Frenemies? Or Something More?: a Blake Gray Fanfiction *completed*

16

"Good morning, dear," my mom said, opening the door gently. "How are you feeling?"
I sat up. "I'm fine."
She nodded, sitting down on the bed next to me. "Are you ready to talk about what happened yesterday?"
"No, and honestly, I would really prefer to not talk about it ever."
"Are you sure? You looked really upset last night."
I nodded. "Positive. If I talk about it, I'm only going to relive the pain over and over."
She nodded as if she understood, but I could tell that she wanted to push the issue. "Okay. Let me know if you change your mind."

As she left the room, my phone rang. "Hello?"
"Hey, Tiffany. It's Jaden. Are you still up to get a tattoo today?"
I had completely forgotten. "You know what, yeah. Yeah, I am."
"Okay," Jaden laughed. "Can I come to get you in like an hour?"
"Yeah, of course. I'll see you then."

I got out of the bed, heading to the bathroom to take a quick shower. I let the water cascade down my shoulders, relishing in the sting of the hot water. I turned off the water, wrapping myself in a towel and roughly drying in my hair. 
I decided to go without makeup, quickly braiding my hair. As I threw on a t-shirt and jeans, I looked at my phone, and Jaden's name flashed across my screen. 
"Hey, I'm here," he said. 
"I'll be right out," I said, grabbing my wallet and heading down the stairs. "Bye, Mom, Dad! I'll see you guys later!"

As I closed the door behind me, I saw Jaden's car in the driveway. I hadn't realized that Blake was going to be coming, too, but there he was in the front seat. "Hey, guys," I said, getting in the back seat. 
"Hey, Tiffany. How are you?" Jaden asked, pulling out of the driveway. 
I sighed. "I've been better. I've had a lot of relationship problems recently."
Blake clearly hadn't filled Jaden in on last night's events, which was obvious by the look of panic on Jaden's face. "Is everything okay? I swear that I didn't know."
Blake interjected. "We're just working through some stuff right now. It happens."
I nodded, not wanting to argue, and looked out the window. The ride was short and silent as we made our way to the parlor. 
"You ready?" Jaden asked, turning to look at me. 
I nodded, and Blake opened my door for me, extending his hand. Without thinking, I took it, and we walked hand in hand into the parlor. 

"Hey, Isaac. What's up, man?" Jaden greeted the artist. 
Isaac stood up. "Not too much, man. Are we tatting all of you today?"
Jaden nodded. "Yeah, it's Tiffany's first tat, so she wants something small. I don't know what Blake is doing, but I'm gonna do the neck tattoo that we talked about the last time that I was here."
Isaac nodded. "Who's going first?" 
Jaden and Blake both looked at me, motioning for me to go. Nervously, I agreed. 
"Alright, sweetie. What are we doing today?" 
"I just want to do a little heart right here," I said, pointing to a spot on my wrist. 
Isaac nodded again. "Alright. Do you want like a cookie-cutter heart, or do you want one that looks like someone drew it on you?" 
I hadn't even considered that, but as soon as he suggested it, I knew my answer. "I think that a scrawled heart would be so cute. I'm down one hundred percent."
Isaac nodded, scrawling one on a stencil. "How's this look?" 
"I love it!"
"Alright, just a few more questions, honey. Are we doing black or color?"
"Black."

He set everything up, and my nerves grew. "Blake?"
"Yes, Tiffany?"
"Will you hold my hand?" His face lit up as he nodded, crossing the shop to hold my hand.
"This probably won't hurt too bad, just like some needle pinpricks, okay?" Isaac said after he had cleaned the area. "I'm gonna go ahead and start, and if at any time you want to take a break, let me know. I know that first tattoos can be a little nerve-wracking."
We sat in stony silence as Isaac started the tattoo. The pain was there, but it didn't hurt like I thought that it would. As he finished up, I looked up at Blake. "Thank you. I'm sorry that I didn't want to hear you out about Amelie. Let's talk after this."
Blake kissed the top of my head. "Absolutely."

I took some mirror selfies as Blake got set up to get a piece on his back. I sat next to Jaden, and he turned to look at me. "Okay, what did you think?"
"I love it! It didn't hurt like I thought that it would."
Jaden nodded. "Everyone is always so scared, and for what?"
I chuckled. "I don't know why it took me so long, but I can't wait to get another one."
"Can we talk about something really quickly?" Jaden asked, eyeing Blake. 
"Yeah, absolutely. What's up?"
"What happened with Blake?"
I sighed. "I walked into Saddle Ranch for our double date with Bryce and Addison last night, and I saw him kissing Amelie. He said it was nothing, but if it was nothing, why didn't he pull away until he heard my voice?"
Jaden put an arm around my shoulder. "Here's the deal, kiddo-"
I interrupted him. "You're only a month older than me."
"Anyway, kiddo, Blake likes you a lot. I don't know why he didn't pull away. I didn't even know anything about it until just now, but I'm sure that he's got a reason. Maybe he was scared that your relationship wasn't progressing anywhere. Maybe he got nervous about how you reacted to the mention of Tucker's name, during the game and your interview. Just talk to him, and remember how you feel about him. You guys really clicked, and I've never seen him this happy with anyone, not even Amelie."
I shrugged. "Maybe he's just not really happy being with me. You know that this all started because of our manager, right? He suggested a publicity stunt, and we both just went with it."