assistant // tyler joseph

thirteen.

tyler and josh were currently in the crowd for the trees finale at their first columbus show. veronica watched from side stage the whole time, successfully dodging tyler's family. she ran into josh's family though and briefly talked with them. they heard a lot about how much of a help veronica had been as their assistant. veronica really liked his two sisters and younger brother, who was close to her age. his name is jordan and they exchanged numbers and planned on staying in contact. 

veronica was chanting the 'hey's that happen during trees as the confetti blows into the air. she was already holding the boys' sweat towels in preparation for them to come off stage all sweaty and tired. she was swaying to the music when she got interrupted. 

"hey, are you veronica?" a blonde older woman stepped into view of veronica. behind her was an older man, wearing white sketchers and bobbing his head to the beat. 

veronica, "yes i am! who are-" 

the woman cut her off and crushed veronica with a hug, "my name is kelly. i'm tyler's mom!" she cheered and pulled away from veronica. veronica's heart stopped and her eyes bulged out of her head. 

"n-nice to m-m-meet you, mrs. j-joseph." she stuttered, turning red and feeling like the biggest idiot for not recognizing the identical smile that kelly has of tyler's. she'd never not recognize that gosh darn smile. 

chill out ronnie, she thought to herself and took a deep breath, you got this. 

"this is chris, tyler's dad!" kelly gestured towards chris who stepped forward and put veronica into a similar hug to kelly's. 

"thanks for making tyler's tour life a bit easier these past few years, kid." chris shouted over the music to veronica. 

she smiled and nodded her head like a maniac, unsure of what to say. kelly and chris were watching her with small smiles on their faces and just as kelly was about to open her mouth to ask a question, tyler saved the day. 

"how'd i do?" he asked, running off stage to veronica and grabbing the outstretched towel. josh did the same, immediately running it through his wet hair and walking off with a quick high five to veronica. 

"amazing," veronica said awkwardly. 

tyler didn't catch on and smiled, pulling veronica into -yet again- a similar hug to kelly's. except he picked her up and spun her around with a smile before planting a kiss on her cheek. she cleared her throat and took a step back. "whats w-" 

"hi honey," kelly cut him off. 

"mom!" tyler ran to hug her and chris, all smiles. 

"that was amazing!" she cheered to him, also all smiles. 

veronica took this moment to disappear. she backed away slowly before turning on her heal and practically running through backstage and out of the venue. she didn't even look back. 

she found herself out of breath and not able to catch it. not from running, but from anxiety. she was having an anxiety attack outside of the venue. she placed her hands on her knees and bent down, prepared to ride it out like usual. 

~ 

"where'd she go?" tyler asked frantically when he turned away from his parents to not see veronica behind him anymore. 

"i have no clue, she was right there." kelly said, looking around to sight her. 

"is she a magician?" chris joked. 

"she's lovely, by the way." kelly placed her hand on tyler's shoulder as they walked to his dressing room. 

"i know," tyler smiled with a small hint of a blush. 

"she's gorgeous, too." chris added. "i'm surprised she likes you!" he joked. 

tyler nodded as he agreed with both of those sentences, "she takes my breath away every time i see her." 

"aw!!!" kelly cooed and poked his rosy cheeks. she was happy that he found someone to be excited about. she always prayed for her eldest son to find an angel of his own. they arrived back to the dressing room to see the rest of his family there waiting, but no veronica. tyler felt a bit of worry. 

"great show, brother!" maddy, his sister, called to him before hugging him. the rest of his siblings had similar interactions with him and they all sat and talked for about an hour and a half before josh poked his head into the room. 

"ready to make like a baby and head out?" he asked. 

"yeah man, is ronnie with you?" tyler asked, picking up his phone and wallet. 

"thought she was in here to be honest." he looked around not seeing her, "maybe she went back to the hotel." 

"yeah, i'll text her." tyler side smiled, pulling out his phone and shooting her a quick 'where are you' text. he was trying not to worry himself. 

they made their way into the cars and parted ways. tyler returned to his family home and went inside to take a shower. he stood in the warm water for awhile before getting out and jumping into bed. he checked his messages and still no text back from veronica. he sighed and pressed on her contact, then pressed call. 

ring. ring. "we're sorry but 617-xxx-xxxx can't come to the phone right n-" 

tyler groaned and decided that she was probably at her hotel room, sleeping peacefully. oh what he wouldn't do to be right next to her, cuddling her and holding her close. he fell asleep thinking about it, a smile on his face.

by the time veronica successfully rode out her anxiety attack, she walked back to the venue entrance to see not a single soul in sight. "did they really just leave without me?" she asked nobody in particular as she looked around in the vacant parking lot. she checked the time and suddenly didn't blame them, it had been two hours since she left. she quickly got out her phone, which had a few texts and calls from tyler on it. she ignored them and opened her uber app, quickly ordering one to take her back to the hotel before her phone died. it was on 1%. she rushed and successfully ordered one to be here in three minutes. she sat on the curb and waited, in silence. she tried not to think about the fact that she met tyler's parents and then bolted away like a freak. she hoped nobody noticed that she was gone at all. 

a black chevy cruze pulled up and rolled down the window, "veronica?" the man asked. 

"yeah, and you are?" she asked, just to be safe.

"brian." he said and she looked to the app to make sure that was her driver. it was, so she got in. 

"holiday inn?" he double checked, she nodded and thanked him, then off they went. 

~ 

the next morning tyler woke up in a panic at five am, he had a horrible dream. he dreamt that veronica left columbus because she was forced to meet his parents, then quit her job, and never talked to him again. he was sweating like crazy when he sat up in bed, gasping. he reached for his phone and dialed the memorized phone number of veronica. it rang twice before some noise came through followed by a very tired veronica. 

"hello?" she said, obviously shocked that he was calling so early in the morning. 

"veronica! oh thank god." tyler sighed in relief. 

"what's wrong? do you need something?" she asked, her inner assistant coming out. 

"yes, i do." he said, swinging his legs out of bed and standing up. 

"what is it, ty?" 

"your room number." he commanded. 

she giggled, "231." 

"see you soon." he said, hanging up and grabbing his wallet and car keys.