Warnings: None

Word Count: 1456

February 20th, 2006

"Are you nervous?" you asked as Tyler grabbed his duffel bag from the backseat of the car.

"I don't think nervous scratches the surface of how I'm feeling right now," he answered, slamming the car door closed. "Thanks for coming early with me, I don't think I could do this alone."

"Of course," you said, walking around the car to join him. "That's what best friends do. Besides, there's no way I would want to drive three towns over on my own to try and find some building I had never been to before."

You followed Tyler into the brick building that loomed ahead of you. The sun was just beginning to set outside, and the city block that you were on seemed deserted. You were suddenly very glad that you hadn't let Tyler come alone.

"You must be Tyler Joseph!" an older man said, walking out to greet you two from behind a counter. He was tall, six feet at least, and his dark hair was peppered with gray. This must have been the guy Tyler had talked to on the phone, he seemed nice enough.

"That's me," Tyler smiled, shifting his stuff to one side so that he could shake the man's hand. "Thank you again for this opportunity, you have no idea how much it means to me."

"Of course, the demo you sent me was fantastic and I think our patrons will love it." The man's eyes landed on you. "Excuse my manners, my name is Samuel James. I'm the owner of this lounge," he said, extending a hand to you.

"Y/F/N Y/L/N, I'm Tyler's friend."

"A roadie, huh?" he smiled, clapping a hand on your shoulder. You smiled nervously. "Follow me, I'll show you where you can put your things."

You and Tyler followed Samuel to a small room near the back of the lounge. Inside was a couch, a table and two chairs, and a mirror. Tyler set his stuff down on the table and collapsed into the chair.

"I'll leave you two to prepare for the show. I have some things to prepare for tonight, anyway. I'll come back here and give you a five minute warning before you go on, remember you start at seven."

"Actually, can I ask you one more thing?"

"Of course."

"Do you mind saving a seat towards the front for Y/N? I'd like her back here while I get ready, but I don't want her to miss out on a good seat."

"You truly are a musician, making demands of your host," Samuel said. You and Tyler froze in fear, but Samuel quickly burst out laughing. "I'm only joking, that's no problem at all."

"Thank you," Tyler said, although he was still visibly nervous.

You gave Samuel a small smile before he walked off. Once he was out of the room, you walked over and took a seat on the couch. It was more comfortable than it looked.

"This is so weird," Tyler said as he dug around in his duffel bag. "I'm actually playing a gig."

"It's amazing, Ty! I'm beyond proud of you."

"I just hope I don't mess up. Also, can you close your eyes? I need to change."

"I've seen you shirtless before, Ty," you said, throwing a hand over your eyes. "And you're not going to mess up, you've practiced all of these songs like a hundred times each."

"Yeah, you're right," he sighed.

"One of these days you'll finally learn that I'm always right," you laughed.

"You are not!"

"I am."

"Ok, you can open your eyes."

You pulled your hand away from your eyes and looked at Tyler. He had changed from his t-shirt into a hoodie and dark jeans.

"Do I look ok?" he asked, holding his arms out.

"Give me a twirl."

He spun around and struck a pose at the end.

"You look wonderful, Ty."

"Really?"

"I promise."

"Ok." Tyler turned and looked himself over in the mirror, making miniscule adjustments to his jacket and pants. "Alright, I'm going to start doing vocal warm ups so don't laugh at me."

"No promises," you said as you made yourself comfortable on the couch.

You grabbed your camera from your bag and began to fiddle with some of the settings while Tyler practiced. Since neither of you exactly had any money to pay for an actual photographer, you two had decided to take pictures yourself, despite your complete lack of experience with photography.

"Tyler, can you turn around for a second?" you asked.

Tyler stopped making weird noises and spun to face you, "What's up?"

"Say cheese," you smiled, holding the camera up and snapping a quick picture.

"What did you do that for?" he asked.

"Every good musician has photos of themselves backstage before a show, and you're no exception. Not to mention that I need to make sure the camera is going to work in this lighting."

"Got it."

You continued to take practice pictures until Samuel walked back in the room, announcing that there were five minutes until Tyler went on.

"I'm nervous," Tyler said, fiddling loosely with the end of his jacket sleeve.

"You're going to do great, and I'm going to be there the whole time. I've heard you sing these songs a million times, you know them, Ty."

He nodded, though you knew your words were empty to him. You walked over and pulled him into a hug; he held onto you tightly.

"I'm beyond proud of you, Tyler."

"Thank you. You should get out there before someone decides to steal your seat."

"Yeah, good plan," you said, releasing him from the hug. "I'll see you after the show."

Tyler nodded and you walked out of the room. You were surprised at the number of people that had shown up for the show when you walked back out to the main part of the building. It certainly wasn't anywhere near full, but it was more than you and Tyler had anticipated to show up to a random seventeen year old's show.

One of the tables at the front had a small piece of paper on it marked with the word "reserved". You hopped up onto the stool and set your camera down in front of you. There was the quiet hum of conversation around you, but it died down quickly when Samuel took the stage.

"Hello, everyone. My name is Samuel James and I'm the owner of this fine establishment. Tonight, we're going to give a warm welcome to Mr. Tyler Joseph, an independent musician from a few towns over. Without further ado, here he is!"

Tyler walked onto the stage, and you could immediately tell he was nervous. His hands were shaking as he walked up to the mic and adjusted it to his height.

"Hi," he smiled. "My name is Tyler, and I'm going to be playing some music that I wrote."

You took a couple pictures as he stood at the mic. His focus remained mostly on you as he talked, and you made sure to give him a reassuring smile. Tyler walked over and took a seat at the piano. As soon as he began to play, you noticed him visibly relax. This was what he loved to do.

Just over an hour later, Tyler finished his performance and thanked everyone once again. You waited until he had walked off stage to get out of your seat and follow after him.

Tyler was standing in front of the mirror when you walked in the room, still wearing his hoodie. He turned around once he heard you enter the room.

"How was it?" he asked, eyebrows furrowed together.

"Fantastic, Ty. I loved it."

"Did everyone else?"

"I didn't stay long enough to hear what people said afterwards, but I think they were pretty impressed during the performance."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Tyler started beaming, and you couldn't help but smile at how happy he was. Deep down, you had been afraid that his performance wouldn't go well and it would ruin his confidence, but thankfully that hadn't ended up being the case.

"I can't believe it. I actually played a gig."

"You did, and I think I got some really good pictures."

"I can't wait to see them."

"Me too."

Tyler walked over and pulled you into a hug, "Thank you so much for coming with me. It means the world."

"Of course, Ty. You know I'm going to be your biggest supporter no matter what."

"Alright, I'm going to get changed and then we should get going. We have school tomorrow."

"I still have math homework to finish," you sighed. "It's going to be a late night."

"Worth it though, right?"

"Definitely."