Nameless // h.s. au

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

*Hunter*

Click. Click. Click.

The pen in my hand is clicked open and closed against the counter top. The numbness in me comes in waves. There are moments when I feel like I'm drifting in the tide. Being pulled out to see and then cast back into the rocky shore only for salt water to sting my wounds.

I feel hurt but over all I feel stupid. I knew what I was getting myself into I was just too naïve and needy to care I suppose. Niall's words swarm in my head like bees, I feel guilty for letting it all get to me. I've been broken for years and every single time another piece broke Niall and Reina were there to catch it and try to fit it back on.

But we're a stubborn bunch, us broken ones. We break and we break and we give up but when someone calls us out on it we don't accept it.

The bell sounds and my eyes are drawn to pale skin and dark hair and innocent eyes that seem familiar as I stand there.

"Tim?" I say aloud as the boy walks to the desk.

"Hunter?" His brow furrows as he stares at me, innocent eyes flicking over my face.

"Yeah. Strange seeing you again."

"I told you we would see each other again, you should have believed me." He laughs as he leans on the counter.

"I should have." A small unenthusiastic laugh leaves me lips as I settle in my seat, "What can I do for you today?"

"I'm getting a tattoo."

"Really?"

"Or do you think I should get something pierced. Maybe lip."

"Are you trying to piss off your parents or something?"

"No! Hey rude."

"Are you even old enough to get work done?"

"Yes. Yes I am." He stands up straighter and fixes his blazer. Because he's wearing a fucking blazer and looks like either an old eighteen or a young nineteen.

"ID please." I coo in my most innocent little voice.

His eyes roll as he digs through his bag to find his ID.

"You're Twenty Three?" I ask astounded. He nods with an eyebrow raised, "You're older than me grandpa." A laugh leaves his lips as he snaps the plastic card from my hand.

"Yeah, yeah little lady respect your fucking elders."

"Yes sir." There's a pause where we're just standing there and he's staring at me with those innocent eyes that are probably not so innocent but the way the blue mixes with the green and how big his eyes are makes them seem innocent, "So what is this about tattoos and piercings?"

"Lip ring? Stud? Maybe I should get a tattoo of like Harley Quinn on my back."

"Slow down tiger. You'd look hot with a lip ring. It would mix up the whole innocent vibe you have going for you."

"Innocent?"

"Very."

"Alright then. Lip ring it is."

My hair waves around my face as I nod and kneel down to grab the paperwork. My ankle cracking quite ungracefully as I do so which causes my face to heat just a little.

"Here you go." Papers are handed off and smiles are given before he walks to sit on one of the uncomfortable chairs. There's silence in the shop other than the scratching of his pen on the paperwork and the clicking of the keyboard under my fingers.