"Alex, get back here!" I yell, pounding my feet harder on the concrete floor of the backstage halls to try to catch up to him.

I don't know what's up with this kid today, but he's really testing my patience. I get that it's the last day of the first leg of tour, and he's probably excited to be off for a month, but still. He's been extremely playful—and occasionally annoying—all morning. Like now for example. I have to get him to the meet and greet in less than fifteen minutes and he's running around the backstage halls like an idiot, wanting me to chase him.

I let out an annoyed huff when he doesn't listen to me, rounding a corner down another hall, further away from where the meet and greet is supposed to be held. Out of breath, I slow my sprint to a jog while rounding the corner, not spotting Alex anywhere. Where the hell did he go now?

Before I can contemplate my next move, I feel someone's arms wrap around my middle, halting my actions and spinning me around. They bend down and hurl me over their shoulder, forearm locking behind my knees to make sure I don't fall.

"Alex!" I yell, smacking his back. "Put me down!"

I feel his back rumble with laughter, and I try my best to lift my head to see where he's taking us but all I get is a face full of my hair from being upside-down.

"No can do." I can hear the smug smile in his voice as he continues to walk down the hallway, refusing to put me down.

"What are you two doing? Get to the meet and greet." My body instantly tenses upon hearing Chris's stern voice.

"We're on our way, boss. I just had to get Joslyn in line," Alex jokes. "Come on, Joslyn, it's time to stop playing around. Just because it's the last day doesn't mean you can start slackin'." He playfully taps me on my backside, causing me to let out a surprised gasp, walking back down the hallway.

To say I'm mortified would be an understatement. I'm just thankful I don't have to see Chris's reaction, nor did he have to see my beet red face.

"Always having to do your job." Alex sighs teasingly. "I think I lead you around more that you lead me." He chuckles.

When we get to the room where the meet and greet is held, he finally sets me down and I instantly swat the center of his chest. "You are such a jerk!"

He only laughs, clutching his stomach and throwing his head back which only earns him another smack to his hard chest.

After the meet and greet and Q&A, we head to his dressing room to chill out for a while before he has to do some interviews.

"Shoot," Shay mumbles, carding through Alex's wardrobe trunk. She lets out a huff and places her hands on her hips.

"What?" I ask.

"The other night during a quick change Alex accidentally ripped a hole in the sleeve of one of his shirts for the show. I took it on the bus to sew it up later because I swore we had another one on hand, but I guess it got sent out for cleaning. I'll just have to run to the bus and try to sew it up really quick."

"I'll come with you," I offer, standing up from the couch. "I forgot my charger on the bus anyway."

"Field trip!" Alex says excitedly, standing up from the couch as well. I swear, I don't know what's up with this kid today. He acts as if we're going to the zoo or something.

Shay and I just exchange humorous looks, all three of us making our way down the hall to go outside to the busses. When we open the back doors, the sound and view of pounding rain greets us as we walk out under the awning.

"Oh hell no," Shay says, unamused. "There is no way I'm going out in that."

"Me either," I comment.

"No way," Alex pipes in.

"But I need that shirt!" Shay whines.

"Well, then, go get it," I tell her.

"Excuse me? Have you seen this face?" She dramatically points to her perfectly made up face. "I spent too much time doing this to just ruin it. And this one," she points to Alex, "has interviews soon, and I am not about to fix his hair again. Look how perfect it is!" She whines and Alex's lips cockily twitch up at the comment.

"So that leaves me?" I exasperatedly ask, crossing my arms over my chest and raising a brow.

"Yeah, pretty much," Shay says as if it's the most obvious thing on the planet.

"I'm not going out there in the pouring rain."

"But I need his shirt! Please?" She musters up her best puppy dog eyes, jutting out her bottom lip. "What is he supposed to do? Go out on stage shirtless?"

"I'm sure all those girls wouldn't mind," I note.

Again, Alex's lips twitch up.

Shay lets out a sigh. "Yes, but I'm sure some parents wouldn't be too pleased. Or Chris." Just his name triggers me, and I know if I don't get the shirt he'll end up hating me even more than I think he does, and I don't need that.

"Fine," I grumble.

"You're the best!" Shay squeals, pulling me into a tight hug.

"You owe me. Big time," I mumble.

"Yeah, yeah." She pulls away, rolling her eyes. "Now, get out there and get me that shirt," she says, swatting my backside.

What is up with everyone touching my ass today?

Taking a deep breath, I brace myself, planting my feet and balling my fists, ready to sprint to the bus. Mentally counting down from three in my head, I take off running when I hit zero.

At least the summer rain is warm because halfway to the bus I'm already soaked. Reaching for the door handle, I harshly pull on it to get inside but it won't budge. It's locked.

"No!" I shriek out, smacking my hand against the door. This is my luck.

Resting my head against the door, I can't help but chuckle to myself over the whole situation. This would only happen to me.

Pushing myself off the door, I take a few steps backwards, letting my head fall back. As the saying goes; Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning how to dance in the rain.

Like a loon, I hold my arms out and start spinning around, letting the rain wash over me. I don't care how stupid I look, I continue to amuse myself by dancing around in the pouring rain.

I suddenly feel my feet lift off the ground, two strong arms holding me up bridal style. I let out a yelp of surprise at the loss of the ground beneath my feet. Opening my eyes, I see Alex's bright smile, and his once perfectly styled hair is starting to stick to his forehead from the rain as he spins us around.

"Shay's going to kill you, you know that, right?" I slightly raise my voice so he can hear me over the sound of the rain.

Looking over at Shay, I can tell she's fuming, storming back inside the arena.

"She'll get over it." He smiles, setting me back down on my feet. "May I have this dance?" he asks, bowing in front of me while holding out his hand.

I can't help but giggle and shake my head in amusement. Placing my hand in his, he stands up straight and pulls me close. I rest my free hand on his broad shoulder while his finds my waist. Swaying back and forth, he pulls away, spinning me around once before pulling me back to him.

"Hey!" I hear Shay shout over the rain.

Alex and I look over to see her waving a pair of keys above her head. He lets go of me and jogs over to her. She throws the keys once he's within distance and he catches them with one hand. Jogging back in my direction, he grabs my hand and makes me jog back to the bus with him.

Fumbling with the keys, he finally manages to unlock the door. He opens it and ushers for me to go inside first. I run in, up the stairs. On the last stair I realize we're soaking wet and probably shouldn't stand around in the bus, in fear of ruining the carpet. I stop in my tracks, causing Alex to run into me, almost knocking me over, but he grabs my hips and pulls me back against his chest before I can fall on my face.

"What's wrong?" he asks.

"We're soaking wet. I don't want to ruin the bus."

"Oh," is all he manages to say.

Racking my brain, I finally think of a plan. Slipping off my shoes, I leave them on the stair and bolt to the tiny bathroom. When I fling the door open I instantly go in the shower, wringing out my soaking wet hair.

"Where are you going?" I hear Alex call after me, but before I can answer he's in the bathroom, cramming himself in the tiny shower with me.

"Alex!" I shriek in surprise, pressing my body in the corner to make room for the both of us.

"Good thinking," he comments while peeling off his shirt, careful to not accidentally elbow or hit me while struggling to take off the soaking wet fabric clinging to his body. He drops it to the floor of the shower where it makes an audible plop.

After pushing his hair off his forehead, he places his hands on the wall, one on each side of my head, leaning his weight on his arms. His body is only a foot from mine, given the small space we're in. I can't help but watch as a drop of water falls from a single curl he missed while pushing his hair back. It falls to his nose where it slides down to drop onto his bottom lip, running down his chin and all the way down his trained torso until it hits the top of his jeans.

When I shift my eyes back up to meet his, he's staring at me intently. For a split second I swear I catch his eyes flick down to my lips, and I feel like he's moving in closer.

"You idiots!" Shay's voice carries through the bus followed by the sound of the door slamming, causing me and Alex to jump. "If you would have just—oh!" Her sentence is cut short and I hear a light thud. I already know she's tripped over our shoes on the stairs.

She lets out and annoyed groan. "Where are you two?"

I clear my throat, pushing myself even further into the corner of the shower and Alex backs away into the other, still only feet away. "In the bathroom," I call out to her.

"What?" She raises an eyebrow in amusement when she spots us in the shower. "What's going on here?" She asks, and it looks like she's trying to suppress a smirk.

"Can you get us some towels?" Alex asks.

"Sure thing." This time she smirks before going to get us towels.

After drying off a bit, Alex and I find Shay at the front of the bus with the shirt she needs to sew up slung over her shoulder.

"As I was saying," she emphasizes, eyes on Alex. "If you would have just waited five more minutes, the bus driver said he was going to bring the keys and see if he could find an umbrella." She gestures to the wet umbrella drip drying on the stairs of the bus next to our shoes.

Alex just shrugs, walking past her to sit on the steps to put on his shoes.

"Thanks," I say as he hands me mine. I slip them on and grab my charger on the kitchen counter. "Would you mind carrying this since you have the umbrella?" I ask Shay, handing it to her when she nods.

"Ready?" Alex asks. He extends his hand out to me, ready to run back to the venue in the rain.

"Ready," I say, grabbing his hand.

He opens up the bus door and we make a run for it. Getting pelted by the rain once more, we race to get under the awning, only letting go of each other's hands to wring out our hair and clothing enough to go inside.

Walking back from the bus under her umbrella, Shay just shakes her head at us, slightly rolling her eyes. "Come on. Now I have to get you ready. Again." She glares at Alex.

When we get back to his dressing room, Alex heads straight for his suitcase to pull out some dry clothes. It dawns on me that I don't have an extra pair of clothes with me. All of my clothes are on the bus and I am not about to go back out there. Instead, I go into his bathroom to grab a towel to wrap myself in before he heads in there to change. I awkwardly stand around, not wanting to get the couch wet.

"All yours," Alex says when he gets out of the bathroom dressed in dry clothes, rubbing a towel over his damp hair.

"Oh... I don't need it," I awkwardly say.

He furrows his brow.

"You're just going to stay in wet clothes?"

"I don't have an extra pair in here. They're all on the bus"

"Oh," he says, tossing his towel in a nearby hamper. He walks over to his suitcase, picking it up off the floor. He sets it on the coffee table, gesturing to it. "Take whatever you want."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Joslyn. I'm not going to let you sit in wet clothes and risk you getting sick."

My heart involuntarily swells. I nod and walk over to the suitcase to grab one of his plain white t-shirts and a pair of black sweats. Nothing that screams Alex in case anyone sees.

"Thank you," I tell him before going into the bathroom to fully dry off and change into his dry clothes.

Pulling the strings of his sweats, I tie them tight so they stay on my hips. I grab my wet clothes and walk out of the bathroom to find Alex and Shay at the vanity, her blow-drying his hair.

I walk over to the hamper and drop my clothes in it, the towel on my head following soon after. Brushing my hair with my fingers, I walk over to them and sit in my spot at the corner of the vanity.

Alex's eyes meet mine and he smiles, eyes glancing down to look at my—his—clothes. "Nice outfit," he comments with a smirk once Shay turns off the hair dryer.

I childishly stick my tongue out at him and snatch the hairdryer, turning it on to drown out anymore of his smart comments and dry my own hair slightly.

When Shay is done styling him, we run down the hall to get to his interviews right on time, allowing the first interviewer their full allotted time with him.

Sitting in the hallway while he goes through interviews, goosebumps start to form all over my skin from sitting in the air conditioned building with damp hair. I didn't have time to fully blow-dry my hair back in the dressing room.

When I let the next interviewer in with Alex, I know I have enough time to run to his dressing room to see if I can steal one of his jackets. Of course, the only thing he has in this suitcase is his signature blue hoodie he wears all the time that any fan will notice immediately.

Groaning, I quickly run down the halls until I can get out of the backstage area to go find one of the merch stands. When I find one, the only sort of clothing item with long sleeves is a hoodie with his face printed on it. It'll have to do because I'm freezing.

"Don't even," I warn Alex when he walks out of his last interview. He has a shit eating grin on his face when he looks down at my new article of clothing, and I know he's dying to tease me about it.

"Aww, Joslyn has a hoodie with my face on it! Joslyn has a hoodie with my face on it," he sings childishly, deliberately ignoring my warning.

I swat him in the chest, and he surprises me when he grabs my hand, intertwining our fingers. He leads me down the hall and back to the dressing room, skipping and swinging our hands back and forth causing me to laugh. Again, I don't know what's with this kid today.

When we get to his dressing room, we both plop down on the couch to chill out before he has to get ready for the final show.

"One question," Alex says after we've both stopped giggling. "Why didn't you just grab one of my hoodies?"

"Because, the only thing with sleeves in your suitcase is that signature blue hoodie you always wear. If anyone saw me in that I'd be a dead woman in two seconds," I joke, but I'm actually quite serious. After the diner incident, I know that if I'm tied to Alex in any sort of public way I'll have millions of fans to answer to.

"Oh... yeah. You're right," he says, and he almost sounds... disappointed?

"Let's get this last show on the road! I'm ready for break!" Shay says, coming in the dressing room to get him ready for the last time.

The last show is my favorite. You can tell Alex and everyone is hyped up on excitement and have a ton of energy, making a great show.

When the shows over, Shay and I go backstage to see Alex who is just getting off the stage, huge grin on his face and adrenaline still coursing through his veins. He bolts down the stairs, Milo hot on his heels, and makes a beeline for us. He reaches me first and I let out a noise of surprise when he hugs me, lifting my body off the ground to spin me around a few times. He's really sweaty, but somehow I don't mind that much.

He does his rounds of high-fiving and hugging people all the way back to his dressing room, thanking them and telling them to have a good break.

When we get back to his room, he immediately heads for the shower and I start packing up his stuff for the last time.

"Alright, girlie, I'm out of here. I've got an early flight to catch." Shay comes over to give me a hug before leaving. "Tell the weirdo I said bye," she jokes when we pull apart.

"Will do." I laugh. "See ya, Shay!" I watch her walk down the hall, suitcase in tow.

"I can't believe that was the last show," Alex says, coming out of the bathroom, a pair of basketball shorts low on his hips.

"Yeah, last time I have to pick up after your ass for a while," I joke, going to the bathroom to pack up his toiletries.

He follows me into the bathroom. "You don't have to pick up after me, you know. I'm a big boy. I can do it myself." He starts packing up some of his stuff on the counter while I grab and dry off his stuff from the shower.

"Yeah, but it's sort of my job." I giggle.

"Yeah," he sighs, grabbing his stuff to go pack it away in his suitcase. "What time is your flight?"

"In two hours. I should probably make sure I have everything and get going." I huff in defeat, dreading my flight. I hate planes. But, also, I find myself feeling a little sad leaving this tour for a while. I'm going to miss it and I hate to go home to and empty house, the boys still on tour.

"Alright," Alex says, slipping on a black t-shirt. "I'll help you get your stuff from the bus."

Earlier today I packed all of our stuff so all Alex has to do is help me load my suitcases in the back of the taxi and get his own when he leaves.

When we go back out to the bus to grab my suitcases, the rain has stopped. The only evidence is the wet pavement that glistens under the lights.

Shutting the back of the trunk, Alex frowns a bit. "I'm going to miss you, Joss."

"I'm going to miss you too," I admit, stepping into his embrace.

"Are you going to be ok?" He asks, referring to the plane ride. I just nod my head against his shoulder, even though I wish he could come with me. "Text me when you land safely and when you get home."

"I will," I promise, pulling back from our hug. "Same goes for you."

"I will."

"Your flights in five hours, right?" I ask, even though I know since I booked it.

"Yep." He sighs. He doesn't seem too thrilled to be going home.

"Miss," the taxi driver calls from the open window. "We have to leave now if you want to make your flight."

"Ok," I call back. "Looks like I have to go," I tell Alex. "Have a good break." I pull him in for one more quick hug.