. He seems to make her happy, after all, based on the short period of time they've been in each other's company. And if she was going to move on from your dad with another man, would it not be better being a straight-laced leader of Christian congregation rather than some scumbag she meets at a bar? And maybe three years isn't too soon? There's not really a rule book, is there?

"No. Nothing's wrong. I guess I'm just a bit tired." It was a warm day and the morning sun cut a blinding light right through your retinas. 

"Okay, darling," she said. "You know you can speak to me about anything, right?"

"I know, mom. I will."

As she pulled into the front drive, you felt your phone buzz in your back pocket. Assuming it was Zoe, you grinned internally as you got out the car, opening the back door and reaching for the pile of clear plastic boxes. It buzzed again. Straightening up again, your mom busy finding the keys for the front door in the bottom of her bag, you decided to check in case Zoe was needing something urgently. She's more of a 'one-text-super-long-paragraph' kind of person rather than a 'twenty-separate-messages-each-consisting-of-a-single-word-or-even-single-punctuation-mark' person. You've often wondered if she knows which one you are since leaving for college, or if all thoughts of you have been stowed away under her dorm bed, only dragged out again during the holidays when she doesn't have her new friends around any more. But even if that was the case, you know you'd still lap it up, desperate not to sever the fragile threads of the friendship. But when you checked, neither of the notifications were headed with Zoe's name.

11:32
@ddlovato wants to send you a direct message

11:33
Demi Lovato:
Hi Y/n, Im not sure how much you know about your biological family or what youve been told but my mom has been wanting to reach out to you for years now so was wondering if you would be willing to meet with her? Obviously its completely your choice and we would all understand if you didnt want to but our whole family would really like to meet you and make you part of our family again. Please take your time making a decision but we would love to hear from you!
Lots of love, Demi x