As we walk to the tattoo place, I take in all my surroundings once again. I just can't seem to get tired of it. New York is way different than Texas, and I'm loving it. Walking hand in hand with Mateo just makes it even better.

"So you really aren't gonna tell me what tattoo you're gonna get?" I squeeze Mateo's hand and he looks down at me. He shakes his head and has a small smile on. "Oh come on."

"I told you it's a surprise." He says in a teasing tone.

"Yeah, yeah," I sigh. The tattoo place starts to come into view and I am very excited. Alison texted me before we left telling me that we should get matching tattoos. Of course I said yes. I mean, I'm getting my first tattoo with my best friend. What more could I ask for? She said we should get a little red heart. It's just up to me where I want it at.

Alison walks up to me and locks her arm with mine. "Are you ready? I decided I'm gonna get it on my wrist. "

I nod my head at her question and smile. "I was thinking that too. I can do my left wrist and you'll do your right."

"You're gonna get a tattoo?" My head looks up and I see Mateo with a raised brow.

"Well Ali and I thought it would be fun to get matching tattoos," he nods and opens the door to the tattoo shop. Alison walks back to Alejandro and all four of us walk inside. The wall to our right is black and has bright neon signs hung up on it. There is music playing but not so loudly, everything is how I pictured a tattoo shop to look like.

"Good afternoon," a girl at the front breaks my attention and I face her. Her black hair is slicked back into a low bun and she has multiple ear piercings, which I love. Her dark eyebrows are brushed neatly which I also love. Honestly she looks like she wouldn't work here but she seems really chill.

"Hi," Alison steps up and smiles at the girl. "I called earlier asking if you had space for us and you said to come at this time."

"Oh yes. Okay so who is getting what?" The girl asks and Ali turns back to look at me.

"She and I are getting a small tattoo and adding some ear piercings." She moved her gaze to the guys. "They are both getting some tattoos. I don't know how big or what they want, " she points towards Alejandro and Mateo. The girl nods and walks towards some guys in the back. She talks to them for a few seconds and then comes back to us.

"Okay so I will be giving you girls piercings and tattoos. Those two guys over there can get you guys started on what you want." She points to the guys in the back and they wave. Mateo and Alejandro start to walk over to them so now it's just Ali and I. "My name is Jaz by the way. Would you like to do the piercings or the tattoos first?"

I look at Alison and she shrugs. Mmm well I'm already used to getting my ears pierced so we can do that first. "The piercings." I smile at her and she nods.

"Great. You can follow me to the back." We all start walking towards the back and I see Mateo take his shirt off. He meets my eyes and winks at me. My cheeks start to turn hot and I bite my bottom lip to keep me from smiling. I roll my eyes at him and continue walking towards the back.

"Are you nervous?" Alison asks me as Jaz closes the door.

"No, not really. I mean we've gotten piercings before." I shrug. She nods her head and smiles.

"True true."

"Whoever is going first can take a seat," Jaz pats the seat with her gloved hand and I turn to Alison. She shakes her and pushes me forward. Well someone is nervous. I quietly laugh and start making my way towards the seat. I set my bag down on my lag and tie my hair back into a low ponytail.

"What do you want pierced today love?"

"Oh I wanted to add a third on both of my lobes and I wanted to add another piercing on my cartilage on my right ear, and add one on my left," I tell her confidently and she nods. She begins to clean my ear with a small alcohol wipe and I let out a breath. The last time I got my ears pierced was last summer, which was when I got my cartilage pierced. It honestly didn't hurt that bad. I just struggled with sleeping since I slept on my right side. But now I can sleep on my back so it's fine.

Jaz begins to mark both of my ears and shows me if they're in a good spot. She hands me the mirror and I check to make sure I like it. I nod and she takes the mirror out of my hands and prepares the needles. I'm not scared of needles, but I just don't like looking at them.

"Can you count down? Please," I tell Jaz and she chuckles a bit.

"No problem love," I turn to face Alison and she raises her brows. I quickly look away cause I know I'm gonna burst out laughing if I look out at her. Sometimes we just look at each other and start laughing really loud, which is fun but we can't do that right now.

"Okay 3...2...1," I release the breath I was holding and feel the needle pierce through my cartilage. Just like I remember, it wasn't that bad. It takes her about ten more minutes to finish all of the piercings I wanted. She hands me the mirror once again and I love them.

"Thank you so much, they look so good!" I exclaim and she smiles.

"No worries love. Now you can step out or stay in here with your friend." I nod and stand up. Alison takes a seat and tells Jaz what she wants. It takes about the same amount of time and she's done. I walk up to Alison and look at the new piercings.

"They look good," I tell her and she nods. Alison hands the mirror back to Jaz and thanks her.

We all walk out of the room and my eyes land on Mateo. He's sitting down on the chair but it's leaned back. The tattoo artist is working tattooing his chest I assume.

"I'll go first with the tattoo since you went first with the piercings," my attention turns back to Alison and I nod. She walks up to Jaz and tells her. She's then seated at a chair by Alejandro and starts showing Jaz the picture of the tattoo.

My feet start to move towards Mateo. His eyes are closed and once I'm there I stroke his hair. His eyes open and a smile forms on his lips. "Now can I see what you're getting?" I ask.

"Well you can see but I won't tell you the meaning of them," I look down at his chest and see a date in roman numerals. Mmm I don't mean to sound dumb, but I was always get confused readings roman numerals. My eyes avert to where the tattoo artist is working on right now and I'm in awe. It's a butterfly. I'm not sure if I know the meaning but I have an idea. I reach and fiddle with the butterfly necklace and look back up at him.

"Can I see your piercings?" He's changing the subject. Well played. I carefully move my hair and turn my head towards the side so he can see. I wait a few seconds and switch to the other side. "They look good." He tells me and I blush.

"The tattoos look good," he hums in agreement.

"Mauricio here is doing one hell of a job," he says and the tattoo artist named Mauricio looks up.

"Thank you," he chuckles and looks back down.

I stay talking to Mateo for a bit until Alison walks up to me. "Jaz is ready for you. Look," she puts her wrist right in front of my face and I jump back a bit. It's really cute.

"Did it hurt?" I ask and she shakes her head. Oh okay good maybe it won't hurt so bad. Then again we both have different pain tolerance. "Okay I'll go right now." She smiles at me and walks away.

"I'll come back when I'm done," it shouldn't take that long, I'm assuming.

"I love you," he tells me with a smile.

"I love you," I say back and run my fingers through his hair again. He closes his eyes again and my heart feels content. I love him so much. Removing my hand from his hair, I start walking towards where Jaz is. She's preparing everything that she is going to use while I take a seat.

"So you're doing the same tattoo right?"

"Yes, but on my left wrist." Jaz smiles lightly and nods. She grabs my wrist gently and cleans the area. She puts down the stencil and removes it so I can see if I like where it is. After I agree to the spot she is about to start. I take a couple deep breaths and look at the floor instead of my wrist.

"First tattoo?" Jaz breaks the silence. Is it that obvious?

"Uh yeah," I say, clearing my throat.

"Don't worry love. It won't hurt that bad." She assures me and I give her an awkward smile. I avert my eyes back onto the floor and feel the needle touch my skin. Oh. Well it isn't that bad. "See, it isn't that bad." Jaz tells me and I laugh lightly.

"Is that your boyfriend over there?" She nods her head towards Mateo's direction and I smile. His eyes are still closed and he seems relaxed. Well maybe cause he already has an arm full of tattoos and it doesn't hurt him.

"Yeah."

"Well there goes my chance," she mutters under her breath. I look at her with a raised brow and she stops what she's doing. She looks up at me and has a shy smile on her face. "I just thought you were single. You're really pretty." My eyes widen at her comment and I smile at her.

"Thank you," I cough awkwardly after I say that. She continues working on the small tattoo and it's silent for a minute. "Umm how long have you been working here?" I break the silence.

"For two years believe it or not."

"Oh that's cool," I tell her. I don't know if I'm making this awkward or not. She just took me by surprise. I thought she was calling me 'love' because she was being nice. Not saying that she isn't nice- never mind. Jaz doesn't say anything back until she finishes the tattoo.

"All done," I look down at my wrist and see a small little red heart.

"It's really pretty. Thank you Jaz," she shrugs her shoulders and looks at me.

"No worries love, and sorry if I made it uncomfortable for you."

"Oh no you didn't. Sorry if I made it seem like it. You just took me by surprise, that's all," now I feel bad. I didn't mean to make it awkward. I just didn't know how to respond to that. "Thank you for the tattoo, it looks amazing!" I exclaim.

She stands up and reaches into her pocket and pulls out a small car. "Here," she hands me the small card. "This has my number on it if you ever want another tattoo. Also just in case you and your boyfriend break up you know how to reach me." She winks at me and I laugh.

"Thank you," I say once again. "Next time I come to New York I'll be sure to text you."

"Oh you aren't from here?" She questions.

"No, I live in Texas." I stand up from the seat and put my bag over my shoulder.

"Aww well I'll still be here whenever you come back," I nod and start to walk back to Mateo.

Alison is gonna love this story.

~

When the guys were finished with their tattoos, we paid and left. I obviously told Jaz, I would text her if I ever come back to New York and she agreed. We left the tattoo shop satisfied with what we got done. We spent a couple hours there since Alejandro got more back tattoos. He was the last one to be finished, Alison and I are very hungry already.

We picked up some food on the way back to the hotel for everyone since Mom and Mrs. Lopez were already back from whatever they were doing. All of us ate in my Mom's room and showed her the tattoos we got and they both said nice things about it.

Now, Mateo and I are laying down on our bed and just talking to each other.

"So are you going to tell me what each tattoo means?" I move my head from his bicep and sit up. He nods and takes off his shirt. My eyes instantly look at the two new additions to his collection.

"This one," he points to the roman numerals. "Is the date Marisela passed away." His face saddens a bit and I begin to rub his back softly. "I got it by my heart because I know she'll always be with me for the rest of my life no matter what. It almost makes it feel like she's right here with us."

"And this one," he moves his finger to the butterfly that's above the date. "Is for you." My heart stops for a moment as I look at him. He said what I thought he would say.

"Every time I see a butterfly, I think of you. It's like you're always with me too. Whenever I'm feeling sad or I can't stop the thoughts in my head I look out the window. And every time I look out, I see a butterfly. You mean the world to me V, and I love you so much." Tears prick my eyes as he said all that. His hands gently grab my face and I lean into his touch.

"I love you," I grab his face and kiss him. All the love I have in my body I want to give to him. All the moments we've spent laughing, crying, arguing, make everything worth it. He's my person. My one and only.

I begin pecking all around his face and the tears in my eyes start to cascade down my cheeks. "I love you so much. Not a day goes by that I don't think about you."

A deep chuckle erupts from his chest and a chill is sent down my spine. "I know I always tell you this but. I can't wait to marry you." He whispers as I rest my forehead against his.

"I can't wait my love. I can't wait."