A/N 1: I feel I should warn you guys now; the story is going to be a bit fast paced the next few chapters. This chapter alone is already placed in September whereas the last one was June. I know it's a bit confusing but after this chapter it'll stop being so terrible, I promise. I'm trying to get to the present day quickly as I can without rushing the story too much. I'll make sure to put all the details and write longer chapters, but that means between writing and life in general there'll be at least a week between updates. Don't kill me please. Other than that I've got nothing to say! You guys have been more than amazing and I can't believe how many of you like this story. I appreciate it a lot and I'm so thankful for you guys. Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot. Story title and Chapter titles are songs. I don't own them either.
3. One and Only
So come on, and give me a chance
To prove I'm the one who can
Walk that mile
Until the end starts
It was weird, getting everything I wanted for the first time in my life. I was living my dream and there was someone besides me every single step of the way. What was even better, was that someone knew what I was going through and knew how to help me with it. Granted, I always pictured that someone being the man of my dreams, but hey; things change.
Another of the many things that have changed in the past week aside from my relationship status is my attitude. Anyone with closed eyes in a dark room could see just how elated my mood has been lately. But it would take a rocket scientist to figure out why.
I think we've spent less time together since we decided what we were, which kind of blows because I already saw Demi on pretty limited time. But on the other hand seeing her less helped our relationship in some weird way. It made us want to see each other even more when we were apart, which made our secret meet-ups up that much better. We've only been dating a couple weeks anyway; if we spent too much time together we might get sick of each other real quick.
3 months later
Things were getting…difficult, to say the least. After being told I was in the final four I went home where I never saw her, and then suddenly we spent more time together than we ever have since meeting. And it was somehow hurting us.
Flashback
The wait has been relentlessly stressful and boring. I couldn't wait much longer to be called back without going insane over here; but at the same time, I wanted to wait. I know Demi likes me, actual feelings aside oddly enough. But there are a lot of talented people in this competition, let alone the young adults. Everyone did amazing today and I did the exact opposite of what I was told to do. I saw it on her face that she noticed. And she wasn't happy with me.
And that scared me.
"Jennel?" I think my heart may have stopped just a bit at the sudden interruption of my thoughts.
I followed yet another staff member until we stopped right outside a room where Demi was waiting, and I was told I was allowed to go when I pleased. I took the time gratefully and collected my thoughts for a moment, breathing deeply as I did. I was the third person to go and I had no idea what happened to the other two; they could either be cheering or crying their eyes out and I wouldn't be able to know from where I was. No big deal.
I mean, I would hope Demi would pick me because it's me, but she would "never let love and work mix", in her words. Too bad it wasn't actually love yet. I might have had a better chance.
"Jennel?"
"Hmm?" I could barely hear past my thoughts, needless to say I was surprised I managed some form of a response.
"I know I said you could take your time but we really need to move things along."
"Right. Sorry."
So that was it. My fate lied behind this door and even though I should I had no idea what it was. I began the dreaded walk in the room before a voice stopped me…again.
"Jennel?" How many times could she ask me my name in ten minutes?"
"Yeah?"
"Good luck."
End flashback
It's been non-stop rehearsal and vocal lessons since that day and I am exhausted. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love every second of this hot mess I call a life; it just takes its toll on me.
And unfortunately, my relationship.
"Jennel can you come here a second?"
I was with most of the other contestants discussing the show and how nervous we were for live shows to begin when her voice rang through the room. I turned to see Demi standing at the doorway to the room we were in, and we were all pretty surprised since I don't think any of us have ever seen her here when it wasn't mandatory. I looked back at Drew and Wesley and their faces mirrored my thoughts; why was she here?
"Yeah, sure…what's up?"
My voice was shaky and I had no idea why I was so nervous.
She motioned towards me to follow her out the door and I did so without first getting weird looks from everyone else in the room. I couldn't blame them though; extra time with a mentor this close to live shows is probably one of the most helpful things anyone could get right now. But I had the oddest feeling this had nothing to do with the live shows. And by her first few words I could tell I was right.
"Jennel we need to talk."
"Oh..."
"Do you know what we need to talk about?"
"I was kind of hoping you'd tell me because I'm lost."
We were still walking aimlessly through the house; I wondered slightly if she had any specific destination or if she was just walking to have some sort of distraction. She seemed a bit distraught and it made me nervous. You don't just show up to see someone without announcing yourself first, especially if you're not supposed to see this person outside of certain time periods and there were plenty of people who could say they saw you there.
"I like you a lot, and you know that. But I don't know how easy this is going to be from this point forward and I feel like I should warn you about it." I think I actually felt my heart drop to my stomach.
"Oh."
"Are you going to say anything else or should I just keep talking to myself," she giggled, which admittedly eased my nerves a bit.
"I just feel like I know how this conversation is going to end and I'm pretty positive I'm not gonna like it."
You know, I was actually surprised by this, honestly. I would have figured after everything I've dealt with to make this work and everything she's done, she would have at least given it a bit more of a chance. I was never one for crying and I still wasn't, but I was shocked I wasn't at least tearing up. Granted, we've only been dating for four months but this was the first time a relationship actually meant a lot to me.
"Jennel…" She looked at me with sad eyes and even though I knew I was right I figured I'd at least give her the chance to explain.
"We should talk outside. Don't want someone hearing us." I didn't really give her a chance to disagree with me before just heading to the nearest exit. I walked pretty blindly and found myself in the backyard and even though Demi was right behind me I felt pretty alone in the moment. Her hand came to my back and began going in small circles; I couldn't help but rest my head on her shoulder at that point.
"So are you gonna give me the "It's not you it's me" speech or should I just wait for something else?" I joked half-heartedly.
"I think you should wait for something else."
"Waiting not so patiently then."
"Jennel, first of all, I'm not breaking up with you-" she sounded like she was going to continue but I couldn't resist the urge to interrupt her. Curiosity was always my downfall.
"Really? Then why are you here?"
"Well if you'd give me the chance I'd be able to tell you. But did you really think I was breaking up with you?"
"Honestly yes. I can't see why else you'd come here at nearly ten o'clock just to talk to me, when live shows are in a month and I'm seeing you again in two days."
"Well you're awful calm for someone who thought they were about to be broken up with."
"What can I say, holding myself together is something I'm only bad at doing on camera."
"Well that's got to be be annoying."
The both of us laughed at that; she was dead right. Regardless I faked offence, sitting up and clutching a hand over my heart.
"Demi I'm hurt."
"And I'm right, so get back here."
Before I could argue she pulled me back into her embrace; it's not like I really would have fought her on it anyway. It was silent for a few seconds, but it was probably the most enjoyable silence I've ever experienced. I stared away from the house; it really was placed on such a beautiful hill and you could see the entire city and it's lights from up here. The silence was only broken by a low chuckle from Demi, and I could only imagine what she was laughing at.
"What?"
"It's just funny how three minutes ago I thought you hated me but now we're just sitting here quietly doing nothing and it's probably the best time we've spent together so far."
"Yeah...you know I would never hate you right?"
"Yeah."
"What did you want to talk about though?" I was still staring at the city so I couldn't see her but I felt and heard the sigh that escaped her.
"You know it only gets harder from here, right?"
"How so?"
"With the cameras on us all the time it's already so difficult...but when live shows begin literally every waking moment is going to be video taped. The only alone time any of us will have is when we're sleeping and even then I'm pretty sure cameras are on. Seeing each other is going to be so difficult. On our days off I'm sure we'll have a bit of time but other than that we're not going to have any time alone at all."
"So what are you saying?"
"I'm saying that I want you to know how difficult it's going to be. I'm also saying that if for any reason you can't handle it...you're free to do whatever you want, you know."
I looked at her and she didn't return my gaze; I wouldn't have either if I were her. I turned my head back to the horizon and wordlessly grabbed her hand, intertwining our fingers. We both sighed at the same time and a smile slipped across my face. She was probably expecting me to break up with her and I had no intention of that, but I guess she didn't know that.
"Dem...you're so stupid."
"Excuse me?"
"If you honestly think I'd break up with you after everything we've gone through then you are out of your mind."
She finally released a laugh and the tension in the air was gone just like that. I laughed along with her and felt a thousand times better than when she walked in the room twenty minutes ago. Silence fell upon us again and I couldn't help but turn my head to look at her once more. Her eyes were glazed over and she was lost in her own world, staring at the lights. I was caught by surprise when she started talking.
"It really is beautiful, isn't it? The view from up here, I mean."
"I'll say."
Her eyes shifted from in front of her down to me; apparently she didn't realize I had been looking at her. Blush spread over her cheeks as she tried and failed miserably to hide it. I smiled softly and she returned it, giving me the go ahead. I closed the space between us and we shared our first kiss in about a week; the softness of her kiss and the feeling of her lips on mine was driving me crazy and I loved it.
The kiss intensified and even though I knew I should have I couldn't stop it. She went from sitting next to me to straddling my waist, taking my hands in hers and lacing our fingers together. I didn't fight her as she pushed me onto my back and all I could think about was thank God we were on grass.
Slow as our kiss was, air suddenly became an issue and she tore her lips away from mine. I groaned at the loss of contact but when I opened my eyes I was met by an intense stare back from the most beautiful eyes I'd ever seen. I was completely powerless to her. I'm sure she could have asked me to jump out of an airplane without a parachute right now and I would have said yes.
"I should really leave."
"Can't you stay just a little longer?" I shot a pout at her and she bit her lip trying to contain her laughter.
"I wish I could...don't pout at me!"
"The pout is only going to get worse the more you tell me you have to leave."
"Then just let me go and we wont have this issue."
"Well excuse me for wanting to spend more than ten minutes at a time with my girlfriend."
"Babe...I'm trying, okay? Besides," she leaned in, her voice quite and lips brushing my ear with every word. "I don't know how much longer I'll be able to handle sitting on you like this without doing something about it."
She sat up with a smirk on her face as a shiver ran down my back that I knew she felt. Her satisfaction with herself only showed more as her smirk grew larger with each passing second. She pushed herself off me and just left me there as if she didn't just put a million bad thoughts in my mind for me to brood in. And I mean bad thoughts.
It had to have been another twenty minutes before I realized I was still laying outside by myself. I vaguely heard my name being shouted through the air, piercing the calm silence I had been enjoying. I couldn't tell who it was but by the time I stood up and cleaned the grass off myself, the voice was right next to me with a matching face staring at me confusedly.
"Jennel what are you doing outside? It's almost eleven, you can't just up and leave the house without telling someone where you're going and just sit outside alone. Do you know how dangerous that is for a girl your age, especially out here?"
I couldn't help but laugh at the concern leaking through every word he spoke. He had been like a father to me through this whole thing and I was extremely thankful for that.
"Im fine Tate, I promise. Just enjoying the time alone and all. What are you doing out here?"
"Looking for you. Mind if we sit down and chat a bit?"
"I'd love to."
He offered a smile as we sat, and I looked at the ground before sitting again; I had left an indent from where I had been laying so long. I chuckled lowly at the thought of what could have happened if he had come out here just a little earlier than he did.
"So Jennel, how are things for you? I know it's gotta be hard being away from family and all at such a young age. Hell, I'm 37 years old and I can barely stand being away from mine."
"It's not easy but there are a few people here who make it easier to deal with it. You're one of them, you know that? You always look out for me, and I appreciate it a lot." I smiled at him and he returned it happily.
"You remind me a lot of my daughter. Can't help but be a little protective of you, you know? I wanna see you do well in this world. But I'm a little concerned about the way things are going for you."
At that I was genuinely confused.
"Why?"
"Look, I'm not gonna say anything to the other contestants or the producers or nothin'...but I saw you and Demi out here." My heart sank to my stomach and I couldn't help but look at him. He looked genuinely concerned but I was on the verge of tears. "No one else saw you. I promise. This spot isn't visible from the room we were in since it's so dark outside. I only saw y'all because I came outside to make a quick phone call to my wife. But you gotta be more careful if you're sneakin' around with one of the judges. A lot of bad things could happen to you and Demi if anyone found out."
I literally couldn't breathe. My chest was constricting and I hadn't noticed until now but tears had finally escaped my eyes. He saw us. I believed him when he said he wouldn't tell anyone but the fact that someone besides Demi and I knows about Demi and I...it's just too scary.
"Tate...I can explain, it was just-"
"Don't stress about it, alright? Don't cry over it either doll." He wiped my tears away with his thumb and I couldn't help but smile at how nice he was being to me. "I promise you ain't got nothin' to worry about from me. But I'm just warning you to be more aware of your surroundings. You're lucky it was me and not someone else, I think any of them would have sold you out."
I couldn't form words and I guess he understood that. He stood up and offered a hand to help me up, and pulled me into his arms when I was. I cried relentlessly into his chest and I had no idea why. He said he wouldn't tell and I don't doubt him for a second. So what do I really have to be worried about?
"It'll be fine, alright? Just go get a good night's sleep and I'm sure you'll be good by the morning," he said after a few minutes. I pulled away from him and thanked him with my eyes and he guided me back to the house with him. I couldn't really focus on much else while I got ready for bed and when I laid down I only had one thing I wanted to do, and it wasn't sleep.
Jennel: Tate saw us.
A/N 2: Dramaaaaaaaaa. I hope you guys liked this chapter because I certainly don't. If you want to know when the story will be updated/you have questions about the story, feel free to message me on tumblr or PM me on here, I'll be glad to answer questions. Thanks again for reading!
A/N 3: Song Title/quote: One and Only by Adele
