51

~Darlina's POV~

I yawned as I woke up the next morning, not surprised that the bed was empty on the side where Atlas had been sleeping last night. That was how it was every morning.

Today I had the day off, which meant Atlas had taken my car to work and wouldn't be needing me to pick him up. That also meant that I could spend my day at home, doing whatever I pleased. I crawled out of bed, rubbing my eyes as I wandered out of my room to head to the kitchen for some water. Usually I would immediately take a shower, but my throat was feeling incredibly dry, so I figured it could wait a few minutes extra than normal.

However, it was to my surprise when I entered the kitchen and saw Emmett, who I had thought had to work today. It would seem not, though. A smile formed on my lips. "Good morning, Em." I chirped, grabbing a cup from the cabinet that I then filled with water from the fridge's water dispenser.

"Hey, Li." He greeted from in front of the stove, flipping something in a skillet. I sipped from my cup of water and curiously poked my head around his shoulder, eyeballing the breakfast sandwich that he was making. "I didn't know you had the day off today." I stated, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

Emmett looked over at me to respond but then glanced down at my neck as if distracted by something, his eyes widening in surprise. "What the hell happened to your neck?" He asked, gaze zeroed in on the spot that caught his attention. Confused, I frowned and furrowed my brows. "My neck?" I echoed, raising a hand to touch the area that he was looking at. I felt nothing there, so I pulled my hand back and looked down at it, wondering if I'd had something weird on it, but nothing was on my hand when I pulled it away. "What is it?" I asked.

Raising his eyebrows, he lifted the spatula he was using and pointed it at the spot on my neck that had captured his attention. "You've got hickies all over your neck!" He exclaimed, causing my eyes to widen in surprise. Then, I huffed.

Atlas. He left hickies on me and I didn't even know!

"Who did that? They look pretty fresh." Em stated, observing them a little closer as he leaned towards me with narrowed eyes. My cheeks burned and I held my hand over the marks as if that'd make them disappear, unsure what to say. "Um," I mumbled, looking away as I struggled to come up with an excuse. "Nobody." I lied horribly, causing Em to give me a flat look.

He crossed his arms over his chest. "Nobody?" He repeated. "Does this nobody live under the same roof as us? Because I feel like I know him." He said, cocking up an eyebrow knowingly at me. It was clear that he very well knew who had left these hickies on me.

I sighed and dropped my hand from my neck, brushing my finger over the condensation on my cup. "It was Atlas." I admitted, mumbling. He grinned widely and then chortled, turning off the stove. "I knew it! You guys have been fooling around!" He exclaimed, causing my jaw to drop as I looked up at him, gobsmacked. "What?" I squeaked, taken aback.

Grinning, Emmett set the spatula in his hand down on the counter beside the stove top. "You heard me." He said with a smug smile on his lips, crossing his arms over his chest. "I knew you two were messing around together." He repeated himself, glancing down at the bruises on my neck. "Although I didn't realize you had gotten so...close. Are you guys just fucking or what's going on?" He asked, the question causing my cheeks to burn as I stared at him, stunned. He really had no qualms whatsoever about this, it seemed. In fact, he seemed excited at the news. I thought he'd be more uncomfortable, but clearly I'd been wrong.

Rather quickly, I realized what he had just said and shook my head wildly. "We're not having sex." I corrected him swiftly, fiddling with my fingers shyly. "No?" He narrowed his gaze at me like he was trying to decide whether or not he believed me. "Then you've just hickies on your neck for nothing?"

"All I said was we haven't had sex together." I mumbled, glancing down at the floor. "I never said we weren't doing other things." I added, earning a snort of amusement from him as his lips twitched up into a smile. "And...?" He asked expectantly, but I just looked up at him with a confused furrow between my brows, unsure what he wanted. "And what?" I frowned.

Rolling his eyes, Em gave me an exasperated look. "Well, is that it?" He wondered, his smile fading as he pinned his gaze on mine. "Are you guys just...you know, having fun? It's nothing serious, or are you guys trying to date...?" He asked, cocking up an eyebrow. I cringed at the question, running a hand through my likely messy hair. Of all of the questions to ask, he asked this one, and it just reminded me of what had happened last night, which I didn't want.

"Um," I pursed my lips and then let out a heavy sigh, unsure if I should share with him. Eventually, I decided it didn't really matter much if he knew because he already suspected we had something going on, and I preferred him to know than speculate about what Atlas and I were.

"I think right now we're just having fun, I guess." I said, though I still wasn't sure if that was what I would call it. To me, it wasn't just something I was doing for fun but rather because I truly liked Atlas and was developing feelings for him. It wasn't like I could say we were dating though, seeing as Atlas had made it very clear that he wasn't ready for that yet and that wasn't what this was. 'Having fun' was maybe the closest thing to describe it.

"You guess?" Emmett repeated, a confused look on his face at my words. I shrugged my shoulders weakly, biting my lip. "Well, Atlas said he doesn't want to date me yet, so right now we're just...getting to know each other still." I explained, watching as understanding dawned across his features. "Oh." He mumbled, now frowning. He didn't necessarily look upset about the news, but he no longer looked as happy as he had at the beginning of this conversation.

"Are you okay with that, though?" Emmett suddenly asked, eyeing me curiously. I paused, picking up my cup to take a sip of water as I thought about it. "I think so." I decided, setting my cup back down again. Em just stared at me, reaching up into the cabinet beside him to grab a plate for himself. "I-I mean, I like him a lot but I don't want him to feel pressured or rushed into anything with me. For right now, I think this is good while we get to know each other more." I added.

Emmett just hummed in acknowledgement at my words, placing the plate on the counter. "As long as you're okay with it too, that's fine." He said, giving me a small smile.

Then he formed a teasing smile as he pointed a long finger to my neck. "Although I'd make sure to cover those when you go to work tomorrow, Li." He teased, snickering when I scowled at him, embarrassed. I fell into silence with him as he began plating his food, my thoughts beginning to drift to last night.

"Atlas told me you two used to...share girls sometimes." I said, trying to put it as lightly as I possibly could. Apparently, it wasn't light enough because Em whipped his head in my direction, eyebrows raised high enough to touch his hairline. "He did what?" He coughed from the surprise, almost making me want to laugh. "Yep." I nodded, not bothering to repeat it because I knew very well that he had heard me.

"Why are you bringing that up? That was years ago." He frowned, raising an eyebrow at me. I bit the inside of my cheek, now growing a bit embarrassed. "Because I wanted to know more about...what he likes. I figured maybe you would know." I said with uncertainty.

He looked at me for a moment and then sighed, pushing his plate away as he turned towards me completely, giving me his undivided attention while I awaited his answer. "Li, you know I'm not going to tell you that shit." He sighed, crossing his arms when I furrowed my brows. "Why not?" I asked, only earning a shake of his head. "Because I know how you are. You'll start to think about him with other women and then make yourself upset." He responded simply, causing my lips to pout. Although I didn't want to admit it, I knew he was right.

I hung my head slightly, shoulders slumping. "Okay." I grumbled, sulking a bit.

A chuckle left him and he bumped me with his elbow before picking up his plate. "Don't pout." He teased, a playful glint in his eye. "I'd say you don't have to worry much about not knowing what he likes, judging by the state of your neck." He remarked. I flushed and shoved at his shoulder as he turned away from me, not appreciating his jibe.

All he did was laugh, exiting the kitchen.