Ketchum, ID

ch 29 - jo

2 months later

"I can't wait to hear how your first show goes tonight," I said into my phone. "But I'm walking into work, so I will text you once I get settled, okay?"

"Okay, angel," Julien responded. "I miss you so much."

"I miss you more, but I know you're going to kill it tonight. You said you go on at 9?"

"Yes ma'am. Our opening act goes on at 8, and we go on at 9," she said, a hint of pride in her voice.

"I'll call you as soon as I get off, baby," I said with a goofy smile on my face.

"Okay, I'll talk to you later," Julien said.

"Goodbye, angel."

"Do you think she bought it?" Alex asked me as I hung up the phone.

"Oh for sure," I said with all the confidence in the world.

"Okay good. Our zone was just called. Let's go," they said as they grabbed their suitcase.

Alex and I had been wanting to surprise Julien, Phoebe, and Lucy since they left Idaho two months ago, but there was never a good time. When they told us a month ago that the first three shows of their tour were in New York, we knew it would be the perfect time to do just that. We bought the plane tickets, and a ticket to the first night of the tour; we even made sure to buy it under one of our coworker's names so there was no shot ther'd figure out our little secret. Not telling Julien had been one of the hardest things I'd ever done, but I knew the surprise would be worth it.

Our plane was about to take off, and was supposed to land in New York about two hours before the show. Our plan was to take our stuff to the hotel, get ready there, and head to the show in time to catch their set. Alex and I had made posters, and we were really hoping to get our favorite band's attention. Since we were getting there later, we figured we'd end up at the back of the crowd, and we still hadn't worked out a plan as to how we were going to get in contact with them naturally so we didn't have to ruin the surprise. Something to talk about on the plane ride I suppose.

"I can't believe they still have no idea!" Alex said as we stepped into our hotel room.

"I mean, we aren't usually on our phones as much at work, so it's nothing too out of the ordinary," I said as I set my bags down on my bed. "And besides, they're too busy stressing about their first ever show tonight," I squealed.

To say I was proud of them would be an understatement. Their EP had produced an insane amount of success, but I knew it would. Everyone who was anyone was listening to boygenius. They had already announced 15 shows for a North American tour that spanned over the course of 3 months. They only wanted to do one show a week to give themselves time off in between, and to make sure they weren't constantly traveling; Julien explained the entire reasoning to me over a 3 hour long phone call. The first weekend of tour was the only exception. They wanted to do an entire weekend to "get their toes wet," as Julien said.

Alex and I got ready in record time so that we could catch some of the opening act as well. We decided we would walk to the show since it was only about an 8 minute walk from our hotel. When we got to the arena the show was being held in, the line was wrapped around the building.

"Look at our little boygeniuses," Alex said as they turned to me with a proud look on their face.

"I can't believe all these people are here to see my girlfriend," I said with a laugh.

"Oh for sure. She's hot, tatted, and plays guitar. Who wouldn't be in love with her?"

We walked to the end of the line, and made friends with the girls in front of us. They told us about their favorite songs, who their favorite member was, and all of that jazz.

"And we even got tattoos that match them!" one of the girls exclaimed as both of the girls raised their arms to show us the tooth tattoos on their wrists, causing Alex and I's eyes to widen.

Alex opened their mouth to say something, and I instinctively elbowed them in the ribs. When they looked at me with shock in their eyes, I just shook my head. The less people that knew we were connected to them, the better. Besides, one of the girls had just told me that her favorite member of boygenius was my girlfriend and that she was coming to this show in hopes of her falling in love with her.

Julien and I had not gone public with our relationship on her account because she didn't want people to be mean to me. I tried to explain to her that I'm a bartender and I get yelled at for a living, but she didn't want to take the risk. I posted about her on my account, but I made sure all of my accounts were set to private just to be safe. Besides, I didn't need the whole world to know we were together; the people that mattered to me knew and that's what was important to me.

"Tickets please," the security guard said to Alex and I as we went to walk into the building.

Let the night begin.