A few tears rolls down Nick's cheeks. "Mommy," he says quietly.

"Oh, baby," his mom says just as quietly, walking over to his other side, leaning down to kiss his forehead.

Nick closes his eyes and pulls one arm away from Demi to grab onto his mother, gripping onto her tightly. He starts to cry.

"Sh," his mom soothes him, running her fingers through his hair slowly. "Sh, Nick, I'm right here, baby, sh."

They stay like that for a little while longer before his mom pulls away from Nick and looks over at Joe, smiling at him with tears in her eyes.

"There's my other baby." She gets up and walks over to him, brushing hair away from his forehead. She gives him a tight hug, and he hugs her back tighter.

"I missed you, Mom," he says into her shoulder.

She closes her eyes and leans her head on his. "I missed you, too, Joe."

She moves onto Joe's lap, one arm around his shoulders, and then reaches out a hand for Nick. He grips onto it tightly.

"When I first heard that you were in the hospital," she starts, "I was thinking the worst. I'm so glad you're okay, Nick."

Nick nods. "Me too," he says quietly. Then he frowns a little. "Wait, how did you know I was here?"

"It was on the news," his mom tells him. "What happened, Nicholas? Who did this to you?"

"We were—we were mugged," Nick begins, but his mother cuts him off.

"No," she tells him. "Don't give me the whole 'we got mugged' speech. I'm not that stupid, Nicholas."

Nick looks at her for a second before looking away. His mom squeezes his hand and he looks back at her. "Who did this to you?" She looks at Joe. "To both of you?"

Nick sighs and nods toward Demi, who's still fast asleep, her head nestled in the crook of his neck, one arm draped across his chest. "Her dad," he finally says.

His mom widens her eyes. "Her dad?" she repeats. Nick nods slightly. She looks at Demi and her eyes widen more at the marks around Demi's wrist. "Oh, my god," she breathes.

Nick follows her gaze and quickly pulls Demi's sleeve down past her wrist. He looks back at his mom.

"His dad hurts her," he says quietly, not wanting to wake Demi. "He hurts her real bad. She left this morning, and I got scared, so I went to Joe's, to—to talk to him, and then he drove me to Demi's, but she wasn't there, but her dad was, and he saw me, and he just started—he just started hitting me."

He was breathing hard by the time he was finished talking and his eyes had tears in them. His mom pulls her hand away from him and brings it to his head, rubbing it softly.

"Sh," she whispers. "It's okay, baby. You're okay, sh."

"I was so scared, Mom," he says, crying softly. "I didn't—I didn't want to die."

"You didn't," she reminds him. "Your big brother was there, and he protected you." She smiles at Joe for a second before turning back to Nick. "You're okay. You're right here, with me and with Joe, and—and with her." She gestures toward Demi's sleeping form. "You're not going anywhere, okay? Not for a long, long time. You got it?"

Nick nods but his lower lip quivers, indicating a fresh wave of tears is about to start.

"Oh, Nick," she says, getting up to engulf him in a hug again.

Nick grips onto her just as tightly as before. "I'm so sorry," he sobs into her neck.

"Sh," she says soothingly again. "Sorry for what, honey?"

"For—for how I treated you," he replies, still holding onto her with one arm. "For how awful I was to you. I'm so sorry, so sorry. Please, please, please forgive me. Please?"

"Nicholas, of course I forgive you," she assures him instantly. "You were going through a tough time, and even though it hurt that you thought I was lying about your father, I knew you'd be my little boy once again."

"I love you, Mom," he whispers to her.

"I love you, too, baby," she answers, kissing his head. She pulls away and smiles at him.

He smiles back and opens his mouth to say something but is cut off by Demi tossing and turning in her sleep. He immediately turns his focus to her.

"Demi," he says, bringing a hand to her hair. "Baby, wake up. Demi!"

He nudges her and her eyes fly open. She stares at Nick in fear and slaps him hard across the face before she realizes who it is. Then her eyes widen as Nick cringes in pain and clenches his teeth.

"Oh my god," she cries, bringing a hand to Nick's cheek. He cringes again and she immediately pulls her hand back. "I'm so sorry, Nick. I thought—I thought...oh my god."

She scrambles off the bed and hurries to the door.

"Demi!" Nick yells. She turns around to look at him but shakes her head and then leaves. He starts to get up but both Joe and his mom push him back down onto the bed. "Demi," he says quietly.

I know this is short, and I apologize. Next chapter will be longer and better, I promise. Something happens within the next two chapters that I'm sure none of you will like...