Art & Ink //Zauren?

•two

"Why are your paintings always so scary?" Carlos wandered into the room unannounced, making Lauren jump in surprise.

She turned around, placing the paint brush on the small table next to the stool she was sitting on.

"Why do you always break into my apartment?"

Carlos shrugged in his grey sweat pants and tank top. His black hair was damp and curly from the shower he just took.

"I don't break in. Your front door is always unlocked."

Lauren scoffed. "That doesn't mean you can walk your happy ass in whenever you feel like it."

Carlos didn't look phazed. "Damn, you're sexy when you're angry."

Not being able to stay mad at him, she cracked a smile.

"You know I don't like you in here when I'm painting." She tried her best to block his view of the art, even though he'd already seen it.

"Ok, fine." He backed away. "I'm gonna go raid your refrigerator."

"Like always." When was he not coming into her apartment and stealing her food?

After putting the finishing touches on the work that Carlos found scary, she places it in the corner of the room to dry. She left her painting room, making sure to lock the door behind her. The two of them settled down on the couch and began watching reruns of Full house.

"So what are you doing for your birthday? It's next Monday, right?" Carlos asked, stroking her hair as she rested her head on his shoulder.

She nodded. "But I don't celebrate my birthday, you know that."

"Why? Everyone celebrates their birthday, chica muy dulce. Why don't you?"

Lauren pulled away from him and narrowed her gaze. Carlos quickly regretted his words after it became obvious that he struck a nerve.

"You know I don't like to talk about that."

"I'm sorry, I was just curious." He rushed out in a nervous tone.

Lauren shook her head, and looked back to the tv. "It's fine."
Passed emotions tried to resurface and she had to force them back down. It was amazing how easily she could shut off her emotions like a convenient light switch.

*~*

The tattoo parlor was always busy on Fridays and Zayn loved that. The sound of buzzing tattoo guns and obnoxious conversations among his fellow employees was music to his ears. Zayn was a social moth with a strange obsession with needles and talented hands. He gave himself his first tattoo at the age of 14 and was hooked on doing them even since.

"Im gonna go grab lunch. You want anything?" Dean asked, leaning in the doorway of Zayn's private room. The girl lying on her side getting a tattoo on her hip didn't bother covering herself as Zayn began putting the finishing touches on the extremely detailed catfish.

"Turkey sub, no tomatoes." Zayn kept his eyes on his work.
The fresh tattoo caught Dean's eye. It looked nice on her fair skin.

"Looks good." He assured the girl who was looking down at the nearly finished ink with excitement.

"Thanks." The red head smiled.

Dean was more laid back than his foster brother. Even though they had different parents, they almost resembled each other. Same features, same height, same hair, but a different set of eyes. Zayn's were a bright hazel and Dean's were a sterling grey. Dean was also a pretty successful tattoo artist. Several years of practice paid off for him in the long run.

After ordering lunch for him and Zayn, he took a seat at a table and waited on his order to be called.

"Two paninis and a bottled water please." The voice caught his attention for an unknown reason. He turned his head to the side to catch a glimpse of the girl at the register. Long, dark hair covered her face as she dug in her purse and pulled out her card. His gaze followed her as she took a seat at a table with her bottled water and waited on her order. The woman wore all black and a few silver bracelets and rings. A dark chick, he thought to himself with a smirk.

Before he could approach her, the man at the counter called out her order and she stood from her seat. The woman politely thanked the man and strutted out the door.

Dean returned to the parlor with lunch and the two of them began eating in a back room.

"Remember that Tina chick that I tattooed the other day?" Dean asked and took a huge bite of his sub.

"Mhm." Zayn hummed with a mouth full of food.

"She invited us to that gallery up in town. Some girl is showing her paintings on Saturday and Tina said she wanted us to come." He also recalled her saying something about her friend's birthday.

Zayn swallowed. "Let me guess. You want to go just so you can get in Tina's pants later?"

He shrugged. "So what? She's cute."

Zayn didn't look interested.

"Come on, she might have a cute friend...and I thought you liked looking at art and shit." Dean added.

The offer did sound appealing. It would be nice to get out of the house and go somewhere other than the tattoo parlor. Zayn caved.

"Fine." Zayn stood from his chair, crumbling his sandwich paper. Dean smirked at the small victory.