Andy and Jane sat across from each other at a small diner only a few minutes from the hotel. She hadn’t bothered going back to the room to change before taking him up on his offer, so she sat in a large white tee shirt, a pair of track shorts that substituted for pajama shorts, and bare feet, fiddling with the straw that popped out of the black iced coffee in front of her.

“You gonna tell me what happened?” Andy asked softly as he glanced up to her.

Jane hadn’t realized how quiet she had been and smiled faintly. “Sorry.” Her head fell into her hands. “Well, I fucked Rob,” she explained bluntly, “like an idiot. I went to go talk to him, but that never goes well. And next thing I know…” her raspy voice trailed off into silence, and she shook her head in frustration. 

“Jane,” Andy whispered, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have kissed you last night. I wasn’t – “

“Stop,” Jane interrupted. “You didn’t do anything wrong. If anything, that was the vibe I was putting out there. I wanted you to. I’m just… I don’t know, man. Rob’s got me really fucked up.” 

Andy nodded in understanding. “You don’t have to explain anything to me, Jane. Really. I’m a grown man. My feelings aren’t hurt.” He smiled at her as reassurance. “Anyway, did Rob say anything afterwards?”

“No. Well, I didn’t really [i]let[/i] him. I kinda freaked out and ran out of the room.” She scratched at her head as her eyes burned a hole in the floor. 

“What do you want, Jane?” Andy asked frankly.

“What do you mean?”

“From this. You and Rob. What do you want?” He rested his chin on his hand. “Are you even letting yourself think about it?”

Jane scoffed. “No. Not really. I don’t know. Things between us were kind of weird when we decided to try things out.”

“Then, do you really wanna [i]not[/i] be casual? Or did it just hurt your feelings that it was [i]Rob[/i] who brought it up, and not you?” 

“Damn it, Andy. You’re like another Austin,” she smirked. 

Andy laughed. “Nah, I’ve just gotten to know you pretty well. You’re an open book.”

“Yeah, I should probably work on that, yeah?” Jane asked as she met his eyes.

He reached over and rubbed the top of her hand that rested on the table. “No. Don’t change.” 

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

Jane eventually made her way back to the hotel room and dove into her bed in the apartment she was temporarily sharing with Sam. She confirmed with Austin if it was still okay for now, who was perched on the couch when she entered the apartment, and he nodded and waved his hand in the air. 

She truly didn’t know what to do. Should she admit that she was… wrong? That, perhaps, Rob was right, and what they had tried out just wasn’t working out for either of them? If Jane had to admit, things [i]did[/i] get so tense between them. What if it was better for both of them if they kept it physical for now? She would at least need that, she decided, and she was reminded of that now more than ever after the hour of passion she had spent with Rob earlier.

The way she found herself feeling about Andy wasn’t exactly helping the situation either. It was all just so easy with him. Why couldn’t she feel that way with Rob?

And as that thought crossed her mind, Jane realized that may have been the exact same way that Rob felt about Zoe, and it made her feel so selfish that she as hurt by him seeing her. He deserved an outlet for his frustrations just as much as Jane did, and she couldn’t expect Rob to only turn to herself. That wasn’t fair.

As Jane laid in bed, she pulled out her cracked phone, and her thumbs worked on a text to Rob:
Jane: [b]Hey. I’m sorry about earlier. You didn’t do anything wrong. You were probably right, maybe romance just wasn’t in the universe for us and things are better this way. [/b]
Jane: [b]That doesn’t mean I don’t wanna see you though.. You gotta admit, we’re too good in bed together to give that up.[/b]
Jane: [b]I understand if you don’t wanna talk about it yet.[/b]

Well, a few texts. 

Jane did her best, once again, to express her feelings through words rather than her body, and although she wasn’t completely satisfied with how they came out, they would have to do for now. Hopefully, for once, she didn’t make things worse.

Now, it was time to get some rest before the show tonight, the one where she would have to sing a song she was forced to write. The one where she’d be in a venue with two guys she was still very confused about. Great.

Jane silenced her phone and swaddled herself in the comforter, eventually drifting off to sleep after her mind raced for another few minutes. Mostly thoughts of Rob, some of Andy, other of the tour that they were about to embark on, but all of them had a common theme: a sense of dread.