A/N: WAIT!! If you haven't read "New Year" first, GO DO IT!! This was written AFTER and it makes more sense that way. ^_^

Disclaimer: I'm at it again, abusing characters that aren't mine.

"Hey Matt! Wait up!" shouted a brown-haired boy.

The blonde stopped and waited for his friend to catch up. When Tai at last came to a halt, he smiled and asked, "Where ya going?"

They began walking again and Matt returned the smile. "I'm on my way to practice with my band. There's a big concert coming up and we want to be ready for it," he replied.

"Aw, come on," Tai said, his smile fading, "The rest of us were going to the Digital World this afternoon, and we were hoping you could come with us. Can't you skip at least one practice?"

The other boy shook his head. "I'd love to, but no can do. Make sure you say 'hi' to Gabumon for me."

As they passed the school, Tai waved good-bye. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Sure," Matt replied. He stopped walking and watched as his friend entered the building, wishing he could go with him. He'd only been to the Digital World twice since the gate had started opening regularly. He missed Gabumon, but there was no way he could skip practice.

The blonde sighed and continued walking. As he rounded a corner, he nearly crashed into another familiar face.

"Hi Matt!" greeted TK, "Are you coming with us to the Digital World?"

Again, the older boy explained the situation, and, again, he was told to just skip his practice. Matt smiled.

"You sound just like Tai," he said, "But I really can't go. I'll go next week, I promise. Okay?"

His brother seemed to cheer up at the news. "Great! And don't think I'll forget, so you better be here!"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world."

As TK began running to the school, Matt called after him, "Have fun, and be careful!"

TK waved his response and entered the school.

"Okay, guys, let's call it a night," suggested Matt, taking off his guitar. The rest of the band agreed and began unhooking the amps from their instruments.

"See you later," said the blonde as he slung his guitar over his shoulder and walked off.

As he reached his apartment, he took out his key and opened the door. When he noticed no one was home, he wasn't surprised. His dad always worked late. What did surprise him was that the light on the answering machine was flashing wildly. Pressing the play button, he walked over to the sink.

"Hi, Matt? Remind me to change the message when we have time. I'm surprised people even call us anymore." The blonde smiled as his dad sighed and continued to talk. "Anyway, I'm going to be home about two-ish, I hope..."

Matt only half listened to the rest of the message as he reached for a glass in the cupboard. When his dad's voice stopped, he listened for the next message.

"Matt?" said a familiar voice, though it sounded worried, "You better get home quick. It's TK." Glass shattered everywhere as he abruptly dropped the water he had been drinking. "Something happened in the Digital World, but we're not sure what exactly. He went off to look at something and never came back. We soon found him, but he was hurt really bad. We took him to the hospital, but it doesn't look good. You'd better get here quick."

Tai's voice stopped there as the message ended. Matt was already running out the door, leaving the rest of the messages running.

"D*** it, Matt! Where are you? You can't tell me your practice isn't over yet! I wish there was some way to tell you." Tai sighed. "Please just get here as soon as you can. Hopefully you won't be too late." Click. Beep!

Pause. Heavy breathing. Finally, the brown-haired boy's voice once again was heard, only this time between sobs. "Matt, I- I'm sorry. TK, he's- well, h-he's gone. The doctors just couldn't save him. If only we hadn't let him wander off... I'm sorry." There was another pause right before he whispered, "I'm so sorry," and hung up. As the answering machine turned off, a deathly still silence settled over the apartment.

In a dim hospital room, all that could be heard were sobs and a voice whispering, "I should have been there, I should have done something..." Next to the figure, a heart monitor made a constant flat red line.

A/N: That was for anyone who wanted to know what did happen to TK and why Matt was so upset about it. I think I have a thing for answering machines, don't you? I wasn't planning on writting this, but someone mentioned I should, so I did. Again, short, pointless, and morbid, but oh well. Please tell me you read this AFTER "New Year". I marked it, so I hope so.