The installation of the studio couldn't have come at a better time. Joost's head was bursting with ideas that needed to be recorded. He had been writing lyrics and song names in notebooks and on his phone's notes app. It was getting to the point where Joost was constantly recording voice memos and sending them to Fenne. This made sure that he could find them again, or if his frazzled mind collapsed, Fenne would have them on hand.

Fenne listened to them at the start, but so many began piling up in her inbox that she couldn't tell one from the other. With these countless memos came a skittish and fidgeting Joost. His white earphones made more appearances and he often sat with his hands clasped together and his thumbs circling each other.

Sometimes, Fenne would take one of his hands and hold it in-between hers. It seemed to work, but what worried Fenne, was the cause of Joost's restlessness.

She was relieved when the studio was finished and Fenne wasn't surprised that the team were recording almost every day. Daan was often over to contribute, as well as Enzo. Stuntje and Apson were almost always there, helping Teun tweak the soundboard and offer advice.

With coffees in hand, Fenne came home to the sound of a repeating beat. Her shift had been extended, much to her irritation, but she had taken orders from everyone before leaving that morning. It seemed that she wasn't the only one with an unexpected shift change, because when she made it to the living space, Hanna still wasn't back from the hospital.

'We've just finished Wachtmuziek,' Apson informed as Fenne handed him his iced beverage. 'We're going to start filming for it this Saturday.'

'What's the plan for it?'

'He wants to wear a balaclava and smoke.'

'Don't know why I asked, really.'

Joost stood with the headphones over his ears and nodded along with the finished song. He took the drink handed to him with a lop-sided smile and walked around to stand beside Teun's seat. The producer turned dials and Joost would turn them back. He leaned over the board to press buttons until he was satisfied, before taking the headphones off. The song played aloud and Fenne handed Stuntje the last drink.

'If it gets too much
If you get too annoyed
And you have a lot of sadness
If you need to learn hard
Need to study something difficult
If it all fails.'

Despite the upbeat music, the lyrics hit hard. The high-pitched melody changed to Joost's voice that rapped even deeper words. It didn't take much to see that Joost had gone for a change in style with his new work. Fenne could hear the difference in tone and production from the music she first heard at the clubs. She assumed this was brought on by the audiences Joost now had at festivals. His performances needed variety, but he also wanted to stick to his roots.

She also hadn't forgotten about his desire to enter the Eurovision song contest. Fenne was convinced that after this new album and after the collaborations that were still in the production process, Joost would be ready to send in an application.

'It sounds great, Joost,' Fenne said. 'Are you sure you want to film for this one? In a balaclava?'

'Of course. If you can't hakken to any one of my song, then I don't want it released.'

Fenne couldn't argue with that and turned to see her laptop on the coffee table. She walked around the sofa to take it back upstairs when she saw a notebook next to it.

Sitting open, the curled corners of its pages and messy, black hand writing were on display. The sporadic scribbles among lines of lyrics pointed to only one member of the team and its tossed position painted the picture of how it ended up there.

At a glance, Fenne recognised the lyrics to the newly produced song playing from the soundboard. When she picked up her laptop, she caught sight of the lonesome words above the rest.

Komt goed.

A doodle of Iron Man sat below it, which seemed out of place among the melancholic lyrics. Fenne wondered if Joost had drawn it after writing the two words, or if Daan had an input. His artistic talents were known throughout the group, but Fenne couldn't imagine Joost letting one of his friends get a hold of his notebook. Especially when there were personal things in there like,

'It'll be alright?' she read aloud when Joost wandered over. The headphones hung around his neck and he drank through his straw. Peering down to the book in Fenne's hands, Joost hummed.

'Yeah. It'll be fine, you know? Like... don't worry. Be happy,' he shrugged, listing off anything that came to his head.

Fenne didn't know why the words stuck out to her. Maybe it was because they were in the corner of the page, hoping they'd be included amongst the mess of black scribbles.

In Joost's handwriting, Komt goed felt like taking a deep breath. It felt like looking back and forward, seeing what you had been through and what was to come. None of it mattered because everything would work out in the end.

'I want another tattoo.'

The sound of Joost's slurping halted and the ice in his cup rumbled together. He blinked at his girlfriend, who held his notebook in her small hands. To prove her point, Fenne held up her arm and pulled up her short sleeve. Below a painting that Joost didn't know was a space that Fenne traced with her finger.

'What do you think? Right here,' she used her thumb and forefinger to mark where it would go. 'Komt goed, just like you've written.'

'You want my handwriting tattooed?'

'Hm-mh!'

'God, I love you.'

While smiling, Fenne accepted Joost's kiss and melted at his touch on the small of her back. Coffee weaved with his breath as well as the faint taste of a distant cigarette.

'I'm going to get it, as well. In the same place as yours,' Joost pulled his sleeve up. Above his inner joint, Joost pointed to the spot that would match perfectly with Fenne's.

'Matching tattoos? I should get Crazy Frog, too.'

'Let's not get too excited. I've only just earned your dad's trust.'

—-

Filming Wachtmuziek was a new experience to say the least.

Joost dressed in a grey suit with a Looney Tunes tie and fingerless gloves. With clear-lensed glasses, he brought along his ushanka and a full pack of cigarettes.

He insisted on buying some things from the grocery shop before filming. This meant that Fenne had to film Joost walking and dancing around Amsterdam with a bag of shopping in his hand.

Fenne altered between holding the camera at chest and eye-level. While he danced in doorways, she crouched low to angle the frame upwards. She held his glasses when he wanted to pull on his balaclava, as well as his ushanka when he wasn't wearing it.

The grey skies made for an effective background for the emotional lyrics. But to bystanders who stared at the man who hakken-ed in the street, they would think Joost was enjoying a happy, energetic song.

'You're amazing, schatje,' he said while watching some of the footage back. 'That's sick.'

The shot of Joost lighting his cigarette with his treasured zippo played on the screen. In his ushanka and glasses, Joost focused on the flame with downturned eyes. Fenne had to be extremely close with her camera to get the shot, but it made the initial on the silver lighter clear behind Joost's fingers. She personally liked the detail and thought about cropping it for her Instagram.

'Can we get some lunch, now? I'm starving,' Stunje said, looking around the neighbouring streets for a restaurant or cafe.

'You guys go ahead. Our appointment's at 2.'

'What appointment?'

'We're getting matching tattoos!' Fenne chimed.

'Fucking simps.'

The team parted from the two who had their own plans. With the bag of shopping still in hand, Joost carried his ushanka and balaclava as they headed for the parlour. Fenne packed away her camera in her bag and pulled out Joost's notebook.

The words that they were about to share still sat on the corner of the page. Fenne had made sure to bring it along so that the stencil could be made identical to the light handwriting. While Joost was planning to get another tattoo, which he excitedly told Fenne was of the Tasmanian Devil from Looney Tunes, Fenne wasn't questioning her decision of the written words for a second.

It had been nearly two years since they had properly met, and in that time, Fenne's life had changed. Before Joost's performance at Air, Fenne was stagnant. Her film degree filled a void that would send her into a spiral if left unattended. Her life was a day-to-day cycle of purposelessness that she didn't realise she was stuck in.

Hanna was one of her only friends that she saw regularly and living in their small apartment was a privledge Fenne knew she had. But between lunches, train rides, and weekends of going to bars, there was nothing more to Fenne's life than a chronic addiction to her phone and a longing for excitement. Shifts at the cafe were stimulating enough, but Fenne worried about her future when the uni student life stopped.

But with his dimpled smile and electric touch, Joost shuffled into Fenne's path and gave her everything. A job, a house, friends, a hope for the future and a loving boyfriend. He cared about Fenne like no one had ever done. It was like Joost had watched her get to the moment where she needed to make changes and stepped in with a cape over his shoulders.

Even as they headed into the tattoo parlour, Joost held the door open to let Fenne duck under his arm, just like he did with every door. In his grey suit and thin-rimmed glasses, Joost stood next to Fenne and made her whole. He unknowingly held everything she was as the tattoo artist greeted him with familiarity. Fenne couldn't help but watch the way he grinned with a fondness that overwhelmed her.

So, when she was laying in the chair with the ink needle buzzing, Fenne didn't flinch. The tattoo artist concentrated on her arm and Joost stood next to her feet with his notebook in hand. He was watching the artist when she looked up at him, making his gaze shift to her and display a cheesy grin.

'Does it hurt?' he asked.

'No. Yours might, though.'

'I'm used to it by now. Espeically after this one,' Joost lifted his shirt to show the Pokemon on his ribcage. The sight of the hair that trailed down his middle to the band of his 'Joost Klein' underwear made Fenne's heart leap. It made what little discomfort the needle caused irrelevant.

'You're done. Did you want to have a look?' the tattoo artist said as he turned off the buzzing device.

Fenne sat up and hoisted herself off the reclined chair. Heading to the floor-length mirror, she turned her inner arm to face the reflection. Amongst her red patch of skin, sat the thin, black letters. They sat just above the line of her joint as if Joost had taken a pen and written with it as his guide.

Komt goed stared back at her and in the mirror, Fenne caught the movement behind her. Joost stood over her shoulder to look at the words permanently tattooed on Fenne's skin. She took the time to notice the way his eyelashes twitched behind his frames when his gaze moved around her reflection.

The corner of Joost's lips curled and Fenne adored the dimple that appeared in his cheek. He met her gaze in the mirror and she couldn't help but smile herself.

'Looks great,' he chimed.

'It does. I love it.'

'I'll get you wrapped up, then,' the tattoo artist took the bottle of gel and package of clingfilm. 'Then I can do yours, Joost.'

After the line work of the Tasmanian Devil, the artist got to work on replicating the same words on the Klein's skin. Fenne held his shopping bag, notebook and Joost's suit jacket while waiting. She had been seated during his first tattoo but stood next to the chair when the artist reused a familiar stencil.

Wrapped in clingfilm, Fenne and Joost stood in the mirror with beetroot skin. They angled their arms to face forward and Joost held up his phone camera to take a picture. Their matching tattoos sat behind the clear wrap, but the words were clear.

On his Instagram, Joost posted the photo with the caption,

joostklein komt goed

He tagged Fenne's account and pinned the post to the top of his page. Amongst the many photos of his team, his performances, and his girlfriend, Joost's Instagram was a display of how everything will be alright in the end.