Jane had been in and out of a light sleep throughout the trip. Not enough to drown out the conversations taking place between Austin and Sam, but deep enough to not be able to join in. She was shaken out it, though, when Sam woke up Rob, and she groggily sat up and stretched her body out.

She nodded at invitation he had given her, and once they exited the van, they walked along the strip to find somewhere to eat, eventually settling down at a table at a sandwich shop. 

After they ordered, Jane took out her phone, found the page the article was on, and slid it over to Rob. The screen was cracked in the corner, and it looked like it had been dropped more times than it was held. And thrown. It had been thrown a few times, too. Grains of sand stuck in the crevices of the phone, which she attempted to remove with no luck.

"Look at that shit," she sighed. "I mean, I guess it's all true, but I don't know, man. I don't care about my reputation back home, but having my personal life on the internet is fucking weird." She put her head in her hands and stared at the table blankly. "Harold's getting on my nerves."

The food was brought to the table soon after, and they both quickly consumed their meals, Jane noting they had about five minutes to spare. Her mind raced as she thought of all the things she could do it five minutes, but then she remembered her decision made when she had gotten into the van.

[i]"Tone it down."[/i]

Jane's libido had been a non-issue in recent years, probably because the only type of intimacy she had partaken in was one night stands or situations like with Lena. Or at least, [i]Jane's[/i] side of her situation with Lena.

"Shit, I gotta send Lena a check for rent," she mumbled aloud mindlessly. 

Poor Lena. Jane's intentions weren't to leave things the way she did with her, but then again, she also didn't agree to anything more than something physical between them, probably because she avoided talking to her about it like the plague. Still, Lena was still her friend. Maybe she should call her soon to check in on her and on the apartment, or at the very least, make sure that all of her belongings didn’t get engulfed in flames or thrown out on the front lawn on the building. 

"Let's go, yeah?" Jane suggested after checking the time.

Upon exiting, she looked around her to check for cops or do-gooders and then lit a joint that had been behind her ear, concealed by the messy strands of blonde, and after taking a few puffs, she passed it to Rob. "I gotta," she started as she exhaled slowly and coughing, "I gotta find someone soon. I'm running dangerously low," she admitted, referring to her weed supply. They had ran through way more than she anticipated in the first two weeks, but she assumed she could at least find a fan that would have a connection for her. 

Before they hit the line of sight of the rest of the band and crew, Jane stopped and looked to Rob before plucking the joint back out of his hands and taking another hit. “Hey,” she murmured as she met his stare. “Thanks for, uh, never judging me like these assholes.” She waved her phone in her hand, referring to whoever had written the story on her. “I’ve always really appreciated it.” 

As they all got into the van and took off once again, Jane was now sitting with her back against the wall with her legs draped over Rob’s lap as she mindlessly scrolled through her phone to choose a song to start her turn as DJ. She settled on [url=https://youtu.be/q1vpFmRtb3c]Sitting Up On Our Crane by Pond[/url], which made Austin perk up but Sam groan in annoyance. 

“Lighten up, Sam,” she said as she ruffled the head of hair in the seat ahead of her before Austin joined her to sing the first line of lyrics. 

[b]”Sitting up on our crane,
It always feels the same when we’re up high,
‘cause I feel like I’ll fall and die.”[/b]

Jane had closed her eyes and thrust her hands up in the air as she sang the song with a mocking passion as Austin made his own gestures, making Sam begin to laugh at the show being put on. Their performance grew more ridiculous as the song built up to the chorus.

[b]”And you know,”[/b]

They were yelling the words at this point.

[b]”It's gonna get you feeling like you're gonna die.”[/b]

The song made memories – more like visions – of times she had tripped flash vividly in her mind. The sensation of floating above the ground as she walked, the way the sand on the beach looked like the waves themselves, the way the walls breathed in and out with her.  It was all so magical to Jane, the way that drugs both natural and synthetic could make a person feel so much at once and, simultaneously, nothing at all. It was a high she always craved. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After a few more hours of driving, they had finally arrived in Cleveland with only twenty minutes to spare before they were due to play. As soon as Austin and Sam got out of the van, Jane tipped over the seat into the trunk to grab a shirt to change into. She popped back over and quickly removed the top she had on to replace it with a form fitting white tee shirt. 

The realization hit Jane of what she just did. After the morning they had spent together, she didn’t feel the need to shield herself from Rob anymore, and although the act was completely innocent, it felt right, like they had just broken through the next level of their friendship as opposed to starting something new together. It made her smile. 

Jane moved over to Rob as they sat alone in the van and swung a leg over to face him as she sat on his lap, her eyes lingering on his eyes but ultimately resting on his lips.

[i]”What happened to not being so forward?”[/i]

Jane ignored her inner-voice and leaned in slowly to kiss him. “I’m gonna go see how much I can drink in fifteen minutes. See you on stage, yeah?” Another kiss, and she crawled out of the van.

Two bands had already performed, and the third band was finishing up. In Bloom’s set was to be followed up by Vicarious, the band that had played before them at the fest earlier that day. 

Jane rushed the bar to find Austin enjoying a quick drink. “Hey, man,” she grunted as she sat down next to him. “Two whiskeys please. Neat.” The bartender worked to pour her drinks as she turned her attention back to Austin. “I feel like I haven’t talked to you in a few days. What’s new?” 
Austin laughed. “You’ve been busy.” 
Jane punched his arm.
“I mean, same old shit. Harold’s been harassing Sam to write some new music. We’ve been trying to work on shit.”
Jane scratched her forehead. “Were you guys gonna involve me?”
Austin scoffed. “Of course, J. You [i]and[/i] Rob. We just wanted to let you guys get through whatever it is first before we put anything else on your plate.” His eyes narrowed as he glared at her. “You gonna fill me in?”
Jane couldn’t help but smirk. “We’ve, uh, been hanging out.”
“You mean fucking?” Austin laughed.
She rolled her eyes. For some reason, using such plain or vulgar words to describe what was happening didn’t feel accurate. “Sure. But, I mean, we haven’t really talked about what was going to happen. Things seem good, though.”
“Yeah,” Austin shook his head. “For now, though.” 

Before Jane could ask him what he meant, a stagehand found them and told it was time to sound check. “We’re gonna finish this later,” she pointed to him as she followed the man to the stage, and Austin smiled as he waved goodbye to her. 

The show began, and the crowd seemed to be very receptive to their sound. Jane was in a good mood, and it showed in her performance: she was moving around the stage and talking with crowd. The article and what Austin had said was still sitting in the back of her mind, and she decided to work it out right there and then.

“Alright, alright,” she spoke into the microphone as a song ended, breathing heavily. “So, show of hands, who read that article on me?” 
About 75% of the crowd raised their hands, and Jane laughed.
“Okay, good. I wanna talk about that for a second. I am fucking [i]sick[/i] of people, especially men, thinking that they could say whatever they want about me, telling me what I should and shouldn’t do with my time. [i]My[/i] body.”
The crowd began to cheer her on.
“I can do whatever the fuck I want. All of you ladies in the crowd, I see you.” She pointed to a group of girls near the corner of the stage. “You can do whatever the fuck you want. You’re not a slut. You’re not ‘crazy.’ You’re not gross or dirty or wrong.” She ran her fingers through her hair to remove the strands from her face. “If men can do it, we can do it, too. And better.” 

The crowd went wild, and the band began to play once again. Jane felt almost immediately relief after unleashing her opinions to the group of patrons below her. She turned around to see Rob play for a moment before it was her turn to come in. 

And as the music ended, Jane bid her usual farewell. “Thank you, everyone. You guys were awesome. We’re In Bloom.”