"I've Never Cried" is one of the best Jemi stories I have ever written. There are so many twists and turns, love and hate, friendship and betrayal, all while still being a great read. This story has proper grammar and writing format, simply to make...
Demi and I sat on the sofa in her living room; her head tucked into my chest as our eyes were glued to the screen in front of us.
"Why would you go toward the creepy noises," Demi muttered. "She's totally gonna die." She popped a piece of popcorn in her mouth then, and I couldn't help but chuckle at her commentary.
"Oh please, you'd do the same thing," I challenged.
"Absolutely not," she retorted quickly. "If I hear a noise in my house I'm leaving everything behind."
"Why not face it head on?" I asked. Demi scoffed.
"You know what? When we get married, you can stay and let the demon eat you alive. And I'll be somewhere in Cabo, sipping a martini and saying 'I told you so.'"
"You still have to wait a year for that martini," I mumbled quickly from the corner of my mouth. She smacked me in the chest and giggled.
As funny as that moment was, the first half of Demi's sentence took me by surprise.
"You still wanna get married?" I asked, turning to look as her. She sat up then and locked worried eyes with me.
"Of course I do. Why wouldn't we?"
"Well, you know, with all of this stuff going on with Selena, and . . . the timing just doesn't seem right." I grabbed the remote and paused the television before looking back at her. "Don't you feel a little guilty?"
"What do you mean?" Her confused expression deepened. I sighed.
"You and I are so happy right now, you know? But . . . I don't know, I feel like we should be there at the hospital with Selena."
"Joe, you sound just like Nick-"
"That's the thing," I interrupted. "The more I think about it, I'm not so sure there's anything wrong with the way Nick's handling this."
"Then why the hell did you two fight?!" She exclaimed, her voice growing tense. I could see that she was becoming agitated, and I wasn't sure why.
"Why are you being like this, Demi?"
"Like what?" She stood then, shoving me away from her.
There's a moment in every relationship that you begin to learn the patterns of your companion. Somewhere in something I said, I hit a nerve. And in a second, Demi and I were arguing.
I stood too, feeling my temper climb.
"You're handling this too well, Dem. We both are! We're pretending like everything's fine when Selena could be dying right now!"
"Because there's NO REASON to be sad about something that hasn't even happened yet!" She screamed back.
"Its happen-ing, Demi. Right now."
"I don't wanna talk about this," she said, storming away from me. She headed for the stairs, but I wasn't done. I grabbed her by the arm, stopping her altogether.
"Wait," I said, trying to balance out my emotions. "We don't do this. We don't ever do this." She was silent then, her back still turned as I held her in place. I could feel the tension radiating between the two of us, and I didn't like it. But just as I had learned Demi's patterns, she had learned mine. And I was not going to let her leave angry.
"You're the one that told me not to blame myself," she whispered, her voice shaking. When I heard it, I grew concerned that I'd made her cry, so I walked around to the front of her, only to see that she had no tears; just frustration. She continued, "But she needed me, and I was too pig-headed to stop and listen."
"You weren't pig-headed," I said, running my hands down her arms. "You were heartbroken."
"But I turned on her-,"
"Because she turned on you, Dem." I realized then, that when Demi was blaming herself in the hospital that day, she was carrying more guilt than the rest of us could have imagined. Nick had only been with Selena for a year, and I had only gotten to know her when I met Demi. But before any of that happened, Selena and Demi were best friends for years. And to top it all off, Demi was all the family that Selena had.
For so long, Selena had consistently professed her love for me.
But she didn't try to take her own life until she lost Demi.
"I can't handle this guilt head-on, okay?" Demi said, finally looking up into my eyes. "I have to force it back and wait it out if I want to keep my sanity. That's the only way I can be happy right now, Joe. Because if . . . , if she dies . . . ," Her voice became incredibly small then, and immediately I pulled her in.
"I'm so sorry," I said as I held her, my cheek resting against the top of her head. "I get it."
"I know I'm being hard on Nick," she said, pulling away. "But it's only because he's doing everything I'm trying so hard not to. And being around him when he's like that is just pulling me closer and closer to breaking down."
"I'm here," I said, staring into those big brown eyes. I held both her hands as she stood before me, stroking my thumbs across her wrists. "We'll get through this, babe. Together. I'm not going anywhere, and we're not breaking down."
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She smiled; it was small, but it was there.
Demi was so independent and strong all on her own. But everyone needs someone to remind them that it's okay to be vulnerable; especially at times like this. Luckily for her, I was never leaving.
"I love you, Joe," she said, rising to her toes and kissing me softly.
JJDL
*****It's a short chapter, but an important one. Demi's been so cold the last few chapters, I thought you all deserved some insight into her brain. She's a lucky girl to have Joe there to help her acknowledge those feelings for exactly what they are, don't you think?(BTW, check out The Mechanic." I've been rewriting it, and it's been amazing so far.)*****
