Believe in Me

Chapter 19

Anna's POV

I turned the lights off as soon as Demi got finished wiping off my makeup. I didn't want to let her see how ugly I look without makeup or my wig. How could my night have gone from so good to so bad in just a couple of hours? Demi knows about my foster parents now. I'm so scared. I don't know what's going to happen. I think I actually want to live now. I want to get better, but my chances might be ruined now. I just want to be happy.

I just laid in the darkness thinking for a while. My head was filled with 'what ifs'. Like what if I had a seizure because the tumor grew again and now I'm going to die? What if I get sent to a group home? What if I stay with my foster parents? What if Demi really hates me? After a while I finally fell asleep.

*Anna's Dream*

I walked through the front door. My foster dad was sitting on the couch with a glass bottle in his hand. I think it was vodka. He yelled at me and threw the bottle at me. It hit my rib and shattered. He came over to me and I muttered "Please Don't" . I felt the all too familiar sting of his hand hitting my face. He dragged me up to his bedroom. There was another guy in the room that I didn't recognize. He was obviously drunk too. My foster dad threw me onto the bed and ripped my clothes away from me. I tried to fight it but ended up being punched by the other guy. They both undressed. "Please Don't! Please! I'm sorry! Please stop!" I screamed. That just made it worse. They both entered me. It was the worst pain I had felt in my entire life. I screamed at the top of my lungs.

Demi's POV

I couldn't fall asleep. My mind was racing. It had been a good 2 hours since Anna fell asleep. How was I going to get her out of that house without making things worse for her? Anna started to get restless in her sleep. I walked over to her and sat in the chair next to her. She was sound asleep. She started talking in her sleep. I couldn't really make out what she was saying but it sounded like she was panicking. I shook her to try to get her to wake up and she screamed in her sleep. She was now crying and sweating. I shook her violently this time. She was having a night terror and I needed to get her to wake up! Thankfully she woke up. She shoot right up and looked around panicked. When she saw me she said "I'm sorry. I just had a bad dream. You can go back to sleep. I promise I wont wake you again," she was holding back tears. I sat down on the bed with her. She had her head in he hands now. I pulled her into a hug. She kept her hands covering her face. 

"Do you wanna talk about it?" I asked. She just shook her head and started crying. I pulled her back with me as I laid down on the bed. I had my arm wrapped around the back of her neck with my hand rubbing her shoulder and she had her head burried in my cheast. I used my other hand to pull her chin up so she was looking at me. "I'm here if you need me," I said as I wiped the tears off her face. She curled up next to me burring her face again. She fell asleep like that and so did I.

*the next morning*

Anna's POV

A nurse woke me up to check my vitals. I realized that I was cuddled into Demi. She was still asleep. I remembered last night and everything that happened. She probably thought I was crazy. I feel so bad for dragging her into all of this. I shouldn't have even auditioned for X Factor. She wouldn't be in this mess if I didn't. I wanted her to stay with me though. I felt so safe wrapped in her arms. I cuddled back into her when the nurse left. I might as well take advantage of it while I can because as soon as she wakes up she's going to remember how crazy and ugly I am and she'll leave me. When I cuddled back into her she woke up. "How are you feeling?" she asked lifting her head off the pillow to look at my body curled up next to hers. Why wasn't she leaving? Why was she being so nice to me?

"I'm fine, thanks," I replied. I went to get up to go put my wig and makeup on but she pulled me back down on top of her.

"Don't leave me! It's cold!" she said in a childish way making me laugh a little. I had no other option but to lay back down with her. This time she was clinging onto me like I was a teddy bear. It reminded me of all the mornings I woke up next to my foster dad. The shooting pain was still there. Internally I was freaking out. Somehow Demi noticed. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah I'm fine." I answered confused at how she knew something was wrong. She scooted closer to me making me nervous.

"I know somethings wrong and that you aren't ready to talk about it yet, but eventually you're going to have to tell me," she whispered in my ear. I didn't know how to respond so I didn't. She sat up to look at me I guess waiting for my reaction. When I didn't say anything she laid back down and held me like a teddy bear. Maybe she really did care about me. I curled up with her and fell back asleep.

Demi's POV

I felt like there was so much Anna was hiding from me. I wasn't going to force her to talk to me though. I laid back down on the bed and pulled her into my arms again. She turned to face me and cuddled into me and fell asleep. She was so adorable. I held her closer and watched her sleep. My phone buzzed so a grabbed it and Anna groaned in her sleep. It was a text from Simon. He asked how Anna was and asked if it was okay to bring the contestants to the hospital and finish the wrap party since it got cut short. I said it was fine and then I woke Anna up so we could get ready. She grabbed some clothes out of her bag and went into the bathroom in the room to change. I went down to the bathroom in the hallway to change. Anna walked out of the bathroom as soon as I came back into the room. She grabbed her wig and her makeup bag and went back in leaving the door open. I grabbed my makeup bag and went in with her. She scooted over so I could have some of the mirror. I put a little bit of makeup on while she put her wig on. She look she was giving herself in the mirror was heartbreaking. She started covering up the bruises with makeup. She looked so ashamed. I couldn't let her think about herself like that. "Here let me," I said taking the stuff out of her hands. She looked relieved. I picked her up and sat her on the counter before starting her makeup. I did all of her makeup for her and she thanked me. Simon texted me and said that there were waiting for us at the teen lounge. I pulled Anna's IV pole with us and we walked to the lounge. They had a big banner up in the lounge saying "Congratulations Anna!" on it. Anna looked so happy. 

*after the party*

The party went great. It looked like Anna was having so much fun. On the way back to her room I pushed her IV pole for her again. She told me to stop and then she stood on the base of the IV pole giving me a cheeky smile. I stood there and rolled my eyes at her and then she gave me a puppy dog face so I pushed her on the IV pole back to her room. When we got back to the room a nurse came to check on Anna and she asked me to go out into the hallway with her. I followed the nurse out into the hallway and there was a lady standing in a suit in the hallway. She shook my hand. "Hi Miss Lovato, I am the social worker who is working on Anna's case. We just recieved a call that her foster parents were both taken into custody for drug use and suspected abuse. Anna seems to be close to you so we wanted to tell you first so you could be there to support Anna when she finds out. Unless we can find her another foster home then she will have to stop treatment and be put into a group home..." I interrupted her. 

"I'll foster her!" I said quickly without thinking it through.