Ruby's POV

There was something I enjoyed about the run throughs we did the night before a show. It was like our own private concert.  I stood in the wings and watched as Josh drummed his heart out. The music seemed so much louder right now because there wasn't any people in the pit or seats.

The lights went down low and I turned on my flashlight. Josh rushed backstage and I looked at the timer. We had exactly one minute to get him into his skull hoodie. He shed his ski mask and jacket and quickly stuck his arms through the zip up hoodie I was holding out for him. I grabbed his hat and handed it to him.

He placed his hat on his head and put the hood over top of it before zipping it up so it would stay on while he drummed. "Alright go," I said once I checked him over to make sure he wouldn't have any wardrobe malfunctions. He ran back out onto the stage in the dark and I turned off my flashlight preparing for the next thing.

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Soon we were finishing up the run through and I headed out to the pit where the boys were practicing the ends for Trees minus the confetti. I made my way to the sound booth as the roadies held Josh and Tyler up for the ending. Jake was sitting in the sound booth with his feet propped up watching the guys.

"Hey," he said as I sat down beside him. Trees seemed so different without the confetti and the smoke. It was quite comical actually. The song ended and the crew lowered the boys down from the platforms. Jake and I stood up and clapped. The boys smiled over at us but rolled their eyes knowing we were being silly.

Jake and I stepped out of the sound booth and made our way across the empty pit where the boys were now greedily chugging bottles of water that someone offered them. "Great sound check guys, We'll do another small run through tomorrow, but for now let's get some rest and let the crew work on some other things that need to be done for tomorrow," Jake said as some of the crew starting breaking apart to work on other things.

I picked up one of the drums and the sticks and hoisted it up on stage for one of the crew members to grab before heading up the stairs in the middle and through the curtains back stage. I grabbed my backpack sitting at the side of the stage and found a bottle of water inside along with a granola bar.

Jake came through the curtains and tossed me a pair of keys. I looked at him funny as I caught them. "Just in case you want to go out later. I'm exhausted and I want to turn in early so I'd rather not have you knocking on my door," he said. I stuck my tongue out at him as I grabbed my backpack and hoisted it onto my shoulder.

Jake walked off and called to the crew. "Anyone riding with me, load up! We're heading to get a quick dinner and then back to the hotel," he called out while walking towards the back door. I looked around and made sure I had everything before grabbing my phone from my back pocket and opening up a new text.

Darkness covered my eyes instantly and I panicked but then quickly relaxed as I heard a familiar voice. "You forgot something," Josh whispered in my ear. I lifted the darkness from my eyes and turned around. "Where did I leave this?" I asked pointing towards my beanie cap that was now comfortable on my head.

He pointed and I followed his direction. "You left it on my seat," he said. I chuckled it and adjusted it until it was perfect. "Where's the married couple?" I asked him knowing that they were most likely going to ride with me since Jake had already left with a load of people. Josh shrugged.

"Probably making out somewhere," I chuckled but shoved him lightly and pointed towards the door. "Should we go find them or do you think they have a ride?" I asked. He shrugged again. "I doubt it. Let's split up. We'll meet up at the car in ten," he said. I nodded and headed towards the wings looking for Tyler and Jenna. I searched for the whole ten minutes and couldn't find them. Knowing I had to meet Josh, I walked out of the door with a loss. I shielded my eyes from the brightness of the sun.

Once my eyes adjusted I found Josh leaning against one of the SUVs playing on his phone. "Hey, did you find them?" I called out as I started walking towards him. He looked up from his phone and shook his head. "No, I didn't. I even texted them and got nothing. I'd say they took their own car," he said.

I nodded and unlocked the car. I threw my backpack in the back seat as did Josh before I hopped behind the steering wheel and he in the passenger seat. "So where to? Dinner? Hotel?" I asked him as I started the car. Josh fixed the hat that was on his head and glanced over at me with a smile.

"We could grab some dinner and then head back to the room or maybe we could go find an arcade or something before heading back to the hotel," he said. I pulled out of the parking lot and headed away from the hotel and towards the middle of town. "What are you in the mood for?" he asked me.

I shrugged and kept my eyes on the road. "I'm game for anything, but if you're wanting to go to an arcade, I vote for something light," I said. Josh nodded and I turned into what looked liked to be a quiet restaurant. We got out and walked inside. We were instantly greeted and directed towards a table in the back.

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After dinner Josh and I decided to walk the sidewalks of the small town and see if there was anything interesting to find. Josh was on the hunt for a local arcade, probably hoping to do something relaxing and fun. I sighed and looked over at him. He was intently looking around at the signs on the shop doors.

"I don't know if you're going to find an arcade in this tiny town," I said as I stuffed my hands in my pockets. He shook his head. "You're probably right, but I found something better," he said before grabbing my hand and dragging me in some random shop. Once we walked inside I was instantly hit with the smell.

"Ice cream," I said as my eyes lit up and I looked around the old timey shop. It looked like someone had pulled it right out of the 1950s and plopped it into the 2000s. "This is cool," he said as he pulled me towards a booth and we both settled in. A waitress in a old fashion waitress uniform came up to us.

We both quickly ordered before looking around the small ice cream parlor at all of the different things. The waitress brought back our ice cream and we ate it quietly listening to the music that was coming through the juke box across the room. I took another bite of my ice cream before looking at Josh.

"You know, I know you didn't find an arcade, but I do see a pinball machine over there in the corner with your name all over it," I said. Josh followed my stare and when he turned back to me, his eyes were lit up. He finished off the rest of his ice cream and threw away his trash before heading off towards the pinball machine like a little kid.

I chuckled and sat back in the booth. I watched as Josh fished in his pockets for some quarters. The machine came to life and he started playing the pinball machine animatedly. I pulled out my phone and took a video of him. You couldn't see his face, but I'm sure his tongue was sticking out of the side of his mouth in pure concentration right now.

My phone buzzed interrupting my video. I stopped it and opened the text seeing it was from Jake telling us that everyone was turning in for the night and if we needed anything just to let him know. I tucked my phone back in my pocket just as Josh slid back in the booth across from me.

"I got ya something," he said sliding something across the table to me. I grabbed the object wrapped in plastic and opened it. It was a beaded bracelet. "The pinball machine gave it to me for getting the high score," he said while grabbing my wrist gently and tying the bracelet around my wrist.

I smiled and adjusted the bracelet until it was comfortable on my wrist. "Ready to get out of here?" Josh asked. I nodded and Josh pulled some bills out of his pocket and laid them on the table. We walked out the door and started down the sidewalk back to the car. The sun was down and the stars were out.

I yawned, but tried to hide it. "Jeez Rube, it's only eight, how are you yawning already?" he asked me. I chuckled and looped my arm through his. "I'm tired, on days like these it calls for going to bed early because tomorrow we won't be going to bed until like two in the morning. Sorry for being a grandma," I said as we reached the car.

We broke apart and got in the car, Josh decided to get in the driver seat this time. "You relax. I think I can get us back to the hotel in one piece," he said as he started the car and pulled away from the curb. I laid my head against the cool window and closed my eyes. "Don't get too comfortable. It's only a ten minute drive," he said.

I smiled with my eyes still closed. "Don't worry, I won't," I said. The conversation got quiet and I listened as Josh tapped to the drum beat on the radio. It made my smile grow. Wherever we went he was always tapping on something and sometimes depending on where we were it got him in trouble.

The car pulled to a stop. I opened my eyes and sat up. We were back at the hotel. "Told you I wouldn't fall asleep," I said as I adjusted my beanie cap. We got out of the car and walked through the back door together. We rode the elevator to our floor in silence and stepped out when the doors opened.

The security nodded at us and we walked to our rooms. I yawned. "Alright, we need to get some sleep. Thankfully we don't have to be the venue until noon tomorrow so that means we get to sleep in," I said as I stuck my key in my hotel room door. It opened and I stepped inside holding the door open. I turned around and faced Josh. "Well then, I guess we'd better get some sleep, grandma," Josh said.

I nudged him playfully before shutting my door on him and heading into my room. I grabbed some leggings and an oversized merch shirt before heading to the bathroom to change. I took my beanie off and took my hair out of the braid before shaking it loose and grabbing my toothbrush.

I quickly brushed my teeth ready to turn into bed. I rinsed my mouth and washed the little bit of makeup off my face before opening the bathroom door. I took a few steps and instantly collapsed in bed with a content sigh as I buried my face in the cool pillow. There was something about hotel beds that made them super comfy.

I placed my arms under the pillow and closed my eyes, not even bothering to shut off the bedside lamp. I let out a deep breath and tried to get my body to sleep. The bed shifted beside me and then warm minty breath fanned my face. I groaned but didn't open my eyes. I forgot to shut my conjoining door. I knew who it was.

"What do you want?" I asked him annoyed, but there was a teasing tone in my voice. Josh chuckled. "How'd you know it was me?" he asked. I opened one eye and looked at him. "Well, it was either you or Casper. I was kinda hoping for Casper," I said. Josh smiled. "That hurts," he said. I opened both eyes and sat up in bed.

That's when I noticed Josh was in basketball shorts and he was shirtless. "Did you need something?" I asked him. He nodded as I pushed my hair out of my face. "Can I borrow your laptop? I wanted to watch a movie, but I left my laptop in Tyler's room yesterday and there's no way I'm knocking on that door now that Jenna's here," he said.

I chuckled and climbed out of the bed. I opened my backpack and pulled out my laptop and charging cord. "Here," I said as I plopped them on the bed at his feet. He grabbed the charging cord and plugged it into the outlet beside the bed before plugging the other end into the laptop which made it light up.

"Mr. Dun, what are you doing?" I asked him as I placed my hands on my hips. He picked up a DVD case from the bedside table and waved it at me. "I brought it over here with me," he said. I rolled my eyes and looked at the clock. It was almost nine at night. It wasn't extremely late, but I knew we had a really long day tomorrow.

"Alright mister, one movie that's it. You can take my laptop back to your room afterwards if you're still not tired, but I know I'll crash after the movie," I said. He nodded and popped the DVD in the disk tray. "Hey, do you have any,-" Josh didn't even have to finish his sentence as I grabbed it out of my suitcase.

"Popcorn? Yes. You know I always do," I said as I put it in the microwave that was in the room. I grabbed a couple bottles of water out of the fridge and tossed one to Josh before grabbing the popcorn out of the microwave and sitting down on the bed beside Josh. He placed the laptop on a couple phone books he found in the nightstand drawer.

I grabbed a throw blanket I normally kept with me and threw it over my lap as Josh hit play on the laptop I took a drink of water and Josh opened the bag of popcorn as the movie got started. I looked over at him as he threw a piece up in the air and caught it with ease, chomping on it with a goofy grin on his face before grabbing a drink of water.

I set my alarm on my phone for the morning just in case I ended up falling asleep before settling down in the bed trying to get a little more comfortable. Josh flipped out the light beside him putting the room in darkness. The only light was from the laptop screen. Josh smiled at me and I smiled back before we turned our attention to the movie.

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