Broken

Chapter 58

Makenna was in her own world as she tried to decide between the M&M's in her left hand and the Snickers bar in her right hand. She'd thought about getting both but restraining herself was the harder and more obvious choice for her.

Makenna was so focused on her dilemma that her heart jumped when she felt a tap on her right shoulder. Without sparing a second's thought, she sprung into action. Turning anti-clockwise, she swung her fist making an estimated guess of where her assailant stood. Makenna's fist connected with the left side of Atlas' jaw with the chocolate clutched tightly in her fist.

"Bloody hell." Atlas was both shocked and in pain as he placed his hand on his jaw.

That's hopefully the worst that can happen.
He thought as he tried to move his jaw which hurt.

Makenna pulled back from her attack stance and stared at Atlas in surprise,
"What is your problem?" She took her headphones off and let them fall to hang around her neck,

"What is my problem?" Atlas asked incredulously, "You're the one who attacked me."

"You're the one who snuck up behind a woman."

Atlas had so many ways to argue that. One, he didn't sneak up behind her, she just hadn't seen him. Two, he'd tapped on her shoulder. Would someone who was trying to hurt her get her attention first before striking? Like: Hey, can you give me your attention so I can attack you?

But he went with,
"How else was I supposed to get your attention with that thing on?" He pointed at her headphones,

"Next time, try walking away."

Atlas smiled at her comeback.
But damn, she packed a dirty punch.

Makenna shifted her gaze from his eyes to his jaw where his hand rubbed. She felt instant guilt but quickly pushed it away. Placing the Snickers bar where she got it from, she turned and headed up the same way Atlas had come from.
"C'mon."

Atlas glanced at the Snickers bar and grabbed it before he followed her. He wondered if she was taking him somewhere to finish the job and smiled at the thought thinking it was funny that he was following her. Makenna headed towards the frozen foods section with Atlas close behind. She stopped and took out a packet of frozen peas from one of the freezers. She slipped the M&M into the pocket of her hoodie as she turned to face him.

The barely-there smile she saw on his face stopped her. She looked from one of his eyes to the other and back trying to figure out what he was thinking,
"What?!" She snapped, hating that she had to deal with feeling weird about feeling guilty. She didn't need to see the judgement in his eyes too.

"Nothing." Atlas snickered, surprised at the turn of events.

He would honestly have been less surprised if she'd grabbed a baseball bat. But a packet of frozen peas? Well, depends on what she does with it.

Makenna took a step closer to him almost tempted to put the packet of peas back into the freezer. But she knew voicing her regret by apologizing would be harder than simply being quiet to let him think whatever he wanted about her actions. She'd already made one hard decision tonight by choosing the M&M over the Snickers bar, she wasn't ready to make another one.

Makenna pulled the sleeves of her hoodie down to cover her hand. She placed the packet of peas over the cuffs of her hoodie so her hands won't freeze over. She looked up at Atlas.

"Can you...?" Makenna made a gesture of turning her head as she lifted the packet of peas to his face,

Atlas found it amusing and couldn't help but comply. He hissed the moment the frozen packet touched his jaw, not from the pain but from the chill of the packet. Makenna swallowed back her apology as she glanced at the clock at the far end of the store. She looked back at his jaw and noticed the angle of his face had shifted. Without thinking, she lifted her other hand and placed it on the other side of his face. Cupping his face, she angled it so that the packet rested well on the other side of his jaw.

Atlas held his breath at the unexpected contact. He'd gone from being amused to being speechless. Her touch wasn't what he'd expected it to be. Her hand was soft and gentle as her fingers slid across the right side of his face. He'd inhaled sharply at the contact but was glad she hadn't noticed it. Now, he was holding his breath scared that she might feel him breathe and pull her hand away.

Atlas studied her face as she studied his jaw and something behind him. He was secretly glad for the opportunity to stare at her without her being aware of it. He released his breath gently, not wanting to alert her of her unconscious action. He wasn't sure how he felt about seeing a completely different side to her than he was used to. But that must be because he was still reeling from the turn of events.

This was a piece of the puzzle that didn't seem to fit in with the rest.

Makenna found it oddly weird that Atlas wasn't using this opportunity to try to get her to open up. Not that she wasn't glad, because it made it easier for her to do what she wanted to do and then get out. She glanced back from the clock to his jaw.

Almost done.
She thought.

Curiously, she shifted her gaze to meet his, surprisingly, already waiting ones. She felt something tighten in her chest at the way he was looking at her. Like she would break and crumble to pieces if he looked at her any harsher than with his feather-soft gaze.

She felt his smile before she saw it. Her gaze dropped to his lips and to her hand that cradled his face.

When?
She snatched her hand and took a step back, her other hand falling with the packet of peas in it.

"All good." She turned around and placed the peas back into the freezer.

She quietly walked away from him without a backwards glance. She knew she had to keep the frozen packet on for a few minutes longer but there was no way she was staying after whatever had just transpired.

She didn't like it one bit.