The Song Remains The Same

🌱Part Two🖤

Little did they know that, while they were both sitting in their rooms, they were thinking of eachother at the same time.

Robert decided to take a shower before going to sleep. He took off the white button-up-shirt and the black jeans he had been wearing all day and then stepped into the shower, feeling the hot water running down his skin. As he closed his eyes he suddenly was reminded of the car accident again. All the pictures showed up in his mind, all those horrid scenes flashed trough his thoughts and he could hear the screams. Had there even been screams? Or was it just his imagination making things up? He really didn't know. And he didn't have the time to think about it properly, because he was trying to get the images out of his head. But there was nothing he could do; he just had to relive the whole event. It was almost as if he could feel it all again. The car crashing, his wife trying to stop it but failing, the children in the back of the car crying, everything shaking and spinning around, his bones breaking, his wife's blood spilling on him. And then the scene stopped. He couldn't remember the events that occurred afterwards; he only remembered the pain and how helpless he had been and how much he had worried about his wife who was still in hospital.

From one moment to the next, he suddenly changed subjects. His mind was flooded with images of Jimmy. When he had pretended to watch the city but had actually just admired the guitarist sitting on the ledge, a breeze brushing through his soft dark hair. He remembered what had happened only minutes ago. How close they had been. How warm the other man's skin had felt. How awkward it was to stand in front of their doors, not sure what to do or say. A smile formed on Roberts lips. The thought of the guitarist soothed his mind and made him forget about his worries.

At the same time, Jimmy was opening the book he hadn't had the time to read yet. It was a book about occultism and it seemed very interesting. Still, he couldn't concentrate and didn't even manage to read a single page without having to reread it from the beginning every time because his mind was somewhere else. After a while he closed the book with a sigh. He knew that he ought to go to sleep, but he didn't feel tired at all. Instead, he lay down in his bed, staring at the ceiling and thinking about tonight's events. He chuckled as he remembered the act they had pulled off just to get away from the party and he recalled how close he had been to Robert. At some point he started wondering why it made him so happy. Perhaps he just didn't have that many people he trusted but when one of the people he did trust showed some affection, it just felt so unreal and fascinating.

The next morning a heavy knock on the door shook Jimmy awake. He heard Jones' voice shouting from the outside.

„James Patrick fucking Page, open the door and tell me what happened yesterday or I will personally crash this goddamned door!"

Jimmy yawned and quickly got up to answer the door.

John stepped into the room and looked Jimmy straight in the eyes. „Where the hell have you been? And what did you do to Robert?! Becker told me that you two had to leave because he didn't feel well? Is that true? And why didn't you tell us? And where is Robert now?"

The guitarist slowly walked backwards, trying to calm his bandmate and himself. „It's okay", he said carefully, „Robert is fine, I am fine. It's just... I hated that party, it was boring and there were too many people there so I wanted to leave."

„And how does that involve Robert?", the bassist asked, still angry, but a bit calmer now, „You could have just left on your own."

„But that would be considered impolite. I needed an excuse."

„But is he okay now?", John asked, „Because if he isn't, I swear to god, I will-"

Before the two could continue their conversation, Robert came into the room through the door that Jonesy had left open. „Sorry to interrupt you guys, but I heard you arguing..."

He turned towards the bassist. „We really didn't plan to leave without telling you, but we couldn't find you so we eventually decided to just go without you." He offered a kind smile as an apology. „I am sorry, I really am. We should have told you. It won't happen again. Next time we'll tell you."

John nodded. „I am not upset because you left. I am upset because I thought something happened to you. I was worried. But thank you for the explanation, it's okay now. Besides, it probably was Jimmy's idea, wasn't it?"

The guitarist looked down at his hands, he wasn't sure what to answer. In fact, he didn't fully understand what the point was. Why was it such a big deal? Instead of answering John, he looked at the vocalist, who was leaning against the wall for support.

„You can just sit down wherever you want, Percy...", he informed. The other man shook his head. „No it's fine."

Then Jimmy turned towards the bassist. „Well. I am sorry. Yes, it was all my idea. But he agreed to come with me. I didn't force him. And yes, i get it. You were worried. You didn't know where we were and you didn't know if anything had happened. Again, I apologize."

It sounded like he had already used that sentence thousands of times, everytime he had had to apologize to anyone. Not something he truly meant, just a formal excuse to make people feel satisfied. It worked for Jonesy.

„Alright. Thank you for explaining. At least nothing happened to any of you. And sorry for waking up both of you." He got up and moved to leave the room. „See you at breakfast in half an hour", he said and waived goodbye. „Oh fuck my life", Jimmy mumbled quietly after the other man had left. Robert chuckled and felt himself blushing slightly.

„Well then", he announced, „I'm heading back to my own room. Getting ready for breakfast. See you. And take care." He didn't really know why he added that last line. As soon as the vocalist had left his room, Jimmy rolled himself a joint. After twenty minutes of just sitting on his bed in silence, he got up and searched for some fresh clothes, eventually finding a blue shirt with a palm leaf-pattern. It looked like something middle aged dads wear on vacation. At eight o' clock he left the room to join the others for breakfast. In the hall he met Robert, who had just left his room as well. Without exchanging any words, Jimmy helped him down the stairs and they headed for the dining room where breakfast was served. They found their two bandmates already sitting by a table; large plates with potato mash, beans and toast standing in front of them. „It's an all you can eat buffet", John Bonham informed. „A good morning to you, too, Bonzo", Robert greeted him sarcastically. Then he sat down next to the drummer and sighed quietly, because he was so exhausted from climbing down the stairs. He was annoyed by the fact that the pain sometimes got worse when he had just thought it'd get better.

„How's your ankle?", John asked curiously. Robert rolled his eyes. The question started to annoy him and he just didn't want to talk about it. But then he immediately felt bad for being impolite and so out of character, so he added: „It sort of goes up and down. Y'know, sometimes it's better, sometimes worse."

Before they could continue their conversation, Jimmy raised his voice, directed to Robert: „What do you want to eat? I'll get it for you."

„Thank you, but I'll just go myself", the singer argued and wanted to stand up but the drummer pulled him back down. „No, you'll stay here", he ordered, „We want to tour again in a few months but if you don't let that thing heal, we won't be able to do any shows in the near future. Honestly mate, you need to take care of yourself..."

Robert looked at him. It embarrassed him deeply, as he was used to being the one doing things for other people. He hated relying on others. But of course he knew that John was right after all. And he really wanted to do concerts again as soon as possible. At the moment they were just traveling around to get some inspiration for new songs and not making any music for other people seemed so dull and boring. Just as he wanted to tell Jimmy what he wanted to have for breakfast he realized that the man had already left. So he just waited for him to return. The guitarist came back with two plates and he placed one of them in front of Robert, the other one in front of his own seat, before he dramatically flung himself onto the chair; fully aware of the fact that the singer was watching him intently.

{Author's Note:}
Well, nothing exiting in this chapter tbh, I just wanted to go a bit deeper into character dynamics :)