Tattoo | Nicholas Ruffilo story

Walk-Ins

I-95 was at an absolute standstill, despite it being 10am on a Wednesday. I had been in the same spot for at least forty minutes, if not longer. Packed like sardines, there was no exit in sight even if I was able to get to one. All I could tell was that I was fifteen minutes out from King's Dominion, which couldn't possibly be the source of this nonsense. To make matters worse, I was low on gas and definitely nowhere near Palm Springs.

I had just finished my last final of the Spring semester, which meant that I had to quickly vacate my dorm for the summer. My roommate and friends had already left for the summer, as they finished their finals earlier in the week. So, I spent the morning packing my tiny sedan like a game of Tetris with all of my belongings. Granted, none of it was furniture, but still enough stuff to block the view of my rear-view mirror.

With my car in park and Pierce the Veil blasting through my busted speakers, I scrolled through Instagram to pass the time while I kept an eye on my gas gauge. Everyone from school seemed to already be on vacation or back home with their families, or starting their internships -- nothing but beautifully painted smiles. It irritated the shit out of me knowing that I had nowhere to go for the next few months. 

This summer I wouldn't see any vacations or concerts. No cook outs or family gatherings. And more disappointingly, no internships. I would be moving in with one of my friends from high school who lived on her own and working part-time at Walgreens to pay for my final year of college.

To say I was bitter was an understatement.

Within the hour, traffic started moving again and I was able to get the gas I needed to reach my home for the next few months -- Richmond, Virginia.

- -

"So much for campus only being an hour away," Emily chuckled as I gave her a quick hug. Her blue heeler, Dutchess, greeted me with a bark and jumped on my leg. "Dutchess, it's just Leah. Calm down!"

"She's fine," I chuckled, petting the dog. "I really can't thank you enough for letting me crash here this summer. Things with my folks have been...less than ideal. There's no way I could stay there for any length of time."

"No problem," she smiled, "we're going to make this summer your best yet. You'll see! Now, let's get you settled in." She looked at my car and sighed. "You don't pack light, do you?"

--

After an hour or so, all of my assorted belongings were in Emily's tiny one-bedroom apartment. Most of my stuff would have to stay in boxes in the living room, which would double as my room. The couch doubled as a pull-out bed, which was undoubtedly uncomfortable, but it would do given the circumstances. 

"Em, I'm going to get in the shower. I shouldn't be long," I told her. Despite it being move-in day, today was also going to be my first shift at Walgreens. I thanked God I left Fredericksburg as early as I did or else there wouldn't be a chance I'd make it to my first day.

--

"And remember, make sure you ask every customer to sign up for our rewards program. And yeah, that's all you need to know. Any questions?" Diane seemed less than enthused about training me, but thankfully I wasn't working in the pharmacy. It couldn't possibly be rocket science, I thought.

"I don't think so," I said whilst putting on my name tag, "I'll let you know if I do." She nodded and gave me a look that read 'don't' and walked away to begin stocking the magazine racks.

After ringing up a few customers, the store became quiet. The only thing I could hear was Diane singing along to the Goo Goo Dolls playing over the loudspeaker. I had only been there three hours, but I swore I had heard "Iris" at least five times. After a fifteen minute lull of me twiddling my thumbs and glancing through a the latest issue of Cosmopolitan magazine, the automatic doors opened with a chime.

"Welcome to Walgreens," I mumbled, my focus still being on the magazine. Diane was stationed at the 24 Hour Photo kiosk, lost in some romance novel. I figured I could get away with reading about "Fifteen Ways to Make Him Interested."

"Excuse me, hi," a soft, yet deep voice startled me out of my educational reading. I looked up from the magazine and met the eyes of the customer. They were incredibly blue and contrasted his tan skin well. It almost made me jump from my seat. "You wouldn't happen to have any more Aquaphor in stock, would you? I don't see any on the shelf."

"Umm," my 'm's drawn out, "let me check?" Of course this was the one thing Diane did not train me on! I walked away from the register and over to the stock room, noticing Diane could not be bothered from her reading. I glanced over the shelves and quickly looked through boxes until I managed to find a grand total of four tubes of Aquaphor. I put them all under my right arm and made it back to the register.

The customer was standing there, scrolling through his phone with one hand and his other in the pocket of his black Deftones hoodie. His long, black hair covered his face, but I could only assume he looked irritated.

"Alright so I found four tubes," I anxiously mumbled as I got closer back to the register. As he looked up at me, two managed to slip from my grip and dropped to the floor. "Shit," I mumbled under my breath. I bent down to pick them up, but at that same moment, so did he -- as our heads collided in the process.

"Sorry," we said to each other simultaneously. He handed me the tubes and offered me a smile as his stunning eyes met mine. I could feel my face flush with embarrassment. I stood back up and placed the tubes on the counter as I logged back into the register. "This is what we have left in stock."

"Well, I kinda needed a few more," he said, gently rubbing his temple where our heads collided. "But I'm on my lunch break so this will do for now. I'll take them all." I nodded, curious to know why he needed so much Aquaphor. "$30.23 is your total," I said as I wrung them up, "and are you a rewards member with us?"

He shook his head. I noticed he was in a hurry, so I didn't go into the spiel of saving an additional 10% off his purchase. "Alright, here's your receipt. Have a great day. Oh, and sick hoodie, by the way!"

He offered me a closed-lip smile, grabbed his bag and left the store.

"I saw that," yelled Diane from the photo counter. 

Little did I know my first day would be some of the least eventful days that summer.

------

A/N

After becoming OBSESSED with "Mercy" the Jolly fic by kingdomofcardz today, I decided Nicholas deserved a fic of his own. This probably won't be a long piece of work, but I hope to entertain y'all .

Also, if you're here from botwt-- hiii <3 I'm also making fun of myself for writing this as a grown ass adult lmao. A little cheese now and again is healing for the dark world.