“Did you want some—“ Rob started, before watching Jane make her way off to the van without so much as eye contact. Something about it just…really killed him. He was a dick to her from time to time, yeah, but she was rarely short with him. Perhaps he had been taking it for granted, but it certainly set the time for the day. “It’s fine,” he muttered under his breath as he walked in, “I’ll just go fuck myself, then.” He chugged the coffee, made his way upstairs, and got the rest of the band in the car and changed. Adrianna had rolled over slightly, but Rob paid it no mind, and left the room as quickly as possible in an effort to avoid her. 

Rob climbed into the front seat, and tossed the AUX to Austin, who had taken the passenger seat, since Jane had taken his own seat. A part of Rob was hoping Jane would’ve played this off better than she was, but on the other hand, what’s the point? There’s only four of them. Sam and Austin were going to figure out eventually that things were off.

Rob made no comment when Sam and Austin confronted Jane about Jared. Personally, Rob didn’t think they had sex, but only because he found her on Jared’s yard, not his bed. Either way, the subject wasn’t worth approaching from his point of view. 

The van crossed its way into New Mexico, Austin’s playlist threw on a track Rob hadn’t heard in years: [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoA_zY6tqQw]Dead Kennedys - California Uber Alles[/url]. Rob and Austin quietly sang along to the lyrics, laughing to themselves at the absurdity of the lines. 

“I will be [i]Fuhrer[/i] one day,” Austin sang, before suppressing a smile. Contrary to popular belief, Austin could hold his own singing, even if it was just a punk song. In fact, each of the members had a voice of their own; just not the stage presence. 

[hr]

As they approached Lordsburg, Jane asked for food, and wordlessly Rob pulled the car off the highway, and into a gas station next to a mall. He figured there’d be a lot in there for food. Plus, they had been running low on gas. He filled up quickly, then parked the car in front of the food court. 

Glancing at his watch, then turning to his bandmates, Rob tried to act a bit happier than he was feeling. “We’ve got about an hour,” he said. “Meet me back here.”

As the other band members got out, Rob reached down to his groceries he had bought earlier, and pulled out his cigarettes. Instead of walking into the mall, Rob walked around the perimeter, alone, smoking nearly half the pack by himself. He had his headphones in and played music from a playlist he had of calmer music. [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPLEbAVjiLA]Radiohead - Paranoid Android[/url] played calmly in the background as Rob looked up to the sky. Dark clouds loomed overhead, and a strong breeze blew past. Rain was a rare sight in these parts, but they never lasted long. He waited for the song to finish, before putting out his ninth cigarette and heading inside, seeing the faces of the people he past grimace from the scent wafting off of him. 

“Smoking kills,” he heard a mother tell her son as they passed. 

“[i]Everything kills you[/i],” he shot back, loud enough that hopefully they’d hear him. 

Checking his phone, he still had another 20 minutes to kill. Making his way into a shop that seemed to sell clothes he liked, he passed Sam, checking out similar outfits. 

“So,” he said, “you gonna tell me about why you are Jane are being weird?”

“What are you talking about?” Rob asked sarcastically. 

“Oh, fuck off,” Sam said, but Rob took his words to heart, marching off and out of the store as soon as he had entered it. He heard Sam call out to him, but there was no point in engaging him any further. Rob went to the food court, bought an energy drink, sat at the nearest empty table, and slumped into his seat. He pulled his hood up and took a swig. He couldn’t wait to sleep tonight.