The Phantom of The Phantom of the Opera

Chapter 15: Never Again

Josh tied his shoe and blew outwards through his mouth in brief tisks as the crowd passed by. "Girl shows up, and a friend can't even say goodnight. I see how it is," he grumbled. "You get a guy a place, a budget, you get him breathing and living again. You get him to the internationals in Wii slap-shot hockey, and what does he do?! Ditches ya! Leaves you alone in some underground apartment with nothing to do but play guitar with chicken wings."

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Catherine woke up before Matthew. "Strange. He must be exhausted," she thought. She decided to begin making breakfast.

Not more than ten minutes later, Matthew came barging out, phone in hand, looking rather red in the face. "I'm gonna Punjab lasso his beef jerky, glasses face all the way into the Seine, so help me God."

Catherine laughed. "Wake up on the wrong side of the bed, did we?"

"Just in the wrong bed in general. I should've know better than leaving his five-year-old self there alone. He can't control the stupid," Matt exclaimed bitterly.

Catherine stopped cooking for a minute and turned to Matthew. "What's wrong, Darling?"

"I can't even talk about it," Matthew moaned, collapsing into the couch with a hand dramatically clamped over his eyes. "God, I never should have taken to Paris in the first place. There were no Joshs to ruin my instruments in New York."

Catherine bit her lip nervously. He still hadn't noticed that his mask was nowhere in sight.

You see, when Catherine went in her room to change the previous night, she slipped the mask into her room and left it on her dresser. She didn't know why, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Thankfully, Matthew hadn't noticed that it was missing.

"I made breakfast. Why don't you come sit down?" Catherine asked, hoping to get Matt's mind off of whatever Josh did.

"It was my acoustic guitar," Matt continued, looking as if he were on the verge of tears. "I'll make him pay, I swear."

Catherine sighed. "That's a shame. They're pretty expensive."

Matt gave a sigh and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "It's just...the one he choose had significance."

"I'm sorry. That's the worst," Catherine said, sitting down beside him. "I know a thing or two about that. There was this one girl from school...never mind. You don't want to hear it. Let's eat."

He gave a soft smile and snapped up from his rage. "No," he said softly. "No, I'd like to hear it. I'm not much hungry anyway."

"No, you don't," Catherine replied a bit defensively. "I um...it's nothing, really. She bullied me and during one of her little rants -something about my looks and me being ugly- she broke the necklace I was wearing. It was my sister's. I was able to fix it though, so it turned out okay. I kept thinking about how if my sister were still alive, she would have likely beat up the girl."

Matthew stared at her dumbfounded for a moment before slowly rising, pulling her with him. His brow was knit tightly in a frown that covered every muscle of his face. Gently, he moved one of the curled locks that lay across her forehead behind her ear and kissed her forehead tenderly. Without a single word, he embraced her tightly in a hug. "Never again," he thought to himself. "No one will hurt her ever again."

Catherine felt his strong arms wrap around her, and she in turn, wrapped her small ones around his muscular frame.

"I love you," Matt mumbled, burying his face in her hair.

"I love you too," Catherine beamed.

"It's getting late," Matt noted, glancing at the clock. "We should get going."

"Whatever you want. I should go get dressed. You probably want to get back home."

"I don't want to leave you," Matt admitted awkwardly.

"I don't want you to leave either," Catherine replied. "What if you we go to the Garnier together? You could pack some things while I'm at rehearsals and you spend another night here. We'll return together and you can give me lessons."

"Miss Daei," Matt smirked, "people might talk."

"Nobody has to know. Just Mariah and Josh, but they won't say anything," Catherine insisted.

"Oh, believe me," Matthew laughed, "Josh will have a lot to say."

"I don't care about Nerd Boy and his opinions, to be quite honest. He can just keep them to himself."

"Aw, leave him alone," Matt teased. "He's actually quite a jock when you get to know him. Has a set of pipes that rival my own."

"Really?" Catherine questioned, looking at Matthew skeptically. "Oh, forget about Josh. Please stay."

"Fine," Matt said, giving in to her pleas. "Your angel shall watch you from the shadows every second of today, awaiting your safe return to his arms."

"Wonderful," Catherine replied, kissing Matthew's burned cheek.

"How long have I known you?" Matt asked suddenly, wrapping a hand around her waist.

"We met about a two weeks ago," Catherine smiled, "but I don't know when you first discovered me."

Matt gave a blush. "Cath, I've been watching you since the moment Mari got your phone number for auditions, after hearing you sing in that coffee shop downtown. Two weeks? Really? Can people fall in love that fast?"

"I knew I loved you three minutes into the walk to your place. Is that weird?" Cath asked, biting her lip slightly.

"Yeah," Matt shrugged, twirling her around and swaying gently from side to side, "but a good kind of weird. The kind that just...fits."

"Good," Catherine laughed, pulling him close and wrapping her arms around him. "I just want to stay like this forever."

"Sadly," Matt sighed, "the fools that run our theater will be missing you. I'll be watching from the mezzanine, I promise."

"Alright. Let's go," Catherine replied, remembering his mask was still on her dresser. "Eh, he won't need it," she thought.

Matt gave a small smile, watching as Catherine headed for her stuff. He reached into his book bag and pulled out a large hoodie. He put up the hood over his face and slouched the backpack over his shoulder. "Ready?" He asked with a smile.

"Yeah," Catherine smiled.