Sin and Sinner

32

~Darlina's POV~

Humming, I entered the apartment with Atlas after he and I got home from work the next day, blinking in surprise when I saw that Emmett was sitting in the living room.

"Oh, hey." I chirped, not expecting him to be home already. He must've gotten off early.

Atlas stepped around me, his large frame brushing against my side when he slipped by, causing me eyes to flick up to him. He raised a dark eyebrow at Emmy, seeming just as surprised to see him as I was. "The hell are you doing home at this time?" He asked bluntly. I giggled and shut and locked the front door, finding his forwardness amusing.

Looking offended, Emmett gave Atlas a 'what the hell' look and raised his arms dramatically. "Wow, I'm feelin' the love, dude." He remarked sarcastically, only making an attractive smirk tug on Atlas' lips. "And after I was waiting here so loyally for you to return, too." Emmett added, dragging on his dramatics. I walked up beside Atlas, who was giving Em a flat look, not amused any longer. "Yeah, yeah." Atlas waved him off with a roll of his eyes.

"I just got off work early, ass. Why else would I be home early?" Emmett huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. His brown eyes flicked down to me and he smiled, as if only now noticing that I was standing here. "Hey, Li." He greeted, drawing me in a sudden hug that caused me to stumble into his chest with an oomf of surprise. My cheek smushed against his shirt and I pat him on the back, barely able to breathe properly with his tight embrace. Em had always been someone who hugged tightly, maybe too tight, in my opinion.

"You're suffocating me." I complained, which he just laughed at as he pulled away, still grinning wide as ever. "How'd work go? Everything still good?" He asked, making it clear the question wasn't just for me by glancing between Atlas and I.

With a glance over at Atlas, I nodded my head, hoping that he thought the same thing. "Yeah, everything has been going really well. I don't know why he thinks he isn't good with animals, honestly." I answered, looking up at Emmett again. His brows raised as if surprised. "Is that so...?" He murmured, eyeing his best friend in a way that told me I was missing something. I furrowed my brows, confused, and nodded my head.

"Um, yes..." I affirmed, brushing my hair over my shoulder. "Is that supposed to be something unusual? I feel like I'm missing something here." I stated, glancing between the two men. Atlas shot Emmett a look and he just shrugged, sitting on the arm of the couch. "Nothin' really, smalls." Atlas cut in before Emmett could say anything, which just made me purse my lips in uncertainty. I didn't really believe that, but I was getting the idea that he didn't want to talk about it so I let it go. "Right." I said. "Okay..."

"Anyway," Emmett cut in again, stretching a leg out so his foot was flat on the floor. "They called you about that interview you did, right? Jac's car repair shop, I mean." He asked Atlas, cocking his head to the side. I blinked in surprise, this being the first that I was hearing anything about this, and turned to look at him. "Yeah, they called a few days ago." Atlas answered while I stared expectantly at him, raising my eyebrows. "Well?" I added curiously. "Did you get the job?" I asked, feeling a little hopeful for him.

He rubbed the back of his head, the muscles in his biceps flexing. "Y-Yeah, somehow." He muttered, looking away. I beamed, excited that he'd gotten the job. "Oh!" I yelped when Emmett grabbed me and Atlas at once, yanking us both into a group hug, practically jumping from the excitement at the news. "Hell yeah, man!" He cheered, while I huffed as his jumping about caused me to be knocked against Atlas.

I turned my head, stumbling slightly in my boots as Emmett continued hopping about like a little kid. "We have to go out to dinner together so we can celebrate!" He exclaimed, suddenly pulling away with one hand on both of our shoulders. A sigh of relief left me at the distance between us and I smoothed down my hair, feeling Atlas' hand brush gently across my lower back to steady me when I wobbled while regaining my balance. "How about tonight?" Em asked, but Atlas scrunched up his nose as if the idea didn't appeal to him whatsoever.

"You know I hate going to dine in restaurants, Em." Atlas grunted, shrugging his friend's hand off his shoulder. I remained silent but raised my eyebrows in surprise, the information new to me.

"Honestly I'd rather do something else, if you're dead set on celebrating." He admitted, drawing a hum from Emmett as he tilted his head in thought.

"What about a little trip somewhere? We can go somewhere together for a couple days before you start. When do you begin?" Emmett began suggesting, curiously raising a brow as he asked his questions. Pausing to think, Atlas kicked off his shoes by the couch and then spoke. "In about two weeks." He answered, causing Em to grin. "Perfect! That's more than enough time for us to plan a trip together. It'll be fun!" He exclaimed excitedly. If I didn't know any better, I'd think Emmett was more excited about Atlas getting a job than he was. A smile threatened to break across my face at the thought.

"Are you sure that's a good idea, though? Obviously you can take off work whenever you want considering you're the restaurant owner but what about Darlina?" Atlas brought up, the sudden thoughtfulness causing my eyes to widen as I glanced his way. He was staring at Em, a brow cocked. "It's not that big of a deal." I quickly cut in with a shake of my head. "Dina likes me a lot and the fact that I barely ever call out of work will make it super easy for me to get some time off. No need to worry." I assured, watching as Emmett smiled smugly in Atlas' face at my response, knowing that there was now no reason why we couldn't go.

"I wasn't worried about you." Atlas muttered to me with a scowl, earning a harsh kick in the shin from Emmett. "Don't be an ass." He scolded his friend, but I just smiled. Though I knew I still had a lot to learn about Atlas, I thought I had a pretty good understanding of him—in comparison to before anyways. Despite his refutations about being worried about me, I liked to think that maybe he would've felt a little bit bad if I hadn't been able to go with them on the trip, but maybe that was just projection or wishful thinking.

"I'm going to go clean up." I noted to the both of them, not waiting for a response before I turned around and left the living room.

I quietly shut my bedroom door behind me and entered the bathroom, leaving the door slightly cracked open. After I turned the shower on to let the water heat up I took my makeup off, only stepping into the shower once the mirror began to fog up.

A sigh left me as I finished washing my hair and tilted my head back to let the water rinse it all out, staring up at the ceiling above. I couldn't help but to think of Atlas and the blush that I could still swear I had seen on him earlier today, yet a part of me was unable to fathom it. Had he really blushed because of me? The idea made a funny fluttering start in my chest but I shook my head, not sure what to think. Atlas even being capable of blushing, much less because of me, seemed unreal.

But even I knew I couldn't deny that I hoped I hadn't just imagined it. He had made me blush hundreds of times now, and this was the first time I had ever seen an inkling of one on him.

And, oh, I couldn't process how much I had liked it or how cute I had found him at that moment.

I thumped my head gently against the cold shower wall in hopes to cool down my hot face. These feelings he was giving me felt unfair, almost cruel, and I whined at nothing in distress. Why did I like him? The man was clearly emotionally unavailable and he wasn't really even a friend to me yet I found myself wanting to cling to the idea that I had made him blush just a little.

Sighing, I turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, deciding to push the thoughts away as I wrapped myself in a towel. It's fine, I silently reminded myself. A little blush is a little thing. He probably was just embarrassed, or maybe he felt hot. It probably had nothing to do with me.

Nodding to my reflection as I forced myself to stop thinking so deeply about something so tiny, I left the bathroom.