Demi

The next morning I woke up in an empty bed, but the sound of dishes clinking made me smile. I stood up, stretching as I pulled on my robe and walked to the kitchen, smiling as I saw Nicko holding Mia in one arm while cooking with the other.

"Good morning." I announced, walking up to him and kissing his lips, then Mia's head.

"Mama!" She squealed, reaching for me.

"Hey baby." I cooed, and cuddled her into my chest as Nicko looked on with a smile.

She laid her head in the crook of my neck and Nicko leaned down, kissing me again.

"Morning beautiful." He murmured against my lips.

"Hi." I giggled, then appraised him.

"Do you have something against clothes?"

He was wearing just a pair of joggers, his calvin klein underwear peaking out the top. Nick shrugged, and I bit my lip as his muscles rippled, "Are you complaining?"

I shook my head and put Mia down in her highchair, pulling him to me by his waistband, "Not at all... But you are going to have to get dressed when we go to the studio today. My mom is picking up Mia at nine, then we're leaving at ten. Okay?"

"Sounds good." He spread his hands over my back, "You know I trust you right? I don't want you to feel obligated to bring me with you to show me that nothing is going on."

"I want you to come." I stressed, "I want you to meet Tim and see how much of an amazing song-writer he is. You have to hear this song baby, it's beautiful."

Nicko nodded and leaned down, kissing me deeply, "I think I have the better view right here..."

I kissed back for a couple minutes until Mia started whining, "Duty calls."

~*~

"It's right up here..."

Nicko followed my directions and we turned into the studio parking lot. He drove through the lot before finally finding a spot in the back, "At least there was no traffic."

I nodded, "We have about twenty minutes..." He went to pull out his phone but I plucked it out of his hand, "What on earth can we do for twenty minutes?"

A smirk played on Nicko's mouth and he grabbed my waist, pulling me towards him. I thanked God we took the Jeep so there was no middle console as I slid onto his lap and pulled his face to mine. We made out for a long time, neither of us really breaking for air unless it was absolutely necessary. I could feel my body reacting to him and didn't try to stop it. We hadn't had a lot of time to get this worked up lately so I was taking it for granted. All of a sudden Nicko pulled away, much to my annoyance.

"What are you doing?" I groaned, "I'm still kissing you."

"Well we have about five minutes... and if you want me to get rid of this by then, we need to stop kissing."

I glanced down and blushed at his obvious erection, then got off of his lap, "Sorry baby."

Nicko closed his eyes and leaned his head back, amazingly, the bulge in his pants receded within a minute or two.

"Do you just think about dead puppies or something?"

He opened one eye then burst out laughing, "No Demi, I don't think about dead puppies. That's the oldest one in the book."

"Then what is it?"

He shook his head, "Come on, we're gonna be late."

I got out of the car, frowning, "Why won't you tell me?"

"Because it's not important. I promise. Let's go."

I rolled my eyes but let his hand hold mine as we walked toward the doors, "You're not getting out of this one."

"Whatever Dems." He shot me a smirk and kissed my temple, "It's not important. You don't need to know what I think about to make my boner go down."

"But I want to." I whined, leaning into his side, "Please tell me?"

Nicko pulled in his bottom lip, and huffed, "I'll tell you when we get home. Okay? For now let's just get this over with."

We walked into the huge building and I checked in at the receptionist's desk, then took the elevator up to the studio. I could already hear Tim's voice through the open door, his perfect accent easy to recognize.

"Demi!" He exclaimed, once we walked in, "Good, you're here, now we can start... I didn't realize you were bringing guests."

"I'm Nicko." Nicko said, extending his hand for Tim to shake.

"Tim. It's good to meet you. You're Demi's boyfriend yes?"

"That's me." Nicko said, smiling a little too wide, it backed the underlying threat in his words.

"I've heard some of your music. It's very, very good. Maybe you could give us some insight on what you think of the song."

"I'd be happy to." Nicko said, smiling as his thumb rubbed over my hand, "Demi says it's a masterpiece."

"She's too kind." Tim motioned for us to sit down, "I'll play you what we've got so far. This is just the rough cut, so be warned."

Nicko smiled and nodded, sitting on one of the couches, "Let's hear it."

Tim pressed a button and the speakers began to play the opening chords to beneath your beautiful. As it went through, I kept my eyes on Nicko's face and smiled every time he looked at me. Once the music faded through, he smiled.

"Wow... Demi wasn't exaggerating. I love it."

Tim smiled, "Well we've got a lot of work to do. Dems, get in the booth."

~*~

"See that wasn't bad." I said to Nicko as we walked out of the building.

"I didn't say it was gonna be bad." He laughed, throwing one arm around my shoulder and pulling me tight to his side, "The song really is great babe."

"I knew you'd love it."

He nodded as we got in the car, "I've kinda got it stuck in my head."

"It reminds me a bit of us."

Nicko cocked his head, "How?"

I shrugged and smiled as his hand slipped to my thigh as he drove out of the parking lot, "I had my walls built up when I met you and somehow you got over them. And you pushed me away once we started getting serious, but that didn't stop me."

He threw me a smile, "I keep forgetting to thank you everyday for that."

I shrugged and absentmindedly trailed my nails up and down his arm as I looked out the window, "Anytime."

We drove home mostly in silence. It was getting late and I was exhausted, so my eyes kept sliding shut. We got to my mom's house and I went to get out but Nicko stopped me.

"I'll get Mia. You look exhausted. I'll order something to pick up for dinner on the way home."

I nodded and yawned, smiling as I stroked his cheek, "I love you."

He kissed my forehead, "Sleep."

So I did.

~*~

When I woke up I was in bed, cuddled into Nicko's chest with his arms around me. As I shifted away, his eyes fluttered open and he pulled me back, snuggling into my neck, "Don't leave."

I stretched out and groaned as my stiff muscles extended, "What time is it?"

Nicko leaned over and squinted at his phone, "About three."

"Three?!"

He nodded sleepily, letting his head fall back against the pillow, "I carried you out of the car after I put Mia down. She was out like a light."

I sighed and curled back into his side, "I was too."

He kissed my forehead, "If you're not tired anymore, I'm sure I could find a way to exhaust you."

I smiled and pressed my lips to his neck, "I don't want to be a buzzkill, but I am still really tired. Not tonight baby, okay?"

"Okay." He said, his voice still full of sleep, "It's less romantic if I fall asleep on you anyway."

I nodded and let my body relax, slowly sinking back into sleep until the sound of Nicko's phone going off made my eyes fly open, "Turn it off."

He reached over and checked the caller iD, then answered, "Mom?" I sat up with worry as a frown came over Nicko's face, "No it's fine what's going on?" He waited with an alarmed expression, "Is she okay?" Another pause. I rubbed his chest, trying to listen to what the person on the other line was saying. "No, do the procedure. I'll come there and pay for it. Do the procedure." He waited and I could see the frustration cracking through his politeness, "Listen to me, I don't give a damn about how much it costs. I don't care what her insurance covers, do the damn procedure... Yes. Goodbye."

"What happened?" I nervously asked, once he hung up.

"My mom fell, she broke her hip. The insurance she has ran out when my dad died and no one told her so she doesn't have medical insurance. I have to put her on my plan but in the meantime she needs the surgery now. I've got to get on a plane."

He went to get up but I stopped him, "Nicko there aren't any planes right now. You can take the red-eye in the morning but in the meantime you need to take a breath okay? She's going to be fine."

Nicko looked up and I finally saw the intense worry in his eyes, "Can you book me a flight? Please? I've got to pack."

"Pack a bag for me too."

"Demi..."

I looked up from his phone, "What?"

"You need to stay here. Like you said, she's going to be fine. You can come in a couple of days but you have commitments here. The song is almost done. Just... stay here. It's easier for Mia. I'll be fine."

I shook my head, "I'm not gonna let you do this alone Nicko."

"I'll be fine." He kissed my forehead, "I just need you to book me a flight and drive me to the airport."

I bit my lip, searching his face to make sure he was telling me the truth, then nodded and went back to his phone, scrolling through the flight times. "The best they have is a six AM, red-eye. We've got to hurry through if we want to get you through security."

Nicko nodded, "Book it."

I quickly booked him a seat, then walked into the closet, freezing when I saw his body shuddering with what I knew were tears. I walked over, quietly, and wrapped my arms around him from behind, "Nik... calm down-"

"I know." He interrupted, straightening up, "I just... I got the call and they said they were from the hospital and I just... I can't lose her Demi."

I turned him around and hugged him again, "You're not going to lose her Nicko. She's going to have the surgery and when she wakes up you're going to be there and everything is going to be okay. Okay?"

He cupped my cheek and leaned down to kiss me, "I really don't know what I would do without you."

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-Rachel