The following weekend at almost the same time, we were in a Sydney club I couldn't even pronounce the name of and I was sitting backstage while the boys were doing sound check. Shaun had been avoiding me at all costs, like I was carrying some infectious disease or something. I didn't intend to talk to him but I knew that I might have to soon. Andy and Bradie were getting along with him just fine, they were even being friendly and acting like best friends again; I was happy for them but I knew that everything wasn't all better yet. Shaun was convinced that me and Andy were going out, which we weren't; that was totally ridiculous.
"Hey, Gem?" I jumped and whirled around.
"Yeah," It was JumpNow.
"Shaun wants me to tell you-
"Oh hell no, we are not doing this –if Shaun has something to say to me he can say it to my face!"
JumpNow seemed surprised. "'K, sure."

So sure enough after the show as everyone was packing things up, Shaun slipped away from the chaos and confronted me. "Er- hey."
This was really awkward; I hated awkward silences. "What?" I spat. "What did you want before."
"Well, I thought you might wanna know that…" He trailed of.
"What?"
"Oh, never mind,"
"What?" I was angry, tired and sick of secrets.
"Well, me and Brooke broke up."
I folded my arms. "Oh, really when?"
"After you came around to give me back the box."
"And I care because…"
"Well, I thought that maybe… maybe we could make up."
"Oh, haha very funny,"
"Whatever," Shaun said. "I'll just go."
He turned away and I had the sudden urge to upset him, badly, "You think just because you dumped her, you can have me back?"
Shaun turned back to face me, now a few paces away. "But-
"No buts. It was never about her Shaun; it was about Andy."
"Andy's a jerk, he keeps secrets from you."
I exploded; Andy hadn't done anything wrong. "YOU'RE THE JERK!"
Everyone in the room turned to stare at us. Shaun turned and walked away as fast as he could. Andy just looked at me and shook his head as if I'd done something wrong.

Shaun was very unlike himself during the show. He just didn't seem to want to be there. Maybe what I'd said had really hurt him. I began to feel guilty and then realised that I was angry at him. It was his fault; he shouldn't have tried. I was insulted that he thought I could forgive him for that! Andy had almost died because of Shaun.

But, weeks passed and nobody said a word about what our argument. Andy didn't speak to me though, which worried me… until one night. I was getting ready to turn in when there was a knock at the door. I rushed downstairs to open it. It was Andy; he was soaking wet from the rain; Andy didn't own a car, he must have walked here. "Come in," I told him opening the door.
Andy stepped over the threshold but didn't move. "Er- I'm soaking,"
"I see that," I grinned, "Have a seat."
Andy sat and I made him coffee. "So, er- what's up?"
"Well, I wanted to talk to you about… about Shaun."
"Oh, is he okay?" I sat beside Andy with my own coffee.
"Um, yeah, he's fine… just he's been talking about you,"
"What? To who?"
Andy stared at the wall behind me. "Everyone," Andy chuckled, "He's trying to make all of Budgewoi hate you."
"Not gonna happen," I said, chuckling, "In case he hasn't noticed I have friends."
"Yeah, I know," Andy smiled. "I just wanted to let you know."
"Well, thanks," I said. I wanted to say something else… but what?
"But, you know," I looked at Andy, I knew what was coming. "What you said to Shaun really hurt him, you know."
I scoffed. "Well, if the truth hurts him, he needs to get a life."
"Gem, I'm serious," Andy said in an annoyed sort of way.
"Oh my god, Andrew, who's side are you on? One minute you hate Shaun and the next you're best friends."
"We are," Andy said shortly. "We always have been and I'm not gonna let some stupid disagreement come between us."
"What? Disagreement?" I gaped at Andy… was I really hearing this, "You could've died because of him!"
"That wasn't Shaun's fault! It was mine; how dare you blame him for that!"
"Andy," I was angry now but I was trying to be calmer.
"What?" He said angrily and then something dawned on me,
"Does this mean… you don't- I mean…what happened… do you love me?"
"Of course I do; you're my best friend, but-
I cut him off. "Best friend? Best friend? I'm sorry… I just thought you know after you kissed me, maybe things had changed. But no, stupid me… why would I think that?" I yelled sarcastically.
Andy opened his mouth to speak but I cut him off again, I was wild with anger and I was trying hard to blink back tears. "No! Just get out!"
"Gem, I-
"Get out!" I pushed Andy away.
"Gem, I n-
"Get out now or I'll call the police!"
"GEMMA!" I was shocked into silence. When Andy spoke again he spoke softer. "Can I talk now?"
"Yeah," I felt really stupid now.
Andy cut straight to the point. "I have a girlfriend."
"A- what?"
"Well, not really, but I met this girl and I think I love her."
"Oh, really," I folded my arms pretending to be angry but really I was hurt. "When?"
"What?"
"When'd you meet her?"
"A while ago," He grinned. "She's pretty and funny and-
"SHUT UP!" I screamed and stormed upstairs leaving Andy all alone downstairs.

I must have fallen asleep because when I woke up I was in bed. But, the thing was that I didn't remember going to bed. I sat up and blinked. Then, I noticed a note on the table. It read:
Goodbye.
Andy.
I just stared at the two words for a while and then something hit me. Andy and I never said goodbye. Ever. Andy had told me that you only ever say goodbye if you're never going to see that person again… this could only mean one thing.
"Crap!"