"That looks sick," I murmur, leaning in closer to Liam's arm as I look at the freshly done tattoo. It's of three small dragons. Anna drew them for him. It looks awesome.

"It does, I'm really happy with it," Liam turns to my dad and smiles, "Thanks, Mr Carter."

Dad smiles, "Of course, glad you like it," He then turns to me and grins, "Now it's your turn. What'll it be this time?"

I smile slightly, taking a seat on the chair, "A bird. One of Anna's again."

"Of course," He nods, taking the paper that I hand to him. He whistles lowly, "My girl's drawings just keep getting better."

I smile wider, pride welling up in my chest for her, "I know, right?"

He hums, looking it over, "Where do you want it?"

"My ribs," I reply, pointing to my left side.

"And this size?" He asks, rolling his chair over to his desk to set up the tattoo gun with a new needle for my piece.

I nod, "Yup," I take my shirt off and chuck it at Liam's face as I lie down on the chair, already knowing the drill. Dad slides back over to me after he's traced the sketch onto a piece of paper with blue temporary ink that would be transferred to my skin for him to use as a guide.

First, he wipes down the area and makes sure of the placing before sticking the sheet to my skin. He makes sure it's all pressed down before peeling it back, revealing the blue outline. I look down at it and grin. It's gonna look sick.

"You happy with that placement?" He asks and I nod immediately. My dad is an amazing tattoo artist and he has a really good eye. He always gets them in the place I want first try. He seems to always get the visions I have for my designs and gives me the exact tattoos that I want. He's just that good.

The buzz of the tattoo gun fills the air and I let the sound consume me. After I got my first tattoo, I became addicted. I can't get enough. It hurts a little, depending on where I get the tattoos, but I've gotten used to the pain. I know this tattoo will hurt pretty bad. The ribs are one of the worst places. My neck was also pretty painful.

The tattoo that I'm getting done is going to need to be done over two one-hour sessions. Today's will just be the outline and then I'll do another in about a week. It isn't a huge tattoo, but it has quite a bit of detail and shading, so it will take some time.

The second the needle hits my skin, I feel the familiar pain. It isn't too bad though, I can handle it. I spend the first five minutes of the session scrolling through my phone. That's usually what I do most of the time or I talk a bit to Dad. But since we've already been here for an hour for Liam's tattoo, I need a bit of a break from socializing.

After only five minutes, my phone starts to ring. It's Layla. I smile slightly, ignoring the continuous pain in my ribs and answering her call, bringing the phone up to my ear. "Hey, Sunshine," I say in greeting.

"Hey, Reece," Her voice is sweet and soft and I swear I could listen to her speak all day.

"Blondie?" Liam looks up from his phone with a grin. I nod and he calls out, "Hi, Blondie!"

Layla laughs softly in my ear and a shiver rolls down my spine, "Tell him I say hi."

"Sunshine says hi," I tell him and he grins, spinning around on his chair some more.

"So what are you doing?" She asks, "Have you gone to get your tattoo yet?"

"I'm getting it done right now, actually," I reply, screwing up my nose slightly when Dad draws a particularly painful line.

"Ooh, really? Can we FaceTime? I wanna see!" She sounds so excited and I want to see her smile.

I chuckle softly, "Sure," I switch us over to FaceTime and her face soon takes up my screen. "Hi." I greet her gently.

"Hi," She replies just as softly, a beautiful smile present on her face. "Can I see it?" She asks, practically buzzing with excitement.

In reply, I move the phone out and angle it so she can see, "We only started five minutes ago." I look to Dad who pauses his work briefly, looking up to greet Layla.

"Hey, Layla." He smiles at her and I can tell that he's grown a soft spot for her. Much like me, I guess.

"Hi Lucas!" She grins, "That looks so cool!"

"Why thank you, love," He smiles at her before getting back to his work.

I bring the camera back over so she can see my face, "So how was your day, Sunshine?"

We spend most of the next hour just talking, Liam and Dad occasionally joining our conversation. I give her updates on my tattoo every so often and every time she sees it she compliments it some more.

"Okay, I have to go, my mom's finished making dinner," She sits up from her bed where she's been laying down for most of our call.

"Alright, Sunshine. I'll call you later?" I ask, trying not to sound too hopeful.

She grins, nodding, "Definitely," She blows me a kiss as she always does and I pretend to catch it, trying not to move too much while Dad finishes the outline of my tattoo. "Bye, Reece."

"Bye, Sunshine," I murmur just before the call ends. I sigh quietly, letting my phone rest in my lap and leaning my head back against the chair.

"She's more than a friend, isn't she?" Dad asks as he wipes off the last of the excess ink before turning off the tattoo gun.

I huff, "Why do people keep assuming that?" When all he gives me is a blank stare, I gave in, "Fine, I kinda like her. So what?"

"It's about time you admitted it, dipshít," Liam mutters, leaning over to punch my arm as I sit up.

I glare at him, "You know?"

"Who doesn't, dude? It's as clear as day. Whenever you talk to her or about her or even fúcking think about her, your face lights up." He chuckles, shaking his head at me as Dad covers my tattoo in gauze.

"Really?" I ask quietly. Does she know?

Dad scoffs, "It's painfully obvious. You're in deep, son."

I furrow my brows, "Oh. Do you think she knows?"

Liam laughs, "Absolutely not. You're both as oblivious as each other."

"What do you-"

"Okay, you're done," Dad interrupts me and I turn to look down at the bandage over my tattoo.

"Thanks," I murmur, checking the time on my phone. The tattoo shop doesn't close for another couple hours but Dad has already said he had a cancellation, so I'm the last customer for today. I stare at the photo of Layla and I that is set as my lock screen. She's smiling. So, so bright. Like the ray of sunshine she is.

Sunshine. Pure sunshine.

"Hey, Dad," I look back up at him, my mind made up and my gaze set, "Do you have time for one more?"

~

"I thought you were only getting one new tattoo today?" Anna asks, stopping in my doorway and watching me as I ruffle through my drawers for a shirt. Dammit, she couldn't have come ten seconds later when I'd put a shirt on?

"Uh, yeah. I decided to get another one. It was a last minute thing," I mutter, finally pulling a grey t-shirt over my head and turning to face her. She stands with her hand resting on her hip, one eyebrow raised.

She doesn't believe me for a second.

"You never get a spontaneous tattoo. It takes you two weeks at least to decide what you want your next tattoo to be. What is it?" She starts walking closer and I fold my arms across my chest defensively.

"Why do you need to know?" I ask, narrowing my eyes at her.

"You never hide your tattoos from me, Reece. Why can't I see it?" She persists, stopping right in front of me.

I sigh, knowing there's no getting out of this. I lift up my shirt and she grins, reaching up to pull away the wrapping over the tattoo on my left peck. She gasps quietly when she sees it. She looks up at me, eyes wide, "Is that-"

"Yes," I mutter, moving her hands away and pulling the bandage back over it before letting my shirt fall down again. "You can't say anything."

"Why not? She'd-"

"Because. I want to do it." I stare down at her, making sure she understands.

She grins, "Fine, but I'm telling you-"

"Anna, no," I cut her off before she can say anymore.

"Alright, alright, jeez," She rolls her eyes.

"Reece! Anna! Liam! Max! Could you all come here please!" Anna and I both stop at the sound of my father calling to us from the living room. We look at each other for a second before leaving my room and heading towards him. When we get to the living room, I find my mom sitting in the armchair while my dad stands beside her. Max and Liam are both sitting on the couch.

"What's up?" I ask, punching Liam's shoulder as I come to stand beside him. He looks up, scowling at me, but he smiles again when Anna squishes up beside him on the couch. I roll my eyes with a small smile before turning my attention back to my parents.

Mom and Dad look at each other for a moment before turning back to us, their faces serious. Mom folds her hands in her lap as she looks between all of us. "We have something to tell you."

~

"What if we just started like, living I guess, right now? All of our memories, even from like three seconds ago, could just be programmed into us or something. We don't know that we weren't just placed here a minute ago. We would have no idea. Do you get what I mean?"

Somehow Layla and I always seem to end up in conversations like this. When its late at night and we're talking alone on the phone, we can get talking about the craziest topics. Like tonight, where we are literally questioning our existence.

"Wow, I never thought of that," I roll over onto my back in bed, holding the phone above me so that I can see Layla's face, "We would have literally no idea if that happened. Because all our memories, even super short term ones like what happened a minute ago, could just be placed in our brains. And we would have no clue that we only just started being here."

"Exactly, this could all be fake. We could just have a bunch of fake memories in our head that never actually happened." She rolls over onto her side, her face smooshing into her pillow. She looks adorable.

I'm quiet for a moment as I think about this idea. Then I slowly shake my head, "I don't know, I have some memories that are just too vivid for them to be fake."

Layla tilts her head slightly, curiously, "Like what?"

"When I said goodbye to you at the airport." I say without thinking, my eyes widening slightly when I realize what I just said. I'm supposed to be hiding my feeling from her.

Layla's whole face softens, her teeth slowly sinking into her bottom lip as she bites down on it. She's clearly holding back a smile. "You're right. There's no way that didn't happen. I remember everything about that day. And the day we went paintballing. For some reason, that memory really sticks out in my head."

My mind immediately flashes back to that day. My hands on her hips. Her laugh. The yellow paint in her hair. Her cold hands on the bare skin of my back. "Yeah, that memory is pretty vivid for me too."

Layla stifles a yawn, "There's quite a few memories that are like that. They're too real to be fake."

I smile, "I agree. And as much as I would love to keep talking to you, Sunshine, that's the sixth yawn in the last five minutes."

She groans softly, burying her face further into her pillow. "I was hoping you wouldn't notice, Reece! I want to keep talking to you."

"Sunshine, we've been over this too many times. Your health is more important. Please get some sleep." I tell her gently.

She huffs, "Fine. But only because you need to get your sleep too."

"I will. Goodnight, Sunshine."

Lifting her hand to her mouth, I watch as she blows me a big, exaggerated kiss. With a grin, I reach my hand out and pretend to catch it, pressing it to my chest. "Goodnight, Reecey."

"Sweet dreams, Sunshine." I tell her before the call disconnects.

I sigh, rolling over with a groan as I bury my head into my pillow. This is going to be the longest week of my life.