Cupid's Soldier

Chapter 7

A:N// Austen's new tattoo above.

Hiding in the tattoo shop until dark was probably not one of my best ideas. Especially since my mom is probably worrying out of her mind, I'm so terrified that I'm shaking, and Austen just came walking in.

I try to hide from him behind a wall of nose rings, trying desperately not to be seen. But, people are getting tattoos straight ahead of me, and they've probably noticed me cowering behind a wall. I'm not exactly being very quiet despite my hand over my mouth either. My teeth are chattering like the temperature in this room is under zero degrees despite the fact that it's actually quite warm here.

I can hear him talking to people, and as long as he's talking to them, I'm safe. He's laughing with them, not the same deep laugh I hear when we talk, it's friendly. I can hear his rough voice describe what tattoo he wants: the word safe in cursive circled by thorns on his chest. It sounds really sexy, but I just don't understand it. The word safe doesn't really conjure up the image of thorns to me. I watch him as he walks to the chair with another man. He rips off his shirt and I gasp quietly.

Tattoos are scattered on his right arm, and his abs are so defined. His pants aren't sagging, but with his shirt off you can still see his sharp v-line. I want to trace my finger over his abs and put my head on his strong chest. I blush, my face turning a deep scarlet color. I can't keep my eyes from looking at his physique for some reason and it makes me want to die of embarrassment.

I look up at his face, realizing that he's seen me openly staring at his body. His lips are pulled into a sexy smirk and the tattoo artist standing next to him is chuckling.

"Are you stalking me, Little Sel?" He asks smugly. I open my mouth and try to explain myself, only to close my mouth, knowing that nothing I say will mean anything.

He smiles smugly at me as the tattoo artist sits him down. He starts getting the needles and everything ready and I grimace. When he starts drawing on his skin, I cringe. God, I hate needles. I hate that I have to stay here in this shop and try to fight the temptation to stare at his body while also fighting the urge to run out of this shop full of needles, blood, and Austen Hendrikson of all people!

Despite the needle stabbing into his skin, he doesn't look like he's in pain at all. Seeing as he has tattoos on his arm, he's either very tolerant to pain or he's just gotten so many tattoos he doesn't feel it anymore. Either way, I don't know where I should be looking and I'm still very uncomfortable.

I sort of want to prove to him that I'm not perfect; I don't know why I care that he thinks I don't have any problems. Maybe, I just want him to treat me like a person he can relate with. After what happened today in class, I know he's not trying to hurt my feelings when he calls me that but it also just makes me think that he's putting me on an unhealthy pedestal.

I walk away from my hiding spot, straight towards Austen. He already knew where I was, so what's the point in hiding from him any longer. He watches me, as I make my way towards a chair next to him, and he smirks as I watch him ink him up.

The tattoo is already starting to look amazing, and it suits him a lot more than I thought it would.

"What will it mean?" I ask curiously. Everything about his tattoos intrigue me. He had to have been so sure of himself to get every single one of them, and I wish I was that self assured.

"Why?" He asks, raising an eyebrow and wincing as the guy finishes the thorns, and starts on the word safe.

"I just don't understand what you mean by it. When I think of safety, I know I don't think of thorns."

"It's symbolic-" He says quietly. "With every promise of safety, there's also a promise of becoming trapped. Eventually, every place you think is safe becomes your own personal cage of thorns. I want it over my heart as a reminder not to let anyone trap me in a cage again."

Everything he says makes perfect sense, it makes me wonder what he's been through to fight through life so angrily. He's got so much anger and so much sadness, and he's so lonely. But it sounds like he's scared to let anyone in. He's just like me and he isn't at the same time. Lately, I've noticed my feelings towards him change so drastically. I'm so curious about him and yet so in awe of him, it's scary.

I keep trying to tell myself negative things about him to keep myself from liking him. I keep trying to distract myself from him by saying things like; he might be attractive, but he's arrogant, rude, and probably already has multiple girls hanging on his arm. But while I look at those brown eyes of his, I feel myself blush. I feel my body heating up as he smirks at me. Just the slightest look at me, and I melt under his stare.

Maybe it's okay to talk to someone about yourself; he seems like he could understand the things I go through. The slightest feelings of something more than friendship are itching at the surface of my heart. Like poison ivy, if I don't scratch it, it won't spread. I know perfectly well nothing good will come out of having feelings for someone, especially now that my dad is back in the picture. But, somehow, just looking at him makes me try to convince myself that there's nothing wrong with having a little crush on him.

Somehow, the tattoo shop wasn't as scary as I thought it would be but it's still out of my comfort zone. As the tattoo artist finishes Austen's piece, I decide that if he takes me home instead I won't have to worry about Xavier finding me.

"Do you think you can give me a ride to my house?" I ask him quietly.

"If you want me to," he says, shrugging his shoulders as the guy finishes.

"You know how to take care of the tats by now." The tattoo artist says, putting gauze on his tattoo and smiling at Austen. Austen's loud and warm laugh stands out over the quiet conversations and weird music, gaining the attention of a couple people, including me.

"You finally gave up trying to tell me how to take care of them, Will?" Austen teases with a smirk on his face. Will laughs obnoxiously and smirks right back at him.

"Nah, but the pretty little lady you got with you doesn't deserve to see you whine like a little bitch."

I blush and nudged Austen lightly.

"Can we go now?"

He turns around to look at me and our eyes meet. He turns around and looks down at me, his eyes searching mine.

"Sure," He says huskily, taking money out of his pocket and giving it to Will. He grabs my hand, making my heart jump into my throat, and walks us out of the tattoo shop.