After the drama with Jhene and Demi, Sean had taken Naya back to his house so they could just hang out there. She had been acting way too weird lately and he wanted to figure out what was wrong with her. Usually when they had problems with each other, Naya would always confront him about it but it seemed like lately she had just been avoiding him.
"Naya?" She was wearing short jean shorts so he grabbed her by her belt loops and pulled her into him, circling his arms around her waist while she still tried to avoid his gaze.
"Promise you won't hate me," Naya sniffled, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear as she finally looked down at him.
"Hate you? Baby I could never hate you. What's wrong?" Sean asked, more concerned than he had been before because Naya was actually crying, and that wasn't something that she did very often.
"Here," she took his hand and placed it over her stomach. She was wearing a flowy crop top because even if she knew that she wasn't that far along, she was still terrified of someone noticing her belly and finding out her secret. It would ruin her.
"Your stomach is hard, as always. You've been working out more?" Naya giggled and shook her head. She gently moved his hand around her stomach and took a deep breath.
"I'm pregnant...and if you don't want it because it's gonna ruin your career, I understand. I mean, my cheer life is basically over, unless I go through with an abortion but Demi would kill me," she was rambling on but Sean was stuck on the fact that she was pregnant. They didn't have the most stable relationship, but he was in love with her. He pictured a future with her and no one else mattered because it was gonna be the two of them against the world.
"I don't want you to get an abortion," he removed his hand from her stomach and pulled her down onto his lap.
"It's not gonna ruin anything. I want this baby, Naya. I love you, you know that right?" Naya nodded and let her head fall against his chest. Everything felt better now. Sean was gonna be on her side and maybe she didn't know what she was gonna do for college now or how they were gonna support the baby, but none of that mattered in that moment, because Sean was by her side.
"Get out, Trey," it was noon on Sunday and Demi and Trey were still in bed. April didn't make them go to church because she dragged Dallas and Forrest with her instead.
"This is my room," Trey whined, but still moved from underneath Demi and shuffled to the door. Dallas hopped on the bed and smiled down at her little sister. She missed her at the house but was glad that she was escaping from the abuse that she found there.
"You excited to get your cast off?" Demi set her phone down and lazily smiled at her older sister.
"Yes...but that's not what you came here to talk to me about," Demi could see it in her eyes. Something was bothering her and troubling her soul and Demi wanted to know what it was.
"Okay. Stay quiet because this is a lot," Dallas began to talk about how Forrest got drafted by the Brooklyn Nets which just happened to be one of his favorite basketball teams, mostly because his dad had never even thought about owning them. Dallas was happy for him because they were both almost finished with their first four years of college and Forrest wanted her to move to New York with him. But that wasn't even the big news. Dallas and Forrest had gotten engaged the night of prom and Dallas had told Forrest that she was pregnant and that's why he wanted her to move out there with him so bad, even though if she wasn't pregnant, Dallas would've moved down there with him anyways.
"I'm so happy for you, Dal," Demi gulped down the lump in her throat but it wouldn't go away.
"Demi, stop lying."
"No, I am," Demi choked out, reaching up to wipe her tears away. "I just...New York is so far away. It's a completely different time zone."
"You can come visit, Dems. I'll pay for you to come visit me and Forrest and our little baby," Dallas smiled down at her stomach and Demi did as well. Dallas would be a great mom. She had practically raised her after all.
"It's still so faraway. I'm gonna be here with mom and Patrick and you're gonna be out in New York," Demi cried some more so Dallas engulfed her in her arms.
"You're not gonna be here with mom and Patrick. Your grades are outstanding, you practically aced the ACT, and once this cast is off of your foot you'll be a better cheerleader than you were before," Dallas kissed the top of her head before she continued.
"Go to college out of state, Demi. Go far away from here where mom and Patrick can't control you. You don't have to worry about us getting put out on the streets. And you know, maybe you could go to college with Trey. If you let him, he could make you really happy Demi. You just have to let him because that boy loves you more than life itself."
"How do you know that?" Demi cried. She knew that Trey loved her but everyone seemed to think that he loved her way more than she actually believed that he did.
"Because he takes care of you the same way that Forrest takes care of me, Demi. And that's love. That's nothing but love, and it's a type of love that you can't let go of."
Later that day, Trey was taking Demi over to her house to get some more clothes to wear and to bring some of her old clothes back. Her cast would be coming off pretty soon but while she was doing physical therapy, she was gonna try to stay at Trey's house too.
Graduation was around the corner and what Dallas had said really got her thinking. Why would she stay in California if she could get a scholarship for something other than cheering, like a scholarship for her grades or something? She wanted to be a professional cheerleader but she still wanted to have some sort of degree for when she just couldn't cheer anymore.
"Demetria?" Dianna walked into her room and rolled her eyes as she saw Trey helping Demi pack things into her suitcase.
"Oh hello there, Trey. Do you mind if I speak to my daughter alone?" Dianna asked but Trey didn't give the answer that she was expecting.
"Actually, yes. I do mind. Anything you need to say to her you can say in front of me. I'm barely listening," he walked back into her closet and Demi tried to keep the smile off of her face as Dianna opened her mouth to speak.
"I want you back home. Your foot is practically healed and there's no reason for you to stay over there," Dianna demanded. Demi grabbed a few of the letters that some colleges had sent to her and stuffed them into her bag.
"You want me back here so that your husband can continue to abuse me and you can live a comfortable lifestyle?" Demi was quiet but Dianna heard her.
"Excuse me?"
"He threatened to cut you off if I didn't come back home, didn't he? You want me here suffering so you can continue to live lavish and act as if nothing is happening every night in this room," Demi's voice broke halfway through her sentence but she swallowed down any insecurities that she had about the topic and made her mother face the facts. Dianna knew. She already knew but she allowed it to happen just so that she could be comfortable for the rest of her life.
"I've been suffering my entire life for you and that's not fair, mom. It's not fair. You let him get away with so much," Demi whimpered as Dianna defiantly shook her head.
"You let him molest me, mom. You let him throw you down the stairs when you tried to defend me that one time back in Texas. You let him kill my little sister, your own daughter. And you're still enabling him and I'll have no part in that," Demi clutched her stomach before lowering herself onto her bed and sobbing at all of the horrible memories that she had of Patrick. None of them were good. He was never a good father to her.
"We'll be leaving now, Dianna. Demi's gonna stay with me until graduation, and even after that if she needs to," Trey zipped Demi's suitcase up for her and then held his hand out for her, helping her out of the room and down the stairs and out of that terrible house.
