Sin and Sinner

43

~Darlina's POV~

I brushed my damp hair out after I got out of the shower later that night, changed into a pair of comfy but cute pajamas. Usually I didn't shower at night, but I had decided to just for tonight because I had decided to go for a late night swim and needed to rinse the chlorine from my hair.

As I was brushing my hair, I began to hear the distant sound of thunder rolling in the distance, causing me to pause. It sounded like it was about to start storming pretty quickly here. I shrugged, setting down my brush on the sink once I finished brushing my hair.

Knowing that Emmett and Atlas had both gone to sleep by now, I quietly exited my room, making sure to keep it down as I made my way towards the kitchen to get a cup of water. I sipped my water, tiptoeing back down the hallway with my cup in hand. A loud clap of thunder rolled through as several flashes of lightning struck at the same time, the flashes visible outside the window. I smiled, as I quite liked storms, honestly.

Right as I went to open my bedroom door, Atlas' door opened behind me, causing me to curiously glance over my shoulder. There was a slightly alarmed look on his face that caused me to halt, cocking my head to the side. "Atlas?" I said softly, the rain coming down heavy on the cabin roof above us. "Are you okay?" I asked, this being the first time I had seen him looking slightly unsettled.

His dark eyes landed on me and he huffed. "Yeah, just...the storm." He said in a mumble, voice husky from sleep. The storm must've woken him up from how loud it was. I brushed my hair behind my ear and turned to him, noticing the way he cringed slightly as the thunder loudly roared again. "Do storms scare you?" I questioned, slightly surprised but not teasing. I'd never pictured Atlas the type to be scared of anything, and certainly not storms.

Atlas looked away from me, staring down the hall with an almost embarrassed look on his face, another expression which I had never seen on him. "Maybe a little bit." He grumbled reluctantly, like he didn't want to admit it to me.

Smiling slightly, I gave a shy nod of my head to my bedroom door that was cracked open behind me. "Um, do you want to try to sleep with me? J-Just until the storm stops, you know." I offered, not wanting him to be left alone if he was truly scared of storms, which he seemed to be. Every time there was a flashing of lightning through the window, his gaze would flick over, as if bracing himself for the racket of thunder afterwards that didn't always follow.

Though he paused for a second, he nodded his head. "If you're okay with that, yes." He agreed quietly, to which I smiled and gestured for him to follow me. I opened my bedroom door and he slid in past me, his naked chest brushing against my shoulder as he did.

I allowed him to pick his side of the bed, waiting until he had slid beneath the blankets on the right side before I crawled in with him, laying on the left side. He scooted closer, a surprised gasp leaving me as I felt his arm wind around my waist and pull me into him. "You're probably the last person I expected would be scared of storms." I told him honestly, my voice coming out a soft whisper.

He huffed, burying his face into the crook of my neck as he spooned me from behind, his large body cocooning my smaller one. "Don't tease me about this, smalls." He said with a sigh, causing me to giggle softly and shake my head. "I'm not. It was just a statement." I assured him. I felt him scoot closer, pressing close enough for me to feel his bare chest against my back, the warmth of his body causing goosebumps to rise on my skin that had no sense in being there.

My face burned and the racing of my heart pounded in my ears, reminding me just how much he affected me. "Can I ask why you're scared of them, though?" I whispered, the sound of my voice just barely audible over the faint roll of thunder. He paused, his fingertips curling into the fabric of my tank top. "I haven't liked storms since I was a little kid. There was a time when my mom, she had this boyfriend, and he didn't like me very much, which was reciprocated. But anyway, when I was nine or so, he got pissed because I had tried to make a grilled cheese for my mom and accidentally started a small fire, so he locked me outside in our little backyard." He explained quietly, chest rumbling against my back as he spoke.

"And then he left me out there overnight, and my mom was sick so she didn't even know. It started storming really hard, the entire night too, and I guess my fear of storms just developed from that."

A deep frown sat on my face at the experience he'd just shared with me. He had only been nine, but was being treated like that? "That's horrible..." I said quietly, blinking away the angry tears that I could feel pricking behind my eyes. "I'm sorry you had to go through that, Atlas." I told him, but he just hummed softly and placed a gentle kiss at the slope of my neck.

"You're not the one at fault, I don't know why you're apologizing." He chuckled lowly. "Besides, I was pretty used to that type of shit at that point anyway." He added, as if that made it any better.

"Did your mom leave him when she found out he did that to you?" I asked, curious. He didn't respond for a second, and I knew from that alone that he didn't have to answer for me to know what he was going to say. "No." He murmured in response, affirming my suspicions. "But their relationship was...complicated, Lina. Not leaving wasn't something I ever blamed her for, nor will I ever." He explained.

I sighed softly, almost positive I understood what he was trying to stay. "What about your real dad? Can I ask about him?" I hummed, brushing my thumb over the back of his tattooed hand, which rested on my belly.

"Actually, I never knew him." He admitted, causing me to bite the inside of my cheek. "My mom was a sex worker, and her boyfriend was kind of like her pimp, I guess you could say. I dunno...but I guess she accidentally got pregnant from one of her clients and never really found out who. Honestly, it hasn't ever really been something I cared to know." He explained, causing my lips to part. This was easily the most I had ever gotten him to open up to me about himself, in any capacity, and the fact he was telling me was something that I felt honored he trusted me enough to do.

For the first time, I actually felt like I was close to him, or at least becoming closer. I wanted to know him, and I wanted him to want to share himself with me too.

"What about your family, hm? I've never heard you speak about them." He murmured curiously, causing me to pause. I hesitated, unsure what I should say. He had essentially just shared with me that he hadn't had a very good childhood or home life in general, but I couldn't say the same and I worried I'd make him feel bad if I said something. "Oh, um..." I pursed my lips and stared down at the sheets, trying to figure out how to respond.

"You can tell me, Lina. I want to know." He insisted, as if knowing what I was thinking. I smiled slightly. "My parents are really good, kind people. They've been together for a long time, I think twenty four years...?" I trailed unsurely, cocking my head in thought. "I lived in the middle of nowhere with them for my entire life, in one house, and we didn't have any neighbors or anything. So when I turned eighteen, I naturally wanted to move out and meet more people and have normal experiences like other people my age. I love them and the life they gave me, though sometimes it might've been a little lonely since I'm an only child." I recalled, listening to the rain as it began to come down harder on the roof.

"When Emmett and I met, he used to tease me a lot at first, you know. I found out pretty quickly that I was more sheltered by my parents than I already had thought at the time, which he just found funny." I told Atlas with a pout, causing his lips to twitch up slightly against my skin. "You're still sheltered, I think." He muttered.

Curious as to what he meant, I furrowed my brows. "Do you think so?" I asked. "How?"

He tightened his arm around me as the thunder rolled again, blowing out an almost anxious breath against my neck. "You know nothing of what you do to me, Darlina." He muttered, causing my cheeks to burn with embarrassment. "The amount of times I've looked at you in little pajamas just like these and been driven halfway to my fucking grave, it's absurd."

My heart skipped at the husky tone of his voice as he spoke in my ear, a low murmur beneath the sound of the pelting rain above. "The more I get to know you, the more shameless I think you are." I squeaked, flustered.

Atlas chuckled and slid his hand from my waist to my hip, a smirk pulling at his lips. "You'd be right to think so." He hummed in a flirty manner, kissing a line up the side of my neck. I turned around so we were face to face, too flustered to allow him to continue to tease me like he was doing. "You're also a pervert." I whispered, shuddering as his hand slid to my bare thigh and pulled my leg up so it was thrown over both of his.

Amusement glinted in his eyes. "As I said before," He muttered lowly, glancing down at my lips. "You have no idea, smalls."