Echoes in the Darkness | Demi Lovato

Chapter 25- I Wouldn't Change a Thing

"You okay?" Demi's voice was really low and close to my ear when I grabbed her hand as I walked through the back door of the mall with her and Marissa. I just nodded my head a took a deep breath. Demi and Marissa want to go to the mall so I guess I can deal with it for a while.

"Where to first?" Marissa asked, oblivious to my internal struggle with all the people around.

"Topshop?" Demi asked immediately. I think it's her favorite store, she seems to have some kind of weird obsession with it.

Marissa and I agreed, and soon enough we found ourselves in a surprisingly large mall store, looking around at the overpriced clothing. As soon as we entered the store I decided to buy clothes somewhere else. No one needs to spend $80 on a pair of freaking jeans!

"Don't see anything you like?" Demi's voice made me jump slightly and I just shrugged.

"Not in particular."

"Where do you want to go then, baby girl?" Demi asked softly. We've been in Topshop for about thirty minutes and I noticed that Marissa was paying for a couple clothing items at the register.

"Can we go to Hot Topic?" I asked shyly. I've only ever been once, but I loved a lot of the band tees that they had, and I really want to get some.

"'Course."

Like fire and rain.

---

Three hours later Demi, Marissa, and I were leaving the mall, going once again out the back entrance to avoid any paparazzi. The two of them had bought a bunch of clothes, and I mean a lot a lot, while I had a couple of new outfits. Honestly, it stresses me out when I have too many clothes. I never have before and I don't want to start now.

"M&M?"

You can drive me insane.

"Yeah?" I looked up at Marissa's nickname for me. It was something that she had started calling me today.

"What do you want to eat?" It was then that I realized we were in the drive-through for a McDonald's. I felt my eyes widen. I cannot eat fast food! I'll get so fat!

"M, they have salads, it's okay, just pick something small and eat as much as you can," Demi's voice was reassuring as we waited behind the car to order.

"Uh, um," I could hear the decisiveness in my own voice and I saw Marissa shoot me a worried glance through the rearview mirror. "side salad?"

I heard Demi lightly sigh. Oh great, I disappointed her. Here I am, supposed to be getting better but instead, I'm trying to still avoid eating. I don't want to hurt Demi, but I'm already fat enough as is.

But I can't stay mad at you for anything.

A couple of minutes later, Marissa passed me back a bag that had apple slices and a small salad in it. I don't want to eat it, I don't want to eat it, I don't want to disappoint Demi...

I slowly took a bite of lettuce and forced myself to swallow it. I could lightly see Demi smile and so I force myself to spear another piece of lettuce. This is going to be a long day.

---

"I'm proud of you for eating today, baby girl." Demi's voice was soft she played with my hair, braiding it then undoing it again. What Demi didn't know was that I had purged as soon as we got home. There was nothing for her to be proud of.

And I wouldn't change a thing.

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Author's Note: Hey everyone, we're back again! How has everyone been? I stopped writing this story for a while because I had a writer's block, but yesterday I randomly got a bunch of ideas for this story as well as Elephant in the Room, so I basically spent all day writing. As a result, I'm back to being ahead on updates, so I figured I'd post a new chapter. Also, please go check out my other story, I'm going to updating that soon too. Anyways, that's about all I have to say about this besides please vote and comment! QOTD: What do you guys think of the new cover? Do you like this one or the old cover better?

Votes: 150

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