Thanks a lot again to TeenyTinyIrishPerson for beta reading!


OTP Prompt:

"Imagine your OTP laying in bed together, and Person A says they want to get a tattoo with Person B's name. Person B refuses because it's too tacky/they might break up and person A would regret later/etc. Instead Person B grabs a sharpie and starts to draw on Person A's lower back/upper thighs/arms 'property of Person B' "


I was laying awake once again, staring at the ceiling. The room was faintly illuminated by the orange city light from the cafés and restaurants that were alive well into the night. Mingled noises of the hustle outside seeped in through the window left ajar. I looked at the alarm clock on my desk. 1:21 AM. The doctor had said I needed physical rest and adequate night-time sleep to recover from that bloody concussion. Easier said than done when falling asleep was a difficult task in itself. I turned my head and looked down at Sam. Her head was resting on my shoulder, an arm wrapped around my middle.

When I couldn't fall asleep after 30 minutes I thought; I should get up, do something relaxing and try again. It's what Sam had said after a google session on her phone, when I'd accidentally woken her in a restless night. Who would have thought that the outgoing party girl would end up being the more attentive one of us? I was so glad that she was there with me, that she never gave up on me. I gave in to the sudden urge to show my appreciation and leant down to plant a gentle kiss on her head, even though I knew she wouldn't notice it. At least one of us could sleep. How long had I been lying awake now? Over an hour, I guessed. I knew I needed sleep, I needed rest. I needed to recover for what was ahead of me- ahead of us. For what Sam had talked me into. It wasn't that I didn't want to go. I was actually somewhat excited to go on a trip again, and to follow up on clues in my father's notebook. But I was worried. Very worried. How could I not be after what had happened the last time I'd gone on an adventure? I didn't know what was ahead of us, and that scared the hell out of me. I needed to be awake and alert. I needed rest.

All right, Sam, I'll try it your way.

I slowly removed her arm from my waist and gently lay her head down onto the pillow. I stood up and glanced at Sam, making sure I hadn't woken her. I carefully rearranged the duvet. Instinctively she grabbed a handful of the material and pulled it up under her chin. She looked so cute, it made me smile. I reached out and tucked a few loose strands of hair behind her ear. Sam would be furious if she knew I'd become touchy-feely when she wasn't awake to appreciate it.

Not wanting to risk interrupting her sleep, I turned away. Looking out of the window, it felt like half of London couldn't sleep either.

All right. Relaxing... Couldn't be so hard, could it? My eyes wandered into every corner of my room, hoping to fall onto something that could help me. I felt strangely lost in my own home. Relaxing activities wasn't anything that I'd ever felt the need to look into. Feeling awkward standing around doing nothing, I sat down into the chair at my desk. More out of habit than actually hoping it would do any good, I booted up my laptop. I watched the screen come to life and then stared at the desktop. Maybe I should give music a try, I thought, and opened up YouTube in the browser. Searching for relaxing music revealed a long list of three hour videos. Well, I was hoping it wouldn't take that long. I started up the first result, put the headphones on and leant back into the chair. Trying to forget all my worries and the anxiety for a while, that accompanied me since we decided to go on that trip, I closed my eyes and concentrated on the music.

A few minutes passed. Bloody hell. It wasn't working. I frowned. Why did my mind like to betray me so often? Why couldn't I just shut it off for once? But I knew something that would shut it up. I turned the chair and looked at...

Sam who was watching me. She sleepily waved at me with a dreamy smile.

I put the headphones down around my neck. "I'm sorry. Did I wake you up?"

"More or less... I think I sensed that you weren't lying next to me anymore. I'm developing a sixth sense, so that you can't sneak away." She gave me a tired grin.

I laughed once. "Wouldn't surprise me."

"What are you doing?" Sam asked.

"I was trying to relax because I couldn't sleep, like you told me. I tried listening to music and I... uh..." I remembered again why I'd noticed that she was awake: I'd turned the chair to face her.

"Yeah?" she prompted.

I awkwardly rubbed the back of my neck and blushed slightly. "I was going to watch you sleep."

That sparked off another grin on her face. But just a moment later, it turned into a mischievous smile. "So, you want to watch me?" She slowly pulled her t-shirt up over her belly.

"Sam, please! That's not relaxing."

"Well, I'm sure you'd be relaxed afterwards." Her smile did not falter.

"I'm sorry. I really just want to sleep," I pleaded.

She looked slightly disappointed for a moment, but then she sat up cross-legged against the wall, the bed was standing against, and patted the spot in front of her. Well, that music wasn't working, anyway. I closed my laptop, put the headphones on the table and sat down where she'd indicated.

"Don't resist," Sam whispered into my ear from behind and pulled my pyjama top up and over my head. It was quite cool in the room, so I grabbed the duvet and pulled it over my legs and up to my chin. I was really hoping that me sitting topless in front of her wasn't going to give her ideas again. But then she placed her warm, gentle hands on my back and started kneading the flesh between my shoulder blades with her thumbs.

"What's keeping you awake?" she asked in a calming voice.

"I'm still worried about our trip."

She rubbed her hands up and down my back with slow, strong movements. I sighed with pleasure. "Sweetie, it will be okay. We're going to visit a tourist attraction area and not some isolated island in the middle of storms."

She now pressed her fingertips into various spots on my back and moved them in small circles. It felt so good.

"I just can't get it out of my head that something might happen," I told her. Concentrating on the massage, my voice was just a whisper now.

I groaned when she pressed both thumbs into a spot near a shoulder blade and slightly moved them around in union.

Sam kept quiet for the remainder of the massage. Once she was done, my back felt like pudding. Like a big, relaxed pudding. I just sat there, sighing peacefully, when Sam suddenly said "I should get a tattoo with your name."

It took a moment before I realized what she'd just said. "What?" I jolted up from my slumped position and turned around.

She lay down on her belly and pulled up her shirt a bit. "Lara," she said slowly as she drew a line over her lower back with a hand. "What do you think?" She grinned.

I was horrified. "Why would you do that?"

"Because I love you."

"I know that!"

"And I want to show it."

"You don't need to disfigure your body to do that!" I told her sternly.

"Look who's talking!" She fired back.

Wow. I gaped at her speechless.

Sam grinned victoriously at my reaction, turned around on her back, pulled up a sleeve and said sheepishly "Lara" again while pointing at her upper arm.

I held my hands up in protest. "Sam, please! That's not necessary. My name is not something you want to have tattooed on you. That's just... tacky. You will regret that eventually."

"Lara," she repeated, pouting, while drawing a line over her belly.

I narrowed my eyes at her. "You're messing with me, aren't you?" She just giggled in response and I had to groan. Fine. Two could play that game. I quickly snatched a sharpie from the desk, grabbed her arm and wrote 'property of Lara' over it. Sam squealed, trying to pull her arm out of my grip.

When I released her, she looked at what I'd done and started giggling nervously. "Oh, my god. Lara..."

"Are you happy now?" I asked with the best deadpan I could muster.

Sam looked at me for a moment and then burst out laughing. I had to smile despite myself.

I quickly put my pyjama top back on while Sam pulled herself together. She slipped her arms around my waist, put her head onto my shoulder and whispered "And what do you want to do with your property?"

I placed a kiss onto her forehead. "I'll think of something tomorrow. Or..." I glanced at the clock on my desk, grimacing. "Later today. Right now, I just-"

"Want to sleep." Sam finished the sentence for me. I nodded, sighing. Sam pulled me into a firm kiss, and I instantly relaxed into her arms. Lips still interlocked, she slowly laid us down. When she eventually broke the kiss, she put my head on her chest and slung one arm around it, stroking through my hair. Her other hand slipped under my top, slowly moving her fingertips over the skin of my waist and belly.

I felt so comfortable. It was so peaceful...

With only Sam and her soothing hands in my mind, I happily fell asleep, thinking how much I loved her.