r e e s e *
"Hey, Reese!" Chase says, sitting on the bench beside me.
"Chase, you're my best friend and I love you, but why do you have so much energy at 7 o'clock in the morning?" I ask him, turning to look at him as he shrugs.
"Hey, listen, I'm getting a tattoo tonight, and I want you to come with me."
"What is it?"
"You'll see, but you've gotta be there, okay? You can spend the night too,"
Chase has one other tattoo on his right shoulder blade (back of his shoulder) of a lion; he got it because lions represent fierceness and warriors.
"Okay, I'll be there...do you want me to drive over to your house or meet you there?" I ask him.
"You can drive over if you want, or I can come and pick you up, it doesn't matter."
"You can pick me up if you want. That way I can get clothes and stuff,"
Chase nods. "It's a plan, then!"
The day goes by quickly, and before I know it, I'm back home again.
"Mom, Chase is getting a tattoo tonight and wants me to go with him, and then he invited me to stay the night with him after," I tell Mom.
"Okay sweetie, have fun!" she says. "But don't you get a tattoo!"
"I don't want one right now, Ma,"
"That's good. What's he getting this time?"
"I don't know, he wouldn't tell me."
"Hmmm...well, just send me a picture of it later!"
"I will Mom! I'm going to go upstairs and pack!" I tell her, hugging her and then turning around and going up to my room so I can pack my stuff.
Around 4:30, Chase's car pulls in my driveway, and I hug my mom and little sister, Rilee, goodbye and then go out to his car. He smiles as I get in and sit beside him. The car ride there is pretty quiet, we talk about some things, but he still hasn't told me what the tattoo he's getting is. We get there, and he's got an appointment, so he checks in and then comes to sit down beside me. He pulls his phone out of his pocket and texts his mom to tell her we got here, and then he turns it off and looks at me.
"Chase?" A girl calls from the front desk. "ID?"
Chase nods and gets up, going to the front desk and handing her the card.
"What are you getting done?" she asks him.
He lowers his voice, so low that I can't hear him and tells her. She nods.
"Yeah, that should be fine, and then you want..."
I don't hear the rest of her sentence. A few minutes later, Chase comes back and sits beside me, a grin on his face.
"So you tell her but not me?" I say sassily. He shoves me gently.
"You'll know soon enough, just chill for a few, alright?" he says, looking at me.
I sigh loudly and look at him.
"Chase? You can follow me now," the same girl from earlier calls out his name. Chase gets up and I follow him; we follow the girl to a room towards the back and she shows us in and shuts the door as we walk in behind her.
"Alright, Jeff will be with you in a few minutes, meanwhile if you want to go ahead and prepare, you may do so." She says, smiling at both of us. It may have just been me, but she said the word 'prepare' kind of weirdly, and I'm 99% sure she gave Chase a small wink. Chase turns to look at me as he sits down on the table, rolling up his sleeve and laying his arm on the side table they'll do the tattoo on.
"Come here," he says softly, looking up at me. "I'm going to tell you what I'm getting."
He looks at me, watching as I walk over to him and stand on the side without the table.
"Come over here," Chase tells me, pointing to the side with the table.
"I'll get in the way over there," I say.
"No, you won't," he says.
"He'll have to sit right here when he does the--"
"Reese, I want you to tattoo your first and middle name on me." He says, cutting me off.
"What? Why? You do know this is permanent, right?" I say, shocked.
"Yes, I know it's permanent."
"Then, why...?"
He stands up from the chair for a minute and grabs my face, pulling me into him and kissing my lips.
"That's why," he says when we pull away.
"But why--?"
"Reese, shut up, I know what I'm doing."
"Are you sure?"
He looks at me, a sassy look on his face. I check to make sure there aren't shadows under the door and lean over him, kissing him again, longer this time.
