(I was going to write something similar when the series first started but now I'm glad I decided to wait. Spoilers for Austin's ep 22, set between Seek leaving and the video being sent.)

Colin ran up to his friend scrutinizing the gummy bear's internal mechanics. "Hey hey, Austin!"

"Come to finally help?" He asked, glaring down at the annoyingly dead wires in his hands.

"Uh, kinda?" His voice squeaked and Austin knew he wasn't going to get any much needed help. Colin sat next to him and the gummy bear, watching with bloodshot and puffy eyes. "Soo, I saw how you were looking at Bri earlier. Really 'paying attention' there, huh."

Dangit. Austin averted his unsettling stare and leaned closer to the hole in the gummy. "You mean paying attention like you were supposed to be? Did you two even hear a word me and Seek said?"

He heard a sniff and briefly wondered how painless a screwdriver to the chest death would be. "Do you think we don't listen to you?" Colin said through choked sobs. " Do you think that low of us?"

Austin groaned. "No, just...what are you getting at?" He asked, taking the hit already to avoid Bri overhearing and wondering what they were talking about. He didn't want to be alone with two crying zombies.

Colin wiped at his cheeks, the tears miraculously stopping pretty quickly. "Well, you like her don't you?"

"I don't-" Austin glanced back over Bri and lost the rest of his sentence. She stuck out the tip of her tongue as she colored in what looked like a mini gummy bear holding a heart. Her bangs fell in front of her eyes and she huffed out a breath, scrunching up her face and Austin's heart stopped.

"Aww," Colin said, voice dropping quieter but still on the verge of another cry, "that's so sweet!"

Austin whipped his head back around and stared at the bear. "No. No it isn't." He hit the bundle of wires with the screwdriver. They jostled and a dim light on the inside blinked for a moment before going back to playing dead.

"What? Why not?"

"Because it just isn't! I have other things to focus on." He gestured towards the battle plan board, the map of the nuclear plant staring them down.

Colin furrowed his eyebrows, confused. "I know it's important but you can focus on more than just this. Justin does it really well, somehow."

The tip of the screwdriver paused at the head of a screw with the gummy's eyes watching the scene unfold. "I'm the leader, Colin. I can't let myself divert from our goal, especially when my sisters are with us now. Our family is bigger and I have to make sure we're all safe."

"Do you really think that if you date Bri you'll, I dunno, prioritize her safety over ours?"

Austin knew he would, he already was. Out on patrols, when some new threat came up, she was the first one he checked on before everyone else. When he woke up in the mornings and knocked on everyone's doors to check in, he paused at hers a bit longer and listened a bit closer. It wasn't really on purpose, he didn't do it consciously, but something in him was always in tune with her safety when she was around.

"Where's Bri? I'm sure she's fine, everything's fine."

"That'll be the least dangerous spot until the end."

"I don't want to put you in that kind of danger."

They needed to focus and maintain a plan to not get everyone killed for frick sake and he was distracted. What if that happened while in a fight? Especially against another human like a Reclaimed, who would kill them without a second thought? He would get either himself or one of his family killed and it would all be because he couldn't take his eyes away from Bri's.

She was his best friend without being his friend, she was his confidant when he held his secrets locked away, she's the brightness and comfort he turns to when Fred isn't enough. They started this family together and he was going to make sure they made it through to the end.

And he couldn't do that if he wasn't focused on everyone.

"Well what about after all this? After we take down the Reclaimed and we're all safe and together." Colin's voice wavered and Austin chose his next words carefully, wanting to avoid setting him off anymore.

"They'll just be another threat." He sighed. "I know you're trying to help Colin, and I know it's just because you care about her, but my sisters and you all are my priority. Should be my priority."

A heavy silence fell between them, only broken by Colin's faint whimpers. Austin didn't look up from his feeble attempts to get the gummy to move, ignoring the pricking at his own eyes.

"You're like a brother to me and-and.." Colin lamented. Tears started to well up again and he sniffed." And Seek. You care so much about u-us. We know you'd do whatever you can to keep us s-safe and alive.." The tears fell down his face and Austin inwardly fought the urge to back away. "You can't do that if you're unhappy and if being with Bri makes you happy, you should go for it. You should be happy; I don't feel happy anymore so I want you two to be happy and- and-"

Austin awkwardly patted his shoulder as he cried. Even after he calmed down and returned to his mildly disturbing art session with Bri, the leader couldn't shake off what he said. Even though he was trying his hardest to.