Luke and I spent a few more minutes sitting outside, he had posted something on twitter, not mentioning me but just saying to cool down on hate in general. Cautiously, Cal came out to join us.
“You guys okay?” he asks sitting down next to my head. I look up at him and nod.
“Just been told I have to dress like a lady for tonight, having a stylist and everything!” I say sarcastically giving a thumbs up. He grimaces before I see Mike coming and sitting next to him.
“Oh my god! That is just like, so exciting!” he says in a very girly voice and flipping his hair.
“I know right! Like, yay, high heels!” I say throwing my arms up in the air playing along. Luke laughs and shakes his head.
“You better not wear high heels; you may just die…” he says looking at me smiling. I frown and sit up.
“What on earth have you got planned, Mr Hemmings?” I ask grinning.
“That is for us to know and you to find out…” says Ash joining our small group grinning widely. I shake my head.
“Fine, then you tell Lou what I need to wear.” I say scratching the side of my head.
“Tell me what?” asks Louis in a confused voice from the patio.
“Not you, Lou… Lou T.” I say knowing he will know who I’m talking about.
“But why is Lou coming round?” he asks frowning. I pull some of the grass underneath my fingers in frustration. I’m stressed and it’s getting worse the more I think about tonight. I still haven’t looked at my phone and actually just want to curl myself into my bed and binge watch Sherlock for the one hundredth time.
“Because Claire told her to.” I say simply, getting up and stretching causing a slight sting on my side.
“Claire said she had to help Tash for tonight… she isn’t exactly happy with us right now.” Says Luke grimacing at Louis. His frown deepens and he looks at me sympathetically.
“We’ll tell her to take it easy on you.” He says as Harry comes out quickly followed by Niall and Liam. We sit around outside talking about Lou and how cute Lux has been lately.
“Lux hasn’t met you yet though?” asks Liam as I tell them about the one time I saw them both dressed in leopard print. My smile falters.
“No, but I’ve briefly met Lou… don’t think she knew who I was though.” I look at Harry awkwardly. “I think she thought I may have been Gem…” Harry laughs. Everyone moves so we are in a little circle.
“When was this?” he says smiling. I frown.
“Sometime last year, you were skyping me just before some interview and-”
“OH YES! And she walked in to do my hair and I just carried on talking making myself look crazy because I’d didn’t notice you’d dropped the chat… Thanks for that by the way.” He says shaking his head and re fixing his hair.
“Harold I swear… if you do that to your hair one more time I’ll cut it off…” I say joking threateningly.
“You wouldn’t dare, because then I’d get Mike to help me dye your hair in your sleep… a ghastly colour, like pink.” He says smiling.
“Hey! I had pink hair!” says Mike in shock.
“Exactly…” says Louis smiling at his mate. I shake my head as the level of banter increases.
“And you call yourself punk rock…” says Cal shaking his head in disappointment, jumping on the bandwagon. Mike rolls his eyes.
“At least he isn’t too scared to get a tattoo.” I say smiling, pulling up a chair next to Liam.
“Hey, there is nothing wrong with not having tattoos…” says Niall looking at me with raised eyebrows.
“But there is definitely something wrong with people who fall asleep while getting tattoos…” says Luke looking at me chewing on his lip ring before smiling when I tell him to fuck off.
“You guys are so immature…” Says Ashton shaking his head.
“Says the twenty-two-year-old who giggles!” Luke and I say in unison before making eye contact, sharing a high five and laughing.
“You know what Lucifer? I got you a present and now you can’t have it!” says Ashton pouting and turning his back to his friend. I laugh so much that my side begins to hurt. I check my watch. I have ten minutes before I can take the bandage off. I smile and stand up.
“Where are YOU going?” asks Mikey in a whiney voice.
“It’s been four hours…” I say smiling and heading to walk inside. Harry and Niall look at each other before dashing up and running after me.
I quickly walk up the stairs and go to my room to the noises of Harry and Niall shouting at each other.
“I GET TO SEE IT FIRST I AM HER BIG BROTHER!” I hear Harry scream loudly.
“AND IM HER BEST FRIEND!” screams Niall back at him, equally loud. I shake my head and lock my door knowing that I actually want to be the first person to see it clearly, and then Stu before anyone else. Reluctantly I pull out my phone from my bag and see I have 3 missed calls from Stu and one from Jared. I frown and before I even attempt to look at my new ink I call Stu back. It hardly rings before I hear him.
“MY FUCK NATASHA! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!?” he screams at me.
“Well hello to you too…” I mumble sheepishly.
“WHERE?!” screams Jared. He sounds, excited?
“Trying to stay away from my phone… why?” I ask frowning.
“They love you!” he says excitedly. My mouth drops open.
“Wha- what do you mean?” I ask. Standing and walking over to the mirror.
“Just go online and let us know what you see…” says Stu evidently rolling his eyes.
“How are you guys?” I ask carefully lifting my shirt to get to the bandage.
There is a bit of silence.
“We’re really happy.” Says Jared gently. My smile widens.
“I’m glad. Hey, maybe we can go on a double date sometime?” I ask.
“YES! You looked so cute holding his hand, much better than if it was Niall.” says Stu getting excited.
“Stu-” I chide.
“No, seriously. The way he is looking at you in one picture. Tasha it’s so realistic!” says Jared excitedly. I force a laugh.
“That’s what Lou said… hey Stu? I have a date tonight but I’m not allowed to dress myself. Any ideas?” I ask my fashion guru.
“Wait, who is styling you then?” I wait for a few seconds.
“Uh… it’s um. It’s Lou Teasdale…” I say knowing he will freak out about his idol.
“NO FUCKING WAY!” he screams.
“Oi, save the screaming for later…” teases Jared.
“Wow... okay. That’s my que to leave. Love you guys, chat soon.” I say hanging up and returning to the mirror and my t-shirt. I take a deep breath and as I start pulling at the plaster I hear frantic knocking on my door. I groan and shout.
“IT’S NOT OFF YET!” the knocking stops. I look back at the mirror and notice my eyes look almost blue today in this light. In one quick motion I rip off the sticky plaster, my eyes closed. I slowly open them and smile at the sight. I can’t help the grin that takes over my face. I take a photo and send it to Stu and quickly go to unlock my door. I pull down my shirt and I open the door to see eight boys waiting outside. I smile nod my head once before heading downstairs, playing with them.
“NO! THAT IS HORRIBLE!” screams Harry grabbing my shoulder and stopping me. I grin at him.
“Come on, I want some tea. “I say pulling him downstairs with me. I put on the kettle and see they all are sitting around the kitchen counter. “Why are you guys so interested in what I got anyway?” I ask almost shyly as I see eight pairs of eyes focused on me.
“Because, we have all adopted you as our little sister and we really want to see…” says Cal calmly. I smile and grab the hem of my shirt with my hand.
“Okay…” I say slowly lifting up my shirt till I get to the new tattoo. I hesitate as I hear Mike.
“Strip baby!” he says in a really girly voice. He proceeds to get clipped on the head by Niall who is standing behind him. I take a breath of air and hoist it up to my ribs.
“Wow…” says Liam in shock. I look up at him. All the other guys are just staring. He smiles big.
“That’s so cool!” squeals Niall.
“Are those pansy flowers?” asks Ash taking a step closer and bending down to have a closer look. I nod. He looks carefully at the three delicate flowers on my side, each no bigger than twenty-five millimetres. Their centre is bright yellow, with small dark streaks of black that cross over into a dark, plum purple. The further up the petals you look, the paler they become until finally reaching a soft, pale lavender lilac colour. Then suddenly turning into a sky blue colour. The black streaks fade the further up the petals you look and the edges are soft and flowing, like the flowers themselves. So someone who viewed the tat for a short period of time, it looks like there are in actual fact, three flowers on my skin, but they aren’t real, just well done.
“Why three pansy flowers?” asks Luke. “I forgot to ask earlier.” I smile.
“Because pansies are associated with loving thoughts, remembrance and free thinking.” I say laughing awkwardly. They sit there in silence for a few moments before I quickly drop my shirt back down. But they keep staring.
“Uh… any one for tea?” I offer walking to the cupboard.
“Yes please!” Lou and Harry respond.
“I can, uh… I can help with that.” Says Luke clearing his throat as he stands up.
“Lads, keep it in your pants… you barely even saw her bra…” says Lou knocking Luke on the side of the head, everyone seems to turn a violent shade of red. Harry scoffs and my face seems to heat up as well as Luke reaches over my shoulder to grab the coffee cups above my head.
I turn to my phone and start playing some music to ease the tension that I feel lurking in the room. BMTH’s Follow You comes on and I start head bobbing to the music as I pour the tea. As I hand Lou and Harry their cups, Luke’s phone starts ringing. I turn down my music and take a seat next to the kettle.
“Hello?” he asks in a cheery voice. Clearly it isn’t Claire. “Yeah, just hold on a moment.” He says walking out of the kitchen. I slowly zone out, thinking about Jared and Stu and how they are doing… not what they are doing, I think that’s pretty obvious. I haven’t seen Stu in a happy relationship in a while. His last boyfriend was horrible. I remember locking him out of the house one night when he was drunk and Stu wasn’t home because he was working in the library. He ended up smashing my window in the kitchen with a rock and blaming me for their failing relationship before I called the police. I shiver at the memory. I was just grateful Graham never actually hurt Stu physically. I think it was the first time I was actually really scared and didn’t tell Hazz, mum or Gem about it. Stu felt embarrassed by being blinded by his love for Graham and I guess I just felt I was protecting him in some way. Has he told Jared? I need to call Gem…Maybe she will know what to do about tonight. I hated being uncomfortable and I knew I was going to be forced into a little skimpy number simply because that’s how most of everyone famous’ girlfriends dressed when out. It’s not that I don’t trust Lou, it’s just. She doesn’t know me.
“Tasha?” says Ash pulling me out of my jumble of thoughts. I look up at him.
“Harry’s gone to great Lou.” Tensing I take a deep breath and sit up straighter sipping on my coffee. A beautiful woman walks into the room joking and talking with Harry and Louis. She greats everyone before looking up at me. It looks like she has seen ghost. Her skin goes slightly paler and her mouth opens. She turns to Harry who is holding Lux.
“Harry…” she says turning back to me in utter shock.

Notes

Hey everyone! Gotten very quiet... please let me know what you all think? My confidence in this story fades when I don't know if you are enjoying it or not... thanks to everyone who reads x