glitch | jack hughes (rewritten)

chapter 67

josephine lee

"Yes, Marj, I know I can't be late to soundcheck. Why would I be?" I ask, wondering why my manager has been on my ass about my punctuality. When it comes to fan events or my job in general, I am always on time. She shouts one more thing, which I tune out before I open my door and playfully roll my eyes. 

I stare at the doorknob as I open my dressing room door and step in to see a man in my room. I started to feel the panic I felt in Michigan before I realized I knew the man standing before me. "You're here! You're here! Fuck! Is your game here? Is that why you're here?" I ask a bunch of questions in between kissing the boy that I've missed so much.

Jack chuckles between each question before muffling his laugh to kiss me back. He wraps his arms around my body, slowly pulling me closer as he deepens the kiss. "Now I know why Marjorie was telling me not to be late." I giggle, pulling away from my boyfriend's lips before squeezing him tightly, resting my chin on his shoulder. 

I keep myself wrapped up in Jack's embrace, ignoring the fucking stampede happening down the hall until the stampede ends up outside of my door. I hear the door open and then shouts of excitement. "Dad! You came to see us." Bobby says, squeezing in between my boyfriend and me to push me out of the hug. 

I flick Bobby's temple and take a seat on the couch as the rest of the boys, excluding Alex, hug my boyfriend. "Where have you been, buddy?" Josh asks, patting Jack on the back before pulling back. Jack laughs at Josh's question and answers with, "Work, I kind of do this hockey thing professionally." causing everyone to tease Josh for asking the question. 

Everyone settles into my dressing room, squeezing themselves onto the couch or my chair in front of the vanity while I sit on my boyfriend's lap. "So, what's the plan? Lunch?" Theo asks before remembering that I can't go because I have to soundcheck before my Q&A experience with my fans. 

"You guys go." I tell them, getting off of Jack's lap and grabbing my phone to check the time. Yeah, I should get going unless I want Marjorie on my ass after she warned me a million times on my way to my room. Jack gets up from the couch with an apprehensive look on his face, asking me if I'm sure. 

I reassure him multiple times that if he's here all day, then he can spend some time with the guys while I make sure everything is good. "If I'm doing the Q&A when you guys get back, please stay quiet." I say, putting my phone in my back pocket before pecking Jack on the lips and running out. 

Rome looks at the smile on my face and asks if I enjoyed my surprise while I test my microphone. "You all knew?" I gasp, waiting for a response from the rest of my band. "Kinda," Katie responds with a giggle, pressing down on the keys. I scoff at their betrayal and start singing a few of my songs just to test out the sound of everything since we're in a different venue, and the structure can change the sound of the music. 

Once we've run through our soundcheck, I take the liberty of making sure all of Inhaler's instruments are good to go. I had to tune Theo's fender, but once I've got that sorted out, I head back to my empty dressing room so I can get a good base of my makeup done. For the VIP portion of my show, I always stick to natural makeup so it doesn't give away the vibe of the outfit. 

"You're all good to go, Jos. I think your fans are waiting for you now." Stass says while I blend in my lipliner with some chapstick. I thank the sweet girl who is now sitting on the couch in my dressing room, scrolling on her phone while I make my way on stage as Marjorie lays out the rules for this experience. 

I wait by the curtain, expecting Marj to step back here and tell me to get on stage. We always wait a minute or two before I step out, just so it's not weird that I'm standing by and appearing out of nowhere. Once the time is up, I push the curtain to the side and say hi to all of the fans who bought this  VIP package for my tour.