As much as Y/N would love to say that her and Matthew's relationship was always smooth sailing. That would have been a lie. There was no doubt about it, they cared for each other deeply and there was an undeniable sense of commitment and trust, but when both of them were strong independent people living busy lives, sometimes their conflicts got the best of them.

For Y/N it was the increasing rate of work she had picked up at the hotel. With the new year rolling in, the shifts had become longer and the guests had become more impatient- which made Y/N all the more irritable. She could no longer stand walking into work and seeing a line of people waiting to be checked in, or seeing overdue amounts on room bills with guests complaining about the fees.

When she got home, all she wanted to do was close her eyes and escape the world, just for a while.

Matthew felt the same.

While he was working hard at practice, there was always someone who messed up- or something that happened outside of the rink that made their coach frustrated. He would make them run drill after drill and at the end he was still never satisfied with the men's performance.

The playoffs were upon them and Calgary was not holding their weight. While they had made it past the qualifiers, the pressure of round one had certainly gotten to the team. There were more fights on the ice than Matthew had ever dealt with in his life. If he wasn't throwing punches in the middle of the arena, he was arguing with his linemates on the bench.

To say everyone was overwhelmed, was an understatement.

The pressure of two lives intertwined had been bearing down against the young couple for weeks on end. While they didn't see each other as often as they would like, in hindsight, it was probably a good thing. The hours spent together were filled with arguments and bitter remarks- it was almost like they were regressing to the attitudes they had before they became friends.

"Rinse the plates before you put them in the dishwasher, I've told you that a million times!" Y/N snapped, grabbing the dirty plate from Matthew's hands and tossing it into the sink, she turned on some hot water and started to rinse that night's dinner from the once porcelain coloured ceramic.

Meatloaf.

"What is the point of that? It's called a dishwasher for a reason." Matthew muttered under his breath.

In the moment, neither of them were ready to go at each other's throats, but this had been happening for weeks now, every single argument and comment was slowly leading up.

Y/N rolled her eyes and finished the dishes alone before going into her room and closing the door. She knew that it was childish, especially when the time they had together was so rare now- but in times like this, she needed to be able to take a breather.

About an hour later, Y/N finally came out of the bedroom and walked over to Matthew who was sitting on the couch watching netflix. She crawled next to him and laid down, resting her head on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry." Y/N mumbled, her eyes staring at the screen as she intertwined her hands with Matthew's. He nodded and ran his thumb across her knuckles, the calloused grip smoothing over her delicate palm.

"I'm sorry too... all of this stress it's just." he sighed. "It's too much sometimes." he frowned. He hated fighting with her. Even if it rarely happened, he never wanted to see her upset- and he knew that Y/N would never purposefully go out of her way to hurt him either.

Settling into his comfort, Matthew wrapped his arms around his girlfriend and kissed the top of her head. "I think we need to get away." he told her. "Just the two of us- once the playoffs are done, lets take off for a few months- we can go wherever we want." he told her.

Y/N's smile faltered. As much as she enjoyed what he was suggesting, there was no way she could just take off for a few months. She had rent, bills to pay, a job that required her to actually show up.

She was working by the hour, unfortunately she didn't have a couple million dollars worth of salary waiting for her when she got back. She worked for three dollars above minimum wage and with the hotel's soon to be budget cuts, she would be lucky if she wasn't affected.

Noticing her quietness, Matthew glanced over at her- seeing the pout on her lips. "What?" he asked, he could see the wheels turning in her head, but what they were working on he had no idea.

Sighing with great reluctance, Y/N didn't want to burst Matthew's bubble. But she knew she couldn't just agree with him and give him false hope in the attempt to spare his feelings. That wasn't fair on him or her.

"I can't go."

Matthew's brows furrowed and within an instant he was sitting up straight and matching her frown. "What do you mean you can't go?"

Y/N closed her eyes for a moment as her shoulders sunk. "I mean that I can't go." she told him once again. "As much as I would like to, I can't just drop everything and go on vacation- my life doesn't work like that." she told him.

"I have responsibilities, a job, bills to pay- obligations that aren't so easily forgotten." she explained further.

Matthew shook his head, he reached out and grabbed her hand. "You can throw all of that away- I can cover it." he told her. "Hell, if you wanted to quite your job tomorrow i could take care of you for the rest of your life, you would never have to work again." Matthew was really trying to hold on now, he was desperate.

Pulling herself away from him, Y/N stood up defiantly. "No matthew- I can't go. I don't want you to pay for me, i don't want to give up everything and rely on you." she told him. "I can take care of myself, always have and always will- I dont need you to take care of me."

While it was meant to be reassuring and positive, Y/N's words came out in white hot anger, rushing off of her tongue before she could stop them.

She never meant for matthew to be offended by what she said, she never meant for him to take it so personally.

Matthew swallowed harshly. His pride was hurt. He wanted to take care of Y/N, he wanted to give her everything she ever wanted, but if she wanted to do things on her own, he would respect that.

In the moment, Matthew knew that he needed to take a step back. He didn't want Y/N to see him act so weak- his feelings in all respects were hurt. "You're right... you need to be alone." he sighed.

He got up from the couch and started grabbing his things, trying not to look Y/N in the eyes, for he knew that if he found her sweet longful gaze, he would cry.

He was not about to cry in front of her.

Y/N's heart sank. "Where are you going?" she asked, making a futile attempt to reach out to him.

Working his way towards the front door, Matthew slipped on his shoes and his jacket. "Home." he answered. "I think we need to take a break- have some time apart." he told her.

When Y/N tried to stop him, Matthew did nothing but step back and raise his hand as if he was struggling to find the words. He opened the door half way and looked at it distractedly. "I'll call you in a few days." he told her, slipping out like a mouse finding a crack in the floorboards.

As the door shut behind him with a final snap, Y/N felt her breath become lodged in her throat. There was a painful sensation reaching its way though her body, seeping into her muscles and twisting in her spine.

It was heartbreak.

Y/N never knew what losing someone so important felt like. Over the years she had experienced death in her family but all those losses were never truly processed. She was a young child when she lost her great aunt, too innocent to know what death truly meant and too young to hold any memory of a woman she barely knew.

But as Matthew walked out that door Y/N felt as though he had taken her heart with him, ripping it straight from her chest, breaking her ribcage as he did so.

She sat alone in her living room for hours, watching her condo door as if he would come back any second- that within the blink of an eye, he would turn around and come back into her home- rushing into her arms and taking back everything he said, because Y/N knew, the second she saw him she would apologize for everything she had ever done.

Because she loved him, and though she wouldn't admit it, Y/N didn't love herself unless she was with him.

It would seem that the days Matthew spent alone dragged on much longer than he thought was possible. Sitting alone in his apartment with no where to go used to be one of his favourite past times. He lived a busy life of hockey practices, events and games, so when he got the chance to unwind at the end of the day, or take a break he was all for it.

But now as a man in a committed relationship, he found himself wishing those moments were spent with Y/N. Coming home after a game didn't have the same feeling as when he used to drive to his girlfriend's apartment after a game. Whether it was a win or loss, Matthew always felt victorious when he arrived on her doorstep.

Because she was always waiting for him with a giddy smile and embrace filled with warmth.

For the first few days, Matthew was able to suffer alone. He refused to call Y/N and he kept to himself. He thought about texting or going to see his friends- but he knew they would just ask where Y/N was or why they were fighting.

He needed a distraction.

Against his better judgement, Matthew took his phone out of his pocket. He scrolled through his screen of various apps and found one that he hadn't opened in months. Like searching for a book in a historic library, he found the app he was looking for- pausing to take a breath as if he was dusting off the grit and grime from the hard purple cover.

With the screen having loaded, Matthew's profile was immediately highlighted with hundred of messages, they were organized from newest to oldest and while he could have any pick of who he wanted to chat with, there was a particular name ringing in the back of his mind.

All the way at the very bottom of the screen, she resided.

Iris.

Scotty: Hey, it's been a while

Matthew wasn't even sure why he texted her. He knew that no matter how hurt he felt or frustrated with Y/N he was, he would never cheat on her. He wasn't looking for sex or pictures from Iris, he was simply looking for a distraction.

That was the whole purpose of their interaction in the first place. They had talked about it during one of their very first correspondences.

A few minutes passed and Scotty had yet to get an answer. Perhaps she had deleted the app, or maybe she was tired of being ghosted after all these months. After all, he never did reply to their last message.

Scotty: I need a distraction

It was three minutes later that the response came. As if the world felt sorry for him, Matthew was given an inch of hope.

Iris: So do I

They talked for hours, reaching from the sunset into the early morning sunrise, Matthew spent the entire night on the phone with Iris, He asked the woman to tell him a story, indicating that he was having relationship problems and needed to hear someone else's trials and tribulations of love.

Luckily for him, Iris had plenty of those to share.

The more they talked the more Matthew felt like Iris' problems reflected his own.

They were both dating someone who they cared about more than anything, but because of their schedules they hadn't had time to work on their relationship and give each other the attention they deserved. Iris explained how she worked a lot and that her boyfriend travelled for work so they didn't see each other much- and now he had this really important thing coming up that would impact him for the rest of the year.

Matthew really understood where she was coming from, after all. He felt as though he was going through the same thing- there would be no use in him explaining his relationship issues because he would have just given her the same sob story.

But the more they talked the more he started to pick up on little things. He noticed certain phrases that the woman used, they sounded beyond familiar and her situation was far too close to his.

He began to think of Y/N.

Iris: And then today we had this big fight and once we calmed down, he asked me to go on vacation with him. I can't go! I have responsibilities, bills to pay!

Matthew felt like he had fallen into a winter lake. His entire body burned, covered in chills from his feet to his spine.

Without so much as saying goodbye, Matthew pushed his phone into his pocket and grabbed his keys from the front door- barrelling towards his car and down the familiar route of Y/N's condo.

Parking haphazardly in front of her place, he ran up the stairs to her entrance way- taking two steps at a time.

He knocked on the door with urgency and rang the bell several times, within moments Y/N had appeared on the other side of the door.

Matthew clenched his jaw and stared at her.

"We need to talk."