"Calm down, thumper," I joke with a chuckle, placing my hand over Joslyn's bouncing thigh.

All the way to the airport she's been fidgety. She hasn't stopped anxiously bobbing her leg up and down ever since we claimed some seats at our gate in the busy airport, waiting to board our flight.

Today's the day of the fashion event that takes place later on tonight. It's currently early in the morning and we have to catch an early flight to get to the hotel in time to get me dressed and ready.

Shay is curled up into ball on a seat across from us, eyes closed and mouth slightly parted, clearly not trying to fight off sleep in the slightest. Chris is wandering around aimlessly trying to find some sort of coffee vendor that is willing to make his complicated drink order. And Milo is just... here. Like always.

"Sorry," Joslyn says sheepishly, a small blush and uneasy smile make their way onto her face. Her leg stops bouncing and she brings one of her fidgeting hands up to tuck a few strands of hair behind her ear.

"You alright?" I question, giving her thigh a small squeeze.

"Yeah, just not the biggest fan of planes..." she admits, leg uncontrollably starting to bounce again and her gaze shifts back to plane entrance, anxiously waiting for the announcement to board.

I nod in understanding, even though she isn't looking at me.

Just as I'm about to try to comfort her, I see Milo shoot up from his seat. He comes and stands close to me, gaze and body tense. Following his narrowed eyes, I can see a small group of teenage girls starting to come my way. They all have their phones in their hands and they're giggling uncontrollably while whispering to each other. They're full of excitement with their eyes set on me.

"Now boarding flight to Los Angeles," the overhead speaker announces and Joslyn's leg stills.

I give her leg another squeeze to gain her attention and she swings her gaze over to me once more. "Hey, I'll meet you on the plane," I tell her, standing up and removing my hand from her thigh.

She furrows her brows in confusion as to why I'm not boarding the plane now. I jerk my head in the direction of the teenage girls and she looks over her shoulder to spot them.

"Oh," she says, turning back around and nodding in understanding. She stands up, wiping her hands over her jeans before picking up her backpack and swinging it over her shoulder. "Yeah, I'll just get Shay and we'll see you on the plane." She gives me a small smile before side stepping me to try to wake the silver haired stylist.

"Good luck!" I yell to Joslyn before walking away to go meet the teenage girls, Milo right behind me. "Hey, guys." I politely smile to the girls.

After countless selfies, more people showing up over time to swarm me, I finally make my way onto the plane with Milo. My seat is next to him and Chris on the plane. Joslyn and Shay are seated a few rows back.

Making up the excuse that I have to use the bathroom, I get up from my designated seat and make my way down the main aisle of the plane in search of a particular brunette. Walking down the aisle, I conveniently run into Shay who is actually on her way to the bathroom. "Hey," I call, walking up to her. "Switch seats with me."

"No way." She scoffs and looks at me like I've just lost my mind. "There is no way I'm sitting next to Milo and Chris this whole flight."

"Please," I whine. I don't want to sit with them either. Truth be told, I want to sit with Joslyn to make sure she's ok. "I'll buy you that purse you've been talking nonstop about for Christmas," I try to bribe her.

"Ha!" She laughs in my face. "Fat chance. Christmas is literally months away. No deal," she says, brushing past me.

"I'll throw in a pair of shoes too!" I try one final attempt to get her to switch.

She stops in her tracks and turns to look at me, eyes squinted in skepticism. She fully turns around to face me and taps her pointer finger on her chin, contemplating my offer.

"You're lucky I like you." She walks up to me with a devilish smirk. "Nice doing business with you. Merry Christmas to me," she taunts, lightly patting the side of my face a few times before turning around to walk back down the aisle.

Rubbing my cheek, I just roll my eyes and go to find her seat. Walking a few more rows, I finally spot Joslyn sitting in a window seat, looking outside. She's back to anxiously playing with her fingers and bouncing her leg up and down. Gently sitting down next to her, I pluck one of the earbuds out of her ears and place it in mine, welcoming the soft acoustic song coming through the small speaker.

"Hey," she whines while hitting pause and turning to face me. Her bows lift in surprise, obviously not expecting to see me seated next to her. "What are you doing here? Your seats up there," she says, pointing in the general direction of my seat.

"I know," I simply comment, shifting in the seat to get more comfortable.

"What about Shay?"

"She's in my seat."

"So you're a seat swapper?" She asks with a quirked brow.

"Don't make it sound like such a bad thing," I joke with a smirk causing her to laugh and shake her head. "Now, let's hit play and enjoy this flight," I say, gesturing to her phone.

"Oh no, uh-uh." She shakes her head.

"Why not?"

"Because, I don't share my music with just anybody. Do you know how judgmental people are of others music taste? Sharing your playlist is such a vulnerable thing."

"Promise, I won't judge," I say, putting my hands up in defense.

She eyes me for a moment. "Fine," she grumbles. "No judging," she reiterates, pointing a warning finger at me.

"Scouts honor." I smirk while holding up the three fingered salute.

A few moments and one eye roll later, the soft sounds of a guitar paired with a unique voice flood my left eardrum. I lean back and focus all my attention on the songs that flood through the earbud, truly enjoying them. A few songs in, I'm actually met with a very familiar set of chords. Ones that belong to one of my songs. An instant smirk makes its way onto my face and Joslyn scrambles to hit the skip button on her phone.

"Don't even." She glares warningly, but I flat out ignore her.

"Aww, Joslyn has me on her playlist," I teasingly coo.

"Shut up," she grumbles, folding her arms and facing away from me to look back out the window. I just chuckle and continue to listen to the next song that plays from her phone.

She pauses her phone when a voice comes over the intercom to make announcements and go over safety procedures. While the voice speaks, Joslyn starts to anxiously play with her fingers again, as well as bounce her leg.

"Will you quit? You're going to shake the whole plane." I take one of her hands in mine, noticing that it's her tattooed hand, and I find myself prying her fingers open with my thumb so I can graze it over the ink on her middle finger that reads limitations with a strike through the word. "It's going to be ok." I try to reassure her.

She looks down at our hands before glancing up at me. "I know."

"Hey, if you could be anything in the world, what would you be?"

"Huh?" She looks at me with confused eyes.

"What's your dream job?" I chuckle, trying to take her mind off the upcoming flight.

"To be a manager," she says simply. "Although, I always had a dream of being an interior designer too."

"Really?" I smile, interest peaked.

"Yeah. But according to my mother that won't pay the bills either," she grumbles while rolling her eyes. "Regardless, I like being on the road and sticking to schedules too much, so I think I'll stick with manager." She laughs.

"What about you, huh? If you weren't a world famous popstar what would you be?" she asks quirking a curious brow.

"Easy, a chef," I reply immediately.

"You know, you talk a lot about cooking and being good at it but I've never seen you in action. I'm starting to think you're all talk," she jokes.

"I've never had a kitchen to cook in!" I try to defend myself. "Well, aside from that one time we made pancakes, but you had to go and Rachel Ray it and we know how that turned out." I give her a pointed look.

"Fine. When we get to Nashville you're using my kitchen to put your skills to the test. See if you're as good as you say you are."

"You're on." I smirk.

"Ladies and gentleman, we are ready for takeoff," the intercom announces and Joslyn freezes next to me. I take her hand in mine to lace our fingers together to try to calm her nerves and let her know that I'm right here. It's going to be ok.

-

Sitting in my hotel room, Shay is finishing up styling my hair while Joslyn is laying on her stomach on my bed, typing away at emails on her laptop.

"Aaaand done," Shay says, wiping off the excess styling gel that's on her hands. "Let's get you dressed and out the door."

I stand up from the chair and walk over to the bed where the suit the designer sent me lays next to Joslyn. Carefully, I pull my t-shirt off and over my head, making sure to not mess up my styled hair. I quickly take off my jeans and slip into the black dress pants, pulling the belt through the loops. Shay comes over to help me shrug on the white dress shirt, careful not to wrinkle it. After buttoning it up I hand her the tie, expecting her to tie it for me.

"I don't know how to tie a tie." She shakes her head.

"I don't either," I admit.

We both turn our heads to Joslyn who is still consumed with her emails, not listening to us at all.

Finally sensing our eyes on her, she turns her gaze to us. "What?" she asks confused, looking between Shay and I.

"You're always around a lot of guys and grew up with them. You should know how to tie a tie," Shay says, pointing to the black tie dangling from my fingers.

Joslyn huffs out an amused laugh. "I grew up with four pop punk boys. I don't know if any of them have worn a tie a day in their life! Plus, you're the stylist! Shouldn't you know?" she quips back.

"I've never gotten a gig this fancy." Shay shrugs.

"You don't know how to tie a tie?" Joslyn asks, gaze shifting to me.

"Nope."

She huffs, pushing her laptop back to roll off the bed. "Here," she says, digging her phone out of her pocket. She taps at the screen, eyes scanning before she finds something. "Take this." She hands me her phone and angles my hand to hold it to where she can see the screen before taking the tie and draping it around my neck.

She presses play on the video she has pulled up on how to tie a tie. Following the directions, she gets frustrated at how fast the guy in the video is going and changes it to another video that goes much slower. She does as the guy instructs, eyes narrowed and tongue slightly poking out of the corner of her mouth in concentration. Her delicate fingers fumble on my chest trying to get the tie just right. Finally, she has it in the final knot and tugs at it until it's secured around my neck.

"There," she says, smoothing out the tie, running her hands down my chest to flatten out the fabric. Admittedly, the action sends a small tingle down my spine. "Very handsome," she comments with a half-smile, taking her phone from my hand to toss it on the bed.

She grabs my suit jacket to help me shrug it on and makes sure the tie is tucked in perfectly before buttoning it. She also runs her hands over my shoulders to smooth out the fabric before fixing the shirt collar.

"Perfect." She takes a few steps back to asses her work, nodding in approval.

"Geez, Joslyn. Running for my job?" Shay jokes.

"Ha ha," Joslyn says dryly, sitting down on the bed.

"Alright," Shay comments, packing up her stuff. "Let's get to this fashion show."

She carefully takes off the apron she wore while getting me ready so nothing got on her dress. She and Chris are going to the fashion show with me to network. Joslyn unfortunately isn't going because apparently she doesn't have any real reason to be there.

Straightening out her red dress, Shay slips on some matching heels before grabbing her purse, ready to head out the door. "Joslyn, do you mind taking my makeup bag for me?" she asks, pleading smile on her face.

"Sure thing." Joslyn stands up from the bed, grabbing Shays bag and her laptop.

"You both look really great," Joslyn compliments when we step outside into the hallway. "Have fun tonight!" She pulls me and Shay in for a hug. "Be safe and don't get too crazy at the after party," she says, pointing a stern finger at both of us.

"Yes, mom," Shay and I both joke at the same time.

"Night." Joslyn smiles, opening up her hotel room door to go inside.

"Night, Joss." I give her a small smile and wave before following Shay down to the lobby to meet Chris and Milo.

The fashion show was great, but I think Shay enjoyed it more than I did, commenting on every outfit. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to be the new face for the brand and be here front row, but fashion shows are not exactly my number one idea of a good time. Nevertheless, the brand and I are getting good press for working together.

After the show, I had to hit up the red carpet before the after party, posing with the designer for the paparazzi. The cameras were blinding and there was a loud rumble from the photographers shouting at us to look all different directions.

During the after party, I don't get much time to relax or enjoy myself. Everyone is coming up to me to talk and if it isn't that Chris is dragging me around to talk to other important people. I don't do much of the talking though, Chris does, trying to make deals and show me off while I just stand beside him.

Finally, after giving one final fake smile and handshake, everything starts to whind down and I take a second to standoff in the corner by myself. It's beyond hot in here with the amount of people putting off body heat. I take off my suit jacket and roll up the sleeves of my dress shirt to get more comfortable before grabbing a glass of water from a waiter that's walking around.

Honestly, I'm not the biggest fan of after parties. They all just consist of fake chit-chat to try to network. I hate having to put on a fake smile in order to attract potential business partners. In reality, I'd much rather be sitting back at the hotel watching Friends with Joslyn and Shay like we normally do at this time of night after a show.

Looking around the crowded room, Chris is still schmoozing with people while Shay is up and talking to people as well, trying to score other clients.

Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I check the time to see that its 11:00 p.m. I let out a huff because I know how these parties go. At this point in the night I either standoff by myself until the party is over or follow Chris around like a lost puppy. I don't want to do either.

Looking at my phone in my hand, I debate whether or not to text a familiar number. Again, at this point in the night everyone is done trying to suck up to me and get my attention so no one will really notice if I'm gone...

Before giving it a second thought, my fingers are already typing away at my screen.

Hey, are you up?

I only have to wait a few minutes for a reply.

Yeah. Is everything ok? Are you alright?

Typical Joslyn.

I quickly down the rest of the water in my glass before setting it down on a table, grabbing my jacket. Making my way to the door, I quickly scan the crowd to make sure no one spots me leaving. When I'm about to exit, another pair of blue eyes catch mine.

Shay gives me a curious and pointed look from across the room. I send her back a pleading look, putting my pointer finger against my lips to signal to her to keep quiet. She just smirks while rolling her eyes and pretends to zip her lips. I give her a thankful smile and slip out of the venue to catch a car.

As soon as I step in the hotel my phone dings with two text messages.

Alex, are you ok?

Where are you?

I ignore Joslyn's text and quickly type out a response to Chris telling him that I wasn't feeling too well and went back to the hotel. Not a total lie.

I make my way to the elevator and get off on the right floor. Finding the correct room number, I lightly knock on the door I just left a few hours ago. Hearing some shuffling on the other side, I'm met a few seconds later with Joslyn opening the door. She's dressed in her pajamas and her hair is damp from a shower. The light scent of strawberry hangs in the air from her soap and shampoo.

"Alex?" she says confused. "Are you ok? Why aren't you at the party?" she worriedly asks, looking me over to make sure I'm physically fine.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I chuckle.

"Oh. You scared me. I thought something was wrong. What happened to the party?" She furrows her brows, side stepping to let me in.

"It was boring," I admit with a shrug. I walk over to the bed and throw my jacket on a nearby chair, toeing off my dress shoes. Loosening my tie, I flop down on the bed and prop myself up on the pillows, making myself comfortable. "Friends?" I ask.

"Sure." She half smiles while closing the door and grabs her laptop before sitting next to me, pressing play when she gets settled.

Halfway into the second episode of the night, I find myself laughing at some silly joke Chandler made.

I notice Joslyn doesn't laugh along with me like she normally does. Looking over at her, her eyes are closed and if I listen closely I can hear deep and even breaths coming from her form.

I quickly turn the volume down a few notches, not wanting to wake her. She's had a rough few weeks with trying to get everything for this event together. She's also been under a bit of stress with everything else that's demanded and expected of her. On top of all of that, she's trying to stay on Chris's good side. She doesn't think he's her biggest fan, but he isn't really anyone's if I'm being honest. Then, there was the plane ride today that shook her up a bit. I can only imagine how tired she is.

I pause the sitcom and close her laptop to set it on her desk, gently rolling out of the bed to not wake her. Picking up my jacket, tie, and shoes, I quietly make my way to the door, knowing that she needs her sleep. Turing off her light as soon as I open her door, I had every intention of going back to my own room, but something deep down inside of my chest tells me to stay.

Turning around, I take one glance back at her sleeping soundly. She looks so cute and peaceful with her face smooshed into the pillow, eyelashes fluttering against the top of her cheeks signaling that she's dreaming.