Never Been Fixed (Demi Lovato)

DEMI’S POV

As I leaned over the water fountain at Quilchena park, something caught my eye. I turned off the fountain and curiously stepped closer to the small blob. It was a small girl, sleeping on a park bench wrapped in a thin baby blanket. She had only tattered running shorts and a thin tee shirt on, despite it being late October and nearing the cold winter season, which, especially here in Vancouver, Canada, was pretty damn cold. I had stopped in the middle of my jog, disguised in a baseball cap, my old Simple Plan hoodie from back when I was nothing but an adoring fan myself, sweats, and dark sunglasses, to peer down at her. Her face was a sickly pale blue, and her lips were a dangerous shade of purple. Even with the threadbare blanket wrapped around her, I could tell she was heavily malnourished and underfed. At that moment, even though I knew that as an international pop star sensation, bringing a strange preteen (I guessed) girl that I had never met into my house probably wasn't one of my best ideas so far, it could be the difference between a saved life and a life lost forever.

I sat down on the bench beside her head and tapped her shoulder. She screamed. Not a small, delicate "Ooh, you scared me" yelp. No, I mean a full on "Who the fuck are you, you better get away from me" scream.

"No!" she yelled. "Stop! Please stop! I'll do it! Sh-shut up, no stop! Too...too loud!" With that, she curled into a fetal position with her eyes still tightly shut and her arms clamped around her legs, and I realized she was still asleep and merely sleeptalking.

Looking around to make sure no one had seen the strange outburst, I stroked her hair lightly until she woke up for real, luckily more calmly this time. The girl opened her eyes slowly, and, upon seeing my face looming over hers, wrenched herself up on the bench into a half crouch, tensed up and ready to run. Honestly though, she looked so weak and fragile that I doubt she could have gotten too far anyways.

"Who are you?" she asked suspiciously.

"Hey, it's okay!" I said, raising my arms up defensively. "I'm not here to hurt you. I saw you lying on the bench so...so helplessly, and I thought I could bring you inside to warm up a tad."

"What makes you think I'd wanna go into some random stranger's house. I don't even know you," the girl said, narrowing her eyes. Again, she asked, "Who are you?"

I wished the girl would just come with me. It was getting colder by the minute as the afternoon sun, which was already pretty weak even at its peak, set lower and lower, and I could see the girl visibly shivering in her thin clothes.

"Please, can't I take you inside first, and then explain? Look, you're shivering and blue all over!" I looked pleadingly at her as she shook her head guardedly, clearly meaning "Not a chance".

I sighed. "Fine. I'm Demi, I'm 22, and I’m here in Vancouver to get away from the busy American life, and I was going out on a jog and saw you shivering more than a hairless cat, so I decided to wake you up."

"Wait," she said, finally seeming to fully take in my appearance; my shocking blue hair, round butt-chin, and clothes that obviously shouted out 'I don't want you to know who I am'.

"Do you mean to say that you're THE Demi?" she asked, emphasizing 'the'. "As in the Demi Lovato type of Demi?"

I smirked. "The one and only! Can I take you home now?"

"What're you gonna do with me? Send me back? You can't! I'll...I'll run away again!" Wide eyed, she started to panic, looking around for an escape.

"Shh, it's okay," I breathed, instinctively rubbing her back like I used to do for Maddy when she got nightmares. Smartly deciding to ignore the "You can't take me back" comment for now, even though I was very curious about it, I said,

"No, I was just going to take you home, get you warmed up, and then I'll let you go! Set you free! I'm not gonna make you stay with me, don't worry."

At that, the girl's face fell, and she looked down, trying to hide...was that...disappointment? written across her face. "Oh. I-I-um-I guess that's okay then," she said reluctantly.

"I guess it's all set then!" I smiled at her as I pondered how to get her back to my rented suite, which was luckily just down the street as I had barely started my run before I stopped at the park.

"Do you want me to, um, carry you there?" I asked hesitantly. She seemed a bit skittish and I wasn't sure how she'd take to me holding her, but on the other hand, she seemed so fragile and I didn't want her to, I don't know, like, break while we were walking.

"No, I can manage," the girl said very quickly. She go up off the bench, took a few wobbly steps, and promptly staggered back to the bench.

"Sorry," she apologized, "it's just that it's so cold and I haven't eaten since..." her voice dropped off and she looked away, ashamed.

"No, don't be sorry!" I said. "I'll carry you."

"No, really, it's okay, I'm too-" she protested as I gently swooshed her into my arms bridal style.

"My god, she's light," I thought, as I started walking towards my new home.