glory days ↣ joshler ✓

18. Tattoo

Tyler pulled up to their destination, a smile on his face when he saw Josh's expression. They had taken Josh's car but Tyler was driving since it was a surprise.

"Oh shit I forgot I put this on the list," Josh breathed out, looking out his window. A look of sadness overcame him, his illuminated by the bright neon signs flashing from the building in front of them. "Tyler there's no way I'm going to be allowed to get a tattoo."

"If you hide it your parents will never know," he suggested.

"As much as I want to they'd kill me if they found out after," he sighed. "Thanks though."

Tyler pulled out his phone and went to call someone. He pressed their contact and put it on speaker. It rang for a few seconds before they picked up. "Hello?"

"Hey, Laura."

"Hi, Tyler what's up?" Josh's mom replied. "Is everything okay?"

"Tyler stop," Josh whispered, fighting back a smile.

"Yeah," Tyler smiled. "I had a question to ask you."

"Sure, go ahead."

"I wanna surprise Josh by paying for him to get a tattoo for his birthday but I just wanted to clear it with you first."

It was silent for a moment and Tyler saw Josh's smile slowly start to fall. "Just a minute," she said. There was mumbling on the other line and they heard a door open and close, assuming Laura had left the room. "I mean it's Josh's body he's an adult and I trust him. I say go ahead. I haven't cleared it with his dad at all but if he gets in trouble for it I'll take the blame."

"Are you sure?" Tyler pressed, just to be positive.

"Yeah. Just don't let him get anything stupid or I'm not covering for him. I said I trust him and I do but he's not the brightest sometimes," she teased.

Josh wanted to reply back but Tyler laughed, holding a finger to his mouth in a shush gesture. "Okay, thank you so much. It means a lot."

"Of course," he could hear the smile in Laura's voice. "Have fun, okay? Tell Josh I love him. I love you too, Tyler."

"Love you, Laura," he smiled before hanging up. The two boys cheered. "See? You're good to go!"

"I fucking love you," Josh laughed, wide grin on his face. "Holy shit what am I gonna get?"

"Do you know where you're gonna get it?"

Josh thought for a moment. "I've always wanted one behind my ear. I like how those look."

"Okay," Tyler nodded and turned the car off. "I'm sure the tattoo artist can help you figure out what you want when we head in."

"Alright," Josh replied, grin never leaving his face. "Lets go in."

The two got out and Tyler locked Josh's car, giving the keys back to his friend. "How do you know about this place?" Josh piped up as they were walking up to the door.

"I went with Ashley when she got her first tattoo back in October. The artist was really good and he was a recommendation from her cousin who did a lot of her friends' tattoos," Tyler explained as he opened the door.

They walked in and soft punk music was playing overhead through the speaker. "Tyler!" A man said from behind the counter, a smile on his face.

"Hey Frank," he smiled back at the man. "How've you been?"

"Pretty good," Frank replied. "Who's this?"

"My best friend, Josh," Tyler told him. "It's his birthday today and he's been having a shitty night so I decided to bring him out to permanently mark up his skin."