Sin and Sinner

34

~Darlina's POV~

After the three of us had dinner, we managed to come to a conclusion about what sort of trip we'd be going on as well as when, though it was really more of a conclusion that the two of them came to themselves. I wasn't very particular about anything we did, nor when.

With Atlas' insistence, they had decided to rent a cabin for a few days in an area with lots of different activities to do, which I was slightly surprised he was interested in considering he didn't seem to like being in places with a lot of people around. I wasn't sure what exactly we would be getting up to there, but I was still excited to go nonetheless.

I packed myself a bag a couple of days later, as we were supposed to leave on Friday and it was now Thursday night. Seeing as we were supposed to be spending four or so days in this cabin, I made sure I packed enough clothes to last me the duration of the trip.

As I was in the middle of packing, there was a knock on my bedroom door, causing me to pause. "Come in!" I called, folding up a pair of my pajamas to put in my bag. The door swung open and Emmett walked in, flopping onto my bed like he owned the place. "Hey," I pouted at him, shooing in his direction. "Get off my bed." I demanded, continuing to put a few more pairs of pajamas in. My demand went completely ignored and he instead stretched his limbs out, taking up all the space. "How are you still packing? You came in here an hour ago." He mentioned, lifting his arm to place it behind his head.

"Because I have to pick out my outfits." I responded in a very duh tone, lifting an eyebrow. He grumbled beneath his breath and turned his head to look up at the ceiling instead of at me. "Girls make the most simple things complicated." He muttered, causing me to place my hands on my hips in offense.

"That isn't true." I huffed, to which he snorted in disagreement. "Besides, that's something you can hardly say when you do that yourself." I retorted. He huffed and rolled over onto his stomach, watching as I folded my clothes. Funnily enough, he didn't try to argue about what I'd said. Probably because he knew it was true.

"What did you come in here for, anyway?" I asked after realizing I still didn't know what he wanted. I began looking through my dresser for undergarments and socks to pack while I waited on his response, quickly shoving them into my suitcase before Emmett could see them. "Ah, right..." Emmett muttered, scratching the back of his neck. "I wanted to talk to you about Atlas, believe it or not. He might've told me that you know about what he did to get sent to prison." He stated, causing me to pause, a little surprised. I had never mentioned it to Emmett myself, so I had admittedly thought it would be the same for Atlas. Clearly not.

I hesitated before I continued to pack my clothes, not quite sure what to say and therefore opting to remain silent. "Yes, I know. Kind of." I finally said after a minute, closing my suitcase once all of my clothes had been put inside. There were still a few necessities that I needed to pack as well, but those could simply be put in tomorrow afternoon.

"Kind of?" Emmett echoed in a mutter. "What do you mean by that? How do you 'kind of' know?" He asked, furrowing his brows in confusion. I sat beside him on the edge of my bed, crossing one leg over the other. "Because I know what he was charged with, but...well, he didn't want to tell me the specific details of what happened." I told him with a loose shrug of my shoulders. Of course I would've liked to know, but I also wasn't the type of person to pry about something that wasn't my business.

He hummed in understanding, slowly nodding his head. "Why didn't you ever say anything to me about it after you found out?" He wondered, sitting up so he was no longer laying on his stomach across my bed. "I...Honestly, I thought you'd be more pissed about the fact that I didn't tell you." He admitted quietly.

"Would you rather I be super mad at you?" I asked with a snicker, raising an eyebrow playfully. He quickly shook his head, a smile tugging at his mouth. "No, no. Definitely not." He assured me. "I was just saying."

"The reason I never said anything is because I didn't really see the point. I mean, I was going to at first, and I was pretty upset with you at the beginning." I confessed, bouncing my foot. "But then I guess I thought about the fact that Atlas is your best friend, and even though I still don't know him incredibly well, I know you. It really just came down to whether I trusted you, and I do, so I decided to just leave it alone."

A small smile lingered on his face at my words and he suddenly threw his arms around me, tugging me into one of his infamously suffocating hugs. "What have I done to get such a sweet friend, Li?!" He said dramatically, the only response from me being a strangled groan as I struggled to breathe. "I don't know, but definitely not this." I responded, letting out a sigh of relief when he finally pulled away.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but it wasn't something for me to tell, either. It wasn't exactly an ideal situation either way, I guess." He muttered, causing me to smile up at him and shake my head with a dismissive wave of my hand. "You don't need to apologize." I told him, standing up from my spot on the bed. "It's not like I hold it against you or anything."

I grabbed my suitcase from where it still sat on my bed and picked it up, moving it so it was sitting beside the end of my dresser. A thought popped into my head as I then lingered by the foot of my bed, causing me to bite on my bottom lip. "Can I ask you something?" I asked quietly, fiddling with the drawstrings hanging from my shorts. He smiled, nodding. "Of course. Anything." He answered, waiting patiently as I considered the best way to ask my question.

"Um," I cleared my throat and plopped down beside him, lowering my voice as if someone might overhear. Oh, this was just going to be embarrassing. "I was just wondering if you think I'm someone a guy would ever be interested in, I guess..." I trailed, looking down at my lap as I spoke.

Emmett stared at the side of my face for a moment, not responding as he processed my question. "What? Why would you ask that?" He questioned, earning a feeble shrug of the shoulders from me. I stretched my legs out and sighed, looking up at him. "You know why. I've never even made out with a boy before, and that used to not bother me, but lately...All my friends have more experience than I do and I feel like all the men my age won't be interested in me because of my lack of it." I said quietly, utterly embarrassed yet not uncomfortable.

"I think any man would consider themselves lucky to have the opportunity to be with you. What brought this on, Li?" He asked, sounding a little bit worried. I shrugged and looked away, unsure. A brief moment of silence passed before he let out a sigh. "Is this because of Atlas?" He bluntly asked, causing my lips to part in surprise.

"No!" I huffy defensively, though he didn't seem very convinced. "Look, Darlina," Emmett sighed and smoothed a hand over his short braids. "Atlas is my best friend and I love him, but he...how do I put this?" He hesitated, cocking his head to the side. "He has interest in...different types of women, quite the opposite of you." He stated. I pursed my lips and hoped the disappointment I felt didn't show on my face as I slowly nodded my head, looking down at my lap.

Though not outright, he basically was saying I shouldn't get my hopes up that Atlas would ever be interested in me. Now I was even more embarrassed, considering Em knew of my attraction to Atlas.

"I see." I said weakly, giving him a small smile. "Thanks, Emmy." I told him, running a hand through my hair. He observed me for a moment and gently pulled me into his side, hugging me in a way that was the exact opposite of his usual way of hugging. "Don't worry about it, yeah?" He chuckled. "You don't need to think about what Atlas would be interested in you for, nor anyone else. I'm sure you'll find something with someone when the time is right." He comforted me, causing me to happily lean into his embrace for once.

"Come on," Emmett said after a few minutes of comfortable silence, pulling me up from my bed. "Let's go watch a movie and eat popcorn. You need to chill for the night."