Prove It

Chapter 30

~~~~~~Sierra~~~~~~

Tristan was joking. He had to be. Sierra loved his flawless skin. Why would he want to do this? Tristan spoke to the woman at the front desk while Sierra watched, paralyzed.

He turned to her. "Are you getting anything?"

'Oh my God, he was serious.' she thought to herself.

He smiled at her expression. "Don't worry. No pressure. I only wanted you to be here when I got mine."

Sierra's eyes widened as she shook her head slowly, "Tristan, you don't need to do this."

His smile grew, "I know. I'm getting a tattoo because I want to. And because I love you."

She bit her lip before reaching out to touch Tristan's hand, "Okay, you love me. I get it. Can we go...please?"

"Sierra, this is happening." Before she could protest further, he said, "I don't know how many times I've told you how I feel. I've done everything I could think of and you still don't get it. This should change that." he finished confidently.

He followed the woman from the counter into the back where the booths were. Sierra went after him.

"Tristan this is insane." she whispered loudly, trying in vain not to bring too much attention to herself.

"I don't think so." he shrugged, looking down at her, "This isn't some spur of the moment decision. I've been planning this since your birthday. I'd hoped we be doing it together."

Sierra grabbed his arm. "Don't do this," she said, but she saw his resolve.

He turned to face her with steely eyes, "So now you know what you want?"

Tristan freed his arm and sat down. A man entered their booth shortly after and Sierra couldn't stop staring at his arms. Both of his arms were exposed and covered entirely in colored ink, even his fingers. Sierra had never seen anything like it.

"Hey, man. You know what you want to get?" tattoo guy said to Tristan.

"Yeah."

"Cool. What'll it be?"

Tristan pulled his shirt off and started to describe what he wanted done. Sierra suddenly felt sick.

"Tristan, this is too much. I can't ... I can't do this." She stormed out of the tattoo parlor.

"Wait." Tristan put his shirt back on and chased after her. He caught up to her outside.

Sierra leaned against the building's brick foundation and took in huge breaths of air, trying to ease her stomach. "I'm sorry. I want you to take me home, please."

He approached her, confused. "Why are you making such a big deal about this?"

"Getting a tattoo is a big deal when you're only doing it to impress some girl you like."

He looked at her, disappointed. "Some girl I like, Sierra? I wouldn't consider changing the entire course of my life for someone I liked. That's a trivial way to describe what we have."

"I didn't mean it that way."

"Yes, you did. You always downplay our relationship all the time and I still don't understood why. Even after everything, you won't admit that this is more than some high school fling. I want to spend my life with you."

He had a point. Acknowledging that he loved her was difficult. She believed he cared, but it was hard to accept it was anything more than that. "Just because you care about someone doesn't mean you belong together."