Jane carrying Rob into his bedroom was a complete daze. Moments echoed in his mind, fading in and out like waves. One moment, he felt a wetness come against his face, cleaning it. The next, being led onto his bed. He crashed against it and felt almost as if a weight had lowered from the ceiling, pressing against his torso to the point of collapse. There was no getting up tonight. A quiet “sorry,” tried to escape his lips, but choked out halfway-through. As a blanket was lifted atop him, he began to slowly fade out. He felt Jane enter the bed, just as everything faded away… …the next moment was feeling someone squirm in his arms. His eyes softly tried to open past the sand and gunk accumulated on top of them, and see saw Jane, much more aware, trying to leave the bed. Instinctually he tried softly to pull her back into bed. [i]Stay with me,[/i] he thought to himself. He knew it was something he couldn’t control. He relaxed again, letting Jane slide out and pick up his arm, placing it closer to him, leaving him nothing to hold on to. As she left the room, Rob let out a sigh, and laid in place for another hour. One of his hands reached over and brushed against the sheets warm with the heat Jane had left behind. Slowly, but surely, the fabric beside him turned cooled, and the blasting air conditioning slowly lulled him into a blurry but strong awakening. He let out a moan as Jane told him to get out of bed. Soon after she left, Rob slid out of bed and stood in the shower. After a minute or two in the warm water, he took in a deep breath, and flipped the water all the way to the left, pelting him with ice water. He gasped and writhed under it until he felt more than awakened. It felt good to have resisted Mia’s temptations, but terrible to have done that to Jane. He had hoped she would’ve been long asleep, and he could’ve done his cleaning for himself in the morning. Having somebody take care of himself for him was not only embarrassing, but, if he had to admit it, emasculating as well. Especially because it was Jane. Someone he wanted to desperately to be on good terms with. No…more than good terms. The only thing he wanted right now was to hop back into bed with Jane, to hold her close to him, to have her sleep in his arms. He sighed at the thoughts he was having, and left the bathroom to change, deciding to slap a beanie on his head as opposed to even trying to deal with the mop atop his head. In his room, he texted Sam: [i]8:02, Rob:[/i] [b]Where are you?[/b] [i]8:05, Sam:[/i] [b]Ended up crashing at Mia’s place. Left like twenty minutes ago to get ready.[/b] [i]8:06, Rob:[/i] [b]Good.[/b] [i]8:08, Sam:[/i] [b]I mean, not that I’m not grateful to be a part of your grand plans last night, but you need to find a way to resist women besides fucking yourself up. I almost left her to check on you.[/b] [i]8:10, Rob:[/i] [b]Duly noted.[/b] [i]8:11, Sam:[/i] [b]I’m serious. Don’t self-destruct because you got rejected.[/b] Rolling his eyes, Rob closed the phone, and finished getting ready. Once he was, he walked out to the room and sat down, looking over to Jane. “Look,” he started, staring down to the floor, “I uh, I don’t know if I slept at all or kept you up last night, but uh…thanks for taking care of me. I remember that much.” He blinked twice. He normally didn’t have lengthy hangovers, but this one was threatening to last much longer. “Thanks for being with me last night.” 
He tried hard to hide his reaction to his own words, wishing he had phrased his last sentence any other way. In the end, he just tried to stay quiet, following Jane downstairs, who seemed to be hungover herself, and making their way over to Sam and Austin. Austin seemed rather alright, but Sam seemed especially out of it. When he felt like no one was looking at them, Rob gave Sam a small smile, thanking him in an unspoken language. The only other thing said between the four was on the car ride there. Sam had sat up feeling something underneath him. Reaching down, he pulled a woman’s arm bracelet out of his back pocket; the same one Rob recognized from Mia’s own arm yesterday. “Sorry Jane,” Sam said, sliding it over to her. “You’ll probably see her sooner than I will.” Other than that, the mood was rather quiet, until they had arrived. Soon enough, Sam, Austin, and Rob all waited in chairs to the side of the table, while Jane sat across from John, smiling and talking about all things related to the band. He kind of found it funny how interviewers tended to hit up the same few topics; issues like the scene, their sound, their thoughts. Like the opinions and ideal of those who make music are somehow superior to that of the masses. Like whatever any of the four of them said would be so much more important than whatever others thought. It felt vapid at best, and torturous at worst. Soon, Jane finished her portion of the interview, and Austin was next. He and John talked about different types of bass guitars (John turned out to be a former bassist himself), while next, Sam talked about his home life, his guitarist inspirations, and more. By the time Rob got up there, he felt like most people were tuning out. The thoughts and opinions of the drummer seemed to matter least. [b]John:[/b] Finally we’ll finish with In Bloom’s loud and really technical drummer, Rob Pennie! Although I’m told most of these guy’s here call you Rob, but your first name is actually Jack, right? [b]Rob:[/b] I don’t know a soul who calls me Jack. [b]John:[/b] [Laughs] That’s fair enough! Now tell me Rob, In Bloom’s known a lot for it’s volume and energy, but you seem to draw the most acclaim for your technical style and tenacity. Although you’re not known to be a very public person. [b]Rob:[/b] Thank you. I don’t really keep up with critics. And I was thinking about launching an Instagram, but it’d be all road selfies and practice sessions. I don’t think anyone would be interested. [b]John:[/b] I’m sure someone would! But I think it’s interesting that you’ve gotten a few notable recommendations from some high-profile drummers. Arin Ilejay,Arejay Hale, Ben Thatcher…these guys are pretty well known. [b]Rob:[/b] Well, it’s really great to get recognized by my peers. I’m not usually one to get excited about endorsements or anything like that, but I enjoy the music they put out and I’m glad to hear they like ours. [b]John:[/b] You sound less than thrilled. [b]Rob:[/b] I get that a lot. The only time you’ll see me excited about other drummers is if Danny Carey or Dave Grohl talked about me. I’d be off the walls about that. [b]John:[/b] I wanted to talk about that, actually. You seem to blend a lot of the raw rhythms of Nirvana and other grunge acts really will into the intricacies and polyrhythms typically only associated with Tool. [b]Rob:[/b] You’ve done your research. [b]John:[/b] [Laughs] Thanks! I guess what I mean is, your style is really close to the styles of Carey and Grohl, and I found it really funny you mentioned them by name. The new single though: I have to ask, it seems a lot like new territory for you. Simpler, even. [b]Rob:[/b] Well, it’s a new step for all of us really. But we don’t look at our sound like something we have to be conscious of. It’s just a part of what happens in the studio. It just comes out of the work we do. Sometimes I have a lot of control over parts, and other times I need to hold onto the beat. It’s different for every song. [b]John:[/b] That almost sounds like deflecting. [b]Rob:[/b] I think it’s important to realize there are more minds here than just mine. Everyone in this band really loves and respects each other, and songs come out different each time. I mean…yeah, the single is what it is, and that may be why it sells so well. It’s not a rhythmic song; it’s all about the riffs and Jane’s vocals. Then you’ve got tracks like [i]Speechless[/i] that wholly depend on me and Austin to hold things together. We’re one unit here, and maybe one sort of style is what people expect from us, but in reality we make what we’d like to make. [b]John:[/b] That’s well put. I almost feel bad for saying what I did. Thanks for being on with us. [b]Rob:[/b] No worries, glad to be here. [b]John:[/b] Well, that’s the end of the hour, so we’ve got to let these guys get back out there and ready for their next set. You’re listening to WRMS, and we’ve been talking to In Bloom. Check them out at Ground Control tonight while you can. The next time you see them may end up being in a stadium. Rob set his headphones down, rubbing his ears from the combined pressure of the hoodie and the beanie. Next was a couple of photos with staff, a few autographs, and more formal conversations about everything from sound to shows. It was another hour before the guys got out of there. “So Rob, why do you hate the single so much?” Sam asked, pantomiming a microphone in his hand and imitating John’s voice as they walked outside. Rob chucked. “Well, I guess it’s all Sam’s fault for forcing it down my throat. [i]But…you want to know a secret?[/i]” 
Sam nodded. [i]“He’s kind of a massive pussy.”[/i] 
The two shared a good laugh, paying no mind to the woman that had walked past who looked at them in horror. Rob felt a bit better after the interview. His headache was wearing off, and he was able to blow off some much-needed steam. But it was short-lived as he caught wind of Jane walking out behind them. He felt so bad for what he had put her though. He wanted to make it up to her in any way he could. He just didn’t know how.