Warnings: Angst (Bet you didn't see that one coming!)

Word Count: 1485

Author's Note: Let me just say, watching all of you yell at the reader and Josh has been simultaneously hilarious and guilt-inducing. Anyway, I would say enjoy this chapter, but, well, you saw the warnings...

You glanced down at the clock on your laptop. There was still fifteen minutes until you needed to be inside and only a small handful of photos to be edited. The interview had really thrown your schedule off, and now you were stressed that you wouldn't get everything done in time. Not hanging out with one of the boys before the show just felt... wrong.

You didn't even glance up when you heard the door of the bus swing open. It was probably just one of the crew members getting something that they needed for the show. The hand appearing on top of your laptop scared you so bad that you jumped back a bit.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

You looked up to see Josh standing in front of you, wearing half of his outfit for the first part of the show. He smiled at you as you met his eyes. It was like his demeanor had done a complete flip from earlier that day.

"It's ok, I'm just worried about getting the rest of these done," you sighed as you took out your headphones. "What's up?"

"Can we talk?"

"Doesn't the show start in like twenty minutes?"

"Yeah, but this is important."

You nodded and shut your laptop. He slid onto the bench across from you and folded his hands on the table.

"I've been doing a lot of thinking about our kiss last night," he said.

You let out a nervous laugh, "I was wondering when that was going to come up."

The corner of his mouth turned up into a smile. You glanced down at the table to hide the color that was now on your cheeks.

"I meant everything that I said last night."

"So did I."

"That's good," he smiled for a moment before becoming serious again. "But we need to talk about what's going to happen from here on out."

Your hands automatically moved to the end of your shirt and began to play with the hem. You didn't like the way that he had said that.

"What are you thinking?"

"Well," he ran a hand through his hair, making it stick up at different angles. "We obviously spend a lot of time together on tour."

"Right?"

"And I just don't think it's a good idea for us to be together."

Your mouth opened to say something, but no sound came out. It felt like someone had just sucked all the air from your lungs. All you could manage to do was sit there and stare at the table, trying to manage the weight of what you had just been told.

"Why?" you eventually managed to mutter.

"I don't want you get hurt."

"Why would I get hurt?"

He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, "People say things. Awful things. I don't want to put you through that, even if it means not being together. I've never felt for someone as strongly as I do for you, Y/N. The last thing I want is to see you have to deal with that because of me. And being on tour together creates another reason for us to not pursue this relationship. There's just too much potential for things to end badly."

"Are you really letting the fact that people might say something stop you from doing something that makes you happy?"

He paused for a moment, "Yes."

"And what if I said that I didn't care what anyone said about me?"

"I just... I can't."

That was the stupidest excuse that you had ever heard, but you kept your mouth shut. You still worked for him, after all.

"Alright. Just friends, then."

"I'm sorry if I ever made you believe we were going to be anything different. When I kissed you, I was tired and I wasn't thinking about the consequences. I thought that things could work, but when I woke up I remembered exactly why I never acted on my feelings in the first place."

"You're right. You shouldn't have."

He started to say something, but was interrupted by a crew member stepping onto the bus.

"Josh! Let's go. You need to finish getting ready."

"I'll talk to you later," he said.

You waited for the door of the tour bus to slam before you allowed yourself to show any sign of emotion. Just when you thought there was a chance of something happening, it all came crashing down again.

Your phone timer went off, alerting you that there was only ten minutes until you needed to be inside with a camera in your hand. Deciding that there was no way that you were going to get any work done in the state you were in, you decided to go see Tyler. Hopefully being around him would help you cheer up.

You wiped away a few tears and fanned your face as you headed out of the tour bus. A security guard was standing outside, watching you as you grew closer.

"I need to see Tyler Joseph," you said, flashing your security badge.

"Second left and then the first right," he said plainly.

"Thanks," you sniffled, pushing through the door.

Thankfully, Tyler was actually in his dressing room when you arrived. He had the tendency to be all over the place before shows. You knocked on the wall a couple times to gain his attention.

He was fixing his tie as he spun around to face you, "Y/N/N! Did you get your photos done? I thought I wasn't going to get to see you before the show."

"They're not done." You swallowed the lump in your throat.

"Are you ok?"

"Yep," you lied, forcing a smile.

His eyebrows furrowed for a moment, but he didn't press the subject any further. You walked further into the room and took a seat on the couch, pulling your legs up next to you.

"You would think that after playing as many shows as I have, I wouldn't get so nervous beforehand."

"If it makes you feel any better, I get nervous too," you laughed.

Tyler turned around to say something, but his eyes immediately went to the doorway. You followed his gaze, wondering what had so suddenly drawn his attention. Josh was standing just inside the room, now fully ready. He was only paying attention to Tyler.

"Hey," Tyler said.

"Hi," Josh answered. "I was just coming to see what was going on."

"Come on in," Tyler smiled.

Your breathing became more rapid as Josh walked over and took a seat on the far end of the couch.

"How are you feeling about the show tonight, Ty?" Josh asked.

"Nervous, but I have a good feeling."

"Yeah, me too."

You glanced over at Josh. It just so happened that he had decided to look at you too, leading to a few awkward seconds of eye contact before you turned away. This almost hurt worse than him never having feelings for you in the first place.

"You two are being awfully quiet," Tyler said, meeting your gaze through the mirror he was standing in front of.

"A lot on my mind," you said.

Josh looked up from his lap, "Me too."

"Did I miss something?"

You and Josh both shook your heads, probably a little too quickly. Not wanting to be interrogated, you immediately pulled out your camera and began to triple check all the settings.

"There you are," an exasperated crew member said, sticking their head into the room. "Josh, we need you for a second."

Josh stood up and left the room, once again leaving just you and Tyler. There were only a few minutes left until you and Tyler needed to get to your places and you were trying your hardest to not completely break down in that time frame.

"Alright, what's going on?" Tyler asked.

"Ask Josh," you muttered, rolling your eyes. "I don't want to talk about it."

"I liked it better when you two just got along," he laughed.

"Same," you sniffled.

"Hey," Tyler said, rushing over and bending down in front of you. "I don't know exactly what happened, but I do know that you're stronger than whatever it is."

"Tyler!" someone called. "It's go time!'

"Coming!" he called. "So let's get out there and do what we do best, ok? Tonight, I just want you to focus on the pictures. Not whatever is going on in your head. Not Josh. Not the crowd. Just the photos."

"Tyler!"

"Give me two seconds!" he yelled a bit more aggressively. "Can you do that for me?"

You nodded, "I think so."

"Alright," he said.

He stood up and held out a hand to you. You grabbed your camera bag and allowed Tyler to pull you up from the couch.

"Ready?"

"I guess so."

Tyler threw an arm around your shoulders and led you out into the hallway, "Let's do this."