The alarm went off at eleven, but Ronan had been awake for most of the night. He had difficulty sleeping even when he didn't have something to look forward to the next day. And he definitely had something to look forward to.

He had made through his first week of classes, not having skipped a single one, despite the fact that most nights he was up with Gansey making a scale model of the William and Mary campus out of cereal boxes and glue. It took up a large portion of the floor in their dorm room, but it made Gansey happy and gave Ronan something to do when he couldn't sleep.

Now it was finally Saturday, the second Saturday after his last tattoo appointment. He hadn't gone to Cabeswater since the day of the fight, and he felt like he was going through withdrawal. The tattoo looked like it had mostly healed even after the fight ripped off his scabs. He hoped this meant Adam would tattoo the next part of it today instead of waiting another week. He didn't think he could wait that long.

Ronan threw off the blankets and got dressed, nearly tripping over the mini campus as he pulled on his jeans. Gansey woke up when Ronan swore and grabbed at the closet door for balance. "What time is it?" he asked groggily.

"Eleven," Ronan said, pulling a tank top over his head.

Gansey sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "Your appointment is in an hour, right?"

"Yeah. You coming with?"

"Yes, but I need something to eat first."

"We can hit up the dining hall and get something to go." Ronan was already pulling on his shoes.

Gansey scrambled to get his own clothes on. "We have an hour, there's no need to rush. It's ten minutes away walking."

"I like to be on time," Ronan lied. Gansey knew this was a lie, and Ronan knew he knew. In the many years he and Gansey had known each other, Ronan had never shown the slightest inclination to get anywhere on a schedule that wasn't his own. Which was further proved by Ronan's need to get to the shop as soon as was socially acceptable when you had an appointment.

They walked to the dining hall after Gansey finished getting dressed, Gansey grabbing a muffin and Ronan a single black coffee.

"You're getting tattooed today, you have to eat something," Gansey protested. Ronan grabbed the muffin out of Gansey's hand and took a large bite. He handed it back to Gansey.

"Thanks," Ronan said around a mouthful of muffin.

"Ronan," Gansey sighed. He shoved the muffin back into Ronan's hands and went to get himself another one.

They made it to the shop half an hour before the appointment. Blue was in Noah's chair this time, one arm over her eyes and the other stretched out to give Noah access to her wrist. Noah leaned over her, totally engrossed in what he was doing. When Ronan and Gansey stepped through the door, she lifted her arm just enough to look at them before covering her eyes again. "He's in the back," she said. Gansey to go watch her get tattooed as if he just naturally gravitated toward her at all times.

Ronan went to Adam's station to wait. On the desk that held all his tattoo supplies laid his sketchbook. Ronan picked it up and flicked through it. It became abundantly clear that Adam was behind most of the flash on the wall. Many of the designs were there in between what must have been specifically for clients. Ronan found the original drawing of his own tattoo and studied it. It would take another four sessions at minimum to finish all of it, they had only done half of the outlining so far. Ronan flipped to the next page after his tattoo. There was a drawing of two boys in an alley way, one slouching against a wall and another walking by. Ronan brought it closer to his face to see the details better when Adam came back from the back room.

"You're early," Adam said, stepping back into the front room. He stopped suddenly. "What are you doing?"

"Just looking at some of your other designs," Ronan said, flipping back to the page that had Ronan's tattoo on it. "They're really good."

"Thanks," Adam said, taking the notebook back, "but I don't allow clients to see other clients' tattoos unless I've been given permission."

"Oh." Ronan felt no shame at having looked through Adam's drawings, but he didn't want Adam to be upset with him. "I'm sorry."

"What did you see?" Adam asked, starting to set up the supplies for Ronan's tattoo without looking at him.

"A lot of the flash you have up. A couple random designs. I was mostly looking at the finished version of my tattoo." Ronan didn't mention the last drawing he had seen.

"I could've shown you the finished product," Adam said, giving him a sideways glance.

"Can I see it then?"

"I thought that's what you were looking at already," Adam raised an eyebrow at him.

"It was, but I didn't get to finish looking at it," Ronan said glibly. Adam looked suspicious of him, but handed the book back. "It really looks...," Ronan struggled for a word. "Perfect," he said, looking back up at Adam.

The tips of Adam's ears turned pink. Ronan caught himself wishing he could whisper dirty things into his ears while they were that pink. He shook it off.

"Thanks," Adam said. He took the book and went back to taking the supplies out of the cupboards.

Ronan rocked back on his heels, unsure of what to do. Eventually he just sat down in the tattoo chair to wait for Adam. Gansey left Blue's side to come see Ronan. "Your girlfriend done with her tattoo?" Ronan asked.

"She's not my girlfriend," Gansey said, but he was blushing again. "But yes, she's done. They're wrapping it now."

"You should just ask her out," Ronan said.

"Shhhh shut up," Gansey whisper-yelled. Ronan raised his eyebrows. "I'm going to okay? I just have to figure out how."

"Just ask her to dinner."

"It's not that simple."

"It really is." Ronan was quickly getting bored of this conversation. His eyes wandered back to Adam.

"If it's so easy then why don't you just ask Adam out?" Gansey was still whispering. Ronan whipped his around. Gansey looked self-satisfied.

"I will if you do," Ronan issued the challenge. Gansey's smug look dropped. "That's what I thought."

"No, I will. I'll ask her out," he said. Then he marched over to where Blue was admiring her new tattoo. Shit. He hadn't thought Gansey would take the bait. Blue looked up at him and smiled. After some murmured words Ronan couldn't hear, her smile grew bigger. She nodded and pulled her phone from her back pocket to put Gansey's number in. Gansey turned slightly towards Ronan and gave him a thumbs up behind his side.

"Fuck," Ronan muttered.

"What?" Adam brought over the ink and was starting to set up the gun.

"Nothing." He thought about the picture of the boys in the alleyway that Adam had in his sketchbook. Maybe Adam was just as obsessed with Ronan as Ronan was with him. He decided to would ask Adam out after today's session so he could leave if Adam said no.

"You ready?" Adam asked, distracting him from his fantasy of Adam saying yes to more than dinner tomorrow night.

"Yeah." Ronan took his shirt off and let Adam look at it before he placed the stencil.

"It looks like it healed quite nicely, even after the fight with the dickhead," Adam said, poking at different parts of his back as if to test how well the skin had absorbed the ink. Shivers ran through Ronan's body. "Are you cold? We can turn down the AC if you need."

"No, I'm fine," Ronan said. He sat backwards in the chair again so Adam would have access to his back. Adam placed the stencil on the bottom half of Ronan's back.

"Do you want to check it in the mirror?"

"No, I trust you to get it straight."

"The only thing I can get straight," Adam said under his breath.

Ronan about had a heart attack. "What did you say?"

"Nothing." Adam turned the tattoo machine on. "All right, let's get started then."

Four hours later Ronan stood up again and stretched his arms and legs, working out the kinks in his joints. He had gone another session without asking for a break. His back was screaming, but he honestly hadn't wanted a break from Adam's hands.

"How much do I owe you this time?" Ronan asked, reaching in his pocket for his wallet.

"Eight," Adam said, a little stiffer than he probably meant it to come out. Ronan knew it was probably because what he had pulled the last time.

"Here," he handed him a black card this time. Adam ran it and tilted the reader toward him so he could tip and sign. He tipped him another twenty five percent and took his card back. When do you want me back?"

"What days work for you?"

"It needs to be a weekend because I have a full class schedule this semester."

"Let's say same time two weeks from now?" Adam started flipping through the agenda to mark Ronan down.

"Actually, I was thinking maybe tomorrow night at seven?" Ronan drummed his fingers on the front desk.

Adam sighed. "I thought I was clear that you need time to heal in between sessions."

"I didn't mean for the tattoo," Ronan said. "I was thinking that Italian place over down the block."

"Oh." Adam's eyes were wide. Then his mouth and eyebrows turned down. "Oh. I'm sorry. I can't."

Ronan's heart sank. Of course this beautiful, delicate boy wouldn't be interested in someone as hard and difficult as Ronan. "No problem. I'll see you in two weeks." He turned and beckoned Gansey to leave with him.

"Wait, Ronan." Ronan stopped and pivoted back to Adam. "It's not like that. I mean, that is I just can't. It's just a bad idea."

"I got it, Parrish, we're good."

"No, I don't mean because of you. It's just a rule at the shop that we don't date clients," Adam finally articulated.

"Oh, okay. Well maybe Noah can finish the tat instead-"

"Absolutely not, I'm your artist," Adam said firmly. Ronan raised his eyebrows and Adam's sudden outburst seem to surprise even him. The confidence wilted away back to uncertain self-consciousness. "I just mean that I started it, I should finish it. But you could always try asking me again after we're done with your tattoo."

"That's at least six weeks," Ronan complained.

"You'll just have to wait." Adam shrugged.

"Will you say yes?"

"I guess you'll know in six weeks."