It had been 2 years since Mimi died and Roger was trying to start a new band. He was looking through some of his old boxes looking for songs when he came across a pile of pictures and magazine articles. When he picked them up and started going through them he couldn't believe what he had come across. They were picture of him and his old girlfriend Avalon (Ava) Donnelly. She was the lead singer of the band he had when he was a junior and senior in high school. She was the love of his life back then. He wanted to marry her and spend the rest of his life with her. But Ava had developed a problem with alcohol during his senior year and her junior year of high school. He helped her get help and she seemed fine. When he went away to college, his cousin kissed her and she started drinking again after Roger found out about it. Roger left the night he found out she was drinking again and never returned to Hicksville again. He had read that she got sober again and continued making music. She actually got a record deal. He was proud of who she became, but the hurt he suffered was too much for him to return to her. As he flipped through the pictures, he remembered how happy he was in them. He hadn't been happy like that in a very long time. When Maureen entered the loft, he didn't hear her come in.
"Roger, are you here? Roger." she called out looking around.
"I'm in here Maureen." he yelled putting his pictures away.
"You will never guess who's playing at Madison Square Garden tomorrow night." she said sitting on his bed.
"Who?" he asked looking up at her trying to cover up his pictures.
"Avalon." she smiled reaching over to the box taking one of the pictures out.
"That's nice." he said looking up at her snatching the picture away from her.
"Come on Roger. Jimmy gave me a bunch of tickets." she teased looking down at him.
"Why would Jimmy give you a bunch of tickets?" he asked looking down at the picture again before putting it back in it's box.
"Because he wants us to go. He thought it would be fun. We could all hang out afterwards." she smiled looking down at him.
"Is she still not drinking?" he asked quietly looking up at her.
"Roger, she's been sober since you left. Jimmy said she's doing really good." she smiled looking down at her.
"I don't know if it's such a good idea. I haven't seen her in 10 years. A lot's changed since then." he said pushing the box back into the closet before getting up and sitting on his bed.
"Yeah Roger, a lot's changed. She's not drinking anymore. She's been sober for 10 years. There's nothing to stop you two from getting back together." she said looking up at him.
"That's what this is about. I knew it was something like that." he said getting up off of the bed.
"Roger, I remember how you two were in high school. You were so much in love. And then you ran away and..." she started when he turned towards her.
"What was I supposed to do Maureen? Watch the woman I love drink herself to death? She almost died once. There was no way I could do that again." he yelled looking down at her.
"I know Roger. I was there, remember?" she yelled getting up to follow him. "You left when she started drinking after you flipped out over Will kissing her." she said looking up at him.
"Yeah, and she'd been drinking for 2 weeks before I left." he yelled looking over at her.
"Because you wouldn't talk to her." she yelled as he walked away from her.
"I had to find out from my cousin that he kissed my girlfriend. I needed time to think and then when I went back to talk to her, she was drunk and was yelling at me to go. So I left. I couldn't watch her do that to herself again. She's the love of my life Maureen." he yelled as Mark entered the loft.
"What the hell is going on in here? I can hear you guys yelling all the way down the block." he asked looking over at them.
"We're going to a concert tomorrow night." Maureen said looking up at Roger before storming out of the bedroom.
"What the hell is she talking about?" Mark asked looking up at Roger.
"My ex girlfriend and her band are playing at the Garden tomorrow night and Maureen got tickets." he said walkiing out of his room.
"Avalon? That's cool. Is that what you two were fighting over?" he asked following him to the kitchen.
"Yeah." he said opening the refrigerator reaching for a beer, but shutting the door instead.
"Why were you guys fighting over it? A concert sounds like fun." he said looking up at him.
"Because I don't know if I want to see her. I don't know if I can." he yelled before going to the couch and plopping down.
"What do you mean you don't know if you can? Do you still have feelings for her?" he asked looking over at him.
"I'm always gonna have feelings for her Mark. She was the love of my life. But when I left 10 years ago, I decided it was better if I didn't go back. I couldn't watch her drink herself to death. She almost died of alcohol poisoning the beginning of my senior year of high school. I found her passed out on her bed after school one day and when she didn't wake up, I called an ambulance. That's when she stopped drinking the first time. I would have done anything for her, and I did. I loved her so much Mark, you know? I wanted to marry her. We were gonna go to the same college when she graduated and we were gonna get an apartment together. But when my cousin told me that he kissed her, I kind of flipped out. I mean, I know it wasn't her fault. She pushed him away and told him that she loved me, but I was 19 and really stupid. I didn't trust her because she didn't tell me about it herself. I screwed up and I drove her to start drinking again. But in my stupid 19 year old mind, I couldn't trust her anymore. So I left and never looked back. I saw her in magazines and stuff, but that was it." he said quietly not looking at him.
"Roger, do you wanna see her again?" he asked looking over at him.
"Yeah, I wanna see her again, but after the way I screwed up my own life... I don't know. I just feel like I'd be a hypocrite, you know?" he asked looking over at him.
"You can't think about that now? All you can do is go to the concert and make sure she's OK." he said looking up as Roger got up off of the couch.
"OK, I'll go. Thanks Mark." he said looking down at him.
"No problem Roger. So tell me about this girl. All I know is what Maureen tells me." he said smiling up at him.
"Her name is Ava. Well, she goes by Avalon now. It's a celtic name. It used to be her grandmothers name and she hated it. But I always liked it." he smiled looking down at him.
"How did you guys meet?" he asked as Roger said down again.
"Me, my cousin Will, and my best friends Jimmy and June had this band, Transparent and we put up flyers around school to find a girl lead singer and she showed up at my house one day to audition. Mark, she was incredible. Her voice kicked ass. We won the talent show my junior year because of her. We wrote a song together." he smiled looking over at him.
"A kick ass rock chick and a song writer? She's perfect for you." Mark said smiling at him.
"Yeah, she was. I loved her so much Mark. I didn't want to go away to college without her. I wanted to wait for her, but she wouldn't let me. She didn't want me to put my life on hold any more than I already had. I spent my whole senior year of high school taking care of her, you know? I loved her. I knew I wanted to marry her when I was 16 years old, but then I came home for the summer and found out about what had happened between her and Will and... I didn't handle it very well. She said she didn't tell me because she didn't want to hurt me. Will was my cousin and one of my best friends. I loved her and I wound up hurting her." he said rubbing the back of his neck.
"So you go to the concert tomorrow night and talk to her. Tell her how sorry you are for hurting her all those years ago and be friends with her." he said looking over at him.
"I don't know if I can be friends with her. I love her Mark. I always will." he said running his fingers through his hair.
"So than tell her you still love her. Don't be afraid of the mistakes you made. Just go on from here." he said as Roger looked over at him.
"For someone who can't manage his own love life, you're getting pretty good at managing mine." Roger laughed looking over at him.
"Yeah well, those who can do, those who can't teach." he laughed getting to go to the kitchen.
"Yeah, apparently." Roger laughed sitting back on the couch. "Now all I gotta do is figure out what I'm gonna wear." he said putting his head back.
"A shirt and pants would do." he laughed stuffing a cookie in his mouth.
"You think you're on a roll today, don't you?" Roger smiled looking back at him.
"You mean I'm not?" he laughed looking over at him.
"I'm gonna call Collins. He's bound to be more helpful. Being our token gay guy and all." Roger laughed getting up to call Collins.
"Hey, I tried." Mark laughed looking over at him.