Never Been Fixed (Demi Lovato)

Brought home

THE GIRL'S POV

As Demi (LOVATO! Can you believe it?) carried me down the street, I tried to protest, knowing that my fat self was probably weighing down on her. I felt so helpless, lying limp in her arms, but at the same time,it was wonderful. I hadn't felt a single other person's touch in weeks, unless you count the creepy fellow homeless guy at the subway station that tried to put his arm around me as I waited for the train. I longed for the touch of a woman who cared about me, and Demi seemed to be the closest I was going to get. I was so tempted to wrap my arms around her neck and fall asleep, but...that would have been creepy, so no.

"It's really okay, I can walk," I said, even though I really didn't want to.

Luckily, Demi was having none of that. "If you had seen yourself almost collapsing under your own weight just minutes ago, you wouldn't be saying the same thing," Demi scoffed. "We're almost there anyways."

Seconds later, just like she had said, we stopped in front of a large apartment building. It was one of those huge ones on the local university's campus, and I assumed it must have cost a small fortune to rent. Demi seemed like she was about to set me down, but then thought better of it and adjusted me so that she was supporting my body against her shoulder with only one hand under my butt while she scrounged her pockets and pulled out a key. She let us in and we got in the elevator, where she still didn't set me down. Only once Demi had gotten to the top floor, the penthouse suite, walked in and closed the door, and then walked to her bedroom, did she finally set me down. I was already wiped out from the cold and lack of food, and being in Demi's comforting arms for so long had lulled me even closer to the brink of sleep, so the moment my body touched the bed, I conked out, not even caring for a second that I was in a stranger's bed who I had barely known for ten minutes.

DEMI'S POV

'That was quick' I thought to myself as the little girl went out like a light the moment I put her down. I went and got a hot water bottle from the kitchen as well as some extra thick down blankets from the closet and piled them up on the girl, who, I suddenly realized, I still had neglected to ask her name. I went to make her a meal of Cob's Bread, Campbell's soup, and a cup of hot chocolate for when she woke up (I'm not the best cook) as I pondered the reasons that could have caused her to end up like this, and what I was going to do with her.

Maybe she had run away from abusive parents? Maybe she's always been an orphan and snuck out of the orphanage? Maybe she had just gotten into a feisty adolescent argument with her parents and ran off to cool down; I remembered having many of those when I was younger.....puberty and undiagnosed bipolar disorder are two things that don't mix well, unfortunately for me and my parents.

Soon, as I was about to pour the hot chocolate powder into the mug of hot water, I heard the bed springs creak and figured the girl must be up. I rushed to my room with my tray of food to see her trying to get out of bed.

"Oh no, you need to stay in bed and rest! You're too weak to be up and about!"

'Tone it down Demi', I admonished myself. Barely an hour in and I already sounded like a pissed off mother. Way to go.

"I mean," I said, correcting myself, "that it would be better for you to stay lying down here where it's nice and warm. It's better for you."

"Are you sure? This is like, YOUR bed. I don't want to intrude. I can sleep on the couch, it's fine. Heck, even the floor is a step up from my previous bed, a wooden public bench," the girl said worriedly.

"Hun, it's fine! Stop worrying. You can stay here as long as you need."

I timidly sat on a pillow next to her head on the bed. I gently pulled her matted brown hair out from under head and started to stroke it, carefully untangling it with my fingers.

"Do you want to tell me how you ended up sleeping on a park bench?" I asked quietly.

The girl looked down, tired and lifeless, but took a deep breath and started her story nonetheless.