The days went by slowly, but the week went by so fast. Makenna was glad to return to her routine once the assessment week was over. It was Saturday and rather than heading to the library, she decided to head to the gym to meet up with Thea. She, along with everyone else, deserved a break from their books and Vanessa shared the same belief.

To Makenna's surprise, she had seen more of Atlas in the past week than she had Thea. He and Will had started sitting with her and Vanessa at the library. She wasn't sure how she felt about it because she hadn't let herself think too much about it because of the week's hectic schedule. But it was starting to sink in.

After he dropped her off outside her dorm on Sunday, she thought she wouldn't see much of him during the week. Needless to say, she had been wrong.

That Sunday, Atlas pulled up in front of her dorm. Makenna hopped off the bike while she took off the helmet. As soon as it came off, she looked at him to find him watching her. She swallowed and handed him the helmet.

"Thank you,"

Atlas smiled and hooked his hand through the helmet,
"Anything for you."

Anything for me? What does that mean?
She wondered.

"See you later, Merida," Atlas said before he took off leaving her with a frown, wondering if she heard him right.

Makenna had laid in bed that night searching the internet for what he meant when he called her by another name. The first thing that popped up in her search was Merida Bikes and she spent a moment trying to understand why he would call her by the name of a bike brand.

Their meta description read road bikes, mountain bikes...

Did he think she was dangerous?
She asked herself.

She swiped on the screen and stopped at the next ranking on her search. It was a Wikipedia link to someone named Merida. The picture showed a girl in a green dress and red hair.

Ah, this makes more sense.
Makenna thought.

She opened the link and read a bit about the girl only to find out that she was a total badass. When she finally shut her phone down to go to bed, she had a smile on her lips.

"Hey," Makenna snapped out of her reverie and looked up to find Thea, "What's that look on your face?"

Makenna frowned and got up from where she was seated securing her hand wrap.
"What look?"

"Now it's gone," Thea took off her hoodie and revealed a sports bra, "But you had this weird look,"

Makenna stood with her hands on her waist and an expression that said: you'd need to do better than that.

"You were smiling," Thea smiled cutely at that, "And it was not the normal Mac smile, it was...different."

Makenna blinked rapidly, her hands falling to her sides,
"More moving, less talking."

"You asked,"

Makenna said nothing more and got into some warm-ups with Thea before she got right into training.
"Remember the combos we tried out last week?"

"Uh, my muscle does."

"Let's refresh your memory,"

Makenna went through the combos with Thea and then allowed her to try them on her until she got the hang of it.

"So, what was that smile about?"

"Just a memory."

Thea's expression told her she didn't believe her even though she was telling the truth.
"Not just any memory,"

"Still a memory." Makenna bit back her smile, "You're getting great at this,"

Thea's smile lit up her whole face,
"You really think so?"

Makenna smiled and nodded,
"I'm proud of you,"

Thea's smile fell just at the same time she stopped the combo. The next thing, Thea had her arms around her and Makenna stood there frozen.

"Thank you, Mac," Thea's voice was small and it made Makenna's heart ache for her and at the same time grow with love,

Makenna let out a breath and wrapped her arms around her and held her close,
"Anything for you,"

Just as the words left her mouth, she realized just how deeply she meant them and it scared her to care for someone else as much as she cared for Thea. Her words replayed in her head, only this time in Atlas' voice. It scared her even more to think that he'd said them with the same emotions that hers were attached with.

"Hi," Thea pulled back and Makenna frowned,

"Hey,"

Makenna spun around, shocked at the sound of his voice and stupidly surprised to find him standing there.

Of course, his voice was going to come with the rest of him.
What did she think?

Atlas' gaze shifted from Thea to Makenna,
"Hey,"

"H-hi," Makenna mentally berated herself for stumbling on her words,

Atlas must have caught it as well because he smiled and she looked away from him wondering why she was, all of a sudden, nervous.

Thea looked from her brother to Makenna and back with a knowing smile,
"Are we on for dinner tonight?"

Atlas looked at Thea and nodded,
"Of course,"

"Can Killian come? Mac could join as well." Thea gasped and lit up, "It would be a double sibling dinner,"

Makenna looked from Atlas to Thea,
"I don't think it would be a good idea."

"Why not?" Thea frowned,

"'Cause it's you and your brother's thing. I don't think Killian would want to intrude on that, neither would I."

"The more the merrier," Thea said, "Besides, I'm trying to get your brother and mine to have some type of, friendship is hoping for a lot but yes, friendship."

"I don't think your brother is ok with the idea," Makenna and Thea looked at Atlas,

Atlas looked at both of them and settled his gaze on Makenna,
"You're absolutely right."

Makenna felt a wave of relief wash over her accompanied by a slight feeling of rejection that left a bad aftertaste.

"Like she said," Atlas continued, "The more the merrier,"

Thea smiled and looked at Makenna who did a double take and swallowed back the rush of anxiety that filled her lungs.

"Perfect. I'll be at your place and we can get ready and leave together."

Makenna opened her mouth not knowing what to say and who to say it to. She felt like a fish out of water. She didn't miss the smile on Atlas' face when he left them alone.

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