Roses and Ink|Cricky

3|We Meet Again

Ricky's POV:

"Are you still talking to that Josh guy?" I asked Ryan as she ate her chicken strips, her manicured hands holding the food carefully.

She nodded, covering her mouth for a moment. "Yeah, I am. We actually have a date later this week." She grinned, a blush coating her pale cheeks. "He's super sweet."

"Is he cute?" I asked, tilting my head. "I mean, you could get any guy, with that body, but-"

"He's super adorable, actually. Shorter than me, but everyone is." Ryan Ashley chuckled, taking a sip of her iced tea. "What about you, Ange? How are things with Kelly?"

Angelo always smiled at the mention of his girlfriend, blue eyes lighting up. "Things are incredible. We're talking about moving in together," he tucked a bit of hair behind his ear, the long locks soon being tied back. "I really love her."

She smiled and nodded. "Ricky, why don't you have anyone? You like guys, right?"

I went red, nodding shyly. "Y-Yes, I do like... M-Men." I stammered, smiling a little. "I just haven't met the right person yet. I'm not really looking for anyone right now, anyway,"

"Sure." Ryan replied with a snicker before going back to her food.

I rolled my eyes at her and checked the time on my phone, then placed it face down on the table. I'd only had some fries for lunch, but Ange and Ryan were the slowest eaters I've met in my entire life. I could walk the entire country before they'd be finished with just a three course meal.

I hadn't realized I was zoning out until the bell on the door of the diner jingled. Someone walked in, and I was actually pretty pleased that it was the flower guy. He was wearing an oversized sweater with a pair of black, skinny, vinyl pants with some suede creepers on his feet. I've only met the guy like twice, but damn, I never noticed how good looking he was.

Ryan Ashley smiled and stood up, going over to him and engulfing him in a hug. "Chris! Hey! I feel like it's been ages since we've talked, what the fuck?" She whined, punching his shoulder. "Why don't you come hang out anymore?"

He chuckled and shrugged, glancing to the floor. "Just... Busy, I guess," he began to wrap his headphones around his phone, slipping it into his pocket afterward. "How are things with you and Balz?"

"Great, thank you for hooking us up! God, we were literally just talking about that. Come sit, come sit!" She insisted, taking his hand and leading him to the booth we sat at. She pushed him beside me, her taking her seat beside Angelo again.

Chris looked at me and flashed a smile. "Hey, Ricky." He knows my name. "If I had known you were on your way here, I would have walked with you."

"O-Oh, uhm, thank-thank you." I replied, smiling awkwardly. I didn't know what to say! I knew Ryan Ashley and him were friends, but I'd never even had a real conversation with this dude.

"How's the shop doing?" Ange asked, tying his hair back so he could focus on their conversation.

"Good. Still going," he replied with a smile that was actually really cute. "But I'm not that interesting. You guys tattoo people, that's permanent. What's that like?"

Ange shrugged. "You need a steady hand, I'll tell you that shit." He popped a French fry into his mouth. "Ryan is definitely the most talented out of the three of us. My stuff is more cartoon, but hers? Jesus Christ."

"Ricky's incredible, too!" Ryan Ashley added, her cup of iced tea in hand. She shook it around a bit, furrowing her brows at the nearly empty cup.

I blushed. "I-I'm not all that great." I murmured softly, glancing out the window. "You two are the ones who taught me everything I know."

Chris looked to me, which made my cheeks go even more pink than hey already were. "You like tattooing?"

I nodded shyly, "I love art."

"Do you have any pictures of your work? I'd love to see them," he smiled that cute smile, and I swear, I looked as red as a goddamn cherry.

I pulled out my phone and scrolled trough my gallery for a few moments, then pulled up one of my drawings. "I never got to put it on skin, but," I passed he phone to him, "I like mixing styles up. Ryan's is black and white, Angelo's is cartoons. I adore their techniques, so I put it into my work a lot. I was really obsessing over Frankenweenie at the time I drew that. I-I really love painting, too." I rambled as he examined the photo.

"That's amazing, Ricky. Can you draw plants?" Chris asked as he passed my phone back to me.

"I'm sure I could." I replied. I looked to Ryan and Angelo, who were smiling and wiggling their brows at Chris and I. "D-Do you want more tattoos?"

He nodded. "I'd really like to get my knuckles covered up. I was trying to avoid coming out to my dad, but," he cut himself off with a chuckle and showed me his left hand. On his top knuckle, it read 'kiss', and on the bottom it read 'boys'. "Edgy eighteen year old me decided to be stupid,"

I couldn't help the small laugh that escaped past my lips. "You like men?" I asked curiously.

He nodded. "Yeah, I'm bisexual. I like girls too, but I do kinda prefer guys." He winked at me with a slight smirk.

I swear to god, my heart just shit itself.