"I—I don't know," Demi starts, looking down, away from Nick.
"Hey," Nick says, putting a finger under her chin and forcing her, gently, to look at him. "You trust me, right?"
Demi nods almost immediately. "Yes," she replies instantly. "I do."
"Then trust me here, okay?" he asks. "I love you, and I will never ever hurt you. You know that, right? You believe that?"
Demi nods again. "I do," she says once more.
Nick takes her face in his hands and steps closer to her, closing the gap between them. "Then let me kiss you," he breathes.
He waits for the slight nod of her head before he leans down, meeting her lips with his. Demi hesitates only a second before closing her eyes and kissing him back.
"Sweetie," Madison says a few seconds later, putting a hand on Demi's back. "We have to go, Demi."
Demi pulls herself away from Nick and looks back at Madison, nodding her head. She looks back up at Nick.
"I guess—I guess I have to go now," she says sadly, reaching for her bag that's sitting by Nick's side.
Nick nods and smiles a little. "I love you." He gives her another quick kiss. "Remember that, okay? No matter what happens, always remember that."
Demi nods and sniffs a little, closing her eyes for a second to keep her tears back. "I love you, too," she whispers to him.
She steps away from him and turns away from him, walking with Madison to their gate, not once looking back at him. Nick stays there until she's out of sight before turning to Joe, his lower lip quivering, a clear indication that he's about to start crying.
"Oh, Nick," Joe says, pulling Nick to him.
Nick grips on tightly to his big brother, burying his face into his shoulder. Joe doesn't say anything; he just holds him tighter, letting Nick silently know that he's here for him.
"Come on," Joe says after a little while, pulling away from Nick slightly. "Let's go home."
Nick nods and wipes at his eyes as he follows Joe out of the airport and to his car.
"Okay, so a couple things," Joe starts when they get in the car. "About school. You've been out for almost three weeks, and you're going back next month. I got all of your school work, so it's at home whenever you're ready to do it. But your teachers said that there's no rush, you can get it to them when you can."
Nick sits back in his seat. "Oh shit," he says. "School. I completely forgot about that."
"That's easy to do when you've been through what you've been through," Joe comments, starting the car and backing out of his spot.
Nick nods his agreement. "So, what's the second thing?" he asks after a second.
Joe glances at him and smiles. "I'm moving back home," he tells him.
Nick's eyes widen a little. "You are?" he asks in disbelief. "But what about Dad?"
Joe shrugs. "I'm nineteen," he replies. "Dad can't tell me what to do anymore. If I want to move out, I can. And I'm going to. I want to move back home. I want to be with you and Mom and be a family again." He glances at him again and frowns a little. "Aren't you...happy about this?"
Nick nods. "I am," he starts.
"Then what's with the face?" Joe interrupts. "You don't look happy."
Nick plays with his hands absentmindedly. "You turned eighteen last year. You could've moved out then," he said. "Why didn't you move back home then?"
"Because you hated me then," Joe reminds him. "You blamed me for the divorce. You wanted nothing to do with me. So I didn't think you'd want me to move back home."
Nick sighs quietly, looking at him again. "I'm sorry," he says. "I know I've said that before, but I really am. You're my big brother. You were my best friend. I was just...so angry. But I'm so sorry."
Joe glances at him once more. "Are we best friends again?"
Nick nods instantly. "Of course we're best friends again," he replies with a smile.
Joe smiles back. "Good."
"Oh," Nick speaks up a few minutes later, "and for the record, I am happy that you're moving back home. Very happy, actually." He chuckles a little, and Joe smiles again. "I'm not looking forward to going back to school, though."
"Why not?" Joe wonders, his eyes still on the road in front of them.
"Because everything's changed," Nick answers. "I'm not going to have any friends anymore."
"You'll have me," Joe reminds him.
Nick smiles a little. "I know that," he says, "but we don't have any classes together. I used to hang out with Zac, and Taylor. Obviously Zac's out of the question, and I can bet you that Taylor won't want to hang out with me anymore either."
"Do you really even still want to hang out with Taylor, though?" Joe asks him. "He's an asshole, Nick."
Nick nods. "Yeah," he agrees. "He's an asshole. But everyone in school still thinks I'm an asshole too."
"Then we'll just have to change their minds, huh?" Joe flashes his baby brother a smile.
Nick smiles too. "Yeah, we will." He's silent for a little as Joe drives home. Then he glances at his brother again. "What about you and AJ?"
Joe shrugs. "What about me and AJ?"
"How are things going with you two?"
Joe shrugs again and then sighs. "We broke up," he answers after a second. "You were right. She is pregnant. And I know it's not mine because we haven't had sex yet."
"That sucks, man," Nick says sincerely. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be," Joe tells him. "I'm not sad about it. I actually...like someone else anyway."
Nick raises his eyebrows. "Oh, really?" he says. "Do I know her?"
Joe shakes his head. "I doubt it," he replies. "She's a freshman in college. I take a class at the local college and met her."
"Wait, wait, wait." Nick holds up a hand. "You take a college class?"
Joe nods. "Yeah," he answers. "Since I got left back last year, I figured I should."
"Oh," Nick comments. He looks at Joe once more. "So tell me about this girl."
Joe looks at Nick as he comes to a stop at a red light, and his smile couldn't have been bigger. "She's amazing, Nick, and she's so cute—not that I care about what she looks like, but she is. And she's so sweet and kind...and I think she likes me."
Nick smiles at him. "Ask her out, man!"
"I'm going to," Joe says with another smile. "I have a class tomorrow and I'm going to ask her then."
Nick smiles more. "Good," he says. Then he stops and his eyes widen. "Shit. You haven't been going to school, either, have you?"
Joe shakes his head slowly. "No," he says after a minute. "But the teachers understand my situation too. I've been going to the school every day to get your work, and mine. That's what I've doing while I was waiting for you to wake up. School and home work."
"Are you going back to regular school tomorrow too, like you're going back to your college class?"
"I was thinking of it," he starts, looking over at Nick. "But if you don't want me to, I won't. Because you're going to be home all by yourself, since Mom is going back to work tomorrow too."
Nick frowns a little. "Mom took off from work too?"
Joe nods again. "She wanted to be there for you, and she couldn't do that if she was working doubles."
"But she needs the money," Nick says quietly to himself. "We need the money."
"She never takes a vacation, so she used all of her vacation days. She's getting paid for the time she took off, Nick. It's okay."
Nick lets out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness," he murmurs.
"So, do you?" Joe speaks up after a little. Nick brings his focus back to his big brother. "Do you want me to stay home with you?"
Nick shakes his head. "No," he says. "Go to school. I'll be okay."
Joe cocks his head to the side and then jumps a little when the person behind him lays on the horn. He looks up and sees that the light is green.
"Sorry!" he yells to the car behind him as he steps on the gas.
Nick can't help but chuckle. "You know the he can't hear you."
"Oh, yeah. Oops. Sorry!" he says again. Nick shakes his head with a laugh. "But seriously. Are you sure you'll be okay with being home alone?"
Nick nods. "I'm sure, Joe. My head hardly hurts anymore. It's not like you're going to come home and find me dead on the floor."
"Don't even put that image in my head!" Joe practically cries. "I almost saw you dead on the floor and I never want to have to see you like that, ever again."
Nick looks away from Joe's face. "I'm sorry," he says quietly.
Joe sighs and reaches over, putting a hand on Nick's shoulder, squeezing it. Nick looks back at him. "I'm just glad you're okay."
Nick nods and smiles a little. "I'm glad I'm okay too."