Kat stood anxiously waiting for her sister to appear out of the airport terminal. She chewed at the nail of her index finger as she bobbed on her tiptoes to see overtop the heads in front of her. A large smile pressed across her lips as she saw Hannah making her way out of the secured area.

“Hannah!” Kat called, waving an arm in the air, still standing on tiptoes.

Hannah put her bags at her feet as she shared a tight hug with her sister. “Hey honey, I’m home!” she laughed in Kat’s ear.

“And not a moment too soon,” Kat replied as their embrace dropped.

“So where is he?” Hannah jumped straight to the point, glancing around in anticipation of seeing Matt somewhere in the airport.

Kat rolled her eyes and chuckled, “He’s in HB.”

“I’m ready to give him the sisterly assessment,” she pretended to complain as she thrust her bag over her shoulder. “I want to see if this mother fucker is worth all the shit!”

“Let’s go asshole,” Kat laughed and pulled her sister by the strap of her bag.
____________________________
“You have no reason to be saying anything to her,” Matt growled into his cell phone.

Val gave him a boisterous, mocking laugh. “Seriously? After what you did behind my back, you have the nerve to tell me I can’t say anything to her? You’re lucky I stayed as calm as I did.”

“She has nothing to do with this. You had no business even coming to my house! What part of “WE’RE DONE” do you not understand?” his voice boomed through the receiver. “You aren’t going to use your sister as a free pass into my business.”

“Those people are my friends too, Matt…”

“You’re right…they are,” he agreed. “But you can’t use that against me. If you hate me like you say, why would you want to be at my house?! You can say whatever the hell you want to me Val, but leave Kat out of it. Don‘t bother her anymore,” he finished the statement firmly before hanging up.

He jumped slightly as his phone began to ring in his hand, it was Kat calling. “Hey,” he grinned into the phone, the gesture obvious in his voice. “What’s going on?”

“Just leaving LAX,” Kat replied.

“So Hannah made it ok, huh?”

“HEY MATT!” Hannah yelled in the background.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” he gave a gruff chuckle.

“Didn’t I tell you she has a huge fucking mouth?” Kat teased, quickly following with an “ow” as Hannah punched her in the arm. “Not while I’m driving, bitch!” she roared. “Anyway,” she cleared her throat, “she’s hoping to meet you ASAP.”

“I can be in LA in an hour,” he answered.

“An hour works,” she agreed. “I’ll just head home and get her settled in…maybe give her some sedatives so she’ll behave.”
______________
Almost an exact hour later, Matt’s heavy fist rapped against the door.

“Ok Hannah, please don’t give him too much shit,” Kat begged.

“No promises,” Hannah teased. “Just open the door!”

“Hey,” Matt clutched Kat gently as he moved inside the apartment as the door pulled open.

“Hey,” she smiled and squeeze against him tightly. “This is the beast known as Hannah,” she announced, breaking their hug to take a step back.

“Matt,” Hannah greeted, taking his hand firmly in her own. “I’ve heard a lot about you. You’re quite the piece of work,” she poked fun at him in jest.

“I’ve heard the same about you,” he returned with a deep grin that showcased his dimples. Kat grabbed his hand in her own and lead him further into the house, coaxing him to take a seat on the soft couch.

Hannah sat in a leather chair facing him. “I don’t want to be brash, but there’s some stuff I need to get out of the way before I can relax.”

“Hannah…” Kat gave her a warning growl.

“It’s ok,” Matt tapped his palm against Kat’s knee as she sat next to him. “It’s a family thing…I get it.”

“Look Matt, I love my sister. She’s the only one I’ve got and from what I’ve heard, nothing but drama has been in her life since she met you.”

“Jesus, Hannah!” Kat shot her a burning glare.

“I just don’t want him to hurt you, Kat. Once a cheater, always a cheater.”

Matt felt a huge lump gather in his throat. Awkward doesn’t even come close to describing the situation.

“Don’t even acknowledge her, she’s way out of line,” Kat spat. “Seriously Hannah? You are here for less than a few hours and you’re already starting shit?”

“You can’t tell me you haven’t thought the same thing,” she dared her sister.

“That’s between me and Matt, not you.”

“Oh but you can call me and whine and cry all night, ‘Val’s going to make my life hell’, ‘why should I care about her, she did the same thing to him’…” Hannah rambled.

Matt’s brows furrowed at the last part of the comment. ‘She did the same thing to him.’ “What?” he asked suddenly.

Kat could feel her flesh burning.

“What does she mean ‘she did the same thing to him’?” he looked up to Kat’s face.

Hannah instantly winced, biting her lip realizing she had gone too far. Matt’s expression made it totally clear that he had no idea about Val being unfaithful. “I’m sorry, Kat,” she suddenly stood and excused herself to the bathroom, leaving Matt and Kat alone.

“Kat,” he spoke again when she didn’t offer him an answer.

Her body fell heavily back into the couch, her fingers dragging through her hair roughly. “The night Val talked to me at your house,” she began. “She told me that she cheated on you.”

He latched his fingers tightly, looking to them as he was deep in thought.

“I didn’t think it was my place to say anything to you about it,” she put her arm around his waist, resting her chin on his shoulder. “I thought she was just saying that to me in hopes I’d say it to you and be a way to hurt you…”

“That’s exactly what she wanted,” he sighed softly. “It’s no big deal. I mean, I can’t exactly be mad, can I?”

“I’d rather you not have heard about it from my fucking sister,” she replied regretfully.

He turned to look at her, giving her a half-smile. “Don’t give her shit about it. She’s just being a good sister.”

“This is just so much fucking shit to process,” her voice choked slightly with threat of oncoming tears.

“Don’t get upset,” he wrapped a heavy arm around her shoulders, pulling her face into his neck. “We’ll be out of here before you know it. You’ll be having so much fun on tour, you won’t even give this shit another thought,” he tried to reassure her. “I can’t promise I’ll always be the perfect saint, Kat. But I can promise that I’ll be a bigger man to you than I was to Val…”