𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙱𝚊𝚍 𝙱𝚘𝚢 (𝚋𝚡𝚋)

10.

Timothy glances up from the map on his phone. He looks around when he sees the tattoo shop that Shawn works at and smiles. He walks up to the building and swings the door open.

A lady at the front desk smiles at him. "Good afternoon! How may I help you?"

Timothy smiles back at her. "Oh, uh...Is Shawn working? He told me he works here and I was wondering if you guys do walk-ins?"

"Oh Uhm," The lady looks over at her computer. "Yeah! He's available right now."

"Great!" Timothy smiles.

"Just take a seat and I'll get that set up for you." She smiles as she stands up from her seat. She walks to the back and sees Shawn sitting with his tablet in front of him. "Shawn, honey?"

Shawn looks up from his drawing and smiles. "Sup, Edyn?"

"There's some kid out there requesting to be tattooed by you. Are you free for a walk-in right now?" Edyn asks as she crosses her arms.

Shawn nods and turns off his iPad. "Yeah. I don't have anything booked today." Shawn stands up and stretches. "They requested me specifically?"

"Yeah. Probably some teen that thinks you're hot. Or maybe he saw your Instagram." Edyn says as they start walking back. "Probably wants some boring ass line art tattoo."

Shawn chuckles and looks up to see Timothy sitting in one of the seats. He lets out a sigh and puts his head back a little. "Oh, god..."

Edyn notices and shrugs. "Oh, what?"

"That's my fuckin' ex," Shawn says.

***

Timothy looks down at where the tattoo gun was meeting his skin. "So? How long have you been doing this? Like, officially or whatever."

Shawn glances up at him. "A few months." He replies.

"Have you done any on yourself?"

Shawn clears his throat as he wipes down the area. "Uh, no. But I've done some on Jaxon before."

Timothy shifts in his seat. "Oh, really? That's cool." He responds. "So? You guy still up for drinks? It's the weekend and it could be fun."

Shawn gives the tattoo a final wipe-down. "I don't know," Shawn stands up from his seat. "Alright, you're done. Go ahead and look at it."

Timothy smiles and stands up. He looks in the mirror at the tattoo on his arm. "Oh wow! This is great! You're so talented!"

Shawn smiles back knowing he has to stay professional. "Come back over here so I can wrap it. You know how to take care of it after?"

"Uh, a little. Do I just wash it?"

"Antibacterial soap and pat it dry. Apply moisturizer twice a day so it doesn't dry the area. Oh, and try not to scratch it. It'll be itchy but it's best to not."

"Alrighty!" Timothy smiles as he looks down at his tattoo. It was a simple tattoo of his zodiac sign. But, Shawn did find it a little weird that he came all the way down here to get tattooed.

**
Shawn decided to take the rest of his work home for the day. He opens the front door and sees Chantel, Kirstin, and Kai all sitting in the living room.

Kai looks over, smiling. "Hey, Shawn!"

Shawn smiles as he tosses his keys on the table. "Oh, hey ladies. What's going on?"

Chantel holds up her textbook. "Study time. Jaxon went into your room."

Jaxon appears from the bedroom just as Chantel spoke. He smiles at Shawn. "Oh, hey babe. Did you get my text?"

Shawn shakes his head and walks towards Jaxon. "Uh no. No, I just got done with a session and came straight home." He leans in and kisses Jaxon once. "Can we talk?"

"Sure," Jaxon nods and glances at his friends. "We'll just be a minute."

"Okay," Kai smiles and looks down at her laptop. The couple walks back into their bedroom. "Ugh, they're so cute."

Kirstin nods in agreement. "Right?"

Jaxon closes the bedroom door. "So, what's up?"

"Nothing. Just...Guess who came by the shop today for a tattoo?" Shawn kicks his shoes off.

"Are you kidding me?" Jaxon takes a seat on their bed. "Why?"

"I think we know why. He asked about drinks again. I had to really fight the urge to tell him to fuck off but...I kept it professional."

Jaxon smiles and stands back up. "That must've been hard for you."

Shawn nods his head. "Very much so," He reaches down to grab Jaxon's face in his hands. "Enough about that. How was your day?"

"It was okay. I had lunch with Kai and the girls all wanted to have a little study date together."

"That's good," Shawn can't help but lean down to kiss him a few times.

Jaxon smiles and pulls away. "You can join us. Bring your iPad and work. I think Gavin is bringing food over once he's done with work."

"Okay. I will. Just let me change really quick." Shawn steps out of Jaxon's embrace and walks to their closet to change into some different clothes.

Jaxon takes a seat on the bed where he previously was. "So? You think he's just gonna keep showing up out of the blue?"

"I don't know," Shawn replies. "I hope not. I think I've established that I don't wanna be with him. And...We're all adults now so this whole situation is kind of weird."

"Yeah...It is."

"Maybe next time he tries something I'll set it straight that...I don't appreciate him basically stalking me. We're friends...More like acquaintances. That's it."

Shawn walks back into the bedroom, now dressed in some shorts and a different hoodie than before. "And hey, maybe we can go get drinks with him just to make him jealous like you said."

Jaxon chuckles as he stands back up. "Oh? So now we like my plan?"

"Mhm. I love making people mad."

**