Somebody to You

Ch. 53

Nick

After ring shopping with my brother, I decided to take a break from it since I couldn't decide on a ring to give to Demi. I had no plans to propose yet, anyway. We hadn't even been together a year yet & whenever I would look at rings, I felt incredibly nervous. My palms would sweat & my mouth would go dry. Maybe Joe was right. Maybe I really wasn't ready for this step. I mean this step was huge & if you told me a year ago I was going to be ring shopping for a woman, I would never have believed it.

Over the next few weeks, I had no time for ring shopping anyway. Between interviews & press, I also had tour rehearsals. Demi was coming to rehearse whenever she could, but with her job & taking care of Damon, she wasn't left with a lot of free time. She was putting in a two week notice at her job, so the week before the tour started she would be free, full time. In the meantime, I rehearsed without her. Joe didn't have as much work to do, so he was spending as much time as possible with his family. The tour was starting June 8 & was ending August 9, exactly one week & a day after mine & Demi's one year anniversary.

Joe came to one of the rehearsals during the second week to take pictures. After we finished up, him & I went to the gym together, then we were going out with friends that night. I wasn't very talkative at the gym, which isn't unusual, but while we were hanging with our friends that night, Joe nudged me. "What the fuck is your problem? You've been really quiet lately. I know when someone is bothering you, big brother." Joe smirked before he sipped his beer.

"I just can't shake what you said to me while we were ring shopping." I mumbled, then put my beer to my lips to take a long guzzle.

"Wait. You went ring shopping." Our friend, Chad leaned on the table between me & Joe.

"Please shut up. I don't want this to get back to Demi." I sighed.

"I'm not gonna say anything." Chad laughed, hitting me, lightly, on the back.

James had just thrown a dart & turned to join our conversation. "Say anything about what?"

"Nothing." I said, sighing, loudly. My friends just laughed, then went back to their dart playing. Joe didn't bring it up anymore while we were with our friends, but in the car on the way to drop me off at home, he decided to ask again.

"So what did I say that you can't shake?" He asked, adjusting the volume on the radio.

"Nothing. I mean it was something. It was what you said about maybe I wasn't ready for this kind of commitment." I was staring out the window, watching the stars in the sky. "I can't even decide on a ring. How can I expect to actually propose?"

"Just give it some time. Something will happen that will make you finally realize that you want to be with Demi forever. Don't worry about it now. You haven't even been together a year yet. You shouldn't be proposing until you've been together at least a year anyway."

"You proposed to Chloe & you hadn't been together a year." I smirked, finally glancing at him.

"We were almost together a year. It was like a few weeks shy of a year. Anyway, it was different with her. I just had this feeling. But not everyone gets that feeling. You might get it at some point, but don't stress about it." Joe lightly punched my arm. "Something else bothering you?" Joe asked as he stopped for a red light.

"Sometimes I'm jealous of you." I said in a low voice, looking straight ahead.

"You're jealous of me? Of what?" Joe laughed, hard & I regretted admitting, the thought I had, to my brother at that moment.

I took a deep breath & let it out. "Well, sometimes I get jealous of the connection you have with Demi. You are forever connected through Damon. For the rest of your lives you have this thing that links your lives together. You have a kid together. I don't have that kind of bond with her. I can't compete with that, so I find myself feeling insecure about my relationship with her."