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Eli thought about his old self constantly. He remembered when he would cry to his mom about what kids at school were saying about him or when he came home crying after being made fun of about his lip. He was always crying. Always. He cried to himself about his life would never be normal, how he wouldn't have any friends besides Demetri, how no girl would want to be with him because of his facial deformity, and how he would always be a loser. Being confident was something Eli had never felt in his entire life. He never thought he would have courage to stick up for himself and come away from his shyness. He never thought a girl would ever blink in his direction, let alone want to be his boyfriend.
Eli was in love. Completely in love and he didn't know how to handle it. Odessa was his first girlfriend. She was the first girl to ever take interest in him. It was all still so new. He thought maybe that was the reason he forgot sometimes that they were together because he had been pining after her and now he finally got her. It didn't seem real to him sometimes.
But it was real. He knew that as he laid on his stomach in the tattoo shop, his hand in hers as she was standing beside him, rubbing her thumb across his knuckles. Sometimes he cried to himself about her, about how lucky he was to have her and how stupid he could be for lashing out when she was just trying to make him better. That's who she was; the peacemaker. Odessa was the goodness that the world needed but she still human and she had feelings. He hurt her feelings and he knew that. He wanted to make it up to her the best way he knew how.
The last motion of the tattoo fun etched his skin as his tattoo artist wiped it clean. He had changed the color of his mohawk from blue to red and had the blue on his tattoo changed to red as well. "There you go brother." Rico announced.
"Thanks, Rico." Eli said and he got up from the seat.
Odessa shook her head in disbelief with a grin on her face as she eyed the fresh tattoo on his chest. It was a small but beautifully detailed butterfly. He had gotten it for her. It was a nickname that her mother gave to her when she was still a baby. She was her butterfly. It stuck with her throughout her entire life and now her friends knew about it.
"What do you think?" He asked her with a smirk.
"It's beautiful." Odessa answered truthfully. She cupped his face in her hands. "Don't you think the guys will make fun of it when they see it? Think it's kind of girly?"
He shrugged. "Who cares what they think. This is for you and you only."
She beamed and pressed her lips to his. She followed him hand and hand to his car. She turned her head to him when he didn't start the engine. "Everything okay?" She lightly asked.
Eli sucked in a breath. "I have something I wanna say to you," he started
Her heart dropped to her stomach. "You're not breaking up with me are you? You just got a tattoo—"
