Tattoos (A phan fic)

Chapter 18

(Dan's POV)

"Dan!" Alice throws open the door, and rushes over to me.

"What is it?" I set down a box of yogurt I was opening to set up on the shelves.

"That," she pants, "That guy you share the tattoo with!"

"What about him?" I ask, slowly.

"I saw him here! With another guy!"

"Really? What'd he look like? The other one, that is."

"He had curly brown hair, he was kind of tall... He had a ring with fire as a tattoo on his wrist."

"I think it's PJ..." My heart shatters, and I quietly sit down on the floor, "His soul mate just died. Were they acting like a couple or-"

"PJ said you could consider them one! When they walked in they were holding hands and, and, yeah!"

I sigh, and hold my head in my hands as I feel tears surface to my eyes. Phil left me, he really already has moved on. "I guess I never meant anything to him," I whisper.

Alice sits in front of me, awkwardly landing on her butt. "Don't say that! I'm sure you did! Wait, which one of you broke up with the other?"

"I did, I broke up with him because he was cheating with PJ's friend, who's dead now." I shake my head and as tears start to fall onto my cheeks, my voice shakes. "Shit shit shit, I fucked up really bad."

"I think you did the right thing, Dan. I know how it feels to be hopeless, you know."

"Oh really? Do you?" I whimper, wiping my nose on the inside of my sleeve.

"Yeah, do you want me to tell you a bit about my past?"

I say yes, and she crawls to my side and leans against the cold concrete wall, draping her arm around my shoulders.
"When I was, like, sixteen, six years ago, I got a boyfriend. I had been in a relationship before, but this was my first real one, you know?"

I nod my head.

"Yeah, so we kissed and hugged and went on dates, but there was always this one problem. He'd hit me." She sighs, and I hear her breathing shake. "He would always get so mad at everything, and take it out on me. But I was so fucking blind because I loved him and shit, so I always thought, 'Oh, this is normal. Boys will be boys,' but I knew it was wrong, I didn't want to believe it though. So one day, we went out on our one year anniversary date, and he took me to dinner. Then he brought me to this wide open field so we could watch the sun set. He made a picnic and everything, and it felt so perfect.

"And I spilled his stupid drink. He got mad at me and he slapped me and messed up the blanket, and," her voice escalates as she continues the story, and I look over to see her face is covered in black makeup and tears. "And he punched me in my eye and I was bleeding and tried to run away, and he threw something at me and I kept running, and I screamed, 'fuck you!' At him while I was running away, and then he started running after me, which I didn't think he would do.

"And I ran as fast as I could, but he was still faster than me. So he pushed me down and beat me up and then broke up with me and drove away. The end." She finishes, moving her long, choppy bangs away from her face.

"Fuck, I'm so sorry." I turn to her and wipe the black makeup off her cheeks with my sleeve, being as careful as possible. When I don't think I can do much more, she turns to me and gives a weak smile.

"Thanks, Dan."

"Yeah, no problem." I stand up and offer her my hand, and she slowly holds onto it as I help her up. I pull her into a hug, placing my arms over her small shoulders. She leans her head into my chest, and after a while she pulls away.