"They've invited some friends for dinner Saturday night while I'm there. It's not a big deal. Trust me, it's more of a buffer so dinner won't be as quiet and painfully stiff as it normally is."

"Oh." She wished they would show her the same courtesy when she went to visit. For all Vivienne knew, her parents had no friends or acquaintances. They never introduced her to anyone on her trips to Paris. "Anyway, at the very least, you know it's a short trip, and you'll get to eat some amazing food. Of that I definitely am jealous."

"I know you are. And if there were a way for me to bring some of it home to you, I would."

"There is nothing like a freshly made croissant," she said, sighing at the memory.

"I promise to eat one for you."

"Such a good brother."

"I know, I know." He paused. "So how is the new job going? How does it feel to be the boss?"

She laughed. "I'm not quite the boss, Aaron. But it has been a little bit freeing not to have to come up with so much content on my own."

He laughed out loud at her comment.

"What? What's so funny?"

"Vivienne-and I say this with love-I don't believe that you have cut back on your writing. I think you're still writing just as much but are filing it away in case anyone else flakes."

Okay, so clearly she was a lot more transparent than she had ever realized. Why deny it? "Yes, I have been creating backup posts, but that's just being smart! Plus, I've been able to try some great new recipes and Matt has been my willing guinea pig."

For a moment she wished she could take that part back. There was no way to know how her brother was going to react to her spending time with Matt. Maybe he would be against it? Maybe he would warn her to stay away from him? Maybe- "I cannot thank you enough for including him in your life, Viv."

"Wait. What?"

"I was really worried about him staying alone in the house and having a pity party. I've been talking to him as much as I can, and I can tell he's feeling better about his situation. It was rough that it was Dylan who took the headlines away and how the band seems to be under this black cloud. So I am thankful you got over your initial dislike of him being there and reached out to him as a friend. You're amazing."

Right. If only he knew exactly how she was reaching out for Matt these days.

Naked in the shower.

Naked on her living room floor.

And let's not forget naked and covered in chocolate sauce.

"...now if he would only go out on his own a bit and socialize, I think it would be good for him."

Vivienne missed the first part of that statement and simply answered with "Mm-hmm."

"He told me you guys went to the movies last week. Great idea. Ease him out slowly. Have you gone anywhere else?"

"I haven't tried again. I didn't want to push. After what happened to Dylan, he seemed willing to meet up with Riley and talk to the press and do whatever was needed, but for some reason, he just doesn't want to do anything here in town. I mean, I get it. It's not the most exciting place to be, but still."

"Well, I'm sure he doesn't have a lot of great memories of growing up here, and I kind of think he's afraid of running into his dad."

"What?" Vivienne asked incredulously. "What are you talking about?"

Aaron cursed softly. "It's not a big deal. I'm sure when Matt's ready, he'll-"

"Aaron!" she snapped. "What is the deal with his father?" Her heart began to beat wildly in her chest. Maybe she shouldn't be asking her brother about this, but she had a feeling she wasn't going to get it out of Matt. She certainly wanted to help Matt in any way she could, and the only way to do that was to know exactly what she was dealing with.

"Look," she began, a little calmer now, "I know he and his dad had a lot of issues when he was growing up. I remember hearing something about it. But why is this still such a big deal?"

On the other end, she heard Aaron sigh.

"Please," she softly begged.

"I didn't meet Matt until we were in middle school," Aaron began. "By that time, his mom was gone, and it was just him and his dad. At that age, you don't notice a whole lot about people's home lives, but it didn't take long for me to realize Matt never invited anyone over to his house, and he was always anxious to do anything but go home."

Matt's words from their first night together came to mind. The old man didn't want anything to do with me. He blamed me for all that was wrong in his life.

"It wasn't until we were a little bit older that I said something to him about it. Looking back I could kick myself. I was like, 'Hey, maybe it would be nice for the rest of us if we ate at your house.' You know, stupid stuff kids say."

She chuckled softly, picturing her brother at that age.

"He looked so damn defeated, but again, it didn't click. So he invited me to sleep over one night. The house was a filthy mess; there was trash everywhere, and his father... Well, let's just say his father's main hobby was drinking."

Vivienne's heart broke for Matt having to live like that. Even at their worst, at least her parents were there and gave them a comfortable home environment to live in.

"It was the only time I ever slept over, and after that, I made sure he came home with me as much as he wanted."

"Was his father...abusive?" she asked cautiously.

"Not physically," Aaron replied. "But verbally? The man was brutal." He paused. "When Matt and Riley started playing around with the idea of starting a band, his dad freaked out. He screamed at Matt that he wasn't going to pay for lessons or for any instruments because he thought Matt was a loser."

"Oh no!"

"Yeah. The only reason I know about that was because we were all hanging out one day after school and we stopped by Matt's so he could pick up a change of clothes."

"So...how did Matt get a guitar, then?"

"It's not a big deal. He just...he got one."

"Aaron."

"I helped him get one," he said softly. "Viv, you have no idea what it is like to watch one of your best friends get beaten down like that. I knew Matt was talented. He used to play around on Riley's guitars all the time, and I hated to think of him never getting his chance because his old man was a prick."

"Wow. I...I never knew."

"Yeah, well... So he got his guitar and they formed their band. It was a great way for Matt not to have to be at home, and it was the perfect distraction. It wasn't until about a year later that he found out his dad had been in a band in high school. He'd thought they'd go on to do something but..."

"They didn't," Vivienne finished for him.

"Yeah. So when Shaughnessy started to get noticed and they were playing small gigs in the area, his father flipped out. I drove Matt home after a show and his father was waiting for him. We only stopped so Matt could grab his overnight bag. I used to tell him to leave clothes at our house but he didn't listen."

"What happened?"

"Matt went in and I stayed in the car. I was waiting and waiting and waiting and then I heard the yelling. Then I heard glass breaking. I jumped out of the car and ran into the house, and I found the two of them on the floor. Matt had his hands around his dad's throat, and the old man kept telling him he was a no-talent piece of shit. I mean, even as Matt was cutting off his air supply, the old guy was still hurling insults. I stormed across the room, hell-bent on getting Matt out of there. I... It was terrifying."

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she listened, her hand over her heart. "Oh my God."

"It was bad. Really bad. I finally pulled Matt off his dad and I told him to go and pack up all of his stuff, that we'd find a place for him to stay no matter what."

"That was..." she gasped. "That was your senior year of high school! That was why he stayed with us that last month?"

"Yeah. I told Mom and Dad what happened, and they agreed to let Matt stay. He left the day after graduation and hadn't come back to town since-until I brought him back a few weeks ago."

"Aaron," she said, her voice weak and clogged with emotion, "I can't believe that happened. I had no idea."

"He didn't want anyone to know. He was embarrassed."

Well, yeah, she thought. Who wouldn't be?

"So where's his father now? Do we even know if he's still around?"

"He is," Aaron said. His voice had a hint of anger to it. "He's cleaned up and gotten sober, gotten remarried. I've run into him a time or two, and he won't even look me in the eye. So many times, I've been tempted to go and knock on his door and give him a piece of my mind, but then...it's not my place. Not my fight."

"How can you say that? Matt's your best friend!"

"We've talked about it, and Matt tells me not to waste my time. I'm trying to respect his wishes."

Vivienne wasn't so sure she'd do the same thing. She'd be more than willing to unleash a little fury on Matt's behalf.

"Matt got out of there and did something amazing with his life," Aaron said, interrupting her thoughts.

"And what about his mom?" she asked, realizing she had no idea. "Why did she leave?"

Aaron stayed silent.

"Does anyone know where she is or what happened to her?"

"She died of breast cancer five years ago," he said flatly. "Matt had hired private investigators to find her once he was making money, but by that time she was sick. He paid for all her medical bills and made sure she was comfortable. It just about killed him when she died."

"But-"

Aaron sighed. "At first, he decided to search for her because he was angry-he wanted to know how she could just walk away from him. He needed to know. But once he found her..."

"And she was sick..."

"Yeah. It took some of the fight out of him."

"Did she ever tell him why?"

"Matt's dad. She wanted a divorce, to take Matt with her, but the guy was a bully and threatened her with physical violence if she left with Matt."

"But...why? From everything you've said, it isn't like he cared about Matt."

Another sigh. "It was just his way of trying to control her. And the fact that she still left just gave the old man more reasons to take stuff out on him."

She hadn't been crying before, but she was now. "Poor Matt," she sobbed. "God, when I think about our parents and compare them to his? It puts things into perspective. Our parents were cold, but they weren't intentionally cruel."

"Exactly."

So now what was she supposed to do? How could she face Matt without telling him she knew all of this information he clearly didn't want her to know?

"What do I do, Aaron?" she forced herself to ask. "How do I encourage him to start going out when I know his reason for staying in? He's never going to admit any of it to me, about his father."

"I honestly don't know. But I'll be home by the end of next week and maybe I can work on him-if he's still there, that is."

"Wait, what? He's leaving?"

"Not that I know of, but if he's feeling antsy and thinks things are back to normal for him, there's really no reason for him to stay. I can just as easily catch up with him in LA, or wherever he decides to hang his hat for a while."

Dammit. Vivienne wasn't ready to think of that yet. Not that she hadn't-mostly when she was alone or when Matt was asleep beside her-but she just wasn't ready for it to end yet.

"I suppose," she murmured. "So you think I should just let it be for now and keep doing what I'm doing, which is not pushing?"

"Probably."

She nodded even though he couldn't see her.

"So, listen, I better get going. I'll call you after I get back from Paris and we'll talk about my schedule for when I'm coming back. I haven't booked my flight yet-we left it open-ended in case anything came up."

"That sounds good. It probably won't be too hard for me to come and pick you up from the airport-you know, depending on the time."

"You make your own hours, Viv," he teased, "remember?"

"That doesn't mean I can just bail on a conference call or that I want to be parked outside baggage claim at midnight," she countered. "Either way, we'll make it work. Maybe Matt will go pick you up. That might be a good outing for him."

"Hey, that's a great idea! I'll mention it to him when I talk to him."

Just then, Vivienne heard a familiar knock at the door and smiled when she looked up and saw Matt walking in. "Actually," she said to Aaron as she stood up, "why don't you talk to him now? He just walked over to help me with dinner."

"You've got Matt cooking with you?" he asked, his voice laced with surprise.

"I'll let him explain that one to you. It was all his idea."

"This I've got to hear."

"Hang on."

Matt walked over, a sexy grin on his face. Vivienne held the phone out to him. "Aaron wants to say hello and you have to tell him all about the deal you made to get free meals."

Taking the phone from her hand, Matt hit the mute button. "Do I get to tell him all the ways I thank you?" he asked. Then, leaning in, he ran his tongue lightly against her throat until she was almost panting. He pulled back and then kissed her quickly on the lips. "I'll keep that little bit of information between us."

"O...okay," she sighed and then collapsed back on the sofa.