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They had played dozens of shows, met tens of thousands of fans, and sung thousands of songs.On the night their large-scale tour came to an end, Peter found himself sinking into a sense of emptiness he could not quite explain.
“Peter.”
“Where’s Leah? Why are you alone?”
Robert walked over and asked. The hair he had carefully fixed for the tour was already falling out of place again.
“She said she was tired. She went back to the van first. You know how Leah is…”
“I know.”
There was no need to finish the sentence. Peter could tell without being told. The exhaustion he had been feeling was written on Robert’s face as well. Perhaps Leah felt the same way, too.
What is going to happen to us now?
They had been through countless hardships and had grown older, but never before had the future felt this uncertain. Peter opened his mouth.
“…Rob.”
“What?”
“What’s going to happen to us?”
Robert silently looked out over the empty venue. Peter’s gaze followed his.
A suffocating silence settled between them.
Robert answered.
“It’ll take time before we can write the next thing.”
“But this isn’t the end, Peter.”
“We’ve always kept running. That’s what Black Rebel Motorcycle Club is.”
When Robert stopped speaking, an even deeper silence fell.
“Should we go?”
Without another word, the two of them left the venue and headed toward the van, holding on to the promise that they would return someday.
Leah was inside the van.
Even after shows, Leah was usually full of energy, but now she only sat there, staring down at the floor.
On any other night, Robert would have cracked a joke to lighten the mood, but tonight, even he was quiet.
Peter knew.
There was something else the three of them shared, besides sweat-soaked clothes, emptiness, and exhaustion.
An air like cloth soaked in gasoline, as if one spark would be enough to bring everything to an end.
If things stayed this way, one of them would break first and spill everything out. Peter was sure of it.
“…I’ll start driving.”
Peter slowly pressed down on the accelerator.
Pretending not to notice any of it.