August

Selena sat in the quiet waiting room. In the tank next to her the fish swam around. The receptionist sitting at her desk glanced at her. Selena smiled. She smiled back and went back to work. Selena contimplated running out of the office, but just as she was about to get up the woman said, "Dr. Jonas is ready to see you now, Ms. Gomez." Selena nodded and got her things.

Nick had just finished his session with Tiffany. She was showing some real progress. She actually admitted she was raped. Next time she would work on admitting it wasn't her fault. He walked up to his desk and pressed a button. "Demi, send in the next patient." "Yes, sir'," she said before hanging up. He got his clipboard and sat down. When the door opened he was reading notes on the patient. He glanced up and saw a beautiful girl. He lifted his head. She had dark chocolate hair and big brown eyes. She had peaches and cream skin. He tried to talk, but no words came out. He cleared his throat. "Uh, Selena Gomez?" She nodded. He pointed to the sofa in front of him. "You can have a seat there." She sat down. "Okay, so, tell me why you're here."
"You know what, I honestly don't know. I-It was just a car crash. I got over it, but my best friend seems to think otherwise so...here I am." He nodded.
"And, why do you think she made you come here?"
She was silent. "...I don't know. I had a few bad dreams...and some other stuff..."
"Like?"
"I didn't drive for a month after the accident." She cut herself off. "I don't want to talk about that."
"Okay, well then, you can just get to know me for now before we talk about you. Is that fair enough?"
She was quiet for a while. "Okay."
"My name is Nicholas Jerry Jonas. I am a liscensed therapist. I graduted with a degree of therapy from NYU. I'm 23 years old. I was born in Dallas, Texas. Anything else you need to know?"
She thought quietly. "...C-Can I trust you?" she said, her voice barely audible.
He took a breath. "Yes."
"Okay, that's all I need to know."

"Okay," he said. "Now tell me about you." What did he need to know? "Like what?"
"The basics, or whatever you want to tell me."
I thought about it. "M-My name is Selena Marie Gomez. I a- was a professional dancer. I'm 22 years old. I was born in Grand Prairie, Texas. My mom died a two years ago of a heart attack. I had no dad. That's about it."
He smiled. "So far, so good. Now we're not strangers." I smiled back slightly.
"I guess not."

Selena walked to her and Miley's house after therapy. "Miles, I'm home!" Miley walked into the living room with a pint of icecream. "So," she said, her mouth full of rocky road. "How was it?"
"It wasn't as bad as I thought." Miley smiled. "I'm glad."
"And, my doctor's hot," she said as she plopped down on the couch.
Miley followed. "Oh, spill!"
"Well, he has curly brown hair..."
"Good, good. More."
"and the most gorgeous chocolate brown eyes I've ever seen..."
"Great so far..."
"And, he's actually a pretty nice guy. He seems sensitive and-"
"Oh gosh! I think you have a crush!"
"Shut up! He's my therapist anyways. It's not like anything could ever happen...but while I am in therapy he'll totally be something to look at." They both laughed.

On Friday Selena went to therapy with Dr. Jonas. She walked in and sat down.
"So," he began. "Today we're going to talk more...about you." She gulped. "Tell me about your life before the," he cleared his throat. "...accident."
"Okay. I was a performer. It was my passion, but I wasn't as serious as I should have been. I didn't practice as much as I should have or even show up. I partied and drank...a lot. I got home at 6 every night. I was going downhill. Until I met him..." Her eyes got watery. "Uh, h-his name was Taylor..." Nick shifted in his seat as he listened attentively. "He was nice, and he understood me, and...I didn't have to drink or party anymore. He was all I needed and wanted. Until..." Flashbacks of him and his smile and the accident flooded her mind. She shut her eyes as a tear slid down her face. "Y-You know, I don't want to talk about that anymore." "It's fine. Maybe some other time then. You were a dancer?" he said as he handed her a box of tissues. She took them. "Yeah, uh, I was..." she sniffled. "and I was good at it too...or I was when I actually tried. It didn't matter at the time. I wasn't focused on anything but partying."
"Shame," he stated. "Yeah," she chuckled as she blew her nose. "You're telling me. Did you ever have a hobby or anything that you thought about making a career out of, but never did, because you thought you'd fail or that it wasn't practical?"
He looked at her big brown eyes. She was genuinely interested. "Uh, yeah. When I was in highschool I was a star baseball player, but I never persued it. Do you like baseball?"
"Oh yeah, Yankees all the way."
He smiled. "Me too. They have been since I was little." She smiled.

November

I had been going to therapy and was getting closer to Nick. I was almost ready to tell him everything about the accident and decided to tell him at our next session. I walked down the sidewalk as the cold air hit my face. It was getting late. A car pulled up next to me. In the driver's seat was Nick- uh, Dr. Jonas. He smiled his easy smile.
"Hey, Selena. You look like you're freezing. Need a ride?"
I smiled gratefully. "I would appreciate it." I got in and immediately tensed up. I clutched onto the door handle. As we were driving I tried to ignore the horrible memories. When we stopped at a light I saw a cars headlights flash. I shut my eyes tightly. Nick put his hand on my shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," I sighed. "I just haven't been in a car in...a while. I'm a little on edge, but hey, at least I'm facing my fears right?"
He smiled. "Absolutely." To help me relax, Nick turned on the radio. My favorite song went on. Turns out it was his too. We drove along singing the words.
When he stopped in front of my house I looked at him. "LIsten, thanks for the ride. You didn't have to."
"Aw," he said as he put his hand behind his neck. "It was nothing."
"Well, at least let me make it up to you. Come in and you can have a cup of hot chocolate."
He smiled. "Well...Okay. I guess I could have a cup."
We walked in. I threw my coat on the couch and went to the kitchen. "You can sit down. Make yourself at home." I smiled and went to the kitchen. A few minutes later I walked in with a tray of hot chocolate. We sat down and talked for a while.
I heard Miley's voice from upstairs. "I smell chocolate! You better have some for me!" She ran downstairs. "Oh, hi. Sel," she told me. "You didn't tell me you had someone over. And you are?"
"Uh, I'm Nick. Actually Dr. Jonas. I gave Selena a ride home and she offered hot chocolate."
"Oh cool. By the way, thank you for helping Selena. She really is happier."
He looked at me. I smiled. He stood. "We still have things to work on, but she has made a lot of progress. For instance she was a trooper on the ride here. Well, I better be going. Bye Selena."
I smiled big. "Bye." I walked him to the door.
As Miley was going upstairs with her cup of hot chocolate she gave me a thumbs up. "He is hot. And he has a nice butt. You should totally go for it Sel."
"Shut up," I said grinning.
"Man, are all therapists that hot? Cuz' if they are I might need a few sessions. Does he have any doctor friends he could set me up with?"

At the next session I sat down on the blue couch. I thought about what to say.
"So, are you sure you're ready to tell me about what happened?"
I nodded. "Well, there's not much to tell. Taylor and I were getting kinda serious. Well, as serious as we could be. I went out and drank one night without telling him. I got really drunk and called him to pick me up. We got into a huge fight and as we were driving, Taylor wasn't paying attention, so he drove a red light. The last thing I saw was the flash of the other drivers headlights. Taylor died. I didn't...and I still feel like it should have been me who died. I was the one who drank and made him come get me." By the end I was sobbing. Nick found his way next to me. He held me in his arms as I sobbed. I'm pretty sure therapists aren't supposed to do that...but he did. He pulled away.
I sniffled. "Listen, you know how I decided to try being a dancer, I mean really, really try?"
He nodded. I sniffled again and took a deep breath. "I've been practicing and going to some extra classes and this woman saw me and wanted me to be in her class so I joined. Well, were having a recital thingy in December and I want you to come. Will you?"

She looked up at me with her deep chocolate eyes. Her face was red and puffy from crying, but through it all she was smiling. "Okay," I agreed. "I'll be there. I wouldn't miss it for the world."
In his next session with a patient Nick found himself doodling and writing Selena's name.

December

Nick walked into the venue. It was filled with people, but somehow he found a seat in the front. The lights went dim. All of a sudden he saw a bunch of girls prance on stage. Selena was in the front. They danced a beautiful slow dance. The whole time Nick watched Selena, and only Selena. When the performance was over Nick met Selena outside. "So? How was I? I know I was a little behind on the jump and my turns sucked, but-"
"You were fantastic."
A huge smile spread out across her face. They walked through the park. It was a few days before Christmas so everything was lit up.
"I love Christmas," she stated.
"Why?"
"Everything is happy and cozy and the city is lit up like heaven."
He smiled to himself. "Yeah." He drove her home. They stood at her door. She smiled her happy contagious smile. On an impulse they kissed eachtother. Nick pulled away first.
"Selena, we shouldn't. I'm your therapist and you're still not completely healthy anyways."
She looked down. A tear slid down her face. "You know," she said. Her voice was weak and broken. "I guess we started out as strangers, and then friends, but I never thought in a million years I would fall for you. Y-You fixed me. I was sad and broken and you talked to me and understood me and...nevermind. It's over. We're just friends." She opened the door and walked in. She turned back to him. "I'll see you tommorrow, Dr. Jonas," she said, in almost a whisper. She closed the door.
Nick closed his eyes tightly, wishing he could go back in time. He drove home.

The next day Nick paced in his office, thinking of what to tell Selena. She was supposed to be there at 8. Where was she? His phone rang. He ran to pick it up. "Hello?"
"Sir," Demi said. He sighed. "Demi I don't have time for-"
"Sir...It's Selena."

Nick rushed to the hospital. When he walked in he was met in the waiting room by Miley. "What happened?"
"She tried to prove to you that she was healthy. She was going to drive to you're session, but the roads were iced over. T-The car flipped over Nick," she said in between sobs.
He closed his eyes and looked down. Every second he had spent with Selena was like a slideshow in his head. Her happy smile. Her recital. It all meant nothing if she didn't live. He felt helpless, purely helpless. He felt like the world was pulled out from under him. He sat down and waited with Miley for any news from the doctor.
After 45 minutes a man wearing pale blue-green scrubs walked into the waiting room and walked up to Miley and Nick. They both stood. "She's okay. Surgery went well. She broke a few ribs and fractured her wrist, but she'll be fine. She's a little shaken up. You two will be able to see her in a few hours." Nick sighed, releived. Miley cried happily.
A few hours later Nick walked into her room. Selena lay asleep. He turned around. "I-I should come back some other time."
Selena's eyes blinked open slowly. "Nick?"
He stopped in his tracks and looked down, his eyes closed. He opened them and turned around. "I-I tried to drive...big mistake huh?" she said weakly.
He walked to her bed and kissed her. His lips moved slowly with hers. He pulled away and carressed her face in his hands. "Don't ever do that to me again. I love you."
"I won't. I love you too." He kissed her again.