phobias // 5sos au

.3

It was now Monday which meant Faye unfortunately had to go to work. She didn't mind her job, in fact she really liked it, but the idea of waking up at seven in the morning wasn't exactly her idea of a good time.

Faye had started out as an apprentice at Main Street Tattoos when she was seventeen. She had just turned nineteen two months ago, which mean she finished her two-year learning period and was now working a full time job as a tattoo artist. She was good at it too, some people even requested to have tattoos done by her specifically. Faye enjoyed her job; working with so many people helped her prepare for becoming a therapist or counselor.

Faye was good with people. She liked people, and they always liked her. There was just an open and caring attitude that she had about her, and everyone seemed to really like that. If there was one thing that Faye Oliver was undoubtedly good at it was getting people to like her without even trying. She didn't mind the fact that people liked her, she just had a problem with the fact that liking was one step closer to loving. And it's pretty obvious how she felt about love.

"There's a boy in the back." Ian, one of Faye's coworkers, told her as she walked into the shop.

This is how everyday went. Ian (or whoever was at the counter) would tell her that someone needed a tattoo and then she'd end up sitting in the back at her little station the whole day waiting for new customers to come in and out. It was a clean process that rarely was disturbed, and everyone liked it that way.

"I'm Faye." She smiled at the fidgeting blonde boy who was sitting on the tattoo chair.

"Oh, um, I-I'm Luke." The boy smiled at her shyly, showing only the slightest bit of his pearly white and practically perfect teeth.

"Well, Luke, do you have any idea as to what tattoo you want to get?" Faye asked him from her position on the swivel chair in front of the desk that was part of her station. Her desk was adorned with a computer, a printer, and tons of sketches she had done for different tattoos.

"I want to get Nirvana lyrics, but I don't really know where I want them." Luke shrugged, giving her a once over as she turned around to log into the computer.

Faye wasn't aware that Luke actually did know where he wanted the tattoo. He wanted it on his ribs, but that meant he would have to take his shirt off. Luke found the idea of him taking his shirt off in front of anyone, let alone such an attractive girl, would literally kill him. So as she listed off popular places people got quotes he thought of all the possible things that could go wrong and he couldn't stop himself once he started.

Faye couldn't help but notice how shy the boy was, with his broad shoulders hunched and his blue eyes never meeting hers. He was more shy than Ashton was, and Faye couldn't help but to hope that maybe he'd open up like she had gotten Ashton to open up. Even if she could just get him to crack a smile she'd be happy so that's what she intended to do.

"You could get it on your ribs, that personally my favorite place to get lyrics or quotes." Faye said, shrugging as she did so.

Luke thought about it more and more and finally the little voice in his head told him to just get it over with. He would most likely never see Faye again he figured, so, despite the many things telling him to just get out of that place, he nodded and they began to go over exactly what he wanted.

Luke had decided a long time ago that he wanted the lyrics: "I'm not like them, but I can pretend." They meant a lot to him and were from his favorite song, Dumb by Nirvana. Faye went over everything with him and he actually felt comfortable around her, except when it came down to the moment he had to take his shirt off.

"I'm sorry if my hands are cold." Faye giggled as she waited for Luke to take off his black Green Day shirt.

Faye already liked Luke, after all he was getting Nirvana lyrics tattooed on him and he was wearing a shirt with one of her favorite bands. She found the awkward boy adorable in the friendliest way possible. Faye could see them being good friends, but all Luke could see was his overwhelming fear as she started to put the needle of the tattoo gun to his skin.

"So does it have meaning?" Faye asked as she followed over where she had previously pen sketched his tattoo on his ribs.

"I just find them really relatable." Luke explained with his eyes shut tight, partly because it hurt and partly to stop him from getting a panic attack.

"Oh." Faye mumbled as she continued to concentrate on the fine lines of the word like.

The tattoo didn't take that long, even though it felt like ages to Luke. Faye asked him questions to distract him the whole time and he was glad she did because there wasn't a doubt in his mind he would've been a crying mess if he wasn't being distracted from his thoughts. Luke couldn't help himself from wondering about Faye; did she have a boyfriend? maybe a girlfriend even? did she find him attractive? what color underwear was she wearing? would she give him her number?

"How old are you?" Faye asked Luke on a whim.

Faye had questions about Luke just like he had questions about her; was he in a relationship? was he from California? who introduced him to such great music? was he a natural blonde? how old was he?

The only difference between Faye and Luke being that Faye had the courage to ask the questions she was wondering about.

"Eighteen." He answered her question as she covered his newly finished tattoo.

Her guess was twenty, maybe twenty one, so when that came out of his mouth she was a little shocked. Luke noticed her widen her eyes at his answer and couldn't help but wonder why she was surprised. He always thought he had the body and face of a fifteen year old so he thought maybe that was why she was shocked, but he had no clue.

"How old are you?" He asked her back, earning a small smile from Faye. She liked the fact that he was now talking to her.

"Nineteen." She answered, shrugging her shoulders. "Are you from California?" She continued asking him questions, knowing he would now answer them.

"No, I grew up in New York, but moved here when I graduated high school." He looked at her and couldn't help but wonder why she was curious about him. Nobody ever talked to him like this, but little did Luke know that it was because they were all intimated by how attractive he way. So he went on thinking nobody liked him when everyone was actually just too shy to speak to him.

"No kidding, I used to live in Brooklyn... and not the nice part." Faye chuckled making Luke wonder how she grew up. He knew how rough the bad side of Brooklyn could be, he had been mugged there when he was sixteen while walking to his friends house.

"No wonder you moved here." Luke stated, making quick eye contact with her but then moving his focus to his all black Converse.

"Eh, I mean it wasn't a nice neighborhood but I didn't mind it. Despite all the drugs and horrible people it's not that bad of a place." Faye shook her head with a smile on her face to show she was joking.

Faye never really liked the fact that she grew up there. She got labeled as a 'thug' or a 'misfit' which is exactly what she used to be. But the minute she got accepted to USC she got out of that hell hole and moved straight to California. She completely changed and that made her happy.

Faye liked change despite how much it scared her.

a/n: there's Luke for y'all. I feel like this whole chapter was so awkward it's not even funny.

these first few chapters are pretty much just introduction chapters but their really important to the story.

haha thanks for reading.