A/N

All right my loyal, loving, amazing fans. This is it. This is the final chapter. I was going to continue it out but I re-read it and just... had to end it here. And it goes fast, and there's time breaks, but it's exactly how I want it to be. So thank you SO much for reading and following me! I'll be writing another story soon, so check that one out. And! I have a surprise. I spent a lot of time and actually made a video that goes along with the story, and I put it on youtube! So if you want to see it, (you do, TRUST me) then go to youtube and look up my account. My account name is sstarstruck768 (no, that's not a typo. Well it WAS but that's still my name lol) and it'll be the only video I have up. I hope you enjoy it :] and I hope you've enjoyed my story! Thank you so much again for reading and reviewing, I love you all so much 3

Chapter Fifteen.

There comes a time in every addiction where even the most powerful dose of your crack isn't enough; and you know this, but it doesn't stop you from overdosing. And that knowledge doesn't stop you from dying. Every twitter post, every candid picture, every cheap hit doesn't do anything to make the clouds from that ominous day disappear for her. Selena does the day to day, at first feeling okay. At least once a day Demi would call, giving her updates from the tour and updates in her life.

And then they stopped, Selena mumbles as she sits in her Wizards dressing room. Send It On had come and gone, and then they were done filming. That brief encounter hadn't been enough; both girls knew that going in though. And her appearance on Sonny with a Chance? Oh man, she thinks to herself as she remembers that day…

Looking through the wardrobe, Selena is suddenly faced with a cliché wizard hat and a confident looking Sonny underneath also dressed in full wizard garb. Demi starts to say her line but starts cracking up instead, seeing the look of sheer surprise and humor on Selena's face. Both girls clutch onto each other with the clothes rack between them as their laughter rings across the set. It's impossible for us to try and be serious when all we want is alone time, Selena thinks as she tries to breathe again while clutching on to Demi.

Her script for the day lying unnoticed on her table next to her open Mac, her fingers hover over the keyboard. Her tired eyes lazily scan Demi's most recent tweets, sighing as they all involve Miley, Taylor, or Nolan. Not her. Sure, she calls every once in a while. And we text, but it's not the same… her career won. She sighs as she slams her Mac closed. Lying back into her couch, she closes her eyes and lets out a frustrated groan.

Knock, knock Selena sits up and calls out, "Who is it?"

Jennifer cautiously opens the door, and Selena smiles at the beautiful redhead as she cautiously pokes her head through the door, "Can I come in? Or are you still having a freak out?"

Selena raises her eyebrows, "Oh now, that's a good way to get me to let you in," she says, half jokingly. But the redhead comes in anyway and takes a seat next to Selena. She eyes the closed Mac and the unopened script as Selena lays her head on Jennifer's shoulder.

"How long has it been since you've heard from her?"

"What day is it?" Selena questions.

"August twenty second, I think," Jennifer says while laughing, "David took my Hannah Montana calendar like, a week ago so I'm not really sure."

The girls both laugh for a second before it hit Selena again. She sighs, "It's been three days since anything. She's busy though… with her tour."

Jennifer nods, "Right. Yet with enough time to go jet-skiing with Nolan and Taylor. Sel… I think Demi's let her fame get to her. She tweets to random guys and about random inside jokes like, 24/7 almost."

Selena closes her eyes, the pain in them clearly evident, "I know, Jen. Part of me thinks I should text her, but I know how she'd respond."

Selena opens her eyes and sits up, "It would go like this." She clears her throat and in her best-fake-Demi voice says, "Sel! Oh man have I missed you! The tour is going great! I'm sorry I haven't had time to talk to you, I've just been so super busy. And I'm reconnecting with everyone! It's so fun! Oh, those random guys I've been twittering? Sel, seriously, don't even worry about them. They're just friends. You should know that. So what if there's like, 50 of them? Trust me Sel, we're still us, nothing has changed. Anyway, I have to run so I'll call you later okay? Did I mention I miss you? I love you Selenalenalena. I wear your shirt to bed every night," she finishes, taking a huge breath.

Jennifer has wide eyes as she hesitates for a second before commenting, "Wow, I take it you've tried talking to her about this."

Selena shrugs, "You're right, that's the worst part. Her fame has finally hit her. And all of these people, they don't love her, they're just hanging with her because of her fame. These random guys just think she's hot and cute, and Demi's too naïve to know what flirting is apparently."

Jennifer hugs Selena, "I'm so glad you told me about you two. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to be here for you now. And I wouldn't be able to do this," she says while gently smacking Selena on the side of her head.

Selena's mouth gapes as she gestures toward Jennifer, "What was that for?"

Jennifer opens up Selena's Mac to prove a point, and gestures at the screen that shows Demi's twitter, "It's for that. I know you two are in love, were in love… But Demi has changed, and when it comes down to it you know she won't realize it and she'll end up blaming you for being the one who changed. You can't keep waiting around for her. You have to try to move on."

Selena sighs as she tries to melt into the couch, "I did try to move on. Remember the whole Lautner situation? That lasted like two weeks! It didn't work Jen. She knows I keep going back to her, she's Demi. And I'm Selena. It's just how it has to be."

Jennifer stands up, "Well, maybe she has to realize that she's losing you before she can be Demi again. She'll be back from tour in September, then she leaves again, right?"

Selena nods, "Yeah. Then she gets to hang out with the Jonas Brothers while filming Camp Rock two! Can you tell how excited I am for that?"

Jennifer extends her hand down to help Selena up. Selena takes it and grabs the script. Opening the dressing room door, Jennifer shrugs, "I think you need to temporarily move on until everything calms down and you can see if Demi is still Demi. Until then, David and I are worried about you. Will you just try and make the best out of right now? We're done filming our movie, now we're filming season three. Try and enjoy yourself, Sel! We miss you…"

Selena's expression saddens, Man, I've been so wrapped up in myself and Demi that I haven't even been able to enjoy life. I miss my friends… "I'm sorry Jen," she whispers while pulling the shorter girl into a hug. They share a moment and for the first time in a while, Selena smiles.

Jennifer smiles back and pulls on her hand, "Come on! We have to go do our prayer before we go on. I am stoked for this episode, we get to sing your spell studying song!"

Selena laughs while letting the over-excited girl yank her out of her room.

(Fast forward time to September 12, 2009)

Selena walks through the door in her silver, floor-length Marchesa Resort dress, setting her purse down on her chair in her dark room. She doesn't turn on the light yet as she makes her way to the mirror. She pulls out the clips in her hair, letting it fall freely around her shoulders. She shakes it out using her hands, and by feel she finds her bangs and brushes them into her face. She sighs, letting the events of the night sink in as she leans against her vanity. "I won an Emmy," she whispers, her voice laced with astonishment. She shakes her head again as she finally leans over and turns on her room light.

A yellow rose sits in her lap, her legs clad in black jeans as her knees brush against each other. Her feet bear plain leather boots that have been worn in the rain one too many times. A red plaid shirt, that still bears the wrinkles of being plucked out of the clothes-hamper and put on in a rushed last minute, is the final touch. The girl picks at her black nail polish as she finally looks up to meet a shocked Selena's gaze.

Demi smiles and stands up, the rose in her left hand. Using her right she unconsciously brushes the bangs out of her eyes as she smiles, "I wanted to be one of the first to congratulate you on your Emmy." She smiles hesitantly as she shyly hands the rose over.

Selena takes the rose, staring at it like it suddenly sprouted wings and started flying away. Her brows furrow as she looks back up at Demi, "You were in Canada… you had to have gotten on a plane before you knew that we won."

Demi blushes as she reaches behind her on to Selena's bed, bringing out a green teddy bear with a purple bow around his head, "Well, this is Mr. Sorry Bear. He would've come with the rose if you hadn't have won."

Selena feels herself start to tear up for the third time that night, wanting nothing more than to abandon her senses and fall into Demi's grasp. But I won't, she thinks to herself as she fingers the rose.

Demi starts to feel the anxiousness coming back to her. Maybe it was impulsive, maybe it was stupid, and maybe I was wrong in thinking she'd forgive me… "Sel, I wanted to say… I'm sorry."

Selena's tears fall as her face contorts into confusion and her voice cracks on, "You're sorry?"

Demi's eyes tear up as she nods, "I'm so sorry Selena. It was just… my tour and, and everything just kind of happened. I should've made time for you, I shouldn't have-."

"You shouldn't have twittered every guy you know, once knew, might've known. You shouldn't have put Miley and Taylor and Nolan before me. I mean, really Demi? Nolan?"

Demi winces as if Selena's blow physically slammed her heart. What am I talking about? It did. Demi wants nothing more than to walk up to the older girl and comfort her like she could have two or three months ago. But it's all different now. "Sel, come on… we're still us… it's not like we can just let this go after only two or whatever months."

Selena smiles while the tears continue to fall as she grips the rose to her chest, "Demi, you said so yourself, our careers have to come first. You just chose yours before I even knew that we were choosing."

"Wouldn't you have chosen yours?"

Selena scoffs, "I didn't need to. I had them both. I had you, you were just leaving for tour, that's all."

Demi looks up, blinking the tears away and taking in a shaky breath, "I did not choose my career. I've just been busy!"

Selena's voice rises, "And that's fine! That is the world we live in Dem and we both know I was fine with that. This isn't about that, though. It's about how you have time to talk to everyone else in the world, even complete strangers, over me. You've changed, and I don't just mean you've "grown up,"" she air quotes.

Demi nods, "I know. And I'm sorry. I don't know what else you want from me, Sel. I got caught up in everything and I messed up, but I don't want to lose you. This is what we do, we tell each other what's wrong and work through it." She sits back down on Selena's bed and looks anywhere but at Selena. Finally noticing the all-too familiar leather jacket hanging on the bedpost by her pillow. Demi smiles as she fingers the sleeve of it, but returns to picking the nail polish from her nails.

Selena doesn't know what to say to Demi yet, she messed up once, but she has a point. This is what we do, we talk it through and then move on. She avoids the topic at hand for a second, taking advantage of the fact that Demi doesn't have her eyes on her. Selena smiles at the single yellow rose, wondering what Demi had to go through to hide it from everyone. She slowly sits down next to Demi as she comments, "You always pick at your nail polish when you're extremely nervous, you know."

Demi smiles a small smile, "I know. Remember that one live chat? That was so embarrassing, I was so awkward. I had to completely repaint my nails after that." The girls laugh quietly for a second before falling into a semi-comfortable silence.

Selena laughs to herself as Demi raises her eyebrows at her in question. Selena shakes her head and quietly mentions, "Look at us, we're a scrapbook picture waiting to happen. You, in your wrinkled thrown on clothes who traveled from a different country to either congratulate me or console me; Yet you can't admit that the real reason you came was to apologize. And me, in an insanely overpriced dress, who just won an Emmy; Yet all I can think about is the fact that I want to be out of this dress, into a T-shirt and in your arms again. But I'm not sure if that can happen."

Demi nods, her once-again-brunette hair falls into her face as she stares at nothing in particular on Selena's floor. She takes a breath and shrugs one shoulder; "I don't want to be like this everytime my life is chaotic. You're supposed to be my go to person. And above all, you're supposed to be mine. I'm not supposed to be stupid and let you go. Thinking about it now, my fame got to me and I hate that. But I didn't even see it coming, Sel. I don't know how I could've stopped it or if I can again…"

Selena smiles at Demi as she takes the rockstars hand, "We're young, and we're famous, and our careers are finally taking off. We've been best friends since we were like, seven. And despite how bad and how hard these past few months have been for me, I'm still not willing to lose you. I can help you."

Demi turns, pulling one leg up onto the bed so she can face Selena. "How do you do it? How do you stay so grounded?"

Selena smiles wistfully at a picture of her family on her nightstand before answering, "My family, they keep me grounded. And I know that I have the best friends now, and if I let my fame get to me I'll get "friends" that will only be using me because I'm famous. And of course, my fans. I stay grounded for them because they keep me in check. Then there's you, Dem."

Demi's gaze is intense as her eyes flick temporarily to Selena's desk. She sees her own CD there and almost laughs at the irony. She bites her bottom lip and nods, "You're right. Everything you said about me is right. You're so kind and so amazing, I don't see how you can even still love me."

Selena doesn't hesitate for one second before she says, "I know how. Because you are Demi and I am Selena. We'll always be us, fate brought us together and no matter what, we'll always be together somehow. We just… can't be together, together right now."

Demi's eyes tear up again, "We can't be together, can we? Not right now… everything is too crazy." As if on cue, her cell phone rings. Boys Like Girls Love Drunk starts playing and Selena smiles softly while putting her head down. Demi groans as she answers, "Hello? Joe, what is it? What do you mean Kevin got caught? Oh no, my manager knows? Crap, okay. Beg him not to tell my mom and I'll get back as soon as I can." She shuts off her phone and smiles sheepishly at Selena's questioning expression.

"Demi, what did you have to do to get down here?"

Demi laughs the laugh of someone who has just been caught stealing cookies from a cookie jar. "Well, I had to enlist the help of the mighty Jonas to get me back here. See I couldn't really tell my manager that I had to see you… I've done that before, it doesn't work anymore," she says through a laugh. She continues, "So we had Kevin dress up as me and just kind of hang out in my hotel room and Joe stood guard while Nick got me to the airport and let me use their private jet. That's a perk of doing a movie with them, they're always around to help."

Selena's mouth hangs open in awe as she listens to Demi's scenario that would fit perfectly in the most epic of romance movies. Demi starts to blush but Selena can't keep her awe-struck eyes from the intuitive girl's face. "I can't believe you went through all of this trouble just to see me, Dem."

Demi shrugs, "I hate not being around you like we were for the movie. And I finally see how this is ruining us… I wanted to try to fix it."

Selena nods, "We just need to keep talking. And you need to stay grounded. When do you have to leave?"

Demi asks, "Is it really that easy, Sel? You forgive me?"

Selena sits quietly for a moment, fingering the fabric of her dress, before commenting, "It shouldn't be, and it won't be an hour from now… but for right now, yes it is that easy. If I don't forgive you now that you're genuinely sorry, what kind of best friend would I be?"

Demi quietly comments, "You'll always be more than just my best friend."

Selena whispers back, "I sure hope so. Now, when do you have to leave?"

Demi stands up and grabs her bag, "Now…I took a taxi here and got lucky but…"

Selena stands up with Demi, "I'll give you a ride back." Not bothering to change out of her dress, Selena grabs Demi's leather jacket off of her bedpost and puts it on. She grabs her purse again from her chair and opens her room door to find her mom standing there.

Mandy has her arms crossed over her chest, "I had a feeling I'd find Demi here."

Selena and Demi exchange scared looks before Demi jumps in, "Mandy, I'm so sorry. I know I broke in using the extra key and everything but I just…"

Mandy holds up her hand and smiles, "You had to fix things, I get it. And now you have to leave again, I get that too." Mandy sneaks a look at Selena that can only be interpreted as a 'do-you-get-it-too?'look. Selena nods, just slight enough for her mom to see, before she grabs Demi's hand and makes her way down the stairs and outside.

They manage to make it past the paparazzi and fans unnoticed as they reach the private airport gate. The moon is bright and the stars are out, a rarity for the smog-covered sky of Los Angeles, as the girls make their way to the plane. The private jet isn't big enough for any fancy contraptions being needed, just a small set of stairs leading to the open door. It isn't cold, but Selena pulls Demi's jacket closer to her as a chill runs through her. The girls arrive at the bottom of the small stairs and Demi turns to face Selena. Finally letting go of the Canadian-bound girl's hand, Selena stuffs her hands into the jacket's pockets.

Demi sighs, "So, we aren't together?"

Selena shakes her head sadly, "No, not right now. But that doesn't mean…"

Demi laughs as a smile breaks through, "I wouldn't want to be with anyone else anyway. I miss you too much for that. Best friends?"

Selena pulls Demi into a hug and smiles, "Best friends, always and forever."

The girls pull away after a minute and do their secret handshake. They break out into laughter as the pilot leans into the doorway, "Demi, we have to go if you want to make it back before dawn."

Selena laughs, "You really had this all planned out, didn't you?"

Demi shrugs, "It was spur of the moment but I had to make it perfect. I just had to see you again."

"And I'm glad you did," Selena says while holding back the tears.

Demi feels tears coming herself as she pulls Selena into another hug, "I'll be back in Los Angeles soon… and I'll text you everyday until then. And if I don't, you text me okay? And if I'm being a jerk, then tell me I'm being a jerk. Please, Sel."

Selena nods, the cool breeze knocking the bangs from her face. Demi stares longingly at Selena's lips before briefly leaning in and kissing her. The girls kiss for as long as they think they can before quickly breaking apart and looking around. "We're clear," Selena breaths.

Demi nods and starts climbing the steps of the plane, "I'll talk to you soon, okay?"

Nodding, the taller girl smiles, "Okay. Thank you for coming, even if it was only for a few hours. It means… so much. It means everything."

Demi blushes lightly, "And you mean everything, which is why I did it. I'll miss you Sel, but I'll talk to you very soon."

The younger girl disappears into the plane and Selena takes a good many steps backwards from the plane. She stuffs her hands into her jacket pockets as she watches the plane take off. She sees Demi's face pressed up on the glass of the airplane window, accompanied by frantic waving. Selena smiles and waves back, finally stopping once the plane is out of sight. She stands on the empty airplane tarmac as the breeze blows through her hair. In a beautiful celebrity dress and a worn, beat-up leather jacket on an empty tarmac, Selena finally feels whole again. She smiles at the moon as she turns on her heel and walks across the cement. The only sound is the clicking of her high heels as the wind pushes her bangs from her eyes.

She almost starts feeling lonely again as she reaches her car. She gets in and is about to start the car when her cell phone vibrates. She pulls it out and grins at the screen.

From: Demi

Why do they tell us to shut off our electronics on an airplane, but not on private jets?

Selena giggles as she texts back.

Hundreds of miles in the air, Demi's iphone vibrates in her hand.

From: Sel

They do tell you to turn off electronics in a private jet Dem, you just never listen to them :)

Demi smiles as she feels the familiar rush of butterflies in her stomach every time she sees Selena's name on her phone.

The plane slices through the air, birds pass by, the sky turns darker and darker before finally turning light again. All of that goes unnoticed however, to the seventeen-year-old whose attention is completely focused on a conversation that no one else in the world would ever understand.

It always gets the darkest before it gets light again. No matter how bad things get, the two girls will always be able to take a step back and stop the world for each other. Why? Because they're Demi and Selena, and that's just how it has to be.

:D don't forget to check out the video! 3