What we used to be

Chapter 4

Michael wakes and showers before putting on some jeans, a t-shirt and a hoodie and shoving a beanie over his curly hair. He walks downstairs and Kara smiles.
"You ready?" She asks and Michael nods.
"I'm so excited!" He says and she laughs.
"We have to bring Ashley with us because the social worker said she hasn't had any injections or vaccinations so were going to do that when you're done." She says and Michael smiles picking Ashley up and carrying her to the car while Kara grabs her keys and bag and gets in. They drive to the tattoo parlour and when they arrive Michael starts basically buzzing with excitement. He holds Ashley's hand as they walk in and Kara talks to the woman behind the desk.
"Hiya love, I'm Lucy, take a seat. So you want a tattoo?" She asks and Michael nods.
"Yeah." He says awkwardly and she shouts "Mark! Sketch!" Before turning to Michael.
"These are the tattoo artists." She says and they shake Michaels and Kara's hands. Michael tells them what he wants and Sketch draws it up roughly. It looks fucking incredible! They go through to the back room, Kara now holding Ashley on her lap and holding Michaels hand in hers.
"So where do you want it?" Sketch asks and Michael rolls up his right sleeve.
"Just like, on my forearm." He says and Sketch nods.
"You got battle scars too?" He points out calmly as he sets up the ink and Michael nods, slightly confused. Mark did his tattoo last time he came so he saw Michaels cuts and scars but he didn't bring them up. Sketch shows Michael his left forearm.
"Me too, but they've faded quite a bit now, the ink helps to hide it." He says and Michael looks at his tattoo covered arm, he can still see scars but he wouldn't have noticed them unless they were pointed out. When sketch starts tattooing Michaels arm he winces and Ashley starts to giggle. When its done Michael looks down, admiring the amazing detail and shading.
"Holy fuck dude!" He says in disbelief and Kara smiles.
"That's cool." She says and Michael grins, giving sketch a brief hug before they pay and leave the shop. Ashley keeps staring at Michaels arm when they are sitting in the doctors waiting room.

Ashley gets her injection and Kara decides they can just meet the others at the park later so she sends Joel a text and buys Michael and Ashley ice cream. They get in the car an hour later and drive to the park they're meeting everyone at. They are the first ones there so Kara sits on the grass and Michael takes Ashley to the playground. He sits her in a swing and pushes her gently, standing in front of her so he can see her face. She starts giggling and Michael smiles. After a few minutes he hears Kara call him and he stops Ashley from swinging, picks her up and puts her on his shoulders, holding her hands. She giggles as he bounces slightly when he walks and she bumps up and down. When he gets to Kara he sees Joel and the rest of the kids sitting and lying on the grass and he sits down.

"Yo got another tattoo!" Miles asks and Michael smiles. Kara told Joel and Ryan, but no one else knew.
"Yeah!" Michael says excitedly, pushing his sleeve up further and showing him his wrapped arm.
"Wow! Where'd you go?" Lindsay asks and Kara says "We went to the guys that tattoo Geoff and Griffon, they did Michaels first tattoo." Just as she says that Michael sees Geoff and Griffon walking over to them, Gavin walking next to them pushing a buggy.
"Hey! So sketch tells me you paid him a visit?" Geoff asks when he reaches them and Kara smiles.
"Yeah, he's an incredible artist."
"So who got inked?" Geoff asks and all of the kids point at Michael.
"Wow really? Let me see!" Geoff says and Michael rolls up his sleeve again. Geoff looks down at his arm and Michael realised that Geoff and Griffon don't know about his self harming, unless Gavin told them but he doubts that. Michael guesses that Geoff and Griffon see his cuts but they don't say anything and he silently thanks God for that.
"That's top!" Gavin says and Geoff nods.
"That is really fucking cool!" Geoff says as Ray shouts "Can I go play now?" He whines and Kara laughs.
"Yeah, you can go play." She says and he grabs Dans hand and they run off towards the swings.
"Don't go too far!" Joel shouts.
"I got it!" Ryan calls before running after the two young boys laughing. Lindsay looks at Michael and he nods in understanding.
"Football?" He asks Miles and Meg and they grin, grabbing the football and standing up. As they start to walk away Michael hears Kara and Joel pointing to each person and telling Geoff and Griffon their names as everyone ran off before they could be introduced. They all take off their jumpers, since it's hot anyway, and put them down, using them as goal posts. They discuss teams, Michael and Lindsay against Meg and Miles, and are about to play when Barbara runs over.
"Can I play?" She asks and Michael nods, looking for one more player.
"GAVIN! You have to play to make the teams even!" He shouts and Gavin smiles slightly, standing up and jogging over.
"Alright, Babs, you're on our team, Gavin, you're on theirs." Michael says and they both nod, standing on their respective sides of their make shift pitch. Michael puts the ball in the centre and stands on one side of the ball, Gavin standing opposite him on the other side of the ball.
"I'll be ref!" Joel shouts, standing up and joining them. He whistles and Michael easily takes the ball, kicking it to Barbara, who passes it back, all the while having to fight off Gavin and Meg, who keep trying to tackle them. It reminds Michael of when he and Gavin were younger and would play football in the garden.