57

~Darlina's POV~

When Saturday rolled around, I strolled into the living room after I had taken a shower that morning, not surprised to find Atlas lounging by himself on the couch. Emmett was still asleep, on account of the fact he'd worked the night shift at the restaurant last night and had gotten home very late.

I smiled, gently combing my fingers through his hair as I leaned over the back of the couch. "Good morning." I greeted him softly, resting my head on his shoulder.

He tilted his head back and hummed, a large tattooed hand encircling my wrist. "Morning. Thought you'd never wake, smalls." He hummed, absently brushing his thumb across my skin. I rounded the couch and plopped down beside him, throwing one of my legs over his. "I almost always get up early, though. Excuse me if I think I'm allowed to sleep in a little every once in a while." I huffed, glancing up at him.

Atlas chuckled and threw an arm over my shoulder as he glanced at the clock on the wall. "It's almost lunch time." He stated, flicking his eyes down to mine again. "You want to go out to eat somewhere?" He suggested with a cock of his eyebrow. My interest piqued, I bit the inside of my cheek. "Where would you want to go?" I responded.

The two of us just stared at each other like we were waiting for the other to make a suggestion.

Eventually, Atlas rolled his eyes as he realized I wasn't going to say anything and shook his head. "How about Squire House? I've seen it open a couple times on the way to Jac's and I haven't been there before. It wasn't there before I was sentenced." He mentioned, the name of the restaurant not one I recognized even a little. I hadn't even seen the restaurant he was referring to, but I nodded my head nonetheless. "Okay." I agreed easily, open to trying a new restaurant.

Now that I knew that we were going to be going out for lunch, I stood reluctantly from my spot on the couch so I could get ready. I entered my room and began to look for something to wear, humming in thought as I searched through my closet.

After a little while, I managed to find a short denim skirt and a cropped white camisole with a floral pattern and threw on a little cardigan that went with it. I slid my feet into a pair of white converse and spritzed some perfume on myself before I returned back to the living room, where I found Atlas waiting patiently as he leaned against the wall.

He looked up as I entered and pushed off the wall, his hands deep in his front pockets. "Ready to go?" He hummed, cocking up an eyebrow while I searched for my keys, which I quickly found on the entry way table beside the front door. "Let's go!" I chirped, already bounding out of the apartment with him in tow.

The drive to Squire House, which Atlas ended up having to do considering I didn't know the location, only took about fifteen minutes before we arrived. To my surprise, the parking lot was rather full, so it must've been a good restaurant.

I followed closely behind Atlas as we headed inside after parking in a spot, gripping the back of his shirt when I saw how crowded it was when we entered. Atlas glanced at me over his shoulder, an amused smile tugging at his lips, but didn't comment on my habit. The last thing I wanted was to lose him so I stuck close to him, following closely as we were led to a table by a waiter.

Towards the back of the restaurant, Atlas and I sat across from each other at the table we were shown to, my eyes curiously wandering over the new surroundings.

We looked through the menu before relaying our orders to the waiter once he returned, notepad and pen in hand. The waiter then left and Atlas and I were alone, my eyes finding his as I diverted my attention to him. My cheeks warmed slightly beneath his attention and I crossed one leg over the other, leaning forward into the table. "I'm kind of surprised you suggested that we go out for lunch. You usually hate going to places where there's a lot of other people." I pointed out.

Atlas chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck, looking almost a bit embarrassed. Perhaps he didn't think that I had noticed that about him.

"Yeah, I don't exactly like being around people unless it's people I know." He admitted, trailing his eyes over my features. "But I wanted to go somewhere with you. I mean, I feel like we either order in food or eat something at home, and we never have really eaten together without Emmett around. Just you and I, I guess, is what I wanted." He said, tapping a tattooed finger on the table as he looked away.

For a moment, I merely stared at him, wondering if I was reading too much into what he was saying or if he was truly saying what I thought he was. "So...you wanted to go on a date." I said quietly, feeling somewhat shy.

He smiled slightly and ran his fingers through his hair, the loose strands falling back into place immediately. "Maybe...Something like that." He shrugged, very clearly trying to play it cool yet I could see the faint color in his cheeks. A blush. The sight of it made me giggle, knowing how rare of a sight it was.

"I didn't take you as the type to even want to go on dates." I told him, brushing a strand of hair back when it fell into my face. He just nodded and glanced up at me, no longer staring at the table in order to avoid my gaze. "I'm really not." He agreed, his honesty making my lips twitch up. "This is the first time I've been on one." He added, surprising me a little.

"Really?" I frowned, perplexed by this. "But I thought you've been with a lot of girls."

Nodding his head, he leaned forward into the table as well, biceps bulging as he crossed his arms against the flat surface. "I have slept with a lot of girls, but that's it." He corrected me with a shrug. "But I haven't dated anyone, ever. So I never had a reason to go on dates with girls."

The shock I was feeling must've shown on my face because he scowled when he noticed. "Why do you look so shocked?" He grunted, and I quickly shook my head. "Ah, well, I don't know..." I trailed, biting the inside of my cheek. "I guess I just always assumed you'd done everything related to being, you know, with someone." I admitted, now somewhat embarrassed to be saying that to him, especially since I just learned that wasn't the case.

"Nah." He scoffed. "I never took girls out. I've done a lot of things sexually but that's it. Nothing truly...intimate to me." He said, and I frowned slightly. "You don't find it intimate when you have sex?" I asked, lowering my voice slightly just so nobody would hear our conversation and think we were odd. An amused smile tugged at his lips. "No." He said simply.

It was a quick answer, like he didn't even have to think about it, and I didn't quite know how to feel about that.

"Oh." I mumbled, leaning back in my chair as I looked at him. "Then...what about what we've been doing? What is that to you?" I couldn't help but to ask. Admittedly, my feelings were a little bit hurt.

He paused, glancing up as the waiter returned to place our cups in front of us before leaving once more. "That's not the same, Lina, and you know it." He stated, narrowing his eyes at me as though I had offended him. I just looked down at the table and pursed my lips. "Isn't it, though?" I grumbled, frowning.

Atlas just stared at me as if unable to believe what I'd just said. "I already fuckin' told you I like you. Why would I ever put you in the same category as any other woman I've been with, smalls?" He swore, running a hand through his hair. My cheeks burned with embarrassment as I saw the frustration that he spoke with, showing that he truly meant what he'd just said. It seemed like I had actually offended him, and I was mortified that I had genuinely upset him.

"I-I'm sorry." I stammered quietly, flicking my eyes up to meet his. "But I just.. I didn't really think of it that way, I guess." I tried to explain weakly. "All I thought was that you might think the same about me, that it's just..nothing, you know."

"That's never something I thought about you for even a second, Darlina." He stated seriously, causing a blush to creep up my neck and into my cheeks. "Thank you." I said quietly, anxiously bouncing my foot. "Although I still don't understand how you've never had a girlfriend or been on a date," I giggled. "I'm kind of glad I'm your first for something, at least."

As he raised his eyebrows, I cleared my throat awkwardly and quickly blurted out, "Y-Your first date, I mean." I clarified. "Not your girlfriend, obviously." I said with a nervous laugh.

Amused by the panic in my voice, a smirk tugged at his lips. "I know what you meant." He assured me with amusement, shaking his head. I still couldn't calm the heat in my face and looked down at my cup, swirling my straw around within it. "Right. G-Good." I whispered.

"Cute." He said. And by he muttered it beneath his breath, chuckling, I knew I wasn't supposed to hear it.