Black Ink || Harlena a.u.

3.

The first thing I noticed was that I felt my heart beat in my head, my throat was dry, and my stomach felt sick. I reached for my phone to check the time and it was then that I noticed the small tattoo as well, remembering the encounters of last night and realizing that they, in fact, weren't a dream.

My fingers touched my skin, slightly pulling back as I felt the unfamiliarness of the small bump. I had removed the plastic and washed the area before applying the cream Anne had bought and shared last night, after we waited out watching a movie. Harry's reminder of there being a bit of swelling afterwards played faintly in my head, but the skin around the ink wasn't pink anymore.

There was a soft groan from the wall beside me and with a smile, I banged on it with the palm of my hand.

"Fuck you," Anne said through the wall, her voice muffled.

The aspirins were in the bathroom down the hall, but the mere thought of getting up made the pain much more preferable.

"Seleeene," Anne complained. "Please help meeee. It huuurts!"

"Stop yelling, that hurts too!" She went silent. Shortly after, my phone buzzed.

Anne: Seleene. Please help mee. It huurts.

In frustration, my hand dragged down my face, but I got up nonetheless and headed for the bathroom.

Anne had been there for me regardless of what her parents thought of our friendship. I guess being known for wanting to make my own choices, despite my family, took a toll on the other people from the neighbourhood- including Anne's parents who had refused to let her move out with me to the city.

Taking two pills, I swallowed them and walked back towards the hall but this time, opened the door on the left.

Anne probably looked as bad as I did. Her makeup was smeared so that dark circles surrounded her, now dull, green eyes. The white pillow was covered in lines of tangled brown hair and her blankets covered her bare, tanned skin.

"I love you," she mumbled as her hand weakly stretched out to take the pills with the almost empty waterbottle near her nightstand.

I sat down at the end of her bed before I lied down on top of her legs, my arms wrapping around her. "No, I love you-" I looked up as she placed the empty bottle down and looked at me funny. "It would have been a pretty shitty birthday if it wasn't for you."

A smile stretched across her face, "Aww. Don't get all cheesy on me now." Her fingers played with my hair. "But you're right- I mean, I did make you meet a certain hotty didn't I?"

She shrieked as her other pillow came in contact with the side of her head, "That hurt my brain."

I laughed at her, "You're right though. But I don't know, he seems..."

"Oh no, missy. You will not judge him because of his tattoos because look-" she proudly displayed her arm. "We've got some ink on us as well," there was a certain giddiness as she held her arm with her hand and wiggled in bed. Then, her eyes widened and she gasped, sitting up to look at me as my head hit the bed, "Dude! We can go to that one bar with the badass looking dudes and just, you know-" she flicked her hair back, not being too subtle about showing her tattoo.

"Anne," I laughed. "I thought you and Liam were, you know."

The brightness inside her dimmed, eyes looking distant, but she masked the hurt at the mention of his name with a tight smile. "He made it clear to me that he only likes, what he likes to call, temporary fixes," she shrugged it off, but I knew better.

"Oh, Anne-" I rubbed her leg in an attempt to comfort her. "When was this?"

"Last night, before we started drinking I guess. It's whatever, really. He's a great fuck so I guess I'm not at a total loss."

Her nonchalance was almost convincing, but I knew that Anne had wanted something serious with Liam, the guy she met at a night bar; however, after seven months, he refused to pronounce Anne as his girlfriend and they've been more of a friends with benefit type of thing.

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

She shook her head. Not wanting to dwell on the subject and make her feel hurt, I nodded.

In a mischievous voice, I spoke again, "What about Niall? He's not too subtle about you."

She bit down a smile and smacked me, "Stop it. You know how I feel about him."

"Remind me again."

She rolled her eyes at me, but repeated herself for the nth time, "He has this innocence in him that I refuse to tear down. I've been with a handful of guys and Niall is this really sweet guy with really soft eyes and a soft smile and I would never forgive myself if I unintentionally hurt him in any way. He's this pure and- stop looking at me like that!"

She laughed as she tried pushing me away after I gave her a knowing and teasing look. "Anne! Stop treating Niall like this little kid. He's a year older than you and I'm sure that he's been with girls too, but I'm also sure that he's more than respectful towards them. Give him one chance, and if you still don't want to, then at least you tried."

Her teeth bit her lip, eyes blanking as she pondered my suggestion. She reached for her phone.

"Okay," she finally said. "Fuck Liam, right?" She smiled.

"Fuck Liam," I agreed.