"Sometimes memories are the worst forms of torture."
-
"Well, if it's not frostbite, then what is it?"
"It's disgusting is what it is, Carol," Gwen scrunches up her face.
"Yeah, seriously. Listen to Pengwen and get it off the table. We're eating h...
Thefirst thing Gwen wakes up to is a light tapping on her shoulder. Instead of seeing who it is, Gwen groans and stuffs her face further into her pillow. "Gwen. Oh, my god. Wake up," Dustin groans, tapping Gwen's shoulder more aggressively.
"Ugh, fine," Gwen rolls over and opens one eye to look at the alarm clock next to her bed, then looks back at Dustin. "Jesus, Dustin, It's 6:30."
"Yeah, I'm going to Mike's before school," he shrugs, putting his hands in his pockets.
"And you couldn't just leave a note?" Gwen sits up in her bed, half the blanket falling off her body.
"Well... yeah. I guess I could've," Dustin looks at the ground.
"Oh, my god." Gwen starts to lay back down, but Dustin stops her.
"Wait!" Gwen pauses and looks at him with raised eye brows. "I... actually wanted to ask you something."
He looks nervous, so Gwen sits up a little straighter. "What is it? Is everything okay?" she rushes out.
"Uh, yeah. Yeah, everything's fine," Dustin mumbles, still not meeting her eyes.
Gwen criss crosses her legs and pats on her bed for Dustin to sit down. Dustin does so, albeit apprehensively. "Then, what's up?" Gwen asks.
Dustin takes a deep breath. "Well, okay. I know you don't like talking about it, so you don't have to answer, but I honestly was just curious, you know? But you don't have to answer or anything. Like, it's okay-"
"Dustin," Gwen cuts off his rambling. "Just ask. You're making me nervous."
Dustin nods his head and looks up to finally meet her gaze. "That tattoo," Gwen immediately stiffens. "...Where did you get it?"
Of course Dustin knows about the tattoo. Gwen has lived in the same house as him for years. He was bound to see it at some point. He just never asked about it because even the littlest mention of Gwen's past used to make her spiral.
Gwen is the one to look away this time, pressing her lips together and pulling her sleeves over her hands, grabbing at the bunched material. "Why... why do you ask?"
"I'm just curious, I guess," he lies. "Like I said, you don't have to tell me."
"Some... bad people gave it to me," Gwen says just above a whisper.
