What Now? | N.H.

Chapter 5 | Tattoos

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I question Harry looking around the sketches hung up all over the walls. I hear the leather seat squeak as Harry sits down and I look over at him slightly tilting my head. The rest of the boys crowd into the room and sit down in the extra seats by the door. There are only four seats, and since the lads have no manners, I am left standing.

"Yeah, I mean I'm 18 now so my mum can't stop me." Harry lays his arm out onto a small table next to him. A buff man covered in tattoos rolls his stool over to where Harry's arm lays. The man places a stencil inside of Harry's left arm. Once he has gotten the placement right, the man hovers Harry's arm with a whirring tattoo gun.

Harry has made some stupid decisions in his life but, it's not my place to stop him. Unless he is about to make a huge mistake, I usually let him do whatever makes him happy, like right now. Plus I liked tattoos anyway and Harry has not shut up about wanting a tattoo since he was fourteen. Anne never let him get one though no matter how much he begged. But, he was eighteen now so like he said, Anne can't stop him anymore.

I walk over to where the boys are sitting, none of them even offer up their seat. That wasn't out of character though by this point we were all great friends so they didn't treat me any differently from the other boys. Except the boys were overly protective over me, especially Louis. If anyone tried to get close to me Louis would always be watching making sure nothing happened to me. They all cared for me and watched out for me because being in the public eye can be very stressful, and sometimes violent.

(Flashback, kind of. The point of view is kind of weird. I started writing this in past tense but then I subconsciously switched it to present tense.)

One time, the boys were given a day off so we decided to go out. We were in Italy at the time and decided to go explore the city. When we were walking back to the bus we were all spotted by paparazzi. This had happened many times before so I was pretty used to it. Whenever this would happen the boys would make sure I was walking in the middle of them so I wouldn't get hassled or papped. This time was different though. When we were walking I had noticed my shoe was untied so I bent down to lace up my white converse sneakers. The boys didn't notice I had stopped so they kept walking. Suddenly I saw flashes out of the corners of my eyes and looked up to see I was surrounded by paparazzi. I had been touring with the boys for a while so many people were familiar with me, most people were just curious who I was, which is understandable since I am always seen with the world's biggest boy band. I looked past the yelling paparazzi to try and see where Harry, Zayn, Liam, Louis, and Niall had gone. I couldn't see them with the cameras being shoved in my face and loud flashes temporarily blinding me. I held my hands over my face and tried to push through. I started to panic as they wouldn't move as I attempted to push through the thick crowd. I looked around anxiously trying to find the boys. The overlapping sound of people throwing questions had become dull and was replaced with a loud ringing in my ears. I continued to scan the crowd when I saw Louis leading the boys towards me. Just as they had reached me I had felt two large hands shove me from behind. My knees met the hard pavement, my hands landing out in front of me. I sat up onto my knees stepping onto my right foot in an attempt to stand up again when I saw Louis walk over to the paparazzi that I assumed had been the one that pulled my arm, and lifted his fist, bringing it down onto the man's face. Niall had rushed over to me, placing one of my arms over his shoulder to stabilize me. Louis walked back over to where we stood and kept walking, leading us through the large crowd of people.

When we got back to the tour bus Louis sat down with a frustrated sigh and ran his bruised knuckles through his hair. I sat up on the kitchen counter while Niall ran to get the first aid kit. I hadn't realized that my legs and hands were covered in small scrapes. Niall came back with the small box in his hands, placing it on the counter next to where I sat. He opened the first aid kit and grabbed a handful of band-aids and bandages. I couldn't help but stare at his blue eyes. Niall bit down on his lip trying to focus on what he was doing. At the sight of this, my stomach exploded with butterflies. "Go get a wet rag." Liam nodded and quickly headed towards the sink. Liam came back with the rag, handing it to Niall. Niall and Liam looked at me with concern. My eyes switched between the two.