𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐰𝐞𝐬𝐭 - 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒘 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒚 𝒈𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒓

apple crisp

The next morning Vienna woke up before sunrise. She wandered around the property of the Inn, mumbling thoughts below her breath, attempting to orient herself amidst everything new in her life. She couldn't stop thinking about Matthew's words to her yesterday. It's not that she had never experienced the sort of unconditional friendship Matthew had expressed to her, it was just that Vienna had grown used to the lack of care her friends and family had offered her over the last year. Her therapist had become the only consistent care Vienna had.

But Matthew seemed so receptive when Vienna broke down. His immediate reaction was kindness and care, two things that she was desperately searching for. She pushed the thought from her head. "You're here for you, not anyone else." She mumbled this mantra of sorts to herself as she walked toward the main building of the inn. As much of a crush she was developing for Matthew, Vienna knew that love was not going to be true healing for her. She needed to learn to rely on herself for a change.

As she passed through the back door of the Inn, the sound of laughter echoed from the kitchen. Vienna rounded the corner, finding Matthew and Laura leaning over the kitchen counters, cluttered with cooking utensils. The scent of cinnamon and spice hit Vienna as she caught Laura's gaze.

"Vienna! Good morning, you're up early!" Laura reached toward Vienna, taking her into a warm embrace. Vienna felt tension release from her shoulders as she softened into the hug.

"I heard laughing, had to see what the fun was all about. What's all this?"

"We are making apple crisp," Matthew reached above Vienna, opening a cabinet and pulling out a folded up cloth. "Turn around."

Vienna raised an eyebrow up at him before deciding not to protest. She turned around and Matthew's arms snaked around her waist, pulling a yellow apron across her body. Matthew's fingers brushed across the small of her back as he tied the fabric into a sloppy bow. Vienna turned back toward him, noticing his apron of choice. "Paw patrol? Really?" Her tone was mocking, but Matthew's expression told Vienna that he didn't mind the cheeky mocking.

"I'll have you know, my nephew picked this out." Matthew glanced back at Laura, who nodded in agreement.

"Nephew?!" Vienna turned to Laura, "I need pictures. Right now."

Laura chuckled at Vienna's demanding tone. "I'll do you one better, be right back." Laura removed her apron, exiting the room.

Vienna turned back to Matthew. "I didn't know Laura had a son. Or that you had a nephew in turn," she half-scolded him for not sharing the crucial bit of information.

"Well...there's a lot you don't know about me," he stated as if it were a matter of fact. Vienna knew this was true, but she couldn't help but feel as if Matthew knew so much about her and she was practically clueless on his life.

"I have an idea." Vienna pursed her lips up at him. He laughed under his breath at Vienna's clear excitement. "Twenty questions?"

"Only if I get the same.." He seemed more than willing to challenge Vienna's cheekiness. But Vienna convinced herself she was just imaging this.

"You get ten, after all you watched me have a panic attack last night." Vienna caught Matthew's glance when she said this. She recognized the empathy in his eyes, it was clear he was hurting alongside her. She changed the subject, trying to draw the two of them away from the weight of the night prior. "Okay okay okay. First things first, where were you born?"

"Vegas. Where were you born?"

"The middle of nowhere." She held his gaze and his eyebrows furrowed in response. "Fine. Bigs, TN, A.K.A. hell on earth."

"That bad?"

"Yes. Now onto more important matters, Halloween or Christmas?" There was a right response to Vienna's question, but she wanted to know if Matthew would answer correctly.

"I can't even believe you would consider that a question." He pulled up the hems of his pant legs, revealing mismatched jack-o-lantern and ghost socks.

"I just had to know if I was working with a traitor or not."

"My turn, best movie of all time." He reached for the mixing bowl and continued preparing the dessert as they spoke.

"Heathers."

"Interesting, a bid of a sadist are we?" This time Vienna was sure he was teasing her, but she couldn't tell what the motivation behind his words was. Whether or not his motivations were the same as hers, two could play at that game.

"Is that one of your twenty questions?" She smirked in his direction, grabbing the mixing bowl of his hands before reaching a finger into the mixture to taste.

He snatched the bowl back, "Get your dirty paws off my dessert! Now, next questions."

"Why did you start acting?" Vienna knew the answer to her question was probably on google somewhere, but she wanted to hear it from him.

"I love to entertain people. That probably sounds weird and borderline creepy but I just really like to bring a story to life. There's something really special about making someone smile or laugh or even cry."

Vienna smiled softly. "I love that." Vienna looked up at Matthew. "Oh no I think there's something in your hair." She reached up, running her fingers through his hair while subsequently grabbing a handful of flour in her other hand. Once Matthew was gazing down at Vienna, she tossed the handful of flour up at him.

Matthew jumped back, dropping the mixing bowl in the process. "Oh it is on!" Vienna ran for cover, but not before matthew could grab her arm and run a handful of batter in her hair.

"Hey! Flour and batter are two different things!" This time Matthew was the one running across the kitchen in retreat. Vienna caught up, jumping on his back with a bag of flour at the ready.

"Ah!! Truce! Truce!!" Matthew threw his hands in the air with Vienna still tucked on his back.

She climbed down, still holding the flour to make sure he wasn't planning a sneak attack. "Okay okay I'm putting down my weapon. I would say I'm sorry but that was really fun."

Matthew smiles down at her, reaching up to pick bits of oats out of her hair. "It's no use." She reached up to pull his hand away, their fingers brushing softly together.

Vienna caught Matthew's eyes, their soft tone gleaming at light crept through the kitchen windows. His hand brushed the side of her face and settled on her shoulder. Vienna was sure he could feel her heart beating rapidly. Matthew's gaze remained fixed on Vienna's lips. At least she thought that's what he was looking at.

Footsteps fell on the kitchen tile. "Guess who's here!" Laura popped back into the kitchen, snapping Matthew's attention back into reality. Next to Laura was a precious little boy, who ran into Matthew's arms the second he saw him.

"This is Hunter, he is two and he loves his uncle Matthew." Laura turned to Vienna, "Hunter say hi to Vienna."

Matthew lifted Hunter into his arms and turned toward Vienna. "Hi Venna." The name fumbled out of his mouth, but it was adorable nonetheless.

"So, should we finish baking?" Laura directed the question at Matthew.

"I-um- I just remembered have to take care of a few things at the store. Bye bye Hunter!" Matthew set Hunter down at the table where his coloring sheets were and gave a quick wave goodbye at Laura, directing his eye contact away from Vienna.

As Laura and Vienna stood in the now messy kitchen, Vienna couldn't help but feel completely rejected. He almost kissed her and then ran out like a madman.

She was confused to say the least.