Broken

Chapter 51

"Where are you headed?" Will walked through the halls of his department with Atlas.

Will looked at Atlas when he didn't get a response.

"Where are you heading to?"

Atlas who was lost in his head glanced at Will as they made their way out of their department,
"I'm not sure."

Atlas was wound up and he had been since Saturday. It didn't take a genius to figure out why but Atlas wasn't exactly agreeing with what his mind was clearly admitting. He'd spent the remainder of Saturday night after the party and the whole of Sunday with his mind on someone he wasn't supposed to be thinking about. He would have simply ignored it and pushed it under a rug as 'not a big deal' but Thea had been at his place Sunday evening and she'd called him out on zoning out multiple times.

"And his mum, oh my goodness, she's the sweetest."

He'd noticed Thea beaming the second she'd walked in. She looked like she had the time of her life and nothing could take it away from her and then he'd figured out why.

She'd met Killian's parents.

In other words, she'd met Mac's parents.

"She said so many things and all I wanted to do was just listen to her talk but at the same time take notes so I don't forget because that happens, you know." Thea said, "Like when you're in that one specific moment where everything fades away and you finally understand your purpose, but then give it a few hours and you're back to worrying about something that didn't seem so important a moment ago."

Thea sighed heavily as she stared at the ceiling with her legs flung over the armrest of the sofa. Her head resting on the other armrest.
"She said with God, everything falls into place but it doesn't mean it's smooth sailing from there on out." Thea said, "It just means you've chosen to worship Him through the good and the bad and everywhere in between."

Atlas had lost her the second she started talking about Mac's mum. He was trying to figure out if the woman Thea was talking about was really Mac's mum because they sounded like they were at opposite ends in regards to everything. His thoughts had gone haywire from there.

From thinking about how different Mac and her mum sounded to wondering if Mac had once been like her mum, like her brother, all caring and spiritual. Then he was simply just thinking and wondering about her and then his thoughts betrayed him as he was taken back to the previous night when he had her in his arms.

Atlas inhaled softly and told himself it was nothing.

"Atlas!"

Atlas looked up to find Thea sitting up with her eyes on him, furrowed as if she'd been calling him and she was mad that he hadn't answered.

"I've been calling your name."

Well, that answered that.

"What?"

Thea stayed quiet as her frown deepened,
"Where were you just then?"

"Nowhere," He lied, "Nowhere important."

"Yea, it sure looked like nowhere important." She said sarcastically, "You were too far gone."

Atlas sighed with a smile,
"What were you saying?"

"I was saying Mac doesn't show up on Sundays."

Atlas looked confused,
"I'm sorry?"

"Killian goes to church and heads to his parents for brunch but Mac never shows up." Thea hadn't been able to figure out why that was.