Damaged ♡ Lashton ✔

Chapter 7

"Are you sure you want to do this, Princess?" We're seated in the waiting area of the tattoo shop and my body seems to have a mind of its own as my foot is tapping incessantly against the tiled floor.

"Yes," I say with as much conviction as I can muster. And I mean it; I've wanted my tongue pierced for years. I just always get sweaty and twitchy right before a tattoo or piercing – I blame adrenaline. A woman covered in colorful ink and metal comes over and flashes me a bright smile.

"Luke, right?" I nod in response and she holds her hand out for me to shake. "I'm Autumn and I'll be stabbing you today." I chuckle and shake her hand.

"Nice to meet you."

"You, too! Come along, sweets. Want your friend to join?"

"Is that okay?"

"Of course! Three's a party. Let's do this." I take Ashton's hand in mine and together we follow the chipper hot pink haired girl to the back of the shop and into a small room. "Take a seat and let's have a look to see if we can actually proceed, shall we?" When I give her a confused look she continues, "Not everyone can actually get their tongue pierced. The veins can make it a little tricky sometimes." She shows me how she wants me to show her my tongue so she can inspect the underside and she quickly pulls away and claps. "Excellent! Shall we begin?"

She walks me through the whole process, explaining that the extra long bar is to accommodate swelling, what each tool is as she takes it out of individual, sterile packaging, and then marks my tongue and gets me to check the placement. I give her my approval so she moves on to clamping my tongue and I flinch, gripping Ashton's hand tightly. I've always hated the clamps – they're worse than the piercing itself. She instructs me to take a deep breath in and to exhale on the count of three, so I do as I'm told and let out a whimper, squeezing my eyes shut as I feel the hollow needle push through the thick muscle.

"You're doing so good! We're almost done. Just one more deep breath for me, and..."

A single tear escapes the corner of my eye as I feel the barbell go in and give Ashton's hand another quick squeeze. She quickly tightens the balls on either end and then hands me a mirror to take a look. I open my mouth and my eyes widen in happiness at the small silver ball resting in the center of my ridiculously swollen tongue. I give her a thumbs up and she goes through all the care instructions and hands me a package that has information on cleaning as well as a small bag of salt. She leads us back to the main area and after I pay for her services and wave goodbye, we walk out of the shop hand in hand.

"How does it feel, Princess?"

"Ow," I mumble as best as I can, but talking has never felt as impossible as it does right in this moment.

He chuckles and presses a soft kiss to my cheek, wrapping his arm around my waist as he leads me in the direction of the car. We had already checked out of the hotel and had placed our luggage in the boot so we wouldn't have to worry about it after the appointment, so all we have to do is head home. Ashton stops and gets me an ice water to help sooth my swollen tongue before we start off on our two hour journey home.

Ash insists on carrying my small bag in the house for me and presses a soft, chaste kiss to my lips before he leaves. I pout and give him my best puppy dog eyes to which he chuckles and shakes his head.

"No, not going to work. You're the one that wanted to do this, now you get to live with the consequences, baby boy." I huff and cross my arms over my chest, narrowing my eyes in a slight glare. He raises an eyebrow and leans in close, pressing his lips against my ear as he whispers, "If you don't drop the attitude, I will not hesitate to punish you once you're healed, Princess."