Six months later.

Catherine had been rather gloomy all morning and Matt hadn't a clue why. She refused to talk and had shut herself up in her room.

Matt knocked on the door. "Cath, are you okay? You haven't said a word to me all morning."

"I'm fine. Forget about me. Go compose or something," she sighed.

Matt frowned at her response. "I love you." He went to his music room with a shrug and shut the door.

Cath quietly slipped out into the lukewarm, early afternoon. She immediately went to Lotte's grave. As she entered the cemetery, she held a bouquet of red roses and walked slowly, singing, "You were once my one companion. You were all that mattered..." Once she finished the song, she laid the roses next to the gravestone and wept silently.

From afar, came the playing of a violin. At first, Catherine thought she was imagining it, as she had many times, but then Carlos appeared, singing softly, "Wandering child, so lost, so helpless, yearning for my guidance."

Catherine immediately knew what he was doing. Wandering Child was Charlotte's favorite song from The Phantom of the Opera. He was singing it for her.

Tears continued to stream down Catherine's cheeks as she sang back, "Angel or Father? Friend or Phantom? Who is it there staring?"

The two finished the song together, both with silent tears in their eyes. Carlos set down the violin and wrapped his arms around his cousin.

"I miss her," Catherine sobbed.

Carlos sighed. "I do too."

After a few minutes, Carlos drove his cousin back to her home at the Garnier. He was able to carry her back in without Matt noticing and set Cath down on the bed.

"Can you shut the door?" She sniffed, wiping her tears. "I don't want Matt to come in."

Carlos nodded and complied. "How are you holding up?" He asked softly. "Can I get you anything?"

Cath shook her head. "I just don't know what to do. I don't really want to talk about it with Matt, but I feel like I should."

"Do what feels right," Carlis said firmly, "and don't let anyone else tell you otherwise."

Catherine laughed sadly. "You sound like Lotte."

"Probably because she said it to me about a week before the accident," Carlos smiled. He felt as though someone had taken a dagger and twisted it into his heart. This week was hard enough in itself. What was harder was seeing his other cousin suffer too.

"Did I ever tell you that she texted me right before she died? She texted 'I love you.' I didn't understand why she sent it until-"

"Cath," Carlos whimpered, "please."

She nodded. "It just always brought me a bit of comfort to know that she was thinking of me."

Carlos nodded and flopped backward onto the bed, putting his hands over his face. "Our last text message for me brings nothing but torture."

"What happened?" Catherine asked with sudden interest.

"You'll never forgive me," Carlos whispered.

Cath put a hand on his arm. "You know that's not true."

Carlos looked at her skeptically and shook his head. "Forget I even brought it up."

"Whatever was, I'm sure Charlotte knew you didn't mean it. She always said that words exchanged in anger were meaningless, because when you're angry, you aren't thinking clearly," Catherine smiled sadly.

"No," Carlos moaned, "it wasn't that...I-I'm...I'm inevitably responsible, Catherine."

"Carlos, what happened?"

"I can't," he said through choked back tears. "I can't, not now."

"I promise, I'll forgive you," Catherine sighed. "Please just tell me...You need to get this off your chest."

"You'll hate me. You're all I've got left, Cath."

"I'm not going to hate you."

"It's my fault she was with him," Carlos whimpered brokenly. "Charlotte wanted me to pick her up that night. I wasn't able to and-"

Cath wrapped her arms around her cousin. "It's not your fault."

"It is. If I picked her up then-"

"Shh. It's alright."

"I'm sorry, Cath," Carlos mumbled against her shoulder.

"Don't be. You didn't do anything wrong," she sighed, rubbing her cousin's back comfortingly.

"Catherine!" A voice called from the other room. "Cathy, are you home?"

"That's Alex," Catherine sniffed, wiping her eyes.

"I'll stay here. You go to him," Carlos nodded.

Catherine did as her cousin said and went to Alex. "Cath," he sighed, embracing her. "I'm so sorry."

"I can't believe it's been ten years," she whimpered.

"I know. That must be really hard," Alex said, wiping away one of Cath's tears. "Do you want me to stay?"

"I have Carlos here," Catherine shrugged.

"Alright. I should get back to Natalie. She thinks she might be pregnant," Alex said, rolling his eyes.

"Again? What is this? The second time?"

"Third," Alex moaned. "Once every month, since we've gotten married."

Catherine laughed. "Well, you better go to her then. Thanks for checking on me."

"Of course," Alex smiled, stepping into the elevator. "I hope your day gets better."

Cath nodded and returned to Carlos. Together, they talked and recalled some of their favorite memories. They laughed, though the tears still rolled down their cheeks.

Matt knocked gently on the door. "Cath? You need anything?"

"You can come in if you want," Catherine said, quickly wiping her eyes.

"These walls are paper thin, you know," Matt said softly, peeking through the door.

Carlos put a hand on Catherine's shoulder. "I'm going to go home. I'll see you soon," he whispered, kissing her cheek.

She smiled. "So, you know then?"

"Yeah," Matt said, shoving his hands into his pockets.

Catherine shifted uncomfortably as Carlos stepped out. "So..."

"So..."

"Did you compose anything good?"

"No," Matt sighed, "and I probably won't until Josh gets back."

Catherine nodded slowly. "Was there something you wanted to talk about?" She asked, wiping her eyes with her sleeve.

"I just felt like-" Matt cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I feel like we- that is- I haven't been communicating the best lately."

"It's my fault," Cath mumbled. "I've been missing Lotte and I suppose I've been inadvertently pushing you away. I'm sorry."

"No, it's my fault too," Matt sighed, sitting down beside her. "I've been on social overload and it's shutting my brain down."

"Have I told you that I love you today?"

"No," Matt chuckled. "Not all week in fact, if I remember correctly."

"I love you so much," Catherine smiled, pressing her forehead against his. "You're the reason I wake up in the morning. Thank you for being so wonderful."

"You don't think the magic's gone?" Matt said with a soft laugh. "I mean, I know these last couple months we've both been working, and with you getting that promotion at the coffee shop...I feel like I'm not good enough for you, Cath."

"I find myself loving you more and more with each passing day. And I don't want you to ever think that you aren't good enough...Why don't we do something just the two of us tonight?"

"As amazing as that sounds," Matt replied, checking his watch, "I promise Mari I'd help her start to move Josh's stuff back in."

Catherine moaned. "Which means that I have to start moving my stuff out."

"I mean," Matt laughed, "we could always turn out the basement."

"I think I'd end up falling into the lake," Catherine laughed.

"Then we stick Josh in the land below and hope for the best," Matt said with a smirk, putting his hands on her waist.

"As fun as that sounds," Catherine smiled, "I don't think Mari would take too kindly to it."

"True," Matt chuckled.

Cath sighed. "I just wish that there was a way we could continue to live together...The only way I could think of is if you moved into my apartment, but I know that's risky for you."

"I wish," Matt moaned. His jaw clenched a little as he looked to the door. "Who knows? They might have the real culprit in cuffs by the time Josh gets back."

"Matt," Cath said, putting a hand to his cheek, "what are we going to do when we're married?"

Matts eyes narrowed. "Oh, believe me, I fully intend to be exonerated before then."

Catherine laughed softly. "And if you aren't?"

"I will be." He repeated more sternly, eyes a glint with fire, "I will be."

Cath smiled and shook her head slightly. "I love you. I just wish we could have a normal relationship."

"And we will," Matt sighed, kissing her forehead, "as soon as I set some things right."

"How do you plan on doing that?"

"Killing Josh the moment he enters the doorway."

Catherine frowned. "I think that would only make our problems worse. Then you would actually go to jail. I don't need that, and neither do you."

"Fifteen minutes with him and I'll know if he did it or not."

"You can't hurt him," Cath sighed. "You know that, right?"

"Hm," Matt shrugged, pulling her onto his lap and peppering her with kisses.

"I love you," Catherine chuckled.

"I love you too," Matt grinned.

"You know, you don't have any factual evidence that Josh did anything, so you can't murder him," Catherine continued. "Yet...Can't you blow Mari off?"

"You're evil."

Catherine smirked and kissed him passionately. "Yep...Come on. Please."

"She's a human being, Cath, with feelings. We can't just blow her off whenever we feel like it."

Catherine sighed and shook her head. "You're impossible...What time are you two supposed to start?"

"Soon," Matt shrugged.

"Then I should get my things packed."

Matt pouted. "Alright."