Escapism was essentially what the performances had trickled down to, in the end. Rob played every note as strong as he could, nailing every alteration of the beat, every minute ghost note and roll.

He couldn’t help but suppress a smile as he heard the crowd in front of him call out his name. It was actually rather terrifying, he had allowed himself to think. “How you all doin’ today?” He called out to them in his microphone, before swiveling it away from him for the first track to begin. It would only later be used for light harmonies on one of their more popular tracks, during three bars in the bridge. Aside from that one moment in that one song, he had never sang a word for the band. The anonymity of the drums were too valuable to leave behind, for any and all reasons. 

Once the show had ended, he made his way over to the craft table, putting down another shot, as well as snaking on the chips left out for them. He watched a bead of sweat drop off his head into a cup of Coke, and picked it up instinctually. Seems like he’d be having that, as well.

He was just turning to see where the others had run off too, when a hand slipped around his bicep, pulling him behind a tapestry. 

Jane was there, looking as tired as ever after the show. But her eyes….they seemed much different than he usually saw them. They weren’t the typical, unreadable irises he had stared into so many times before. She showed [i]desire[/i], and acted on it as well, pulling Rob closer to her; their lips connecting. 

Rob reciprocated immediately, running his free hand behind her, grazing the top of her back, under her hair, grasping the back of her head lightly, holding her to him. They stood like this even longer, as he felt Jane press on, her tongue lightly grazing against his lips—then, the slight bite of teeth against his lower lip.

What might have been several seconds felt simply like a moment, as Jane pulled away from him. 

[i]”I get a little turned on when I’m up there.”[/i] she had said. 

Well, that seemed to make two of them.

…

On the way back to the van, Rob felt yet another person pull against him. He rotated his body as such, and was faced with the drummer from the earlier band he had seen; the only one he had really envied. 

“Hey man!” the drummer said with a smile, offering a hand. Rob took it. “Killer set! We were about to head off, but I wanted to catch what you could do.”

“I appreciate it,” Rob said. “I loved your energy. The way you got the crowd to move…”

The other drummer shook his head slightly. “We just do the same as you man. Where’s your next stop?”

“Cleveland.”

“No shit! Same as us,” he said. He gave a look as if he had realized something. “Shit, my bad. Trent, by the way.” 

“Rob. Good to meet you man!” Rob said, sliding to leave.

“See you there! Don’t let the bad press get you down!” Trent said, giving a wave, before sending the same hand against his buzzed hair. As he rounded a corner, Rob could see a flash of raven hair. Some other bandmate, perhaps. [i]What was their name again? Various? No...[u]Vicarious[/u]. That was it.[/i]

But what he really had focused on what his last sentence. [i]What bad press? Did I miss something?[/i] He made a mental note to look into it sometime on the way to Cleveland, and climbed into the van soon after, sitting in what seemed like a new usual spot next to Jane. She hid herself once more against the wall, keeping her whole body up atop the seat. [i]Had something gone wrong with her? She seemed perfectly fine at the show. Was it something he had done? Wait…how the fuck could it be?[/i]

Each of the thoughts felt something like the bullshit a boyfriend would have to worry about. It wasn’t his responsibility to be manager of Jane or her feelings. But…he did have to try when they were friends. And they certainly [i]were[/i] in the least, friends. 

Trying to act more than think, Rob slid a hand across to her, putting a hand on her leg and rubbing it slightly with his thumb. She had given up her AUX privileges moments ago, as Sam sat up and blasted [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwwU_CvS8NA]Low by Foo Fighters[/url], which served as a pretty decent soundtrack to look out the window too. Rob nodded his head to the beat, enjoying how focused the song was on it’s simple, down-tuned main riff.

It led him to think of Sam. He hoped his guitarist would at least have come up with something catchy, like this, if he was going to come up with anything simple. Sam’s old style of guitar playing seemed more like a [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iijmj5nB6I]Fall of Troy[/url] B-Side. Something interesting and melodic, yet altered enough to satisfy Rob’s more complicated styling. Now it felt more typical than ever. Four chords on the chorus. Opening, simplistic riffs. Chugging on the bridge just to keep things sounding heavier than they really are. If they were about to come up with some new song not even halfway into a tour, it should be something worth making.

The AUX chord had gotten around to Rob after some time. Needing some chiller music, Rob queued up a guilty pleasure: [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdkmhquF60o]Banquet by Bloc Party[/url]. As it played on, Rob imagined his younger self, learning the drums, playing this song. Being so proud to manage the drum fill about two and a half minutes into the track. It was so long ago. 

He passed out after another hour, one hand sprawled out next to him and the other on Jane. He was awoken what felt like immediately after by Sam. Outside, the sun was just finished setting, and the band had stopped at yet another mall; this one, an outdoor mall. Glad for the space to walk around, he looked over to Jane. 

“Did you want to get some food?” He asked, seeing his other bandmate caught up in some sort of discussion. He was unsure if whether or not she wanted to eat, nevertheless with him on some sort of impromptu date, but he felt compelled to at the very least ask. If he was going to manage every sort of trial this tour would surely throw at him, he needed to at the very least be more open and direct with Jane. His confused, silent nature wasn’t going to get him anywhere with the people he cared about. Thoughts of his parents quickly came and went as he slipped out of the van, giving Jane a moment to fully wake up and decide.