"I caught holy hell for that," he says, indirectly answering the question. "I forgot to call Jose, who called the cops. Whatever. I was 14."

The beating in question wasn't one he could have shrugged off at that age, but now? It's in the past, and he can pretend he's forgotten about it.

"I still miss that. What we had."

What he never had again. What he tried for far too long to hold onto, even when it became very clear that nothing he and Veronica could create could come close to what they had as a quartet.