The cast bowed as the curtain closed and Catherine breathed a sigh of relief.

Mari made her way to her friend. "You did great," she smiled. "I can't believe Matt took Ben's place in The Point of No Return."

Catherine winced. "You noticed that?"

Mari nodded. "I'd recognize him anywhere."

"Where is he?!" The conductor shrieked, running backstage. "Tell me you saw him! Tell me I'm sane!"

Josh gave a smug smile. "I saw nothing."

Catherine gave a worried glance at the two. "I have to go find Matt," she said hurriedly.

"Matt!!" The conductor shrieked. "She sad Matthew! I heard her!"

"She said she has to go find Pat, her cat, and that's that," Josh said, pretending to be Dr. Seuss. "Have you seen Mari?"

"Over there," the conductor muttered.

Josh went over to her. "You sounded amazing tonight."

"So did you," Mari smirked.

"Oh, that little ditty?" Josh laughed. "That was nothing."

"I love you," Mari smiled fondly, the words rolling off her tongue before she could think.

Josh stumbled backward in surprise and pointed a finger at her accusingly, covering his mouth. "Oh my god, you said it!" He exclaimed breathlessly, the color draining from his face. "Y-you love me?!"

"Yes, you idiot," Mari chuckled, pulling him close. "Of course, I love you."

Josh tried to steady his heart rate as it increased exponentially.

Mari frowned as she took his hand. "Josh, you're shaking really badly."

"I am?"

Mari gave a little smirk and stepped closer to tease him. "Do I make you nervous, Isaac Taylor?"

Before he could reply, she pulled him down by his shirt collar and pressed her lips into his.

Josh mumbled something with a laugh and attempted to steady his hands. He knew he had a choice. Let his nerves get the better of him, or to make this work. He deepened the kiss, and as he did, the shaking in his hands seemed to gradually reside. He opened one eye and quickly pushed Mari away breathlessly. "Caroline," he said weakly, "I, um...didn't...um...well, I didn't know you were there."

"Clearly," Caroline said, raising an eyebrow.

Mari smirked. "You mind? We were kind of in the middle of something."

"Mari," Josh laughed embarrassedly, putting his hand to the back of his neck.

"No, right. Sorry," Caroline said quickly. "Don't let me stop you...from whatever it was...you were doing."

Josh silently mouthed Caroline a thank you and grabbed Mari's wrist. "Come on," he sighed. "I gotta talk to you."

"What about?" Mari laughed.

"Come on. Just follow me. Caroline, I'll see you later."

"Yeah," Caroline said softly with a bit of disappointment. "Later, Josh."

Mari followed him, though she was still very much confused. "Josh, what are we doing?" She chuckled.

"Oh," Josh laughed, "I didn't actually want to talk. I just wanted to get out of there." He slowly walked forward until Mari's back was against the wall. He leaned over her with a gentle smile. "Because...I really didn't recall Caroline being in the picture anymore."

"No, she is certainly not," Mari smiled.

—————

"Matt, what were you thinking?" Catherine sighed. "I love you, but that was incredibly stupid. The conductor recognized you. Fortunately, the guy is like a hundred years old and nobody will believe him."

"I won't lie," Matt chuckled, "I think i might be needing to take my old job back." His face fell serious and he grasped Catherine hand tightly. "But- we don't need to hide anymore, Cath. Not thanks to Josh."

Catherine shook her head in confusion. "What? What are you saying?"

Matt didn't attempted to hold back the tears in his eyes. "Josh caught him. It's...it's over."

Catherine pulled Matt close and their tears blended together as her lips crashed into his. "You know what this means, right? We'll be able to have an actual wedding."

"It means I'll be able to sleep through the night," Matt nodded.

"I'm so happy," Catherine smiled, wiping away one of his tears.

Matt nodded and hugged her close. "Do you want the good or bad news first?"

"Bad news, I guess," Cath shrugged.

"Emily's in custody, the CPS is taking the kids," Matt said softly.

Catherine's jaw dropped. "Emily is responsible?!"

"She withheld information on your father. She's a good person, Cath. She just wanted to keep her family together."

"I did not see that coming," Cath sighed. "Was there really good news or did you just say that to make it sound better?"

"Jacob wants to meet you."

"How is that good news exactly?"

"He wants to meet us," Matt said with a little smile. "Us us."

"Like...together?"

"Yep," Matt grinned.

Catherine smiled. "So...it's okay for us to go places now? You won't have to wear the hoodie that makes you look like a mugger?"

Matt laughed loudly. "Yes. Though, I can't promise there won't be screaming children."

"I can deal with that," Catherine chuckled. "We should celebrate. Do you want to go somewhere?"

"It's, um...it's kinda of stupid," Matt said softly.

"No, tell me," Catherine said with a soft smile.

"I want to say bye to Mel."

"That's not stupid," Catherine smiled. "I can go grab the girls and we can go right now."

"If you don't mind...maybe you guys could grab dinner and I could go alone?" Matt asked softly.

"Okay," Catherine replied, kissing him on the cheek. "Meet us back at the apartment?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. I see you later then."

Catherine ran off to find her sisters and cousin. She found Mari as well and proudly announced, "Matt's name is cleared."

"What?!" Mari gasped, looking up from her phone.

"Josh figured it out," Catherine smiled.

"When?! In the five seconds since he was last here?!"

Catherine laughed. "Before that. The guilty party is already in custody."

Mari frowned. "Cath, I don't think so."

"Matt just told me."

"Catherine," Mari said slowly, "you better call Matt. Josh didn't find out anything...he was just talking about Mel a minute ago."

"He seemed very sure."

Mari's eyes flooded with concern and she quickly called Josh. "Issac? Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"Um, did you find out...what happened to Mel?"

"In the five seconds since I last saw you? No," Josh laughed. "Why?"

"Catherine says that Matt told her that everything's been worked out, that he doesn't have to hide," Mari frowned.

"I didn't tell Matt that. He hasn't been answering his phone all day. I was on my way to his place to make sure he's alright."

"Catherine, where is Matt right now?" Mari asked with concern.

"He's on his way to say goodbye to Mel."

"Josh, Matt isn't home," Mari sighed. "I guess he's on his way to Mel's grave."

"What?!" Josh said, skidding to a stop. He turned around and started running against the crowd. "Mari, get Cath on the phone now."

Mari quickly handed her phone to Catherine. "Um, hi?"

"Where are the girls?!"

"They're in child protective services. I don't even know how they got them since Carlos was supposed to be watching them," Catherine said with agitation.

"Cath, they're in danger. Both of them."

"What? Why? How?"

"CPS does not have them in any way. Someone else does. Get ahold of Matt," Josh commanded. "I'm headed for the police."

Catherine grabbed her own phone and frantically dialed Matt's number.