Sequel to Broken.
"Memories have the ability of unlocking new emotions. They allow you to relive moments with surfacing feelings you were unable to experience then. It's your choice to let these feelings live and take hold or tragically, or in this...
Atlas and Killian cleared the table while Thea and Makenna loaded up the dishwasher.
"Can I use the bathroom?"
"Sure," Thea wiped her hands, "This way,"
Thea led Makenna to the room down the hall because Killian was in the other bathroom. "You can use the one in here,"
Thea stopped in front of the room and stepped to the side.
"Ok," Makenna walked inside the room and headed straight for what she assumed was the bathroom door. She got it, locked it behind her, and relieved herself. When she was done, she went to wash her hands and looked at herself in the mirror above the basin. While she wiped her hands, she noticed a bottle of half-used perfume sitting on the counter. She hesitantly reached for it and uncapped it. She lifted it to her nose and in one inhale, she smiled.
Makenna toyed with the nozzle as she mentally concluded that it smelled better on him than it did directly from the bottle. Without thinking, she sprayed it and it took her a moment to realize where she was and what she had done.
"Fuck!" She cursed in a low voice,
She quickly capped the perfume bottle and returned it to where she'd found it. She grabbed some soap and rubbed at the area on her hand where she'd sprayed the perfume. When she was done, she placed her hands on the counter and closed her eyes tightly hating herself for the last couple of minutes.
Letting out a sigh, she opened her eyes and pushed away from the counter. She desperately hoped she didn't still smell like his perfume. Heading out of the bathroom, she shut the door quietly behind her and didn't look at his room. She didn't want to linger and get herself into more trouble, but the bookshelf above his study desk caught her attention. It was small, but she was interested in knowing the kind of books he was interested in reading.
She came to his room door which was ajar, she walked towards the shelf and promised herself she wasn't going to touch anything. She stood there staring at the books one after the other, tempted to pick them up and peruse them.
"You can take a closer look,"
Makenna flinched and her gaze immediately found him. Atlas had a smile on his face as he leaned against the doorpost of his bedroom with the door wide open.
"I scared you," He waited a moment, "I'm sorry,"
"You don't look sorry,"
"Getting a reaction out of you is not something I can apologize for," The smile still lingered on his lips, "Even if it may not be the one I want."
Makenna's gaze lingered on his face for a moment before she shifted it back to his bookshelf. "You have an interesting collection,"
"And that is why I got them."
Makenna looked at him with a confused expression, "Because they're interesting?"
"Interesting enough to impress the right girl." Atlas pushed away from the doorpost and walked towards her,
Makenna smiled to herself because his reply had been unexpected. She reached for Jane Austen's Persuasion and flipped the pages until she arrived at the page she sought.
'When pain is over, the remembrance of it often becomes a pleasure'. How desperately she wished for that to be true.
Makenna traced the sentence, with her thumb, which was highlighted in brown. She took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Has the right girl seen it?"
Atlas had stopped close enough to her that he'd seen what she'd read. "She just did."
Makenna's breathing stopped for what felt like minutes but it was just for a moment. She could feel him over her shoulder as she closed the book and placed it back in the spot she'd pulled it from. She turned to face him and looked into his eyes. "You're delusional. There's nothing right about her."
Atlas' lip quirked at the corner, "No." He shook his head as he gazed into her eyes, "She just doesn't see what I see."
Makenna was quiet for a moment, "But you only see what she wants to show you."
"Then show me everything." Atlas took a step that closed the distance between them, scaring her with the closeness,
Makenna had to tilt her head up to look at him, her heart racing in her chest as she tried to get oxygen into her lungs. She shook her head, "There's nothing worth showing," Pause, "Everything that's hidden is ugly and broken,"
"The ugly, broken pieces of you are masterpieces to me."
"You can't say that," Makenna tried to get air into her lungs, "You don't know what they are."
"Then tell me." There was a hint of desperation in his voice,
"I can't."
"Can't? Or won't?" His gaze bore into her soul,
"Can't."
"Why?"
"I don't want you to look at me differently."
Atlas took a steady breath and he carefully assessed her face, "Why would you care if I looked at you differently?"
Makenna swallowed, realising her mistake. She let her gaze fall from his and carefully thought about her next words, "We should go join Thea and my brother." She sidestepped him,
"Still running."
Makenna ignored him and headed towards his room's door.
"You can't run forever, Mac."
Makenna paused at his door, "Watch me."
Makenna walked away and left his door open so he could watch her. Atlas watched her as she reached the end of the hall and he wondered if he dared.
"Kenna." It was soft but loud enough that she heard and stopped in her tracks.
Makenna froze, not believing that he dared to call her that, again. She fisted her hand and slowly turned around. She looked at him in his room from where she stood in the empty living space.
She took the first step towards him, anger and pain pumping into her veins. "I told you not to call me that."
Atlas was already headed towards her, "And I told you, you can't run forever,"
Makenna was ready to reintroduce his face to her palm, but the smile she saw on his face confused her as they closed the distance between them. They took the final steps towards each other and his arms encircled her waist and it was her lips that were reintroduced to his.
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BIG NEWS!
I've been working on something for you guys!! I spent the day at the studio recording a new song - an original I wrote for the Broken series.🙊 I'm filming the BTS which you'll get on YouTube anytime soon, plus the song. 💃
I'm super excited for you guys to hear it. I wrote it 2 years ago when I started working on this series and I've been looking forward to the day I decided to put it out and it's almost here. Well, I can't say for sure when, but soon!
Make sure you're subscribed to my YouTube channel and follow me on my personal Instagram page and my music Instagram page for more updates!😊
