Avery clenched the pen in his hand and looked up as Gunnar drummed his fingers against a notebook page. He rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the lyrics he'd been working on - or at least he tried to regain his focus as the tapping continued, growing louder as Gunnar's fingernails beat a staccato rhythm against the blank paper. Finally, Avery tossed his legal pad to the side. "All right, man. What - what's going on? Why are you so distracted tonight?"

Gunnar quickly raised his head, surprise and then denial crossing his face. "I'm not distracted. I'm just thinking. Who said I was distracted?"

"I did and you are," Avery said. "Your head's not in it. What's the problem?"

Gunnar sighed and set his notebook on the coffee table in front of him. He sat back on his couch, shifting his long legs in front of him so his shoes chafed the carpet.

Avery watched his friend as he glanced around the record room, Gunnar's gaze flitting from the walls to the door to the guitar leaning against the side of Avery's chair.

Finally, with eyes trained on his pedal board, Gunnar confessed. "It's Scarlett." He hesitated. "She's out."

Avery narrowed his eyes, waiting for him to continue. "Out…doing what?"

"Not doing what. Doing who," Gunnar said, then grimaced. "What I mean is, she went out on a dinner date." He finger quoted the final word, making a face as he did so. "With our video director, Damien. Or Director Douche as she called him."

"What?" Avery's eyebrows furrowed as he asked the question. When he'd asked Scarlett about the video shoot she'd vented about the director for twenty minutes. "I thought she hated that dude. Why would she do that?"

Gunnar lowered his head, speaking to the floor between his knees. "I told her she should go," he muttered.

Avery cocked an eyebrow. "And why would you do that?"

Gunnar suddenly sat up, shrugging his shoulders and flinging his arms open at the same time. "I don't know, okay? They seemed like they were getting along so well I figured…" he trailed off, finishing the sentence with a sigh.

Avery nodded as he started to understand. "So you suggested she go out with him thinking she might refuse to go?"

"I have no idea why I said it," Gunnar said, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. "She didn't even want to go at first. I just - it just feels like there's something there between them. Like something that used to be between us."

"You think she likes him?"

"I do," he said, then shrugged again. "I don't know. Maybe. She doesn't hate him anymore. Probably likes him more than she likes me these days."

"Why would you say that?" Avery set his pen down on the legal pad he'd set aside. It was clear they weren't going to finish working on his song anytime soon.

"It's just weird between us, man. It's not what I thought it would be." Gunnar shook his head, looking up at Avery. "I thought after all this time we'd get back together and everything would be easy, you know? But it's not. It's nothing like that."

"I know how you feel," Avery said, thinking immediately of Juliette. "But you couldn't expect things to be the same. It's been a while, Gunnar. You guys are different people now."

"Yeah," Gunnar agreed. He reached for the beer on the table and took a swig. "We are. And this video has 'changed' her even more." He used air quotes again, emphasizing the word and rolling his eyes at the same time. He took another sip from the beer before letting the bottle dangle from his hand. "She's mad at me," he said slowly. "For everything. Zoey, Autumn, everybody I ever flirted with in between. She might be pissed at me for proposing to her in the first place. I don't even know what we're doing anymore."

Avery winced, considering his words before he spoke. "You gonna talk to her about it?"

"What good will that do?" Gunnar asked, scoffing at the suggestion. "She'll probably get mad at me for asking."

"Gunnar, listen. If you really feel like she's got feelings for this guy, you can't ignore that. How long do you think you can last in a relationship where you don't know where you stand?" The words had hardly left his lips before Avery closed his eyes, thinking of the irony of that statement. He sat forward in his chair, leaning towards Gunnar. "You've gotta talk to her."

Gunnar stood and walked across the room to stand in front of the door. He peeked out the blinds at the dim back yard and spoke with his back to Avery. "Sometimes I think none of this was even worth it. Maybe we'd have been better off if we'd have just left things the way they were. Two exes singing in a band together."

Avery watched his friend's back as he raised an arm and pressed his palm against the door frame. He knew that Gunnar and Scarlett weren't honeymooning. Sometimes when he'd come over to pick up his things the tension in the house was like a thick cloud and he cut his trip short, grabbing all he could carry in one trip and heading back out before he was caught in the midst of an argument. But other times they were fine - or so he'd thought. "It's not easy getting back into a relationship with a lot of history," he said. "I got frustrated with Juliette when we first got married but -"

"She was having your kid," Gunnar frowned at him over his shoulder.

"I know." Avery reached for his own bottle of beer. "And I was head over heels in love with her but we still had days where she drove me crazy. I'm still head over heels in love with that woman and she can still…test my limits. After everything that's happened, she's different. So am I. It's not easy. I know our case is extreme, but my point is I know without a shadow of a doubt that that's where I'm supposed to be. With her." He drank his beer, swallowing the last before continuing. "I spent a lot of time in limbo, Gunnar. It's a hell of a place to be." He rolled the bottle between his palms before setting it down, thinking about the months of uncertainty he'd experienced when he and Juliette were separated, though the memory was now a dull ache rather than a sharp hitch in the dregs of his stomach. "Way I see it, you spent a lot of time waiting for another chance with Scarlett. Do you really want to be just The Exes again?"

"No, I don't," Gunnar admitted as he turned around, scratching his head as he returned to the couch and sat down. "But what if she does like this guy? What if he likes her? I keep wondering if she's gonna come home tonight."

"Scarlett's not gonna cheat on you," Avery said. He was sure of that if nothing else. "But that's why you have to talk to her. You've gotta know. Don't let it fester between you."

"Yeah." Gunnar set the bottle on the table and picked up his notebook, absently turning it over in his hands. "I'm sorry, Avery. I'm just not feeling it tonight."

"No, it's cool." Avery took the cue and reached for his leather jacket. "We'll do it another time."

"I'll call you tomorrow," Gunnar said, running his hand over his chin. "We can get together in the afternoon or something."

"Yeah, sure." He stood and slid his arms into his jacket. He leaned over to grab his bag from the floor.

"Hey, how was your show at Barista Parlor? I never asked."

Avery slid his legal pad inside the bag and settled it on his shoulder. "It was good," he answered, sliding one hand in the pocket of his jeans. "Actually, I got approached by a manager."

"Really?" Gunnar's eyebrows shot up on his forehead. "Who?"

"Billy Tucci."

"That's great, man. Billy's a good manager from what I hear."

"Yeah," Avery pushed a lock of hair behind his ear. "He gave me his card but I don't know."

"You're not gonna call him?" Gunnar wrinkled his forehead as he frowned. "Why not? Dude, I thought you were gonna start thinking about yourself."

"I am but Juliette is - I don't know if now is the right time to start up anything. She's literally trying to get back on her feet." He scoffed. "Here I am telling you to talk to Scarlett and I haven't even told Juliette about Billy."

Gunnar shook his head. "Take your own advice then, you fraud." He gave a small smile as he grabbed his beer and tipped his head back, draining the bottle. "I'll see you."

"Yeah," Avery said as he reached for the door. He gave his friend one last glance before he stepped out into the yard. He hoped, for Gunnar's sake, that a dinner date was just that and not a gateway to something else.