Rob’s time with his bandmates was melancholic at best; and not for any decent reason. Aside from the vacant position of Jane in the group, something seemed to be in the air along with the rest of them. A quiet disconnect. Something he was simply unsure of. Eventually, after a few of them broke off to order some food at the bar, Austin led Rob to the side. “What’s going on with you, man?” He asked politely. “You haven’t spoken since randomly disappearing off. Where did you end up practicing, again?” “I ended up jamming with Zoe,” Rob answered. He felt a bit odd talking about her around Austin—more and more recently, since Austin tended to play the intermediate between he and Jane. But Austin’s face seemed nonplussed at the response, and Rob continued: “I just missed playing with other people and having fun with it. Especially after last night’s show. I needed something that reminded me how much fun playing is.” “Well, you should’ve told me,” Austin said. “I mean, Jesus Christ all you people do is hang with Vicarious. I want in on that action.” Rob laughed with Austin for a moment. He and Sam seemed so blissfully simple on tour; always had, even when it was just them in a car, driving around California. Sure, they’d fuck around, but there was never any drama. Nothing like what was going on currently. “Matt’s a decent enough guy,” Rob said, talking of Vicarious’ guitar player. “I haven’t seem much of him, but he’s low profile. Like you and Sam.” Austin smiled. “Oh, so we’re low profile? What does that make you and Jane?” “I don’t know,” Rob said honestly. “A clusterfuck?” Austin chuckled and walked away. “You both need to figure yourself out. I’ll be with the others, if you want to play nice. But if you’re just going to mope, get yourself somewhere you enjoy.” “Thanks, man,” Rob said. He gave Austin a nod as he turned and made his way to the others. — Rob ended up taking Austin’s words to heart, and had found the nearest record store using his phone in a bit under a half hour. These were some of the only places Rob felt the most comfortable. The alluring sensations of flipping through old records, talking music with the local store owners, and finding LP’s you never knew you needed, all were some of the greatest parts of growing up in Long Beach and being so near to that scene. Rob pushed open the front door to find a near-empty shop, as large and expansive as Aaron’s store back home, and [url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YFkn8rawVk]Spread Your Love by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club[/url] playing over the conversations taking place within. Rob couldn’t help but smile, but the state of his hands meant that he would probably need to wait before touching anything in here. A woman who seemed to be working there past by, and Rob caught her attention. 
“You’ve got any grip tape?” He asked, motioning to his hands. [i]”Hvad? I dansk, tak.”[/i] “Excuse me?” [i]”Giv mig et sekund.”[/i] The lady sighed, before briskly marching behind the counter and into a back room. Rob could hear her and other guy arguing slightly in Danish, before another man slipped out into the front. “How can I help you?” He asked in a thick accent. “Yeah, sorry,” Rob stuttered out. “Forgot what country I was in. Do you guys have any grip tape?” Rob watched as the man’s eyes darted from Rob’s bloody hands, then back to his face. He quickly produced what Rob needed, and Rob simply set a band debit card on the table as he taped up the remaining wounds. As he did, he noticed the first woman he had spoken to slip back out, and talk to the man who had supplied him the tape. Both looked to Rob occasionally with concerned expressions. “Are you in a band?” The man finally asked. “Yeah,” Rob said, “In Bloom. We’re playing tonight around here.” The man smiled, and the two talked about In Bloom for a moment, before he slipped off to help another customer. 
The entire experience, although short, was a bit surreal. The enjoyment of getting into stores like this was quickly negated by the ever-growing group of people that would recognize him. Rob browsed for twenty minutes, before, after getting stopped to take a photo twice by two different fans, he purchased a [url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ3w2s3UxO4]Deftones[/url] record and was quickly on his way. On the taxi ride to the venue, Rob pulled out his phone. He had missed Jane’s text by several hours at this point, and now, in the heat of the day, felt far too late to really respond. After the afternoons events, and particularly his brief time with Zoe, Rob was eager to return to Jane. Not only had he felt bad about spending so much time away today (which wasn’t helping how little they had spoken), but was also still tense from the adrenaline of the session. There was a frustration in being this separated from Jane for this long. The more he thought of it, the more he realized they had barely spoken since landing in Europe. He wondered what [i]she[/i] had done today. He hoped, whatever it was, that they had spent more than enough time apart. If he could just be back with her, and things would feel so much more normal…maybe he wouldn’t feel so constantly bad because he went off to “feel normal” with Zoe. Because the truth was, hanging out was Zoe wasn’t just casual for him. The reason he felt bad about being with her instead of Jane, if he was willing to admit it, was because she was normal when Jane was not. 

And that scared him to even think about. Entering the bus, Rob broke straight for the back and, after making sure no one was walking about, stripped down and showered, rinsing any dried blood that might have formed. He was going to be paying for that practice session, alright. His voice was still hoarse, and his hands would probably tear open each night of the tour for a good week. Afterwards, Rob slipped out, and pulled back the curtain from his bed, hoping to at least close his eyes before the show started. 
And here Jane was. Fast asleep in his bed, wearing his own shirt. There was a lot of things Rob wanted to do. He wanted to talk to her. To tell her he was sorry for disappearing off today, and that he didn’t mean to ignore her. That whatever shit they had going on between them needed to end, by any means necessary, because he missed their old connection. That he was quickly forming another one in their place. But Rob couldn’t bring himself to wake her up. To force her to deal with this, when here she was, waiting for him in his own bed. All the thoughts from his mind drifted off in an instant. 
Rob gently climbed into his bunk next to her, closing the curtain behind him. He slipped himself into the big spoon position, sliding Jane’s small frame close to him, and slipping his arm back into it’s favorite position. He nuzzled his head into the back of hers, and tried to forget about everything. In here, in this small bunk…this was all that mattered. Or, at least, all that [i]should[/i] have mattered. — “You guys planning on performing tonight?” A voice came, waking Rob up from his nap. His back was against the curtain side of the bunk, but the voice proved that Sam had come and interrupted Jane and Rob’s nap. “We go on in an hour.” “Sure,” Rob muttered out. “Be up in a minute.” Rob felt the curtain close behind him, and pressed himself against Jane, too comfortable to want to move. He certainly was learning the allure of his physical side with Jane. It was funny, how they influenced each other when they were on good terms. Made each other stronger. Complimented the other. “I missed you today,” Rob whispered into Jane’s form. Which was true, certainly. As was his frustration with her silence, his (admittedly great) time with Zoe, and finally his own frustration at himself for feeling like an emotional cheater. “I’m going to call Harold as soon as I get out of this bed and make that hotel room happen.” There was so much more that could be said, but Rob didn’t want to deal with that right now. Right now, he had Jane. And the longer he put off dealing with these problems, the more it felt like they didn’t exist. So, instead of more words, Rob slipped a hand into Jane’s hair, gently untangling a few knots with his fingers. He sighed deeply, and slipped out of the bed, quickly dressing himself and arranging the hotel plans with Harold. Tomorrow, he and Jane would have a hotel room to themselves again, and hopefully things could improve then. Afterwards, he slipped outside of the bus, and slipped a cigarette up to his mouth. He took a few drags as he entered the venue, and joined the few members of the In Bloom team that had already entered the theater for sound check. He tried to ignore a few odd glances from members of Vicarious, and moved to the craft table. He opened the first caffeinated beverage he could find, and downed it as quickly as possible. He’d need more than that for the pain he was about to experience playing on stage tonight.