One of a Kind - A KathNiel Story

Chapter 14

Kath stared back at the mirror, still in a complete daze as she tried to process the fact that her tattoo wasn't a photo and that it was on her skin permanently. She and DJ barely knew each other at all, yet something about the artwork made her believe that it was much deeper than simply a picture of a young girl in the woods with some kind of light shooting across her hand. "Does this have a meaning?" Kath asked, looking back at DJ. Neither of them noticed they were alone in the tattoo shop, they were too engrossed in each other. DJ had never been prouder of a piece of art in his entire career, not just because an original piece was on a celebrity for life, but because it was rare he was truly trusted to just draw whatever he wanted and tattoo it on them without getting their approval first. The only other time that happened was during his training to become a tattoo artist, and that was a requirement and had been provided for him - he had to get their approval first, though. Kath was the first person to fully trust him.

"Well, the girl is you... and the forest in the background is kinda out of focus and very far away, so I wanted that to represent your past. I don't know a lot about you, but I... noticed the scars when I was tracing your arm." DJ admitted and Kath bit her lip, knowing he meant her self-harm scars. They weren't truly visible anymore, only one or two very small scars from when she'd gone deeper. "But then you have this light in front of you and although you look lost and... alone, you always have a guiding light, you always have hope," DJ said, looking down at the ground as he admitted his thought process. "It's probably stupid, but I just thought-" DJ cut himself off out of shock as Kath locked her arms around him, being careful not to touch him with her arm but he hugged her back, squeezing her as she did the same to him.

"It's not stupid, it's beautiful." Kath breathed, slowly pulling away from him and she looked at the tattoo again in the mirror, her eyes burning with tears now she knew the true meaning behind the artwork.

"Well, I'm just glad you don't hate it," DJ mumbled, smiling when she laughed. He could never not at least smile when she laughed, it was the most contagious and happy sound he'd ever heard besides Noah's laughter.

"Hey, listen, I seriously have to get going. I have an errand I gotta run, but I'll call you later." Kath promised, grabbing a pen from his station and a scrap piece of paper, writing down her phone number.

"Wow, look at me! I have Kathryn Bernardo's business phone number." DJ smirked and Kath laughed, shaking her head as she handed it over to him.

"It's my personal number, and if you give it out to anybody, I'll hunt you down and gut you like a fish." She warned, but she couldn't keep the smile from her face and DJ couldn't help but chuckle.

"Got it... and hey, call before six-thirty and you can say goodnight to Noah - if you want to, of course." He quickly added as he handed her his business card with his phone number on it and Kath grinned.

"I'll make sure I'm done with my errand by then. Maybe you can ask him what we should do on our date, since as it was his idea." Kath teased, laughing when DJ rolled his eyes playfully but she let him talk her through the aftercare of her tattoo, even though it wasn't her first one and she gave him another quick hug goodbye before leaving the shop. The paparazzi had no idea where she was, which she was grateful for. She wanted to reveal her tattoo in her own time, not have it all over the internet before she could even get to her parked car. It was when she got into the driver's seat that she pulled out her phone and called someone, starting to drive back home.

"Hey! How's my favorite tattoo canvas?" Jason teased and Kath smiled. Jason owned one of the most well-known shops in the city, known all over the country for the quality of their artists.

"I need a favor."

"Oh, yeah?"

"I'm gonna text you a link to an Instagram page, okay? He's working in some crack den-looking neighborhood, but he deserves to be where you are. Trust me." Kath urged and Jason hesitated.

"I can take a look, but no promises." He vowed, Kath shouting a 'thank you' to him out of pure gratitude and she waited until she was at a red light before texting him the link to DJ's Instagram page, saving DJ's number into her phone at the same time. She took a deep breath as she headed home, nerves building in the pit of her stomach.

DJ had saved her life, she hoped she could at least give him a chance to be where he deserved to be.

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