Roses & Ink || Phan AU

Chapter one

There was a lot of things Phil disliked; cheese, horses, vinegar, fur-less cats and unorganised desk spaces. There was one thing he hated the most though, above everything else, his absolute top pet peeve - and that was cold early mornings. He could handle an early morning, or a cold one, but put the two together and he'd rather die.

He hated mornings just like this one. He has woken up at 5:00am, an hour before his alarm was set to go off. Not long after waking up, he flicked on the kettle and got out a tea bag - nothing woke him up better than a Twinnings green tea. As he waited for the kettle to boil, he stepped outside to get some fresh air - instantly he regretted it.

The cold on the pavement of his door step stuck to the bottom of his feet and snaked its way up his legs, biting his skin and leaving goosebumps as it went. The frosty winds flicked around his already messy hair and nipped at his ears and nose, turning them bright red. "Crap!" He shouted as he sprinted back inside.

Now warm, cuddled up on his small brown couch with a hot tea - phil was smiling. Like he had said earlier, as long as he was warm, he didn't care what time it was. He scrolled through his news feed as he sipped lightly on his drink, he sipped again and again until the white mug was empty.

At the decent time of 6:00am Phil got off of his couch and stumbled back down the hallway into his bedroom to get dressed. With little to no energy - despite the tea - he knew a shower was not going to happen. He searched through the clothes pile in the corner of his small room and found a candy skull sweater and a pair of black jeans to wear accompanied by his black-on-black converses.

Half an hour later, Phil frantically rushed out of his apartment after he realised his shift started at 7:00am, not 10:00am. With his hair barely done, and his teeth not brushed, he sprinted down the street to the bus-stop. His bus was just pulling up just as he turned the corner - maybe today was going to be his day.

Spoiler: today wasn't his day at all. As soon as he stepped onto the bus, an arrogant teenager threw their coffee all over his jeans, leaving a brown stain on his crotch. Half way through his bus trip he accidentally pressed the button and felt too awkward to tell someone so he got off ten stops too early.

Then, when he thought things couldn't get any worse, it started to rain. Not just a small romance-movie-sized drizzle, but a horror-movie-bucketing-down-swimming-pools type rain. For the third time today, he ran like his life depended on it. Luckily though just a corner and half a street down was the black bricked building he worked in.

He burst through the glass doors, an hour late for his shift. The two other people - Hayden and Mia - that worked the morning shift were busy cleaning the place up before the first appointment started at, well, in thirty minutes. The two of them turned and looked at him with wide eyes and open mouths - it wasn't every day you saw Phil Lester with a coffee stain on his jeans, messy hair and drenched clothes.

Hayden let out a stifled laugh, "What happened to you man? You look like a drowned rat!"

Mia slapped his shoulder, "Hayden that's rude," she turned and looked at me apologetically, "I'm sorry Phil, I think he is a little hung over from last night."

Phil chuckled quietly and walked into the back room, where he placed his black bag into his pigeon hole. As much as he hated cold early mornings, Phil loved working the early shift - the people were quirky, funny and made the long day seem to fly by.

As he walked back into the main room, the doorbell chimed. The three of them looked back towards the door and saw their customer - a small petite woman. Phil jumped up and smiled brightly at the customer, and Hayden disappeared into the back room alongside Mia. The woman looked slightly intimidated, but it was Phil's job to calm her down.

"Hello welcome to Ink! My name is Phil and I'll be giving you your tattoo today!" Phil said eagerly, pausing to check in the book for a name, "You're, Anne, right?"

She nodded, "Hello Phil, yes my name is Anne! I'm really nervous!"

Ah, Phil thought, we have a hyperactive one. "Oh Anne there is no need to be! The pain isn't bad, you're just psyching yourself out - it'll be okay." He said comfortingly, a hand on her shoulder.

Anne smiled nervously, "Do you mind if I sit down?"

"No of course not! There are some books with designs in them beside you on the table if you would like to flick through them." Phil said, trying to make her feel at home.

With that, Anne sat down and browsed the designs and Phil wandered into the back room the get prepared for the procedure. Hayden had got it all set out for him, the gloves and disinfectant, the needles and ink - everything he needed he had.

When Phil emerged from the back room, Mia had gotten Anne into the chair, and Anne was set on the tattoo she wanted. It was common, she wanted a simple red rose on her forearm, with specifically three thorns. Phil was always tempted to question the meaning behind people's tattoos, but having many himself he knew how intrusive that was.

"Okay Anne, this is Mia. She will sit with you while I go out back for just a quick second." Phil said as he disappeared behind the black door.