AJ wakes up later that night to find Joe pacing back and forth. She frowns a little and sits up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Joe?" she wonders. "What's wrong?"

Joe doesn't acknowledge her question. He just continues to pace. AJ frowns in worry and gets up, walking over to him, standing in front of him.

"Babe!" she says, grabbing him to get him to stop pacing.

Joe blinks and focuses on AJ's face, his own face white as a ghost.

"What's wrong?" AJ asks once more, concern evident in her eyes and in her voice.

"I think Nick's in trouble," Joe says, his voice barely above a whisper.

AJ frowns again. "Why do you think that?" she wonders.

"Because he went looking for Zac," Joe replies.

AJ's eyes widen. "What?!" she practically yells. "Why would he do that?"

Joe sighs and runs a hand over his face, telling AJ everything Nick told him. "He's been gone for so long, and I'm getting so worried."

"Let's go look for him," AJ suggests, already reaching for her jacket.

But Joe stops her. "No," he says. "I'll go look for him." AJ opens her mouth to say something but Joe shakes his head, cutting her off. "You're pregnant, AJ, and Zac is a mean guy. I don't want anything to happen to you, or to that baby." He reaches out and puts a hand on AJ's baby bump. "Okay?"

AJ starts to protest but then she sighs and nods. "Okay," she reluctantly agrees. "But be careful, okay? I love you, and I cannot lose you. This baby needs a daddy."

Joe pulls AJ into a hug, resting his head against hers. "I'll be okay. I'm going to be right here for you, and for this little baby."

AJ pulls away from him slightly and looks up at him, into his eyes. "You promise?" she whispers.

Joe nods and kisses her forehead gently. "I promise," he replies.

AJ smiles a little but then pushes Joe away from her. "Go find Nick," she tells him. "I'm sure he needs you a lot right now, and you need to be there for him."

Joe nods and gives her a quick kiss before grabbing his cell phone and keys off the coffee table. He hurries out of the house and to his car.

"Please be okay," he says quietly as he starts his car and pulls away from the house.

Zac looks down at Nick and laughs when he hears him gasping for breath. He crouches down next to him, careful not to step in his blood.

"Finally getting what you deserve, huh, Nick?" he snarls. He laughs again when Nick's breathing becomes even shallower. He realizes he still has the knife in his hand and his face pales for a second. "Gotta get rid of this thing." He stands back up and starts to walk out of the house when he notices a familiar car driving down the street. "Oh, shit."

He hurries back inside, shutting the door behind him. He looks down at Nick's lifeless body and curses under his breath. He doesn't have time to figure out what to do before there's a knock at the door.

"Zac!" Joe yells, banging on the door again. "I know you're in there! And I know my brother came to see you!" When Zac doesn't answer, Joe clenches his fists. "I will knock this fucking door down, I swear to God. And if you even so much as touched a curl on his head, I'll kill you!"

Zac gulps, knowing Joe is deadly serious. He looks down at Nick again and then drops the knife, hurrying through the house to the back door. Joe hears that and clenches his jaw. He takes a step away from the door and then charges it, hitting it with his shoulder. It breaks open and Joe catches himself before he can fall down. He takes a step into the house and then stops, nearly dropping to his knees when he sees his little brother.

"Nick," he says, dropping down next to him. He turns him over and chokes back a sob when he can't hear his breathing or feel his heartbeat. "No, no, no!" he cries, holding Nick close to him, not caring that he's getting his clothes dirty with Nick's blood. "Wake up," he begs his baby brother. "Nicholas, please wake up."

It finally dawns on him to call the police so he gets his phone out and does just that, explaining in a tearful voice to the person who answers what happened. He hangs up as soon as he's done giving Zac's address, holding Nick tighter, wishing he'd wake up and be okay.

"Nick?" Demi says later that day, picking up the phone on the first ring. "Is that you?! I've been trying to call you all day!"

"Demi," Joe says in a small voice.

Demi pulls the phone away from her ear and frowns at it for a second. "Joe?" she wonders.

"Yeah, Dem, it's me."

Demi frowns again. "Why are you calling? Where's Nick? I really wanted to talk to him. I really miss–"

"Demi," Joe says once more, cutting her off. She instantly grows quiet, hearing the hurt in his voice. "Nick..." He stops talking, taking a deep breath so he won't cry. Again. "He's hurt real bad, Demi."

Demi's heart nearly stops. "What?" she whispers. "How?"

"It was Zac," Joe tells her. "Nick went to his house to confront him, and he—he stabbed him. Punctured his lung. H-he wasn't breathing when I found him." He closes his eyes and inhales shakily, starting to cry again.

AJ, who's sitting next to him, slips an arm around him and kisses his head. Joe leans into her, trying to get his sobs under control.

"Is—is he breathing now?" Demi wonders, barely able to get the words out. "Is he okay? Please tell me he's okay!"

"I'm—I'm sorry, Demi," Joe chokes out, "but he's not." He squeezes his eyes shut, his cries finally subsiding. "He's—he's breathing, but—but not on his own."

"What does that even mean?!"

Joe opens his mouth to say something but then starts to cry again. AJ squeezes his shoulder and takes the phone from him.

"Demi? It's AJ...Joe's girlfriend?" She takes a shaky breath. "Nick is hooked up to a ventilator. He's breathing, but that machine is doing the breathing for him." A few tears roll down her cheek. "The doctors aren't hopeful, sweetie."

Joe starts to cry harder when AJ says that, burying his face into his hands. Demi's own eyes fill with tears.

"No!" she cries. "Please tell me this is some sick joke. Please, AJ! Nick can't die! I can't lose him! Please!"

"I'm sorry, Demi. I wish I could tell you that this is all some misunderstanding, or that it's just a joke, but I can't. He's hurt, and the doctors can't do anything more for him, and they don't think he'll even survive the week."

"No!" Demi cries again, shutting her phone and throwing it against the wall.

"Demi–" AJ tries but then sighs when all she hears is the dial tone. She puts the phone down on the table and leans her head on Joe's shoulder, slipping an arm around him again. "He'll be okay, baby," she says quietly, rubbing Joe's back in slow circles. "He'll be okay."

Joe turns to her and wraps his arms around her tightly, burying his face into her neck, starting to sob hard.

AJ sighs a little, starting to cry herself. "He'll be okay," she repeats, more to herself than to Joe. "He has to be okay."

"Nick!" Demi says late the next day, racing into Nick's hospital room and right over to his bed. "Oh, my God, Nick."

Joe looks up from Nick's face and his eyes widen. "Demi?" he says quietly.

Demi doesn't look at Joe as she answers. "I called Madison after I got done talking to AJ. She didn't want to but I made her book the next flight back here. Unfortunately, it wasn't until this morning or I would've been here sooner." She brings her hand to Nick's curls, running her fingers through them slowly. Tears start cascading down her face, seeing her boyfriend lying so still. "Is he going to be okay?" she wonders quietly.

Joe swallows hard, not wanting what he's about to say to be true.

"No, he's not," he answers just as softly. "Nicholas is going to die, Demi."

The end! But don't worry, there will be a sequel. I can't leave you hanging like this, can I? But my next story is going to be Guilty Until Proven Innocent which will be totally different than anything I've ever written. But I'm very excited to start writing it. :) Anyway, please review and tell me what you think (both about the story and the new story idea)!