cold ♡ h.s. » au

Chapter 4

I woke up with the smell of bacon filling my nostrils, oh and another hangover. I tightened the sagging pants that I slept in and crept into the kitchen. Harry was still in his boxers humming to himself while flipping the bacon.

"Morning," I smiled as I sat myself at the bar.

"We have a big day ahead," he smiled, revealing his dimple.

"What all do you have planned?" I asked while fixing us two glasses of milk.

"Tattoo parlor, lunch, then a you're coming with me to a gig." he said while setting two plates down.

"How about you drop me off at my place after lunch so I can freshen up, then I'll meet you at the coffee house," I suggested.

"Sounds good to me, we'll get going as soon as we're done."

After breakfast I wore one of Harry's plaid shirts with my jeans from yesterday. I pulled my tangled hair into a high ponytail and cleaned off the smudged makeup.

I threw my bag in the passenger seat while Harry cranked the heat on in the car, even though it was the first of March the temperatures were below freezing.

"Do you want to stay over again, tonight?" he asked as he started to drive.

"Yeah, I'll take you up on that offer."

We eventually ended up in a small tattoo parlor with hundreds of tattoos to choose from.

"I really don't know what to get.."

"Don't chicken out," he smirked while poking my sides.

"Harry!" an unfamiliar voice shouted.

"That's Joel, our artist."

Joel's arms were covered in tattoos, mostly flowers and vines actually. He looked to be in his early thirties, and judging by his arms a very talented tattoo artist.

"New tattoo, already? And you're pressuring a clean canvas!" the man signaled to me.

"I want a cover-up, over this," Harry's finger traced  over a tattoo that read, I can't change.

"What do you want to cover it with?" Joel asked while pulling out his notepad.

"An anchor."

"Let's get you ready, and you can pick out yours."

I skimmed through many books of ideas, but none appealed to me. Until I found a simple tattoo design of a key, that would be placed on my wrist. I held onto the single picture proudly and made headway in the back room where Harry was about to be tattooed.

I had so many questions I wanted to pester him with.

Why cover I can't change?

Why cover it with an anchor?

Why did he get I can't change in the first place?

Joel freehanded the anchor, it was just the right size. It was going to cover up the words on his wrist and add some extra ink going up into his forearm. He started to disinfect the area with rubbing alcohol and pressed the anchor stencil on the correct area, leaving temporary blue ink resting on his skin.

He sterilized everything, which made me a bit more comfortable for later, Harry didn't even flinch when the needle started to glide over his skin. He never showed any signs of discomfort during the whole process. Joel started shading after he finished the outline, it looked really great.

The tattoo looks even better than I thought it would. The skin under the tattoo is puffed up, which looks painful. Joel cleaned up the skin and then wrapped the tattoo in a white bandage.