My eyes winced while staring up at the neon sign.

'Dark Hours' tattoo parlor.

How edgy.

Through the glass door and windows, I could see a figure walking around the backroom. I took a deep breath, pulling the door open which made the faintest 'ding' sound.

"I'll be right there," Nicos' deep voice called from whatever room he was in.

I took a seat on one of the chairs where you get tattooed. I looked around, looking at the framed pictures of tattoos on the wall. The floors were white and the walls were grey, and some pink and blue neon signs made up for the fact that the lights were dim and in need of being changed.

I watched as Nicos' large frame exited the back room, but he stopped dead in his tracks once he saw me.

He rolled his eyes, "The fuck are you doing here, Elle?"

"I'm here to get tatted up," I shrugged. "I was thinking of getting a skull on my forehead?"

"Should try getting the word idiot. It would suit you more," he said while crossing his arms and leaning against the counter.

I pushed myself up and walked over to him. I crossed my arms back at him, "I'm here to pay you for earlier, Picasso."

"How'd you even find out I work here?" his eyes looked me up and down quickly. "You're not stalking me, are you?"

"Trust me, if I was going to stalk somebody, it would be somebody that is actually worth my time," I tried to push his buttons, the same way he was trying to push mine.

He stopped leaning against the counter and put all of his weight on his feet. He said something, but I didn't pay attention to what it was as I stared at all of his tattoos. They were nicely done, and even though I had no tattoos, I knew people would spend hundreds to get tattoos that look that good.

So then why does he also work as a self-defense teacher?

"Did you fuckin' listen?" his voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

I spoke in an overly sweet tone, "No, but it was probably boring anyway."

He rolled his eyes. My stomach growled, and I began to realize that I hadn't eaten anything today besides ice cream. I guess binge-watching TV shows have their downfalls.

"You hungry or something?" he asked, walking over to one of the neon signs and turning it off.

I shrugged, "A little. I only had ice-"

"That wasn't an invitation for a long response," he cut me off, turning the other neon sign off. "You can come with me if you want. If not, that'd probably make me happier."

"Go with you, where?" I asked while he walked back over to me.

His green eyes stared into mine, "To get some fuckin' food."

I could feel my eyebrows raise, and he brushed right past me. He only tapped my shoulder slightly, but it was enough to make me nearly fall over and grab onto the tattoo chair. I looked up at him, watching him as he pushed the front door open and started to take steps down the road.

I quickly ran out of the door and caught up with him, his hair looking even darker now that we were outside.

"Sin told me, if you wanted to know," I answered the question he had asked earlier. "How come you've never told anybody your first name?"

"Cause it's nobody's fucking business," he replied.

Always so grumpy. I told him, "I'm still going to call you Nico."

He didn't reply.

I wasn't too familiar with this part of Boston, but Nico seemed to know it like the back of his hand. He walked confidently, even though it was dark and you never know who's around. He seemed like he wasn't scared of anything, and with his fighting ability, maybe he has the right to feel that way.

"Is Sin your friend?" I asked him.

He shrugged, "I guess."

"Is he single?" I wondered.

He just rolled his eyes in response. I asked him again, "Does he have a girlfriend or boyfriend?"

"Why don't you ask him for yourself," he replied in an irritated tone.

I looked around before nodding as if he were a genius, "Right, my bad. I forgot Sin was following us around this entire time."

"Whatever," he muttered under his breath.

My eyes looked him up and down. I started, "So, is he singl-"

"Can you stop fuckin' asking me if he's single?" he cut me off.

Asshole. Usually, I'd give somebody the benefit of the doubt, and just assume that they're having a bad day. But something tells me that this isn't Nico having a bad day, it's just who he is.

He pulled out a cigarette and lighter, holding the cigarette with his lips before lighting it. My eyes widened a little, surprised that somebody that clearly spends a lot of time working out is okay with doing that damage to their lungs.

"You smoke?" I asked.

He shook his head as smoke left his lips, "No. Only do it when I'm pissed off."

"So I'm pissing you off?" I asked, watching him nod his head as more smoke left his mouth.

I bit back a remark to make. I told him, "I could just leave then."

"Shut up," he muttered, tossing his cigarette onto the ground and rubbing it out with the bottom of his shoe. "We're here."

I looked up at the food place. It was fast food, but I had never been here before. Nico held the door open for me as I entered, looking around at the interior. There weren't too many people here, probably since most people ate dinner hours ago.

He walked right up to the cash register, and I stood behind him, waiting to order after him. After he said his order, he looked at me over his shoulder, "What are you doing?"

"Waiting for it to be my turn?"

He rolled his eyes, "Order with me."

I took a step forward. I guess we'll just pay separately then. I ordered a burger and fry, the smell of the restaurant only adding to my hunger.

"Will that be together or separate?" the worker asked.

"Together," Nico replied, making my eyebrows raise.

I thought that he was making me pay, until I watched him tap his card against the machine. He grabbed onto my arm after, pulling me to sit at a nearby booth. As we sat down, I thanked him, "Thank you. But now, I owe you the money for today and the food."

"How old are you?" he asked, ignoring my words.

"19," I told him. "How old are you?"

"24."

"You're old."

I nearly slapped my hand over my mouth with how rude that sounded. I spoke quickly, "I didn't mean that! I just meant you're older than me-"

He stood up, cutting off my sentence. I watched him to see what he was doing and saw that he was carrying both of our trays of food over to the table. I thanked him as he set mine down, and started eating some of my fries first.

As we ate, I told him, "I'm gonna need another training session. Do you have any available tomorrow?"

"No. But I do the day after," his eyes wandered around my face for a moment. "How come the sudden interest?"

The question once again made me tense. I popped a fry into my mouth, ignoring the fact that I could still feel his eyes on me.

"How come you didn't eat today?" he asked, realizing I wasn't going to answer his other question.

I swallowed my food, "Just lost track of time, I guess."

I looked up at him while I ate my food. I wanted to ask him why he moved out of that house so quickly, but I saw how tense it made him earlier. It's clearly not something he wants to talk about. But that, paired with the fact that he doesn't want anybody to call him Nico, makes me even more curious as to what lays behind the wall he has up.

We sat in silence for the rest of the meal, and since he got our trays, I threw our garbage out and returned them. We exited the restaurant and started heading back to the tattoo parlor where our cars are.

As we stepped down onto the sidewalk, I nearly lost my footing and tripped. Nico grabbed onto my waist quickly, keeping me up with reflexes faster than I could ever have. His hands on my hips made my stomach warm for a moment, but I quickly repressed it.

"Thank you," I spoke quietly.

He replied while looking forward, "Don't mention it."

I kept my hands in the pockets of my jean jacket while we walked. It wasn't cold enough to need a jacket, but the occasional breeze kept me from getting too hot and taking it off.

"Did you do all of your tattoos yourself?" I asked.

"Mhm."

I looked the ones that covered his veiny arms over, "They're impressive."

I was expecting a sarcastic response, but to my surprise, he said, "Thanks."

"You should tat me up sometime," I used my arm to nudge his slightly.

"Nah."

"Why not?"

"Cause."

I rolled my eyes, "Just as annoying as you were when I was 9."

"Could say the same thing about you," he replied as we reached our cars.

I stared at his. His was much more expensive looking and cleaner than Romeos. It was black and sleek, whereas Romeos was gray and a little bulky.

I thought that maybe he was going to say goodbye to me, but instead, he just got in his car. I got in mine too, both of us turning our engines on at the same time.

Our cars were parked beside each other, and we both needed to reverse to get out, so we couldn't go at the same time. I started to go, but slammed on the breaks seeing him pull out at full speed and cut me off.

I rolled my window down and yelled, "Idiot!"

I caught a quick glimpse of him through his window before he drove away, and what I saw shocked me slightly.

He was smiling.

------

"Good morning, grandma!" I beamed as I entered the flower shop with an iced coffee in one hand, and my phone in the other.

She smiled at me over the counter, making her eye wrinkles intensify, "Good morning, Elle. You sure do look like you're in a good mood."

"It's a beautiful day outside," I gestured to the sun shining through the window. "Why wouldn't I be?"

I sipped the bitter liquid with a hint of vanilla before setting it and my phone down on the counter.

I used makeup once again to cover my black eye, and the dress I wore covered the bruising on my ribs. It was still sensitive, so I've been having to sleep on my back. Makes me feel like a vampire, and I don't like it.

I turned my back to the entrance door as I asked my grandma, "Where's grandpa?"

"He's building a porch for us today," she smiled. "He was talking about it all winter, and now that it's summer, he's finally doing it."

"Good for him. He's more active than me."

She laughed slightly. The bell to the door dinged behind me, and my grandma looked around me to see the customer. Her lips formed a smirk as she looked at me, "Can you help this gentleman for me, Elle?"

"Sure," I nodded, watching her go back into the lunchroom.

Before turning around, a smile spread across my face. I got an iced coffee from my favorite place for breakfast, the warm breeze came in through the open windows, and the sun lit up the sky today.

Today was a good day.

I turned around to help the customer, "How may I help-"

I stopped talking and my jaw dropped seeing Nico. He looked equally as surprised to see me.

"Nico?" I nearly whispered. I looked him up and down, his black shirt the same color as his hair. "What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?" he asked me.

I looked around the flower shop, gesturing to all of the flowers, and then myself. I told him, "I work here."

"Really?" his eyebrows lowered.

I nodded, "Mhm. Not everybody works in a nighttime tattoo parlor."

"And as a self-def-"

I took quick steps towards him, reaching my hand up to his face and cutting him off. He swatted my hand off of his mouth and asked, "The fuck are you doing?"

I put my finger over my lip in a 'sh' motion. I whispered, "My grandma is in the back room."

I watched his face as he pieced together that the fact that I was getting classes was a secret. I could tell that he wanted to ask why but kept his mouth shut.

"So," I spoke after taking a deep breath. "What can I help you with?"

"Well, I'm here to buy some flowers," he replied, and for some reason, my curiosity went up.

I tried to sound casual as I asked, "Who for?"

"Not important," he replied, and I felt something form in my stomach that I didn't recognize.

I picked up my iced coffee and raised it to my lips, the cold liquid running down my throat. The feeling in my stomach slowly dissolved, and I kept my iced coffee in my hands while I walked around the shop. I asked, "What kind of flowers does she like?"

"Daises."

So it's a she.

I hadn't realized his words made me stop walking until his eyes narrowed on me. I cleared my throat and guided him over to the daises, "What color does she like?"

"White."

I nodded. I picked up one of the bouquets of white daisies and handed them to him, his fingertips grazing mine as he took it. He asked, "How much will they be?"

"Consider it my payment for the food that you bought me last night," I told him quietly, knowing that if my grandma heard she would tell my entire family that I had finally made a friend. But I hadn't, because Nico and I aren't friends.

"Thanks," he said, but even though his words were appreciative, his tone of voice and face remained emotionless.

His eyes stared into mine, his eyes looking more vibrant since the bright sun was shining through the windows. My heartbeat increased in my chest when his hand reached out for my face, his thumb brushing right beside my eye, "The fuck happened to you?"

My brown eyes widened realizing my makeup must've started coming off a bit and revealing the purple underneath. I moved his hand away, and at first he didn't let me, but the second time he did. His hand went back to his side as I told him, "I've got two brothers I wrestle with sometimes. So keep that in mind at our next training session."

He walked around me as I talked, looking at all of the flowers we offer. I assume he was making a note mentally to tell his girlfriend all of the different options for next time.

"Yea, I'll keep it in mind when I decide to care," he replied in a bored tone.

My eyebrows lowered, "You're mean."

"Okay."

"Asshole."

"Bitch."

"Motherfucker."

"Bitch."

I lifted my hand up to mess up his hair since I wasn't going to punch somebody in my grandmas flower stop, but he quickly grabbed my hand and jerked me to the side, making my iced coffee tip over and fall onto the floor. I watched in horror as my favorite iced coffee covered the floor, my jaw hanging.

I shot him my meanest look, and clenched my fists seeing that he was rubbing his jawline to try and hide the fact that he was trying not to laugh.

"You suck," I muttered, quickly walking to the bathroom and grabbing some napkins.

I bent down and cleaned up the brown liquid, but stopped when I realized he was just looking down at me and not helping.

"Aren't you gonna help me?" I asked.

"No."

I nearly scoffed. I cleaned up the liquid by myself, throwing the cup and napkins into the garbage after and washing the sticky feeling off of my hands.

I was actually surprised to see him still here when I walked back out. But my surprise turned into confusion as he walked over to me, and put a hand on my arm.

We started walking towards the door, so I asked, "What are you doing?"

He didn't answer me, so I pulled out of his grip and kept my feet planted until he answered me.

He gestured his head toward the door, "Come on. I'll buy you another one."