I Will Fight For You: A RosenWalker Fanfic

Chapter 10

"Walker, I swear I'm going to kill you. It's not that fucking hard."

"I know, I'm sorry," Joe mumbled apology after apology, knowing everyone was getting fed up with him. They were three days away from their opening concert in Chicago, and tempers were getting high. It was their first time rehearsing at the House of Blues where they were going to do their first two shows and Joe had messed up on the choreography left and right, hence this extra dance rehearsal that Julia had called for back at the studio. Lauren and Clark had been having them all run the Rogues Medley over and over again, which really didn't have complex choreography, and yet every time he found himself getting to his spot late, feet fumbling over each other.

"Okay, let's just call it a night," Corey finally announced. "It's already after midnight, we're all stressed and tired, let's meet back here first thing ‪tomorrow morning‬."

Everyone sighed in relief, people rushing out, eager to sleep knowing they'd have to be back there in six, seven hours if they were lucky. Joe attempted to run his hands through his hair before he remembered that he'd gotten a buzz cut. What a night. He was tired, he was sore, he was stressed, he was hungry, and he had to do it all over again in the morning. He walked out of the studio alone and headed to Holden's car, not waiting for him Meredith, or Brian. He leaned against Holden's car and stared at the pavement at his feet. Apocalyptour was going to be an even bigger nightmare than the SPACE Tour had been.

He heard the car click and unlock next to him and looked up to see both Brian's walking over towards him, his Brian looking absolutely adorable in his short workout pants and blue tshirt.

"No Meredith?" He asked Holden.

"Nah, she's gonna sleep over at her place tonight."

"I call shotgun!" Brian yelled to Joe, who was already standing next to the passenger door.

"Not unless you're sitting on my lap," Joe laughed, climbing into the passenger seat. Brian gave him puppy dog eyes as he climbed into the backseat, making Joe smile to himself. He may feel like a fat untalented failure, but at least his boyfriend was cute.

Holden climbed into the car and started the engine, not saying anything, further stressing Joe's fear that everyone hated him right now. It wasn't until they were on the road that he finally said something.

"Don't worry about Lauren, she's just as stressed as the rest of us are, you know how she always gets kinda angsty right before a show."

Joe could've kissed Holden, even with his boyfriend in the car. A smile spread on his lips. "Thanks... I just don't know why I'm struggling so much all of a sudden."

"It's just pre-opening stress, remember you had the same thing with To Dance Again right before AVPM opened." Brian reassured, resting his chin on Joe's chair as he wrapped his arms around him from the back seat, his hands resting on Joe's muscular chest. "And Stutter with AVPS."

Joe reached a hand up to intwine his fingers with his boyfriends, molding over his words in his mind. Maybe he was right, maybe this was just pre-opening stress. Maybe he wasn't a complete failure.

xXx

Joe lay on his back on the couch in the basement of Holden and the Lang's house, wondering if everyone else was asleep. Brian was upstairs, taking a shower, leaving Joe alone to his thoughts. Tomorrow, although technically it was today seeing as it was nearly one in the morning, was going to be one of the longest Monday's of his life. They had rehearsal all day, and Joe knew that if he wanted his performance to improve he needed to get some rest, but his mind wouldn't let him relax and all he wanted was to stay awake long enough so that he could hold Brian and watch him drift off to sleep.