Note: possible cover above for the sequel ^-^
<Kara's POV>
It was awful.
Watching the pain play out on Luke's face for a solid four hours was a terrible experience. I kept expecting him to cry out due to the obvious agony he was in, but the most that left his mouth were shaky breaths and quiet grunts.
The way he clung to my hand was heartbreaking. His eyes were screwed shut the entire time, sweat beading on his forehead. I wanted to wrap my arms around him and kiss the pain away, but I obviously couldn't do that, and it practically caused me physical pain.
Now, waking up next to him on Saturday morning, I didn't move so as not to wake him up. He needed sleep right now to get better, so that's what he would have. I didn't even mind the fact that I couldn't leave the bed due to his arm, which was slung over my stomach.
Last night had been a bit rough. He'd accidentally rolled onto his side or back a few times, and the result was him jolting awake with a gasp of pain. I had been sleeping lightly all night in case anything happened, but it still surprised me every time.
As I looked at him carefully, sleep still laced through his body, I noticed how peaceful he was. Yes, there was ink covering his body, and a metal ring in his lip. Yes, there was hard, lean muscle beneath his skin and he would still be intimidating to some people.
But it was when he was asleep that I could really appreciate the details this boy held.
The laughter lines near his mouth. The shallow crease between his eyebrows as his eyes ran back and forth beneath his eyelids as he navigated through some unknown dream world. The way he took long, slow breaths that made the muscles in his back shift slightly each time. He looked so at peace, as if the pressure and stress of wakefulness wouldn't dare touch him.
I shifted slightly beneath his arm, and in his slumber he moved it off my stomach. Not what I was going for but I guess now I could move mostly freely as I turned so my body faced Luke. I very lightly traced the lines of ink on his bicep, careful not to go too high on his arm in case it would hurt him. The motion would have been enough to mesmerize me back to sleep had it not caused an increase in his breathing.
I paused what I was doing, praying he would go back to sleep, but he did no such thing. Instead he let out a soft groan and rubbed at his eyes.
"Try to go back to sleep Luke," I whispered as he opened his eyes. He smiled at me and scrunched his nose at my request.
"Why would I do that when there's a pretty girl in my bed?" His sweet smile became a cheeky grin as I rolled my eyes.
"I'm going to choose to ignore that comment," I sighed. "How's your back feeling?"
"Like shít. No, I take that back. Like flaming shít. That's what it feels like," he replied with another groan. "It wasn't too bad though...until you mentioned it."
"Well sorry I'm a worried girlfriend who's boyfriend was stupid enough to get a huge tattoo across his shoulders!"
"Well sorry I'm the stupid boyfriend who wanted to show his worried girlfriend how much she means to him!" He replied in mock anger.
I rolled my eyes and started to get out of bed when the bed shifted and Luke's arm caught me around the stomach, pulling me back down. I fell back, my head bouncing against the pillow as his appeared overhead.
"Where are you going so fast?" He raised an eyebrow and smiled quizzically down at me.
"To make breakfast?" It came out more as a question than a statement as butterflies started to form in my stomach.
"You're staying right here with me."
"Luke, I'm starving. Plus I have morning breath," I crossed my arms over my chest as he brushed a piece of hair behind my ear. So much for that messy bun I guess.
"Kara, remember that I'm a boy. Boys don't care about bad smells." Now it was his turn to roll his eyes as he brought his lips down gently upon mine.
"Luke, remember I'm a girl. Girls do care about bad smells," I mimicked him when he pulled away. With a grin, I ducked under his arm and scrambled off the bed. He sighed as he saw me standing already. "Do you have any mouthwash?" I smiled sweetly.
He sat up all the way now and nodded. "I have an extra toothbrush and toothpaste in the left-hand drawer if you want. It could be yours for when you stay the night since when you do it's usually never planned," he laughed.
"Sure. Be right back," I smiled once more before turning and making my way to his bathroom. Sure enough, I found a toothbrush and toothpaste in the drawer, which I proceeded to use. As I went to spit out the minty stuff, I felt a leg brush mine and sure enough Luke had crept in silently.
"Figured I might as well get up too," he said when I looked at him in the mirror. I could tell how hard it was for him to not shrug when saying it.
"Didn't Diana want you to change the bandages when you woke up?" I asked, suddenly remembering her instructions.
"I don't really remember, but it sounds logical. Can you help?" Luke looked at me helplessly and I smiled.
"Of course I will. Like she said, don't want four hours of work getting infected right? So what do I do?"
"First you have to take these ones off. Just peel off the tape around the edges," he explained, turning away from me so I could easily access his back in the narrow space.
I reached up grasping the corner of one of the four pieces of tape. Tugging on it, I peeled it down and off before placing it on the counter and starting on the next. I went slowly and carefully in case it hurt, but Luke didn't say a thing until I told him it was all off.
"Now just take the gauze off. But slowly please. It always hurts the first time," he warned. I nodded and began. The first strip made him tense up slightly. The bottom piece wasn't as bad. But the middle section, which covered most of the tattoo, made him inhale sharply as it left his skin. I gasped too.
Even though his back was red and the places where there was ink were slightly raised and swollen, my work was displayed practically the same as when I'd painted it. The lines were crisp and neat, and the colors Diana had used were almost the exact shades I'd used as well. She had captured everything I tried to capture, only her work was permanent.
"What? Does it look like something's wrong?" There was a touch of panic in his voice.
I hesitated, unsure of how to describe what I was feeling. "N-not at all. Luke..." Tears sprung to my eyes. Tears I'd held back last night because I'd wanted to stay strong for him. But now they rushed forth like a dam had burst inside me. "I just can't believe you'd do something like this for me..." I whispered.
"Well of course I would Kara. Haven't you realized by now that you've changed me? You've made me a better person? Now whenever I look at this I'll think of you. And if anything were to happen to us, I'd never do anything to get rid of or change this. Because I'd never want to forget you," he turned around again, leaning down slightly as he took my face in his hands. "This is how much I love you," he smiled and kissed my forehead, brushing away the tears that slipped from my eyes with his thumbs.
"But I saw how much pain you were in Luke. If what you're saying is true, I caused that pain. You got the tattoo because of me, so therefore you wouldn't have been in that much pain if it weren't for me," I mumbled, looking down.
"And every second was worth it. Every time I thought I'd pass out from the pain I peeked over at you. Not once did I see you crying and that reminded me to be strong. You're my heroine, but you're also my rehab. Does that make sense?" He ghosted the pad of his thumb over my bottom lip slowly, catching a tear that had fallen that far.
"Kinda," I nodded.
He sighed. "What I mean by that is you're my biggest weakness. I'd give up anything for you. I'd give up music for you. But you also make me so much stronger than I ever could be alone. I mean really, I just got this tattoo because of you, right?" He smiled and kissed my nose. "Now does it make sense?"
I nodded again, sniffing. "Good. Now I think I'm gonna keep the gauze off for a bit because this actually feels a bit better than it did before," he chuckled and kissed my lips finally. I kissed him back for a moment before we both pulled back.
"Now can I get breakfast?" I raised an eyebrow.
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A/N
I love this chapter too. So cute. It's just like "Oh here you go. Have a feels overload. This one's on me guys!" I don't really know where that came from honestly XD.
So um I am pretty proud of myself because ya know. I updated two days in a row. Pretty good for me considering I've gone pretty long periods without updating before....... I really hope you guys like this. Because I do. ^-^
Thank you thank you thank you for over 30 thousand reads (almost 30k O-o what even???????) I really appreciate you all. Seriously. I do. I have a few shootouts today:
@whateverlrh because you have been spamming me for several days now. I hope you know that I noticed and I appreciate it (ps Wattpad wouldn't let me tag you for some reason on mobile so when I get on a computer I'll fix that right up ;D)
ThatOneBrokenFangirl because your comments literally give me life. (I'm gonna dedicate that last chapter to you once I can get on a computer)
hiddenpatronus because you literally just like......... I don't even know. You are just frickin amazing. Everyone go read her stuff. It's great.
Lover_LarryShipper because you'rE FINALLY BACK AND I LOVE YOU AND I MISSED YOU AND YAAAAAAYYYYY (she's who Malaya is based on if you didn't already know ;D)
jkervs1234 because why not? You're you and you are a perfect, innocent little cinnamon roll and I love you and EVERYONE GO READ HER STORIES. I WILL LOVE YOU AND YOU WILL LOVE THEM AND HER. DO IT. (And ps I might need that bio homework lol XD)
Okay. I love you all. Thank you. I'll do more shootouts in the upcoming chapters. If I didn't give you one here and you've spammed me, I noticed and I thank you for that. :') I gotta go do homework so I love you all!!
(Another note: this just got more than 1,000 votes and I'm flipping out. Thank you guys!!!!!!!!)
~CC <3 xoxoxoxo
[Edited]