Catherine sat in her living room, drinking coffee while she watched a show on Netflix. She couldn't stop thinking about how upset Mari was.

She had insisted that Mari stay the night, but her friend refused, saying that it was better for her to be alone. Cath didn't agree, but thought it best not to argue.

The door opened an Catherine stood up immediately. "Matt, what happened?" She asked quickly.

"Josh left," Matt said sadly.

Catherine wrapped her arms tightly around her boyfriend. "I'm so sorry," she said, her voice just voice just above a whisper.

"It's for the best," Matt mumbled softly.

"Why did he leave?" Cath asked, putting a hand to her boyfriend's cheek.

"Because he had to," Matt said hoarsely. "I see that now. He choose to live. Who am I to judge him?"

Catherine shook her head. "Are you going to be alright? Do you want to stay here for a while? It would be better than going back to that empty place of yours."

"Don't remind me," Matt moaned.

Catherine kissed him gently. "It'll work itself out. Josh will be back. I guarantee it...You seem tired. Do you want to go to bed?"

"No," Matt said softly, "I need some time to think."

"Alright. Come sit down," Cath smiled, leading him to the couch. Once he sat down, she curled up next to him. "I love you," she whispered. "Everything's going to be alright, I promise."

"Catherine," Matt said slowly, "would you maybe wanna-"

"Wanna what? Would you like to be alone?"

"No, not at all," Matt said quickly. "Would you want to....move in? I mean, there's that whole big empty room, and it's technically separate apartments...If you don't want to, that's fine. I understand-"

"Sure, I'll move in with you," Catherine smiled.

Matt's eyes widened. "Really?!"

"Of course," Catherine laughed.

Matt tackled her in a hug. "I love you so much."

Catherine held him tightly. "I love you too."

—————

Josh took a deep breath as he stepped past the last gate. "Well, Melody," he thought with a heavy sigh, "we're back where we started, aren't we?"

He turned on his phone and clicked on Mari's messages. "Hey," he typed with a sad smile. "Finish off the Twinkies in the fridge, won't ya?"

"Of course...I miss you already. There's something I should have told you before you left, but I can't do it now. Not like this. Call me soon, okay?" Mari texted back, tears running down her cheeks that he would never see.

"Soon as I get off the flight," Josh sent, quickly stifling a stray tear. He put the phone in his back pocket.

A man walked briskly past, nearly knocking him over.

"Hey!" Josh snapped. "Watch where you're going!"

The man put two hands up in defense before turning around and walking away, Josh's phone in his front pocket.

—————

"So, when should I move in?" Catherine asked. "I was thinking soon. I'm going to keep a lot of my stuff here, I think. It's a lot easier than moving everything in. I'll just move what I need and I can easily walk back here if I need something else."

"Whenever you want," Matt said eagerly.

"Matt," Catherine smiled, "you sound happy. I like it when you're like this."

"I don't know how I'll get along without him," Matt sighed.

"And we're back," Catherine frowned, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You'll be just fine. I'll be here. I won't leave."

"What would I do without you?" Matt grinned.

"I don't know," Catherine smiled. "Listen, Matt, when we're married, were are we going to live? I mean, we can't live at your place forever. It wouldn't really work for a family...That is, if you want a family."

"You're right," Matt said softly. "I hadn't even thought of that...what kinda of kid wants a murder for a father?"

Catherine sighed. "You're not a murderer."

"But I'm as good as one as long as I'm on the run, Cath," Matt said with a voice full of shame. "There'd be no seaside holidays or picnics, no public school..."

"Matt," Catherine laughed, "you don't need to worry about that now. We'll worry about it when the time comes."

"By then it'll be too late," Matt stated, anxiety written all over his face. "How am I going to support us? We can't live on an actor's salary alone. I can't get a job, not a conventional one. A fake name might work for a marriage license, but for a birth certificate-"

"You're forgetting my job at Alex's coffee shop. I get paid very well. I have practically the same salary as the manager. We'll figure out the birth certificate later."

"Cath," Matt said with a little laugh, "have I told you about my sixth month break down?"

"No," Catherine said, her brown creasing.

"Me and Mel had been together about six months," Matt began, "and we started discussing the future and- Well, I tried to break up with her. But Lord knows she wouldn't let that happen. She had set her eye on me and was determined to make a husband out of me."

Catherine looked down and studied Lotte's ring. "I wish I got to meet her."

"You have in a way," Matt said, touching a hand to her cheek. "In your kindness, your compassion, I see her."

Catherine smiled. "You really loved her, didn't you?"

"More than time itself," Matt sighed. "Almost as much as I love you."

Catherine kissed Matt gently. "I love you too."

She glanced at her phone. There was a text message from Carlos asking, "Have you eaten?"

Catherine chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Matt asked with interest.

"Carlos texted and asked if I've eaten," Catherine smiled at her cousin's concern for her welfare. "I didn't eat a thing all day and Carlos was worried at the ball. I think that, because of today's significance, he's especially worried about me. I've told him that I'm alright."

"Today's significance?" Matt frowned.

"It's nothing. Forget I said anything," Catherine said as her smiled vanished. Curse her tongue.

Matt smacked his forehead. "It's today, isn't it? How can I be such a moronic imbecile?!"

"You're not a moron...Nine and a half years ago today was Lotte's accident," Cath sighed. "Carlos is just worried that I'm...emotionally not at my best. That's all."

"I put it in my calendar and everything," Matt pouted, feeling like a failure of a boyfriend.

Catherine smiled softly and put a hand to his cheek. "It's alright. If it was bothering me, I would have brought it up sooner."

"How could he leave today, then?!" Matt frowned. "He had it on his calendar too. He should have reminded me. I don't-" He shook his head. "Nothing seems right today."

"Matt, it's fine. Really. The half year marks don't hit me as hard as the full year marks do," Catherine smiled softly, trying to show her boyfriend that she was really okay.

"You would think he knew her too, the way he was acting," Matt sighed. "There was something more to this than Mari. I just can't put my finger on it."

Catherine hesitated. She promised Josh that she wouldn't tell Matt, but it only seemed right to tell him. "Today is the day that Josh met Mel," Catherine said slowly, considering each word carefully.

Matt's brow furrowed. "Josh didn't know Mel. He met her when she was in her coffin. He was there for the funeral after Mel's, his father's. He gave his condolences and we hit it off, but he never knew her." He felt a shiver go down his back and a pain in his temple, just remembering that awful day.

Catherine nodded slowly. "Matt...Josh met Mel long before you did. I wasn't supposed to say anything, but I think it's right that you know."

Matt stared blankly. "That's impossible. We met at the funeral. I'd never seen him before in my life."

"I don't know the whole story. I just know that Josh knew her before you did. You have to promise me that you aren't going to bring it up to him. I promised him that I wouldn't tell you and he'll never trust me again if he finds out I went back on my word," Catherine said worriedly.

"Melody would have mentioned him," Matt said, slowly rising to his feet. "Josh would have told me."

"Maybe I heard him wrong," Cath shrugged. "It was very loud in there." She knew that she heard Josh correctly, but she was beginning to see that he was right in telling her to keep this from Matt.

"What else could he be saying?" Matt scoffed. "I gotta call him, Cath. What if-" He felt sick to his stomach.

It couldn't be, could it?

And yet, it all seemed to add up. Josh being at the funeral, Josh not telling him...

"Cath what if he did this?!"

Catherine stood and placed a calming hand on Matt's shoulder. "He didn't. Of that, I am certain."

"How can we know that?!" Matt said with a trembling hand at his side. "Cath, how can we know?! He's a nobody, he's running from the cops too, he never talks about his past-"

"Baby," Catherine sighed, "Josh wasn't behind Mel's demise. Trust me, alright? Besides, he'll be on the plane by now. You won't be able to reach him."

"But, Catherine, think about it! He makes a mistake, he tells you he knew her, he knows you'll tell me, he catches the first plane out of the country...He got close to me to see if I had whatever it is they killed Mel for-"

"Matt," Cath said sternly, "stop this. It wasn't Josh. I don't want that to be a thought in your head."

"Oh my god," Matt whispered, stumbling backward toward the couch, a piercing ringing in his skull. "He could have. He could have been leading me on a wrong course this whole time. Every tip, every piece of advice...He could have done it. H-he could have."

Catherine sat on his lap, facing him. "Matt, you aren't thinking clearly. You aren't going to track him down. Let him be. Confront him later."

Matt reached for his phone and frantically dialed Josh's cell. "If he took her away from me, I'll kill him, I swear. Slow and painful, just like her in that bed, those last five beeps echoing down the halls. Answer me! Why won't he answer?!"

"He's on the plane, Sweetheart," Cath said softly. She kissed him on the forehead. "You can try again tomorrow. Come to bed with me."

Matt attempted to stop the tears and hyperventilated sobs that were creeping up into his chest.  "He told me- he said- she looked so cold. He was there, he saw her, saw the cuts on her face and the scars. How? How could he? Why? Why, Catherine?"

Catherine pulled Matt in tightly. "It's going to be alright. Josh cared about Mel as much as you did. There is no possible way he was the one behind her accident. Baby, you need to believe me. I don't like to see you worked up like this."

Matts eye's narrowed distrustingly as he took jagged breaths. "Then he didn't just know her. They were friends. How much did he tell you?!"

"I'll tell you later. Let's get you to bed," Catherine sighed, standing and pulling him up with her.

Matt took a gentle hold of her wrist, not enough to hurt her, but enough to threaten. "Why are you protecting him?!"

"Because I know a good person when I meet them," Cath replied simply.

Matt's eyes burned with fire as he trembled violently, tightening his grasp on her wrist. "You stake her life upon his word and yours?!"

Just then, Carlos opened the door to the apartment. "Catherine, you didn't respond and I got worried. I thought you fainted like last time- Am I interrupting something?"

"No, not at all," Catherine replied, pulling her wrist out of Matt's grasp and walking over to her cousin.

Carlos immediately noticed the look in her eyes. She was angry, yes, but there was something else. There was a hint of fear in those blue eyes. "Catherine, why are you afraid?" The older cousin asked worriedly. "Why is your wrist red? Did he hurt you? So help me God, I will kill him."

"No," she sighed. "Carlos, I think it's best if you leave."

"Catherine, I know that look. You're afraid. I can see it. I know you well enough to know that you're never afraid. What's going on?"

"I'll explain it all later. For now, trust me, you should leave."

Carlos looked at Matt suspiciously and back at his cousin's wrist. He took hold of it gently. "Does it hurt?"

"No," Catherine lied. It hurt only slightly, but if she admitted that, Carlos would have killed Matt on the spot.

Carlos sighed. "If you're sure you don't need me, I'll leave," he said softly. He added in a whisper, "If he lays a finger on you, he's as good as dead."

"I know. Thank you," Catherine replied, pushing her cousin gently out the door and shutting it behind him.

"Who was that?!" Matt asked in suspicion, his head throbbing terribly. His heart was going so fast he could barely feel it. Dark spots of static were starting to cloud his vision.

Had he eaten today?

"Mel," he whimpered, dropping to his knees. "It hurts, my head. I can't- Josh couldn't- but- he did. He-" He looked up with wide and broken, pleading eyes. "Cath?"

Catherine moved back over to Matt, kneeling down and putting a hand on his back. "I'm here...What do you need?" She asked softly.

"Why don't you leave me," he asked slowly, "like all the others?"

"Because I love you," Cath said softly, putting a hand on his cheek and kissing him gently. "And I made you a promise. I promised that I would never leave, that you would never lose me. I gave you my word and I intend to keep it...Matt, you're trembling."

"I-I can't see," Matt stammered as he slowly sunk closer to the floor.

Catherine wrapped her arms around him and cradled his head to her chest. "Shh. It's alright. It's going to be okay. I'm here. I won't let anything happen to you," she said softly.

"I should go home," Matt mumbled, feeling for the couch. "I-I've imposed on you enough."

"No, Matt, I want you here," Catherine said, refusing to loosen her hold on him. She kissed the top of his head. "Please, stay. I don't want you to go."

"I don't- I can't remember," Matt frowned and he struggled to his feet, "what I was- what we were talking about. I-"

Catherine stood up with him. "It's was nothing, Darling. Forget it. Let's get you to bed," she said, putting an arm around his waist to help steady him. "You need to rest."

She led him slowly into her room and to the bed, helping him in gently. Cath turned out the light and crawled under the covers beside him. She lay facing him and stroked his arm gently. "I love you," she whispered. "Baby, what's going on? You had me really scared back there."

Matt stayed silent, his eyes unblinkingly staring at the opposite wall as he twitched nervously.

Catherine sighed as she brushed some hair out of his face. "Matt, I'm worried about you. You're not acting like you. What's going on in that head of yours?"

"He could have done it," Matt mumbled as he closed his eyes tightly, silent tears traveling down his cheeks.

Catherine wiped his tears away and pulled him close. She knew that Matt was right. Technically, Josh could have done it. But where's the motive? They were friends. He cared about Mel. There was no way in Cath's mind that Josh was behind her accident. That wasn't Josh. "Everything will work itself out. I don't want you to convince yourself that Josh...that Josh has something to do with Mel's death. Baby, I don't like seeing you like this."

"I trusted him."

"You don't know that he was behind this," Catherine sighed.

"But I never even considered the possibility."

"Josh has never given you a reason to distrust him."

"This," Matt said sternly, "this is reason enough."

Finally having enough of this nonsense, Cath said, "Go to sleep. We'll discuss this tomorrow."

In all truth, she had no idea how to help Matt. Losing a wife and losing a sister were two completely different things. And thinking that your best friend killed your wife? She had no idea how to deal with that either. How do you convince someone that they can still trust their friend?

Catherine sighed and continued to stroke Matt's arm. "I love you with all my heart," she smiled softly in an attempt to comfort him.

"Im just saying, Cath," Matt reasoned. "I wouldn't care if he had met her before...heck, it would have helped me through everything a lot faster. But what could be so bad that he had to hide his entire past from me?!"

"Did you ever stop and think that maybe it's painful for him to talk about? Maybe it's not that he wants to hide it, it's just that it hurts him to speak about it...Look, I just want you to get some sleep. Sometimes things are clearer in the garish light of day," she laughed softly.

"Alright," Matt sighed. "Alright."

"I don't have anything planned tomorrow. We can spend the day together. How does that sound?"

"Mhm."

Catherine kissed Matt gently. "Goodnight, Baby."

"Goodnight."