Crawling Back To You

Dina’s POV

“Are you almost ready, Dina? You’re going to make me late for the second time today,” Damien complained as I applied mascara to my long eyelashes.

“Yes, I’ll be ready in a second.”

“I’m going to sit in the cab. If you’re not there in a minute, I’m leaving without you. I can’t be late to my own birthday dinner.”

I sighed as the front door of my apartment forcefully slammed shut. Putting the essentials into my black purse, I grabbed my coat off the couch and quickly followed out the door, trying to keep under the one minute warning Damien gave me. When he said he would leave in one minute, he was not exaggerating. I knew that if I stepped out of the house one second over the one minute mark, I would have watched the cab speed down the street.

As I opened the door, I was greeted with, “Nice of you to join me with five seconds to spare.” I smiled at his sarcastic humor, one of the things I like so much about Damien. His subtle wittiness is a great pick-me-up, and very similar to Kev—Kevin’s.

I constantly find myself comparing Damien to Kevin. Kevin is—was—my first love. Part of me thinks I was spoiled to have him. Now I expect every guy I meet to treat me just as he did. Maybe that’s another reason I’m attracted to Damien. He treats me nothing like the way Kevin treated me, so perhaps I’m trying to reverse the standards I set based on Kevin.

My attention was brought back to the appropriate place when I felt warm pressure around my neck—Damien’s arm. Leaning into the openness his body created, I placed a hand on his chest and looked up into his bright blue eyes, the kind of eyes you can easily get lost in.

“What?” he asked, curious why I was staring.

“Happy birthday,” I simply said, extending my neck to reach his lips with mine.

“Thanks babe.”

Damien redirected his attention from me to his ringing phone. After he answered the call, I sat silently in the cab as he chatted away with whoever it was this time. Damien is on the phone a lot, but I respect it. Most of his calls are his agent talking about an appearance he has to make or a director asking him if he is interested in an upcoming role.

The call continued for the entire duration of the cab ride. Every now and then, Damien would bring my hand up to his mouth, placing a kiss on the back of my hand while listening intently to the words coming from the other end of the line. Every kiss made me smile. Every kiss made me realize that although Damien was on the phone and although Damien was busy a lot, he can still make the effort to acknowledge me.

The cab pulled up to our destination, stopping on the side of the busy New York street. Damien quickly got out and walked around the back of the cab, opening my door for me. As I stepped out, he threw a fifty dollar bill at the cab driver and told him to keep the change. Linking his hand with mine, the two of us casually strolled into the restaurant where everyone should be waiting for our—Damien’s—arrival.

“Happy Birthday Damien!” twenty harmonized voices yelled as we came into their view and they came into ours. Damien instantly dropped my hand and walked over to the group of guys, front lined by his best friend, Nolan.

When I lost touch with Damien’s hand, I lost touch with my comfort in the situation. I’ve met most of Damien’s friends, but I’m not exactly comfortable around them. They live very different lifestyles than I’m used to. But this isn’t my birthday party. I know that for him, I have to put a smile on my face and mingle with his friends. So that’s exactly what I did.

Smiling, I walked over towards the one of the people in the room that I felt I could easily carry a conversation with. When Kyra, Nolan’s girlfriend, saw me coming, she returned the smile and stood up, pulling me into a friendly hug.

“Hey Dina! How are you?”

“I’m doing well, thanks! How are you?”

“Great. Ready for a long night of partying! I hope you are, too! If you’re going to be with Damien, you need to learn to keep up! That boy would go twenty-four hours if he could!”

I side-smiled in her direction as I placed my coat around the back of my chair. In a way, she was right. Damien’s ways are hard to keep up with. He’s always on the move, usually from bar to club to another bar. When I lived in L.A., I went out to a club a total of four times. Now, in New York, I go to four clubs in one night.

I watched Nolan take a seat on the other side of Kyra as Damien sat five chairs away from me. Nolan leaned over and whispered something in Kyra’s ear. I couldn’t help but feel jealous as I looked at my hands in my lap. It took me a few seconds to grab a hold of myself, realizing I needed to stop making this night about me. When I looked back at Damien, his smile, directed at me and only me, told me everything was okay.

As people began to put their forks down, signaling they had finished dinner, I saw Damien stand up out of the corner of my eye. Surveying the rest of the table, I noticed most of Damien’s inner circle guys were standing as well. Damien sent me that famous smile of his before walking away from the table. Confusion took over me. The only thing in the direction he was heading in was the door.

The chairs around the table were emptying as people bid their goodbyes to one another. No one said goodbye to me—no one really noticed I was still there. Checking my phone, I came to the conclusion that it must had been around ten minutes ago that Damien got up, and he had still not returned.

“Hey D, are you coming with us to Mansion?” Kyra asked. Mansion, the club?

“What?” I asked.

“Yeah, we’re moving the party there, for now at least. Who knows where we’ll be later. That’s where all the guys just left to go. Didn’t Damien tell you?”

“Oh, right. Yeah, he told me,” I lied.

In truth, I had never felt so in the dark in my life. Here I was, sitting with people I barely know, celebrating the birthday of the guy I’m seeing, yet he left with his buddies to go continue the party elsewhere and didn’t even tell me. As the details of the situation set in my mind, I decided there was no way I would show my face at a place I purposely wasn’t invited to, whether it’s Damien’s birthday or not.

“I’m actually exhausted and I have work very early tomorrow, so I’m just gonna head home. But you guys have a great night!” I told Kyra, putting on the best attitude I could muster up despite my inner feelings.

“Aww okay! We’ll miss you! I’m sure Damien will too!” Kyra said, hugging me goodbye.

“Like he’ll notice I’m not there,” I muttered under my breath, grabbing my jacket and purse. As I walked past the rest of the people at the table, I kept my eyes on the door and continued what felt like a walk of shame.

“Have a good night,” the hostess called out as I walked passed her.

“You too.” Stopping, I looked at the young girl behind the podium. “Hey, did you see Damien Keller walk out of here?”

“Yeah, about ten minutes ago! Isn’t he gorgeous?” she asked, as I literally watched her head move above the clouds.

“Yeah. He’s quite the charmer.”

The crisp New York air hit me like a slap in the face, bringing me back to reality. I stepped into the street, waving my hand in the air as the cars blurred by. I couldn’t decide if the cars were blurry because of their high speed, or because of the tears that were forming in my eyes. Finally, a cab attended to my need and stopped in front of me. I quickly hopped in, announcing my address to the cab driver.

As soon as my cab joined the rest of the cars in the craziness of New York, tears began a constant and steady stream down my cheeks. My face fell into my hands, my heart refusing to believe the situation Damien had just put me through. Embarrassed and humiliated barely began to explain the feelings I was flooding the backseat with.

My mind traced back to the beginning of my day, trying to figure out where exactly this day had gone wrong and if there were any hints I should have picked up on. When I remembered the events of my morning, I grabbed my phone and scrolled through the contacts. If anyone can make me feel better, it was the name I was currently looking at on the screen.

After a few rings, there was finally an answer. However, it was not the comforting, friendly voice I was expecting to hear. “Hello?” came a cold, female tone.

I sniffled back a few tears, trying to make my voice audible. “Um hi, is uh, Kevin there?”

“He’s busy with something right now. Is there anything I can help you with? I’m his girlfriend. I’ll leave a message for him.”

“Okay, can you tell him to call me back?”

“Oh yeah. I’ll be sure to do that. Buh-bye now.”

The sarcasm in her voice was impeccable. There was no way my message was going to get to Kevin. I found it hard to believe that was the same girl at Mr. Jonas’ party. She seemed so sweet, and that person on the phone, she was not sweet. Not in the least bit.

My head fell back on the seat, watching the bright lights of New York City pass me by. I wanted to talk to Kevin. Maybe I even needed to talk to Kevin. He always knows what to say to cheer me up. Thinking about it more, there is another person who knows how to cheer me up. If I can’t get a hold of the eldest Jonas, I’ll try the second eldest.

1 Sent Text Message: Joe Jonas
9:12 p.m.- I just had an iffy run in with Kevin’s girlfriend on the phone. Awkward, much?!

Kevin’s POV

Taking inventory of the fridge, I grabbed two water bottles out—one for me and one for Lexie. I left Lexie upstairs in my room looking through some gossip magazine. It was when she started talking about how great Damien Keller is as an actor that I decided we needed something to drink. Hearing the door open and footsteps coming my way, I waited to see who it was.

“Oh, hey Joe.”

“Hey. What’s going on?”

“Not much. Lexie is upstairs. Just grabbing us some water. Where have you been? You’ve been gone all day.”

“You know that awkward little sofa Pamela has in her apartment? Yeah, I fell asleep on that thing watching TV. I woke up at like noon and walked into Pamela’s room. She was sprawled out across her bed like a princess as I tried to rub the huge knot out of my neck, which is still there by the way. So then we grabbed lunch and ate it at the park, you know, by the lake. We were hanging out but then she got a call and had to write an urgent article so I decided I should make some kind of appearance at home.”

“Oh wow, that’s so nice of you, Joe.”

“I know, I know. Where’s Nick?”

“Well since you haven’t been home all day, you have no idea about the crazy stuff that went down this morning.”

“What happened?” Joe eagerly questioned.

As I explained the story, I watched Joe’s jaw slightly drop more and more with each surprising detail.

“Megan did that? Our Megan? Well, Nick’s Megan?”

“Yup. She kicked Nick out.”

“Where is Nick now?”

“In his room. He’s been there ever since we got home. I haven’t seen him come out, nor will he unlock the door. He’s had “Sorry” on repeat for the past four hours.”

“Wow. I like our songs and stuff, but I could never listen to one of them for four hours on repeat.”

I felt bad laughing at Nick’s situation, but Joe made it impossible not to. Twisting off the cap of my water bottle, I took a refreshing sip as Joe checked a message on his phone. I watched his facial expression turn from blank to surprised, before settling on confused.

“Umm Kevin? I just got a text from Dina. Read it,” Joe said, before pushing his phone towards my face.

1 Received Text Message: Dina Cordon
6:12 p.m.- I just had an iffy run in with Kevin’s girlfriend on the phone. Awkward, much?!

“What does that mean?” I asked, my eyes rereading the message over and over again.

“You don’t think…” Joe’s voice trailed off. He didn’t even need to finish his thought. Whatever he was going to say is exactly what I was thinking, and knowing Lexie, probably the truth.

Grabbing both water bottles, one in each hand, I ran down the hall and up the stairs. “Filled with sorrow, filled with pain,” rang through my ears as I ran passed Nick’s room. I kicked the door of my bedroom open, throwing both water bottles on my bed. Lexie was sitting at my desk. Before I left, she was sitting on my bed—exhibit A. I looked at my phone, which had moved from one side of my laptop to the other—exhibit B.

“What’s the rush, Kev?” Lexie joked, flipping the page of her magazine.

Picking up my phone, I immediately went to the call log. Sure enough on the top of the Received Calls list was Dina at 6:11 p.m. I shot a quick glance to the clock—6:13.

“What did you do?” I sternly asked Lexie. Her facial expression was priceless and utterly defined the deer in headlights look.

“What did I do? I think the question is why are you talking to her?”

“She’s my friend, Lexie! And I can talk to whoever I want! What makes you think you can answer my phone?!”

“I’m your girlfriend!”

“SO?! That doesn’t mean you can invade my privacy like that! What did she say?!”

“She said it wasn’t important,” Lexie quieted her tone, probably hoping I would do the same. Big surprise to her—I wasn’t going to.

“She didn’t want me to call her back? Are you sure about that?”

“No, she didn’t. Yes, I am sure.”

“Wow, okay.” I ran my hand through my curls, trying to grab a hold of the situation that just panned out. “I can’t believe…wow.”

I turned out of my room, leaving here there again. I should have taken my laptop—maybe she’ll go through that, too. Whatever, she’s probably been through my email already. “I realized I let you down,” came from Nick’s room as I walked by this time. Trudging down the stairs, I realized I should go tell Joe of what just happened. Joe thinks Lexie is crazy, and if he didn’t have proof before, he sure has it now. This was even proof for me.

When I entered the kitchen, Joe was nowhere to be found. I looked into the family room and noticed he wasn’t there either. I suddenly heard a voice from what sounded like outside. Looking out the glass sliding door, I saw Joe lounging on a chair with his phone up to his ear.

I quietly and slowly slid the back door open. Trying to keep my smooth cover, I shut the door behind me, listening intently to see if I could figure out who he was talking to. I was then greeted with words I didn’t expect and didn’t want to hear.

“Calm down, Dina. Take some deep breaths. Why’d he do that to you?”

“What did he do?!” I yelled. “Is that Dina? Did Damien do something? Tell me!” I demanded.

“Um, Dina, Kevin wants to talk to you. I’m going to hang up so he can call you, okay?...Alright. Talk to you soon.”

As soon as Joe clicked the end button on his phone, I clicked the send on mine. Joe, understanding that I needed to be alone at the time, went back inside.

“Hey Kev,” Dina answered, followed by a small sniffle.

“Are you crying?”

“Maybe.”

“Dina, what happened? Tell me.”

The urge to hit Damien’s Academy Award nominated face grew inside me as Dina told me what happened at his birthday dinner. I wanted to ask her why she was putting up with this, why she was letting him treat her like this. The Dina I know wouldn’t take this kind of behavior from anyone, especially a guy she’s interested in.

“You know, Dina. I’ve heard bad things about this guy. I don’t trust him.”

“Half the stuff said about him isn’t true. The press loves making things up. You of all people should know that. Are you really married to a Pakistani woman? No. Is Damien really that bad of a guy? No.”

“Then why is he making you feel this why? Why is he treating you so badly to the point where you crying your eyes out?”

“I’ve cried over things you’ve done to me. Does that make you a bad person, Kevin Jonas?”

“That’s different. I’m different. Don’t compare me to him. Him and I are extremely different people and you know it.” There was silence on the other end of the line. Clearly, she did know it. “See? There’s a difference between guys like him and guys like me. There are big differences between Damien and me.”

“I think the main difference between Damien and you is that Damien chose to be with me, and you chose not to be.”

Her words literally knocked the wind out of me. Could I even respond to that? What could I say? I know I made a mistake and now it’s my turn to come back to you and beg for your forgiveness and your love? I couldn’t do that, especially in the given circumstances.

“You know, Kevin. I understand you’re trying to be protective, and I appreciate that. I do. It means that you care about me and you’re looking out for me. But I think my relationship should be the least of your problems right now, considering you have a girlfriend who answers your phone because she doesn’t trust you talking to other girls.”

“There you are, Kevin. I just wanted to say that I’m really sorry,” Lexie said from behind me, disrupting my peace on the deck. I turned around, our eyes connecting. She took that as a sign to continue. “I was out of line and I shouldn’t have ans—wait, are you on the phone? Is that her?!” Lexie accused, raising her voice to a louder tone.

“Well, it sounds like you’re busy, and I’m tired. I’ll talk to you…soon,” Dina said.

“No, Dina! Wait!” I tried to catch her, but I was too late. I had already lost her. Why do I always lose her?

“You were talking to her?” Lexie shouted at me.

“Lexie, what is your deal?! You cannot tell me who to talk to and who not to talk to!” I shouted back.

“Kevin, she is your ex-girlfriend. EX. Get that through your head! She doesn’t want you anymore!” Lexie’s eyes instantly grew wide. I knew she didn’t mean to say that out loud, but she did, and that’s what mattered.

“Lexie, you need to go. Before I say something that my mom wouldn’t be proud of, you need to go.”

“Kevin, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say that. I’m sorry. Please don’t break up with me over this. We can work through this, I promise. Every couple has fights. We’re normal. Don’t make me go, please.”

“That comment was extremely uncalled for. I just…I need my space, and I need it now. You know where the door is. I’ll call you when I’m ready.”

Nodding, Lexie finally obliged. She walked over to me, reaching her arms out to give me a hug. Is she serious right now? I turned away, my silent was of saying absolutely not. When I heard the door shut, I let my head roll back, looking up at the sky.

A figure caught my eye in the second story window. Getting my bearings straight, I realized it was Nick’s room before I focused my eyes on the figure. It was Nick. He watched the whole scene go down, probably because his window was open and he heard the whole thing.

“God just doesn’t want us Jonas boys to be happy and in love, does he?” Nick said, extremely quietly with a horribly saddened tone. I have no idea how I heard him, but I did. And I couldn’t agree with him more.