To the Moon and Back

Charlie's POV

I observe Alex when we drive to the place where we will have lunch.

I can look at him because he has to concentrate on the traffic. He is just so cool, I love his dark hair with the blonde highlights and his out-of -bed style. He has the cutest smile and I like his sparkling eyes.

But shit, he has a girlfriend I don't even know what he wants from me. But I really like spending time with him so I don't want to think about it and just enjoy his company. We can sort things out another time.

We go to this nice place for lunch that is pretty close to the beach and I ask Alex if we could have a walk with Luke before. He agrees and we go down to the beach and Luke goes crazy when he sees the sand. We both have to laugh because he is such a dork.

We walk along the ocean front and I just take Alex's hand. He looks at me surprised at first but then relaxes a bit and smiles.

Afterwards we sit down and order our food and drinks and wait for our meals to be served I sigh and lean back stretching my arms over my head. "This really is a nice place, Alex. Thanks for taking me here."

Alex looks at me with a frown then grabs my arm by the wrist and pulls it closer to look at it. "What is that?" He points at a crusted bloody scar on my lower arm. "What did you do there?" This sounds like an interrogation.

I pull away my hand. "Oh this," I have to chuckle at the memory. "I was out with Ex-Oh, we were jumping trains to try and tag them when I slipped and cut my arm. It's nothing serious." I wave it off.

"What? You jumped moving trains?" He asks back incredulously, I nod.

"Do you know how dangerous that is? Oh my god, I don't even want to think about what could have happened. Why do you do this?" He really sounds agitated.

I shrug. "Because it's fun."

Alex's POV

I notice this massive injury on her arm when her sleeve slips up. It hurts me to even look at it.

When I ask her she tells me she jumps trains in such a casual tone as if she told me about her latest shopping trip.

I don't get why she puts herself in such danger but she tells me "it's fun" and that's it.

She asks me. "So what are you up to afterwards?" And I tell her I wanted to visit my friend Justin Cota who tattoos at Red Crow.

"Can I come with you?" She looks at me excited. "I have never been in a tattoo shop before."

I chuckle. "Really?"

She nods. " I know it's ridiculous, me designing tattoos but never even been there."

"Of course you can come with me." I answer, glad that I will be able to be with her a bit longer now.

The guys in the shop look surprised at the girl I bring in. My friend Justin knows Lisa is my girlfriend and I don't feel like explaining my relation with Sharky.

It soon becomes clear that she has never been in such a place before. She stares at everything like a little girl in a candy shop. Looks at the machines and the pictures on the wall very closely.

Justin though is very nice to her and answers all of her questions. He even lets her hold one of the tattoo guns and she presses it against her skin making a silent 'O' motion when she feels the needles. She truly is adorable in her curiosity.

Then she gets quiet and sits still on the chair they brought in for her and just watches what happens.
I have decided I want a rose tattooed on the back of my hand as permanent remembrance and have to lie back on the bench with my hand resting on a support. I cannot look at her without craning my neck as she sits to the side and back of me.

When Justin starts on the outline I see her hands gripping the seat so tight her knuckles go white.

I wonder what her problem is but I can't look into her face to find out. A few minutes into the session I see her get up and walk over to me then she crouches down to bring our faces to the same level.

There she stays looking at my face intently, I feel like a pinned down insect under the eyes of a scientist. I try to keep my face blank because I feel so exposed in this emotional moment.

Suddenly she comes close to my face her lips touching my ear. "Do you like it when it hurts?" She whispers, moving her head away so she can look into my eyes again.

I don't know what to say. I don't want to tell her who this rose is for. So I just stare at her and I notice that her eyes are the darkest I have ever seen them, they are glazed over too.

She comes close again. "Is it better to feel the pain than to feel nothing at all?" She looks at me now and a single tear runs down her face.

I can't tell her, she wouldn't understand. I can't describe how guilty I feel to be still living happily when my brother is dead and gone and how this physical pain just covers my hurting scars on the inside.
That this short lived relief is enabling me to function on a day to day basis.

So I stay quiet and only close my eyes and concentrate on the rhythm of the needles piercing my skin.

Notes

I am in writing mood, so I worked on a lot of chapters on both my stories, more coming soon.
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