When Kat opened the front door of her apartment, she could see Matt laying across the length of the couch, his bare feet dangling over the edge. He only wore a pair of jeans and an ice pack on his right hand, his face turned away from her, buried in the crook of his arm.

"Matt?" she said softly as she closed the door, not knowing if he was awake.

He began to stir, turning his face towards her voice, "Hey," he squinted, his voice sounding as if he had been gargling rocks.

"Don't get up," she instructed him as she knelt down beside the couch. She looked him over and noticed his eyes were slightly glazed. "Did you take something?"

He reached in his pants pocket and pulled out a few large white pills, "Vicodin," he held them in his palm. "My fucking hand is killing me and I needed to calm myself down before I went after that stupid fuck again."

"I can't say you didn't stroke my ego a little tonight," she grinned bashfully. "A big tough guy like you coming to my rescue...it was quite chivalrous," she gently pressed her lips against his large bicep.

He grinned back at her, "I would do it again..."

"Let's not and say you did," she teased.

Matt's eyes trailed to the coffee table when a picture in a black frame caught his eye. "Who are they?" he asked, nodding towards the picture.

Kat turned to look, picking up the picture. "That," she said pointing to the picture as she rested her elbows on his chest, "is Kim and my younger sister Hannah. That was the last night the three of us were together before Hannah moved to Chicago."

"Why did she go to Chicago?"

"Well," Kat turned, sitting on the floor with her back against the couch, still holding the picture. "She's a tattoo artist...a very good one. There was a tattoo convention here a few years ago and she met a guy named Sully who offered her a job." She smiled, "She's the one who inspired me to start an apprenticeship with Corey. I taught her to draw when we were kids."

"Tell me about your life," he spoke gently as he rolled onto his side behind her. "You know my entire history and I know nothing about you."

She leaned her head back, resting it on Matt's side. "The short or long version?"

He began to softly stroke her hair away from her face. "Whatever you feel like telling me," he urged.

She took a deep breath, "Well, my name is Katherine Marie Acia. I'm 27 years old, born and raised in the lovely Los Angeles to two wonderful parents, George and Lieselle Acia. You now know I have a beautiful sister, Hannah who is my best friend in the world..." she trailed off.

"And?" he urged her to continue.

"And..." she started to laugh. "That's about it, really. I don't have a bizarre background like most dancers. I was never beaten, molested or raped, I have always had a close relationship with my family...and I'd like to think I'm pretty fucking sane."

"You are more sane than anybody I've ever met," he admitted, "including myself." After a brief pause, he blurted out, "What's your favorite Avenged song?"

She looked to him and began to laugh. "I guess it's only fair that I return the ego boost, right?"

His lips parted in a smile as he gently tugged his lip ring in his teeth. "Seriously..."

"Seriously?" she parroted him. "New or old?"

"Both."

"Hmmm...how about I go by album?"

"That works," he continued to grin.

"Sounding the Seventh Trumpet would have to be....Darkness Surrounding....Waking the Fallen is Unholy Confessions, obviously," she threw a glance at him. "Uhm....City of Evil....Trashed & Scattered....and the new album....a tie between Gunslinger and Unbound."

"Yeah, you've been alone," he began to sing softly. "I've been gone for far too long. But with all that we've been through, after all this time I'm coming home to you."

Her stomach dropped through the floor as he continued to sing...the words sounding more soulful than they did before.

"Never let it show, the pain I've grown to know," his eyes shut tightly as he continued to belt the song. "’Cause with all these things we do, it don't matter when I'm coming home to you. I reach towards the sky I've said my goodbyes, my heart's always with you now," his voice grew with passion. "I won't question why so many have died, my prayers have made it through yeah. ’Cause with all these things we do, it don't matter when I'm coming home to you..."

The room was completely silent as he finished, she was speechless, her heart raced in her chest. That moment had her paralyzed...

"Wow," she finally spoke airily.

"A tough, SENSITIVE guy," he drew up the corner of his mouth in a smile as he winked at her. "The song just kind of fits the situation..."

"And all this time I thought you were a cocky, muscle bound meathead," she teased.

"Oh really?" he playfully hit her face with a throw pillow that was under his head. "What do you think NOW?"

Her laughter came to a halt in a moment of sincerity, "I think you are what I was missing in my life," she confessed. "I hope that doesn't change..."