Tattoos Together | An Original

3

Dominic

"Milo, do you still have my pen?" Reese asks. We're all in the party-uber, which turned out to be a bus with seats facing each other on each side. I'm sitting next to Reese, with my sister sitting on the other side of me.

Milo reaches across the aisle to hand Reese's weed pen back to her, and she takes a hit off of it before offering it to me.

"Want some?" she asks.

I don't take it from her, but I lean over and take a hit off of it while it's in her hands. This makes her laugh. We literally met yesterday, yet the tension between us feels like it's been building up for ages. I like her confidence in herself, and the fact that it's balanced with a lot of humbleness. I can tell that Reese is very down-to-Earth. She met a couple of her fans at the festival today, and she seemed genuinely surprised that they recognized her. She has millions of followers who adore her, yet she is still the same person she's always been. I can tell.

When we get to the party, the crowd is completely packed inside and outside. To keep Reese safe in the crowd, I offer her my arm. She takes my hand instead. We smile at each other, and then head inside. I hold onto her hand as tightly as I can, making sure she doesn't slip away and get lost. Some of these parties get so packed that you can get separated really easily, and I don't want her to end up by herself or lost.

I especially don't want her to get separated from me.

Oh, brother. I think I'm in trouble. This girl has me wrapped around her finger already.

I think I want to write that into a song.

After making it successfully to the other side of the living room, we go over to the bar area to get drinks, and then we head out to the backyard. There's a lot of people out there, but it's less crowded. Everyone seems to be having their own conversations, and it's definitely more chill out here. We'll actually be able to hang out here, and talk.

"Wow. I didn't realize it would be this full," Reese says, taking a sip of her drink. We found a couple of empty chairs by a table out here, so we sat down.

"Are you okay?" I ask. "We can leave if this is too much for you. I know these parties can be really overwhelming if you haven't gotten used to being in SoCal."

She shakes her head. "No. It's fine. I'm good."

"Okay," I say. "Do crowds overwhelm you?"

Reese nods. "A little. The majority of the things I do are just on camera, so I don't really deal with huge amounts of people that often. I'll be fine in a few minutes, I just need a breather."

"Okay," I say. "We can stay out here as long as you need to."

"Thank you," she says. "Some people are more focused on going as crazy as possible, rather than just being there for each other. Just saying, I appreciate you for sticking with me."

I smile. "Of course. What would I do? Leave you out here by yourself? I'd never do that to anyone. Especially not to someone I'm interested in. Besides, it's so easy to get lost at these parties. I wouldn't want you to get lost."

Reese smiles back as she looks up at me. "I don't know how to explain how I feel other than stating the fact that you drive me crazy, but in a good way."

"How's that?" I ask.

"For starters, whenever we're in a group of people, all I can think about is us being alone. I like how you seem to genuinely care about the people around you, and I like the way you carry yourself with a kind of humble confidence."

"Come on," I say, standing up. I reach my hand out to Reese. "I know a place where we can get some privacy."

"You've been here before?" she asks, taking my hand and standing up.