Wildflower - {lashton au}

Gladiolus.

As Luke stood outside of the tattoo shop, he let out a deep sigh. He was so nervous to get a tattoo, and he couldn't even decide what he wanted to get. He pulled his phone from his pocket to check the time, watching as the little clock changed to read 6:00 and his alarm went off. He switched the alarm off and shoved the phone into his back pocket before entering the studio.

He looked around and noticed the room was packed with people. It was a pretty big room, so it didn't seem cramped, but there were people sitting in waiting chairs all the way from the desk to the door. "Take a seat please," a girl with about ten face piercings and arms full of ink said politely. "We'll be with you here shortly."

Luke could hear the tone of apprehension in her voice as she said the word 'shortly,' but he nodded to himself and took a seat. He pulled out his phone and saw a text from Calum, saying that he's 'sorry it's so last minute but something came up' and he wouldn't be able to make it.

Luke scoffed gently. Great.

He opened his messages and began replying to Calum's message, probably going to say some choice words that initially wouldn't make any sense, when he felt a presence at his side.

"You look nervous, blondie."

Luke looked over, seeing a boy who looked about his age with milk chocolate colored curls and hazel eyes. The boy held a slight smirk on his lips as he looked at Luke expectantly. "Uh," he started, laughing gently, "yeah, a little bit."

"This your first time getting a tattoo?"

Luke shook his head. "I have a few of them," he said softly. "They aren't very big, so, I don't know if they really count?"

The curly headed boy shook his head with a smile. "Any ink on your skin is a tattoo," he said playfully. "Even if you just get a tiny dot and then give up."

Like chuckled, smiling at the boy. "Okay, Phoebe."

The boy smiled wider, nodding his head in approval. "Glad you got the reference." He stuck his hand forward and looked at Luke with a lopsided smile. "I'm Ashton."

Luke smiled back, biting his lip gently as he shook his hand. "I'm Luke."

"So, Luke," Ashton said with a smile as he propped himself up on his arm on the back of the waiting couch, "are you here by yourself?"

Luke looked down at his phone once more, deleting the unsent message and sighing. "I guess so," he said softly. "My friend Calum was supposed to be coming, but something came up. He's the one who talked me into this in the first place."

Ashton shrugged. "Getting talked into getting some fresh ink isn't the worst thing that could happen."

Luke shrugged back at him. "I guess you're right."

"So," Ashton said, continuing the conversation, "what're you getting?"

Luke felt nervous now. He hadn't put much thought into what he should get. He was hoping Calum would've had an insight, and he'd probably just go along with what he said. Eventually, Luke sighed. "I'm not sure yet."

That made Ashton go completely silent. The smirk came back to his lips, and he quirked up an eyebrow, almost comically. After a moment of silence, Luke broke it. "What?"

Ashton let out a soft laugh. "You came to a tattoo shop," he said slowly, "and don't have a tattoo to get. Genius, Luke. Really."

Luke rolled his eyes and sat forward with his elbows on his knees. "Remember," he started, "this wasn't actually my idea to begin with. I was just going to let Calum—"