Killian shut the door behind him as he walked into his home. He was about to head up the stairs to his room when he heard the whirring of what sounded like a drill. He paused, looking in the direction of where the sound came from. It was a room at the end of the short hallway, facing the stairs.

"Dad?" Killian removed his foot from the first step and headed towards his father's home office.

Getting to the entrance of his dad's office, he stopped in surprise at the commotion that was happening inside.

"Mum." Killian stood in the middle of the doorway staring at his parents who were too busy to see him,

Brianna turned in surprise and her face lit up as she saw him,
"Hey, when did you come in?"

Brianna made her way to him and Killian gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, his attention still in shock at the state of his dad's office.

"Just a second ago," He replied, "What's going on?"

"We're renovating your dad's office."

Joe looked up having finished taking out the screws from the door hinges of the cupboard making it look more like a shelf.

"Oh, hey son."

"What's happening?"

"I'm moving out." Joe said,

Killian stared at his dad and blinked,
"I'm sorry, what?"

"Your dad's moving out of his office,"

Killian looked at his mum,
"Why?"

Brianna looked at Joe and then back at Killian,
"We decided to turn his office into another room."

Joe nodded,
"For your sister. I don't know why we hadn't thought of this earlier."

Brianna looked at Joe,
"We were hoping she would come over more and eventually be able to stay over in her room."

"But that's not happened, and she hasn't stayed over because of that." Joe said,

"Or maybe she hasn't stayed over because she prefers not to stay over." Killian said,

Brianna and Joe looked at each other. Joe shrugged and Brianna nodded.

"Could be," His mum said, "But at least with this room, she'll have somewhere to stay until she's able to stay in her room...again."

"And this could also be a guest room in case Thea comes over."

"Or she could stay in Kenna's room." Brianna added quickly,

"Yea." Joe agreed with her,

"Ok," Killian said, "Looks like you've both thought this out."

"We have." Brianna said, "Are you staying for dinner?"

"No, mum," Killian said, "I just came to grab a few things, I have to be at work in a few minutes."

"I'll just pack something for you to eat at work."

Killian smiled to himself,
"Thanks, Mum." He placed a kiss on her head before he went up the stairs.

At the top of the stairs, he turned to head towards his room but stopped when he saw the attic open. His parents had probably gotten stuff out and left it open to return them later. His feet started moving in the direction of the attic without intending to go there. He paused at the base of the stairs, looking up and contemplating his decision.

You're still stuck sorting through those past feelings.
Martin's words rang through in his head.

With a huff, Killian headed up the attic determined to begin sorting through those past feelings he'd unknowingly pushed down. Getting to the attic, he stood there looking at all the stuff they'd moved for storage. Makenna's library of books tucked to one side after she'd broken down and tossed them out of her room.

His gaze landed on a corner of the attic where a tarp was tossed over. He knew that spot all too well. He remembered bringing his paintings up here and hiding them beneath the tarp. Heading in that direction, images of painting each one played through his head. He'd been horrified at the dark turn his paintings took after Makenna's accident. He hadn't painted since that last one because he wasn't sure if his artistic side still wanted an outlet for whatever he'd shoved down.

With one swift motion, Killian pulled away the tarp to reveal the canvases, each one turned so that they were facing away from him. He placed his hand on the first one and used his other hand to sift through. Killian stopped when he reached one canvas that was facing him. He swallowed, knowing quite well which painting it was, his last one. He'd woken up that night in a cold sweat and without wasting a second, he'd gotten out of bed and taken out his canvas. He needed to get the image out of his head and he'd done just that.

Killian pulled out the painting, letting the others fall back in place as he stared at that one. After countless sleepless nights from having woken up to Makenna's heart-wrenching screams and cries, his brain couldn't help but wonder what his sister had been through, what had happened to her.

That night, he'd gone to bed thinking about just that and his nightmare was so real that he'd felt Makenna's fear. Killian started at the dark painting of a girl curled up in the corner of a darkly lit room, fear clearly written on her face. At the edge of the canvas, the shadow of someone's hand reached out towards the girl.

He remembered how painful it had been to get the image out of his head. He could still remember it, but the intensity had faded over time. It was like watching a horror movie for the first time, you have no idea where the jump scares were, but the second time, you start to anticipate it because you know where they are. That first time is nothing compared to the second or the last time.

But the pain still lingered in the depths of his soul.

Consuming pain.
Thea thought as she watched the woman and her little daughter walk through the gallery.

It came when you least expect it. It was like the world testing to see if something still affected you. It was unfair to her and to Atlas. He'd taken care of her and he'd done an amazing job that she wouldn't have wished for anything better. But somehow, the people who leave always tend to have more impact on your life than the people who stay.

But that also depends on the choices we make on how we let them affect us. She had told herself over and over again that she didn't lack anything and she was well off without her absent father and a mother who abandoned her before she was able to create her first memory. At least her father stayed but she wasn't sure if he was better than her mother or worse.

She knew nothing about her mother and she couldn't hate her from looking at pictures of her because how could you hate a stranger? Her father on the other hand might as well be a stranger she knew.

Watching the little girl with her mother, Thea couldn't help but imagine what her life might have been like if she had grown up with her mother. But just thinking about it felt like she was betraying Atlas. Her brother refused to think or feel anything towards their mother much less talk about her.

Why did I agree to take this extra shift?
Thea wondered as she walked away from where she stood with a clear view of the loving mother and her daughter.

Her phone dinged with a notification and she reached into her pocket for it. She took out her phone to see a message from her bank, a credit alert. She unlocked her phone to read the full message.

Speaking of the absent father.
She thought as she saw how much he'd sent.

His love language was money and he thought everyone else's was. It wasn't time for him to send her allowance and the amount was a clear giveaway that this was, what she liked to call, 'thinking of you' money.

It was his way of letting her know that he was thinking of her but without words. She sighed and transferred the amount to her other American private account which held all her "thinking of you" fund. She wondered if her dad did the same thing with Atlas.

October is here! I wish you a great and blessed month ahead. Broken will be over this month - a lot sooner than you think and I'm not ready for when you guys find out everything.

Till then, catch up with me on my monthly vlogs and other content on my socials. I just put together the trailer for the new story and I'm super excited for you all to check it out. It'll be up on my Instagram later this year. So stay tuned for that and much more here --->

See you back here on Saturday.

Lots of Love,
Jane.