"You did not!" I gasp, slapping my hand over my mouth to mask my giggles.

"True story." Derek laughs as we walk back to the venue from the coffee shop. I finally decided to meet up with him so hopefully he'll quit asking me out every other week. "I was such an asshole."

At the coffee shop, right as we were walking out, there was this adorable little girl with her mom. She had a cute sundress on with her golden locks in pigtails. I'm not one hundred percent sure how we got on the topic, but he started telling me a story about how in the first grade he had a tiny crush on this girl in his class that must have looked similar to the little girl. Like most boys that age, instead of being nice to her, he teased her and one day it went too far. Apparently, he ended up sticking his gum in her hair and she had to get most of it chopped off.

"I'll say. I would have murdered you if that was me," I admit, eyes wide still gaping at him in shock.

"I thought she was going to! I mean, I completely understand. That was a total dick move, but funny enough, we're really good friends now." He laughs while shaking his head. "We met back up in high school, I let her scream in my face, and now we're able to laugh about it."

"Wow." I shake my head in disbelief. "Well, hopefully you're not as much of an asshole now as you were back then," I joke.

"No, I've matured a bit. Now, I just spill coffee on pretty girls." He grins, referring to the first time we met at the hotel and his coffee spilled all over my white jeans and shoes.

Heat instantly rises to my face and I quickly dart my eyes away from his, causing him to chuckle.

Walking to the back of the venue, we flash security our passes and they let us in. We make our way backstage and he stops with me in front of Alex's dressing room.

"I'll see you around?" Derek asks.

"Sure."

He steps closer to me, opening up his arms to hug me and I awkwardly walk into his embrace, not expecting him to do that.

"Bye." He smiles as we pull apart and walks down the hallway to go help finish setting up the stage.

Walking into the dressing room, Shay is standing with her arms crossed, weight on one leg, smirking at me.

"What?" I ask, taking a seat on the couch.

I can hear the soft pattering of water and Alex singing in the shower from behind the bathroom door. He must have just finished his workout. I decided to go with Derek while Alex was busy with his trainer.

"I wish I had two noble suitors fawning over me." She continues to smirk, sitting on the opposite end of the couch.

"What do you mean?"

Before she can answer, Chris walks in the doorway. "Shay," he nods his head in acknowledgment. "Mind if I talk to Joslyn for a second? Alone."

"Uh, no." She stands up and shoots me a confused but hesitant look.

I just give her a tight lipped smile and nod my head, signaling that it's ok for her to leave—even though I don't want her to. Chris always makes me nervous, because whenever he talks to me about anything it's never necessarily good. No matter the topic, I can't ever shake the feeling that he doesn't like me. Every time he walks into a room my heartrate seems to nervously pick up.

When Shay leaves the room, Chris closes the door behind her, making my heartrate pick up even faster. He walks toward me and sits on the opposite end of the couch, where Shay was sitting only moments ago.

"How's the party planning going?" he asks, eagerly sitting forward with his elbows on his knees.

"Uh, good," I answer, scrambling to pick up my laptop to show him some places I found. "I found a few places so far. I just need to call each of them to discuss capacity and services." I quickly scroll through photos of each place to show him.

He gives a stiff nod of approval. "I like the rooftop locations. Try to book that one," he says, pointing to a hotel rooftop with a pool, one that's at the top of my list. "I have the guest list ready and I'll email it to you so you can start calling, booking, and sending out invitations."

"Ok. Do you want me to email you this list of places?"

"No. Just try to get that one booked," he says, pointing to the hotel again. "It's perfect."

"What's perfect?" Alex asks, opening the bathroom door.

The smell of his shampoo wafts into the room as he walks in, towel drying his hair. He's only dressed in a pair of blue jeans, his black boxers peeking out of the top, and his broad shoulders and narrow torso are on of full display.

"Nothing," Chris is quick to answer, standing up and walking to the door. "Joslyn, be sure to check your emails," he tells me before walking out into the hall.

"What was that about?" Alex asks, draping the towel over his shoulders, bending down to pull out a simple white t-shirt from his suitcase.

"Oh nothing." I try to sound as causal as possible. "Just scheduling stuff. Ready for lunch?"

"Yeah." He slips on his shirt and we walk down to where catering is.

"I can't believe the first leg of the North American tour is almost over," Alex says as we sit down at a table with our trays.

"Me either." I shake my head.

It's funny how these past few months have only felt like weeks. A week from today marks the end of the first leg of tour and we get to take a month off before heading back out on the road again.

"If you could visit any place in the world, where would you go?" Alex asks, digging into his lunch.

"Hmm." I think for a moment, using my fork to pick the black olives out of my salad. "Probably Amsterdam."

"To get your flower?" He softly smiles while quirking an eyebrow.

How did he remember that? I told him that in the very beginning of the tour when we were sitting in his dressing room and he got me to confess my weird hobby to him.

"Yeah," I admit, still in awe that he remembers that. "That and it looked beautiful the last time I was there, but I never got the time to go explore. I would love to go bike riding and visit some of the museums."

"Maybe we can do that when we visit there for the European leg of the tour?" He looks at me with a hopeful glint in his eye.

"Maybe," I softly smile. As much as I would love that, I don't want to get my hopes up. I doubt Chris would allow it. "What about you? Where would you visit?"

He reaches over and grabs one of the black olives sitting on my tray, popping it into his mouth. "I don't know. I'm still pretty set on exploring Broadway one day. Maybe not on a Friday night, but some week night. After all, it is music city, right? I'd love to see all of the musicians just doing their thing and listen. It was insane hearing all of them at once from the street."

"Hopefully one day you will." I smile and he smiles back.

His phone dings in his pocket but he ignores it, holding my gaze. But then it dings again, and again, and again.

Tearing his eyes away from mine, he pulls his phone out of his pocket, glancing at the screen. His brow furrows in confusion before his face falls and his jaw tightens, nostrils flaring.

"You have got to be kidding me," he seethes, slamming his phone down on the table. He digs his fingers into his hair, tugging violently before putting his head in in his hands.

"Alex, what's wrong?" I worriedly ask, reaching over to place my hands on his forearms, gently tugging his hands away from his face.

Instead of verbally responding, he scrubs his hands down his face and grabs his phone, holding it out for me to take. I grab it and look at the screen. An article is pulled up and the headline reads 'Alex Walkers Dad Leaves Club with Multiple Girls.'

I can't help the gasp that leaves my lips and my eyes from skimming the article. It claims that Alex's dad was at a night club in New York last night and left around 3:00 a.m. with at least five girls. From the photos, it looks like the girls are around my age which makes my stomach churn.

"Oh, Alex." I look up at him with wide eyes, my mouth agape. He's slumped back in his chair, jaw still set in anger.

"Alex," Chris says, walking in the room with rushed long strides, his tone clipped.

"I know," Alex says through gritted teeth when Chris stands next to him.

Without another word, Alex stands and follows Chris out of the room leaving me sitting here stunned.

I don't see Alex for the rest of the afternoon, which is a bad and good thing. A bad thing because I'm obviously worried about him and I have no clue what's going on. But it's also a good thing because I'm able to book the hotel rooftop with the pool for his birthday while he's gone.

I'm finally able to see him when the meet and greet starts. He walks into the room, just as deflated as when I last saw him. He hardly even smiles throughout the photos, not as warm and friendly with everyone as he normally is.

Before the Q&A starts, fans are directly prompted to not ask him any questions about his dad or anything related to the latest news. Thankfully, everyone complies, but that doesn't really help Alex's mood at all.

Even before the show while Shay gets him ready he's quiet, the anger still rolling off of him. Shay and I don't say a word the whole time, not knowing what to say. It's like being around a ticking time bomb, we don't want to set him off. Instead, we just send each other worried glances from time to time when he isn't looking. We want him to be the first to speak.

"Joslyn," Chris calls from the hallway, waving me over.

I hop off the vanity and meet him, feeling Alex's eyes on me the whole time until Chris leads me down the hall into another room.

"You booked the rooftop?" he asks, closing the door behind him.

"Yeah." I sent him an email after I got a conformation from the hotel.

"Good. I just sent you the guest list. I need you send out invitations ASAP. You can get it done during the show."

I want to argue with him and tell him no because I want to be there for Alex tonight, but by Chris's tone and body langue I can tell I'm not going to win that fight after today's events.

I just nod and walk back down the hall to Alex's dressing room. Before stepping inside, I check the email Chris sent me and my eyes nearly bug out of my head. There has to be at least three hundred people on this list. How am I going to get all of these invitations done?

Inwardly groaning, I pocket my phone and go to walk into Alex's room. When rounding the doorway, I run into a hard body.

"Sorry," I apologize, taking a few steps back from Alex.

"It's ok," he says, the first words he's said to me since lunch.

He's ready and dressed in his first outfit for the show. Looking at my watch, it's only a few minutes until show time.

"Ready?" I ask, wanting to walk to the back of the stage with him like I always do.

He just nods and we fall into step with each other to go to the back of the stage. I almost expect him to walk up to the stage without saying a word to me, but he turns around to face me when he reaches the stairs.

Opening his arms, I walk into him and wrap my arms around his neck while he wraps his around my waist. This has become a routine before every show, but tonight he held me that much tighter.

"Good luck tonight," I whisper into his ear. Giving him a tight squeeze, I pull away and rest my hand on his shoulder. "Hey," I lift up his chin so his sad eyes can look into mine. "Go out there and kill it tonight. Forget about everything. Just go out there and have fun. For the next hour and a half, forget about everything and focus on what you love, ok? Can you do that for me?"

He looks hesitant for a moment but eventually nods, a small smile tugging at his lips. "Thanks, Joss." He pulls me in for another hug.

The lights go out and piercing screams fill the air. When the band starts to play we pull apart, the show starting.

"Remember, have fun tonight," I yell over the crowd and music, pointing a stern but playful finger at him.

"I will," he yells back, finally flashing me a beautiful, genuine smile before running up the stairs to go onstage.

During the show, I quickly get to work on the invitations. There is no way I can do all of this by myself, so I break down and get Shay to help me out. I know I'm not supposed to tell anyone, but I'm in desperate need of help and I trust her not to say anything.

While I can't watch the show and be with Alex in the crowd, I'm at least able to watch him from the TV in the dressing room. I can tell he's not at his best, but the show is better than I was expecting it to be. You can tell he was off, but he faked it enough to put on a good show.

At the end of the night Shay and I are able to finish most of the invitations. I'll just have to stay up the rest of the night to get them all finished.

Alex goes back to being silent after the show. He's quiet all the way to the hotel, but manages to tell me goodnight before locking himself in his room. I feel awful for him. I don't know what to do to make him feel better. I don't want to push him, knowing he wants his space, but I wish he would talk to me.

He'll talk when he's ready, though. I just have to be patient with him and let him digest the news first.

Walking into my room, I quickly make my way to the desk to finish the rest of the invitations. By the time I'm done it's past 3:00 a.m.

Standing up from the chair, I stretch to crack my aching bones, walking to the window in my room. Tonight we're somewhere on the coast, the view of the beach greeting me from my window.

Looking out the window, I let the view of the waves rocking back and forth calm me. While it's dark outside, I can just make out a figure sitting on the beach in the sand. Squinting my eyes, I can see the familiar set of curly brown locks, his white t-shirt visible in the night.

Slipping on some flip flops and grabbing my room key, I head out the door to go to the beach.