(Harry's POV)
Louis volunteers to get his tattoo first. He's excited, to say the very least. He sits down in the comfortable seat in front of a large mirror. Max pulls up a stool for me to sit on, too. Louis clutches onto my hand tightly. Even though he's excited, I can tell that he's nervous.
"Where exactly do you want this on your ankle?" Max asks.
"Here," Louis points. It's on the left side of his ankle, right above the bone that sort of sticks out.
Max nods and places the stencil onto Louis' ankle. He dabs it quickly with a wet cloth, then peels back the paper, revealing the interlocked hearts and the quote inside. The letters are written in beautiful cursive. The hearts are a light shade of cranberry red, and the quote is written in white. It looks beautiful.
"Does it look good?" Max asks.
"It's perfect." Louis grins, and I agree.
"Ready?" Max questions, taking out the ink gun.
"Yeah." Louis mutters.
"How does it feel?" I ask. Louis' eyes bulge out a bit as the needle touches his skin around his ankle. He grips my hand tighter and I can faintly hear a whimper escape his lips.
"Fine. It just feels weird." Louis answers.
"Does it hurt?" Max asks.
"A bit, but I guess it's bearable." he shrugs. Max wiped some ink off his ankle and dabbed it dry. He continued to embed the ink into Louis' skin.
"So, how long have you two been dating?" Max asks suddenly, trying to distract Louis from the pain with conversation.
"A few months," I blush. I rub Louis' hand with my thumb gently.
"Really? Where'd you meet?" he asks.
"Actually, it's quite a funny story. We met in detention." Louis beams.
"Detention? Well, I guess that explains the quote. What'd you do?" Max chuckles while inking Louis' skin.
"Erm, it was a misunderstanding. We just got blamed for a graffiti crime. Thankfully, the teacher didn't press charges for the damage to her car." I laugh.
"I see," Max says. He finishes outlining the interlocked hearts, and starts filling it in. "I'm shocked that your parents are okay with you getting a tattoo, Harry." he says.
I gulp, "Y-yeah, they don't care." I lie.
"What do you mean?" Louis asks curiously. He raises an eyebrow at me.
"You have to be at least 18 to get a tattoo. You're old enough, Lou, but Harry had to get a note signed by his parents." Max explains. Louis looks at me questionably while Max is distracted with tattooing his ankle. I give him a I'll-tell-you-later look. He nods slowly.
The truth is, I forged my father's signature. Since he signs so many papers dealing with his business and work, he has a signature stamper. I stole it from his office the other day and wrote myself a note.
"Alright, you're all set, bud." Max says.
Louis looks down at his ankle and smiles. The skin around it is red and looks painful, but Louis doesn't seem to be in any pain. The tattoo looks beautiful. It's simple, and quite small, but absolutely astonishing.
"Do you like it?" Max asks both of us.
"Yes, thank you so much." Louis says.
"You can go see Mitchie at the front desk. She'll wrap that up for you in plastic. I'll get Harry's ankle stenciled while you're gone." he says to Louis. Louis agrees and heads over to the lobby, while I sit down where he was previously seated. I try to relax.
Max presses the stencil onto my ankle. It feels cold at first. He dabs it with a rag and waits a few seconds before peeling it off.
Louis comes back, but now has an ankle wrapped tightly in plastic. He smiles at me and lightly holds my hand, playing with my fingers.
"Trust me, it doesn't hurt nearly as bad as I thought it would." he assures me, flashing me a bright smile. He quickly pecks the top of my head.
The feeling of his lips on my forehead actually makes my worries vanish.
"Are you ready, Harry?" Max asks me. The ink gun is nearly touching my skin. I suck in a deep breath and sigh deeply.
"I'm ready."
At first, it feels like pins and needles sticking into my skin. I wince at first but soon get used to it. The pain doesn't last long. It starts feeling cold and wet, like ice dragging across my skin.
"Are you okay?" Louis asks me.
"Mhm," I mumble.
My tattoo takes a about ten minutes longer than Louis'. Max says it's because my skin is thicker and harder. When he finishes, it looks amazing. It looks exactly like Louis'. They're identical. Max wraps my ankle up my himself in the stretchy plastic. I feel like I'm getting a cast.
"All done." Max chirps.
"Thank you," I say, standing up from the chair.
"Of course. Now, if there's any weird reaction to your tattoos, just give me a call, lads. And be careful not to scratch or damage them for a few days, or it'll sting like crazy." he tells us.
We thank him again. He tells us to come back if we want any more tattoos. I don't think I'll be getting another one any time soon. Louis and I leave the tattoo shop, and the bell chimes above us as we exit.
"What should we do now?" Louis asks.
"I don't know. It's Friday. There's plenty of things to do." I shrug.
"We could go to the park? There's one that I used to go to all the time as a child. It's only a few blocks away from here." he suggests.
"The park? But it's snowing." I laugh.
"Exactly! That means that not many people will be there. We can have the entire park to ourselves." he explains.
I sigh, "Fine, anything for you."
We get in my car and Louis gives me directions to the park. It only takes a few minutes to get there. He was right; nobody is here. A thin blanket of snow covers the ground, but that's enough to keep people away. It's chilly out here, but definitely bearable.
The park has swings, a few slides, a jungle gym, and even a small skate park. We both get out of the car, and Louis, being his childish self, runs over to the swings immediately.
He sits down on one of the swings, and I run up to him, trying to catch up.
"Push me!" he begs.
"You're so childish, Lou. But I love you anyways." I sigh. I pull him back and push him forward, then continue to do so. He giggles like a little kid, which is undeniably adorable.
"Harry, you're the best boyfriend in the history of boyfriends, you know that?" Louis says as he swings back and forth.
I laugh, "I'm just pushing you on a swing. No big deal." I explain.
"It's more than that, Haz." Louis says, stopping the swing. He stops himself by dragging his feet across the ground. I stand still.
He stands up from the swing and turns around to face me. He cups my face gently and stares into my eyes. Light snow falls from the sky and speckles the ground in white dust. A cold breeze rushes past us and whips Louis' hair out of his eyes.
"I just can't believe that you remembered that I wanted a tattoo. I said that I've always wanted one a few weeks ago. I said that when we were seeing a movie, it was just casual chatter, and you remembered. That's incredible. You're so good to me." Louis grins.
"Look at us, we're the cheesiest couple in the world." I chuckle.
Louis smiles and crinkles form next to his eyes. I've always admired his smile. It's so bright and cheerful. Even if he has made me mad, he can make me laugh or smile in a second. His happiness is contagious.
"I wouldn't want it any other way, babe." he promises. He presses his lips to mine for what seems like the millionth time. Every time we kiss I get butterflies in my stomach. We've been dating for months now, but I still get that same feeling that I got the day that I met him.
He pulls away slowly and keeps his hands wrapped around my neck. His cheeks are turning bright red from the cold. I'm about to kiss him again when something stops me. It makes my breath hitch.
Three tall figures stand behind Louis, a few meters away. When I realize who they are, I freeze up. They're coming towards us.
"Louis. . ." I whisper.
"What?" he asks, raising an eyebrow. He looks at me with a confused look on his face.
"Get in the car," I grit though clenched teeth.
"Huh?" he asks.
"Just get in the damn car, now." I say, "Don't look behind you. Just get in the car. Everything will be okay."
Obviously, he doesn't listen to me. He turns around on his heel and sees them. He immediately gasps and clutches onto my torso tightly.
"What are they doing here?" he gasps quietly, putting his hand over his mouth. They walk closer and faster towards us.
"I don't know. Just go in the car. I'll be fine." I promise.
"What? Are you kidding me? I'm not leaving you with them! What if they hurt you?" Louis begs. He tugs on my sleeve.
"Just go." I say simply. They walk closer. Oh shit. . .
"But-" Louis starts to say.
"They beat you up last time. I'm not letting them do it again." I interrupt, staring deeply into his eyes. His lips are ajar and soft puffs of air escape them, fogging up the frosty air around us.
"I'll stay behind you." he mumbles.
I don't have time to protest, because the three boys walk up to us.
They all grin evilly. The tall, strong one is wearing a varsity jacket that says Anchor High written across the chest. They're the same three guys who beat up Lou in the parking lot, the day that we met. The last time that I saw these three douche bags was when they beat the shit out of Louis and I had to step into save him. I hope I never have to do that again.
One of them eyes Louis, who stands behind me in fear. "Did you miss us?" one of the Anchorage boys asks, cracking his knuckles.
Oh no. This definitely is not going to end well.