Before I Forget

Just Give Me a Reason

I chose this picture because of the devastated look on Hawk's face. Ahhh, poor baby looks so sad!

Anyway - over 8K views for this fic! I never thought this would attract this many readers, so all I can say is THANK YOU! I hope you all keep reading, and please vote and comment too - it means the world to me.

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"You sure about this?" Rico asked one more time, as he finished placing the stencil on her skin, marking the outlines of the tattoo on her shoulder.

The design looked amazing, so Sky gave a sharp nod. "Yeah."

"And you're over 18?"

"Of course," she replied, knowing very well that there was no way in Hell Rico would believe her, but trusting that he wouldn't care. He had, after all, inked a giant bird on Hawk's back without questions asked.

But maybe Hawk looked older than she did because Rico arched a skeptical brow.

"Right," he said, "You'd better keep quiet about this. I don't want your Mommy coming here yelling at me."

Sky resisted the urge to reply that it would be a fucking miracle considering her mom had been dead for 14 years. It wasn't fair to dump that kind of shit on people - especially people who were doing her a favor. Rico could easily kick her out of here any time he wanted to, and then there would be no tattoo.

Sky didn't feel like she could take that. Not today.

"She won't, don't worry," she replied. "Let's just get it done."

"Okay," Rico said and started preparing the needle. "Take a comfortable position. We're gonna be here for a while."

The design was large and complex, so Sky knew it was going to take long. They had agreed to start today and then continue tomorrow and, considering how she held up, maybe the day after that too. So when Sky lay down on the table, she knew she had all the time in the world to do some thinking.

Which was the exact thing she needed to do, but also the one thing she really didn't want to do. The memory of what had happened was still fresh, and it felt like a stab wound in her chest.

Hawk had been so fucking happy, things had been so perfect, and then her stupid brain had ruined everything.

"This is gonna hurt," Rico said, and Sky was drawn back to the moment. "Just let me know when you want to take a break."

"I'm used to pain," Sky replied, but still she made a small gasp when the needle touched her skin. It felt different than she had thought - more like burning than piercing. She glanced at her shoulder, but there wasn't much to see yet. Slowly the first black lines began to emerge on her skin, drawn by Rico's steady hand.

Suddenly Sky felt emotional. This was what she had wanted, for a long time now - even before meeting Hawk and seeing his tattoo and realizing how it had reshaped his whole persona. This was a new beginning, a burial of the old self. And Hawk should be here with her, he should be here holding her hand through this–

No, this is not about him. This is about me.

Besides, he's not gonna want to have anything to do with me after what happened today.

That thought hurt, even more than the needle on her skin, and Sky pushed it away with all her might. She wasn't going to think about that now, she wasn't going to think about him now. She would think about Kat because she was the one who should be here holding her hand.

They had planned to get matching tattoos - something that would tell everyone they were sisters even if they looked nothing alike. Kat had been so hyped about the idea, always going on about different designs or tattoo shops, and Sky had been happy to let her do all the planning. Now that felt like another lifetime. And the tattoo she was getting wouldn't be a sister of another one - it would be half of the whole, brutally cut apart from the other half, just like she was.