I never had it easy.
From watching my parents succumb to the horrors of a car accident to craving the healing presence of the man I love-my entire life-I had navigated through this messy maze I call my life with a shard of hope in my heart.
Every da...
Hold your heart in your hands as you read this chapter — it may fall and break.
Chapter 34 | A Picture Frozen Forever
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"Is it going to hurt?" Aaryan questioned, his voice laced with both hope and fear.
He had come across countless videos and infographics on the Internet, had bit his teeth at the screams of people getting it for the first time, mentally chiding himself — I can get through this. It's momentary pain, like cutting your finger slicing fruit, or stumping your toe on a table leg.
It would hurt, and his mind wouldn't be able to wander from the constant pain, but in a few days it would fade away. It would hurt — whether it was a syringe, or a knife, or a needle — he just needed Ghazanfar to tell him it wouldn't.
Under the dull red lights of the tattoo parlour, Ghazanfar's eyes shone, and he twisted his head in his seat to face Aaryan. "On second thought, maybe we should just go down to the stationary store and get those temporary tattoos with florals and hearts on them."
Aaryan rolled his eyes, the said tattoos envisioning themselves in his head. He remembered those tiny booklets littered all around the house — with both Maha and Saboor dabbing wet cotton pads on each other's arms and wrists and peeling the paper off to reveal the most painstakingly girly art he'd ever seen.
"I'm not scared."
"Of course not," Ghazanfar snapped, a grin breaking out over his face. "All I see is excitement dancing in your eyes."
One corner of Aaryan's lips tilted upwards. "Something tells me this isn't your first time."
Ghazanfar looked straight ahead, fidgeting on the chair he was sat on. Despite the lack of light in the room, his eyes had dimmed — as if the darkness that was only subject to the appearance of night time had suddenly materialized itself into his conscious reality.
It struck Aaryan then — what did he know of the man who had taken him under his wing, who he had allowed to lead him to a place he knew was forbidden? This man Aaryan was following blindly, how was he so sure he wasn't blindfolded himself?
The door of the room creaked open, breaking Aaryan out of his train of thought. A boy around his age walked in, followed by another who looked old enough to pass for his father. Aaryan's eyes fell on the tools in their hands, securely wrapped in sterilized packages, and he immediately looked away, his throat clogging up at the thought that in a few minutes' time, one of those needles would be digging into his skin.
