35

~Atlas' POV~

I sighed as I flopped on the couch in the living room on Friday, leaving my bag sitting on the floor. So far I was the only one who was actually ready to go, which meant that I was now stuck waiting.

Eventually, Emmett and Darlina entered the living room, his arm thrown over her shoulder as he said something to her that was too quiet for me to hear. I eyed his arm for a moment before I looked down, stretching a leg out as I clenched my jaw. "Hey, you ready to go?" Em asked, smacking me on the back of the neck.

Scowling, I rubbed the spot where he'd hit me and glanced at him over my shoulder. "The hell?" I grunted, standing up from my place on the couch. "Yeah, I'm ready. You guys been keepin' me waiting." I muttered.

Darlina pulled away from Emmett, adjusting her bag on her shoulder. "Sorry. That was mostly my fault." She apologized, tucking a loose strand of her long hair behind her ear. I met her gaze and raised an eyebrow when she immediately looked away, fiddling with the strap of her bag absentmindedly. "Well, let's get going. The drive is supposed to be about two and a half hours, so we should head out." Emmett said, spinning his car keys around one finger.

He exited the apartment first without waiting for a response, leaving me with Darlina in the living room. I scanned my gaze over the length of her figure, taking in the short, powder pink knit dress that she wore and the white and pink colored sneakers on her feet.

She slipped by me and I trailed behind her, surprise shooting through me when I saw the dress was backless, dipping to the bottom of her spine and exposing her pale skin. I shut the door a bit harder than intended and she jumped, glancing at me over her shoulder with a frown on her lips. I locked the door and shoved the key into my pocket, running a hand through my hair as I pushed by her small frame.

"Are you okay?" She asked me quietly, walking up beside me. I looked down at her and raised an eyebrow. "Mhm." I hummed, stepping a little bit away from her when her arm brushed against mine. Being around her so often must've been getting to me because I could hardly seem to stop myself from checking her out lately, and the fact that I found myself getting jealous of Emmett was frustrating. I'd never been a jealous person before, especially not when it came to my friends.

Maybe I just desperately need to get laid. It wasn't like I was getting any action while stuck in fucking prison, after all, so it'd been a while.

We reached the parking lot and Emmett clicked a button on his car keys, causing his truck to chirp as it unlocked. Darlina's eyes widened as he opened the driver's side door and climbed up into the vehicle, lingering beside me with a frown. "Do we have to take this car?" She asked with a frown, staring up at Emmett, who peered out the open window at her.

"Yes because there's no way in hell I'm making a two and a half hour drive in your tiny ass car." He responded with a snort, raising an eyebrow as he gestured towards her small vehicle. She looked a bit offended and I chuckled, swinging open the door to the backseat. "Unfortunately for you, smalls, I second that. I hate sitting in that car for even ten minutes." I added on, watching as her lips formed a sulky pout at the double refusal from Em and I.

She then looked up at me and pointed to the car. "You get in first." She demanded, causing me to furrow my brows, confused. "Uh, why?" I frowned, to which Emmett cleared his throat to catch my attention. I looked up at him and he gestured to her dress, making me understand rather quickly what he was trying to say. "Oh." I said dumbly. "Right. Sorry." I nodded, climbing up into the truck before her.

Her cheeks were tinted a light pink when she followed me up, smoothing the skirt of her skirt out before she sat beside me in the backseat. "Nobody wanted to sit up here with me?" Emmett pouted from the driver's seat, looking back at us. I shook my head and Darlina just gave him a sheepish smile, as if to silently apologize.

He huffed and shook his head before he started the engine, beginning to reverse out of the parking lot. I stared out the window as we drove, the radio playing quietly on whatever song it was that Emmett had picked. It was about twenty minutes into the car ride that I felt a weight on my shoulder, causing me to turn my head, a frown on my face.

Darlina had fallen asleep, her head lulled onto my shoulder as she slept, none the wiser to her actions. For a moment I debated pushing her away but sighed, deciding to just leave her so I wouldn't accidentally disturb her peace. Besides, she looked comfortable and as long as she didn't know about this, then I didn't mind.

However, I noticed Emmett kept glancing at us through the rearview mirror, and I scowled after he took a third look. "Why do you keep lookin' at me like that?" I grunted, trying to keep my voice down.

A playful smirk tugged at his lips and he snickered, coming to a stop at a red light. "I'm just surprised you're actually letting her sleep on you." He remarked with a shrug, keeping his gaze on the red light in case it changed. I narrowed my gaze at the back of his head. "Why? I can be nice." I said defensively, to which he snorted in amusement as he began to drive again once the light turned green.

"Yeah, of course. You can barely hold a five minute conversation with her." He responded sassily, causing me to roll my eyes. What did he know? I spent much of my days with her throughout the week, just her and I at Dina's. Sure, I wasn't exactly one for making conversation with Darlina, or anyone really, but I spoke to her much more than I used to. "What do you even know?" I sighed, glancing out the window.

Emmett paused. "I know a hell of a lot more than you seem to think I do, dumbass." He huffed, seemingly offended by my dismissal. I shifted and Darlina leaned into my side more, still sleeping peacefully. "Oh, yeah?" I challenged, looking at his eyes through the reflection of the rearview mirror. "Like what?" I asked, and he tightened his hands around the steering wheel as he scowled. "You think I don't notice things? I know you better than anyone, dickhead. All I'm going to say is you're not subtle when you check her out, nor are you subtle when you get jealous."

I felt my face turn hot at his words and I glanced down at Darlina, beyond glad that she hadn't heard any of that shit. "Shut the fuck up." I scowled at him. "I don't get jealous." I denied strongly, which only made him laugh as if he found it genuinely funny.

"Sure you don't, man." He just said, clearly not believing it, and that just made me more frustrated. And though I would never admit it, I didn't blame him for not believing it because it obviously wasn't true. I'd gotten jealous on more than one occasion now and I couldn't explain exactly why, but I simply knew that I found it irritating.

A sigh left me and I turned to stare out the window again, giving up on convincing him otherwise.