Nowhere But You

Chapter 32

Early March, 2000

Robin adjusted her sunglasses and the straps of her turquoise-colored swimsuit and rested her head on the small pillow she'd brought along. The sun rays hit her skin and she let out a sigh of relief and satisfaction. Even though she was soaked on SPF, the warmth was appreciated. Back home it was stormy, grey, gloomy and cold right before spring. Nothing a trip to the other side of the world couldn't fix.

She soaked up the sun while River went for a swim. Eli and Johnny soon joined him, as did 'Vampire' Mark, the old singer of Small Death who now fronted a new band that was opening for One Life Remaining on this leg of the tour.

The sounds of the breaking waves and cheerful voices of people made her smile and relax even more. She had been craving for this break for a long time. But something startled her.

"Mrs. Andrews!"

She propped herself up on her elbows, opened her eyes and brought her hand to her forehead to block the sun and see better, although she knew exactly who it was.

"Uh..." Robin glared, "Nathan Harrison, is it?"

"In person!" And in full beach gear: sleeveless shirt, shorts, sandals, sunglasses, baseball hat and a bag. His skin looked like it had been kissed by the sun a lot.

Robin and Nathan had not seen each other since Eli's wedding the day after Christmas. Without asking, he set camp next to her and offered an ice cold bottle of water straight from his bag.

"Thanks. I have my own." Robin pointed to a thermos she was keeping behind her, under the shade together with her and River's bag. The offer reminded her she should drink a little. "It's Jannsen-hyphen-Andrews, by the way."

"Oh. How snob." Nathan joked.

"No!" She sat up. "It's how they do it in France, for example. That way I get to carry both names."

Robin went by her mother's name (Jannsen) around friends and people she met, although legally and up until a few years back, she carried her stepfather's name, Morgan. After marrying River, the opportunity arose to change it to what she'd always wanted –with an addition.

"We missed you last night at the show." Nathan uttered.

"I'm so sorry." Robin regretted. "I got here and I promised myself and Reev I would stay awake to fight jetlag, but jetlag beat my ass." She laughed and looked ahead, spotting River and the rest in the water. "Damn." She shook her head. "Can you believe we're actually here? This is—"

"The edge of the Earth?"

"Depends on your perspective." She shrugged. "I was gonna say, Australia."

"It's weird to think about, so I don't. But," Nathan nodded, "this is the furthest we'll ever be from home—"

"Unless we ever go into space." She grinned.

He cracked up. "I don't see that happe—"

"Nuh uh uh! Never say never!" She interrupted him, perfectly aware she was speaking nonsense but with him, she could. "I mean, did you ever think you'd ever travel this far? You went to Japan, the Philippines, fucking Bali for Pete's sake!" She shook her head. "While I had my head stuck in final tests and renovation bills."

One Life Remaining were about to finish the tour of their third record, which came out so quickly after their second people considered them a double album. As such, the tour for one album and then the other became one big, neverending tour and with their popularity expanding beyond borders, this leg took them to Asia and Oceania.