Anywhere With You • {J.C.}

||Forty-Eight|Backstage||

She had stood in a crowd full of hormonally driven teens, questioning what she was doing there. The answer, however, was right on stage—staggering and stumbling around in a drunken haze, yelling lyrics Harlow knew weren't right.

She made her way past security, flashing the "VIP" badge Julian had given her before leaving Caverns with Tiffany's number. Backstage wasn't quiet, but it was much quieter than the arena. Everyone that made the show possible seemed to be hovering around backstage.

"Whoa, whoa hold up; everyone for the meet and greet is supposed to hang outside until after the show." A slender young man with glasses spoke. He was wearing an offensive yellow shirt and worn jeans—his hair dark and curly.

"I'm not here for that. I'm just an old friend." Harlow forced a smile. Something about him looked familiar. She wasn't sure if it were his prominent brows or his slightly large mouth, but something was definitely familiar.

"Relax, dude... does she look like a horny teenager to you?" A young woman spoke from behind, causing Harlow's head to turn at the sound of her voice. Her hair was pulled back in a messy bun—the color a medium brown. She could see her black sports bra under her plain white t-shirt, her jeans worn and ripped at the knees. She looked tired and careless, but also uniquely pretty. "Ignore him, he thinks he's the boss or something."

"Ah- excuse me? I am your boss."

"Yeah, yeah." She scoffed, waving him off with a chuckle. "That's Ryan. He's the manager. You gotta be Harlow, right?" She smiled, draping her arm across the back of Harlow's neck.

"Yeah, how did you... you know what, don't answer that." Harlow smirked, shaking her head with pursed lips. It was no telling of what all the rather tall girl had heard about her.

"All good things, I swear. Fab said you'd probably show up." She said, walking Harlow toward the table of refreshments. There wasn't much to choose from—but there was quite a variety of alcohol. "If you need anything, I'll be getting my ass chewed out by my boss." She strained loudly for Ryan to hear.

"Wait, who are you?" Harlow laughed.

"I'm his assistant. When I'm not taking orders, I'm scrubbing toilets." She returned the laugh, grabbing a beer from the table. "It's all good though, I won't be scrubbing toilets once this tour starts... thank god." She mumbled the last part, popping the cap off her beer on the edge of the table.

"Scrubbing toilets... Where do you work?" Harlow asked, finding herself following the girl's lead.

"Ryan owns this management company called WizKid? That's where I usually am, but whenever these guys go on the road-"

"You do Ryan's job." Harlow finished with a smirk.

"Yeah, and it's usually a lot of fun. I went with them on the last tour."

Harlow thought about Julian—how much he had changed in the years he had been making music. He seemed like a different person compared to the last tour.

"Are you worried it's gonna be different? I mean... doesn't Jules seem... different, to you?"

"You mean outta control?" She asked; Harlow nodded in response. "He's a sweet guy. He's just... a little lost right now. I think he's just been going through a lot. He doesn't like to tour; too much road, not enough space, you know?" She took a drink, feeling the conversation was etching on shaky ground.

"Yeah..." Harlow trailed, looking to the girl with a feminine figure hiding under those tomboy clothes. "What's your name? I didn't catch it."

She smiled. "Juliet."