"Okay, so what were you looking at getting done today?" Jake, the burley, dark haired, man stood in front of his desk. It was full of sketches, pencils, and other various drawing utensils.
"Well, it sounds kind of cliché, but I want to get the phrase 'love is pain' on my forearm."
"That's it? Any flowers or designs to add onto it?" he questions easily, sizing up her arm to picture just the right size of the tattoo.
"Surprise me, just nothing huge, or overly girly." Alex replied, seating herself in the large leather chair in front of the wooden desk.
"You got it." Jake replied, already grabbing supplies scattered around the desk.
A solid 15 minutes pass before he brings a paper over to the tall woman.
"Thoughts?" He asks as he gives her the paper.
"Perfect. Lets do it." Alex flashes a brilliant smile.
He sets up the machine, opening new products for proper sterilization.
"Can I ask the meaning behind it?"
"There isn't one." Alex lies, not wanting to explain herself to a stranger.
"Surely you must have some sort of reason or story?" He tries to make small talk, probably just trying to get a better tip.
Alex rolls her eyes quickly, not letting him see. She rolls her sleeve up, allowing him to start prepping the inside of her arm. He uses a clean razor to shave any hair and wipes the area down.
She takes a deep breathe. 'fuck it'
"Well, my girlfriend got a tattoo on the back of her neck." Her mouth tightens to a straight line. She lets out a forced chuckle as she recalls the event. "She calls it a beauty fish. Its supposed to remind me of the beauty in life or some shit." Alex tries to play it off like she doesn't care.
"So, I'm getting this as a sort of, 'fuck you' to her." She adds with a small grin of triumph.
"You're girlfriend hm?"
"Oh yeah, I'm all gay, like all the time" Alex misinterpreted his question as hitting on her.
"Oh no, no, I didn't mean it like that. I just meant, you seem to have a lot of… anger? Towards her. Enough to get a tattoo out of spite at least, but she's still you're girlfriend?"
Alex didn't want to clarify there messy situation, she let it go and didn't respond. He started the machine and pressed the tattoo gun into her skin. The familiar sharp stinging felt nice at first. She let the loud buzz cloud her mind, getting rid of her solemn thoughts.
…..
Alex leaves the shop shortly after he finishes and makes her way to the familiar trailer home of her childhood. She enters without knocking, kicks off her shoes and throws her jacket on the old, tattered couch.
"Hey ma!" Alex calls out, not very loudly as the place is pretty small.
"Hi baby" Diane pulls Alex into a big hug, welcoming her home.
It takes her about 2 seconds to notice there's something under Alex's sleeve.
"Really Al?" Diane yanks up Alex's sleeve to reveal her freshly added art.
"What? It's not like its my first one!" She pulls away from her mom enough to recover the tattoo. She sits down at their small table and scoops out a large portion of her mom's fresh made casserole.
"I don't know what is going on with you two but, just tell me you'll make up with her soon? You are so happy when you're with her." Diane pleads softly, joining her daughter at the table. She knew it had to do with Piper. Not only for the fact that Alex showed up alone, but the tattoo as well.
Alex sighs heavily.
"I don't know if that will happen this time mom, she's really mad."
"Well what did you do?"
"I think its more like what I didn't do." Alex frowns.
Diane waits for her to continue.
"Piper's been begging for attention and I've just been too busy with work to play house with her and… well… she left."
"Well, what the hell ya waiting for? Get her back!"
"I don't think she wants me back, that's the issue."
"She does, she just wants you to put in some effort and show her." Diane replies reassuringly.
"I love her." Alex speaks softly, clearly wounded. "I don't know… something happens when I hold her, she keeps my heart from getting older." Alex smiles to herself, knowing her mom wouldn't make fun of her cheesiness. She's the only person who Alex could act like a child again in front of. There were no walls up with her mom.
Diane just listens.
"Whenever we used to fight, her rule was that we always had to sleep in the same bed. No matter how mad we were, never sleep apart. I think she was afraid we'd end up like her parents, living in separate rooms." Alex laughed to herself lightly. "We would just hold each other until the anger melted and we would just end up laughing at how stupid the fight was."
"Everything is different now." She continues. "I let her leave, I mean I begged her to stay, but I didn't chase her." She frowns and stares at her food, just picking at it.
"What's meant to be will find a way, just remember to apologize when you're wrong. It's all you can do." Diane offers in response.
Alex nods and they finish dinner without another word on the subject. The catch up like old friends and as the night goes on, Alex gets ready to go back to her apartment in the city.
"Don't let her slip away, okay?" Diane hugs Alex goodbye and gives her a kiss on the forehead.
Alex doesn't reply.
"Love ya" Diane calls out as she walks to her car.
"Love ya too mom, see ya in a couple days." Alex calls back out.
Alex glances at the clock. 1:24 am. She's made her way through a half bottle of whisky and didn't have plans of stopping. She clumsily fishes the phone out of her back pocket and it takes three attempts before she can manage to unlock it.
Somehow she finds Piper's number and calls.
Ring ring..
Ring ring..
It goes on until she hears a familiar voice.
"You've reached Piper, leave me a message!" The blonde's prerecorded voice cheerfully calls out.
A small dial tone beeps, signaling Alex to speak.
"Hey there, Pipes" She slurs out.
She waits another moment before continuing.
"I got a tattoo today! For ou! You!" She corrects herself as best she can.
"You know, I miss you a lot." Alex sets the bottle on the coffee table and slides off the couch to the floor. Her knees sit up against her chest and she tries her best to speak clearly into the phone.
"I wish they made a build a bear, except for girls." Alex mumbles on. "Build a girl!" She laughs too loud at her own joke. "I would build you, my perfect girl." She cooes into the phone. "why didn't we just hold each other like we always do? Why are you not here?" She questions drunkenly, switching topics randomly. "I know we've been through a lot, but I need you. Please come back. I need you" she repeats almost incoherently. She doesn't speak again for another long moment.
"Can I stop the flow of time, Can I swim in your divine?" Alex hums to herself, into the phone. A song she's had on repeat for the last three days.
"Cause I don't think I'd ever leave this place"
Alex attempts to hit a high note, now full on auditioning for American Idol into Piper's voicemail.
"you're the only one for me, I'm never gonna say no" She adds softly. "Okay" She goes back to her normal voice. "I'm tired, I gotta go." Alex's eyes a closed as she finished her thoughts.
"Bye Pipes, love you" Alex hiccups and manages to end the long voicemail. Her phone falls to the floor as she leans against the couch sleepily.
She dozes off without another thought of the blonde.
….
Alex stirs awake, sun shining on her face through her living room window. She picks her head up slowly. Her neck is still and her head throbbing. She realizes what annoying sound caused her to wake up. It's her cell phone's incessant ringing.
Piper.
Alex freezes.
