<Claire's POV>
It's been a week with Tyler and Josh, and it already feels like we've known each other for years. Walkie talkie in hand, I already had a job in a way, moving small pieces of equipment to where they need to be.
"Hey, Claire!" Tyler comes from behind me.
"Hey Ty! What's up?" I say.
"Ah, nothing much, just walking around backstage and I wanted to talk to you because I saw you," he replies nonchalantly.
"Hah, okay," I laugh lightly.
"Claire, could you get the mic stand on stage left and bring it to the middle?" Mark says on the line.
"Sure thing," I say, jogging across the stage to complete the task.
When I get back to Tyler, I ask, "What's Josh doing now?"
"He's just hanging out on the bus," he replies.
"Alright. Excited for the show tonight?" I ask him. They're playing a huge venue in Europe now, for the European leg of the Emotional Roadshow.
"Yeah, kinda nervous, but I think this'll be fun. I'm not sure about Josh. It's gonna be hard for him to get out there, but I think once he starts, he'll be good," he says with a slightly worried expression.
"Mm. I think so too. I mean, it is a really big crowd tonight," I say.
"Yeah."
I stifle a yawn. I'm still suffering jet lag, even though it's been a week.
"I'm gonna go get some lunch, care to join me?" I ask him.
"Sure. I could use something to eat," he says.
I look at my phone. "Tim Horton's?" I laugh. "I thought that was Canadian. Let's see..." I find a restaurant down the road that seems good. "Alright, let's go."
---
As Tyler and I are eating, we're laughing our asses off talking about how awkward we were when we were young. I choke on a piece of my sandwich, only causing us to laugh harder. "You should've seen your face!" Tyler says on the brink of crying. I already have tears streaming down my face, and I try to get a whiff of air before releasing it all again. For some reason, that caused me to get dizzy, so my head drops into my now waiting hand. The laughing dies down a bit, but the mood doesn't end.
As we pay for our check we walk out and head to the venue again. I head to the bus to check on Jenna and Josh. They're both having a good time together, laughing and talking about something I couldn't quite pick up.
"Hey!" They both say in unison, which causes all of us to laugh a little.
"How are you lovebirds doing?" I wiggle my eyebrows playfully.
Both become slightly red, but I wave my hand in dismissal and say "Just kidding. Anyway, how are you guys doing for real this time?"
"Pretty good, you?" Jenna asks.
"Pretty good myself. Josh? How are you doing?" I say as I sit down.
"Slightly nervous for tonight, but otherwise, good," he says.
"That's good to hear," I smile. "I'll see you guys in a bit, I've got some things to do onstage,"
"Alright bye!" I hear Josh call as I exit the bus.
---
It's about an hour until showtime, I'm walking around backstage and decide to head into the hallway. I hear faint crying, and I follow the noise. It's coming from Josh's dressing room.
Oh no. That's not good.
I knock on the door, and I hear a shaky voice, "Come in."
I walk in, and I see Josh, a crumpled mess on the couch, rocking himself back and forth.
"Hey, Josh. What's wrong?" I ask in a quiet voice.
"I'm scared, Claire. I'm scared I'm gonna fail. So many people are here, and I'm scared out of my wits," he shakes. I put my arm around him. Sometimes a person just needs someone to be there.
"Need me to do anything? I'm here if you need me," I ask.
"Could you sing me something?" He asks, like a small child waiting for a lullaby.
"Sure," I try to think of something to sing, then I've got it.
A/N: Listen to Run To You by Pentatonix.
As I'm singing, Josh's loosens up, and I look down and see that he's very softly singing the chorus, causing me to smile.
"Thank you," Josh whispers as I end the song. I give him a long hug, and then he has to go on stage.
