Bobby had never had many friends. He never expected to be the kind of guy to get friends who enjoyed spending time with him outside of school, let alone the kind who got three best friends that became more like brothers to him.

But somehow, he did. Bobby met Reggie first, when they were in ninth grade. He remembered being exceedingly nervous, just another small freshman in a sea of strangers. He had hardly any friends in his classes, and wasn't expecting to make any, his only goal being to find someone he could sit next to and work with on assignments. He chose the least scary looking person who was sitting alone at a table at the back of the classroom. He was wearing a black leather jacket and had jewelry that made him look like the stereotypical "bad boy", but he had a soft smile and looked like someone who would be at least kind.

He soon realized that he had underestimated just how kind Reggie was. After about three months of talking to him in class, he met his other friends; two boys named Alex Mercer and Luke Patterson. He didn't expect to become friends with them, but the more he hung out with them, the more he wanted to be part of their group.
When they approached him, talking about a band, he felt like everything in the world had lined up. He had always had vague dreams of being a musician, but wasn't a talented songwriter, and had no ideas of how to succeed on his own. Being part of a group, with incredibly talented musicians who he could call his best friends, his brothers, was all he had ever wanted.

He could play music, laugh with them, spend hours of each day with a group of people who cared about him and loved the same things. He went into the band with the hope of getting friends and with unrealistic dreams, and found himself with a group of brothers, and a shot at becoming legends.

Playing the Orpheum was the ultimate dream for the four of them, and somehow, everything worked out for them leading up to their big night.

The soundcheck went by without fault. They had sold out of tickets. And the girl he was flirting with was actually someone he truly liked. He waved off the other three as they went to get street dogs. Just an hour and a half more and they'd be on the stage.

The girl he had been flirting with left to talk to someone, and Bobby was left to wander around the room, snacking on some chips that he had brought, and checking the time absentmindedly. He felt like the other three had taken far longer than normal, but as long as they got back in time to perform, it didn't matter. He felt a pang of worry as he saw the time. Only a half an hour left. He chewed on his lip, staring at the door. They wouldn't be late, not tonight, not on the biggest night of their lives.

Fifteen minutes passed, then twenty. Bobby was waiting backstage, pacing, his anxiety rising. What could have happened? Maybe he just wasn't seeing them and they were waiting somewhere else? He saw the nervous expression on the stage manager's face and discarded the idea. They had never been late to a gig before. They'd be here.

Five minutes until they were to go on, and the door finally opened. He let out a pent up breath and turned, ready to chew out his bandmates for making him worry so much. "Hey, you ready to- Oh."

It was one of the runners who took performers between the dressing rooms and stage. "Uh, do you know where the others are? Reggie, Alex and Luke? They should've been here a bit ago and I-"

"I'm sorry." The man's voice was quiet, and he looked upset about something.

"Sorry? What do you mean?"

He saw the man pause, and then whisper something to the stage manager, who hurried onto the stage.

"What's going on? Where are my friends?" His voice rose in pitch.

He heard the mic turn on, and the stage manager started talking. "I'm very sorry everyone, but unfortunately tonight's performance is cancelled."

Bobby blinked. Cancelled? Why would it be cancelled? They'd be here. They had to.

He could feel himself start to blank out, and almost missed what the runner was telling him. "...in the hospital."

"What?" He shook himself back to the present. "What did you say?" He had the horrible feeling that he knew exactly what they had said, but it had to be some sick joke. There was no way that-

"Your friends are in the hospital. I don't know how they're doing- last I heard was they were picked up a street or two over and were being taken there."

He could feel himself sway. "They- why?"

This couldn't be happening. He could feel himself disassociating, feel the world blurring around him as he mindlessly followed the runner.

He saw the hospital, and felt a jolt of surprise; he had hardly realized that he had left the Orpheum. He had the horrible feeling that he had left behind all of his dreams and his whole future when he stepped out of the building.

He vaguely heard a nurse talking to him, but only caught the end. "We couldn't save them. I'm sorry."

The door was opened and he stepped into the room. He felt like he was floating, felt numb with horror as he saw his friends on the table.

Luke was closest to him. He had always been so full of energy, bouncing around, playing music and telling jokes and filling up the studio with energy. Now, he was limp on the table, his eyes closed.

Alex was next to him, far too pale. And then Reggie. Bobby's first real friend, the first person who he felt he could talk to about anything without having to be judged. Reggie had saved him, given him a family and a purpose and now-

All the smiles and sunshine that his friend had once brought with him was gone. His eyes were closed, and a small trickle of blood ran from the corner of his mouth. Bobby could feel himself swaying on the spot, his eyes locked on Reggie's pale face.

He could feel pain building inside of him. His friends, his brothers, were gone. And the last time he had ever talked to them, he had blown them off, let them die in favor of flirting with some random girl. He felt even sicker. While his friends were dying, and in pain, he was chatting up some stranger. They had given him the world, given him all he had ever wanted, he had let them die alone.

And now what? His dream of being in a rock band was dead along with them. He had no other friends, but had an entire lifetime ahead of him. He got to have the life that they would never get to. They would never get to have a senior year, go to prom, graduate, get married, none of it. But he could. The one person who didn't deserve any of it got to have what the three most wonderful and kind people in the world could never get.

He heard voices around him, and felt himself being pulled out of the room.

Nothing mattered anymore. What was music without his brothers by his side playing along with him? How could he joke around in class with someone when his three best friends were lying in their graves?

His life stretched before him, lonely and empty. Bobby had never had many friends, but now, he didn't have any.