"It's raining pretty hard out there," Matt commented as the Music of the Night scene from the movie began to play.

Catherine checked the weather app on her phone. "It's only going to rain harder. Maybe you should stay the night. I have an extra room. It's a little girly since Mariah uses it when she's over, but...it's yours for the night, if you want it."

"I had a princess of an older sister," Matt laughed timidly. "I've done girly before. Pink's a good color on me."

"What's your sister's name?"

"Maddie," Matt stated with a small smile. "Mad Maddie with her tiara and monster truck pajamas."

Catherine laughed. "Matty and Maddie. Was that done on purpose?"

"Well, I know Maddie wasn't," Matt said with a twinkle his eye. "We didn't have access to the best of doctors and...well, my parents spent the whole nine months thinking Maddie was Marcus."

Catherine snorted and then immediately covered her mouth. "Please tell me that wasn't ask loud ask I think it was."

"Didn't hear a thing," Matt laughed.

Catherine shoved him playfully. "Hey, why are you still wearing your mask?"

Matt gave a smug little smirk. "Because it makes me look cool."

"You wish," Catherine chuckled, pulling it off and tossing it over her shoulder.

"Catherine!" Matt scolded. "I've had that thing since broadway. It's the only one that fits my face, alright?"

"Relax. There's an area rug."

Matt sighed and gave a small grumble. "It's a good thing I like you a whole lot, Catherine Daei."

Catherine kissed Matthew's burned cheek. "I love you."

Matthew didn't respond with words, he instead decided to tackle her onto the couch with such force that they both nearly toppled onto the floor.

Catherine laughed. "What's that for?"

Matt's brow furrowed. "Can't a man tackle the love of his life when he feels like it? Yeesh."

"Only if you're gonna kiss me after," Catherine replied, biting her lip and flashing a flirtatious smile.

"Only if I get another slice of that divine cake," Matt teased, pushing her off the couch and taking her place.

"Let me guess, 'Should my commands be ignored, a disaster beyond your imagination shall occur'?" Catherine quoted, imitating Matt's voice and laughing.

"Well, I do know how reverse all the hot water in your apartment for at least a week," he smirked.

Catherine scoffed. "Fine. I'll get you more cake."

"No!" Matt laughed, moving over. "He's about to creepily put her in the bed. You can't leave now!"

"It's not creepy, it's adorable! Plus, Gerard Butler looks really hot when he does it," Catherine smiled, biting her lip slightly and staring at the screen.

"I was ten times hotter in my glory days," Matt smiled as he stretched with a sigh.

Catherine smirked. "You wish."

"I was!" Matt insisted.

"Mhm, sure," Catherine giggled as she began to walk back to the kitchen, loving teasing him.

Matthew jumped over the couch to his book bag and dug out his wallet. "I can prove it!" He grinned, flipping through old receipts and debit cards.

"I'm sure you can, Honey," Cath replied from the kitchen.

"I can!"

She came out with a slice of cake on a plate in her hand. "You still want this?"

"Ha!" Matt yelled triumphantly, waving a small photograph between his fingers. "Found it!"

"Great. Do you want the cake or not?"

"Yes," Matt sighed. How could she talk of cake when the memory of such a treasure had been resurfaced within him? "Look," he grinned, handing her the photograph eagerly. He pointed to the young man in the photo, dark blue eyes and a truly content grin. "That's me," he noted. "That there is Janet Jackson. She was our leading Christine for four seasons. Brilliant clarinet player."

Catherine laughed as she looked at the photo. "Awe. You're so cute. Your eyes have gotten brighter."

"Cried all the color out of em," Matt thought to himself. "Those were the days," he said proudly. "See how much more chiseled the jaw line in my mask was back then? Gerard Butler worthy, if I do say so myself."

"You're right," Catherine giggled.

A few hours later, Matthew and Catherine had finished watching both versions of The Phantom of the Opera.

Catherine looked over at Matthew and noticed that he was falling asleep. "Why don't you go to bed?" She suggested.

"I don't understand," Matt mumbled. "I haven't been tired for years."

"It's catching up to you," Catherine laughed, pulling him to his feet. "Come on, sleepyhead."

Matt took the small photograph of the table and put it into his bag, grabbing a t-shirt and sweatpants that were fortunately in there. "Josh must have put them in here," he thought, eyeing the photo in his bag. "It's funny," he mumbled with a frown. "I don't remember who took that photo, or where we took it. Strange."

"Perhaps it was a ghost," Catherine replied, imitating Joseph Buquet and leading Matt to the guest bedroom.

Matt's eye twitched ever so slightly as he sunk into the bed, a fuzzy memory pounding against his skull. "Maybe."

Catherine tucked Matt in, and then went to the kitchen. She grabbed a slice of cake and was about to sit down, when she glanced at the floor and let out a small scream.

—————

Matthew jumped from the bed, his foot tangled in the blanket. He came down onto the floor in a violent crash before racing to his feet and into the kitchen. "What is it?!"

"Spider!" Catherine squealed.

Matt gave a little sigh of relief and looked around the room nervously, still on edge. "Where?!"

"Over here. On the floor. Oh my gosh! It's moving!" Catherine exclaimed quickly, standing up on a chair.

Matt gave Cath a confused look. She could watch fake murders every night and belt high C at the top of her lungs, but couldn't step on a spider?

He yawned and took off his slipper, smacking the spider into the floor. "Better, my Angel?" He yawned again.

Catherine breathed a sigh of relief. "Yes, much. Thank you. Now, help me down?"

Matt put two strong hands around her small waist and gracefully lifted her upwards and set her down. "That used to be easy back in the day," he said with a little laugh.

Catherine laughed. "Thanks. You should go back to bed."

"How can I sleep when something so captivating stands before me?" Matt smiled. "At least let me look at you a moment longer."

"Alright," Catherine giggled.

Matt put two hands in front of him like a camera frame as he slowly backed away. "Beautiful," he commented with a cheesy grin.

Catherine covered he mouth to hide the fact that she was blushing and grinning like an idiot.

"Ah," Matthew smirked as he slowly closed the guest bedroom door. "My power over you, Miss Daei, grows stronger yet."

"Ugh. Why does he have to be so perfect?" Catherine asked herself once the door was shut.

"Because I have to be good enough for you," Matt yelled back, knowing full well the horror he was inflicting.

"Oh my gosh," Catherine muttered, shoving her face into a pillow and flopping down on her bed. She tried to fall asleep, but couldn't. She realized that she was still wearing her black dress, and quickly changed into a twenty one pilots t-shirt and sweatpants. She tried to fall asleep once more, but again found that she could not.

She decided to go back into her kitchen and eat that piece of cake, since she had nothing better to do. It was almost two in the morning, but she called Mariah anyway, knowing full well that she was waiting to hear how the date went.

"So..." Mari laughed, "how did it go? Everything you hoped for?"

"It was perfect. He loved the food and we watched both versions of The Phantom of the Opera. He's actually staying the night," Catherine giggled. "I don't know why, but that makes me really happy."

"Good," Mari yawned. "That means you'll find out if he snores or raids your fridge or sleeps with his socks on. All grievous errors."

"Hey, I sleep with socks on," Catherine said defensively.

"Yes, but when you're a couple then you can't put your feet together," Mari explained. "It's a highlight of married life, and dating in general. Besides, boys who don't take their socks off are afraid of what smells might come off when they do."

"Not always. Some people just don't like to take their socks off. I don't. He's been an angel this entire time. He even killed a spider."

"Wow," Mari laughed sarcastically as she raised an eyebrow. "Killed a spider. That's like on par with saving you're life. And you can't convince me otherwise. Socks in bed mean he's either got ugly nails, deformed toes, or his feet smell."

Catherine laughed. "I don't really care either way."

"I'm happy for you, Cath," Mari sighed weakly. "Really, I am."

"Thanks, Mariah. Hey, how does Catherine Collins sound?"

"Like an Austen novel," Mari laughed.

"Perfect," Catherine laughed. "Well, it's about two in the morning now. I should probably get some sleep."

"But you won't. You're going to go on Pinterest and try to find wedding dresses. Can't fool me, Cath. Just stay off the internet, okay? Don't Google him or anything freaky stalker like that," Mari teased with a laugh.

"Oh, I already have the dress picked out," Catherine laughed. "And I already Googled him. I found some pretty interesting stuff. At least now I know the details of the accident. I haven't found anything on Mel yet. I'll continue my stalker activities tomorrow. Just don't look at my search history. I may or may not have looked up Gerard Butler shirtless."

"Freak," Mari teased. "Get some sleep."

"Okay, you too. I'll see you tomorrow, right? We have rehearsal."

"We always have rehearsal," Mari noted. "I'll see you then."

Catherine said goodbye and hung up the phone. She wanted to Google Matt again, but decided against it and fell asleep on the couch.