Warnings: Briefly implied physical abuse, Beau is a jerk in general, angst

Word Count: 2820

Authors' Note: We just wanted to say a quick thank you to all the support you've been showing us so far, it means the world! With that being said, we hope you enjoy this next chapter :)

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July 2012 - Before The Regional At Best Tour

"Why didn't you tell me before you sent that application, Y/N?! Do you just not give a damn about what I think anymore?!" Beau yelled at you, after you had finally gathered up enough courage to tell him about your new job. An hour and a half later, it was going exactly as you had expected and you were deeply regretting saying a word.

"Beau, you know that's not true! But I had to finally do something for myself! I can't keep sitting around and hoping that something will just fall into my lap. I had to take a chance!" His face filled with rage and his nostrils flared as he breathed heavily in and out, his eyes bore into you as if they wanted to put a hole straight through your head.

"So you choose to pick a job that keeps you away for months?! No. I don't think so. You know how worried I can get! You better call them right now and tell them that they need to find someone else!" Clenching your jaw in frustration, you decide that you've ultimately had enough of him making you feel bad for you wanting to better your life.

"That's not happening." For the first time in your relationship with him, you felt empowered and it was a feeling you never wanted to forget.

It had taken a bit of convincing on his part, but Josh had finally decided that he would drop by and see how things were going with you getting ready for the tour. This was, of course, a total cop out of him wanting to admit that he was already catching feelings for you. It was the quickest that he had ever felt something for someone and it all started with a look in your eyes... that was all it took. Pulling up into your driveway, he parked his car and then started heading for your front door before realizing that something wasn't right. Before he had even stepped foot onto the porch, he heard yelling from the inside of the home, recognizing only one of the voices on the other side of the door. Yours.

Internally battling with himself, wondering if he should even knock now, he forced his hand up to the door and just about knocked on the door when it swung open and he was face-to-face with a complete stranger. What was he doing in Y/N's house? Who was this guy? As jealousy started to bubble over a little, he stared at the man with wide eyes for a few moments before blinking and relaxing a bit.

"Is Y/N here?"

"Who's asking?"

"My name is Josh... she actually is my band's manager."

Before the man could get a word in, you appeared by his side and it brought a smile to Josh's face. "Josh? What are you doing here?" you asked curiously, but were so thankful that he had shown up when he did.

"I was just here to check in and see how packing was going." A lie. He tilted his head slightly, keeping his eyes on you and trying to ignore the fuming man beside you.

You chanced a look down at Beau's hands. Sure enough, they were clenched into fists as he stood slightly in front of you to shield you from this supposed stranger. Trying to keep the peaceful facade up, you reached out and rested a hand on Beau's arm. His muscles were tense beneath your fingers, ready to strike at any moment. Not even your gentle touch could get him to relax.

"You know this guy?" Beau said, turning to you slightly but never allowing his eyes to leave Josh.

"Yes. I'm the manager for his band, like he said." You tried to keep the edge out of your voice.

"Y/N, can we talk about this?"

The anger from his voice was gone, but you knew it was only an act while Josh was here. Beau would never let other people get a glimpse of how he really treated you, it ruined the image that he had spent so long creating for himself.

"What is there to talk about? This is obviously work-related. We can't really deny my boss, can we?"

You watched Beau's jaw clench, sending a shiver down your spine. After a moment, he turned to Josh with a smile.

"Excuse my behavior," he said. "Why don't you come in?"

Josh nodded and stepped into the entryway. You pulled your hand away from Beau's arm and led Josh towards the living room. Beau stayed behind, making sure to close and lock the front door.

"Would you like anything to drink?" you asked Josh.

"I'm ok. Thank you."

Josh looked out of place in the middle of your living room. He had opted for a sweatshirt today, one with sleeves that hung down almost to his fingertips. You noticed that he was fiddling nervously with the hem of the sleeves, rolling it between his fingers.

"So, you said something about packing?"

You grabbed yourself a glass of water and took a long sip while you waited for an answer. Your voice was sore from yelling, but you thought it would look out of place for you to make yourself a cup of tea when half the windows were open because of the heat.

"Yeah. I just figured with it being your first tour and all," Josh took a nervous glance at Beau, "that I should stop by and make sure that you had everything you need. You know, since it's different than a normal trip."

"That's sweet of you," you smiled, ignoring the look that Beau shot you. "Why don't you come upstairs with me and we can look everything over?"

Josh nodded eagerly. Beau started to follow after the two of you, but you stopped at the bottom of the stairs.

"Why don't you stay down here and work on dinner?" you grinned at him.

"Don't you need my help?"

"I think we're ok."

You walked over to Beau and threw your arms around his neck to pull him into a deep kiss. He returned it eagerly, using his arm to pull you closer to him. It pained you to make such a public display of affection in front of Josh, but it was the only surefire way you knew to get Beau off your case so you could actually get a moment alone with Josh.

As you both walked up the stairs, you made it into yours and Beau's bedroom where a ton of clothes were folded nicely all over the bed. Your suitcase was open and already had things in it, but your problem earlier was trying to figure out how you were going to fit everything inside. Then, you just so happened to get interrupted by your wonderful boyfriend who wondered what in the hell you were doing. Now... you were here with Josh looking at the clothes in dismay. You knew what he was thinking, 'Why does she need to have so many clothes?', but he was nice enough to not say a word.

Instead, you watched his hand creep up to rub the back of his neck a bit awkwardly from the corner of your eye. His eyes darted back and forth as if he were thinking of what he should say in the awful silence. And then... "So, how about that boyfriend of yours, huh? What a tool."

Turning your head completely to stare at him now, you couldn't believe your ears. Had he really just said that to you?

"That's what you're going with, Josh? Okay, then..." You mumbled the last part and walked over to the clothes, shaking your head and starting to put the clothes into the suitcase again.

"D-Does he... does he do that a lot with you?" Was that concern that you heard in his voice? No, it couldn't be. The two of you had just met.

"No, he's just worried about me is all. Being away from him for too long makes him a bit protective. He just doesn't want anything to happen to me." You nod your head, as though you're trying to convince yourself as well as Josh.

He decided not to push the subject.

"Do you need any help? I have a good pair of hands that are empty right now."

You laughed slightly at his words and looked over your shoulder to him with a small smile, "Yeah, come and help me or I'm docking your pay."

You continued to put shirts into the suitcase, but Josh reached out a hand to stop you. The contact made you flinch slightly, but you relaxed when you realized he wasn't trying to grab at your wrist. He simply rested his palm lightly against your forearm.

"You're going to run out of space if you keep packing your shirts in there like that," he said.

"Well then how do you suggest I do it?" you huffed, holding a shirt out to him.

Josh took the shirt from your hands - which just so happened to be one you picked up at a Y/F/B concert, your old favorite band - and laid it out carefully in the tiny bit of free space on your bed. You watched him fold in the sleeves and roll the shirt up as tightly as he could. It took up noticeably less space when he put it in your suitcase

"I honestly wasn't expecting it to be that effective."

"My mom is really big on efficient packing," he laughed. "It's just habit now. Here, why don't we pull the rest of your shirts out and keep making them into little sausages."

"Sausages?" you asked, turning to look at him.

His ears were a little pinker than they had been before, "Another term from my mom."

"It's cute."

"Thanks, I think."

You pulled all your shirts back out of the suitcase, with the exception of the one that Josh had already rolled up for you. It only took a few minutes of you two folding up the shirts side by side for it to become a competition. Josh nudged you with his elbow, trying to throw you off your packing game.

"Hey," you giggled as he nudged you hard enough that you stumbled. "That's cheating."

"You can't cheat if there's no set rules!"

You went to grab another shirt when you noticed the pair of feet standing in the doorway. Josh nudged you again, but you stood frozen in place. Beau was leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed, watching the two of you. How long he had been there, you had no idea.

"I was just coming up here to ask if we still have butter," he said.

Sure he was.

"Yeah, it's on the top shelf. It probably got stuck behind the eggs," you answered, adjusting the sleeve of your shirt where it had slipped down your shoulder.

"Thanks, babe."

He turned and walked back off down the stairs. You grabbed another shirt and began to roll it up. Any hint of happiness you had been feeling a moment ago was totally gone.

"Josh."

"Yeah?"

"I need to ask you something."

"Sure."

For a moment, you forgot that Josh was technically your boss. You dropped your voice so that there was no way Beau would hear unless he was in the room, which you had already confirmed he wasn't. Josh had set down the shirt he was folding and had turned to you, his brown eyes watching you with concern.

"Can you just... not mention what you heard to anybody else? I know it seems bad and you probably want to help, but I have everything handled and I would really rather not have the entire crew knowing about my personal life. Especially if they're going to be working under me."

Josh nodded, "I won't tell anyone. You have my word."

"Thank you," you grinned, and in a moment of bravery you pulled him into a hug.

Josh's arms wrapped around you, pulling you closer to him. You knew that you shouldn't be hugging your boss like this - in fact, he probably shouldn't even be in your house right now - but something about Josh having seen what happened between you and Beau made you tear down a little piece of the wall that you usually kept up around people.

Plus, you could smell his cologne when you were this close to him. How were you supposed to not enjoy that?

The close contact with Josh had been enough to make you weak in the knees. The fact that he was having this effect on you in such a short period of time should have been concerning, but it was more exciting to you than anything. Then, Beau entered your mind again and you let out a deep sigh, as you were forced to let him go, regardless of how much you wanted to stay there. And, by the feel of it, it seemed as though he didn't want you to move either. Letting your arms drop to your sides as you looked up to the beautiful man in front of you, it became a realization that the two of you were still extremely close to one another and you weren't budging. Still. Was there a magnet somewhere? Staring up into eyes that you could just get lost in, Josh's tongue moved out to wet his lips as he stared back and you quickly turned your body back toward your suitcase; moving on with your packing.

What was he trying to do to you? Give you a heart attack? Because it was close to working.

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A few hours had passed and the both of you had finally finished packing all of your clothes that you wanted to take. The rest of it would be up to you, because there was no way that you were going to let Josh anywhere near your toiletries.

"Well... I guess that we're all done here."

"I guess so! Thank you so much for coming over and helping me with this, Josh. It would've taken me forever." You laughed a bit and looked to him.

"Hey, it's no problem. Anything for the boss lady!" He grinned to you and then pulled out his phone to check the time and looked back up to you to finish what he was going to say, "I didn't realize what time it was. I promised Tyler that we would go over a few songs tonight before we leave tomorrow. So, we should be leaving around 8:00am. Be ready and we'll come to pick you up."

Nodding your head to him in understanding, you smiled and shoved your hands into your jean pant pockets. "That sounds good to me. See you both bright and early!" And with that, the both of you headed back downstairs, walking him to the door and opening it for him. He thanked you and turned to see you one last time with the most amazing smile you had ever seen, causing his eyes to crinkle up on the sides in a way that made you feel warm inside. "Bye, Josh," you said in a soft voice, giving him a small wave.

"Bye, Y/N." He returned the wave and then turned to leave.

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Josh hadn't left your mind, even when you were crawling under the covers next to your totally-real boyfriend. He was quick to snake his arms around you and nuzzle his head into your neck, pressing soft kisses to your jaw.

"I'm sad that you're leaving tomorrow," he mumbled between kisses. "What am I going to do without you?"

"We can still FaceTime and text, lovey. It's not a very big tour, either, so I won't be gone long."

"I know, but," Beau sighed. His breath was hot on your collarbone. "You know how worried I get about you. I won't be there to protect you. What if something bad happens?"

"Josh and Tyler will be there. And all the rest of the crew. Josh and I were talking about them earlier, they seem like really nice people."

Beau's grip tightened on your waist, "I'm not so sure about that Josh guy. Something about him seems off."

"You think everyone seems off," you laughed quietly. "He's a sweet guy, Beau. I promise."

"Just keep me updated on what's going on, ok? What city you're in and the venues they're playing at."

"Ok."

"I love you, Y/N. You know I just want what's best for you."

Beau pressed another series of kisses to your neck before letting his eyes flutter closed. You shifted slightly in his arms, trying to get him to loosen his grip so that you could sleep comfortably. When you finally found a good position, you closed your eyes and tried to calm your uneven breaths.

"I love you too, Beau."