Once he was settled, Phoenix tried calling Catherine. The call didn't go through, so he tried texting her, then logged into his social media to message her, only to find—he was blocked. Catherine had blocked him. Here he was, in pain, in a hospital bed, and she had blocked him?

Phoenix couldn't believe it.

"Let me use your phone," Phoenix asked Demi.

"No chance," she replied.

"What is your obsession with this girl anyway? She's such a plain Jane—she's a prude—"

"Shut up! Don't talk about her like that!" Phoenix snapped back. "She's not a plain Jane or a prude."

Demi held up her hands. "Fine, if you want to keep chasing girls who only like you because of a curse, that's on you. But it's foolish. It's not real."

Except it was real. Maybe Demi didn't know it, she couldn't, but Phoenix did. It was real. He and Catherine had a special connection that only ended because her stupid best friend, Molly—

"Molly!" Phoenix said out loud. He could use his own phone for this. She wouldn't block his number. He found her in his contacts and hit the call button.

She answered near instantly, "Hello?"

"Hi! It's me."

"Phoenix?"

"Yes! Where's Catherine? I need to speak with Catherine!"

"Uh." Molly sounded uncertain. "She's heading for her wedding venue."

"What?!" Phoenix shouted. She's getting MARRIED?

"The wedding is in two days. I can't really talk right now, I'm driving."

"Two days?!" Phoenix shouted. "Okay, listen, I need you to send me the details. Right now! Pull over. Text me. Please! Please! I am begging you. I—I can't lose her. We only broke up because you didn't want us together, but please, I'm begging you. I will give you anything—money, a record label, my house! I'll set you up with any celebrity you want—that's not married, please. Just—please. I love her. I'm in love with her. And I'm sure she loves me too."

There was a long pause on the other end of the line. When Molly spoke again, her voice was filled with confusion and a hint of guilt. "What? You love her? But your social media shows all this stuff—you hooking up with girls. I mean yes, maybe you broke up because of me, but you literally posted photos of you and girls kissing the next day on your social media."

"They're old pictures!" Phoenix repeated. "They're old pictures! I was coming to meet with you, remember? We were going to meet."

"Yeah, and you bailed."

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"No, I didn't bail. I was on my way. I was in an accident—I've been in a coma all this time. My manager posted old pictures. I can literally prove it to you. I just woke up. Please." Phoenix's voice broke. "Please."

There was another long pause before Molly spoke again. Her voice was softer now, filled with realization and regret. "Seriously?" And Phoenix nodded as though she could see him. "I didn't know—I'm sorry. When I asked her to break up with you, I didn't know it was real. I mean you two hadn't even been together very long—how was I supposed to know?" She was silent for a moment. "Oh god she is marrying this dude, I mean she was never in love with him but these past few months it's like she is in a trance, all content seeming but it isn't really her. Ever since that girl Demi came bringing the doctor back into her life."

"Demi!?" Phoenix reacted to what he had just heard, looking at Demi harshly as he silently mouthed to her "What did you do?"

"Yeah" Molly went on. "Some chick came by and convinced Catherine to meet up with that doctor dude, I don't know why she cared. But you! It was real with you two, wasn't it? Are you truly in love with her? Not just being a rock star and using her for sex… no offense."

"I love her, I love her like nothing ever like no one ever" Phoenix gushed involuntarily at the question.

Molly digested that and went on. "You know I was jealous, I liked you, but I had no idea you two were in love. Not true love. I never would have gotten in between that. Besides, my best friend being with a rock star would still be pretty cool. But now she's—oh my god. And she has no idea! She thinks you've been sleeping around. Phoenix, she sort of hates you. Oh no. This is bad. Really bad! I'll text you the address for the wedding, but you need to get there quickly."

"Okay, thank you. Thank you!"

"Don't mention it. Go get her." She hung up.

Her text with the location for the wedding came through almost instantly. Phoenix knew the urgency too—he could feel it. He texted Molly, asking if she could get Catherine to contact him, but apparently, there was no reception on the mountain where the wedding would be held. He then texted asking hopefully if maybe she hadn't blocked him, to which Molly confirmed she most certainly, without a doubt in the world, did block him.

Phoenix frowned. But there was no time to dwell on it. He had to go see her—he had to make things right, and now with Molly's approval, they could finally be together. Phoenix was in the middle of trying to will his legs to move when Demi's voice distracted him.

"You're in love with her?" she asked. "You've never—I mean you date women, but really? You love her? Her??!"

There was an element to Demi's tone that Phoenix hadn't ever heard before. It made him look up at her face, only to see she was… crying. Why was she crying?

"I do everything for you! Everything! It's not even real, what you two share! She only likes you because of a curse! I liked you for you! And you chose her anyway! Well, it doesn't matter, you'll never get to her in time to stop the wedding anyway, and little miss prissy pants will never cheat on her Doctor Perfect! And you will realize—when she breaks your heart, you will finally realize that I have done everything for you! That I have always been here! And that I will always be here…."

"Whoa, whoa, what?" was all Phoenix could say.

"I love you, you idiot!" Demi screamed with tears in her eyes. "I've always loved you!"

Phoenix's expression scrunched. "Demi, but—we're just friends? We've always been just friends. I don't even know how to respond. I don't know what to say. I'm so bloody confused right now."

"Damn right you're confused! You don't seriously think you could've had a future with her, do you? I mean when she dies, she'll go to heaven and you'll go to hell. You will never see your little prissy princess again." Then, in the form of a true demon, Demi flicked herself out from Phoenix's hospital room.

He was left staring, completely aghast. Demi loved him? He had no idea. Was that even possible? No clue. But Phoenix knew without a second thought that he didn't return those feelings—even without Catherine in the picture, he didn't feel that way for Demi. Sure she was hot. Maybe she was his friend. At least, he thought she was his friend, or was she just there to keep tabs on him?

Phoenix didn't have time to dwell on any of that. He needed to stop a wedding.