Music Men of Summer

He slipped into the kitchen, announced his presence by grabbing her coffee mug from the table in front of her and refilled it before she could ask what he was doing. A teaspoon of sugar, a splash of cream, with vanilla and cinnamon stirred into that--strange, but every weird thing she loved in her coffee, Josh memorized on their first date. He set the mug back down in front of her, carefully missing the pages that littered the table and kissed the top of her head.

“Morning, Ace,” he said.

“Hey, Dub.” She glanced up as he sat down, a soft smile in thanks for refreshing her cup.

“Last-minute prep?” he asked, taking her left hand in his. He brushed over her knuckles, idly playing with the ring on her finger. Watching her work, knowing as soon as Nicole and Tyler’s special day was over, they’d begin planning their own. . . He tried not to appear too impatient for the day to be over with. There was nowhere Josh would rather be than by his best friend’s side, except maybe if their roles were reversed.

Auri hummed softly. She let a dreamy sigh slip past her lips and Josh found himself drunk on the sound. “Ty will be here in an hour. Keep him on task, please? You know how nervous he gets, and it’s gonna be much worse today because it’s his fucking wedding day. He’ll be insufferable.”

Josh squeezed her hand, chuckling. “I know, babe. Don’t worry, I can handle Tyler. I have been for years.”

“I have to head over to their place and start setting up over there. Whatever you do, don’t let him pester Nicole today. My brother worries and Nic does not need to worry today. If it gets too bad, call us and we’ll help. Or come get me and I’ll figure it out. But our main priority today is getting those two dorks down the aisle tonight.”

“Hey, hey. Slow down, breathe, take a minute to yourself. You have done everything for this day since Tyler told us he wanted to hit pause on tour. Auri, you-- Anything could go wrong today, that’s just life. But it will still be the best day of their lives because you exist in it, dude. Stop trying to outdo the amazing work you’ve already done.”

“But I promised them it would be perfect. That’s what I told Nicole when I said I would do this, and--”

“It’ll be perfect because the people they love are there to witness it. Not because of how grand it is. Okay? Give yourself a break.”

The front door opened and shut, and Tyler’s voice called out, “You should listen to him, you know? He’s right.”

Auri frowned. “And you’re early. What are you doing here? There is a schedule for a reason, Tyler.”

“See, Nic said you’d say that. Which is why, my darling sister, she sent me over here with bagels and coffee and told me to tell you to get your ass over to our place.” Tyler stepped into the kitchen and set his peace offering on the table, then ruffled Auri’s already messy curls. “She’s not gonna get ready without her best friend. She needs you. And we need you to relax, all right? I need you to relax.”

Josh stood from the table and tugged on Auri’s hand, pulling her up with him. He led her back through the house to the stairs. He cupped the sides of her face with his hands, bringing her forehead down to rest against his. “Everything’s perfect. I’ve got Tyler and everything here. Besides the boys are on their way, and there’s no way we’ll let Tyler get too caught up in his head today, okay? Now get going before Nicole comes to find you herself, and you know she will.”

“What would I do without you, Josh?” Auri took a deep breath, letting her expectations of herself go under the comforting presence of the man in front of her.

“Lead a way less cool life than this one,” he teased, stroking his thumbs over her cheeks. “I’ll see you tonight.”

* * *

With half an hour left until the ceremony, Josh was certain everything was going to go off without a hitch. Tyler looked incredible in his suit, he looked amazing in his. He had yet to see the girls but he knew they were beyond stunning, especially the bride. It was strange to think about all the ways their lives were changing suddenly. . .

Josh stood behind Tyler at the mirror set up in the guest room. Tyler’s fidgeting had become a bit more excessive in the last hour and though Josh knew how to keep his best friend calm, something else seemed to be bothering him.

“What’s going on, man?” Josh asked, watching Tyler fiddle with his tie for the third time.

Tyler turned, eyes wide with panic. He pulled at the tie around his neck, swallowing hard past words he didn’t know how to voice. “Are you as worried about tonight as I am?”

“Worried? Man, you stand on stage every night for months at a time, in front of thousands of people and sing your heart out. And this is what you’re worried about?” It wasn’t malicious; Josh spent his life learning who Tyler was and growing with him into better versions of themselves. They looked up to each other, confided in each other, relied on each other to stay sane. . .

“This is. . .so much bigger than that,” Tyler said, fingers still pulling at his tie. He shook his head. “This is. . . Nicole deserves this, Josh. And I’m-- I don’t--”

Josh sighed, he could only do so much but they had already called Nicole a few times that afternoon and he knew she would be in the middle of finishing up. He thought of Auri, of everything he’d told her that morning and how confident she was that she had given the two most important people in her life the perfect day. He thought about what she might say to Tyler if she were standing with them in that room.

He stepped toward Tyler and placed his hands on his best friend’s shoulders. “Hey, look at me for a sec. I’ve known you two for years, I’ve seen you go through damn near everything together. Ty if you think for one second tonight is about this big grand thing. . . What Nicole needs, what she wants, man, is you. The rest of the night can go to shit and I know for a fact as long as you are waiting for her at the end of it, she will have everything.” Josh grabbed the tie from Tyler’s hands and fixed it back into place. “But all of that aside, I have it on good authority tonight is gonna be the night of your dreams. So, how about we get you married before your sister kicks my ass?”

If anyone had told Josh Dun that watching his best friend marry the love of his life would be the second-best day of his life, he probably would have laughed at the time. But standing beside him, waiting for Nicole to walk down the aisle, feeling proud that they had all made it that far--Josh couldn’t keep himself from smiling.

Tyler and Nicole’s backyard had been transformed into a small wonderland. With a lot of time and work and compromise, Auri had taken everything unique about her brother and best friend and coupled them together in a way that made it impossible to see how they didn’t work together. It flowed naturally, like they were meant to be together all along. Where one piece didn’t quite fit, Auri found something that did. She found ways to combine the best things about both of them and created an atmosphere that captured the heart and soul of who Nicole and Tyler were.

Coming down the aisle, Nicole looked like she stepped out of a fairy tale. She was a dream, walking toward the start of her forever and Tyler couldn’t take his eyes off of her. The tea lights in the candle holders behind the wedding party illuminated the space under the tree where Nicole and Tyler would exchange their vows, it gave off the same peaceful and welcoming ambiance from the café where they met. Auri truly had worked hidden magic into the evening.

Josh met Auri’s gaze where she stood off to the side near the back of the yard. He gave her a wink and a goofy smile, unable to keep his eyes off of her. The sound of Tyler’s voice as he began reciting his vows drew both of them back to the moment; but it was Tyler looking around the crowd, searching for someone, that had both of them wondering what was wrong.

“Ty, you good?”

Tyler continued frantically scanning the familiar faces of their guests. He locked eyes with Auri across the lawn and smiled, gesturing her forward.

“What? What’s wrong? What happened?” she asked, quickly taking in the party, Tyler and Josh’s suits and Nicole’s dress. “Whatever it is, give me 10 minutes and I can fix it.”

Nicole looked up at Tyler and reached for her friend’s hand. “No, no. Nothing is wrong, it’s perfect. Truly, it’s just--”

“Nic and I agreed we can’t get married without everyone in the wedding present,” Tyler said.

“What are you talking about? Everyone’s here.” Auri took a quick headcount of the groomsmen and bridesmaids, and just as she thought, everyone was present and accounted for. Josh and her brothers had done as promised and kept Tyler on task. She didn’t understand what Tyler meant.

“No. Auri”--Nicole shook her head--“you made this happen. Tonight wouldn’t be what it is without you and we need you up here. We need you standing up here with us. Okay?”

“O-Okay. . .”

Josh reached forward and laced his fingers through Auri’s giving her hand a reassuring squeeze and pulling her to his side. Of course, leave it to Tyler Joseph to shake things up at his wedding.

“Are you as worried about tonight as I am?” Nicole whispered, parroting Tyler’s earlier concern and he chuckled.

He glanced over his shoulder at Auri and Josh, and turned back to his bride. “Nah, not anymore. Nicole-- I spent weeks pouring over what I would say in my vows to you. I wanted them to be perfect, I thought you deserved it. But Josh helped me see that you don’t need perfect, you just need me.

Take my hand, take my whole life too

ʼCause I can’t help falling in love with you

ʼCause I can’t help falling in love with you

Nic, I promise to be whatever you need, whenever you need.”

“I have no idea how I’m going to follow that without crying,” Nicole laughed through a barely audible sob. She gently wiped the tears from her eyes and looked over Tyler’s shoulder at their friends and his siblings. “Josh was right,” she said, meeting her husband’s eyes. “I didn’t need all of this to be happy. In the end, if all I had was you, it still would’ve been perfect. Tyler, there is so much I want to say to you, that I realize I would be saying to Auri and Josh, too. Because even though I am marrying you tonight, I am gaining a family. So, I’ll save all of that for later and to you, I’ll say this: not a day goes by that I don’t wake up grateful for the chance to have you in my life. That night at the café, I didn’t expect to meet the other half of my heart but I did. And I promise with every day that’s still to come, that I will fall in love with you more tomorrow than I am at this moment. Where you go, I go, Joseph.”

Vows were said, rings were exchanged and the ceremony was sealed with a kiss. The wedding party made their way back down the aisle following the newlyweds, with the guests making their exits soon after. When all was said and done, one individual remained in the backyard as the festivities headed for the café that started it all.

Auri stood under the tree where not too long ago her brother and best friend became man and wife, the new Mr. and Mrs. Tyler Joseph. To say she was proud of the way the evening had gone was an understatement. Even with Tyler’s nerves and that surprising change in the program they’d sprung on her last minute, the smiles on their faces as they headed down the aisle together after the official announcement was made--that was the reason Auri did what she did, why she loved her job.

She spent so long taking care of everyone else’s desires, turning other people’s dreams into reality, that she forgot to think of her own. She forgot to spend time on herself.

“Thought I’d find you out here,” Josh called from the back door.

“You’re supposed to be with my brother at the café, you have a speech. There’s a schedule for a freakin’ reason, Josh,” Auri huffed.

Josh laughed. Wordlessly he crossed the space between them, took her hands in his and pulled her forward. “Who do you think sent me to find you? What are you still doing out here?”

She shrugged. The hardest part of the night was over and it was settling in that now, she had nothing else to do, no other clients to see for the rest of the summer. “Just needed some time to process how beautiful it all was, I guess.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Tyler cry the way he did when he saw Nicole walking toward him,” Josh said.

“I don’t think I’ve seen either of them cry the way they did during their vows. Did you know they were gonna do that?”

“Nope. I knew Tyler was nervous before the start but that--pulling you up there--was all them in the moment.”

“I just can’t believe it finally happened. My brother married the love of his life, my best friend joined our family like she was always meant to. It was-- I hope it was everything they wanted.”

“It was, thanks to you.”

Tyler appeared at the back door, a bright smile on his face. He led Nicole by the hand out into the backyard, ignoring the glare Auri threw his way at their unannounced presence. That certainly wasn’t part of the schedule either, they were supposed to be at the reception, not standing with her and Josh under fairy lights and the stars and discussing what did or didn’t work during the ceremony.

Nicole released Tyler’s hand and pulled Auri away from Josh, a warm smile heightened her eyes as she wrapped her friend in a hug.

“What are you two doing here? You have guests, and Josh has a speech! And what about your dance?”

“Dude, will you relax? The hard part is over and the party will still be there. But we want to take a moment to celebrate with the two people who made tonight possible,” Tyler said, pulling a loose strand of Auri’s hair and laughing when she swatted his hand away. “Besides, Nic has some things she wanted to say and we thought this would be the perfect time to do it, you know? When it’s just the four of us.”

“I meant what I said earlier about making promises to Ty that I’d just be making to both of you, too.” Nicole looked at the couple in front of her, a soft smile tugged at the corner of her lips. “Auri, you went above and beyond tonight. I can’t imagine how much time you put into all of this while helping us figure out how to bring a little of ourselves to the table, but you did it. We’ll never be able to thank you for everything you’ve done tonight.”

Auri blushed. She hated being the center of attention; especially when it came to her work. Sure, she knew she was the best at her job, but there was a strong difference between confidence and cockiness.

She shook her head. “You don’t have to thank me, Nic. You’re my best friend. And Ty, you-- You pretty much saved me when we were growing up. I’d do anything for you.”

“We know. And that’s why we want to return the favour. Look, Ace”--Tyler gestured around them at the decorations--“this was the most magical evening of our lives and you did it on your own. This was better than we could’ve dreamed and you made it happen. But you’ve been so focused on everyone else for so long that you hardly take the time to think about what you want.”

“You and Josh deserve the best too, and you’ve got us, always. We’ve had our night and we will never forget it. Now it’s your turn,” Nicole said smiling.

Josh held Auri’s left hand in his, thumb stroking over the back of her knuckles and the ring on her finger. He knew she would want to have a hand in planning and scheduling and everything she could until the end if he let her but hoped that she’d accept Nicole and Tyler’s offer. It was her turn to plan the wedding she wanted but she didn’t have to do it alone.

Nicole’s eyes met her new sister-in-law’s, and the warmth and love in them overflowed. And Auri knew somehow, that this had been their plan all along. “We know this isn’t your style, and we know perfect for you could be freakin’ City Hall for all you care as long as Josh is the one standing in that room. . .”

Tyler wrapped his arms around his wife’s waist. He kissed the side of her head and looked down at the woman before him--she was his sister, in every way except blood. There was no other choice to be made but the one in front of them. “So, what if you elope? Nic and I will act as witnesses, and if you really want to do something big to celebrate, we can throw a party later. But I know you, Auri, and I know you will never be happy with anything huge you or anyone else could come up with. It’s not you, it never has been. And Josh? He just wants you. It’s why you’ve never stopped to think about what you want.”

They were right, all of them. Auri put so much of her time and energy into everyone else, so much of herself into her work, that she never considered what her perfect day looked like. It wasn’t until Josh proposed almost a month ago that she even stopped to look at the idea of what could be, and each time she came up empty.

Maybe her perfect day, her dream, really was just her brother and sister and the man of her dreams.

“Well, what do you say, Ace?”

“Hey, Dub? You wanna get married?”

As the sun rose, his mind wandered to the baby blue velvet box sitting within the drawer of their shared dresser. How he’d managed to hide it from her for so long, he didn’t know. The ring he had made was perfect, he knew as much, and her brother--his best friend--confirmed it when he asked for his permission to propose to her. He knew exactly how he wanted to do it, what he wanted to say, how he wanted it to look. . .but his nerves kept him from doing so for months. Not anymore. He was done putting it off.

Auri spent her life planning everyone else’s wedding. She even planned Tyler and Nicole’s--they were going to have the wedding of their dreams, thanks to her. It was time she got around to planning her own, Josh would make sure of it.

He rolled over and tapped his phone screen as the alarm went off, not wanting to disturb the beautiful woman beside him. He carded his fingers through messy brown curls, and started up at the ceiling. The only sounds in the room were the faint in-and-out of Auri’s soft breathing, undisturbed by the break of day. Josh slowly crawled out of the covers, leaving her behind in the warm safety of their bed. She worked twice as hard as anyone else, she earned an extra hour or two.

He leaned over and pressed his lips to the apple of her right cheek, just beneath where long brown lashes kissed soft golden-brown skin; he often found himself jealous he could not do the same every second that passed by. How he loved her with everything in him. . .

—

Light footsteps down the stairs alerted Josh to Auri’s presence before he saw her. When she rounded the corner into the kitchen, she looked like a dream, finally awake for the day, though her hair was a mess. Josh was speechless--he was always speechless when he saw her--and humbled by the sight of his girlfriend.

“You’re up,” he greeted lovingly, a warm smile adorning his face. He gripped the mug of coffee done to perfection the way she loved and stepped around the island in the centre of the kitchen. “How’d you sleep?”

“Of course, I am. You didn’t really think I’d sleep that long once you left my side, did you?” Auri’s laughter was infectious and the smile on Josh’s face only grew. She set a stack of binders down on the counter and organized the folder of notes along with them. She knew what Nicole desired, what Tyler preferred, and how to compromise for both. If the local paper hadn’t already hailed her Wedding Planner of the Year now, by the time she and Josh got Tyler and Nicole down the aisle, he was damn sure she would be. No one could do what Auri did.

“Besides,” she said, turning to look at him thoughtfully, “everyone in this town knows I’m the best wedding planner we’ve got. So when you and Ty announced taking time off from touring so he and Nic can get married, I wasn’t going to let just anyone swoop in and steal the biggest clients of the year.”

Josh laughed, handed her the large mug and pressed a kiss to her forehead. The unrivalled dedication to her work was beyond admirable; every day Josh found himself in awe of her, inspired by her.

“Like Nic would let “just anyone” plan her wedding. Let alone her wedding to Tyler Joseph,” he teased.

Auri rolled her eyes; in them, Josh saw the sunlight and their future reflected at him in a swirl of brown and tiny, near-imperceptible flecks of gold. She smiled.

“But that’s exactly my point! Who better to plan the wedding for the frontman of Twenty One Pilots than his favourite little sister? Especially when he’s marrying my best friend?” Her excitement was contagious; he couldn’t wait to feel that way about their special day.

Josh hummed, sitting on the barstool beside her. He picked up a binder; blue--navy: seating charts. He leafed through some of the pages, staring amazed at the attention to every single detail she’d paid to the couple’s requests. “You finished the diagrams for the seating charts already. Hold on-- Babe, did you-- Are these hand-drawn seating charts?”

She raised an eyebrow. “Yes. . .” she answered, unsure what the big deal was. It’s not like it was hard to do when she had all the time in the world, she made her own schedule, worked whenever she wanted, and she was damn good at her job. “So?”

On cue, Tyler chose that moment to let himself in the front door with Nicole following close behind. Bright smiles graced their faces. Part of being the favourite of the Joseph siblings was accepting the role as youngest among the Joseph siblings, which meant having one’s older brother stop in whenever he pleased. Not that Josh or Auri minded; they, along with Tyler and his fiancée, Nicole, were thick as thieves.

But this Josh had planned for. He wanted the most important people in their lives to witness the moment everything changed, he wanted them to be a part of it. If not for them, he wouldn’t be there. . .staring at this beautiful woman who had no idea how truly, utterly brilliant she was.

Josh and Auri met when Nicole and Tyler introduced them at a private gig in their hometown. He’d heard so much about her from Tyler already--so much about this girl he’d grown up with who became family to him when she had no one else. Tyler and his brothers and sister were Auri’s brothers and sister, and that’s all that mattered to them. Josh knew when they met that Auri was it, the missing beat in his drumline.

Nicole, on the other hand, wouldn’t give her best friend up for just anyone. They met on the tour circuit, one day when Nicole stopped for a Meet & Greet with the band at a local café--Auri’s idea. It was small, only a handful of people were permitted to the private get-together, Nicole was one of the lucky ones. Tyler paid for her coffee; the rest is history. The girls were instant best friends and Nicole always credited the night she and Tyler met to the quiet girl in the corner of the café with her nose buried in a book.

When Nicole met Josh, she knew he was the anchor Auri’s ship had been sailing without for far too long.

The couple watched from the living room; an array of moments stacked and swirled around the unsuspecting duo snuggled together at the kitchen island.

“Do you think he’s gonna do it?” Nicole asked her husband-to-be in a hushed whisper.

Tyler breathed in deep, shoving one hand in the pocket of his jeans and pulling Nicole to his side with the other. “If I know Josh half as well as my sister does,” he said, nodding. “This is the moment he’s been waiting for, he just needs to see what we know.”

Time stood still in that space within the kitchen. Pages of notes and scribbled ideas, doodles and sketches were laid out on the counter in organized chaos. This was her happy place, Josh knew. She loved making other people’s dreams come true and she was amazing at it, beyond compare. But what about her own? She deserved more, much more.

“So--” Josh placed the charts he held back in the binder and pulled her to stand between his knees. He swept strands of wild dark brown curls away from her eyes with his fingertips. “They’re going to love you for this--all of it.”

“It’s just seating charts, Josh. No big.” She shrugged, wrapping her arms around his neck. She leaned her forehead against his, meeting his intense gaze--it burned like fire throughout her entire being. He was right, though, she would do anything to ensure Tyler and Nicole had the perfect day.

“You are fucking perfect, you know that?”

“I know. You tell me every day.”

“And I will continue to tell you until the day die.”

She lived in his veins, in his lungs; she was in his blood, in his air. . .

Josh felt the ring burning a hole in his pocket, and knew the moment he’d been searching for was right here, right now. He closed his eyes and the question left his parted lips in a quiet murmur: “Hey, Ace. . . Will you marry me?”