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Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-One - Tattoos Are A Complete Bitch

Monday, 6th April 2020

KRYSTALLIA

"Call after you get your tattoo so I could go to your place and see it," Zach said as he cupped my face in his hands. I nodded, sending him a small smile before he pressed a kiss to my forehead, "See you."

"See you."

He lingered a little before turning around and walking to the guys and his car. I turned around and Kris helped me in the van. KT had come with us so he could see the tattoo first hand.

Once all four of us were seated, the driver started driving to the tattoo parlor one of our childhood friends owned. The same one where Kris got his tattoos.

Quickly arriving at the place, we piled out of the van and entered the building. We walked to the receptionist and she immediately recognized us.

"Mr. Thomas will meet with you shortly. Please follow me."

We followed the woman into a private room where Wes Thomas, the friend and also business partner, personally tattoos his customers.

Kris motioned for me to sit on the tattoo chair and I did while pulling out a file of the different designs I haven't gotten around to pick yet.

Sam was more crafty at physical things, like sculpting and making objects, but I could draw pretty well if I do say so myself.

The door on the other side opened and there stood Wes in his uniform. He smiled before sitting on the artist's chair.

"The Estradas are back, and it's time for our princess' turn," he said flashing a smile as I rolled my eyes and he looked at me, "So what and where are we tattooing, Krystallia?"

I handed him four different designs. There's only a slight difference but I couldn't pick for the life of me.

The main theme was a shattered heart and I was planning to have it above my own heart. A 'JR' would be above the heart as it translates to 'James Rebecca'. My parents.

The first one was two halves of the heart separated with shards below, then another one was the heart slightly intact. One was where a few pieces were missing, and the last one was the heart completely intact, but there were cracks like it would shatter the moment someone touched it.

Wes looked at the designs before nodding, "Where do you want it?"

I pointed to my heart, "Right here."

He looked at me and nodded before smiling softly, "I prefer this one," he pointed to the intact one, "It symbolizes that you may look like you've recovered from the incident, but there are still some cracks, like scars that you could never get rid of, right?"

I nodded, slightly shocked that he hit the jackpot on where I was going with it. I explained further, "It's like a broken vase. You can glue the pieces together but there'll still be visible cracks on them. I can recover from the incident, but the mental scars will still be there."

Kris placed a hand on my shoulder before giving a reassuring smile. I smiled back and looked at Wes, "I think I'll go with this one," I said, pointing to the one he was already pointing at and he nodded before handing me a tank top.

"The top part of your chest will need to be visible, so I suggest you wear it so it'll be easier," he explained when he saw my expression. I nodded and got up before walking to his office that he came out of and quickly changed.

I could somewhat hear Kris and Wes talking and decided to listen in.

"She seems to be doing better now," Wes said and Kris agreed, "Much better than before. She went on a rampage a few years back and we almost couldn't stop her."

"What did she do again?"

"Killed off six people with six bullets, a fully loaded .44 Magnum. We were lucky to even get to her before she reloaded or more would be dead."

"Then she almost had herself killed, right?"

"Yeah, she almost put a bullet in her heart from the memories. She said she wanted to be like dad. God, I can't imagine my world without her..."

I heard Kris' voice shrink into a whisper and deflated. I knew what I was causing them, but I couldn't help it. I was too young when I lost them.

After changing into the tank top, I slowly stepped out, holding my hoodie to my chest. Kris looked up and saw my expression before reaching a hand out for me. I walked over to him and he pulled me down to kiss my forehead, "It's okay. We don't blame you."

He knew I would be listening like usual so he reassured me. I smiled at him before he took the hoodie out of my hands and let me get on the tattoo chair.

Wes started working on the tattoo carefully under the warning glare from Kris to make sure he didn't do anything inappropriate. He may be our friend, but Kris was still protective.

KT and Sam, on the other hand, lightened up the mood with stupid birthday jokes and how Kris was constantly in overprotective brother mode.

At least this made the experience more bearable because the pain was a complete bitch.

Thank you for choosing to read AYR.

See you!

-Phantom