bullies, fame and tattoos ; luke hemmings

later [1]

|| e m i l y ||
3 years later

it's been 3 years.

and luke sure as hell has left me alone.

he hasn't uttered a word to me since and barely even looks in my direction. thankfully.

after our high school graduation, i went to university and never had to see him in every single one of my classes ever again.

i'd be lying if i said i didn't miss him, but life has been going swimmingly since our split.

he ended up not being able to get into any university along side michael and ashton. i, on the other hand, studied for visual arts in oxford. there, i met a guy called calum who has ended up being my best friend.

i also started an apprenticeship at a tattoo store.

tattoos always seemed to intrigue me. partially because luke and his gang were able to get them below the age of 18. but also how people trust you to put something permanently on their skin. that if you mess up, they'll have that mess up on their body forever. there was no rewind button.

and i guess that's why the training is so brutal.

george, my boss and teacher, would make me tattoo meat upon meat. so much so that i'd go back to my dorm reeking of game.

he's made me do so many drills with my machines, i'd have cuts all over my finger from pricking myself with the needle. my hands would cramping from the constant assembling and disassembling of the machine.

i haven't even tattooed a real person until today. and i'm shitting my pants.

-=+=-

"calum. if i mess up, this person will deal with a sucky tattoo for the rest of their life." i panic, walking over to the shop with my best friend in tow. he puts an arm around my torso and kisses my forehead, in a brotherly way. my nerves quickly dissipating.

"you'll do fine. i've seen your work on the pig shoulders and they look spectacular." he assured, basically shoving me into the shop.

"hey george." i smile, waving at my boss, suppressing any nerves still bubbling inside me. i knew it was just going to make my line work sloppy and make me colour outside the lines.

beside george is the person i was tattooing. i didnt spare him a second glance, but when i recognised who it was, i cursed to myself.

"hey emily. you'll be tattooing luke today." he pats luke's shoulder. i knew about luke coming to england. calum was just about as shocked as i was to see luke but he didn't know about our past thankfully. they gave each other a rather aggressive hug before turning their attention to george.

he and calum were in this band that they made called '5 seconds of summer' alongside michael and ashton. apparently, they got some gigs in england leading to all four of them living in calum's apartment. but i didn't think luke would be coming to this tattoo shop in this city.

"don't worry. i have too many tattoos, if you mess up, it won't be a big deal." his accent hasn't changed, still the sydney boy i knew forever ago.

as for me, i've changed a lot since high school, shying away from the baggy clothes and wearing things that showed off my physique. i ditched the glasses and settled on contacts, showing off my hazel eyes. i was covered in tattoos, definitely nothing like luke but still a fair amount. my hair was also completely different, i bleached it so that it was blonde and then dying my whole head a shade of pastel pink. a stark difference to my old black and truly made me look like a whole other person.

i really hope he doesn't recognise me.

and he doesn't because instead of some snarky comment or looks of recognition, he treats me like a stranger.

and i'm perfectly okay with that.

"so what's your name?" he asks, as i trace the design he wanted.

"emily." i reply bluntly, knowing that george already told him that.

"emily..."

oh god, if i said tate he'd recognise me immediately.

"lynn. emily lynn." it wasn't a complete lie, lynn is my middle name. i might start calling myself that, it had a nice ring to it.

"cool." he smiles. sliding the chair i sat on towards him, i was shocked by his topless body. the tattoo was towards his hip so i thought i'd just lift his shirt slightly and work from there. but i didn't realise how bare his chest was--by bare i mean tattooless--nor did i realise how muscular he was. i thought his chest would be covered in more tattoos, but it was just his arms. trying my best to not stare, i transfer the outline of the tattoo onto his skin.

i didn't enjoy how close we were but luke kept it light hearted with a bit of small talk.

"what brings you here ms. australia." he asks me. i didn't even realise i was talking in my australian accent, i grew a british drawl which i normally annunciated with but being around him must've brought out the australian in me. 

"oh, i study here. at oxford. what about you?" turning the machine on, i raise my voice slightly so he could still hear me.

"me and my band are touring here in england. you should see one of our shows." his skin flinches when i place the needle on it but it relaxes almost as fast as it tensed. it was weird tattooing a subject that was actually moving and not a inanimate piece of pig.

"cool. your band name?" i ask and he tells me 5 seconds of summer. i acted like i didn't really know but i did. calum told me many stories about them as a band, i guess luke just didn't realise that i had relations with calum.

"i'll check you guys out." i couldn't tell him that i knew calum. that would lead into a very downward spiral that would end in me telling the truth about my past.

the tattoo was small, a cute bow that may or may not harbinger something else. so i asked.

"a friend of mine, if i can even call her that. you both share the same name actually. she had a bow drawn on her wrist the day she found out about the death of her parents. i thought the tattoo would be a reminder as to how terribly i treated her." the amount of sympathy he had in his voice made me want to spill but i keep my mouth shut and just kept the needle on his flinching skin.

we were both peeking into this downward spiral. so i quickly change the subject and we talk about his band and their music.

the tattoo took less than 20 minutes and i got it wrapped up quickly. luke hands me a slip of paper, which i later found out to be a concert ticket for tomorrow.

"i'll see you later emily." he bids goodbye, leaving the shop.

so much for avoiding.