[b]”We go on in an hour.”[/b]

The words sounded as if they were spoken underwater as Jane started to become lucid. She instantly became aware of Rob’s presence engulfing her, or more specifically, the warmth she felt from it. Her mind was still in a haze, along with the feeling of sleep paralysis plaguing her, so all that she could manage as a response to Rob’s words was her fingers lacing up in his, which gripped her chest like it always did. 

This had easily became her favorite way of waking up, which was odd to Jane, because she had never been one to cuddle. She usually took on the supposed ‘man’s’ role of wanting to leave the second she was done with her fun. But, this was different. When Rob was wrapped around her, she felt at peace no matter what happened before or after. It was as if all of the bullshit that they had already gone through during this tour didn't matter at all.

As he began to leave the bunk, she groaned in disapproval and grasped his hand. The rough texture caused an eye to pop open, and that was when she saw the blisters that had formed. Instead of commenting, her gravelly voice pushed out a “see you in there.” It was much, much less than she wanted to say to him, but it would have to do, because her barely-awake mind wouldn’t have been able to formulate much more than that. But once the warmth was gone and she was left alone in the bunk, it didn’t take her but a few minutes to get up and begin to meander around the bus after putting on a pair of shorts. 

Down the block, Jane noticed the line of patrons waiting to get into the venue and sighed. She never thought she’d see the day, but playing sets night after night was beginning to seem like a monotonous task. All of the passion that was put into it now was being replaced with the purpose of just getting the set over with. It saddened Jane because, all her life, this was her dream. She had never planned ahead for anything other than singing. No college. No ambition. No idea bout what the future would hold. And now, the twenty-three year old girl already achieving her dreams wasn’t even enthralled by the experience. 

Jane grabbed a beer from the fridge and chugged it immediately before grabbing another and getting ready to step out onto the street, but her phone buzzing in her back pocket stopped her. 

“What’s up, Harold?” Jane answered, her words a bit mumbled from the unlit cigarette dangling out of her mouth. 

“Jane,” he replied, in his usual, business-like tone, “I booked a hotel room for you and Rob tomorrow in Norway for your night off.”

Jane smiled. “Thanks, Harold. I appreciate it.” 

“Yeah, no problem. Another thing. Radio 1 is asking for you and Andy to come in for a quick interview and an acoustic song. I’ve been working with their tour manager on it. You guys will be entering Norway overnight, and the station wants you and him there by 9:00 AM.” 

“Uh,” Jane took a second to process all that Harold had said. “Yeah, yeah, okay. What song are we doing?” 

“They usually ask that all the artists pick a cover to perform. I suggest something that would be popular there, maybe a Norwegian artist or something.” 

“Okay, I’ll figure it out,” Jane mumbled. “Thanks, Harold.” 

“Yep. I’ll have a cab come pick you guys up at 8:30,” he said sternly. “Take it easy on the partying tonight. That last set was shit.” 

Even though Jane had never cared about what Harold had thought of her before, his words stung. “Yeah, I know. Won’t happen again.” She disconnected the call and immediately navigated to her text messages as she plopped onto the couch.

[i]Jane, 8:32 PM[/i]: [b]You hear about the interview?[/b]

[i]Andy, 8:34 PM[/i]: [b]Yeah, I’m down. What song should we do?[/b]

Jane then moved to her music files to find something, and after she spotted a song by Aurora, she knew immediately that it would be their best bet. 

[i]Jane, 8:39 PM[/i]: [b]I’m gonna send you the link. We’ll do a run-through after the show if that’s cool.[/b]

[i]Andy, 8:41 PM[/i]: [b]Sounds good. See you soon.[/b]

Jane took a moment to take a deep breath before standing up again. Did she need to tell Rob about what happened with Andy? Was she [i]supposed[/i] to? She couldn’t exactly imagine Rob telling her all the details of what happened or what might happen between him and Zoe, so she figured it might be best to just leave it alone for now. This was the arrangement, after all.

[i]”His hands,”[/i] she thought to herself just as she was about to exit the bus onto the busy sidewalk, and she swiveled around, searching the kitchenette’s cabinets quickly until she located a first aid kit. The gauze and tape were shoved into her purse, and she dashed out of the bus and into the side door of the venue before anyone could recognize her. 

It was dimly lit and loud, just as all of the other venues had been, and Jane weaved her way to the side stage to see the rest of the band getting ready to go on. She spotted Rob, and after saying her hellos to the others, she approached him and told him to sit on the steps as she got out the gauze and tape.

“I’ve had my fair share of fucked up hands,” she mumbled with the roll of tape her her mouth. Her hands words to remove the reddened wrap he had on, and then she began to cover them tightly, unraveling the roll of gauze around a few times. “I remember this one time, I ate shit bombing that hill by your house. My board must have shot out like a hundred feet.” She grabbed the tape from her mouth and secured the gauze on one hand in place before moving to the other. “Anyway, I scraped my hands so bad, I thought the skin would never grow back.” The tape was removed again from her mouth, and she used her teeth to rip off a piece for the gauze on his other hand, then a few more little pieces to cover a few of the blisters on his fingers. 

Once she was done, Jane put the supplies back in her bag and smiled at Rob. “Thanks for calling Harold for the room. I really – “

“In Bloom, you’re up!” a venue-hired stage hand yelled in a thick accent. 

She rolled her eyes. “I guess we’ll talk later then, yeah?” Both of her hands went to the side of Rob’s face delicately, and although she could think of a million words she would like to say, she leaned in and kissed him softly, unconcerned with who was around. Jane wished so often that things would stabilize between them, that they could just have a normal, non-eventful day, but in simple moments like this, she was happy with the way things were.

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

“How’s everyone doing tonight?” Jane yelled into the microphone.

The crowd replied in its stereotypical way. “Wooooo!”

“Alright. We’re In Bloom from California. Long way from home.” Her fingers were straining to adjust the stand to shorten the mic a considerable amount. “I’m way too sober right now. Andy… say hi Andy,” she called as she pointed to the side stage.

Andy’s head popped out from the side and he waved. 

“He and I will be on Radio 1 tomorrow at 9:00 AM. So, if you wanna tune in, that’d be cool.” Jane finished with the mic and nodded behind her to the rest of the band to signal that she was ready. 

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

“Thank you, everyone,” Jane waved and left the stage, leaning against the brick wall that lined the venue. To make up for her last set, Jane gave her all, and she knew that was the adrenaline wore off, she’d be exhausted. She didn’t even want to hear her voice after how much power she tried to deliver for the set. 

Andy was the first to approach her, and he handed her a bottle of water. “You killed it.” 

Jane looked up and smiled. “Thanks.” Her voice was extremely hoarse, and the words felt like glass coming out of her throat. 

“Shhh,” Andy waved. “We’ll do a run-through of that song in the morning. Just rest tonight.”

She nodded – he was right. She’d need to drink tea and get a good night sleep, if that were even possible on a bus with six others. It was only 9:45, so hopefully, after showering of course, perhaps she could be asleep by 10:30. 

Jane silently thanked a few fans that saw her on the way to the bus, but once she entered the bus, she immediately darted to the back of the bus and took a five minute shower, then made a quick cup of cheap tea that was in one of the cabinets. The rest of the band hadn’t made their way back to the bus yet, so Jane crawled into Rob’s bunk once again, deciding to send him a quick text before she fell asleep.

[i]Jane, 10:14 PM:[/i] [b]Voice is fried, so I’m gonna go to bed. Hope your hands are okay.[/b]

She then switched screens from her texts to her alarm clock and set it for 8:00 AM, then went back to send a text to Andy. 

[i]Jane, 10:15 PM:[/i] [b]Wanna meet at 8:15?[/b]

[i]Andy, 10:17 PM:[/i] [b]Sure thing.[/b]

Jane pulled up Rob’s blanket around her, and she wiggled her body to a comfortable position as she shut her eyes. Thoughts of telling Rob about Andy crossed her mind as it drifted off. To be honest, she was still unsure of what was expected of her with their new arrangement, and not knowing how Rob would feel about it worried her far more than having to actually tell him about it. If she even had to. 

She fell asleep to the noise of the bus driver rummaging around, probably getting ready for their drive to Norway. Maybe once it set in that the band was in Europe, Jane would retrieve some of her excitement back. But for now, she was homesick. She fell asleep with the blanket completely covering her, only showing a few pieces of blonde hair strewn about one of the pillows.