Jane was awoken by Austin nudging her arm repeatedly, his muffled voice getting clearer and clearer as she became more lucid. “Jesus, man,” she groaned as she forcefully rubbed her eyes. “The one time I sleep in, you – “

“Rob’s doing an interview right now,” he interrupted her, seemingly unphased by her annoyance.

“Right now?” Jane asked as she popped up to a sitting position. 

“Yeah, Harold put him up to it. Come on,” he instructed as he stretched out a hand to get her up. 

The two made their way to the living room area where Sam was already sitting and fidgeting with the radio, and they all huddled together around the small clock once they found the correct station. The first thing Jane noticed was Rob’s voice and how calm it sounded compared to their past interviews. The conversation they had must have been a sort of release for him.

And at that realization, Jane felt selfish at how angry she was at Rob for asking for what he wanted. Yeah, it was a blow. But, she couldn’t blame him for feeling a certain way about her.  It [i]most likely[/i] wasn’t his intention to hurt her.

The three intently listened to the back and forth dialogue between Rob and the host, and it made Jane feel so much better, yet so much worse at the same time. 

[b]”I’ve fucked up things I’m worried I can never fix.”[/b]

He couldn’t have been talking about her… right? He seemed so sure when he said it. Like he had mulled over it for days before finally admitting it. 

After Rob finished and the radio was turned off, Austin’s hand landed on Jane’s shoulder. “You sh – “

“Yeah, I know,” Jane nodded. “I’ll talk to him.” 

It was the last thing she wanted to do: open herself up again for Rob to completely reject her. But if they were going to be travelling the world together, she would have to talk to him eventually, and the longer she waited, the weirder things would get.

Austin helped her up and looked at her sternly. “It’s gonna all work out in the end, Jane, no matter which way it goes. I’m here for you.” He kissed her forehead and shooed her out of the room before she could change her mind. 

Jane took her time walking down the hallway, forcing herself to take step after step towards her would-have-been room instead of bolting back the opposite way. “Come on,” Jane whispered to herself. “Stop being a pussy.”

After approaching the door, the key hovered over the lock for a few second before she finally slid it in the slot and clicked open the door, squeezing her eyes shut as she stepped in. 

“Rob?” Her voice was hoarse, barely reaching the level Jane had attempted. “It’s me.” 

Her pace was slow as she eyed the apartment-style hotel room, noting how clean it was – probably because she had yet to occupy it. “Rob?”

She finally found him in bed. Alone. She couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief at the fact that she didn’t find him with Zoe.

“Hey,” she whispered as she took a seat at the foot at the bed and stared at the floor. “I, uh, I heard the interview. I don’t know if – “

Her eyes had locked on his, and she found herself unable to continue. Why was he so intimidating right now? It was unlike Jane to be nervous in front of someone, especially someone she knew as well as Rob.

“I…” Still nothing. But even if she could force words out of her mouth, what would they be? [i]Hey, Rob. You broke my heart by saying that you just want to fuck me. But, I still can’t stand being away from you. I’m pathetic. I love you.[/i]

In a swift movement, Jane had crawled up to Rob and straddled him, leaning down to press her lips into his as soon as she got comfortable. With her hands in his hair, she pulled away a few inches from his face and stared at him. “I’m so sick of talking,” Jane whispered, then leaned in to kiss him again. “I’m really fucking angry at you, too, but…” Another kiss, each one more and more aggressive.  

Her inner voice was screaming at her to stop. It felt as though she had given in and waved a white flag to Rob. He was getting what he wanted – to be physically intimate with Jane without having to deal with anything else. But Jane couldn’t stop herself. And half of her didn’t want to.

[center]*****[/center]

Jane nearly fell onto her back in the softness of the comforter as she caught her breath and wiped her forehead with her arm. For a moment, she felt completely happy, as if the previous events that had drove her and Rob separate ways never happened.

But as soon as the waves of euphoria ripping through her ceased, regret began to trickle in. 

“I’m such an idiot,” she whispered aloud as she squeezed her eyes shut, eventually standing up and picking her clothes up off the floor. “You really fucking bummed me out. Yet, here I am, giving you exactly what you asked for.” 

Jane dressed as quickly as she could, avoiding any eye contact, and once she pulled her shirt over her head, she turned towards him as she stood in the door way. Tears had already formed in her eyes, but she kept her face as expressionless as possible. “I wanna figure this out. What this all means. But… I just can’t yet. I’m not ready.” 

She left the room as quickly as possible, closing the door quietly behind her and sinking down to the patterned carpet that stretched down the long, narrow hallway. She wasn’t able to keep herself from crying this time, and her forehead rested on her knees as the tears rolled off her cheeks and onto her lap.

“Jane?” 

Her head popped up to see Andy looking down with furrowed brows at her. “What the hell happened?”
“Get me outta here? Anywhere,” Jane’s voice squeaked as she wiped her eyes. 

He pulled her up with a hand and put his arm around her shoulders, squeezing her tightly. “Come on. Lets go get some breakfast in you.” 

Jane nodded in silence and let him lead her out of the hallway into the elevator. She wasn't proud about running into the arms of another man while she avoided working things out with Rob, but she was at her most vulnerable state she had seen herself in, and she was gladly taking comfort where she could find it.