25

~Atlas' POV~

Despite what Darlina had agreed to yesterday, I could tell from the moment she agreed that she wasn't even really sure how to feel about her own agreement. She didn't seem very enthralled by the idea of partying, and I was admittedly annoyed that she had agreed in the first place. If she didn't want to go, why the fuck didn't she just reject the offer?

"Why do you look so particularly grumpy this morning?" Emmett asked as he glanced at me from where he stood by the stove, making breakfast from some of the groceries Darlina and I had gotten yesterday. I just shrugged, leaning against the counter. "What time is that party tonight?" I responded to his question with a question of my own, crossing my arms over my chest.

Em raised an eyebrow, surprised. "What?" I scowled when he looked at me, annoyed. He poorly hid an amused smile and shook his head. "Nothing. I just thought you said you didn't want to go." He said, chuckling as he folded the omelette in the skillet he was using. I didn't respond.

"What made you change your mind?" He asked, the fact that he was obviously not going to drop the matter now that I'd brought it up making me roll my eyes. "What's it matter?" I grouched, eyeing the food in the skillet just so I didn't have to look at the smug look on his dumb face. Emmett elbowed me roughly and I would've elbowed him right back if it weren't for the fact that he was in front of a hot stove. "I decided I wanted to go, like you asked me to." I muttered.

"Yeah, but why? You never do that." He retorted, earning a dirty look from me. I knew he wasn't wrong, though. I was the type of person that stuck to his decisions, the type of person who didn't really think twice about the choices after picking one.

I still refused to respond, not having anything to really say, and he nudged me. "Does it perhaps have something to do with Li deciding she'd go?" He wondered, trying to gauge a response out of me. He got one, of course, but I was pretty damn sure it wasn't one he was hoping for. "Why the fuck would I care what she does?" I snapped, annoyed at how he seemed to think I was changing my mind because of her.

Despite the obvious anger I was displaying, Emmett just laughed, using the spatula to move the omelette onto a plate beside the stove. "Well, it's just that you only changed your mind after she said she would go. Can't really blame me for thinking that she had something to do with your sudden switch up." He shrugged, not bothered by my foul mood. I grunted, turning away from him to stare down at the kitchen floor. "Whatever. Think what you wanna." I sighed, looking up as the sound of soft footsteps reached my ears.

Darlina pitter-pattered her way into the kitchen, her face bare of any makeup and her blonde hair hanging down her back in loose, damp waves. It looked as though she'd just gotten out of the shower, so I assumed she only recently had woken up, which was unusual for her. She was almost always up early in the morning, but it was nearing eleven now.

"Good morning!" She chirped, rounding the island counter to approach the two of us. Emmett glanced over his shoulder and gave her a friendly smile. "Hey, you're finally up." He said, clearly teasing her about waking up late. "I'm making omelettes." He told her, to which she stepped between us to peek around him to look.

She was in a small pair of white shorts and a long-sleeved white crop top with little red flowers on it, the neckline a square shape. On her feet were a pair of fluffy socks that I had seen her wearing a couple of other times before, so I knew she must've liked them a lot.

I leaned away as her arm brushed against mine, slightly put off by how close she had gotten, and she glanced up when the movement hadn't gone unnoticed by her. Our eyes locked and hers promptly widened, as if only now realizing just how close we were, and I noticed the look of embarrassment that fell over her features. "S-Sorry!" She quickly stepped closer to Emmett instead, seemingly flustered.

My eyes lingered on her for a moment before I shook my head and looked away, snatching up one of the plates that had a finished omelette on it. "This is mine." I announced to the two of them, digging through the drawer for a fork. Emmett cocked up an eyebrow and frowned at me. "That was gonna be mine." He whined, but I just chuckled, pushing the drawer shut. "Not anymore." I responded, smacking him on the back before I headed into the living room to eat by myself.

After I sat down, I turned on the TV and began to eat, glancing up when both Em and Darlina came walking in together a few minutes later. "The party's at nine tonight, by the way." Emmett told the both of us, which I noticed caused Darlina's eyes to widen in surprise. "Nine?" She echoed, cocking her head to the side as she sat down on the end of the couch. "Do they usually start that late?" She asked, and I just stared at her whereas Emmett smiled with amusement. It was abundantly clear to me that she'd really never been to a party before, it seemed.

"Well, sometimes. Vance usually likes to start his parties a little late, I suppose. Just depends on the person." He told her, the unsure pout of her lips drawing my gaze to them for longer than it probably should've. I quickly cut my gaze back to the TV when I realized this, shoving some more food into my mouth.

"Oh. Okay." She said softly, seeming to accept the response. "I can wear what I want to, right?" She asked, earning a series of enthusiastic nods from him. "Of course. Whatever you're comfortable in, Li." He hummed, beginning to eat as well. That particularly seemed to appease her because she relaxed a little and smiled, sneaking a glance at me that I caught from the corner of my eye.

The three of us fell into a comfortable silence as we ate, and the day passed by quickly with all of us lounging in the living room together.

Before I knew it, it was dark and I found myself getting ready for this party, which I hadn't even originally wanted to go to. However, because I knew Emmett would likely get shit-faced and Darlina was now dragged into the equation, I felt like I had to go to make sure the both of them got home safely.

I slid on my shoes and leaned against the wall with Emmett, the two of us waiting for Darlina to finish getting ready so we could go. Bored, I began to play a word puzzle on my phone as we waited, absentmindedly bouncing my foot. A furrow formed between my brows as I concentrated, not even realizing when Darlina entered the room at last. "Hey," Emmett tapped me on the shoulder. "Come on, we're going, man." He said, causing me to look up. I slid my phone into my back pocket and glanced at Darlina, eyes widening in surprise when I saw her.

She was fiddling with her purse, not paying either one of us much mind as she did so, and I stared unabashedly at the silk corset she had on with a little white bow at the breastline. The lightwash blue jeans she had on were tight, too tight for me to ignore when they were highlighting her curves like this, and she had a pair of pink pumps on her feet that matched the color of her top.

"Hey!" Emmett smacked me upside the head suddenly, causing me to flinch and scowl at him. "What?" I snapped, smacking him right back. He glared at me. "You're gonna make her uncomfortable, A. Let's go." He said, gesturing towards the cracked open front door. I looked away, not necessarily embarrassed at being caught but moreso at the fact that he'd noticed my ogling. "Whatever." I grunted, striding out the front door without waiting for either of them.

Darlina clearly noticed my sudden switch in mood when I passed her, causing her to blink as she quickly stepped out of my way. I felt her watching me even when I continued down the hallway towards the elevator, not trusting myself to not stare at her again. She'd worn far less clothes around me before, sure, but that didn't mean I was immune to the fact that she was an attractive woman in a sexy outfit.

Yeah, she hadn't noticed my staring this time, but I didn't want to risk that, so I took a moment to calm myself down. She's just a woman.

Both Emmett and Darlina came walking down the hall together, her head tilted back to peek up at him as she spoke. I couldn't hear what they were talking about, but the nervous look in her eyes made it clear she was feeling on edge about something. If I had to guess, I assumed it was probably something related to the party seeing as I recalled what she'd said about Em's friends.

We all took the elevator down and, at first, Emmett tried to talk Darlina into making the drive in his car but she gave him a look that made it clear she was not going along with that. So we got into her car instead and Em drove us to Vance's house. Vance was one of the few guys I had known before I went to prison, though certainly I wouldn't have said we were friends. Just acquaintances, really, seeing as we both knew Emmett. Nobody else that he'd mentioned sounded familiar to me, however.

We came to a stop at the end of a driveway after about twenty minutes, my eyes scanning the rather fancy looking house. Vance must've been more well off than I thought he was. It was a pretty big house, and looked nice.

I got out of the tiny ass car first, unable to stand how cramped I felt in Darlina's tiny vehicle, and huffed as I waited for them to get out as well. Emmett shut the door while Darlina skittered over to him, looking slightly nervous as she glanced at the home. He just grinned, wrapping a hand around her wrist. "Come on." He chuckled, beginning to pull her away.

A grunt left me as I trailed behind them, making my way inside too.