Mallory's POV
It had been 2 hours, and I walked out of the parlor with an amazing tattoo on my side. Tony had gotten my name on his hand, and we were having lunch at Chipotle.
"So, you still want to go get that eyebrow piercing?" Tony asked, taking a bite of his vegetarian burrito.
"Not today. I think I'm satisfied with my tattoo." I smiled, taking a sip of my lemonade and Sprite mix.
"I saw you took off your gauze." Tony said.
"Yeah. I changed my bandage too, just to see how the knife wound was coming along. It's healing nicely." I said, brightening up.
"I'm sorry you had a shitty 20th birthday." Tony said, sighing.
"No, because I'm with you guys. My birthdays are always amazing with you." I smiled and pat his arm. He finished his burrito and I finished my small carnitas soft taco. I waddled back to the car and hopped in. I rustled through the Circle K bag and dug out one of my many gummy worm bags. I think I bought 5, and Tony let me buy a 6 pack of Rockstar Punched. We drove back to the bus, where we came across a game of football between Sleeping With Sirens, Of Mice & Men, and Jaime. We got out and I watched them play. I started giggling when I saw Jaime climb up on Gabe's shoulders to try to catch the ball. I walked back into the bus and saw Vic stretching on the floor. I looked at my phone clock. It was almost 6:30PM.
"We were gone the whole day!" I said, shocked. Tony smiled, and took a sip of Sunny D.
"I'll be back, I have to go talk to Jack." Tony said, and walked out. I went into the back to change my shirt, and I looked at my tattoo in the mirror. Then I removed my bandage and stared at my wound. I gently ran my fingers over it, and felt a tear trying to break out of my eye. It reminded me of the wound my dad had when he was emitted into the hospital after Vietnam. He was flown back to San Diego, and soon as he was emitted into the hospital, he had died. The doctors told Tony and I that it was caused from an explosion. He had landed on a broken fence. When we went to his funeral, all of his bullet wounds, scars, and scratches were gone. I remember being 8 at the time. Tony and I had grown up without a father. And when I had turned 15, my mom skipped out on us. After my dad's death, she had become an alcoholic, so she became abusive. Tony had moved out by then, so I always went to spend the night over there. I promised myself I would stay strong for my dad, that I would never try to let him down. I feel like I've let him down too many times to be forgiven. I let the tears fall.
"I miss you, daddy." I whispered. I wiped away my tears and looked up to see Vic behind me.
"He's watching over you and Tone, Mal. He loves you two so much." Vic whispered, pulling me into a hug.
"I wish he was still here. My mom never really gave a shit about me. But my dad, he loved me so much." I cried into Vic's shoulder. He rubbed his hands in small circles on my back, trying to calm me down. "When I was in the hospital unconscious, I saw him. He was standing over my bed, in his uniform. He held my hand, and he said 'Hi buttercup. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you from what happened. I just want you to know, that I won't stop watching over you. I love you and your brother. I'll see you soon.' and he kissed my forehead and floated away. I remember waking up in the middle of the night, crying my eyes out. The doctors rush in, thinking something was wrong, but I just kept saying 'Dad' over and over. He was standing in the corner of the room, waving at me. I had struggled against the doctors, screaming out, until someone shot me with a tranquilizer and I had passed out." I cried. Vic pulled me closer against him, and he lead me onto the couch.
"Mallory, you know damn well that he would never leave you." Vic whispered, and I nodded. I wiped the last few tears away, and I looked up at Vic. He looked into my eyes and smiled. I felt his finger run down my side, over my tattoo.
