Black Into Gold // Demi Lovato // 3

9. Thoughts

During the last weeks of 2018, whenever I wasn't working, I was packing.

Abby and Demi helped when they could and by the end of January, I was moved in with Demi. Demi's new house felt just as big as the last one, with seven bedrooms, six bathrooms, a study, and the connected living room and kitchen. Outside, there was a large pool with an infinity edge and a hot tub. Demi had all of the furniture in the house ready, except in one room since I wanted to keep my bed and my furniture.

The house had a six-car garage, with a driveway big enough to fit at least five more.

As Demi helped me hang my clothes in my walk-in closet, I asked her how much the house was.

"You sure you wanna know? You know how you get when it comes to prices."

The walk-in closet was huge, and all of my stuff barely took up half the space, so we finished quickly, and Demi promised a shopping spree soon. I rolled my eyes. She was gonna use my birthday to get me all kinds of new clothes and shoes, I knew it.

"Just tell me," I said.

"Ten," she said simply.

My mouth dropped open. "Like, million?" I asked.

She nodded. "I told you."

I threw a throw pillow from the couch at her face and she swatted it away. "Hey, not what those are for!" She laughed, picking it up and setting it back on the couch.

I just shrugged. "It's literally in the name."

She rolled her eyes and we straightened up the kitchen before deciding to take a food break.

"What do we want?" Demi looked in the fridge, which was empty, aside from bottled water, since she had been staying with me mostly. Aw closed it with a disappointed look on her face. "Hm. Wanna order pizza? We haven't done that in a long time."

"Sounds good," I replied, grabbing a water bottle. "Got any flavoring?" I asked.

Demi pointed at the cabinet over the stove while she ordered the pizza on her phone. I found some lemonade Crystal Light and mixed it into my water. Plain water was just boring most of the time.

"I got two large pizzas. Pepperoni and a cheese, and the bread twists and four two liters so you don't have to suffer drinking water."

I sipped my lemonade and stuck my tongue out at her. But then I thanked her for being so kind.

"No problem," she said with a chuckle. "Netflix?"

We searched through Netflix, waiting until the food came to start watching. We picked out a few movies, and I grabbed plates from the kitchen while Demi got the door.

We snuggled up under a blanket with our plates.

"So, we're, like, actually living together," I said, because I was in disbelief.

"Yup. No backing out now," Demi said with her head tilted back towards me and a silly grin on her face.

"So crazy how much has happened in just over a year."

"Are you getting sappy?"

I smiled, finishing my second slice of pizza and grabbed a third. I was starting to get full, but it felt like I hadn't eaten in days. Weeks, even. "I don't know. Is that a problem?"

"Well, I'm just trying to watch a movie," Demi said, jokingly. Her smile fell and she kept her eyes on the TV. I nibbled slowly at my pizza and tried to concentrate, but the mood had shifted so quickly.

I waited until the credits started to say, "Demi?"

She looked over at me, a string of cheese hanging out of her mouth. She chuckled and used her tongue to pull it in.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

Her brow furrowed and she stopped looking at me. "Yeah, just been thinking about things."

Oh, dammit, she wants to break up.

"Yeah? Like what?"

"Music, mostly."

My rising panic fell as she said this. "What about it?" I asked, trying to get her to open up more.

She sighed softly. "I don't know. Maybe I should stop. Step away from the spotlight. Everyone was telling me to while I was in the hospital and treatment."

"What do you want?"

"That maybe they're right. That my health and our future is more important than my fame. And maybe music isn't what I should be doing anymore."

Our future. I wanted to ask what she was thinking about that, but she continued, after taking a sip of her drink.

"I think I should speak more about addiction and mental health. Make a difference like that, you know?" She stared with curious eyes, and I nodded.

"I'll support you no matter what." I forced a smile and squeezed her hand.

I was so proud of her for going through treatment and focusing on getting better. I didn't think I could be more proud and sad at the same time. Demi was a one in a million talent, but if she really wanted to quit music, and help people who share her struggles, then I would be happy as long as she was happy and healthy.