Crash and Burn

21. The First Kiss

TW I think. I want to be careful with these but this chapter touches on Demi's reason for relapse.

I crossed my arms and set my face stone. "What are you doing here?" She wrung her hands in front of herself and bit her lip nervously. "I came to talk to you." I nodded and squinted at her. "You couldn't knock? I'm sure this counts as breaking and entering." Her eyes widened and she shot her hands out. "No! That's not... I just..." Mel sigh exasperatedly and stood up, glaring at me. "I'm going up to my room. You stay and hear her out. I'm sure she heard some of the things that we were talking about just before she came in so we all know you're just putting your defences up. If you're going to stop talking to her after today, at least get some closure." Mel gave Demi a hug and she shot a grateful smile at Mel as they pulled away.

I stood firm with a tight posture while Demi fidgeted in her spot nervously until we heard Mel's bedroom door click. "What do you want to say?" I sat back down on the couch to try to relief the nervousness that she felt. I was trying to look strong but I didn't want her to feel more upset than she already is. I wasn't that big of a bitch. She opened and closed her mouth but nothing came out.  I could tell that she needed a moment to gather her thoughts. "Why don't you go get yourself a drink and take a seat?" She nodded and rushed to the kitchen.

She came back from the kitchen with two mugs, setting her favourite one in front of her and the other one in front of me. "I um... I saw the open cupboard." I froze up beside her but relaxed right away, not wanting to give anything away. "Have you been drinking?" I bit the inside of my cheek facing away from her. "I'm sure that's not what you came here to talk about." My tone was sharp and harsh, showing that I wasn't taking anything else other than whatever she came to talk about. She pursed her lips and nodded, taking the hint to change the subject before I threw her out of the house. "I lied to you, Alex." My head snapped over to her and a frown took place on my face. "I've been having problems with eating recently and it's getting really bad. I feel miserable all the time and I'm not happy with anything at all. Lately I've been having some really bad thoughts..." She trailed off and tilted her head backwards, taking a deep breath to stem the tears already welling up in her eyes. "I feel even more miserable than when I was drinking and stuff so I keep thinking why I'm still sober. Will was an easy way to get things if I decide to go back to-" Tears flowed down freely with nothing to stop them. Her resolve completely shattered. I took her into my arms without hesitation. I couldn't stand seeing her so upset. "Why didn't you just come to me?" I sighed and rubbed her back comfortingly. "It's going to be okay, I promise you. I'm not going anywhere." Demi relaxed into my arms as soon as I said that and I kissed her forehead, holding onto her tighter.

I sat there holding her as sobs wracked her body until her cries died down. "When do you go on the road again?" Demi took a deep breath and cleared her throat. "In a few weeks but there are some production issues and I think we're going to have to move some dates and cancel a lot of others. We're trying to work around it but it doesn't look good and I feel like I'm failing my fans." Her voice was rough and raw because of all the crying. I pulled back and took her face in my hands. "Some things can't be helped, love. Maybe this is a good thing for you. You need a break from everything." She just sighed and wrapped her arms around my waist, snuggling back into me. Then, she jerked her head up and knocked my chin. "Oh shit! I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" I nodded and held my chin, feeling around my mouth for any blood. "What did you call me?" I froze, something that I've been doing a lot of lately, and decided that the best route to go with this was to pretend; also something that I've been doing a lot of lately. "What are you talking about?" A wide smile broke out on her face. "You called me love." I couldn't help the smile that broke out on my face at the excited glint in her eyes. "Yes, love. I did."

We decided to get everything out after that. Complete honesty. She told me about how she sent Will home after I left and everything that's been leading up to how she was feeling. I told her about how I've been drinking and why everything affected me so much. Well, not fully. "Something happened to me five years ago and it really broke me. I lost someone I really loved and I haven't been able to let myself fall ever since. I'll tell you what happened one day but I'm not ready to get into that just yet." Demi nodded then looked at me quizzically. "What about Jessica? Didn't you guys date for a year?" I shrugged with a sad smile on my face. "It wasn't working half the time. I couldn't love her the way she wanted me to as hard as I tried. I was in denial and I strung her along almost the entire time." Demi took my hands in hers and gave me the sincerest look. "If you decide to give me your heart, I'll take care of it. That's a promise." My heart melted and I could feel myself falling even more in love with her so I did the only thing that seemed right at the moment.

I leaned in and kissed her.

Fireworks exploded and sparks flew. The butterflies in my stomach were going crazy. Kissing her is everything I imagined it to be and so much more. She tangled her hands in my hair and I cupped mine around her waist, slowly lowering her down onto the couch as the kiss deepened. Our tongues explored the unfamiliar territory of each other's mouth and our hands were intertwined beside her head. Air eventually, and unfortunately, became a necessity and we pulled away panting for breath. "I always knew you were a bottom." I smirked at her and she burst out laughing. "Shut up and kiss me." She slung her arms over my shoulder and pulled me down, joining our lips again.

We stayed on the couch making out. As long as she didn't try and stop it, I wasn't going to. I couldn't get enough of her and I'm pretty confident that she felt like that too. "Oh God! Keep it PG, please. You have a 15 year-old in the house." Mel's voice rang from the doorway and I pulled away with a big smile on my face. "Can we continue this later?" Demi's smiled mirrored mine as she nodded. "So I see you guys made up." Mel smirked at me and gave me a look that said 'I told you so'. "Yeah, we did." Demi and I got up and Mel grimaced. "You both look like a huge mess but I'm so happy for you two!" She squealed and ran over to us, tackling us in a hug.

I'm happy for us, too.

AN: WELP. They finally kissed. Sorry for any mistakes and that the chapter is a little shorter. The constant updates are running me dry of ideas but I'm quarantining so I have a ton of time to write now. As always, vote, comment and share.