Frank got off the bus, giving the two of them privacy to pack up the rest of their stuff. Still sitting and in shock, Thais and Rafaela began to laugh.
"Isso tá acontecendo mesmo?" Rafaela continued laughing between the words.
"Eu tô assustada, sério." Thais smiled silly, closing her suitcase.
Still dreaming awake, the two finished packing their belongings. Before they decided anything about Dave, a horn outside interrupted the conversation. Uber had arrived and it was time to leave. They picked up their suitcases, and sadly walked to the dark vehicle. The driver greeted them with a smile, and opened the trunk to carry the bags.
Rafaela and Thais looked around, searching for familiar faces, but nothing appeared. They got into the car, the two swept the place with their eyes. Anything.
"Shall we go?" The friendly driver asked. Thais took a deep breath, and watched Rafaela grieve.
"Yes."
~
"You should give Sabotage another try, Matt." Alex reinforced Frank's opinion as they discussed their side projects.
"I... I don't know. No one listens to that." Matt answered in dismay, playing with an amplifier cable.
"No one listens 'cause you never say anything about it. That album's fucking good." Frank said, while answering Jamia on the cell phone. His mood wasn't good: Miles had strange pains in his stomach, and he had vomited the night before. Noticing his worried expression as he read the messages, Evan sat beside his brother-in-law.
"Any problem, bro?" He asked, listening to Frank's deep sigh as he ran his hands over his face again and again.
"Miles." Frank answered quietly, and finished saying good bye to Jamia. She was getting ready to take him to the neighborhood hospital. Evan realized that his nephew wasn't well, and just nodded.
"Guys." Alex and Cara overheard the bus driver telling them that they had arrived at the record company, and then jumped out of the vehicle. The band was about to sign another contact, and everyone was looking forward to it; even Matt, who avoided at all costs "selling himself" to any famous label.
"Finally." Frank sighed irritably.
~
"That's it, Dave." Thais finished, staring at her own sneakers, unable to turn her eyes to the singer; which was obviously confused.
"But... Frank wants you both on his team?" He asked, with a different weight in his voice. Miles, standing beside him, tried not to face Rafaela. But his eyes met each time Frank's name appeared in the conversation.
"Yeah... It's, uh... he called us himself, Dave, and, you know, we just started in this business because of My Chem..." Thais argued, watching Rafaela nod yes.
"I know, I know." Dave interrupted her, visibly annoyed, but seemed to understand the situation. Miles sighed angrily and folded his arms, almost mocking between an ironic laugh and another. Rafaela didn't like it at all.
"Anyway, we just wanted to know if everything's gonna be okay between us." Rafaela summed up the subject, a little more serious than usual. She wanted to hang Miles with her bare hands and make him swallow that smile.
"Ugh, girls, of course, I don't know how we're gonna get around without the best New Jersey pros , but..." He smiled more calmly, returning to Dave from before.
Miles, without saying a word, took a lighter from the table where they were and stepped out into the hotel garden.
He didn't smoke during the tours, as Dave made a point of complaining and making him stop. However, when he was stressed, he didn't care. Dave, Rafaela and Thais knew he wasn't happy about the situation.
"Alright, he's not cool with that." Hause stated, knowing what the youngest would do out there.
Thais and Dave continued the conversation about moving to another city, living with another team and band, and didn't even see Rafaela leave the hotel. She didn't expect to see Miles like that.
As he walked out into the garden, she saw the boy leaning against a tree, smoking and staring at the lonely playground. His loose hair, half bound behind his ear, emphasized his fine features and beard. He could be seductive anyway.
Before she got any closer, Miles noticed her presence and turned his eyes to the empty space.
"The Patience, right? Great." He sneered, swallowing one more time. Rafaela stopped in front of him, watching him release the smoke to the other side, and returned the sarcastic laugh.
"Yes. You can't live your whole life in your parents' basement." She referred, directly and cruelly, to the boy's current situation. He frowned, trying not to sound shocked by Rafaela's unexpected attack, and swallowing the already small cigarette in his fingers again.
"You really think Evan's going to be your prince charming, uh?" He laughed, watching Rafaela's expression shift suddenly.
"What? Miles, you..."
"That he, in a band with Frank Iero, will take you around the world on tour. Oh, his Brazilian girlfriend." The boy smiled more and more, in his annoying drunken manner, even though he was sober.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Rafaela, already nervous, held herself so as not to raise her voice.
"Of course you don't know... spent the night in the same room as him, doesn't come back with us because prefers to follow FIATP at a festival, in fact, the same festival that denied my band last year." His voice carried some hurt, but he still smiled devilishly.
"Pff, your band. Of course they denied it. You suck." Rafaela mocked falsely. In fact, Miles's side project was spectacular; she just couldn't assume it.
The expression that took over his face was consuming Rafaela inside. His disappointment was visible, since they had never discussed it that way.
"Look, Rafa, I don't know what you've become. But things are getting weird."
Rafaela felt an absurd will to hug him, apologize for what she had said and say she gave up on changing teams. That she would stay with them, and especially with him.
But she knew things weren't that simple.
She tried and pushed, and the words didn't come out. She remembered, very well at that moment, of all the times Miles had disappeared when she needed him; of when, in the worst stages of the band, he simply disappeared through the streets of Philadelphia.
"I need to go. We've settled with Dave." She said, saddened but remembering what awaited her, in the near future.
Miles finished his cigarette, and kept his eyes on the horizon. His face no longer formed that pretty smile, so easy on his thin lips. Rafaela then gave up waiting for some reaction and left.
Dave and Thais watched them both through the hotel's glass door.
"I don't know what to do with them." Hause laughed softly, crossing his arms.
"I don't think they even know what to do with themselves." Thais finished, laughing back. Dave stared at her for a few seconds, and wrapped an arm around her neck.
"I'll miss you, my dear." His sweet voice and brotherly affection made Thais almost regret her decision to change teams. Without another word, Thais turned to the singer and hugged him. Her closed eyes held a few tears, which nevertheless descended from the corner of her eyelid.
Maybe it was the end of an era... but, sure enough, it was the beginning of a new phase that they were crazy to start.
