Chapter Text
“I don’t know about this Liam,” Niall bit down on his bottom lip and stared up at the darkened windows of the tattoo parlor. “It looks a bit sketchy.”
“It’s fine,” Liam insisted, grabbing his friend’s thin wrist and tugging him up the shattered concrete stairs. “Andy recommended it.”
Niall jerked away, “Then it’s guaranteed something bad is going to happen.”
“Nothing bad is going to happen,” Liam rolled his eyes and placed his hand on the front door. It was painted black just like the windows and there was a messy scrawl that simply read Z’s across the middle. Niall didn’t like the looks of the place at all, but Liam was already pushing inside and there was no way he was going to leave his friend to face certain death all alone.
Niall slipped in behind Liam, eyes wide as he took in their surroundings. The inside of the building was dark, the blacked out windows causing the only light to be cast from a purple bulb that hung in the middle of the room. It added an odd glow to everything, from Niall’s pale skin to the large snake curled in the tank in the far corner. There was a ratty couch pushed against the wall, stuffing and springs sticking out. The floor was concrete, covered in splatters that Niall prayed were paint and not blood. There was a display case full of earrings across from the door and a boy sprawled out across it, his hands on his softly rising chest and his eyes shut. Behind him was a black curtain that hid the rest of the shop from view.
Liam coughed loudly – hoping to wake the boy – but nothing happened. He tried again with the same results, frowning a little at the rude service. Finally he stepped up to the counter and poked the kid in the arm.
The boy flailed out, one hand smacking Liam in the face as he sat up at an alarmingly fast rate. His blue eyes were heavy with sleep and he yawned as he stared at them, his fingers going to mess with his feathered fringe.
“Who are you?” he finally asked, swinging his legs over the side of the counter and hoping down. He stretched and Niall tried not to notice the way The Killers shirt he had on rucked up to reveal a tan stretch of stomach. “And why did you wake me up?”
“I’m Liam,” the brown eyed boy offered sheepishly. “Sorry for waking you.”
The kid waved him off, slowly making his way behind the counter. Niall noted that he had a great butt, then chastised himself for noticing in the first place. “I’m Louis. What are you here for?”
“Tattoo,” Liam fumbled around with something in his pockets, tugging out his ID to show the boy that he was of age.
Louis didn’t even glance at it, just nodded and said, “Zayn’s with someone else right now, but he should be done soon. How about your friend? Is he getting anything or did he just come to stare at my arse?”
Niall startled at being mentioned, his cheeks flushing when he realized the boy had noticed his wandering eyes, “I-I…”
“It’s fine,” Louis grinned cheekily at him. “A few piercings, a couple of tattoos, and a bit more edge to you and you just might be my type.”
Niall blushed a darker red and took a step back, shaking his head lightly, “I don’t want any tattoos or piercings.”
“You sure?” Louis reached under the counter and retrieved a piercing gun, twisting it in his fingers slowly as he stared at Niall. “How about just one? A lip ring. That would be fucking sexy.”
Niall shook his head with a bit more force this time, stumbling backwards as if he was afraid Louis would jump him at any moment, “I don’t think a lip ring would really suit me.”
“I think it would,” Louis leaned casually on the counter, a smirk twerking the corners of his mouth as he flipped the gun in his hand again. “You would be so, so sexy.”
“Louis!” a voice barked – so close and so loud and so unexpected – that it caused all three boys to startle. Louis dropped the gun, Niall screamed, and Liam nearly tripped over his feet as he backed towards the wall. “What have I told you about harassing the customers?”
Louis recovered his dignity the quickest, shoving the gun away and offering the dark haired boy a winning smile, “Sorry boss.”
The boy, who Niall gathered must be Z, rolled his eyes, “Sorry about him. He can be a bit intimidating.”
Niall blinked rapidly. If Louis was a bit intimidating, then what was Z? The boy was dark; dark hair, dark eyes, dark clothes, dark marks running up his arms and twisting around his neck. He had gauges in his ears, a ring through his nose, and Niall was pretty sure there was something piercing his tongue.
Before Niall could do anything – like run out of the place screaming – the curtain parted and a new boy joined the group. He had bouncing chocolate curls, velvet green eyes, and white gauze taped to a spot on his bare hip. All he wore was a pair of low slung, ridiculously tight black jeans and a sinful grin. Black rivers of ink stained his skin as well, but the marks didn’t appear as scary on him as they did on Zayn. In fact, they looked quite inviting. Niall found himself wondering what it would be like to run his tongue over the marks, tasting the salt of the boy’s skin as he went.
“Thanks Z,” the pretty boy spoke, tucking his white tee-shirt into the back pocket of his jeans as he nodded at the tattoo artist. “I’ll get you your money as soon as I can.”
Z waved him off, “I told you Harry, you don’t have to pay.”
Niall resisted the urge to breath out the boy’s name just to know how it would taste on his tongue, and instead continued to stare at his bare torso. The beautiful kid hadn’t seemed to notice him yet.
Harry shrugged, “And I told you I would.”
“Haz, you know Zayn won’t take your money. I don’t see why you two need to have this argument every single time.”
“Lou, I’m Z’s best customer. If I don’t pay, then you aren’t getting paid. And then I’ll have to listen to you complain that your pay check is shit and you need a better job and it’s a shame Zayn’s too pretty to quit on. So just stay out of this.”
Louis made a face but he left the conversation, addressing Liam instead. “Come on, I’ll show you to the back. Does your friend want to stay here, or come with you?”
For the first time the green eyed boy seemed to notice Niall. His eyes flicked up and down the blonde’s body, then settled on his face with a dirty smile.
Niall quickly weighed his options. If he stayed, he would be left alone with Louis, who would probably find a way to pierce him before he escaped. If he went with Liam, he would have to sit in a room with Zayn and watch him color his friend’s skin with midnight ink. He wasn’t sure he could handle that. But when it came to Louis or needles…
“Why don’t you stay here with us?” Harry cocked his head to the side and grinned. “Me and Lou will take care of you while Z’s with your friend.”
Niall swallowed, his eyes darting towards the warm brown safety of Liam’s. The brunette quirked a shoulder, then ducked behind the curtain with Zayn. Niall nibbled his bottom lip, knowing his decision was already made for him. He sunk onto the tattered couch and mumbled, “Guess I’ll stay.”
“Great,” Harry pushed a hand through his curls and shot Niall another grin. He dropped down next to him, nudging the other boy with one of his bony knees. “I’m Harry.”
“Niall,” the blonde offered weakly, his eyes never leaving Louis’ smirking face. He was still slightly afraid of the other boy.
Fingers dug into the skin of his arm and Niall finally turned with wide eyes to the brunette sitting next to him. Harry was pouting, his eyes playful as he mumbled, “Pay attention to me.”
“S-sorry,” Niall stuttered, sneaking a quick peek at Louis just to make sure he wasn’t advancing with any weapons. “I’m just a bit…” he trailed off, a light flush on his cheeks as Harry’s pout grew into a wicked smirk.
“Scared of Louis are you love?” Harry leaned back and draped an inked arm over Niall’s shoulder. The brunette’s fingers wove their way under the loose strap of Niall’s tank top, dancing across pale skin as Louis rolled his eyes at them. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”
Louis scoffed, “Yeah, like I’m the one he needs protection from.” The pixie face boy hopped back up onto the earring counter and sprawled out, bringing his arm up to cover his face. “I’m going to sleep. If you know what’s good for you, you won’t wake me.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Harry promised, his rough voice holding a hint of a mocking tone. Louis must have picked up on it, because he lazily lifted his middle finger and waved it in Harry’s direction. Niall’s companion barked out a laugh before turning his attention back to the nervous blonde.
“So…” Harry reached up and tugged on Niall’s bottom lip, grinning when the Niall gasped. “I overheard what Lou said earlier and I agree. You would look sexy as fuck with a lip ring.” He leaned in closer, his own full lips brushing the shell of Niall’s ear as he whispered huskily, “Can’t you just imagine it now? My teeth tugging on it as we make out, your hands on my naked body, our hips rolling together?” He pulled back with a smirk full of secrets and eyes that were hooded with want as his free hand dug into Niall’s thigh. “So fucking sexy.”
“I-I don’t, I…”
Louis cut off Niall’s stammering with a voice dripping in sarcasm, “Yes Harry, please scare the poor boy more than he already is. Zayn loves when you do that.”
“Just trying to have a little fun,” Harry removed his hands from Niall’s person and placed them behind his own neck, shooting an apologetic grin towards the wide eyed boy. “Blondie was an easy target. So innocent.”
“I’m not innocent,” Niall replied indigently, folding his arms across his chest. “I just don’t feel comfortable in here, that’s all.”
“Don’t worry about us,” Louis’ voice was lazy and teetering on the edge of sleep. “We’re all talk. I would never try to pierce you and Harry would never try to fuck you. At least not without your permission.” A yawn swallowed up the last of his words and with that his breathing evened out, his chest rising and falling softly underneath the soft black cotton of his shirt.
“Looks like it’s just us now,” Harry stood up and stretched, wincing slightly as he glanced down at his freshly tattooed hip. “Ouch.”
“What did you get?” Niall managed to ask without his voice wavering, his blue eyes locked on the strip of white gauze right above the waistband of Harry’s skin tight jeans.
Harry didn’t answer, choosing instead to gently peel away the bandage and reveal the curling words underneath.
“Might as well…” Niall read out loud. “Might as well what?”
“Depends on the situation,” Harry’s grin revealed deep dimples in his cheeks. “Like right now it could mean I might as well draw a mustache on Lou’s face while he’s asleep. Or I might as well kiss you.” He raised an eyebrow at Niall’s flushed cheeks, “Something like that.”
Niall opened his mouth to respond but before he could there were a pair of lips on his. He threw up his hands and pressed them against Harry’s bare chest, trying to push the other boy off but Harry had raised his own hands and tangled them in Niall’s blonde hair. Niall went limp and Harry finally pulled back, a satisfied tilt to his lips.
As Niall gaped at him Harry grabbed a pen from his pocket and scrawled a number on Niall’s arm. Then he stood up and tugged on his shirt, pointing to the stain of ink on Niall’s pale skin as he back towards the door, “Call me if you get a chance.”
He grinned cheekily, hand on the doorknob, and sang out, “You might as well,” before slipping out of the darkened tattoo parlor.
When Liam finally emerged from behind the curtain – a quote decorating the sensitive skin under his forearm – Niall jumped to his feet and nearly dragged his friend out of the shop. Liam barked out a laugh, dropping some money next to Louis’ sleeping head before he allowed Niall to pull him away.
“What’s that?” he asked, pointing to the number scrawled across Niall’s skin.
Niall blushed, “Harry did it.”
“You gonna call him?”
“No!” Niall replied indigently, his cheeks flaming.
But later that night, as he carefully filled the numbers into his phone, Niall let out a sigh. “Might as well,” he mumbled.
And then he pressed send.