Chapter 240: Be Mine
Lola didn’t overthink Atlas’s words and just let it be. The two of them stayed under the overhang until it started thundering and the wind picked up. So, even though it was against her will, they broke into the house to take shelter.
"Goodness," Lola said, standing near the window and staring outside. "Is the cabin going to be all right with this much wind and rain?"
"Those two usually sleep like a log," he said. "Besides, Baby’s going to protect them if the cabin collapses."
Lola looked back at where he was, barely seeing his figure through the darkness of the house. What he said just now gave her a spike of anxiety.
"They’ll be fine," Atlas remarked, propping himself on the armrest of the old couch. "More people are protecting the cabin."
"More people?"
"I would never leave them alone, unguarded."
Lola stared at his figure, and with the lack of light, she couldn’t really see the expression on his face. However, his voice was enough to reassure her.
"Okay," she nodded, crossing her arms as she looked outside again.
For the next several minutes, their voices were absent as she stared outside while he stared at her figure standing near the window. Seeing the growing concern in her eyes, he pushed himself away and looked around the house.
His eyes had already adjusted to the darkness, so he could at least make out the shapes of the furniture. But as he was walking away, Lola’s hurried voice reached him.
"Where are you going?"
He looked back. "To find the main switch."
"Oh."
"Are you scared of the dark?"
"No." Lola pursed her lips, flinching a bit when the sky roared and lightning flashed behind her. "I’m not scared of the dark. It’s more like... being alone in the dark scares me, especially in unfamiliar places."
He went quiet, and in a second, he walked toward her. He stopped a step closer, just enough for her to see his face.
"Come then." He took her hand and, without further ado, led her with him.
Lola not only clutched his hand back, but her other hand held his arm. "Can you even see?"
"Barely."
"Atlas, I don’t think there’s an electrical connection to this place. So even if we find the main switch, it’ll be futile."
"Trying is better than settling into assumptions."
His response silenced her completely. How could she argue with that? Lola didn’t try, taking small steps to stay close to him as if this small house was big enough for her to get lost. However, she wasn’t lying when she said that being alone in the dark in unfamiliar places scared her.
Click.
Lola’s thoughts halted as she heard something. "Did you find it?" she asked.
"Mhm." Atlas gently pulled his other hand from hers, only to guide her hand to hold the hem of his shirt. Once his hand was free, he carefully felt the main switch frame, then pushed a lever that he believed was the main switch.
Tak.
Lola and Atlas intuitively looked up, but all that came was the lightning and the flash of thunder beaming through the window. He pushed a few more switches, but nothing happened.
"We tried," she huffed, taking a step until her back touched the wall. Lola slid down until she slumped on the floor. "Let’s stay here. The thunder sounds fainter."
He remained quiet as he sat down next to her. He bent his knees, resting his arms on them.
Again, a moment of silence fell between them, with the occasional thunder roaring in the sky.
"Still worried about the children?" Surprisingly, it was Atlas who broke the prolonged silence.
Lola turned to him and pressed her lips together. "Are you not?"
"No."
"Then that made me less worried," she quipped. "If you’re not, that means you trust Baby."
"He will lay his life for them," Atlas muttered. "So, I do trust him."
She opened her mouth, but no words came out. In the end, Lola kept quiet for a moment, her gaze turned toward him.
"Stop looking," he said after a minute, not even turning his head to her.
"I’m not looking..." Lola trailed off as the lights in the kitchen suddenly lit up. At the same time they did, Atlas was already looking back at her.
The sudden spread of light compelled her to squint, but somehow, she couldn’t. The person looking back at her had his eyelids drooping dangerously, a look she wasn’t expecting from him, but one she recognized.
His hair was slightly damp and let down, the tips reaching his eyebrows. Not the usual clean look she was used to seeing, but rather, a mess... a hot mess, just as she had imagined. With his back pressed against the wall, his arms on his knees, his head cocked back a little, and his eyes on her, she swallowed hard.
"You look shocked," he pointed out, tilting his head a little.
The lights flickered, but neither of them paid attention.
"I told you to stop looking."
The second those words rolled off his tongue, the lights went out once again. Lola intuitively pushed herself away, only for him to sprawl his arms, his hand settling on her back. With one swift pull, she found herself leaning close to him.
"Atlas..." came out of her shaky voice, her breath hitching as his hand crawled from her spine to settle on her nape.
Lola swallowed another mouthful, her eyes wide as another flash of lightning spread across the sky, giving her a brief look at him.
"I told myself I will not cross the line tonight... not yet," he said under his breath, his face moving closer and closer to hers until their breaths mingled in the small gap between their lips.
"...but I might have overestimated my patience, when I know I have none."
Her lips quivered, and she shut her eyes as she clasped the sleeve of his shirt. Her heart throbbed loud and hard, his hot breaths almost smothering her as their lips were almost grazing each other.
"Lola Young." A glint flickered across his eyes, his fingertips crawling to her back hairline with strong restraint. "...be mine."
Lola gasped, shutting her eyes as her ears began to ring. Her heart drummed violently against her chest while her body flushed feverishly. She unknowingly rested her forehead against his when she lowered it a bit. A stuttering noise escaped her throat, but nothing audible came until—
"Fin—"
The rest of her words didn’t even get the chance to come out as he claimed her lips. And they both knew that wasn’t all he was going to claim and mark as his tonight.
It would be her—all of her.
"Don’t you dare faint on me again."