She laughed as she unlocked the door and walked inside. I followed her in as she flipped on a light switch. The building was large but completely empty. The walls had a nasty-ass wallpaper on them that looked like it’d been around since before I was born.
“What is this?” I asked.
She walked to the window and pulled the sign off the glass. “This is your new tattoo shop.”
“Huh?”
“Remember a long time ago, I said I wanted to help you get started with a shop of your own?”
I nodded.
“Well, here it is. I bought the building today.”
“Emma, you didn’t!”
She laughed. “I did. I know it doesn’t look like much now, but we can decorate it and paint the walls. We can build a wall across this room and make it a lobby. There are rooms in the back that we can use for clients. I’m sure Andy will help us. He can design a few skateboards to hang on the walls and maybe even a few pictures.”
After everything had happened with Ally, Andy had decided to go back to California. I had seen Emma talking to him one night, a few days before he planned to leave. I wasn’t sure what she had said to him, but he’d finally changed his mind and agreed to stay in Morgantown with us. I hadn’t asked, and I hadn’t wanted to know. He’d claimed that there was nothing in California for him anymore, but I wasn’t buying it. I knew Emma was the reason that I still had my best friend around.
After the night of their talk, Emma and Andy had become even closer. Andy was still my best friend, but I understood that they had a special bond. I wasn’t jealous of it. Instead, it made me happy. I wanted both of them to be happy.
The guilt that Andy and I had both suffered from after what had happened to Emma had slowly started to fade away. Both of us had finally realized that Ally had truly been sick, and there wasn’t a thing that we could have done to help her. We’d let go of our guilt once Emma came back to herself. It had taken a very long time for her to do it, but looking at her now, I would never know that something so traumatic had happened to her. She was my Emma once again.
Andy’s boss had fired his brother, Sam, after he caught Sam stealing money. His boss had asked Andy to take over as manager from that point on. He pretty much ran the shop by himself. He’d also started fooling around with photography. He was damn good at it, and he did it as a side job for some extra cash. Andy wasn’t the richest guy out there, but he was happy. He still got into trouble occasionally, but he was slowly becoming grounded.
I was glad to see that he’d found his place in life. I just wished that he would settle down and find a girlfriend. Even after all this time, he still refused to give up his playboy ways. He laughed every time I mentioned it, and he would say that he didn’t want to be a lovesick idiot, like Emma and me. I couldn’t wait until he found a girl who knocked him on his ass. Whoever she was, she would have to have balls of steel to deal with his ass on a daily basis.
“I’m sure he’ll help us out,” I said as I looked around the building. “Why did you do this, Emma?”
“Because it’s your dream,” she said simply.
“What if it fails?”
“It won’t. You have a passion for tattooing, and you have the knowledge of how to run a business. We’ll get this place ready to go, hire a few guys, and watch your dreams come true.”
“I’ll agree to this on one condition,” I said stubbornly.
“And what would that be?”
“You work here, too. I want this to be our dream—together.”
Emma had ended up majoring in accounting. I’d found this hilarious since she’d hated math in high school. When I’d asked why, she’d shrugged her shoulders.
She’d said, Math became my favorite subject the day you walked into my class. I figured if it brought us together, I might as well stick with it.
“I was hoping you’d ask me to,” she said as she walked over and threw her arms around me. “I wouldn’t feel safe with you tattooing girls if I weren’t here. You might run off with one of them or something.”
I laughed, and I pressed my lips against hers. “I only have eyes for you. I’d like you to be my first official client when we open up.”
“I’ll think about it. So, be honest, are you excited? You don’t have to hold it in if you are.”
I pretended to think for a minute. “Maybe a little.”
“I’ll take it. Come on, I want to show you the back rooms.”
I followed her as she showed me each room. I couldn’t help but smile at her excitement. She was more excited than I was. She had no idea how much this meant to me. She was giving me a chance to follow my dreams.
We’d been through hell and back. We’d started out as two high school kids who knew nothing about this world, and we’d slowly grown up together.
Now, I couldn’t wait to see what would happen to us next. The future no longer scared me when I thought about it.
I smiled as I thought about the ring I had back at the house. I hadn’t had the nerve to ask Emma to marry me just yet, but I would—soon. I wanted everything with this woman—marriage, kids, growing old together. I wanted all the sappy shit they write about in books and show in movies.
I wanted everything—and I had it with her.
The End