The next afternoon…
Tiffany and Allison spent a grueling morning at the funeral parlor. They made every decision they possibly could: everything from picking out the casket, setting the dates for the visitation and funeral and anything else they could think of. Needless to say, the girls were tired when they pulled up to Allison's house. When they opened the door, they were immediately greeted by their grandmother and several aunts.
"Hello my girls," their grandmother greeted as the two sisters came into the living room, and pulled them both into a hug.
"Hi Grandma," Tiffany said as she returned her grandmother's hug.
The three women just stood in the living room and hugged for awhile, and finally broke apart. "How are you girls doing?"
"Could be better," Allison said.
"Oh by the way, Tiffany, your phone is the red one on the kitchen counter, right?"
"Yeah, I left it here when we left this morning. Did someone try to call?", she asked as she headed toward the kitchen to retrieve her phone.
"I know that it has at least one missed call."
Tiffany then flipped open her phone, and saw she did have one missed call, and smiled when she seen it was from Matt. She was then unaware that her sister was right in front of her.
"I'm just going to guess, but your missed call was from Matt?", she asked, causing Tiffany to jump.
"Yes, if you must know, it was from him."
"Is he going to come down here for the funeral?"
"I'm not really sure. I talked to him last night on the way here, and he asked if there was anything I needed him to do. The missed call was him probably just checking on me."
"Ok, I am going say this because I am your big sister."
"What have you got to say?"
"You like him right?"
"Kind of", Tiffany said quietly.
"Oh come on. I have seen you two on the TV. There is definitely chemistry there, and you can tell that you two like each other. You better tell him soon, or it may be too late."
"What do you mean, too late?"
"Matt may not know of your crush. He may find someone else by the time you are ready to tell him."
"Wow, I never thought about that."
"Besides, why do you want to be miserable? Just tell him…you never know, he may like you too and you guys can be an official couple on and off the show."
"You're right. I am going to go upstairs and call him. Thanks Allison", Tiffany said as she gave her sister a hug and ran upstairs.
Tiffany then headed toward the guest bedroom she was staying in and shut the door. Allison is right, Tiffany thought. I do need to tell him. She then sat on her bed, and found his name in her contact list and dialed his number. After a few rings, it went to his voice mail. "Darn it", she said aloud. "I will just try again in a few minutes."
Meanwhile, Matt had just gotten off his flight and was heading toward the baggage claim when he heard his phone beep. He too smiled when he saw who his missed call was from, and called her back. While the phone was ringing, he moved to a more quieter spot, so Tiffany wouldn't know they were in the same town.
"Hello?", Tiffany said almost excited.
"Hey, how are you doing?"
"Pretty good. Allison and I spent most of the morning at the funeral parlor figuring out details and now we are at her place with some relatives. What are you doing?"
"Nothing much, just hanging out. Crap, I have another call coming in. Can I call you back after while?"
"Sure, that is fine. I will talk to you soon."
"Ok, bye."
"Bye bye."
Matt then found a phone book under a pay phone at the airport. He looked and found Allison's name, wrote down the address and walked outside and found a cab. When he climbed into the cab, he gave the driver the address and smiled widely as he was soon off to be with Tiffany.
About 20 minutes later, Tiffany and Allison and their family was sitting around in the living room, catching up on details for the funeral. Their aunt Marlene happened to look out the front living room window, and saw a cab coming up the driveway.
"Tiffany, Allison, are you guys expecting someone else? Someone who would come in a cab?"
"No, why?"
"There is a cab that just pulled up to the driveway and there is a guy outside paying the driver now."
Tiffany was now curious. She walked up to the window, and when she saw the sight outside, she immediately walked to the front door, and walked outside.
"I am guessing she knows him?", Marlene asked Allison.
"Yeah, that is Matt. That is her onscreen boyfriend, but they also have a crush on each other."
When Matt turned around and saw Tiffany standing at the end of the staircase, they both smiled at each other. She was soon in his arms, and the two stood in the driveway, not moving or breaking the hug.
"Thank you so much for coming", Tiffany said finally breaking the silence.
"Your welcome. Sorry I didn't tell you, but I wanted it to be a surprise."
"That's ok. What about work?", she asked, looking into Matt's eyes.
"I talked with Vince, and he granted me some time off so I could be with you."
"Thank you! It means alot that you are here."
"Your welcome, I just wanted to be here with you. You could probably use a shoulder to cry on."
"Yeah I could."
"Tiffany, before we go inside, I want to talk to you a second.", Matt said nervously.
She smiled at him. "I need to talk to you as well. You go first."
Matt then led Tiffany to a patio chair, having her sit down and he kneeling in front of her.
"Tiffany, this is kind of hard for me to say…", he started looking away from her.
She then cupped his head in her hands. "Just say what you want to say."
"I have liked you for so long now, and when we were paired in the storyline, I was so excited. I tried to deny it to myself at first, mainly because I didn't want to get hurt again. After thinking a lot and Jeff talking some sense into me, I now know more than ever that YOU are the person I want to be with. I am falling so hard Tiff…"
Before Matt could finish, Tiffany leaned down and kissed Matt with everything she had. When they pulled apart after a good minute or two, both looked dazed, but both were equally happy.
"I am guessing by the kiss you just gave me, you feel the same why?", Matt asked hopeful.
"Yes, definitely. Before we were paired up in the storyline, I will admit I had a crush on you as well, but was just too chicken to say anything. My sister and I were talking today, and she even noticed our chemistry on the television. You surprising me here was just the icing on the cake. I am falling hard and fast too."
Matt then stood up, and pulled Tiffany off the chair and into his arms. "I am so glad to finally have you in my arms, and its not part of the story."
Tiffany smiled at her new boyfriend, and gave him another soft quick kiss. "I know exactly how you feel," she said as Matt leaned in and gave her another soft kiss.
Meanwhile, back in the living room, Allison was watching the whole time. "Its about time!", she said as she walked away from the window.
