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"Happy birthday dear Jen-ny! Happy birthday to you!"

Jenny grins, practically bouncing on her toes as she looks between Niall and me. We weren't able to use the shop since a pest inspection unbeknownst to Niall and I had actually shut the shop down and didn't let us open until five pm as opposed to 1. So Niall, Felix, Toni, and Charlie were all at my desk. The music played above and the LED lights faded from blue to purple as she blew out her candles.

The three people in the waiting area cheered and Jenny thanked them, as well as Niall.

"Alight, I'd love to stay but I got a back piece to finish," Felix high fives Jenny.

"I appreciate it! Thanks!" She tells him. Charlie and Toni do the same, wrapping her small frame in bear hugs before leaving to finish their pieces.

I didn't get any sleep last night, but it wasn't because of the exhaustion, it was because I stayed up until four in the morning after leaving Jenny's. I prayed and cursed and prayed some more that Harry hadn't gotten me pregnant. I knew my period was somewhat irregular and that this could simply be a coincidence, but the lack of rest and the occasional queasy feeling seemed like a bright red sign, blaring at me to use my head.

I didn't tell Niall or Jenny about my suspicions, I could go without the theatrics for now. Especially since I know that Jenny would immediately drop what she was doing to fish for a pregnancy test and I'd never admit it, but I'm not ready to take one.

I wanted to weigh the outcome first. Jenny would be excited and probably track Harry down for me, and Niall would probably laugh at my shitty luck.

I thought about my family. My mom wouldn't give less of a shit seeing as I up and left them on my 20th birthday after dropping out of college. Elijah was a different story.

He always stood by patiently when I snuck out of windows or hid weed under my pillow. He offered the occasional advice, warning me that I wasn't making good decisions and offering for me to move in with him. He'd help me get a job working as a correctional officer at the county jail, but I said fuck no to that for a plethora of reasons.

Elijah held that older brother's love for as long as I remember, but after our dad passed, it only grew. It annoyed me growing up and suffocated me as a teen. I know that if I told him I for pregnant by a married man he'd have a hard time hiding his judgment and I'm not ready to deal with that shit either.

The tattoo shop came up as well. I imagined being a receptionist here, heavily pregnant, but it didn't make sense. It was then that I decided I needed some rest because I was letting my mind get carried away. Harry pulled out, and my period was only a week late at this point. I'm fine.

I'm fucking fine.

"Alright," Niall brings me out of my thoughts and I blink, looking at him to see that he's pulling out the little black bag that holds Jenny's bracelet along with some Fenty lip kits we'd got from Sephora.

I brush my emotions aside and gather my hair into a makeshift ponytail and bring it over my shoulder as Jenny gasps and grabs the bag.

"Oh my God, is it a puppy?" She gushes.

"Just open it," I smile tiredly, and she lifts her brows at my soft tone before opening the bag and gasping loudly when her eyes meet the expensive piece of jewelry.

"Oh!" Her face turns into a sad smile as she brings the bracelet to her chest and looks between us with adoration, tears welling in her eyes. When Niall smiles at me, she reaches in and grabs the lip kit, her head tossing back into a crying laugh. I only got it for her because whenever we go out, she's always the one to swipe my nude lip color. "I take it I won't have to steal yours!"

After the gifts are settled and she's done crying about how much she loves us, she gives us big hugs and goes to the back to finish the work. Niall hands me the cake and I put it in the little fridge underneath my desk, finding my seat and placing my head on the desk with a long sigh.

Strangely enough, I wish I was dealing with a pimpled pussy right now as opposed to an actual pregnancy.

"What's going on, Ellie?" Niall asks as he comes out of the shop after finishing a lip piercing. He takes off the black latex gloves and tosses them in the bin before rubbing his hand over my shoulder.

I sit up, blinking at the time on the computer and feeling genuinely confused that thirty minutes had passed with me asleep at the desk. Luckily, nobody had come in.

"I'm fine," My voice is hoarse as I sneeze into my arm.

"Itchy pussy, is it?" He ponders and I shoot him a blank look as I grab the hand sanitizer, to which he holds both hands up in surrender.

"Say it a little louder, I don't think the people in Canada heard you,"

"Sorry, just wondering. This is the third time you fell asleep today and I know I said the cameras don't work, but Yael could walk in at any moment. And ya look like absolute shit,"

Yael was the owner of the shop who only came around for minor inspections and to go over the budget and finance workings.

"I'm just so fuckin' tired," I exasperate, my head falling back and hands sliding down my face.

"Why don't you go home? It's nearly midnight, I can handle up front. People don't really come in for piercings at this time," He offers, leaning against the desk.

I look up at him, poking out my lower lip, "But Jenny..."

"Jenny knows about your itching pussy issue, it'll be fine,"

"You little shit," I smack him with the back of my hand and he laughs, urging me up.

"Go on, text me when you get home safe, alright?"

"Alright, tell Jenny I said I'll talk to her," I yawn, now feeling the fatigue come upon me at the thought of going home and crawling into my bed.

"Will do, g'night Ellie,"

I grab my phone and car keys, draping my zip-up jacket over my arm and making my way toward the front of the shop. For once, my mind is completely clear as I push open the glass door and am met with the chilling March night. The street is littered with a few drunken bodies coming from the clubs north of here, as well as some taxis splashing the leftover rainwater from earlier.

The ride to the apartment is short-lived. And when I get home, I'm practically stumbling into my room and plopping flat on the bed I hadn't slept in since Harry was here. The couch had always been more convenient since that's where the TV was.

At the thought of him, my tiredness seems to pick up, mostly out of frustration.

And inevitably, I begin to think about my week late period, and the franticness in my mind only picked up speed, making me fist the sheets before sitting up, only to furrow my brows when feeling a cool piece of small metal.

I pull the sheets around a bit before pulling the item up in between my thumb and index finger, squinting through the dim light at the...ring.

Harry's ring. It was a plain silver band but had some weight to it and when I held it to the light, I noticed the letter H carved.

I tried to think about if he wore any rings the night we met or the night we came here together, but both times I hadn't been paying attention.

I twirl the little thing around in my fingers and think about the man it belongs to. I think about whether I should give it back to him or not, and how. I ran into him by coincidence yesterday, as well as the time before. And to be fair, he should have kept up with his ring, if he didn't want it to get lost.

I crawl from the bed and open my underwear drawer to toss it in, deciding that I'm too tired to care about any of this and making my way back into the bed. 

I'll worry about it tomorrow.



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