Mystic Falls Loner Club - A Vampire Diaries Fic

Chapter 21: Tattoo Session

content warning: mentions of self-harm 

Jeremy's POV

I can't sleep. Again. I roll over to look at my clock and see what time it is: 2:42 am. I grab a pillow and press it over my face before groaning. I sit up and turn on my lamp, grabbing my sketchbook from my nightstand. I rub my face and sigh as I let my feet hang off the side of the bed and start to draw. Unconsciously, I start sketching a person, sitting down at a desk. Their hands are resting on their leg. One is tented on the chair and the other is dangling normally.

I focus on sketching their hands and although one of them is hugging their knee, the other is holding a tool. As I continue drawing, I realize that this is from memory. And it's KJ. I smile small and continue drawing her hands. As I start to sketch her cropped shirt, I leave her midriff bare. She normally only wears it with a hoodie or around the house if she doesn't feel like covering up.

I make my pencil move across the page quicker, focusing on her neck and drawing the birthmark that's on the right side of it. I round out the edges of her face and focus on the curls that fall from her curly puff when her hair is out. I draw her lips drawn together in a line of deep thought and I lightly sketch out the rest of her desk before tearing the sheet from my notebook.

I get up and quietly make my way down the hall. "KJ, you up?" I ask, knocking lightly. I hear the floor creak and her door opens a crack. "Jer, what are you doing up?" I shrug and reply, "I couldn't sleep." and hold up the sketch I did of her. Her head quirks to the side and she takes the sheet of paper from my hand. "Holy shit, Jeremy, this is really good." I laugh and lean against the doorframe. She walks to her nightstand and puts it in between two of her books.

KJ's POV

When I look up, I notice Jer's still standing outside my room. "Oh, sorry. You can come in." He smiles and walks in, shutting the door behind him. "I don't mean to crash your early morning organization session." He comments. I wave my hand away and sit on the edge of my bed. "You weren't inter/rupting anything. I was actually thinking about what other designs I could do for tattoos." Jeremy arches his eyebrow as he sits on the opposite side of my bed and raises an eyebrow.

"New inspiration?" He asks. I shrug and rotate my body toward him, folding my legs under themselves. "Something like that. One of them is an old idea and the other one is more of an abstract sketch that I got in a dream." I lean over to my nightstand and grab the other sheet of paper resting on my books. I unfold it and flatten it against my thigh, handing it to Jer. He nods his head and comments, "I like it. And honestly, it's very you." I laugh as he hands me the paper and I refold it before throwing it onto the table.

"Jer, I was gonna start my next piece. Do you wanna sit in or are you busy?" He shrugs and replies, "I'm down to watch." I  nod and grab my kit from under my bed. Jer swings his legs up so they're resting on the edge of the bed and scoots back so he can lean against the headboard and still see me. "What made you want to start getting tattoos?" I plug in the machine and set up the needles, ink, and wipes. "They were a way to cover up after I came out of the hospital. As caramel macchiato skin-toned I am, my arms still had bad scars and bruises from when I was cutting and from the IV's."

Jeremy chuckles at the caramel macchiato part but nods thoughtfully when I finish my sentence. "I started with a stick and poke. It didn't hurt and I perfected that before moving to the machine. I can barely feel it now, aside from when I'm healing." I place the stencil on my skin and trace over it carefully, letting my arm rest palm up on my desk. I pick up the needle, turn it on, and make sure it's secure before pressing it to my skin. "First touch is always the worst." I mumble, biting the inside of my cheek as I trace over the first roman numeral.

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Damon's POV

"Don't start, Damon." Stefan says as I'm putting on my boots. "What's wrong with checking in on her? I'm just making sure she has a good night." "Directly after you all had a night of making out and doing work together? I don't think so." I stand in front of the door, pausing before putting on my jacket. Stefan swirls his drink around his glass and I lean my elbow against the wall, pressing my chin into my hand as we face one another.

"This is why I don't tell you shit. You bring it up at the most inconvenient time." Stefan shakes his head and chuckles. "You're the one that's gonna come off too eager. But hey, if you wanna go to her house, be my guest. Just remember that you didn't want her to get attached to you like back in Boston." I press my fingers over my lips and rub the bottom half of my face before turning to the door.

"I'm gonna go anyway but I'm not gonna stay for long." "Have fun." I hear Stefan say. "I will." I respond before opening the front door and vamp-speeding to KJ's house. I stand on the front walkway for a couple of minutes, fighting whether I should ring the doorbell or just go up to her room. I turn around and walk down the stairs, shaking my head. "I'm insane. It wasn't that serious. We can talk about it another time." I mumble to myself. 

Just as I'm about to walk away, I hear KJ's laugh and I focus more on the conversation, making my way up to her window. "I didn't know that you could do a tattoo that quickly." Jeremy is sitting on her bed, arms crossed but he looks like he's been there a while. "Well, it was relatively small and I already knew what I was doing. For the abstract piece, that'll take more time because it's a lot bigger and I'm doing it on my forearm." I see KJ wrapping her wrist with plastic wrap. 

Jeremy gets off of her bed, straightening it out behind him. "Believe it or not, I think I might fall asleep when I get back to my room." KJ smiles and answers, "Good. Neither of us should be up this early so I'm glad I could help in some way." Jeremy smiles and walks to KJ's door. " 'Night KJ." " 'Night Jer." Jeremy shuts the door behind himself and KJ smiles before walking over to her nightstand. 

Just as I'm about to knock on the window, I see that it's a drawing of her. The corner has Jeremy's scribbled signature and I put my hand down, pressing my lips together. "Good night, KJ." I mumble before heading back home.