The Great Pretender

11: Revival

It was hours- hours- before she got home. Quentin, being the brotherly figure he was, insisted on driving her home, opting to take the late night bus back to his place. She spent all day with him, crying occasionally, laughing more frequently and enjoying the comfortable silences that took up the majority of the day. Her back was stiff from lying absolutely still on the chair while he etched away at her. She hadn't even known what he was going to do, but had blindly let him do it.

Quentin was the one man Cherish would allow that kind of trust. Not even her father was that trusted; then again her father would probably rather choke to death while eating his own hand than pick out and ink a tattoo for his daughter.

Every single one of her tattoos had been inked by Quentin, half of them his idea, but they all fit her excellently. This one would be no different. By the end of the day, she had been too tired to argue with him, and so curled up in the passenger seat, resting her head on his shoulder. Worn out and incredibly sore, she crawled into her bed upon arriving home, neglecting to remove her shoes, much less her clothes.

"I am a creature of the night!!!! Woahohohohohoooo......" (1)

The stereo blared loudly, the table it was on vibrating along with the bass. Cherish leaned back on the couch, letting her head fall over the edge of the arm, "How's it going, Len?"

"Mmhmmm." Upside-down-Len had a bunch of pins in her mouth and was furiously pinning the fabric she held. Within seconds, she stepped on the pedal of the machine and zoomed through another seam. Pulling the pins from her mouth, she glanced at Cherish, "How 'bout you?"

Cherish rolled over, her head throbbing from being upside down, "Okay, I think I've just about figured this all out."

"So?"

Folding her legs under her, she glance at her notebook, "So, even with all the orders we've been doing..."

Len groaned loudly, in protest, but Cherish continued as if she hadn't been interrupted, "Well, we had to buy supplies, right? Then paying Jeb for all the photography stuff, and my mom for half the electricity bill, minus the models' freebies and the website fees... we have..."

"Yeah?"

"Well, we have enough for our trip to Europe!"

Len paused what she was doing and then gasped when the words sunk in, "Seriously? All of us??"

"All of us!"

A loud squeal cut through the basement and then Len screamed, "YES!!"

They had been planning for a long time now, 'since before Jeb and Len became and item' long. This year, they had all booked the time off whatever they had to be doing at the time, and even booked tentative tickets, but it had remained a dream. Now, finally, it would be happening. The four of them, Len, Jeb, Cash and Cherish would be embarking on a cross Europe summer concert tour. Sure they would miss all the concerts at home, and all the parties and everything else, but the prospect of traveling across the world to see all their favourite bands play in exciting new places was far more thrilling.

"Jeb? We're going!"

Cherish laughed, grabbing her own phone from between the cushions on the couch and dialing Cash's number. "Quinn? Put Cash on! Cash? Pack your bags, Babe!"

When she hung up the phone, she picked up a few pieces of fabric that would soon be a sweater, "We are so awesome!"

"Yeah, we are!" Len shouted, "I am so excited! I can't believe this! We are actually going to go away! A whole summer away- with Jeb and Cash no less!"