A/N This was inspired by a prompt to the Quartie message boards by thenomercy09. S/he asked for Quinn or Artie find out about each other's tattoos and to have reactions. There was a request for friendship/romance. I'm sad to say that the Artie I've been writing for is somewhere between acquaintance and crushing on Quinn. I'm not entirely sure how to break the mold, although I'd love to see the writers move in a Quartie direction.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee or any Beatles lyrics. I am not associated with either entity in any way. Glee is the property of its creators and FOX. I have no idea who owns the Beatles. If I did own them, neither would be as awesome as they are.
Inked
It was an accident, really, that he saw it at all. She was leaning against the piano, her head close to the new Irish freshman, Jamie. The young baritone confused Brittany more than the population of kittens occupying her dirty laundry pile, and sudden weight loss of her beloved Lord Tubbington. The pair were picking through the stack of sheet music, trying to find the perfect song for their duet assignment. She was wearing a blousy top with a loose neck. His sister, Bex, might have been able to identify it, but he couldn't.
Her shirt slipped off her shoulder, and he was at just the perfect angle to see down her back. On the edge of a shoulder blade, he could just make out a tiny footprint, with a cloud of flowers below. There was only one color, a sort of redish-brown, which outlined the entire image. Quinn twitched, fixing her clothing malfunction and leaving him staring at the blankness of her black top.
He knew a memorial tattoo when he saw one. It was hard not to recognize something so blatant and permanent. But, the placement was odd. His cousin who had lost her infant due to heart disease had a tattoo so anatomically correct and vivid on the inside of her wrist he was surprised her forearm didn't beat. Quinn's was so much more understated, so perhaps the understated tat made sense.
He guessed, too, that she had to hide it from her parents. He had met Ms. Fabray once or twice, and she was as anal as a woman could be. Her perfectionism knew no bounds, so he imagined that when it came to her daughter marking her body, Quinn's mother would not be a fan.
He wanted one as well, also understated, so he could hide it if he needed to be professional. He had always imagined getting "Let it Be" along his wrist to remind him to accept the things that were beyond his control. But, he was too afraid. Maybe, someday, he might be brave enough to get inked.
Maybe, someday, he would have the courage to ask Quinn about her tattoo.
