28

~Atlas' POV~

Darlina had had too much to drink, which I knew because she was wobbling in her heels now whereas she'd been walking without problem in them when the night began. I shook my head and stretched out my leg as I stayed seated on the couch like I had been the entire night thus far, making sure to keep an eye on her.

She had already finished off four wine coolers tonight, and was currently drinking from her fifth bottle as she followed Emmett's just as drunk ass. Well, he was probably more drunk than her by a lot, but this was also the most drunk I'd seen Darlina. Though I had only ever seen her tipsy one other time.

As I was watching the two of them, the couch suddenly dipped beside me when someone sat down, causing me to look over. Why the hell was someone sitting next to me?

To my surprise there was now a random girl sitting next to me, a girl that I had never seen before in my life yet she smiled at me like we were friends. I rolled my eyes in response and looked away, annoyed that this chick was here. "Hi." She greeted, causing me to glance at her with a brow cocked up. "What do you want?" I asked bluntly, not bothering to sit around and make idle conversation.

Her green eyes flicked up and down my figure, a sly smile growing on the unknown girl's lips. "I noticed you've just been sitting here all night." She said, brushing her hand against my forearm. It was painfully, undeniably obvious what she wanted and where she was going with this already. She was very pretty, and yet...I didn't find myself interested in her like I thought, only annoyed that she was so close to me. Somehow, the fact that I wasn't interested almost frustrated me because I would've fucking jumped at her clear invitation when I was in prison.

"I'm not interested." I told her, brushing her hand off of me before I flicked my gaze back towards where Emmett and Darlina had been. They were still there together, though now they were dancing together, Darlina with a smile so wide on her face that I just stared. I'd never seen her smile like that before.

The unnamed girl huffed at my blatant disregard, rising to her feet before she stomped off, leaving me alone as I wanted. I paid her disappearance no mind, scanning my gaze over Darlina's small frame while she laughed at something Em had said, clutching at his arm in attempt to steady herself.

But then Emmett's hand landed on her waist and I zeroed in on it, an odd feeling of some mix of envy and irritation twinging at my chest. I furrowed my brows and narrowed my eyes on his hand, knowing that he wasn't touching her in anything more than just a friendly manner yet it did nothing to quell the unfamiliar feelings I had. The fact that I was suddenly feeling like this made me clench my jaw, unsure what had brought it on.

Sure, I had always thought Darlina was downright fucking gorgeous, but this was the first time I was actually feeling...jealous. It wasn't like I even had feelings for her, being that I still barely knew her well enough to develop any, so I couldn't understand the reason for my jealousy, especially over Emmett. Even earlier tonight, however, I had felt the same when she was talking with Adrian in the kitchen, and again with that drunk dude attempting to hit on her.

I shook my head and ran a hand through my hair, trying to push away the misplaced jealousy. There was no reason for me to feel like this when there was nothing between us, not even friendship. At most we were perhaps acquaintances, which maybe was weird to say considering we were also roommates.

A grunt left me as I finally rose from the couch, dragging my attention away from Darlina to head into the kitchen instead, not wanting to have to look at her anymore when it was just making me ponder my newfound jealousy. I lingered there for the rest of the night, trying to forget about it.

**

"Atlas!" Darlina's soft voice called as she made her way into the kitchen, wobbling while she tried to get through the crowd of people. I glanced up, noticing right away that she was on her own, and frowned as she giggled at me. "Where's Emmett?" I asked her, glancing behind her in hopes that maybe he was just slow, but I didn't see him.

She shrugged her shoulders and placed her palm on the table beside me, giggling at nothing. "He fell asleep on the couch after we were dancing. I'm bored now." She told me, pouting her glossy lips.

I raised my eyebrows, somehow both surprised and yet not surprised at all. Em had done a lot of things while drunk, but I'd yet to experience him falling asleep in the middle of a giant party due to how drunk he was. The fact that he was even able to sleep in this sort of setting was telling me that it was time to go home, though Darlina didn't seem ready to leave yet in the slightest despite having been reluctant to even come here tonight. Seems she'd actually enjoyed herself.

"Goddamn it." I sighed and rolled my eyes as I stood, causing her to tilt her head back to peer up at me from beneath her lashes. "W-Where are you going?" She wondered, and I gestured over my shoulder towards the exit of the kitchen. "I'm going to go take care of Emmett. It's time to go home, so come on." I told her, but she just furrowed her brows as if she didn't understand. "But I want another drink." She insisted, refusing to get up from her chair.

"You don't need another drink, Darlina. Emmett's passed out in the living room, so we're going home." I stated, narrowing my eyes down at her. However, she still refused, shaking her head adamantly. "I want another drink." She repeated, crossing her arms like a little kid not getting their way.

And I wasn't in the mood to deal with a stubborn, drunk Darlina, so I gave in. "Fine." I groaned in annoyance and went to grab her another wine cooler from the fridge, handing it to her. "Stay here, don't move or go dance with someone. Just sit here and I'll be back, got it?" I demanded, to which she sipped on her wine cooler and happily nodded her head.

Pretty positive that she wouldn't move, I left the kitchen and was able to very easily locate Emmett, seeing as it wasn't exactly hard to find someone who was passed out on the couch. I huffed and hauled him up off the couch, barely able to get his limp frame up. He was quite literally passed the fuck out, and that was getting on my damn nerves because he was proving to be fucking heavy. Why didn't this idiot control how much he drank? Why was I stuck dealing with said idiot?

I cursed as I finally managed to get him out of the house and down to Darlina's car, which I was now incredibly grateful we had taken instead of Em's big ass truck. There wouldn't have been a chance in hell of getting him in that truck in this state, but with her tiny car, I easily shoved him into the back seat to lay down and slammed the door shut.

Wanting to go home, I stormed inside, finding Darlina exactly where I had left her at the table as she sipped her wine cooler. "Come on, we're leaving." I told her impatiently, running a hand through my hair.

Darlina blinked her big brown eyes up at me. "But I'm not done with my wine cooler yet." She said, earning a glare of annoyance. "I don't care. You can bring it with you if you want, but we're leaving." I insisted, hoping that would appease her. However, she just sipped on her drink, still not getting up.

My temper began to rise and I leaned down so we were face to face, noticing her surprise at my sudden closeness by the widening of her eyes. "Either get up and get your ass to the car, or I'll get you there myself, Darlina." I said lowly, having had enough for the night. She tightened her hold on her wine cooler and turned up her nose, proving to be far more stubborn when she was drunk than when sober. Almost bratty, even. "I'm not done yet." She said again, those four words making it clear she had no intent on leaving.

So I snatched the bottle and tossed the half-full thing into a nearby trashcan, catching the shock on her face before I reached down to pick her up. She yelped in surprise as I flung her over my shoulder, feeling her small hands grasp at the back of my shirt while her legs kicked in protest. "H-Hey!" She exclaimed. "Atlas, put me down!" She demanded, but her demands went ignored as I walked out of the kitchen.

However, her kicks quickly stopped and she coughed. "Atlas, please. My ribs hurt." She insisted, causing me to adjust her in my grip so she was facing me. My hands cupped the back of her thighs and she shyly looked away as I pushed through the crowd of people, her arms wrapped around my neck. "Thank you." She mumbled, seeming to have given in. I debated putting her down now, but decided this was faster anyways and settled against it.

We exited the house and I balanced her in my hold with one arm, shutting the door behind me with my free hand. Her eyes flicked up to me as I carried her down the driveway, and she seemed to absentmindedly use one hand to play with the hair on the back of my head, the soft scraping of her nails causing my gaze to find hers. "Don't." I demanded, forcing her hand back to where it originally was.

"Don't what?" She asked, clearly not understanding why I was against it. I ignored her question, as it wasn't like she needed to know that it was something that turned me on, and came to a stop when we finally reached the car. The last thing I needed was for her to be this close to me, staring at me with her pretty brown eyes for any longer.

I opened the passenger's side door before I carefully set her down, one hand lingering on the curve of her small waist when she wobbled in her heels. "In the car, Lina." I muttered, my other hand keeping the door held open for her to get in. She giggled and thankfully did as she was told, though a bit slowly. When she was safely in the car, I shut the door and got in the driver's seat, hating how cramped I felt.

The drive back home was rather quick considering the streets were relatively empty, being that it was after one AM. Unsurprisingly, Emmett was still passed out in the backseat and Darlina was awake in the passenger seat still, but barely. She looked rather tired now.

"Hey." I gently shook her arm and she hummed tiredly, lashes fluttering as she opened her eyes to look at me. "We're home. Can you walk?" I asked, to which she nodded after a moment of silence. I got out of the car and managed to haul Emmett out, glancing at Darlina's body as she shuffled around in the passenger's seat before she pushed the door open, almost falling out of the car as she did so.

I waited patiently, watching her to make sure she could actually walk, which she was somehow able to do although barely. She slammed the door and then leaned against it for a second, wobbling on her feet. "Darlina, are you sure you can walk? You can wait in the car and I'll come back." I offered, but she stubbornly shook her head. "I'm fine." She insisted with a huff, stumbling her way past me.

Following closely behind her, I hauled Emmett with me into the elevator and grunted with the effort it took to support his weight. Darlina pressed the button on the elevator and then leaned against the wall, swaying on her feet.

When the elevator stopped we made our way to the apartment and Darlina let me in first, locking the door behind us after I reminded her. I brought Emmett to his room and laid him on his bed, pulling his shoes off before I exited the room to check on Darlina next. The door to her room was left open, but I still hesitated before I entered. She exited the bathroom just as I came in, her face bare of makeup and her clothes changed into pajamas. I spotted her outfit from earlier laying on the floor, so I assumed she'd changed first.

Despite no longer being in heels, she still stumbled slightly even on her bare feet, almost falling on her face. I grabbed her before she could lose her balance again and she gasped as if she hadn't noticed me, clinging to my arm. "Come on, smalls. You should go to sleep." I advised her quietly, nodding towards her bed.

She nodded in agreement but made no attempt to move, swaying on her feet as she blinked her bleary eyes. So I guided her over, and she whined softly when she laid down, stretching her legs out as I tugged her blanket over her legs. I stood up and turned to leave but she suddenly grabbed my wrist, causing me to glance down at her. "Wait." She mumbled as she turned onto her back, blonde hair splaying across her pillowcase. "Come here." She whispered, tugging my arm weakly.

A little amused, I ducked down, wondering what she had to say. "What is it?" I chuckled, knowing she wouldn't remember anything tomorrow. For a moment she just stared at me, blinking slowly before she spoke in a whisper. "Can I ask you something?" I nodded, cocking up an eyebrow as I entertained her drunken mind for this one time.

"Did you go to prison for attempted murder?" She asked. The slight amused smile I wore dropped immediately. I stared at her, and then rose to my feet.

"Go to sleep, Darlina." I stated, not giving her another opportunity to speak before I left, shutting her door with a little more force than necessary.