The warm breeze feels good against my skin, slightly drying my tear stained cheeks.

It finally happened. The call finally came. I'm just glad I didn't have to face it alone.

Sometime during the middle of Alex's concert, my phone vibrated in my pocket and the screen read Incoming call from: Mom. This was the yearly call Joe and I dreaded every single time.

Flashing Joe my phone during the concert, I'll never forget the way his face fell because he knew what was about to go down. He also knew that if we didn't get this over with right then we never would, and then we would have to have two separate conversations with her due to being apart after he leaves tonight.

We quickly made our way through the crowd and found a quiet room backstage to have the deadly conversation with our mother. It went the same way it always did, leaving us feeling like shit afterwards. Me more so than him. He doesn't care as much as I do about what other people think or say.

After the conversation, we tried our best to pull ourselves back together again, painting on smiles to go back out into the arena, not giving people a hint of what just happened.

Whenever the show was over Joe, my dad, and Zack had to leave and it hit me like a ton of bricks. My stomach was in knots and all I wanted after tonight was comfort and familiarity. That didn't happen though. Life has to go on and I have to learn to deal with things on my own now.

Tonight, the crew is staying in a hotel, the next venue only a few hours away so we can leave in the morning to get there on time. As soon as I went to my room the tears broke free. I finally cracked and broke down, letting out all of my pent up anger and sadness.

It all became too much and I needed some fresh air. That's how I ended up on the hotel roof, currently sitting in one of the wicker chairs, knees to my chest, letting it all out.

"I guess it really is sleepless in Seattle, huh?" a familiar voice rings out through the warm night air on the rooftop.

I feel my whole body freeze. This isn't supposed to happen. Its nearly 2:00 a.m., no one is supposed to find me up here. I though everyone would be asleep and I could find solitude on the roof.

I quickly wipe my tears with the back of my hands, hoping he doesn't see. It's pretty dark up here, the only source of light being the moon.

"Yeah," I say after clearing my throat, praying that my voice doesn't waver and fail me.

"Couldn't sleep either?" he asks and I hear him walking towards me, shoes scuffing on the concrete.

I try my best to respond but the lump it my throat won't let me, so I opt for shaking my head.

Out of the corner of my eye, I can see him with his hands stuffed in the pockets of his gym shorts, white t-shirt visible in the darkness. He stares out at the city skyline, admiring it for a moment before looking over at me. I quickly shoot my head in the other direction, knowing my face will give me away.

"Joslyn?" Alex asks, and I can tell by the tone of his voice that he knows something is wrong.

Going into panic mode, I let my hands fly up to my face, covering it to hide my tears and hold back a sob. I don't know why, but something about someone else seeing me upset makes me even more upset.

"Hey, hey," he softly coos, scrambling to kneel down in front of me. "Joslyn, what's wrong?" Concern is evident in his voice as his large, warm hands encircle around my wrists, lightly tugging on them so he can see my face, but I refuse.

I refuse to let him see me cry. I hate people seeing me cry, not that I do it often, but I hate people seeing me this way. It makes me feel weak and vulnerable. I'm supposed to be happy, bubbly Joslyn. The go lucky chick that handles whatever life throws at her with grace and charm.

"Joslyn," he tries again, pulling on my wrists a little harder this time.

I just shake my head, not budging. He lets out a disheartened sigh, letting go of my wrists.

"Come here," he says, pulling up a chair next to mine. The next thing I know, he wraps his strong arms around me, cradling me into his side, and my head instinctively rests under his chin, against his chest.

I just let him hold me for a few minutes. His hold on the back of my head and his fingers running up and down my back sooth me. When the lump dissolves in my throat and the tears stop coming I slowly pull out of his hold, but I still refuse to look him in the eyes just yet.

"I'm sorry." I sniffle and wipe under my eyes, thoroughly embarrassed.

His arms aren't around me anymore, but he has a hand resting on my back, his thumb tracing small circles.

"Don't be sorry. What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I say, lying through my teeth. Even my voice holds no confidence in my answer.

"Joslyn," he says exasperated. "Obviously it isn't nothing if you're crying like that. Now tell me, what's wrong?" His voice comes out as a plea almost.

"Seriously, it's nothing, just... life I guess." I sadly chuckle, trying to ease the mood.

I finally look up to meet his eyes and I can tell he's not thoroughly convinced with my answer.

"This is just one of those moments where sometimes you need to get everything out, you know? Do you ever just pent everything up and then let it all out with one good cry? This is just one of those moments. It's nothing, really."

"You know you can always talk to me if you need someone to talk to, right?" His eyes hold sincerity. "I know we just met, but this is going to be a long tour, Joslyn. I just want you to know that you can always talk to me if you want to."

I nod in appreciation, mentally noting his offer. "Thank you," I whisper, and I actually consider confiding in him.

On one hand; he seems sincere and I feel like I can trust him, but on the other hand; I don't want to burden him with my problems or share something so personal. However, I know if I don't get this off of my chest now it's going to weigh on me for a while.

"It's my mom," I whisper after having a long mental war in my head of whether to say anything or not.

"Your mom?"

"Yeah." I sigh. "She... she's not supportive of what Joe and I want in life. She thinks that what we're both doing and what we both want is stupid. Every year around this time she calls to see if we want to change our minds and enroll in college classes so we can actually have a future." I scoff at her words. "She's been banking on me to become a nurse just like her for years. I think all of this is why her and my dad got a divorce."

"You're parents are divorced?"

"Mhm," I confirm, feeling anger and sadness begin to gnaw at me again. "It's like one day she woke up and just... changed. My mom and dad have always been opposites, him the laid back one and her the more mature one. But she didn't always used to be so uptight and a dream crusher.

"Her and my dad got married and had Joe and I at a fairly young age. He was on the road working gigs and she wanted to go to college. Of course my dad was there for her and us when we were little. He never left her with us to struggle. But, eventually, he wanted to get back to what he loved and he offered for all of us to come along, but she refused. She wanted to get her degree and start her career—which I don't blame her for—but she didn't respect what my dad wanted either. He ended up taking us on the road for a while as kids to give my mom a break to focus on college. Once she got her degree, everything started to get back to normal but there was always some underlying tension. I think when Joe's band started to become serious and my dad encouraged him to go for it, that was when it all started to crumble. I think when Joe and I wanted to hit the road and have a career like our dad she didn't like it.

"It's almost as if she resented us, my dad especially, for encouraging us to do what we wanted instead of doing something stable and practical. She believed we would never make it or be successful. Originally, I grew up in Ohio and when we told her our plans of moving to Nashville she refused to come with us or even think about it. She ended up asking my dad for a divorce. As much as I hated that my parents wanted a divorce, I knew it was for the best. Things weren't comfortable between all of us for a long time. I guess it all worked out for the best, though. Joe, dad, and I are doing what we love and she's living the life she always wanted. She's remarried to some surgeon who has two kids that want to be doctors and lawyers. Guess she got her fairytale ending." I bitterly scoff, rolling my eyes.

"I just hate how she belittles Joe and I, thinking we're stupid and we'll never be successful in what we want. Even when I got a 4.0 GPA and graduated a year early from high school, it didn't seem to be enough for her. She wanted me to head straight to college and get ahead of the game. When I told her I was going on the road instead she thought I was just taking the year off to get it out of my system. Boy, was she thoroughly wrong when I still refused to go to college a year later. She told me I was wasting my life and that I'll regret it one day when I'm making no money and it's too late to get a degree." I feel my lip start to tremble and the pinch behind my eyes comes back. "She didn't even sound remotely impressed when I told her about landing this gig."

"Wow, I'm sorry, Joss," he says, comfortingly running his hand up and down my back. Him using my nickname makes my heart swell a little.

"Am I stupid?" I blatantly ask, tears starting to run down my cheeks again. I need to know. I need someone's unbiased opinion. I want him to not give me some sugar coated answer, the one I always get from my dad and brother. I want an outsider's honest opinion on my biggest fear.

"What?" he asks, clearly surprised. "No. Joslyn, what are you talking about?"

"Am I doing the right thing?" I ask, looking over at him through my tear blurred vision. Looking at him as if he has all the answers.

Blinking the tears away I can see his disheartened expression, face falling.

"I can't help but think that she may be right sometimes. What if I am making a huge mistake? What if I am stupid for not going to college and doing more with my life? I'm just scared that I really am going to fail and I'm going to regret this in the end. I just don't want to be some stupid, naive girl that—"

"Joslyn," he cuts me off. "Let me ask you one thing. Does this make you happy?"

"What?" I ask, wiping away my tears.

"Touring, going on the road, your job. Does that make you happy?"

"Yeah." I sniffle.

"Then you're doing the right thing," he says with such confidence. "Joslyn, you're not stupid for doing what makes you happy. Honestly, tell me, would you be happy going to college and becoming a nurse or whatever?"

"No," I honestly answer.

"See, you have nothing to worry about." He gives me a soft smile. "As long as you're happy, that's all that matters."

Right then it's as if it all clicks. His words are true and they seem to set me free from most of the doubt and fear housed in the back of my head.

"Thank you," I whisper, molding into his side again to hug him. We sit there for a few minutes, staring out at the city in each other's arms, his cheek resting on my head.

When my tears stop again, I pull out of the hold, lightly chuckling. "I'm sorry," I say, wiping my eyes and face with my hands. "I swear, I'm not a cry baby," I admit, embarrassed.

"It's ok. I don't think you're a cry baby." He chuckles.

"Ugh!" I scrub my hands over my face, hating that I was crying over that whole situation. "What about you, huh? Have anything you want to get off your chest?" I chuckle.

"No." He laughs. "I think I'm good."

"Oh come on," I jokingly press. "After all of that you can't give me anything to make me fell even a little better about myself? I promise, I can play Dr. Phil just as good as you can."

He chuckles and then his face falls into one of thought. For a moment he seems to be contemplating something, debating if he wants to confide in me as well.

"You're not the only one with parent issues," he whispers after a while, deciding to take up my offer. I keep quiet, waiting for him to continue, and turn my body towards him to give him my full attention. "My parents aren't divorced, but they may as well be. They're just too scared to do it, afraid it will ruin our image." He sighs, raking his fingers through his hair.

"What?" I ask, furrowing my brows.

"Yeah, I'm sure you can tell from the other week, they're not too fond of each other." He grimly laughs. "Once the fame hit, they let it get to their heads. We weren't well off before and they decided to take advantage of and abuse our new lifestyle. They started to care more about the fame than being my parents. Sure, they were around, but it only seemed to be because of all the free stuff and deals I was getting." He shakes his head.

"My dad got really out of control though. He started up his own liquor company and became Mr. Big Shot. He started drinking more and became a total douchebag. Even started cheating on my mom," he shamefully whispers the last part.

"What?" I ask, thoroughly shocked.

"That's not even the worst part. He even started hooking up with some of my fans or their moms at shows, and that sent everything into a spiral. Almost ended my career if I didn't have such a good team to do major damage control. Even after all of that, he still does it occasionally, just more carefully I guess." He scoffs and I vaguely remember seeing something about it a few years ago on the front of a magazine I saw while waiting in line at the grocery store.

"Oh my God," I can't help but breath out, my stomach unpleasantly churning at the new information.

"My mom's no saint either," he continues. "Once she found out my dad was cheating she took that as an open opportunity to start hooking up with other men. Now both of my parents hate each other and try to outdo each other with making a name for themselves. How fucked up is that? I don't understand why they don't just get a divorce. I don't see how it can be that bad compared to faking it, pretending to be one big happy family that loves each other. Honestly, I'd rather they get a divorce so all of this can stop. They could go their separate ways and stop pretending for the media, not having to do damage control when anything remotely leaks. But apparently getting a divorce would still not be good for our overall image."

"Alex... I'm so sorry," I say, not knowing what else to say. My heart hurts for him and I can't even imagine what that all must be like.

"It's ok," he says, shrugging his shoulder, pretending that none of this affects him.

I feel awful not knowing what to say to him, but what can I say? Instead of saying anything, I just comfortingly place my hand over his that's resting on his knee, giving it a small squeeze to let him know I'm here. He flicks his eyes up to hold my stare and while we don't say anything it's like we are saying everything in those few minutes of just staring at each other.

"I guess we both forgot to mention a few things in our synopsis' from the first day," he jokes, breaking the comfortable silence with a light chuckle.

"I guess so." I laugh. "We better get inside. We have to be up in a few hours for bus call," I say, standing up and he follows my actions.

Silently walking back inside and down the elevator, we both go to our respected rooms.

"Goodnight, Joslyn," he says, walking me to my door.

"Goodnight, Alex."

I keep my head stuck out of my door until I know he gets back into his room down the hall safely. He gives me a subtle smile and wave before closing his door and I close mine, going to bed to reflect on all of the nights events.

Before falling asleep, I realize something I never said. Grabbing my phone from the nightstand, I quickly type out a text message.

Just so you know, you can always talk to me if you need someone to talk to, too.

I know. Thanks, Joss.

Biting back a smile, I snuggle into the hotel bed sheets and find sleep rather quickly.

- - - - - - - -

AHHH! Its done. Its over with. I'm going to stop messing with it. Honestly, this chapter was so hard to write. I'm still not 100% happy with it, but I know that if I don't post it now it will never get posted. lol Hopefully you guys don't hate it. This is sort of a big moment in the story and I've built it up in my head for so long. I just hope this chapter does it at least some justice.

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