"Ready to go?" Ki asked as she grabbed her bag. "Yeah" I said then took Colby's hand. "Where are we going?" I asked as she giggled. "To get tattoos." She said as we all made our way to the car.
"Oh! That's intense." I said with a laugh. "You're down though?" Ki said as I nodded. "Yeah, if you guys are." I said and looked at Tara and Kat. "Let's do this!" Kat said and pumped her fist in the air.
I leaned on Colby's shoulder as we drove. I was trying to think of what tattoo I would want to get. I knew I wanted tattoos but I never put much thought into what I would get.
I knew I wanted something to symbolize my parents and grandma but I didn't really know what.
"What are you thinking about?" Colby asked quietly as he took my hand. "I don't know what tattoo to get." I said and looked over at him. "Well, do you have any ideas at all?" He asked as I shrugged. "I want to get something in honor of my parents and grams." I said as a small smile formed on his lips.
"Well...your dad called you bunny so maybe a bunny would be cute." He suggested with a grin. "Hmm that could be cute." I said and looked at Tara. "What are you getting?" I asked as she laughed. "A silhouette of harry styles's album cover." She said without missing a beat.
"No shit?" I asked with a laugh. "Nope, it's going right here." She said and smacked her forearm. "Does Jake know about that?" I asked with a laugh. "Yeah, he's into it." She said with a grin as I look at Kat. "What about you?" I asked as she shook her head.
"No tattoo for me, I'm just here for moral support." She said with a nod. "Well I'm glad you came." I said and reached over to squeeze her hand.
"What about you?" I asked Ki as she focused on the road. "I'm gonna get a little tube of lipstick on the outside of my left wrist, in honor of my Mimi." She said as I smiled. "That's really sweet." I said and rested my head on Colby's shoulder.
When we got to the tattoo parlor I actually started getting nervous. I wasn't nervous about getting a tattoo though, I was nervous about being in public.
I knew how ridiculous I sounded by saying that but bouncing back from this was going to be really hard.
When we walked in Ki went to get us checked in. I stayed as close to Colby as I could as he caressed my hip with his thumb. I made sure I looked around the entire room, just in case someone was watching us, but there was nobody.
I had a feeling that was going to become a habit of mine. It wasn't a bad habit to have by any means but how the reasoning behind it would always sting.
The burly tattoo artist led us back to one of the rooms. He looked intimidating since he had these huge muscles covered with tattoos and a big bushy beard. His eyes were gentle though, giving off a gentle vibe.
"So, what are we getting?" He asked as we all took a seat.
Everyone told him what they wanted one by one before his eyes met mine. "I need help." I said as he chuckled. "Me too, darlin. I assume you meant with your design though." He said as I nodded.
"Well what's your inspiration?" He asked and grabbed some sketching paper and a pen. "My parents and grandma." I said and picked my nails nervously.
"Okay, what about them?" He asked as I sighed. "They passed away...so maybe I could do something that incorporates their birth flowers or something." I said as Colby took my hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.
"That's a great idea, did you want just the flowers or anything else?" He asked as I chewed my lip. "Well, both my parents were born in February so maybe we could do flowers for my grandma and my mom and then maybe have something to do with a bunny since my dad called me bunny growing up." I said as he nodded.
"Let me sketch something up. I think I have an idea. What were the flowers?" He asked and looked up at me. "Irises and Asters." I said as he nodded then got to work.
"Are you excited?" Colby asked quietly as I nodded. "Yeah, how bad does it hurt?" I asked and traced the crown on his wrist with my finger. "Not nearly as bad as getting shot in the chest." He said with a small laugh.
"Well that's good, I got this in the bag." I said then looked up at the girls. "Are you guys excited?" I asked as they nodded. "I can't believe it's finally happening! I've been wanting this for so long." Ki said with a wide smile.
"What was you?" Kat asked. "I don't know. I'm getting now because I guess I kinda just realized how precious life is." Ki said with a soft smile as she reached over and squeezed my hand.
We waited for a couple more minutes before the tattoo artist came into the room. "Alrighty, let's take a look at these." He said and sat down. He showed Ki and Tara the templates he made for them so they could approve.
Once they did he looked at me. "What do you think?" He asked and showed me the template. It was a half wreath of flowers, one side being irises and the other being asters. In the middle was a little bunny which was realistic but small.
"I love it." I said with a smile as my eyes watered. It was better than anything I was expecting. "Great! Who's going first?" The artist asked as Colby kissed the side of my head.
"Me!" Ki yelled and raised her hand. "Alright, come on up." The artist said then patted the chair next to his machine. Ki jumped up and sat down with a big grin on her face.
I loved seeing her so happy. Ki always had a way of brightening a room even when it felt so dark. I was lucky to have her in my life.
Ki and Tara's tattoos didn't take too long since they were both small and simple.
"I love it!" Tara said as she hopped down from the chair. "Look guys! I have Harry on my arm!" She said with a laugh and showed us. "I'm jealous." Colby said as the tattoo artist started cleaning up so I could go.
I felt a rush of panic flow through me once again. It wasn't about the tattoo though, it was about the trauma. I could feel eyes on me again, making the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
I gasped and looked around causing Colby to flinch slightly at my sudden movement. "Hey." He said gently as I trembled and looked around.
The paranoia was already getting old.
"S-sorry." I whispered as he took my hand and rubbed my forearm gently. "You're okay. Did you want me to check again?" He asked as I nodded. "Okay, just stay here with the girls, I'll be right back." He said then kissed my head.
I felt ridiculous asking him to check everywhere we went because I knew Peter was locked up somewhere. It didn't matter though, because for an entire year of my life, someone was watching and I never knew.
It could happen again.
"Ready?" The artist asked as I looked at the doorway where Colby just went. "Oh! Yeah." I said as he looked at me with concern. "I know it's not in my place...but did he give you those bruises?" The tattoo artist asked and gestured to my face.
"Oh! No..he didn't. I was actually uh..well...I was kidnapped." I said as his face dropped. "Oh, I'm sorry. I just wanted to know so I could kick his ass if he did that to you." He said as I breathed a laugh.
"No, thank you for the concern. It may not be happening to me but there are plenty of woman and men who would need someone like you around." I said with a small smile as he started transferring the template onto my forearm.
"Did you want to wait for Colby, V?" Ki asked as I shook my head. "No, you're here." I said and held my hand out to her.
"That's fucking right. Girlfriend mode activated." She said then took my hand. "Ready?" The artist asked as I nodded. "Ready." I said then squeezed Ki's hand.
The first couple lines were pretty bad pain wise, but it was nothing I couldn't handle. It just felt like someone was slapping a sunburn on my arm.
"Is it bad?" Kat asked nervously as Colby came back into the room. "No, it's fine." I said and smiled at Colby. "I have a feeling she's gonna be tattoo happy after this." Colby said as Ki let go of my hand so Colby could hold it.
"That sounds expensive." I said with a laugh as I watched the artist work. It was really interesting seeing the image come to life on my arm.
When when was finished he wiped it off then looked at me. "What do you think?" The artist asked as I smiled. "I love it, thank you." I said then looked at my friends.
"It's so cute!" Kat chirped as I held it up to them. "I love it." Tara said with a grin as he wrapped it up. "Thanks for taking me here guys." I said as we all went to go pay.
"You're welcome, V. We need to do more adventures now...maybe the next one can be finding me a boyfriend." Ki said with a laugh. "Alright, deal." I said then looked down at my tattoo.
I loved that I would have it on my arm forever and that I would always have my parents and grams on me no matter what.