I didn't stay long at our old fort. It was growing cold, and I thought that if I hurried home I could still catch the Canucks game. The memories that being at the hideout recalled made me feel much better; the guys and I had been to hell and back before, and surely whatever was going on now would pass quickly.

If there was anything going on—I still wasn't sure I hadn't made it all up. Either way, I felt much better as I drove my car down the road and back onto the highway, shamelessly singing along to the radio.

Until my car started to slow down and eventually spluttered to a stop. "What..." I trailed off as my eyes landed on my gas gauge; the arrow was most definitely pointing to empty. "Fuck."

I slammed my head on the steering wheel, cursing my own stupidity. It was three o'clock on a Friday afternoon, there was no gas station around for miles, and obviously I would have to call someone to come help me because I'd been too fucking stupid to check the gas meter before driving all over the province and back.

Sighing, I pulled out my phone, trying to decide who I should call. Mike had already told me he had plans for the night; Ian still wasn't picking up, at his house or on his cell. Josh's cell was also off—why did it seem so difficult to get in contact with people lately?—and before I remembered that Amanda had broken up with him and they no longer lived together, I had called his apartment.

"Hello?" Amanda answered the phone, sounding faintly surprised.

"Amanda? Oh. Uh...fuck."

"What?"

"I...I was looking for Josh, actually."

"Oh." Her voice was suddenly much colder. "Last time I checked, he didn't live here anymore."

"I know. I just...forget it." I was just about to hang up when I realized Amanda was just as capable of helping me out as anyone else. "Actually, wait. Amanda, could you do me a favour?"

"Depends what it is."

"I ran out of gas on the highway. There's no station around for miles."

She sighed. "Smooth move, Matthew. Yeah, I guess I can give you a hand. Where are you?"

I gave her the best directions I could manage. "Just...drive straight," I finished. "You'll run into me soon enough."

While I waited for her to show up, I turned the radio up again, fiddling with the tuner until I found an older station. Within seconds, a familiar tune was filling my car:

"Good, good, good, good vibrations..."

"Oh my God." I almost laughed aloud. Years ago, Josh and I had gone to the Beach Boys concert when they were in Vancouver together, as they were one of the few bands we both idolized. This song had been our anthem for several summers, and it wasn't that long ago that our band had been covering this song on a regular basis.

It had a lot of memories associated with it, and I hummed along as it played, singing the parts I was assigned when the band sang it. Several minutes later the song came to an end, but it continued to play in my head as I remembered how Josh had jokingly serenaded Amanda with it when they first met and the way Ian's voice had cracked horribly the first time we played it together.

Almost half an hour later, Amanda finally arrived, pulling a careful U-turn across the empty lanes of the highway and parking behind me.

"I can't believe you actually ran out of gas," she laughed, standing outside my car window with a red gas can in her hand.

"Shut up," I grumbled as I opened my door, getting out of the car and taking the can from her. "It's never happened before, I swear."

"Oh, really?" She raised her eyebrows at me. "For some reason I find that hard to believe."

She was right; there had been one other occasion where I had run out of gas, and I knew Amanda knew about it because she had been there. But we had been teenagers and more focused on getting to a party than filling up the tank. "Right. But not since then."

There was an awkward silence as I poured the gas she had given me into the tank. "Have—have you heard from Josh recently?" she asked me quietly when I was just about done.

I didn't look up from what I was doing. "Uh, no. I mean, we were in the studio together on Wednesday, but that's about it."

"Did he...talk about anything?" I knew she was referring to what had happened between them.

"No. But Amanda," I added hurriedly, "we're guys. We don't talk about stuff like that." And it's not like I was going to ask him.

"I guess." She was silent again as I finished filling up the tank.

"Thanks," I said, holding out the empty can. "You're a lifesaver."

She made no move to take it from me, and it took me a moment to realize she was crying softly. Oh. I cleared my throat awkwardly.

"...Are you okay?" I managed to ask, feeling like I should say something.

"I'm worried about him," she said quietly after a moment. Her face was turned away from me. "I know I shouldn't be, especially after breaking up with him and everything, but I can't help but feel like something's wrong. Do you know what I mean?"

"Sorta," I said noncommittally. I had noticed something off about Josh in the little I had seen of him the past week, but he was old enough to figure out his own shit.

"And I miss him." Her voice was even softer now. "It feels so weird, living in the apartment alone, especially when we bought it together—" She broke off, sniffing, and I sighed internally. Why couldn't Amanda ever break down in front of her girlfriends? They could handle this much better than me. "I'm lonely," she finished, so quietly that I could hardly hear her.

"I'm sorry," I offered, as sincerely as I could.

The next moment, her arms were around me and her head was on my shoulder and I could feel her tears wet on my neck. She was crying harder now and, not knowing what to do, I patted her on the back and waited patiently until she pulled away.

"Thanks, Matt," she said, wiping at her eyes. "You always listen."

"It's about all I'm good for," I joked weakly, and she laughed shakily.

"You're sweet." And just as suddenly as she had hugged me, she leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek.

"Uh." My brain had shut down and I stood, staring stupidly at her. What the hell had that been for? And I thought the hug had been something of a surprise.

"I'll see you later," she said, walking back to her car and not seeming to notice the way I had frozen. "And don't worry about paying me back for the gas."

"Cool. Thanks," I said as she opened the door and got into the car. I saw her pull sunglasses down over her reddened eyes, even though it was cloudy out, before driving away.

Slowly, I made my way back to my own car. The gas meter now read just over half a tank, well more than enough to get me home. As I drove, it started to snow, and by the time I pulled into the parking lot it was coming down thick and fast.

It was just after four, and I grinned to myself; I hadn't missed any of the hockey game after all. I flicked it on as I got myself a drink and settled on the couch, pushing thoughts of what had happened in the past hour out of my head—it was stupid that I was thinking about it at all.

But I couldn't stop remembering the broken way Amanda had said she was lonely, and soon I found myself picking up my phone and dialling her number.

"Hey, Amanda? I was wondering if you'd like to come over for dinner tonight. It's nothing special, just pizza—" I felt almost guilty for asking, especially after what had happened (what was I talking about? Nothing had happened), and after all, I had a girlfriend of my own, who wouldn't be exactly happy to learn that I was eating alone with another girl. But Jess was out of town and Amanda was my friend, and if she needed me to be there for her, I supposed I could try to do that.

"Sure!" she said, but there was something in her voice that made me suspect she had been crying again. "I'll be right over."

Pizza had become something of a Friday night tradition for me, and we ended up splitting one that was half pepperoni and half cheese, as Amanda was a vegetarian. It wasn't as awkward as I thought it might be, and we spent much of the evening reminiscing about things that had happened in the eight or nine years we had known each other. Amanda didn't cry at all, for which I was grateful.

At 7:30 the phone rang, interrupting a story about Josh's twenty-first birthday that had us both in fits of laughter.

"Hello?"

"Matt?" To my surprise, it was Ian. "Do you think you could be at the studio? Soon? I want to have a band meeting."

"Sure. What for?"

"I..." I thought Ian sounded nervous. "I'll tell you when we're all together. But it's important."

"I'll be right over. Do the others know?"

"Mike does. I couldn't contact Josh, though."

"I haven't been able to get a hold of him lately, either," I said thoughtfully. "But he might already be there; he's been practically living at the studio." Out of the corner of my eye I saw Amanda wince, and I smiled apologetically at her.

"Well, whether he's there or not, I need to talk to you tonight."

"I have to go," I said to Amanda after hanging up. "Emergency band meeting."

"What for?" she asked, rising from her seat.

"I have no idea. I'm sure I'll find out, though." I pulled on my coat—the studio was close enough that I could walk to it—before showing her out the door.

"Thanks for having me over. It was...nice."

"Er...no problem. Anytime, alright?"

She laughed. "I might take you up on that." We stood there awkwardly for a second before she hugged me again—although at least this time, she wasn't crying. Quickly, she released me and, without further goodbye, turned and began walking down the hallway.

I made sure to give her enough time to get in her car and drive away before I followed after her.

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