Jane remained quiet at Rob began an apology of sorts. It wasn’t like she had the chance to speak anyway, as Sam and Austin slipped in as soon as he had finished. 

Her pride was desperately begging her to stay angry at him. To make him feel bad for what he did. To give him the cold shoulder for as long as she could stand. It was selfish for him to blow up like that under the first ounce of pressure he had received from the media; Jane had been dealing with it for much longer without lashing out. 

Simultaneously, thought, in the newer part of Jane she had discovered, she wanted to comfort him. Hold him. He was human, and he got upset. It wasn’t abnormal or [i]completely[/i] unwarranted. If anyone could relate to the way he felt during the interview, it was her. 

But, then again, hearing someone in her own band say that they didn’t like the single to the public was also awful to hear. She knew of his distaste for it, but she never expected for him to talk about it in the open. It was embarrassing. A slap in the face.

However, was it really fair of Jane to have pushed it so far even though she knew he hated it? Should they have never released it? It was producing revenue for them, yes, but at what cost?

Jane hugged her knees as she sat in the backseat, attempting to put an end to the internal dialogue in her head. But she couldn’t think too long before the van stopped in front of the hotel. 

As soon as she and Rob entered their room, she hopped up onto the kitchen counter and held her arms out. “Come here, asshole,” she mumbled quietly, and as soon as she could reach him, she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in the crook of his neck. 

“I’m sorry,” she sighed as she sat idly. Her voice was muffled from the position she was in. “I know that guy was being a jerk to you. I just,” she paused for a moment, collecting her thoughts before continuing, “I guess I just felt like it wasn’t fair. I’ve been biting my tongue this whole time, acting like what they say doesn’t bother me, but it does.” 

She lifted her head and looked at him intently. “I never felt self-conscious about my reputation before. It sucks. I don’t know if it’s just the reporters, or now that I’m seeing you…” her hoarse voice trailed off. “It’d kill me if what they said about me made you think differently about me, or-or reconsider what’s happening between us.”

It all felt so stupid coming out of her mouth, as if she was in a scene for a cheesy sitcom, and the thought made her shake her head. 

“Anyway,” she smirked as she moved her hands to either side of his face and it pulled it to hers before kissing him gently. “We’re cool, yeah?” Without waiting for an answer, she began to run her fingers through his hair, still holding sweat from the show, and she kissed him again. Then again. Her hands began to travel lower and lower down his body before her phone vibrated on the counter next to her. 

[b]Andy:[/b] One of our friends in the city is throwing a party. You guys should come through.

Jane showed the screen to Rob. “Do you wanna go?” she asked as she put the phone back down on the counter then wrapping her arms around him once again, this time beginning to kiss his neck slowly. “It’s okay if you don’t want to.”

A fraction of her was still upset for what he did, but it was microscopic in comparison to the [i]other[/i] feeling she was experiencing. 

“Hey,” she whispered as she pressed her lips softly on to his ear. “The shower’s bigger here.” 

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

An hour later, the four band members arrive at a tall yet narrow house perched on a hill spotted with patches of grass and dimly lit by a single street lamp. Cars filled up one side of the hill like a makeshift parking lot, and the other side of the hill help small groups of people drinking and smoking. 
 
Jane stretched as she stepped out of the car and observed the area around them. “Huh,” she mumbled. Rob was standing next to her, and contradicting every notion she had about holding hands or being ‘cute,’ she wrapped her arm around his bicep, squeezing it once before entering the house. 

It was packed – every stereotype, from guys covered head to toe in tattoos to girls who never looked like they listened to anything ‘heavier’ than Paramore, lined the walls throughout the house and congregated in groups on the backyard. Music was pumping at an annoyingly loud level that caused everyone to shout at each other as they talked amongst themselves. 
Jane immediately lit a joint and exhaled vertically at the ceiling before scanning the room to try to find a familiar face. Two people, a girl and a guy, had approached Rob at the same time her eyes met Andy’s across the room. 

“I’m gonna go get a drink,” Jane yelled to Rob as she squeezed his arm one more time, and then she weaved her way to the kitchen where Andy was standing.

“Hey,” he greeted her as he took a sip of his beer. 
“A bit loud in here, no?” she replied as she searched the fridge for something to drink, settling on a Budweiser. 
Andy chuckled. “Yeah, you’re right. Come out back with me.”

Jane sat with him in the grass, her dirty bare feet crossed underneath her. Their conversation was light at first, but soon enough, it dove into music and issues they both faced as the face of their band. 

“I haven’t been able to write decent lyrics in a few months,” Jane sighed. “The more pressure there is for me to produce something, the harder it is.”
“I’ve gone through that before,” Andy nodded as he passed her the joint he was smoking. “Writer’s block sucks. I think I went a year without writing a damn thing once.” 
Jane rested her chin on her fist as she groaned. “I feel like that’s gonna happen to me.”
“No,” he smiled and shook his head. “You’re far too fascinating to be so uninspired. It’ll come.”
Jane scoffed but couldn’t help but smile. “You’re nice.” 

After a few more minutes of conversation, Jane parted ways with Andy to go find Rob and grab another beer. The party seemed to only get more crowded as the night went on. She spotted Austin making out with a girl in the corner of the living room, and when they made eye contact, they both thumbs-up to each other. “Idiot,” Jane chuckled as she continued to search for Rob.

Jane found herself in a hallway that was similar to the layout of the one in Jared’s house; the thought of that night made her shiver a bit. Muffled voices seemed to be streaming out of the room on the right, and after a knock, Jane entered to see Rob with two members of Vicarious. “Oh, sorry. I was looking for you,” she said quietly. 

Especially with all of the press coverage happening, Jane felt a little more hesitant to be social, as she assumed that all the bands on the circuit had already gotten a bad first impression of her. In an awkward attempt to be friendly, Jane waved a hand at the others in the room. “I’m Jane.”