“That officer called,” Nat shuffled into the living room where Dom sat staring at her massive pile of sketchbooks all cluttered with loose papers and pencils scattered in front of her.

“Oh?”

“He said there’s a restraining order and if he violates it they’ll haul his ass in and lock him up.” Nat slid into the chair beside her and Dom nodded.

“Are you okay sweetie?” she rested her hand on top of Dom’s and rubbed it gently.

Shaking her head, she pushed her hair away from her face and sighed. “No, I’m not but I’ll get over it. I just want to be alone.”

Nat’s lips pinched together into a thin line and she nodded, “Okay. If you need me I’ll be in my room getting ready for bed.”

“Yup,” Dom nodded and turned back to her mess of paper. She flipped the one closest to her open before looking down at the abandoned bowl of cereal in front of her. She didn’t want food or comfort or to talk to anyone. She didn’t even want to be alone with herself in the quiet apartment.

It had only been a few hours since her return home from the police station but she still couldn’t find it in her to fall asleep. She glanced around at the apartment and shook her head. Turning her gaze back to the table her eyes fell on the sketchbook she’d opened, the first open page a mess of scribbles and scrawling she’d done during her days of recovery. Her eyes caught a particular scribble on a bent corner of the page and she narrowed her eyes, pulling the book toward her. The messy handwriting belonged to Bob Bryar, his cell phone number barely discernible beneath an old doodle Gerard had drawn after borrowing the book.

“Bob,” she muttered to the empty room. “Oh my God, Bob!”

Shoving her cereal away, Dom pulled her cell phone from her pocket and lit the screen. She hesitated at the sight of Mikey and Gerard’s numbers both saved as favorites on the front screen. Swallowing, she hit the contact button and scrolled until she found Bob’s number. Silently she prayed he still had hers saved.

“Hello?” his low voice greeted her mid ring and she let out a sigh of relief that he’d answered.

“Bob!”

“Who is this?” came his harsh reply and she cleared her throat.

“The artist formerly known as Dominica,” she bit back a smile.

“Dom! Wow, it’s been so long, how are you?” the recognition in his voice relieved her and she pulled her bottom lip into her mouth and shrugged a shoulder.

“Not so good, man. Not so good. But how are you? What have you been up to?” she tried to brighten the conversation, avoiding the massive amount of depressing she didn’t want to think about.

“I’m back doing sound and stuff. You know, same old.”

“Still making noise on those drums?” she teased and he chuckled.

“Yeah, still making noise on the drums. Just on a smaller scale now.”

“I know I can’t convince you to come back but we miss you Bob,” she muttered, scooping up a spoonful of cereal and taking a bite, frowning at how soggy it had gotten.

“Dom, can we not,” he started and she complied, letting him change the subject. “So what brings you to dig out my number after so long?”

Her hand froze over the cereal bowl and she dropped the spoon in it, a few drops of milk splashing over the side. Shoving her fingers in her hair, Dom sighed before speaking. “It’s kind of complicated…” she hedged.

“Let me guess, you did something to piss off Mikey or Gee and they’re not speaking to you and you’re afraid they never will? How many times have we gone through this? What did you do, get high?”

Dom had to bite back a laugh at his tone. If it were anyone other than Bob she would’ve hung up on him. But he was just being Bob. Blunt, uncensored Bob. “No, I’ve been sober for a little while, Bob. But it’s worse than that.”

“Oh Christ.”

“I’ve been sleeping with Gee behind Mikey’s back and it turns out Mikey had feelings for me and then Luke came back it’s just a clusterfuck,” she said, squinting in preparation for the verbal ass kicking. Instead, she received laughter. Stunned, she did her best impression of a dying fish, her lips opening and closing as Bob’s laughter rippled from the phone. She pulled it away from her face and stared at it, only returning it to her ear when he sobered.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have laughed but, damn,” he chuckled and she scowled.

“Wow, thanks Bob. Making me feel so much better,” she said, her tone flat.

“Stop being so fucking touchy,” he reprimanded her. “Just let them have their space. Mikey’s always been the forgiving type, he just needs to cool off for a while. Even I can tell you he’ll forgive you. The moment Gee introduced you to him he was head over heels in love with you so don’t worry about it.”

“That’s what I was afraid of,” she grumbled, pushing the cereal bowl away and paging through the sketchbook. “I can’t live up to his expectations.”

Bob chuckled again, “Women amaze me.”

“Why?”

“You’re so hard on yourselves about everything. You made a mistake, Dom. Everybody makes them. I’m sure you had a valid reason too. You went through hell trying to get sober, so did Gerard. You share that common bond so of course something might happen. Don’t beat yourself up trying to be the woman Mikey wants you to be, especially if you never wanted to be with him in the first place. Or did you?”

Pressing her hand to her face, Dom sighed and shrugged. She’d never thought about it. She never gave him a chance.

“I have no idea. Just want this shit to stop. I feel like I can’t even move without hurting someone or screwing something up. I just want to stop hurting people.”

The line remained silent for a while, the only sound being Bob’s breathing, a steady whoosh of air over the receiver. Dom bit her lip, her palm still pressed to her face as she waited for his response.

“My advice is to just let them do their thing on tour and don’t worry about them so much. You’re letting all this bullshit get to you, babe. Just take a breather.”

“I miss you,” she blurted with a laugh. “Come back to Jersey, Bob. I need your honesty.”

“You could always come to Chi-town and pay me a visit. I haven’t seen you in forever.”

The two laughed and Dom chewed the inside of her cheek. “That’s actually a good idea. What if I just disappeared for a while? Clear my head and come back fresh. Would you mind?”

He sighed and Dom crossed her fingers hopefully, her eyes wide.

“Why the hell not. Text me when you get a ticket and how long you plan on staying. I think I can hook you up at my place.”

The grin spread across her face and she squealed, “Thank you so much! God, I wish I could hug you right now!”

“Relax,” came his calm reply but she was already rolling, her excitement getting the better of her. Bob tried to keep up with her thrilled rambling but he lost hope after a few minutes. He could hear her shuffling around, something dropping with a bang and she paused, the line going quiet again.

“Dom?”

“Bob,” she whispered.

“What?”

“You can’t tell Gee or Mikey or any of them.”

“Wasn’t planning on it, sweetie.”

“Promise me!” her voice remained low in a whisper.

Grinning, Bob whispered back, “I promise.”