Chapter 20

DEMI'S  POVIts been a week and she hasn't talked to us. She's mute till she has a nightmare, but even then she doesn't talk when we wake her up, she just cries. She won't eat, but she will drink milk. She really likes Shatto milk, which is good because it is whole milk which she will gain a little weight. Nick has gone out a lot. I'm not exactly sure where he goes or what he does. I talked to Dallas about Brad and she said he was weird. But she really didn't have much to say. Right now I'm in my office searching for a tutor and scheduling interviews for my tour. The house phone rings. "Hello?" "Hi, Mrs. Lovato this is Detective Wilson and I am calling to inform you that the Mendez vs. Chavez case is brought to the court next Tuesday. River-""Jordan. She goes by Jordan." I stop her. "Oh, I'm sorry, Jordan, will have to be there. I don't believe she will have to speak, till the trial and even then she will not have to speak in front of the court. She will have to go into a room and tell a lady what happened and there will be a live stream to the court and jury will decide then." "Okay, is this all happening on Tuesday?" "No, this will all happen over the course of the month." "Okay. Thank you have a great evening." I say and then hang up the phone. Just as the front door slams shut. I step out of the office and walk to the kitchen just as Nick stumbles into the counter. I can smell the liquor on him. "You've been drinking." I state. "Babe, it's fine." "No, you drove home drunk. Have you been leaving this house to go get wasted." "Woah, just chill okay." He snaps at me. "Don't tell me to fucking chill, Nicholas." "You know what? I am a grown fucking man, and if I want to have a few drinks to clear my mind then I will." "Okay, if thats how you need to clear your head then get out." "Where the hell am I supposed to go?" I hear a loud crash from up stairs. I turn to the stairs and holler back to Nick, "I really don't care. Just get out and come back when you have your shit together." "Where the hell am I supposed to go?" He asks following me. "I don't know call a cab and get out."

JORDAN'S POVIt's been a week of pure pain. My body hurts, my brain hurts. I wake up and hear yelling. I clutch my stomach and stumble out of bed only to trip over the bed, I tumble the ground with a loud crash. I stumble to my door just as Demi appears. I stand in the door way."Demi, I'm sorry." Nick slurs. "Don't talk to me until you are sober. I can't believe this shit. I can't fucking deal with your bullshit right now. Just leave." "Baby, just listen, I'm sor-" "Get the fuck out now!" Demi screams. Nick bows his head in shame. He walks closer to Demi to hug her but she pushes him off. He notices me, "Hey, baby-girl nice to see you out bed. I've got to go. I'll see you tomorrow." I nod. Demi leans against the door with her shoulders shaking. I hug her from behind and lay my head on her back and wrap my arms around her. "Momma?" I whisper. "Hm." "I love you." "I love you too," she turns to face me, her face red, "I need to talk to you. Why don't we go sit down and I'll make you something to eat." "My tummy still hurts. Can I just have something to drink?" She nods. I sit down on my bed while she goes to the fridge and brings me a bottle of Shatto chocolate milk. "Okay so, Sam is in jail. They are starting court stuff Tuesday. You have to come, you don't have to say anything. I have set you up with a Therapist that will come to the house, starting tomorrow, they are hour long sessions. Your tutor will start coming for an hour every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. We will meet her tomorrow in the morning, at Starbuck's." "Why do I have to go to court?""I don't know, but I will defiantly be there, I bet nick will be there, too.""Demi, do you still want me?" "Of course, I love you and Nick loves you, no matter what." "Promise?" "Promise." I lean against the head board and close my eyes, "Are you tired?" "Yeah." I whisper. "Okay you take a nap and I'll order some thing for dinner." "Stay?" "Okay, I'll stay till you fall asleep." "Okay." I snuggle into her and listen to her heartbeat and fall asleep with in minutes.

-six hour time lapse.- **Still Jordan's POV**I'm startled awake by the sound of heavy foot steps coming down the hall. I turn toward my clock realizing that it is past midnight. I grab my phone and hide in the deepest corner of my closet. I hear my door swing open. I try to keep my breathing calm. I begin to cry. I wish dad was here. Then my phone begins to ring loudly, I try to turn it off but the closet door swings open and the lights flash on, "No! Please just go away! Please." I beg. "Baby-girl it is me." Someone whispers. "Momma! Help! Please." I scream hysterically. Demi rushes in and sits down next to me.She begins to yell, "Damnit Nick!" "I'm sorry." He mumbles. "I told you to fucking leave. Look what you have done." "Jordan I'm sorry. It's just me." "I thought it was Drake and I got scared. Then someone called me and he found me. I wished daddy was here, so he could keep us safe. But he, wasn't and...and," "Breathe." Demi instructs. "And I just wanted them to go away, Dad. They hurt me and I thought you were them and you were going to hurt me again. You said you weren't going to leave, and you left."

DEMI'S POV I instantly began to feel bad, "Jordan I-I'm sorry." "No, you promised. You lied! You left." "River, Ba-""Don't call me that." "Just list-" "No, No! Stop, you left, and you will leave again. Momma, I'm scared can I sleep with you?" "Yeah." I grab her hand and push past Nick. With in minutes she is asleep. I sneak out of bed and find Nick still in her room, "Nick, I'm sorry." I whisper. He turns to me with tears running down his face, "Demi, she hates me." "No, No. Nick she doesn't hate you. She was scared." "She hates me. Demi I'm so sorry. I don't know how to deal with all of this. I don't know how you do it. I don't know what to do." "Babe, you need to be here, because I can't do this by myself. She doesn't hate you, she was just scared." He wraps his arms around me. We hold each other. "Go back to be bed babe. I'll see you in the morning." "Okay. Jordan and I have to be at Starbucks to meet her tutor. You can come if you want. We have to be there at nine and then I have an interview at noon." "I'll be ready in the morning. Night love you." "You too." I go back to bed and Jordan immediately curls into me. Next thing I know nick is waking Jordan and I up, "My beautiful girls, wake up." He sings. "Fuck you!" I snap. "Nope. Not in front of our daughter. Get up! We are gonna miss our meeting." He giggles. "Nick, go away. God! I'm trying to sleep." I mumble. "You have thirty minutes to get ready." "Go away." Jordan mumbles. I feel Jordan's body lift from the bed. I sit up and watch Nick cradle her, and sway back and forth. "Dad, stop! I'm tired." She whines. "It's time to get up, baby-girl. We've got to get you ready." He whispers, then kisses her forehead and tickles her. She tries to hold back her laughs but she still accidentally lets out a giggle, "Stop!" She laughs again, throwing back her head letting out a loud belly laugh. As soon as she laughs I can't  help but smile. "Okay, Daddy!" she laughs and Nick kisses her forehead again. "I love you daddy." she giggles. I could see Nick's heart being glued back together and his eyes began to water, as he stared at her. "I love you more than you will ever know." When we get to Starbucks I notice her eyes are darting around and she has a light layer of sweat, "Jordan it is okay." She shrugs. we get inside and she completely shuts herself odd. "Jordan, what do you want?" I ask her. She waves Nick down to her level and whispers in his ear. "She wants a strawberry banana smoothie and a muffin." He glances at her and she nods with a small smile. "Okay, she's here. Hi, Taylor Carter." I say walking over to the booth she is sitting at. "Jordan this is Taylor your tutor." I tell her. I turn my attention from Taylor to Jordan. She lifts her eyes from her muffin which she is carefully unwrapping. She looks at me and then at Taylor and smiles weakly. "Hi." She whispers making quick eye contact, and then her eyes dart around the room. "Hey, so what are your favorite things to do?" "Um, play softball and dance I guess." "Really? What kind of dance, I actually just recently started teaching pointe at The Studio." Jordan immediately looks her in the eyes with glowing eyes, "You're joking right?" "No. Why?" "I go there, Mrs. Carter is my dance teacher." "Really? She's my mom. So you are the River she is talking about all the time. The ballet prodigy?" Taylor asks with a smile. "Well, I'm no prodigy but I love ballet it's my favorite class there." Jordan smiles, then takes a mouth full of her muffin."I'm gonna let you two get to know each other. Nick and I will be right over there." I announce as she chews. She nods. Nick I slide out of the booth. He grabs my hand and whispers, "Babe, that guy over there as been staring at Jordan for like five minutes." I nod not making it obvious that I am staring at him.

JORDAN'S POV "You know, my mom thinks you should be a full time pointe student." Miss Taylor tells me. I gulp my muffin, "I know, I just haven't got the technique yet. So if you're a dance teacher, how are you gonna teach me." "Well I went to school to become a teacher. I feel like that what I was born to do, you know? When I was about 8 or 9 I was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia. I never thought I could teach because of it. I was bullied because of it. I was pulled out of school and became a full time dance student and my mom got me a tutor who helped me believe that I could still be a teacher. So when I did become a sixth grade teacher I realized that I didn't like being in a class room all the time. So six months ago I put in my notice and started to look for tutoring jobs so that I wouldn't give up at my dream but still do what I love. I came across an ad that said it was looking for a traveling tutor that could help build the confidence of an ADHD student. I knew that this was my calling. So I called and your mom, we talked and now we are here." Miss Taylor told me. "I'm dyslexic too." I whisper. I begin to feel someone staring at me. I just ignore it because I assume Mom and Daddy are watching us. "Really? We'll look at that three things in common." I chuckle, "Miss Taylor I think that you are gonna be an amazing tutor." "Thank you." "You should tell me about yourself." "Well my name is River Jordana Mendez, I love dance, and softball. I'm not really good at school stuff but I try really hard. I listen to a lot of ed sheeran. Um, I'm gonna be adopted by Demi Lovato and Nick Jonas. My real parents died in a car accident. And Demi and Nick love me a lot, they even made me a home dance studio." "I'm sorry to hear that. I can tell how much they love you." "Hey, maybe if you're not doing anything you can come check out the house, I can give you a tour." "Yeah, that's sounds awesome." She is absolutely the coolest person ever. We walk over to my Mom and Dad. "Daddy can Miss Taylor come over and see our house, please?" "Yeah. Let's go." We head for the door, but someone grabs my wrist. I look down at the hand and follow the arm to it's face. "Hey River-girl." "Drake leave me alone. My name is Jordan." "Get you're fucking grungy hands off my daughter." Demi hisses. "River, I miss our games we used to play." "Fuck you." I snap ripping my hand from is grasp just as Demi tears off her and Nick's coffee lids and dumps the hot coffee into his lap. He yelps and his eyes water. Demi leans in to his face, "Come near my daughter again and I will end you." Nick grabs my hand and drags me out to the car. "Are you okay, let me see your wrist. Hey, hey it's okay don't cry. He won't hurt you again." I lean in and bury my head into his chest I didn't even realize I was crying. I close my eyes as I listen to Demi explain to Miss Taylor what just happened and what was happening. I counted to ten then wiped my eyes. "Jordan you wanna ride with me?" Miss Taylor asks. "Sure." I whisper. Nick kisses me on the forehead. I follow miss Taylor to her car and we get in and follow Demi and Nick. "So can I call you River or Jordan?" "Um, I only let some people I like call me River." "Well, then... Do you like me?" "I think so. Miss Taylor, you can call me River." She nods and everything goes quiet. We pull into the drive way and I can't help but ask, "Miss Taylor, do you think I'm a freak?" "No. I think you are a little girl who is really broken, and you have been hurt so deeply by people, and yet you manage to smile and be an amazing person." I nod as she parks and demi and nick are waiting for us to get out of the car. "Okay, so this is my crib, let me show you how I live." Nick, Demi, and Miss Taylor all burst out laughing. "Okay, so this is the living room, where Demi eats her body weight in popcorn while watching the ID Channel." "I do not eat that much popcorn." Demi protest. "Babe, you do." Nick chuckles. "Over here is the kitchen and the dinning room." I grab Miss Taylor's hand and drag her down stairs. "This is the family room. This room right here is the theatre. There's the gym room. This door right here is the best of all rooms, this is my dance studio." I announce, pushing the door open. "This is freaking amazing. Wow. Look at that stereo system. Show me a dance right now." Miss Taylor says in awe. I go over to the stereo and plug my phone in and look back at Miss Taylor who is now sitting crossed legged on the floor. "This isn't very good but I like to dance to this song." "Go." She says impatiently. I press play and 'chandelier' by Sia comes on. I began my made up routine, and get lost in the music. When the song ends I am applauded Mom, Dad, and Miss Taylor. "Thanks." I whisper blushing. "Oh my god! You are so good. If your parents are okay with this, just a suggestion but we could throw pointe, in my Lesson plan which would have to go after school, so an hour longer. No extra charge." Miss Taylor says with a smile. "Daddy please? Please Momma?" "I don't see why not." Demi shrugs. "Okay cool, I have a few little test I need you to take." Miss Taylor says. "Okay, let's go to the dinning room." Nick says grabbing Demi's hand. We all settle at the table and Miss Taylor pulls out, a small stack of paper. "Will you read the first paper out loud to me." She asks. I'm starring at the page full of letters. "Um, okay," I squint,"James and Jess, a world of love and p-." No I can't tell what it says. "James and James a world of love and..?" Miss Taylor asks. I can feel Nick and Demi staring at me, I squint again, "A world of love and p-ain?" I ask looking up at Miss Taylor. "Yep. Continue." "James is a boy who lives on the outskirts of town. Everyday he comes to school, and Jess smiles at him. All of Jess' friends say he is weird. Jess can see through his smoke smelling clothes, seeing only his true po- po-po... Miss Taylor all the letters are scrambled this isn't even a word." "Okay, well here's a piece of paper write what you see." I do as I am told, scribbling down p.o.n.e.t.i.l.a.t. "See not even a word." "Okay Jordan close your eyes. I'm going to read this list of letters out to you and picture the word." I close my eyes and nod,"go." "P. O. N. E. T. I. L. A. T. " "Poten- I can't figure out the rest." I whine, "Can we just stop." "For today... yes. Over the week I want you to continue to try and read this. There are some simple math problems in this packet that I want you to do with no calculator. You just need to do as much as you can till Wednesday." "Okay. Are you gonna dance with me. On Wednesday too?" "Yeah. You should get some pointe shoes, journals, pens and pencils. I'll bring your books with me Wednesday.""Okay." I nod"I need to talk to your parents for a minute before I leave." I nod.

DEMI'S POV We watch Jordan clench her stomach and go upstairs. "As a dance teacher I can tell she is extremely under weight. I'm sure you know this already but I'm going to have her eating lunch with me before we dance.""Actually, Nick and I were going to ask you about that. I'm going on tour at the end of August, we are going to be talking about school options if she doesn't want to go to school could you possibly, go on tour with us?" "Um... Yeah. I have a three year old son, I'll probably bring him with." "Oh, that's awesome. He is always welcome. As of now you are both a part of this family.""Thank you. I would have her checked to see if she needs glasses, she squints when she reads." "Alright. We will do that, I have to get going for an interview. Nick I'm going to see if she wants to go with me." He nods, I go up stairs and knock on the door. She doesn't answer, so I push the door open silently. She is asleep I just go and shut the door behind me, and walk Taylor out to her car.