𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐔𝐒 | 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙇𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙐𝙨 𝙄𝙄.

𝐈.

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𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐖 𝐖𝐎𝐊𝐄 𝐔𝐏 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 sound of hushed bickering and since it had no intention of stopping anytime soon, he slowly opened his eyes and grimaced when the sharp light reflecting off the snow illuminated the inside of the mansion their group was holed up in. He looked around to see everyone was asleep, Abby was to his left, and Corbyn- his best bud- on his right, snoring softly. With a small sigh, Matthew sat up and ran a hand through his hair before looking over his shoulder where he spotted the reason for his sleeping being disturbed.

Mel and Owen.

Not wanting them to see that he was practically eavesdropping on their conversation, Matthew fell back onto the ground and hid his face in his pillow, trying to stay as quiet as possible. "Are you kidding me, Mel?" Owen pinched the bridge of his nose as he paced back and forth in front of his on and off again girlfriend.

"Of course not!" She stepped closer to him, looking up at him. "Do you really think I would lie about this? About being-" Before she can finish her sentence, however, Mel was swiftly interrupted by Owen when he shushed her. Not wanting to wake anybody and risk them picking up what they were putting down, especially Abby.

Matthew's eyebrows furrowed. Just what the hell were they talking about? He pursed his lips. There were many things to worry about in this day in age, but he figured that everyone who came here- which consisted of Abby, the rest of the Salt Lake crew, and Jordan, Nick, and Leah- were all trustworthy people and they could count on each other to have one another's backs. Did something happen? He already knew that they were running low on food and water, was that what had them so stressed?

'That can't be it.' Matthew frowned. They've had that problem for the past few days now, so it must be something else. Just as the blond's mind began to wander to other possibilities, he stopped when Owen continued.

"Just..." He could just barely see the brunette glance over in the mass' direction. At Abby. "We'll deal with this later, alright? Just go get some sleep." With that, Mel reluctantly abandoned Owen's side and returned to the small sleeping area where she wormed her way into her spot which resided in between Corbyn and Manny.

'Damn...' Matthew closed his eyes. 'That sure was intense for an argument I wasn't even a part of.' Maybe the heavy weight he felt on his chest was because he felt guilty for overhearing such a private matter, not like it was his fault the couple were talking not only in an open space, but only a few feet from where everyone was sleeping, or maybe it was because he didn't have the chance to be as loud as humanly possible to announce his nearing presence to give the pair a better chance to swiftly shut up and/or change the topic as soon as they realized someone was bound to hear them.

He wanted to tell someone, but he knew he couldn't. He's told Corbyn some secrets of his, but he always proves himself to be a massive blabbermouth who can't keep promises unless they put his or his comrade's lives at stake. Matthew can't say that he blames them. Still, speculation of what Mel and Owen could be hiding can be one of the worst things to encounter these days, especially when they have more than enough things to worry about. But he had a hunch.

A stupid hunch. Sighing, Matthew reopened his eyes and stared at the boring-looking ceiling of the lodge. He just hopes his pathetic hunch is wrong.

After a few moments of just thinking to himself, the blond's train of thought derailed at the sound of Abby shuffling from beneath her blanket and because of her constant moving, he turned to his side to face her. "Hey..." Matthew whispered. Despite Abby just waking up, she still looked as pretty as ever in his eyes. "You okay?" He asked as he tried to suppress a yawn.