Black cursive font on the redhead's forearm that read FOREVER in cursive. Ally blinked twice to see if she was dreaming. The couple was still engrossed in their conversation, which was right now a full-blown argument over which shade of yellow was better and sorts.
Ally's abrupt silence demanded Austin's attention and the blonde looked up at the girl and noticed the sudden change in her demeanor. She was now openly staring at Dez's forearm. The fact weirded him out, quite a lot. And coming to think of it, he had more muscular forearms than his brother. Why wasn't he being admired? The boy was seething in jealousy. But, the brunette's unwavering stare drew his suspicions and the boy followed her gaze to the tattoo that seemed to haunt her.
Meanwhile, the arguing couple began noticing the heavy silence that settled around them. Dez raised his blue eyes to stare straight into Ally's.
Everyone looked at the girl in anticipation while the girl sighed in relief, leaving yet another round of confusion around the table.
The silence was interrupted by a ringing phone, which Carrie got up to recover.
"What is it, Ally?" Austin asked in desperation, "The tattoo?"
Ally nodded subtly, her eyes downcast and Austin looked at Dez in horror.
"Dez, you killed Ally's dad?!" he asked incredulously.
"What?" Dez asked, confused, "No!" voicing his protests.
The accusation seemed to bring Ally out of her daze.
"It wasn't Dez," she confirmed.
"Then?" Austin asked.
"The tattoo," Ally answered, "The killer had the same tattoo!"
"But then," Austin was still confused, "How do you know it wasn't Dez? Wasn't he masked?"
"His eyes," Ally prompted, "They were an unforgettable shade of hazel. I could recognize them anywhere."
Austin nodded, taking in the new information.
Dez, who was watching the distorted girl, finally questioned, "What are you guys talking about?"
"The guy who killed her dad?" Austin answered softly, trying not to remind Ally again, "She saw him. Not fully but some details."
"Ok," he nodded, "But what's with the tattoo?"
"The guy had it too," Ally confirmed.
Dez's mouth formed an o of understanding.
"Can I see your hand?" Ally asked timidly.
Dez allowed the girl to see the tattoo. The word FOREVER was written in the same format as that of the killer, but underneath the word were different initials: C.A.H.
"Where did you get this tattoo, bro?" Austin inquired.
"Remember my engagement party in L.A.?" Dez replied, "Well, this is a pretty popular design."
"What is the meaning of these initials?" Ally questioned, quickly shifting to journalist mode.
"The initials are meant for the love interest," Dez quipped, "This is a couple tattoo. Beneath the word is the initial of the person, you intend to love forever. Mine is C.A.H which stands for Carrie Amelie Hayden."
"So if it's a couple tattoo, does the girl have one too?" Ally continued the questioning.
"Ya, the girl's is slightly different," he answered.
Ally nodded in acknowledgement.
"So, if it was imprinted during your engagement party, did Austin get one too?" she asked, wiggling her eyebrows in a teasing manner.
Austin grew visibly red. Despite her calm exterior, Ally was freaking out inside. She could feel herself falling into a bottomless pit which she may not ever be able to claw her way out of. She may like that guy and she could not afford to harbour feelings at a time like this.
"Actually, Austin did get a tattoo," Dez smirked at Ally's fallen expression, "But it was the one-way love one."
"Dez!" Austin chided, "I didn't get one for love. My tattoo was supposed to be because of a dare!" He defended himself.
"And whose name did you get?" Ally asked innocently.
"Umm-" Austin spluttered, "Actually- Wait why didn't Carrie return? Let me check," saying so he smoothly avoided the topic.
"I'll fish it out of you later," Ally shouted after him and giggled at his blushing face.
She was happy to know that Austin had someone to love. At least he could experience those kinds of emotions, which though Ally believed in them, was very foreign to.
She returned her gaze back to Dez.
"So, who gave you this tattoo?" Ally asked, still reeling from getting a clue.
"A famous tattoo guy who goes by the name Smack," he replied, "His actual name is Chuck, we were classmates, so he kinda did it for free."
"Did you say Smack?" Ally inquired, trying to recall where she had heard that name before.
...From Trish!
Trish had told her about her boyfriend's Hollywood adventures and mentioned something about him. Like he was going to attend a party held by him.
Her train of thought was racing.
Her mind, working at the speed of light.
"Could you explain this tattoo?" she asked the blue-eyed boy.
"Umm," he looked uncertain, "This is a trend that started about three months ago. Instead of getting your girl's name written directly across your skin, getting her initials written as if it were a promise sounded more… um promising to most couples, so the guy got the name and initials, while the girl gets any representation of the guy and his middle or last name across her forearm."
"Sounds painful," Ally commented, mentally noting everything he said.
"I don't remember, we were drop-dead drunk," he said.
And Ally chuckled.
This was followed by silence. A sweet kind of silence. A comfortable kind.
It was broken by Dez's laughter. Ally raised an eyebrow in question.
Dez shook his head, "I pity the girl with whom Austin may get that tattoo with."
"Why?" Ally asked.
"His middle name is Monica," and this was followed by Ally's unstoppable laughter.
"Dez!" Austin yelled, "You were not supposed to embarrass me!"
"And you know," Dez continued, a mischievous twinkle in his eye, "He has a fear of umbrellas."
This got the girl to laugh harder.
The blonde scowled visibly at the redhead.
"And back when we were getting these tattoos-" Dez started, but was tackled to the floor by the blonde, who seemed pretty irritated.
"You were sworn to secrecy," Austin whined.
"Maybe for the last one," Dez justified, "But not for the other two."
Ally was still laughing, clutching her sides.
"Dude," Austin groaned, "I think you broke her," enjoying the melodious sound of the girl whose laughter he had never heard in the last five years. The blonde was obviously jealous at how easily the brunette let down her walls for the redhead.
"No," Dez smiled, "I think you did," he said before he got up and left for the living room.
"Hey Ally! Calm down!" Austin tried to stop her giggles by hugging her shoulders, but she just laughed harder.
"Haha..Monica!" she giggled.
Though the blonde was annoyed, he admired the adorable little smile cemented on her face. And he loved that he was the reason for its existence, though not directly.
"Is there something on my face?" the self-conscious brunette stuttered at the dazed boy.
"Huh?" he looked into her eyes, "No, no, it looks perfect. I mean, you look perfect. I mean not perfect perfect, but, somewhat- you know what, I'll shut up now."
Ally giggled at the flustered looking Austin.
"Haha! Laugh all you want," he added sarcastically, "I am but a dummy for your entertainment."
"Oh my! You are so right," she agreed and smiled a saccharine smile that got him to pout in annoyance.
"Anyways," Ally asked, "Aren't you going to go back, so you don't get suspected?"
"Ya, about that," Austin started, scratching the back of his neck nervously, "Didi called this morning. You see, the witness testified and now I can't go back."
"Oh no!" Ally cried, clutching her head in her hands, "I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have trapped you too. I'm so sorry!" she apologized, panicking.
"Hey, hey," Austin cooed, like he was talking to a scared kitten, "Don't pin this on yourself. You were framed, girl. It's OK!"
Hearing his words she seemed to calm down.
"But," Ally interrupted, "When we get caught, I don't want you to go to jail."
"We won't go to jail!" Austin assured, "Because we are going to catch the killer."