9

~Darlina's POV~

I shifted in my spot now that Atlas and I were alone, crossing my legs nervously. The scent of different foods filled the food court and I bit my lip, wishing Emmy would hurry up.

"You find me intimidating." Atlas suddenly stated, catching me off guard. My eyes widened in surprise and I met his gaze, wanting to shrink into myself due to the way he looked at me. I assumed that he must've overheard the conversation between Emmett and I in the changing room, which made sense. He had only been a few feet away. It shouldn't have surprised me that he'd heard us, but I still couldn't help the embarrassment that came with knowing that.

"Well," I began nervously stumbling over my words, biting on my bottom lip as I tried to calm down. "I-I mean, I do a little, yes." I admitted sheepishly, not seeing much of a point in lying. He leaned forward to brace his arms against the surface of the table, making his biceps bulge even bigger than they already were. "Why?" He demanded to know, keeping his strong gaze on me. My leg bounced nervously and I looked down at the table for a moment, playing with my fingers.

For a moment I grasped at straws as I tried to think of the best way to explain it, but I came up with nothing. "You're just really...tall and muscular and you have a lot of tattoos." I said, hesitating before I added in a whisper, "And you have a very mean looking resting face."

Atlas stared at me for a few moments, as if he was waiting for me to say something else, but I just looked away awkwardly. "Are you scared of me, then?" He asked eventually, making my eyes flick back over to him again as I wildly shook my head. "No." I said honestly. "You don't scare me, I suppose. I don't feel threatened by you, if that's what you're asking." I told him softly, crossing one leg over the other. He pursed his lips, not looking as though he quite believed me. "But yet you find me intimidating." He muttered. "So is there really a difference?"

A frown grew on my lips at his words. "Of course there is." I huffed, feeling a bit defensive. I didn't want him to think I was scared of him. "If I was scared of you, I doubt you'd still be living with us." I said honestly. I'd assumed it was the best way to put it, but by the way his eyes narrowed, I wondered if I had been wrong.

"I'm not sure what you're thinking, but I don't mind you living with us. I-I mean, it's fine with me." I stammered stupidly, almost positive that I'd said something wrong before. It seemed that was the case again because he tightly clenched his jaw, causing me to shut my mouth. Why were my words failing me so horribly right now?

"Is that so?" He grunted, leaning back into his seat with his arms crossed over his chest. I could hear the tap of his foot against the ground as he pinned me with his stare. "Well, I'm glad I have your approval, since you think I need it." The snippy tone of his voice made me realize that I had just upset him by saying that, but I didn't understand why. Dumbfounded by how quickly the conversation had gone south, I just blinked at him, stunlocked.

"T-That's not what I meant!" I spluttered, wringing my fingers together. I bit my lip and began bouncing my leg a bit quicker than before, flustered. "It's just..." I sighed and hung my head, struggling for words.

Seconds passed as I collected myself before I looked at him again, feeling just a bit more calm. "All I meant is that I don't think you would do anything to hurt Emmett or I." I insisted quietly, setting my hands in my lap. He paused and shifted, lazily parting his legs in an attempt to relax. "Then you just think I look scary." He muttered, not sounding very thrilled about that either.

I pursed my lips and cocked my head to the side. "Hmm..." I mumbled to myself as I studied his features. Though it was true that he was intimidating, I didn't think it was solely because of his looks. "No." I decided with a shake of my head. "You just have kind of an unapproachable air about you, I think." I said quietly, finally able to better place my finger on what exactly it was that I found intimidating about him. It was mostly to do with the way he presented himself rather than his looks. My eyes trailed over his broad shoulders and down his muscular torso, causing me to shift uneasily and pray there was no trace of a blush on me.

Atlas scoffed under his breath and turned his head, staring into a crowd of people so his attention was no longer focused on me. I quietly observed him and curled my fingers into the fabric of my skirt. He seemed annoyed, judging by the tick of his jaw and the hard look in his eye, but it was hard to tell because his face was often very stony in the first place.

Part of me wanted to ask if he was upset, but I worried that I'd make matters worse and instead resigned myself to silence until Emmett came back about five minutes later. I smiled as he sat down beside Atlas and slid each of us our burgers and fries, causing me to perk up while I happily opened.

I began eating, completely forgetting about the conversation with Atlas.

**

A sigh of relief left me as I sat down on my bed after we all got home a few hours later, kicking off my shoes onto the floor.

I fell back into my pink comforter and sighed happily, glad to be out of the mall. Atlas had gone to so many different stores that my legs were aching a little from all the walking I'd done today. Still, I was glad that he had at least been able to get some new clothes since he didn't really have that many before.

After laying in bed for a while, my phone began to ring as it laid on my blankets just a foot or so away. I rolled onto my stomach and snatched it up, pressing it to my ear once I answered. "Hi." I chirped into the phone, crossing my ankles behind me. "Hey, turd." Responded my best friend, Avani. A smile graced my face at the sound of her voice. We'd been best friends since sophomore year of high school, however I hadn't had as much time to spend with her lately, nor had she had any time for me.

It was a good thing that Avani and I had always been understanding of one another, and didn't really feel the need to talk at all times to consider the other a close friend. Not anymore, at least. Those days had been gone since we graduated high school.

"What's up?" I asked, wondering why she had called me out of the blue, especially now that it was after seven PM. We didn't usually call one another at this time. "I've been trying to contact you all day, Li." Avani sulked through the phone, and I frowned. "Sorry, I've been out at the mall with my roommates." I said with a huff. I shifted and almost yelped when the underwire of my bra somehow stabbed painfully into my rib, causing me to quickly sit up. "Roommates?" She echoed with confusion. "I thought you only had one."

It dawned on me then that I hadn't told her yet and my lips parted. "I did, but Em's friend needed a place to go because he just got out of prison, so he doesn't have a place of his own right now." I explained quietly, slipping out of bed to head over to my dresser. "And...you're okay with that, right?" Av asked with slight suspicion, earning a laugh from me. "Yes, yes." I assured her. "He's a little bit of a grump, you could say," I said as quietly as possible. "But he seems genuinely harmless."

Avani hummed in approval. "That's good." She murmured as I began looking for something to change into that was more comfortable. I wanted to get out of this bra.

"So, what'd you call for?" I asked curiously, searching through my pajama drawer. "Ah, right." She clicked her tongue as she remembered the reason she called. "I was going to ask if you and Emmett wanted to go out next weekend for dinner. Remi said he'd pay, for once, too." She said, snorting in amusement at the mention of her brother. He did not like to pay for food for anyone, mostly because our friend group would often take advantage of that by ordering anything they could get away with—especially Avani and Wren.

"Really?" I perked up and grinned, stepping into the bathroom to quickly change. I tossed my old clothes into the dirty laundry hamper and promptly exited my room, looking around for Emmett. "But Remi never pays. You'd sooner have to force his hand before he'd usually do that." I giggled as I entered the living room, earning a snort from her because she knew it was true.

My eyes landed on Emmett as he sat with Atlas on the couch, watching me curiously. I quickly extended Avani's invitation to him and he hesitated, glancing towards Atlas. "If he can join, I'll go." He decided.

I hesitated and then nodded. "Em wants to know if Atlas, my other roommate, can come too." I told Avani, plopping down on the unoccupied couch. She paused and I could practically see the hesitancy on her face already, which made sense. It wasn't like she knew him. "Okay." Av agreed after a few seconds, to which I gave Emmett a thumbs up at her approval. "What time?" I asked, curling my legs up on the couch. She hummed and I heard a bit of faint, incomprehensible talking from her end of the line.

"Does Sunday at six thirty work?" She wondered. I confirmed that it was great and we chatted for a bit longer before hanging up, at which point I rose from the couch. Emmett raised an eyebrow at me as I stretched and then smiled knowingly. "Going to bed already?" He teased.

A huff left me and I leaned over to hug him, patting his head before I headed back to my room to sleep early.