Running In Circles || Nicholas Ruffilo

epilogue

Cassidy

Three years later

"Are you ready?" Nicholas asks, squeezing my hand. 

I'm really not ready. I mean, I've been working on this for months and I cannot wrap my head around the fact that I'm in front of all of my hard work and investment. 

The Pink Serpent stood before me in its beautiful form and I was crying before I even unlocked the door. The pink neon sign that looked like there were sparkles around the words blinked at me and I could already tell that the inside was going to be perfect. I allowed the same people who restored Davis's shop to have full control over the decoration of mine, so I have no idea what I'm walking into.

"Cass, I'm getting FOMO just from being out here," Davis whines from behind me. I glare back at him but can't help but smile at how happy he looks with his hand in Kendall's. They've been together for two years and I can tell that they are endgame. 

Vincent, Noah, Orie, and Jesse flank him. I have grown to love every single one of them for different reasons and the LA boys have made attempts to visit more. The shop opening date happened to be around the time that they had planned a trip here.

It's not at all that I wanted to not work for Davis anymore or that I felt weird working alongside Nicholas; it's that with the incredible clientele that I've grown, I've heard so many stories about how they feel unsafe with how saturated the tattoo and piercing world is with men, and especially violent and insecure ones. It made me want to create a space that is only for women and has only female artists. No men allowed at all, not even the good ones. That being said, this is going to be the only time these incredible men are going to step foot in here. It's not that I don't trust them, it's that there will be clients that may have intense trauma when it comes to men that I cannot take that risk.

With a shaky hand, I slide the key into the lock and spin it before turning to Nicholas. "Can you cover my eyes? I want to take it all in from the center of the room," I murmur to him. 

He smiles at me with such warmth that it melts me at my core. I love him more every single day and I never knew that that was possible. "Of course," he reassures me, cupping his hands over my eyes. "Noah, grab the door and lights, please? There's a small step up, Cass," he instructs. I feel a towering figure go around me and the space become more open before I step up and into the space. "We're gonna go diagonally to the right," he murmurs, shuffling behind me awkwardly, just two souls wound into the same space. I feel so right with him.

"Holy shit," I hear Davis breathe out, Kendall gasping with him. Jesse lets out a low whistle and I hear someone, probably Orie, smack someone on the arm. All of my senses catch up to me and while I can still smell the new paint smell, I also smell a vague vanilla smell that someone probably tried to cancel out the fumes with and Nicholas' body wash. I'm aware of how large the space feels without even seeing it; space and privacy were my main priorities with choosing a space for this idea. 

Nicholas kisses me on the back of the head. "It looks incredible," he reassures me, whispering into my hair. I feel my smile beaming, the tears still rolling down my face. "Are you ready?"

"Yes," I whimper out embarrassingly. He drops his hands and I keep my eyes closed for a moment, taking deep breaths for a minute before opening them. 

It's an explosion of color, but not in a distasteful or overbearing way. The themes for the walls are a deep, almost fuchsia, pink throughout the whole place. In the waiting area, there is an accent wall of snakeskin wallpaper, which I didn't know was possible, and black couches. The welcome case that needs some flash sheets in there was black and glass and every station had black workstations and desks. The floor is a dark gray and black checkerboard pattern throughout the entire shop.