Warnings: None

Word Count: 2161

Author's Note: I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

*     *     *

"I can't believe you dragged me into this," Carter muttered as he shut the car off.

"Car! We're here to celebrate Tyler and Josh getting signed."

"Who is Josh?"

"His bandmate!"

"Oh."

You shook your head as you climbed out of the car onto the pavement. Tyler's parents had decided to throw a party for the boys to celebrate them getting signed to a big label and you had decided to drag Carter along to both get him out of the house and as emotional support. It had been awhile since you had seen most of the people that would be at the party.

"Wait, Car," you said as you walked up the driveway.

"What now?"

"Your sleeves are uneven."

Carter simply rolled his eyes as you adjusted the sleeves on his flannel. You had no idea how many people the Josephs had ended up inviting, so you wanted to be sure that you were ready to make a good impression should the occasion arise.

"Am I good now?"

"Yes."

There was a sign on the door that read "Come In". With one final look to Carter, you opened the door and were immediately met with the hum of conversation. The living room was near-packed with people that you hardly recognized. Your eyes widened at the mere sight of it.

"You're ok," Carter said upon noticing your distress. He rested one hand on your back as the two of you walked further into the house.

"Y/N!" Kelly called.

"Mrs. Joseph!" you smiled.

Kelly walked up to you and pulled you into a hug before holding you at arm's length, "I feel like I hardly see you since Tyler moved out! Don't you look gorgeous tonight!"

"Thank you."

"And who is this?"

"This is my brother, Carter. I dragged him along with me," you laughed.

"Nice to meet you."

"And you," Carter said as he shook her hand.

"I would tell Tyler you're here, but I haven't seen him in awhile," she smiled. "I'm sure he'll show up eventually."

"Thanks, Mrs. Joseph!"

Kelly walked off to rejoin some of the ladies that she had previously been talking to.

"I know where he is," you muttered.

"Where?"

"I'll tell you later. Let's get drinks."

You led Carter to the kitchen and grabbed some drinks from the counter. Dozens of different snack foods were laid out along the counter, probably Maddy's doing. Tyler's sister had always been a fan of planning parties.

"There's a lot of people," Carter said as he cracked open a beer.

"Yeah, more than I expected," you answered as you took a look around.

Across the room, you spotted a familiar dark-haired boy that you recognized as Josh from pictures Tyler had shown you. You wanted to talk to him and finally introduce yourself formally, but figured tonight wasn't exactly ideal. Now that the boys would be spending more time together to work under their label, you figured there would be plenty of time to get to know him later.

"I'm going to go find Tyler," you said.

"What? You're just leaving me here?"

"Make some friends!"

You grabbed a Red Bull from the fridge, flashed Carter a smile, and then disappeared down the hall away from people. After a quick glance to make sure that nobody was looking at you, you sped up the stairs and down to the third door on the left.

"I hope you're decent," you said before opening the door.

As you had expected, Tyler was laying on his childhood bed and staring up at the ceiling. He sat up a little once he heard the door open.

"I was wondering when you were going to show up," he laughed.

"Your mom mentioned that she hadn't seen you in awhile and that was all the information I needed."

You passed him the Red Bull that you had brought before plopping down on the bed next to him. He cracked open the can and took a small sip.

"Thanks," he sighed.

"What did it this time?"

"Too many people," he shook his head. "I tried to tell my mom that I didn't want to have a huge party - just family and friends would be fine - but she insisted that we invite everyone who was even aware that I'm a musician. It only took twenty minutes of socialization before I had to get out of there."

"I'm here now though, Ty. You'll be fine."

He turned to you and smiled, "Yeah, I will."

You stood up and held a hand out to him, "Come on."

"Can't we stay up here for five more minutes?"

"No. Your mom threw you a nice party and we're going to enjoy it."

Tyler groaned and slapped his free hand down in yours. You pulled him up off the bed into a standing position, but you didn't let go of his hand quite yet.

"Ready?" you asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"I guess."

You squeezed his hand before letting it go. His arm dropped to his side for a moment before he reached up to run a hand through his hair. It was starting to get long again.

"You could use a haircut," you said as you pulled open his bedroom door.

"Yeah, I should just shave it all off."

Your nose scrunched at the thought of Tyler with a buzzcut, "Definitely not."

Tyler followed you down the stairs and back towards the crowd of people. You decided it would probably be a good idea to go find Carter since you had ditched him to go see Tyler, but when you found him he was happily talking with one of his old high school friends. He caught your eye and flashed you a quick thumbs up, letting you know that he would be fine.

"Now what?" you asked, turning to Tyler.

He shrugged, "I don't really know."

A few people walked by and gave Tyler congratulatory pats on the shoulder, to which he simply smiled and gave them a quick thanks. It seemed like everyone else was busy with their own conversations, leaving you and Tyler with nowhere to go.

"Hey, why don't I finally introduce you to Josh?"

You turned to him with furrowed eyebrows, "Now?"

"Why not?"

"There's a lot of people."

Tyler grabbed onto your hand yet again. Apparently this was a new thing between the two of you.

"It will be fine."

He began to lead you through the crowd of people towards where he had obviously spotted Josh. You simply muttered quick apologies to people you didn't recognize as you brushed past them in an attempt to keep up with Tyler. He eventually came to a sudden stop at the far side of the room, causing you to nearly crash into him.

"Woah, Ty," you said, already feeling the nerves begin to bubble up.

He pulled you a little closer so that you were standing at his side. Josh was a few feet in front of you, currently wrapped up in a conversation with one of the many other partygoers. You suddenly became very conscious of the bewildered expression on your face from practically being dragged across the house.

Tyler cleared his throat just enough that it caught Josh's attention without interrupting him. He turned towards the two of you and gave a slight nod before returning to his conversation. You took the time to think of what you wanted to say when you actually got a chance to talk to him.

Josh eventually ended his conversation and turned to you and Tyler. His face immediately grew into a smile as he closed the space between you.

"Josh, this is Y/N. Y/N, this is Josh," Tyler said.

"Nice to meet you." Josh held out a hand towards you.

You pulled your hand away from Tyler's grip - you hadn't fully realized that you had still been holding his hand - so that you could properly shake Josh's hand.

"You too. Tyler has told me many stories."

"All good, I hope?"

"Ugh," Tyler groaned, interrupting your exchange. "You two sound like adults."

"That's because we are," you smiled, giving him a light elbow in the ribs.

"Hardly," he scoffed.

You shot a look at Josh, who seemed amused by your mock annoyance with Tyler. It put a smile on your face.

"So, Y/N, you're in college, right?" Josh asked.

"Yeah, I am! Currently working towards a major in psychology, but who knows when that will change."

"Can't say I envy you," he smiled before taking a sip of his drink.

"Most people don't."

"Hey, Josh!" someone called.

Josh turned towards the source of the noise for a moment and waved at the person who had called out to him.

"That's my cue," he said, gesturing in their direction. "Lots of people to talk to."

"I'm glad we got a chance to finally talk."

"Me too. I hope to see you at some future shows," he said, flashing you a quick wink before walking off towards his other friends.

You turned to Tyler, who seemed a little less than pleased. His expression softened when he realized that you were looking at him.

"He seems really nice, Ty. A good guy to be in a band with, for sure."

"Definitely," he answered, clenching his jaw for a brief moment.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, just a little overwhelmed is all."

"Come on, why don't we go find Maddy?"

You didn't have to look long before Maddy came running towards you and threw her arms around you, nearly knocking you over in the process.

"Y/N!" she squealed. "I feel like I haven't seen you in forever!"

"I know!" you answered as you hugged her back just as tightly. "I'm not over here as often as you should be."

She stepped back and shot a look at her older brother, "Because he decided he wanted to move out."

"I'm twenty one," Tyler laughed. "I can't live at home forever."

"Yes you can! Especially if it means that Y/N gets to come over more often."

"We should come over here for dinner more often, Ty," you said, turning to him.

"Really?"

"Sure, why not? I like your family."

"See?" Maddy said, pointing a finger to you as she stared at Tyler. "You two need to come over here more often."

Tyler laughed and pulled Maddy into his side, "I'll start bringing Y/N around more often."

"Good, now if you excuse me, I have to get back to my friends."

Maddy disappeared back into the crowd, once again just leaving you and Tyler. His attention was being pulled in a million different directions, it seemed, as people called his name or beckoned him over. You lightly rested a hand on his back.

"I'm here, Ty."

"Don't leave."

*      *      *

You ended up sticking with Tyler for the rest of the night as he bounced around the room, talking to people. Occasionally you would stop and chat with someone you knew from high school or check in on Carter, but Tyler was your primary focus. He was getting easily overwhelmed, so you deemed it your job to keep him calm and collected.

It had started raining by the time that you and Carter were starting to head out. The two of you were some of the last people left at the party.

"Thanks for coming, you two!" Kelly smiled as she walked you to the door.

"It was my pleasure. I still can't believe Tyler is signed to a label now," you smiled.

"I know! My baby is growing up."

Behind her, Tyler rolled his eyes and made a face. You bit down on your lip so that you wouldn't start laughing in front of his mom.

"Thanks for sticking with me, Y/N. It helped a lot," he said as he pulled you into a hug.

"It was no problem. Congrats again, Ty. I'm so proud of you."

You squeezed him tightly before pulling away and stepping out the front door. Carter was a little ways down the path, waiting for you to finish with your goodbyes.

"Drive safe!" Kelly called before closing the door.

You picked up your pace to catch up with Carter as he began to walk towards the car. He wrapped an arm around you and pulled you into his side.

"Did you have a good night, Y/N?"

"I did. Thanks for coming with me, Car."

"Of course, although I am forcing you to come with me to pick up food on the way home."

"We're getting food?" you grinned.

"Damn it, I thought you would be mad about that."

"How could I ever be mad about a delicious snack?"

Carter sighed and jokingly pushed you away from him. You laughed as you stumbled a bit before regaining your balance and walking around to the passenger side of the car.

After a night like tonight, there was no way you could keep a smile off your face.