Tattoos Together | An Original

32

Dominic

Tonight Reese and I decided to invite some of her family members over again, to have a little get-together while we decorate her apartment for Christmas. I know it's been a little hard for Reese to be living all by herself for the first time (she doesn't even have a roommate), so I think having everyone over is cheering her up.

Reese always seems to be at her best when she is with her family members. She's like this with me too, so that makes me feel really appreciated. Her apartment is busy with people getting food, helping decorate, and talking, and drinking hot chocolate while Christmas music plays in the background. We're all having a great time.

"Is Sabrina coming over?" Reese asks Milo. A few of us are in the kitchen, snacking on appetizers and chips with dip. Everyone else is enjoying the warm living room, starting to watch Christmas movies and sip on their hot chocolates.

"She's visiting family down in Colombia this week," Milo says.

"Oh shit. You're right," she says. "Are you gonna see her when she gets back?"

"Quite possibly maybe," Milo says, sporting a smile. "Is it bad that I miss her?"

"It's okay to miss someone before you're actually dating them," Reese says. "Dominic and I started dating because we missed each other."

"Sabrina and I decided to not make any decisions until after the next semester is over," Milo says. "We're still gonna talk and such, but we're not gonna take any next steps until I'm back in town for good."

Reese smiles. By the looks of it, she looks like she's about to squeal. She squeals a lot when she's excited about something.

"I think next summer will be your time," Reese says. "Everyone around here seems to fall in love in the summer. Taytum and Andrew, me and Dominic. Tenley and Josh even. Not to mention you starting sentences with 'Sabrina and I. . ."

"We'll see what happens," Milo says. "I'm just gonna focus on school and hockey this semester, and what is soon to be my new home."

"I heard you're getting a house," I say. "That's a great accomplishment, Miles. Congratulations."

Milo smiles. "Thanks, D. You should come see it sometime. It still has a lot of work to be done, but I'm hoping to move in there right after the semester is over."

"Yay!" Reese says. "If you need to keep any of your stuff here, the guest room is open."

"Okay," he says. "I don't really have any furniture or anything, so it's mostly clothes so far. I'll have to order everything else once I start moving into the house. I have to brainstorm on color schemes, but I'm also getting some of my other grandma's old furniture."

"I'm getting you a housewarming gift," Reese says. "Maybe a nice couch, or a kitchen-aid mixer. Probably both. Let me know what color scheme, and I'll help you pick out a couch."

"You don't need to do that," Milo says.

"I don't need to, but I want to," Reese says. "You work really hard, Miles. You deserve it."

Milo wraps his arm around Reese's shoulder and gives her a hug. If I didn't know any better, I'd think they were siblings. They treat each other like so. I'm happy that Reese has people in her life that love her as much as they do. Milo has always been a very important person to Reese, and he always will be. Which means he'll be an important part of my life too, at least for a long time.

"Thanks, Reese. You're a great sister-cousin."

Reese laughs as they pull away, and then Milo gives me a fist bump. "Glad you're able to spend the holidays here with us, D."

"Thanks," I say, topping Reese's hot chocolate off with some whipped cream.

She smiles at me before reaching onto her tiptoes and giving me a quick kiss. "Thank you, babe."

I smile too. "You're welcome."

Reese turns back to Milo. "Sorry Sabrina isn't here. You still make a great third wheel."

Milo laughs. "Oh, stop. I like hanging out with you guys. It's fun. You guys have fun together, and seeing you happy, Reese, makes me have more fun. Win-win, cause we still get to hang out."

"I once dated a boy in high school that hated when Milo hung out with us," Reese tells me. "I broke up with him. 'Cause if you can't like Milo, you won't like me either."

"Good thing we're brothers," I say, giving Milo the secret handshake we made up. I'm getting pretty close to Reese's family, so it's not a surprise that Milo's one of the easiest people for me to get along with. He's best friends with Reese, and his personality is pretty similar to mine. We're both pretty laid-back people who like to just hang out.

Milo smiles before patting me on the back. "You're a great guy, D. I hope you stick around here."

"Aww thank you. That means a lot."

Reese furrows her eyebrows at me. "Don't worry, Milo. Dominic is stuck with me now. Whether he likes it or not."

I wrap my arm around Reese's shoulder and pull her closer before kissing her on the cheek. "It's a good thing I love you, babe."

"Milo?" Reese asks. "Would you mind taking a picture of D and I?" she hands him her phone as he nods, and then she wraps her arms around my neck. With our cheeks pressing together, we smile at the camera.

"Awww. This is such a good picture," Milo says, showing it to us. "Look at you guys."

Reese gasps as Milo hands the phone back to her. "I should put this on a Polaroid for my wall."

"That would be perfect, Reesey," I say. "Could you send this one to me?"

"Of course," she says. "Also, can you get one of Miles and I? We haven't gotten a picture in a while."

"Sure," I say. They take a few funny pictures before taking a normal one where they're actually smiling at the camera. It ends up being a great photo.

We all take lots of pictures throughout the night. Everyone's having fun together, so we might as well commemorate it, right? Plus, Maeve just got a new film camera, so she's been using it a lot lately.

A little while later, we're all sitting in the living room and watching the SNL Thanksgiving special that was pre-filmed. It's an episode full of Thanksgiving skits from over the years, so Tenley and Josh were able to be home in Chicago this weekend. Their sons Charlie and Jackson are with Josh's mom tonight, so Tenley and Josh could come hang out here with us.

Reese is sitting on my lap, and my arms are wrapped around her waist. We're just sitting here and enjoying everyone's company. It makes me think about someday in the future, when we will actually be living together and hosting parties like this. Chill nights with her family, and our friends.

Still, it's fun to play house like we are right now. I like that we'll be together until mid-January. It gives us a good taste of what it'll be like to actually live together someday. All this extra time with Reese makes me really happy. I always feel my best when we're spending time together, and now it feels like we're living in a dream. I know we'll most likely spend the summer together next year, and the holidays again next year, so I'm looking forward to those times even more now.

Reese truly is one of the biggest blessings in my life. I have a feeling we would've ended up together even if we didn't have the careers that we do. I don't know what the story would've been like there, but I feel very strongly about the fact that our souls have always been connected.