Demi races into the hospital later that night and up to the front desk.

"Nick Jonas," she says out of breath. "I need to see Nick Jonas. What room is he in?"

Joe glances up when he hears his brother's name. He gets up shakily and walks over to her.

"Demi?" he says quietly.

Demi looks over at him and recognizes him instantly. Her eyes widen as she takes in his appearance. "Did—did my dad do that to you?"

Joe nods slowly, his hand going to his swollen cheek. Demi sucks in a breath.

"Nick?" she whispers.

Joe shakes his head. "I don't know," he replies. "They won't tell me anything. All I know is that Nick is unconscious and has a concussion and that he hasn't woken up yet."

"Oh my God," Demi breathes. She walks over to a chair and sinks down in it. She puts her head in her hands and then looks over at Joe when he sits back down next to her. "What happened?"

Joe sighs. "He was worried about you, so he asked me to drive to your house. When we got there, he went in by himself and told me he'd call for me if he ran into any trouble. The next thing I know, he's yelling my name. When I got to him, he was on the floor, unconscious and bloody, and your dad was on top of him, hitting him over and over. I yelled and your dad–"

"Stop calling him that," Demi interrupts. "He is not my dad, okay?" Joe nods so Demi nods too. "Keep going," she says. "You yelled, and he...?"

"I yelled and your d—he looked at me and tackled me to the ground too, knocking me out. When I came to, Nick was still unconscious and that monster was gone."

Demi's eyes widen. "Oh my god," she says again.

Joe looks over at her now. "Where did you go?" he asks her.

Demi sighs, looking down at her hands. "I woke up, and I was in Nick's arms, and I just...I freaked. I got scared. No one's touched me like that before. No one's held me like that before. I just got scared so I left. I just walked. I didn't know where I was going. I couldn't go home, and I couldn't face Nick. He's seen a side of me I've spent my whole life trying to hide from, well, everyone."

Joe's eyes widen. "Your whole life?" he repeats. "Your father has been doing this to you your whole life?"

Demi's eyes widen again when she realizes what she's just said. "No," she starts.

"Don't," Joe interrupts her. "Don't do that. Nick told me about your father. How he hits you, and how he...hurts you. If he were awake, he'd tell you the same thing: stop the lies. Your father hurts you. He hurt Nick. He almost killed my baby brother. And you're really going to sit there and tell me that your father doesn't hurt you, has never hurt you? Because that's bullshit."

Demi squeezes her eyes shut but doesn't answer him.

Joe sighs and puts a hand on Demi's shoulder. Her eyes shoot open and she tenses up and Joe immediately drops his hand onto his lap.

"If your dad doesn't hurt you," he says slowly, "then why did you just tense up when I put my hand on your shoulder?"

Demi looks at him for a long minute and then opens her mouth to speak. But before she can get a word out, a doctor walks over to them. Joe glances up at him and then does a double-take when he realizes who it is. He jumps to his feet—and then has to reach a hand out for the doctor to steady himself when he gets dizzy. The doctor eases him back down into the chair.

Joe closes his eyes for a second to wait for the dizziness to pass. Then he opens them and looks up at the doctor once more. "How is he?" he wonders, fearing the answer.

"He woke up–" the doctor starts.

Demi's face lights up. "That's great!" she explains. But then she sees the look on the doctor's face and her smile fades. "Isn't it?" she asks.

The doctor nods slowly. "It is," he assures her. "But he lost a lot of blood, and he has a major concussion."

Joe's eyes widen once more. "But—but he's okay, right?"

The doctor nods again. "He is," he replies, "and we expect him to make a full recovery, but–"

"Can we go see him?" Demi wonders, interrupting him again.

The doctor sighs "You can," he says slowly, "but brace yourself, okay? He looks really bad right now." He stops for a second. "What happened to him, exactly? Who did that to him?"

Joe looks over at Demi and she shakes her head the tiniest bit. Joe frowns at her and Demi shakes her head more vehemently. Finally, Joe sighs and looks up at the doctor again.

"I—I don't know," he finally answers. "We—we were walking and we got mugged. I—I don't know who it was. It all happened—it all happened so fast."

The doctor frowns at Joe, clearly not believing a word he says, but he doesn't press the subject. Instead, he just nods slowly again. "You can go see him, if you want," he says after a second. "But keep in mind what I said, okay? He looks really bad right now."

Joe nods too. "Thank you," he says sincerely.

The doctor nods once more before walking away. Joe turns to Demi after the doctor is out of sight.

"Okay, what the hell?" Joe says. Demi cringes and cowers away from him. "Why didn't you want me to tell him about your father? He could've called the cops on that bastard! He could go to jail!"

"I don't want him to go to jail!" she cries.

Joe frowns, more confused than ever. "Why?" he asks after a second.

"Because I'm only seventeen," she replies. "I just turned seventeen. "If the police find out...about my father, they'll take me away and put me in foster care. I'll never see Nick again."

"So you're willing to put up with your father abusing you on a daily basis just so they won't take you away from here, away from Nick?"

Demi nods, looking down at her hands. "Theses last couple of weeks that Nick and I have worked together?" She looks back up at Joe's battered face. "They've been the best two weeks of my life. Nick...he loves me, Joe. And I love him. If they take me away, I'll lose that. I'll lose the only person who's ever loved me. I don't want that to happen. That can't happen." Demi swallows and looks down again.

Joe looks at her for a second before putting his hand over hers. Demi tenses up again but Joe doesn't pull his hand away. "Come on," he says. "Let's go see Nick."

Demi nods and stands up with Joe. She keeps her distance from him as they walk to Nick's room.

"Hey, buddy," Joe says, walking over to Nick's bedside. He tries not to stare at the giant bruises covering his brother's face, or at the several cuts Demi's father's ring made covering his cheeks. "How're you feeling?"

Nick smiles weakly at him and opens his mouth to speak but his throat is dry so he tries to swallow and winces in pain.

"I'll get you some water," Joe says, walking over to the sink. He gets a cup and fills it with water and then walks back over to Nick after putting a straw in it. "Here, Nick." He holds the cup up to Nick's mouth and Nick takes a small sip out of the straw.

"Thank you," Nick whispers.

Joe nods, taking a seat in the chair next to his bed, putting the cup of water on the table. Demi walks into the room after taking a deep breath.

"Hi, Nick," she says.

Nick looks over at her and almost jumps out of bed. But then he cries out in pain and sinks back down onto the bed, closing his eyes and breathing heavy. Joe puts a hand on his shoulder.

"You have to take it easy, okay? You have a major concussion, Nick. I don't want you to hurt yourself anymore than he's already hurt you."

Nick nods a little and blows out a sigh, opening his eyes back up to look at Demi. He opens one arm for her. Demi hesitates a moment and starts to shake her head but Nick stops her.

"Demi," he says, his voice pleading.

Demi bites her lip and hesitates again before walking over to him slowly. She lays down with him, careful not to touch the wires connected to his body or the bruises covering his face. She buries her face in his neck but then feels him wince and starts to pull away from him. But his arm tightens around her, not letting her go.

"Nick," Demi says, looking at him. "I hurt you. I felt you wince."

"I don't care," he tells her. "I don't care how much it hurts me. Please lay with me." He looks at her too. "I was so worried about you today. When I went over to your house this morning...I was expecting the worse. I thought I would find you lying on the floor again, or worse. I thought I'd find you dead. And that thought terrified me. But now that I know you're okay, I'm going to hold onto you and never let you go. I'm not going to let you out of my sight for a second." He squeezes her tight and she buries her face back in his neck. He winces again but holds her tighter.

"I'm so sorry," Demi whispers into his neck, an arm around his torso. "I'm so, so, so sorry."

"Sh," Nick says, rubbing her back in slow circles. "It's okay, it's okay."

Demi shakes her head. "This is all my fault," she says, starting to cry. "If I hadn't left this morning, you never would've gone to my house, and this never would've happened."

"No," Nick says forcefully. "It is not your fault, Demi, okay? Nothing that's happened in your life is your fault. And I want you to stop thinking that right now. I love you. You are the most incredible, most amazing, most beautiful girl that I've ever met."

Demi shakes her head. "No, I'm not!" she sobs. "I'm not incredible, and I'm not amazing, and I'm not beautiful–"

"Stop," Nick practically yells at her. She starts to cry harder so Nick sighs, holding her even tighter. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. But I mean everything I said. You are all of those things, and more. I want you to stop thinking the worst about yourself, because those things—those things I know your father says to you—they're not true. Not at all."

Demi sniffs and lifts her head up to look at him. "How can you love me?" she asks him quietly. "I'm broken. I've been broken for a long time. How can you love me?"

Nick shrugs, wincing once more. "I just do," he says. "Do I need a reason?"

"I'm not...I'm not a virgin, Nick," Demi says, looking away from his face. "I know that you're waiting for the right one, and I was too, but my—my dad hurt me." She closes her eyes, forcing the tears away. She opens them and sees Joe watching them, but she continues anyway. "The first time he—he...raped me was when I w-was five."

Nick's eyes widen. "Five?" he says quietly. He feels sick. "Oh my god."