Josh's POV
Lynn slept in the chair next to me as we waited to board our flight. She breathed softly, her cheek pressed against my shoulder and her knees pulled up to her chest. She was wearing her brother's oversized hoodie and old checkered pajama pants. Her hair was a mass of fly-away, knotted brown hair, and she looked incredibly tired.
If you didn't catch on - Lynn wasn't exactly a morning person.
I didn't blame her though - it was three in the morning. All of us were tired, and when we were finally called to board our flight, I felt a pang of guilt for having to wake Lynn up from what seemed like a pretty calm sleep. Her dreams had gotten a lot better lately - the bags had left her eyes for months and she rarely had nightmares - but still, the prospect of that happening again worried me. It was stupid, but I didn't want to keep a good dream for her.
Nonetheless, as the weary people got up around us, I whispered, "Hey. Hey, Lynn. Time to wake up, kiddo."
I nudged her a little, and she woke up slowly rubbing her eyes and stretching her back a little. "What?" she asked softly, her eyes still closed.
I smiled a little to myself. She still seemed like a five-year-old every time I woke her up. "We've got to board our flight."
She yawned a little and nodded, opening her eyes slightly. Then my face dropped, "Wait, Lynn, where are your glasses?"
"Hm?" she asked, still not quite coming to.
"Your new glasses, I thought you were just wearing them..." I looked around, confused, and got increasingly more worried.
She sighed a little, "They're in the front pocket of your bag. You took them because you thought they might fall off or get lost if I fell asleep."
"Oh, right," I smiled sheepishly. "Thanks."
Lynn laughed a little, still tired but awake now. "No problem."
Tyler was holding in laughter behind me. I turned around and laughed a little, "What?"
Tyler just looked down at the ground, small signs of laughter escaping his throat as he pressed his smiling lips together tightly to prevent full-on laughter.
I rolled my eyes and laughed, "You'd get it if you had a kid."
•••••••
The next morning was the day of the Grammys, and it was like Lynn had changed into an entirely different person. I didn't think I'd ever seen her so excited before. The day, essentially, was entirely Lynn rushing me from place to place and asking when we could start getting ready for the show.
When the time finally came, and Tyler and Jenna joined us in a cab with our suits and dresses, Lynn could barely control herself.
"Wait," she turned to me, "do I have to wear my glasses to the show?"
Lynn had just gotten her glasses. We figured out she needed them when we first went to a doctor's visit. And since she hadn't had one since she was five years old, we learned that her poor eyesight had gone unnoticed for years. Problem is, it took an incredibly long time to get to an eye doctor and then get her prescription sent to us, so her glasses were shipped in months later.
"I don't know..." I trailed off, "you really need to start wearing them and getting used to them..."
"Please, Josh? You don't ever wear yours," she begged.
"She has you there," Jenna laughed.
"I do wear them!... sometimes," I laughed a little. "Only when I need them, okay? My prescription isn't that bad."
"And neither is mine. Your point is?" Lynn cocked an eyebrow.
Tyler laughed, "Come on Josh, it's the Grammys. You can be a strict parent some other night."
"I'm not strict!" I countered, before looking at how they all were laughing. I couldn't help but laugh a little, too. "Am I?"
"In some ways more than others," Jenna shrugged a little, smiling.
I laughed and shook my head, "Okay, okay, you don't have to wear the glasses."
Lynn let out a satisfied, "Yes!"
She and Jenna high-fived.
About thirty minutes later, we were successfully in our dressing rooms and in what we had to wear for the quickly approaching awards show. Tyler and I were tying our ties, while Jenna was doing Lynn's makeup in the corner, since she didn't wear much makeup, let alone know how to put it on.
Jenna put on some final touches to Lynn's makeup and hair as Tyler and I sat and talked, and she clapped her hands together, staring down at Lynn with a smile of motherly admiration. "You look beautiful." She looked up at me, "Josh, check your kid out, she looks grown up."
Lynn laughed and stood up, and looking back to her my heart stung with this mixture of pride and mourning for the little kid slowly leaving the nest that I can only assume is what parenting feels like.
"So..." Lynn laughed shyly, "what do you think?" She rocked back and forth on her heels with nerves, an old habit that reminded me she was still the little kid I first met.
I smiled so widely my lips hurt. "You look amazing, Lynn."
She laughed a little, "Thanks, Josh."
I smiled back at the green-eyed girl. "No problem, kiddo."
••••••••
Lynn's POV
Apparently there are two different red carpets at the Grammys. One is for the celebrities taking parts to take pictures together - kind of like prom photos - without quite as much press involved. The other was the one you see on the TV - the one absolutely crawling with press and interviewers. I was only allowed to the first one, but it was still like a dream.
Josh, Tyler, Jenna, and I all posed together for the first one. It was a silly photo, all of us in a tangle with our arms around each other. Josh's tongue was sticking out, I was laughing, Tyler was kissing Jenna's cheek, and Jenna's expression was a mix of surprise from the sudden peck and love for her husband.
In the next pictures we separated. I didn't see Jenna and Tyler's photos - but no offense, I'm pretty sure that Josh and I absolutely dominated the picture game anyways.
In one of them we were posed back to back with finger-guns. In another Josh was knelt down so that he was shorter than me, and I was leaning against him with an arm on his shoulder like an armrest, looking blasé. Josh had picked me up bridal style in the next one, both of us smiling and laughing at each other. And in the last, I was in the middle of vaulting up on Josh's back, and had my arms wrapped around his neck while we both looked at each other with comically surprised faces, still smiling despite it all.
I stayed next to the red carpet the TVs were on, after Josh had given me a quick and worriedly explanation of how how he would have his phone on, and I needed to call him if I couldn't find our seats before the red carpet swept him away.
While waiting, I got to take quick photos with some of the other artists coming. I got pictures with Adelle (who had recognized me and said I was even cuter in person, and afterwards said I was such a 'sweet young lady'), Beyoncé (who looked like a goddess), and the entire Pentatonix group (along with a few others).
When the red carpet was finally through and I found my way back to my seat in between Josh and Tyler, I gasped breathlessly, "I got pictures with - Adelle a-and - Beyoncé - Josh she was like a dream."
Josh laughed with a squinty smile, "Slow down, slow down. Give yourself time to breathe."
"Sorry," I smiled. "Right."
•••••••
Josh's POV
As the show went on, it got closer and closer to our first nomination - Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. I got increasingly more worried, and it still didn't seem real until the time finally came and the host announced, "And now we're onto our next award - Best Pop Duo slash Group Performance."
I turned to Lynn instinctively, worried out of my mind because my dream was happening in front of my eyes and I still couldn't understand it. But Lynn was looking back at me with such a glowingly excited smile that I couldn't help but smile, too, and the fog of worry in my brain melted away to a buzzing excitement in my ears.
Lynn clung to my arm a little, for a split second, to release some of her excited energy. I did the same back and we both looked at each other and laughed. That was the thing that still fascinates me about Lynn - how no matter what, she could always make me laugh and smile.
The host spoke again, "Our nominees are... Work by Rihanna." The crowd erupted into cheers. "7 Years by Lukas Graham." More cheers. "Closer by The Chainsmokers and Halsey." Even more cheers. The applause rang in my ears, and my breath hitched in my throat as I tended, waiting for us to be called.
Lynn grabbed for my hand and squeezed it. I shut my eyes for a moment, breathed, and squeezed back. We both stared out at the stage. "Stressed Out by Twenty One Pilots." A smile smile grow on my face as people applauded. It was a huge jolt of remembrance that this was real. This was happening. Lynn squeezed my hand. I squeezed back.
"And Cheap Thrills by Sia." More cheers.
I took a deep breath and Lynn and I both tightened our grasp as the host said impossibly slowly, "And the winner is..." the room went silent.
"Stressed out by Twenty One Pilots!"
Lynn and I turned to each other and immediately hugged tightly. Fireworks of pride ran through me and I stood up with Tyler, smiling back at him before we had to take our pants off and walk up to the stage pants-less... like we promised years ago.
We both walked up to cheers and infectious laughter. I held the Grammy in a daze as my fingers felt the cool metal, and Tyler gave his speech out to this sea of people and TV cameras... it all seemed so surreal. I stared out in disbelief before I met Lynn's eyes, who was laughing and smiling brighter than any of the stage lights. I smiled back at her and felt the warm comfort in knowing that my family was right there with me, supporting me every step of the way.