Broken

Chapter 31

The following Monday morning, Killian and Thea sat next to each other in class just like they had since the very first day, but the difference now was they could reach out and grab hold of the other's hand without a second thought.

"...and with that said, make sure to turn in last week's assignment before the end of the day." The professor said and just as he headed to his desk the scrambling began,

Everyone closed their books and grabbed their bags and got up to leave the class with Killian and Thea right there in the middle of it. Thea reached for Killian's hand and he took it without a second's hesitation as they headed out of the class.

They headed down the hallway hand in hand and out of their department. They had almost an hour to kill before their next class and they were headed to Metro coffee. They'd spoken on the phone last night and had caught up on how their day had gone.

At Metro coffee, Killian got their drinks and returned to the table where Thea was seated lost in thoughts. Killian took his seat across from her and Thea looked up and smiled at him as he handed her her drink.

"Thank you."

Killian took a sip of his drink unfailing to notice she'd been lost in her head since they met before class that morning.
"Thea?"

Thea looked up to meet his worried gaze,
"Yea?"

"What's the matter?"

Thea looked like she'd been caught doing something she wasn't supposed to be doing and was hesitant but finally shook her head, making Killian smile because he thought she looked cute even when she wasn't trying to be.

"Something's been on your mind all morning and if I had to guess, I'd say it's been since we spoke last night."

"Wh-why would you think that?"

"Because you went quiet when I brought up your brother."

Thea's gaze was fixed on her drink as she ran a finger along the rim of the disposable cup.
"You never did ask me why Atlas transferred when he's got a year left."

"I figured he wanted to be closer to you."

"That would be true if there wasn't a much bigger reason."

Thea sighed and Killian stayed quiet and let her gather her thoughts. He didn't want to rush her into saying anything she was prepared to say. Thea looked up at him and smiled with a sigh.

"Atlas has been a sibling and a parent to me for, honestly, my entire life." Thea shifted her gaze away from Killian so he couldn't see she was tearing up, "And to see him pretend to be anything but fine is..."

Thea choked and dropped her head.

"Hey." Killian reached and covered her hand with his, "We don't have to talk about it. It's obviously weighing on you but if you need to process it before you get it out, I will wait."

Thea looked up at him with a smile and teary gaze,
"Where did I find you?"

Killian smiled sadly,
"In class."

Killian said it was a serious face it made Thea giggle as the tears slowly disappeared from her eyes.
"I wanted to talk to Atlas about trying to get between us."

"Ah," Killian pulled back his hand, "So, you noticed."

"I just..." Thea began, "It felt nice to see that he hadn't lost his protective side even if he's lost himself."

"What do you mean?"

"Atlas almost died."

Killian blinked.