Belong - jatp/reggie

8

8:30

julie was sitting on the floor backstage next to the hologram projector watching hadley pace in front of her.

"hads, calm down. you're stressing me out." julie tells the blonde, who runs a hand through her hair and continues pacing.

"i'm sorry, okay?" hadley says, taking a deep breath. "i'm just nervous."

"you're not even going on stage." julie reminds her with a small laugh.

julie wasn't anywhere close to how stressed hadley was. hadley wasn't even sure why she was so stressed. there was still half an hour before they were even supposed to go on. the guys had lots of time to get there.

"you're right." hadley shakes out her arms and legs, trying to rid herself of some of the nerves she was feeling.

"just sit down and chill out." julie pats the spot next to her on the floor and hadley nods. she takes a seat and leans her head on julies shoulder, letting out a long breath and attempting to relax.

"we still have lots of time." hadley says, mostly talking to herself.

9:10

"is everybody fired up for Julie and the Phantoms?" flynn asks the crowd, who cheer in response. "great! keep that fire because that's later. we're a bit behind schedule but don't worry, just enjoy these mind blowing beats!"

the crowd cheers again and flynn sets down her headphones to walk toward hadley and julie backstage.

"julie and the phantoms?" julie raises an eyebrow at flynn.

"i had some free time in french class." flynn explains. "and you better like it because you're manager approved it," julie turns to hadley, who grins at her. "and i've already registered it on insta, snapchat, twitter-"

"no, i love it." julie cuts her off. "but i'd love it even more if the actual phantoms were here."

hadley thought she was nervous an hour ago, but she had basically reached the point of being unable to breath. how were they supposed to explain to a gym full of high school students that their 'holograms' didn't show up? hadley was supposed to be the tech person, if the holograms don't work everyone will blame her, right?

flynn points behind julie and hadley, making both girls turn their heads. nick was walking towards them, smiling at julie. flynn walked back to her sound board as nick reached the girls.

"nick!" julie shouts awkwardly. "look flynn it's..nick" she trails off, noticing that flynn was no longer standing near her.

"thanks for the introduction." nick chuckles.

"so you made it?" julie asks him.

hadley took a step back and turns away slightly. she didn't feel like she should be a part of this conversation but she also had no where else to go.

"wouldn't miss it." nick assures julie with a grin. "the truth is, i can't wait to see you play again. your song has been stuck in my head for weeks." julie laughs awkwardly to try and hide the blush on her cheeks.

"well someone should let it out." she jokes and hadley cringes internally. nick stares at julie for a moment and she shakes her head. "i don't know what that meant either."

"i like your shoes." nick changes the subject quickly, none of them wanting to dwell on the awkward silence that followed julies joke.

"thanks, i just like to doodle on them sometimes." julie explains, looking down at the drawings.