"I haven't been this happy in a long time," Nick says a little while later, breaking the comfortable silence that had fallen over the young couple.

Demi nuzzles her face into Nick's neck; Nick holds her tighter.

"I've never been this happy," she says quietly.

"Well, I'm here now. You're going to be happy for the rest of your life." Nick smiles and kisses her head.

Demi smiles against his skin as Nick trails his fingers up and down her back slowly.

"That's weird," she comments.

Nick frowns a little in confusion. "What's weird?"

"You're the only one I let touch me," Demi replies, her face still buried in Nick's neck. "When the nurses and doctors in the hospital tried to, I'd get scared and kick and hit and cry. I do the same thing here sometimes when I have to go to therapy and someone just touches my arm or something. I freak out. But I don't get scared when you touch me or hold me or...kiss me. It's weird."

"It's not weird," Nick replies. "You just trust me and know I would never hurt you."

"But that's weird too." Demi pulls away from Nick to look at his face. "Trusting you. I never thought I would. I spent the last seventeen years of my life not trusting anyone but myself. And then you come along and all of my walls fall down and I find myself trusting you completely. It's a weird feeling."

Nick tilts his head to the side. "Good weird or bad weird?"

Demi smiles, kissing Nick's nose and giggling at the face Nick makes. "Good weird," she tells him. "Definitely good weird." She takes one of Nick's hand and intertwines their fingers together. "For the record," she says after a few seconds, "I'm glad you're here. Because if you weren't...I don't think I would be either."

"Demi–" Nick starts.

"Don't," she says, cutting him off. "It's true, and I know you know it's true. If you weren't here, if you hadn't saved me from my father, I'd be dead right now. I would've been dead a long time ago. I owe you my whole life, Nick."

Nick shakes his head, giving her hand a squeeze. "You don't owe me anything, Demi, okay? I didn't protect you from that monster so you'd owe me. I protected you because I love you and I couldn't just stand by and watch that bastard hurt you even more than he already has. And Zac..." His voice trails off. "Was that the first time he ever did that to you?"

Demi looks away from Nick, laying her head back down on his shoulder. "Yes," she says quietly. Nick can tell that she doesn't want to talk about this anymore but after a few minutes, she continues. "He said—he said that I wanted that, though. But I didn't. I didn't want it. You know that, right? I didn't want it...I didn't want it..."

By this point, Demi had started to cry. Nick wraps his arms around her tightly, rubbing her back in slow circles.

"I know, honey," he says soothingly. "I know you didn't want it. Zac forced himself on you, and I know you didn't want it. It's okay. You're safe now, I'm here, and no one is ever going to hurt you again, okay? I won't let them."

Demi sniffs, her tears subsiding a little. "You—you promise?" she asks him in a whisper.

Nick nods, still holding onto her. "Yeah, sweetie. I promise you. With all my heart, I promise you."

"I love you, Nick," she says to him, her head under his chin.

"I love you, too, Dem," Nick says back, a smile on his face. "Hey," he says a moment later, "are you hungry? I just realized I haven't eaten since New Jersey, and I'm starving." He chuckles and then blushes as his stomach growls loudly.

Demi giggles as she sits up, wiping away the last few tears. "Yeah," she says, "I'm pretty hungry too. Let's go to the cafeteria."

"Okay," Nick agrees as he gets off the bed after Demi does, slipping his arm around her as they walk out of the room.

"So, what are you going to do about school?" Demi wonders, talking around a mouthful of food.

Nick chuckles in amusement as he watches her. "What do you mean?" he asks confused. "What about school?"

"Well...you've been out of school for a month, right? And you're staying here for—how long are you staying here for?"

"A week," Nick answers.

Demi nods and smiles at that. "You've been out of school for a month," she says. "And now you're staying here for another week. You're going to be out of school for another week."

Nick shrugs, taking a sip of his diet Coke. "So?"

"Nick...if you don't have enough credits, you might not graduate," Demi tells him.

Nick looks down at the table, at his soda can. "I don't want to go back to school," he says quietly.

Demi frowns as she looks at him. "You don't—Hey." She reaches across the table and puts her hand over his; he reluctantly raises his head to meet her eyes. "You don't want to go back to school?"

Nick shakes his head but stays quiet.

"Why don't you want to go to school?" Demi asks then.

"I'll have no friends," he finally answers after what seems like hours. "And Taylor is still there. He still blames me for Zac being in jail. What if he...tries to hurt me again?"

Demi's eyes widen in realization. "You're scared," she says quietly.

Nick nods, looking down at the table once more. "I don't want him to hurt me again," he says just as quietly.

"Oh, honey." She reaches across the table for his hand once more. "He won't hurt you anymore—not with Joe there. He'll beat up anyone who even tries to hurt you, he know you will. I mean, I know I haven't known him that long, but I can tell that he really loves you. And I know that if anyone tries to mess with you again...they're dead meat. You have to know that too."

Nick nods slightly and then looks at her again. "Yeah," he replies. "Yeah, I know that."

"Good." Then she smiles at him, squeezing his hand before reluctantly pulling hers away. "Now, no more being sad, okay? You're here, you're mine, for a whole week and I want to spend that whole time being nothing but happy, all right?"

Nick nods immediately. "Okay," he echoes. Then he pauses for a second. "Do you think they'd let me stay here overnight?"

Demi takes another bite of her burger. "I don't know," she answers after swallowing her food. "Maybe, if you ask the lady at the desk really nicely. I haven't been in any trouble or anything since I've been here, so it should probably be okay." It was Demi's turn to pause. "You want to stay here overnight, too? Not just during the day?"

"Of course," Nick says instantly. Then he frowns a little. "Why? Don't you want me here?"

"Of course I do. But...your brother's here, too. Don't you think you should spend at least some time with him while you're here? We can spend the whole day together, but you should go to the hotel and do something fun with your brother, as well. I mean, you're in California. There's a ton of fun things you guys could do. Hit the beach and go surfing, or something."

"Go surfing?" Nick laughs and shakes his head. "You've obviously never seen my brother on a surfboard."

Demi laughs too. "No, but that is something I'd definitely pay to see."

Nick laughs again. "Hey, are you allowed out of here?" he asks suddenly. "Even just for, like, a day?"

"I don't know," Demi replies. "I never bothered to ask. Why?"

"Because I want to take you out," Nick says. "On a proper date. At a real restaurant, with real food."

Demi bites her lip slightly. "I might be able to sneak out," she says with a small giggle.

"Great. So tomorrow, okay? Seven o'clock?"

Demi smiles at him and nods eagerly. "Seven o'clock," she repeats. "It's a date."

Nick and Demi's first date is next chapter! I'm actually quite excited to write that. And it's Valentine's Day (in the next chapter) too, so double yay. Please comment?