Faith in Us

2.

Robert now awkwardly sat on the couch, gazing up at his parents. Rita looked annoyed, but not at Robert; mostly at Alex who insisted on having this little chat. Robert was worried about what Alex wanted to talk about, he hoped that it would be over soon. "Robert, I know how you like your privacy- and I know you've been going through a hard time these last months but; i need some answers." Alex said, his voice even but Robert could hear the assertive tone lacing his father's words.

Robert bit his tongue, his eyes lowering to the ground. "Are you still doing drugs?" Alex demanded, ignoring the harsh look from his wife. "No.." Robert whispered, gripping his shirt. "Are you planning to continue to be an absolute ass to everyone around you?" Alex said, his gaze hard and never leaving Robert's face.

"N-no dad.." Robert said, his eyes trained on the ground. "Alex- you big idiot, don't you have a caring bone in your body" Rita hissed, hitting Alex's arm. "I want Robert to be the best he can be- forgive me for wanting that" Alex hissed, shooting Rita a hard look. "When do you plan on leaving to go finish that tour." Alex said, looking back at Robert who tensed up. Robert lifted his head and stared at his father with a hard look.

"How did you know about that?" Robert said, voice wavering a bit. "I listened to the phone call you had with Chris." Alex said, "and I think you should return to the tour Robert. I did not raise a quitter; those people have gone out of their way to see YOU. Do you understand that Robert?" Alex said, his voice relaxing as he spoke. "It's the right thing to do; I'll even pay for the trip there and back." Alex said, suddenly approaching Robert and sitting down next to him.

Robert swallowed thickly, looking like he had seen a ghost. When Robert felt his father's hand place itself on his lower back, Robert instinctively  tensed. "Robert?" Alex said, confused as to why his son pulled away from him like that. "S-sorry dad i... I'll return to the tour... I'll see it through." Robert said, standing up from the couch while brushing his still wet hair out of his face.

"Let me go call Chris... i'll leave tomorrow..'' Robert said, brushing past his mother who frowned; watching as her son retreated back up to his room as if he didn't belong in his own home. Rita sighed and hugged herself, turning to look at Alex who had a frown on his face as well. "He wouldn't even let me hug him Rita..'' Alex said, sounding surprisingly hurt by Robert's actions. "Well... he is a lot like you in ways, and you do tend to speak rather harshly.." Rita said, moving to sit next to her husband.

"Just give him time love... he'll open up when he's ready.." Rita said, kissing Alex's cheek.

*******

"Ugh... yeah, i'll leave tomorrow and go to the hotel that you lot are staying at" Robert sighed heavily into the receiver, a bitter look resting on his face as he fiddled with a blanket on his bed. "Really? Oh, Christ! Alright, you already know where to go- i'll be expecting you!" Chris said, sounding like he was over the moon.

"And Robert- really... thank you." Chris said, making Robert sigh softly. "Y-yeah.." Robert replied quietly before hearing someone talking to Chris in the background. Robert set his jaw, not sure who exactly was talking before he shook his head and simply hung up on Chris; not wanting to waste his time on a meaningless conversation any longer.

Robert sighed, running a hand through his hair before laying down flat on his back. Robert laid his arm over his eyes, feeling like a dark cloud had swarmed inside his head once again. Just the thought of returning to that fucking bus, being around those people...

Having to see Simon again.

Robert set his jaw before laying on his back and hugging his pillow, his dull eyes lingering on a picture frame that sat on his night stand. The frame held a picture of Robert and Mary, sitting on a bench together. Robert remembered that day, it was one of the few nice days he had before everything went to shit. Robert missed Mary, her company brought normalcy- something Robert desperately needed.

However, they didn't really end on good terms, Robert didn't know if he could face Mary after everything that had happened; after everything that he had done, and that had been done to him. Mary didn't deserve to be wronged like that, and Robert didn't know if he could ever be with a woman again after all the times he...

Robert pushed those thoughts away, feeling his face burn.

"God... I've really gotten all messed up now... I really need to stop thinking about things like that if I want to get better," Robert sighed,pressing his face into his pillow and allowing himself to fall into a light slumber, knowing that he would have to return to the tour the next day. Robert was glad that Chris was ending the tour soon though, meaning he would only have to spend a few weeks around the band and everyone else. Robert had no intention of looking, or even speaking to Simon when he did arrive though. Simon was dead to him. 

Robert feared what he would have to face when he returned though; the image of Simon's hate filled gaze tormented Robert's dreams through the night- even more so than the traumatizing memory of being raped by Barry. Now, that was saying something if the robot was more emotionally fucked up by Simon than Barry.