Warnings: Angst

Word Count: 1977

Author's Note: I hope you enjoy this chapter! Also there will be bandom bingo posts this weekend :)

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"The whole thing is just so stupid," I said as I pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant we had decided to go to for lunch. "We had the entire budget worked out, ticket prices included, months ago, but now that everything is falling apart, they want to raise ticket prices to cover costs! If they had just done things when we wanted them to, this wouldn't have been an issue."

"I think they finally got the message that we're not swaying on ticket prices," Josh answered. "Although that took a lot of convincing."

I pulled into a parking spot just outside the doors and leaned back in my seat, rubbing my hands along my face.

"It's only the first meeting this week and I'm already losing my patience. Things would go a lot faster if they would just listen to what we wanted. We have all the details ironed out and everything."

"You know how it is, they're not invested in putting on a show the same way that we are. They just want to make their money and call it a day."

"Yeah, and we're the ones that are going to make the money for them, but we can't do that if they don't let us put on a show the way we want to."

Josh reached over and put a hand on my shoulder, giving it a tough squeeze. I finally pulled the keys out of the ignition and stuck them in the pocket of my sweatshirt.

"What do you say we take our minds off of this for awhile and have a nice lunch? There's no point in worrying when we can't do anything about it right now."

"You're right."

Josh gave my shoulder another squeeze and then finally stepped out of the car. I sat for a moment longer, giving myself a chance to take a couple deep breaths, before following suit and joining him on the sidewalk. He tilted his head, giving me the signal to lead the way.

"Hi, how are you doing today?" the host smiled at us as we walked in.

"I'm doing alright, how about you?"

"Great. Is it just the two of you today?"

"Yep."

"Alright, right this way."

I turned to make sure Josh was still behind me before following the host further back into the restaurant. A couple people gave us looks as we walked past, but I didn't pay much attention to them. It was something that I had quickly gotten used to over the last couple years.

"Is this table alright?" the host asked.

"Yes, thank you."

He nodded, set our menus down on the table, and then walked off. Josh and I slid into either side of the booth and began to look over our menus, neither of us saying much.

"Do you know what you're going to get?" Josh finally said, breaking the silence.

"Probably a burger and fries. I barely ate anything this morning so I'm starving."

He nodded. "Their burgers look really good."

"Is that what you're going to get?"

"Maybe. The chicken wrap also looks like it could be good."

My phone buzzed in my pocket. Expecting it to be some email announcing that there was another meeting scheduled or that our lunch had been cut early, I immediately pulled it out of my pocket and checked it. Thankfully, it was a text from Y/N instead.

Y/N: Little dude got peanut butter all over his face. Thought it might brighten your day :)

Attached was a picture of Max sitting in Carter's lap, holding a smushed peanut butter and jelly sandwich in one hand. As Y/N had said, his face was absolutely covered in peanut butter, but he was smiling.

Tyler: It did :) Thank you for sharing

I slipped my phone back into my pocket and went back to looking over the menu, even though I had already pretty much decided what I wanted. Across from me, Josh was still doing the same.

"Ok, I think I'm ready," he announced, closing his menu and placing his menu on the table.

"I am too."

Shortly after, a waitress walked up to our table. She went through the usual routine of introducing herself and asking us what we wanted to get started with, but Josh and I went ahead and ordered our full meals. With a smile, she took down our orders and whisked our menus away.

"Alright, now that that's out of the way," Josh said, leaning forward to put his elbows on the table. "How have you been, Tyler? We haven't really had a chance to talk about anything besides the band so far."

"I'm alright. We went to Y/N's brother's wedding over the weekend, which was really nice."

"Oh yeah, I saw the pictures from that. It looks like you had a good time."

"Yeah, it was a nice way to unwind after getting home from tour. Her family is awesome too so it was nice to spend a day with them."

"I'm glad you got a chance to do that."

"Me too," I smiled. "How are things over in LA? Are you still liking living out there?"

"Yeah, although I do miss Columbus from time to time."

"Do you ever think about moving back?"

Josh shook his head. "I would be lying if I said it didn't cross my mind from time to time, but I'm really happy in LA. The weather, the people, the lifestyle... I'm too used to it now to give it up."

"I miss having you in Ohio, but I'm glad to hear that you're doing well out there. That's the most important thing to me."

"And I'm glad you're doing well here."

My mouth twitched up into a smile for a moment, but it quickly faltered again. Josh took notice of this, I could tell by the way that his eyebrows furrowed when I said it.

"Are you doing alright, Tyler? You don't really seem like yourself."

"I don't know. It's just that... all this tour stuff is really taking a toll on me. We shouldn't have to fight this hard to get people to listen to us, you know? If they keep this up, we're just going to have to schedule more meetings. You'll be stuck here longer, I won't be able to spend as much time with Y/N, and who knows if we'll even be able to start the tour on time."

"So that's what this is about."

"What?"

"Y/N."

"Isn't it always?" I smiled.

"But she understands why you're busy, right? I don't think you need to be stressed about that."

"I guess so. I just hate spending so much time away from her, especially when we're supposed to be having a break. I miss her when we're stuck in those stupid meetings, and I can only imagine what it's like for her to be home alone. I mean, I just spent an entire month on the other side of the world and now I'm gone again. She deserves better than that."

Better than someone like me.

"I know it's hard right now, man, but it's only going to be rough for these couple of weeks and then we're on tour again."

Josh came to a stop as the waitress showed up with our drinks. We each thanked her and I wasted no time in ripping the paper off my straw and sticking it into my soda. The cool drink soothed my throat after another long morning of having to raise my voice at people.

"Anyway, what I was trying to say is that it's going to be hard for awhile, but it won't be forever. Soon enough, we'll be back on that tour bus and things will be going smoothly."

I smiled and nodded. Josh's intentions were good, but it didn't exactly reassure me. Y/N and I couldn't have cozy movie nights in our own bed or eat together on the porch when we were on tour. Sure, the time together was always nice and I wanted to use every second of it, but it wasn't quite the same as nights with her in Columbus.

"Sometimes it seems like I'm being pulled in every direction and I don't have time to balance everything. Like, we're home for three weeks and I somehow have to balance work and Y/N and my family and my own wellbeing and all of them want as much time as they can get. No matter how hard I try to make it work, it just seems like there's always something that's not getting the attention it needs."

"Your wellbeing," Josh said. It was a statement, not a question.

"Exactly, but also everything else. It's like I can't win."

"I think you're doing a better job than you're giving yourself credit for, Tyler."

"Am I?"

"Yes."

"I just feel bad that I don't have more opportunities to make up for lost time..."

My sentence was interrupted by a couple young boys walking up to our table. One was nervously clutching his phone, the other was obviously too nervous - or starstruck - to say anything.

"You... you guys are Twenty One Pilots, right?" the one with the phone asked.

"Yeah, we are," Josh smiled. He had always been better at handling these situations than me. "How are you guys doing?"

"Great," the same boy answered. "We were actually wondering if we could get a picture with you guys?"

"Tyler?" Josh asked, turning to me.

I put on a smile, hoping that it came across as genuine. It wasn't that I was upset by the kids - it was the opposite, really - but I was still wrapped up in my head about the Y/N situation and I was having a hard time shaking it.

"Of course."

Josh and I took some pictures with the boys and talked for a little while until they announced that they should get back to their friends. Their reactions as they walked off was enough to put a genuine smile on my face for the first time that day, and it also served as a nice reminder about why I was fighting so hard for our creative vision in the first place.

"I'm still not used to that," Josh said, adjusting his hat on his head. "I have people just walk up to me all the time and ask for pictures and I always have to refrain from asking if they're looking for someone else. It's like I forget that I'm famous."

"Me too," I laughed. "It happened when Y/N and I were at the grocery store the other day. My hair was a mess and I was in sweatpants and everything because we were just having a lazy day. The best part, though, was when one of the girls complimented Y/N. The look on her face was priceless."

"Oh geez, I can only imagine. Jordan was telling me a story yesterday about how one of his friend's sisters recognized him when he was over at his house. It's crazy that we're reaching that level of fame now."

"Right? In my head it still feels like we're some kids playing shows wherever we can get them and trying to get a record label. I'm just waiting for the dream to end and I'll go right back to March of 2011."

"You know, as important as that time is to me, I'm happy with where we're at now."

"Yeah," I nodded. "Me too."

"Also, I know I said that we should have a relaxing lunch, but I do think there are some things that we should figure out before we go back into that meeting. The more stuff we agree on, the more power we'll have in trying to get them on our side."

"Agreed."

"Ok, where do you want to start?"