After the performance that night, Catherine took Matt back to her apartment.

"Why don't you pick out a movie while I take a shower?" Catherine suggested.

Matt looked through the small movie book and picked out one, proudly handing it to Cath. "A romance, but not a chick flick. True work at a relationship. True life and poetry at it's best."

"You want to watch Sabrina?" Catherine laughed in surprise.

"It's my all time favorite," Matt said with a soft smile. "We all have Davids throughout our lives only to find the Linus that's been there in the background since the beginning. Sometimes it's not where were looking, it's where we're not."

"You know, that's exactly what my sister said about this movie," Catherine smiled. "Sure, we can watch it. I'll be back in five minutes."

She took her shower and when she stepped out, looked in the mirror at the burnt flesh on her right side.

She had an idea and grabbed her favorite white crop top. Cath put it on, this time, without a tank top underneath like she usually wore. She put on a pair of black leggings and went out to Matt. "Hey," she smiled, playing with her wet hair.

"Hey," Matt smiled softly. "Ya ready?"

"He didn't comment on my scar," she thought. She took that as a good sign. She asked, "Do you want me to make something for dinner?"

"I'm not really that hungry," Matt said honestly

"Alright," Catherine laughed. "I'm going to heat myself up something quickly. Go ahead and start the movie."

She wasn't gone for more than five minutes before Matt heard her give a small cry of pain. "What's wrong?" Heasked urgently, rushing into the kitchen.

Catherine ran her hand under cold water. "Just me being the idiot that I am. Thought it would be fun to have my hand match my side, ya know?"

"Goodness," Matt cringed, looking at the blistered wound. "Do we need to take you somewhere?"

"No, it's fine," Catherine shrugged. "I've done it a million times. Believe me, I'd know if it was bad enough where I needed to go to the hospital."

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

"It's me, Cathy," came the man's voice from the other side.

"That's Alex. What are you going to do, hide or meet him?" Catherine asked Matt.

"How familiar is he with dead Parisian singers?"

"I don't know," Catherine laughed. "Go hide, if you must."

Matt went into the guest bedroom as Catherine answered the door.

"Hello, Catherine," Alex greeted with a sad smile. "How are you doing?"

"I'm alright. Matt's over, so I've been hanging out with him," she smiled.

"What happened to your hand?" Alex asked with concern in his voice.

"I burned myself," Catherine said with a dismissive wave of her non injured hand. "What's all this?"

"I brought you coffee," her friend replied, handing her a large cup. "And I brought you your favorite chocolate and The Taco Incident paraphernalia."

"Thank you. You didn't have to do all this," Catherine smiled, setting everything on the nearby table.

Alex gave her a tight hug. "I love you, Cathy."

"I love you too, Alex."

"You're beautiful, okay? All of you. Don't you forget that," Alex smiled.

"I'll try not to. Thank you for everything," Catherine said, blushing slightly at his compliment.

"It's no trouble. Well, I'll be off. Have fun with Maraca Boy," Alex laughed, kissing her on the cheek.

"Shh," Catherine laughed. "He'll hear you."

"Alright. Bye, Cathy."

"Bye, Alex." Catherine put the chocolate in the kitchen and then went to the doorway of the guest bedroom. "Alex is gone. Let's watch Sabrina," she smiled.

"How is he?" Matt asked hesitantly.

"He's good," Catherine replied, gently grasping Matt's hand. "Something's on your mind. Tell me what it is."

"Nothing," he lied with a sad smile. "God, you're beautiful."

"Matt," Cath sighed, "I know something's on your mind. You can't lie to me. Come on. What is it? "

"I'm fine," he shrugged with a smile. "I'll tell you later."

"You promise?"

"Promise. Now, let's watch that movie."

"Alright," Catherine smiled. She followed Matt to the living room and sat down next to him, cuddling into his side. into his side. "I love you more than anything," she said as she kissed his cheek. "Thank you for being you."

—————

"Are you hungry at all? I could make you something," Catherine said after the movie ended.

"Cath, honestly, before I met you, I never ate," Matt admitted sheepishly.

"Josh told me," she laughed. "I wasn't about to let that continue...I worry about you."

"You shouldn't," Matt chuckled, "I'm not worth it."

"Hey," Cath said, sitting up suddenly and turning to face him. "Of course you're worth it."

"Thanks," he said softly, still not really believing it himself. "You're worth worlds, Cath."

Catherine wrapped her arms around Matt's waist. "You are the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"Even better than those purple highlights?"

"You aren't gonna let that go, are you?"

"Nope."

Cath sighed. "I knew it. Oh well, at least I wasn't call Maraca Boy."

"Ouch," Matt said with a laugh. "That was a low blow."

"Matt? What were you thinking about earlier?" Catherine asked with curiosity.

"Life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness," Matt teased. His face turned somber. "And Josh. I need to get him a girlfriend. Somebody, no one really gets him." He shrugged. "Not like I can."

"Any girl would be fortunate to have him," Catherine said after a moment of consideration.

"They just don't know it," Matt chuckled sadly.

"I'm sure he'll find someone," Catherine said optimistically. "Hey, do you want to see some old pictures of me?"

"Always."

Catherine hurried to her room and quickly returned with a box. "My mother kept this without my knowledge. I didn't have the heart to get rid of them," she laughed sadly, opening the box.

"Beautiful," Matt said with a smile

"You're too kind...I've never believed I was beautiful."

Matt put an arm around her without hesitation. "Beautiful, no. Gorgeous, divine, angelic, yes."

Catherine rested her head on his shoulder. "How do you always know just what to say?" She smiled. After a moment, she said, "I know this is super out-of-the-blue, but do you think you would ever want kids?"

Matt looked at her nervously in surprise. "Um, why?"

"I don't know. I've just always wanted kids. I was wondering if you had an opinion on the matter."

"It depends, really. Mel and I always talked about it. We...we tried, but...I suppose, with the right person, I wouldn't mind," Matt smiled, squeezing Cath's hand gently. "If that's what they wanted. I'm not the same man I was seven years ago, though. I don't think I'd be the same kind of father either. But relationships are give and take, and you've given me so much, Cath."

"I'm glad to hear that," she smiled. "You've given me a lot too. Matt...if you ever want to talk about Mel, you can. Sometimes you just need to let it out. I just want you to know that I won't feel hurt or anything if you talk about her. Or if you need to cry or anything, that's okay too."

"I've cried any tears I had left," Matt mumbled, his demeanor becoming icy. "I want to forget again. I don't want this plaguing our relationship."

"Alright," Cath smiled kindly. "I understand...Do you want to watch something else?"

"How about we talk?" Matt said softly

"What do you want to talk about?"

"Well," Matt laughed, "I don't even know where you grew up, your parents names, etc."

"I lived in California until I was ten. My parents decided that it was time for a move, so we came here to Paris. They thought that I would be able to get away from bullies and all that, but they were wrong. Of course, you know about Lotte and all that. My father, Christopher, moved back to California after the divorce. My mother, Elizabeth, wanted to stay here, so we did. We both wanted to be near the cemetery and...well, Lotte...I've never had many friends. Alex was my first and we didn't meet until after my mother died, which was four years ago. So, yeah, I'm definitely pathetic," Catherine laughed. "Mariah saw me perform at Alex's coffee shop one night and gave me her number, saying that they needed a new Christine Daaé understudy. Alex told me to try out, so I did. That was about two years ago. You know the rest...I swear, if I wrote a book about my life story, it's so tragic that nobody would believe it's true."

"It's no Dickens novel," Matt laughed. "Read some John Green and it will put it all in perspective. I'm sorry, though. No one should have to go through all that."

"It's alright," Cath sighed. "I'm used to dealing with it by now...What about you? Where did you grow up? Who are your parents?"

"I grew up in the states," Matt shrugged. "Moved to England to pursue my career at eleven. Was in Italy with my dad by thirteen and the rest, as they say, was history."

Catherine nodded. "Interesting."

"Yep. Up until I was nineteen, everything was pretty normal."

"My life has been anything but normal," Cath sighed.

"We're a regular couple misfits, aren't we?" Matt chuckled

Catherine wrapped her arms around him. "At least we have each other."

"True," Matt nodded, holding her tightly. "The past is in the past."

"I don't think you realize just how much better you've made my life."

"If I've helped correct a fraction of the pain you've felt, it'll all have been worth it," Matt smiled.

Catherine gently pressed her lips into Matt's. "You've helped me more than you could possibly know," she said softly.

"Likewise," Matt laughed, going limp like a dead fish over her lap, pretending to swoon.

"Alright, Prima Donna," Catherine laughed. "Don't make me start singing, because I will."

"You should be rehearsing anyway."

"I just performed," Catherine chuckled. "I don't think my voice can take it...Aren't you tired at all?"

"I don't really sleep," Matt admitted.

"Then, what do you want to do? Want me to show you my music room?"

Matt nodded.

Catherine pulled him excitedly into her room and opened the double doors that led to the decent-sized room. "What do you think?"

"It's..." Matt began in amazement, trying to formulate words.

"You like it?" Catherine laughed.

"Cath, this is amazing," Matt marveled. "You really play all these?"

Catherine smiled. "Yeah."

Author's Note: The pictures to follow are the ones that Catherine showed Matt.