Once Avery had some time to process the events of earlier in the day, Matt sought her out, finding her still in the studio, her back to the door as she played the piano.
He watched for a second, a sad smile on his face, wondering the millionth time that day if this was supposed to be hell. Being this close to her, but being miles away at the same time. When they'd broken up, he'd never imagined that the next time they saw each other... he had imagined it differently. A lot differently.
Avery's hands flew over the keys, the roughly drawn up sheet music and lyrics on the stand in front of her eyes.
"'Cause all I know is we said 'Hello' / And your eyes look like coming home / All I know is a simple name / Everything has changed / All I know is you held the door / You'll be mine and I'll be yours / All I know since yesterday is everything has changed..."
She paused, her head turning slightly towards the open door.
"Matt?"
"Good to see you still recognise my 'voice'," Matt smiled, coming into the music room behind her. "Are you busy? I can come back..."
"No, no," Avery said, turning around to face him. "I just had to write this down, it's been in my head all day. Umm... did you need me?"
"Walk with me?" he asked, reaching his hand out for her.
She looked at the offered hand for a long moment, then nodded, standing from the piano seat and taking his hand. He clasped it gently, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles and he led her from the room.
They were mostly silent through the house, and when they got outside, Avery turned her head so she could see him better. "You're sad."
"I guess I am," Matt shrugged, leading her down the steps. There was a park that he remembered going to with her once, back when... before. He remembered she used to do a lot of her telepathy meditation there, and he hoped something would jog her memory.
"Why?" she asked, still holding onto his hand for reassurance.
Matt was quiet, thinking about the best way to word what he wanted to say, but he kept coming up short. It was hard to tell her something that she should already know, and it was hard because he was so used to Avery always knowing what was wrong with him.
"You said before we loved each other... did something happen to make that stop?" she asked, trying a different tactic.
"No," Matt replied, shaking his head. "At least, not on my end, I can't speak for you or how you felt back then... it wasn't... I wish you knew how to use your power right now, because then you would just know."
"I'm sorry," she told him quietly.
"Don't be sorry," he rubbed her hand again. "It's not your fault... I guess I never thought I'd have to explain our history to you."
"Try, please?" Avery pressed. "I want to know, I feel like... everyone is looking at me and they expect me to know stuff, and they tell me things and I think I'm disappointing them."
They reached the park and Matt led her over to one of the benches, sitting down beside her.
"We met when we were about thirteen," he started, noticing that she kept a hold of his hand. "Up on the Station... have they told you about that?"
Avery nodded. "A little."
"Ok," Matt said, scratching his chin. "There were a group of us, and we played basketball and hung out every day, basically."
"We were together when we were thirteen?" she asked.
"As friends, not as anything more," Matt answered. "It wasn't until you were just about to turn eighteen that anything happened with us. You were about to graduate, and I was working up there in the infirmary... I'm a Healer, remember?"
"Yes," she said, absorbing all of this information.
"Anyway, it just sorta hit me when we had lunch together one day, that I liked you..." Matt blushed a little. "Not long after that, you confessed that you knew, and that you liked me too, and we started dating. We managed to make it work for a few years, it's just... you moved to New York, and I was still at the Station, so, the distance... it got too hard."
"So, it wasn't bad?" Avery questioned.
"Not at all," Matt replied honestly. "We stayed in contact, and we were friends."
"But you're sad."
"I'm sad because I miss you," he told her. "And because something terrible as happened to you, and that makes me angry as well."
Avery nodded again, quiet as she thought about all that he had said. She sensed he was telling the truth, and her own comfort at being alone with him seemed to confirm that they had been friends at a point. And more than.
"Did horrible things happen to me, before?" she asked suddenly.
Matt's eyes clouded over a little and he again decided to be honest. "Yes."
"I was pregnant," she said.
"Yes," he nodded. "That was hard for you. When... you know."
"What else?"
He shrugged. "I don't want you to think I'm lying, but I don't know what I can tell you. There's some stuff that happened before we met, and so... it's difficult for me to fill in those blanks. But what I do know is, you are the strongest person I know, and not just power wise. But we'll get this sorted, I swear."
Avery nodded, wondering not for the first time why everyone kept thinking the same thought.
What could possibly take Avery Hanson's memory away?
What was so special about her?