My tattoo looked so... grand. Bit of an old fashioned word, I know, but that's pretty much the only way to describe it. But something nagged at me a little bit, mainly because, well, I wanted to see whether it was actually an accurate representation of the skyline. So I guess one morning I made up my mind, and wanted to go to the Statue of Liberty.
I've never really been into sightseeing, honestly. I never understood it. I mean, sure, I understood the sparkling allure of a new city- the bright, unfamiliar lights, the new smells, the way the toilet flushed the other way around, and the new faces. Lights shine different colours. People speak differently. So yeah, I got why it was intriguing. But this city was different, so as soon as I woke up I grabbed a bowl of Lucky Charms (I can't cook for shit.) and went over to my laptop to look up some tickets to go to the statue.
Just my luck. Premium tickets are to be booked in adv- hang on, I spoke too soon. MIKEROWAVE TRIUMPHS ONCE AGAIN.
Yeah, let's forget I ever said that.
ANNNNYYYYWAAAAYYYY after I luckily snagged some tickets to go to the crown of the statue (to see the buildings) I quickly pulled on a flannel and some black jeans and hopped out the door into the brisk winter breeze. My tour wasn't until 2 and it was only midday, so I walked down the street neighbouring my apartment and made my way to the cute little coffee shop down from where I lived. I had been once before but I hadn't had a chance to actually order, as I really REALLY intelligently went in at closing time. Go Michael.
As I walked in, a warm front tickled my slightly pink (from the cold) painted nose. I walked up to the counter, staring at the menu overhead, and so the boy behind the counter had to say my name a couple times to get me to order.
"Hey, mate? You have to order something, or you could stare at the menu from a seat instead." The boy giggled, and I finally tore my eyes away from the chocolate frappe and found myself looking into eyes that probably resembled a chocolate frappe greatly.
"Hi. Have you had a chance to decide yet?" He giggled again, and as he busied himself looked at the menu (perhaps to see what was so very intriguing about it) I took a chance to study him.
Although Luke was the most physically appealing person I had ever encountered, this guy (Calum, his nametag read) was a close second. He had a fluffy brown fringe streaked with blonde that hung above his eyebrows, and tan arms that fitted the uniform quite tightly. When he smiled, he showed straight, white teeth. He was... attractive.
Now here is where I met some conflict. Because obviously, Luke was... incredible. But he didn't reallllllllly show any interest, right? So what's the harm in asking this guy out?!
"Okay, are you ready to order now?" he looked at me curiously.
Going in for the kill.
"Uh yeah, thanks, that would be good. I'll have a green tea to go please?"
He nodded cutely (how can someone's nod be cute i dON'T KNOW) and turned around and began to fill a to go cup with green tea. When he turned back to me, I put the money on the counter. But he slid my $10 right back to me.
"Don't I .. don't I need to pay?" I queried. He shook his head.
"You might want the money for when I go out. Crap. I mean when WE go out. Uh, yeah. Okay, no let me try that again."
He was ASKING ME OUT. ME. I started to laugh as he continued.
"Okay, what I-hey don't laugh! I meant to say do you want to go see a movie later? I mean, after you go to the Statue of Liberty."
I was a little taken aback. "How the hell did you- my tickets are sticking out of my pocket, aren't they." I chuckled.
He nodded and slid my tea over the counter.
"Don't worry, I'm just very observant. So wait, could I have your number or something? So that we can go out... later. Yeah. We could go see Interstellar or something! It's supposed to be super good."
I nodded and slid him my phone, smiling slightly.
I put my name in as "The Really Hot Guy From The Coffee Shop" because I'm obviously satisfactory to fulfil that description.
He put his name in as "The Really Hot Guy From The Coffee Shop". I guess great minds think alike.
As I thanked him with a smile and walked out, he winked and then frowned at himself, like he didn't really know why he did that.
But I did realise something. How could he have noticed the tickets if he wasn't staring at my pants?
****
The skyline was beautiful. I hummed softly along to The Neighbourhood as I made my way to the cinema to meet Calum. To be safe, I stopped at a corner store and bought some gum, popping a couple pieces in my mouth and chewing. As I walked, I found myself subconsciously stroking my tattoo, admiring how Luke had made it look just like the skyscrapers, but he did the tattoo freehand. It must take a lot of practice to make a good quality freehand tattoo- hang on a second. I can't think about Luke, I'm on a date!
Shaking my head at myself, I walked into the cinema and saw Calum ordering the tickets. What a gentlemen. When he saw me watching him, he blushed and rushed over, shyly kissing my cheek. I internally squealed and thanked myself for buying gum. Calum led me to the snack section and we bought popcorn and a drinks. Calum got sweet, I got salty. I was secretly quite pleased, as that meant I didn't have to share.
As we walked to our theatre where Interstellar was playing, we talked about music and how hot Alex Gaskarth was. Once we entered the cinema and found our seats, Calum settled down next to me and we sat through the previews eagerly awaiting the film.
About halfway through it, however, he pulled the most generic Move in the history of Moves. He did the yawn-then-arm-around-shoulder Move. (It was still really cute though.)
After the film ended, he jumped up and started babbling about the science behind it. I giggled fondly and bravely took his hand. He glanced at me for a second before intertwining our fingers. We walked to the outside of the theatre and continued down the street, as I walked him to his apartment. We played 20 questions and I learned a hell of a lot of stuff about him. All too soon, we were outside his apartment, and suddenly he was kissing me, and my hands were on his waist, and his were around my neck, and he was biting my lip and my hands were in his back pocket and he was kissing my jawline and then it was over and he pulled away and thanked me with an assurance that he'd call and went inside and I may or may not have squealed.
****
I began to walk home, giggling happily to myself and rubbing my mouth a little too awarely for it to be subconscious. It was pretty dark and I was beginning to regret not wearing a coat.
"You might want to be careful, you're going to get a cold."
I jumped a minimum of 8 feet in the air and laughed nervously. Whirling around, I found myself face to face with... Luke.
"Jesus, how did you find me?"
Luke smirked, chuckling, and began to walk alongside me.
"You aren't hard to find. You'd be surprised at the small amount of people there are with purple hair in this town."
He laughed at his own joke before noticing I was shivering violently, and he pulled off his jacket.
"Oh God, you don't have to do that," I protested meekly as he draped his jacket over my shoulders and hugged me.
"Why are you being so nice to me? You don't even know me." I tried not to stare into the waves in his eyes and the way his shirt showed his collarbones and his pale neck.
"True. I don't know you. But everyone has a reason for moving to New York, and I want to know why you left Australia for here. Also, I want to know why you REALLY got that tattoo."
"You're going to have to know me pretty well for me to tell you all that." I chuckled darkly.
"Well I guess we're going to get along just fine then."
***
a/n: sOOOOO YEAH THERE IS A LITTLE AMOUNT OF MALUM BUT LUKE IS HERE AND ITS ALL GOOD
thoughts on malum?
thoughts on luke following him?
IM ALSO VERY SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE VERY SORRY INDEED
YOU ARE READING
tattoos >> muke
Fanfiction"i like making a lasting impression. whether on people's skin or on people."
