"Char," I poke his sleeping face. "It's time for our tattoo appointment." I crawl into his lap since he's napping on the couch and suck on his earlobe. "Charlie baby."

He wraps his arms around me lazily, my Queen tank a little baggy on him. The slight droop shows off his piercings and he moans. "Ethaaaan."

"Mhm." I chuckle and kiss the piercing, licking around it. "You gotta get up now if we're gonna make it."

"Can you carry me?" He whispers.

"Yeah." I smile softly. "Do you need to change or anything?" I slide my arms underneath his body and gently lift him up bridal style.

He grabs my drawings off the coffee table. "I have everything now except my shoes." He wiggles his socked foot.

I chuckle and grab his shoes on the way out. I carry him into the elevator and down to my car where I deposit him in his seat. I get in myself and buckle us up before starting the car and heading out. "I wish I could drive with you in my lap."

"We gotta stay safe." He hums and puts his shoes on.

"Are you excited?" I ask him, smiling. I tried to redo the drawing a few times to make it perfect but Charlie wouldn't let me, saying he wants the original since it was done in the moment.

Charlie bounces. "These are my first tattoos." He bites his lip. "I'm kinda nervous." He looks at his arm. "This one is going to probably hurt a lot."

"Yeah, a little more than usual since the skin is new and sensitive. But it'll look beautiful when it's done. I'll hold your hand the whole time." I reassure him and grab his hand and squeeze it.

"Hope I don't break it." He kisses my hand. "It's too important to get messed up."

"You won't break it, baby. That'd be quite the feat if you crushed my hand with yours." I chuckle and pull up to the tattoo shop. Carmen came here for one of her tattoos and it came out looking sick so I know they do good work. I even booked the same guy.

Charlie exhales and hugs the pictures. "I'm ready."

I smile and we get out, me taking his hand again once we're at the door. We go inside and I check in, greeting the artist once inside.

"What's up, Ethan? Am I tattooing you today?" Gage asks.

I shake my head. "Actually, the appointment is for my boyfriend, Charlie."

Gage focuses on him and looks over the skin he's got showing. "Sweet. This your first tat, bro?"

"Y-Yeah." He shows him the picture. "Ethan drew it for me." He squeezes my hand tighter.

Gage takes it and smirks. "Fantastic, I fucking love giving people their firsts. This is gorgeous. Nice job, Ethan. You want me to recreate this?" He asks Charlie.

"Yeah. I'd prefer if you stenciled it instead of making it your own, if that's okay. You can take artistic liberty with my next, but this one's covering... something and I want Ethan on me." He looks into my eyes.

I smile lovingly and Gage nods. "Gotcha, come have a seat!" He strolls over to a chair and slaps it, sitting down next to it and organizing his equipment.

"Have you done something like this before? Does it hurt more than collarbone or hip piercings?" He bites his lip.

Gage nods. "I've covered stuff before, my partner covered my own scars." He presents his sleeve. "It shouldn't hurt as much as those." He begins tracing the drawing. "You want the colors the same too?"

"Yeah. Purple is my favorite color. My baby brother's tattoos are all black and white. Maybe I can get him to come here one day."

"Does he have a lot? I'd love to see. Maybe I can give him one too. If he wants one, definitely send him my way, man. Any friend of Ethan is a friend of mine."

"I'd use the term friend loosely." Ethan teases.

Charlie gasps. "That's your brother-in-law, hoe!" Charlie pulls up pictures of Xander on his phone, giving it to Gage.

The artist stares at them, flipping back and forth. "Damn... he's fucking hot."

My jaw drops.

"Yeah, Ethan thinks so too. He also thinks my parents are hot." Charlie shows a family picture of them at some type of event, all dressed up.

"Ethan's a weird dude. Your family looks sweet." He compliments.

"I'm not weird, look at them!" I insist.

Gage just laughs.

"Too bad my brother is dating this cuck's brother." Charlie chuckles. "I doubt he'd get with you unless him and Ryder are poly."

Gage pouts and I stare at Charlie.

Did he just call me a cuck?

"Babe, I do not want to watch you get fucked by someone else."

Charlie pets me. "Depends who it is, doesn't it? You haven't had a taste of many guys." He looms over me despite being slightly shorter, standing. "I know you thought Jamie was hot."

My mouth dries up. "Is this a not so subtle way of you asking for something?"

Gage's eyebrows rise but he stays focused on making the stencil.

"I'm just your innocent Charlie."

I narrow my eyes. "You're a demon."

"I'm your angel baby." He kisses me.

I smirk. "And could my angel watch me get fucked by someone else?"

"Hmm, could you take it?"

I scoff. "Of course."

"I mean, you did go crazy over my dick the other day."

I blink. "I do love it but I wouldn't say that."

"I have a video."

I vaguely remember the other night and Charlie's phone and sweat. I'm way too honest when I'm drunk.

"Charlie..." I warn.

"Do you want to watch it?"

Swallowing, I nod. "Yeah, is it embarrassing? I don't want to be embarrassing."

"It was cute." He pulls the video up, but doesn't press play.

Seeing the cover shot, I'm already turning red. It shows me with Charlie's dick in my mouth. Both so out of it and into it at the same time.

"Such a pretty mouth." He leans into my face.

I lean on him for support and press play, growing more and more embarrassed the more I watch until I'm completely red from head to chest. Also kinda turned on. Maybe very turned on. God, that night felt so good.

Charlie doesn't even notice that he's getting tattooed, just watching my expressions as I watch. "You're pretty slutty."

"Yeah." I swallow my spit. "Baby, please don't show this to anyone especially not Xander."

"Eew, why would I show him? Also, Gage saw it just now." He sticks his tongue out.

"To blackmail me into letting Jamie fuck you again."

"Hey, all I need is my hubby."

Gage bites his lip. "I just saw a really pretty dick, that's all."

"Aww, thanks."

He smiles and I pout.

"Good. I'm clearly incredibly good to you." I kiss Charlie's cheek.

"Mm, whose initials are going on my skin permanently?"

"Mine." I melt.

"Do you want to do that part yourself?" Gage asks me and I nod eagerly.

"Do it right." Charlie chuckles. "If the angle or depth is wrong, you can cause blowout or more scars." He grabs my hand. "But I want it, risks and all."

I nod and squeeze his hand. Once it's time for them Gage positions my hand and holds it lightly to keep me steady and perfectly in tune with his style. I take it slow and careful, so incredibly honored that Charlie would let me tattoo my initials into him. I feel filled to the brim with love and appreciation.

Once it's done I pull away and it looks amazing. Smiling, I hand the tattoo gun back to Gage and look up at Charlie for approval.

"Oh, Ethan, it's perfect." He kisses me.

I let out a sigh of relief and smile, kissing back. "Good, good, I'm so happy."

"Me too." He smiles. "All that's left are the crowns."

"Crowns?" Gage asks as he wraps Charlie's brand new tattoo. A tattoo I drew.

"Mhm. We're getting a couple tattoo. I'm getting a queen crown tattoo and he's getting a king crown because I'm Charlie King."

"That's cute."

"I was hoping we could squeeze those in now." Ethan smiles innocently and Gage rolls his eyes.

"Sure, as long as you pay. I've got an hour free to do them."

Charlie smiles. "Oh, it'll be very worth it."

Gage raises an eyebrow. "You planning to blow me instead of cash, Blondy?"

"Ask Ethan and he'd tell you that you'd have to tattoo a whole sleeve for that to even be close to equivalent." He winks.

"It's true." Ethan confirms.

Gage's eyes widen and he licks his lips. "Damn, sonny."

Charlie just giggles. "I'm loaded. When I said King, I meant as in King."

Gage nods. "I thought I recognized your parents." He sketches two crowns for us. "These look alright?"

Ethan nods for his. "Yeah, that's perfect."

"I want mine on the nape of my neck." Charlie grins.

"Me too." Ethan agrees.

"I'll do Charlie first since you're in the chair." Gage says and lowers it into a bed. He has Charlie turn over and lay on his stomach and clips all his hair out of the way. He sanitizes the area and begins.

"It's like a violent tickle." Charlie scrunches his nose.

I chuckle and rub his back. "You're doing amazing, Char."

"Thanks."

Gage finishes and covers this one too. "Now do I need to tell you how to take care of them or are you good?"

"We're good, Gage." I tell him, trading places with Charlie. "I'll take good care of them."

Gage hands Charlie a pamphlet anyway and I take a breath. I'm really getting a permanent tattoo for him. Something I swore I'd never do.

"You sure, babe?" Charlie asks me for confirmation.

I take his hand, feeling my proposal mood ring in my pocket, and look into his eyes. At this moment, I've never been more sure of anything in my life.

"I do—am sure. Do it."

Charlie kisses my hand and stays by my side throughout the process.

I welcome the familiar sensation of the needle and when it's finished I feel lighter than when I'd come in. I check it out in the mirror and smile. "I love it, Charlie."

"Me too." He grins. "You're in charge of washing me down in the shower."

"Sounds like fun." I smirk and kiss him. "You look so hot with tattoos."

"I'm glad. I was worried I didn't have the look." He kisses back and pulls out his wallet, humming.

"You do." I smile and Gage takes us back to the counter. He tells Charlie the price after doing the math.

He pays and tips him forty percent instead of the expected, smiling widely. "Thank you so much for this."

"No, thank you, Daddy." Gage grins widely and pockets the tip. "You guys are awesome, feel free to come back anytime and bring your brother and his boyfriend."

"Ooh, Ryder should get a tattoo of a dick on his forehead."

I flick Charlie's forehead and roll my eyes.

He grabs his hand. "Hey, don't flick Daddy unless you want to be punished."

"Do not get a big head just cause Gage called you Daddy." I scoff.

"You've called me all sorts of things, baby." He grabs my hips.

"Don't forget you also said you're his bitch on video." Gage chimes in, not even looking up.

I just blush a lot and peck my boyfriend's lips. "Whatever."

"Come on, let's go." He moves his hand into mine. "Oh, I almost forgot to tell you how beautiful you are today." He smiles widely like a dork.

I can't help but smile back. "Thank you, baby. You're a goddamn stunner yourself, but when aren't you?" I giggle as we exit the shop.

"Whatcha wanna do?" He leans against me.

"Anything as long as it's with you." I grin and get in the car.

"Hmm." He debates. "Don't wanna get things sweaty to mess up healing..." He hugs my arm. "Can you take me to the local bookstore café?"

"Absolutely." I agree and start the car.

"I wanna have my stuff in a bookstore one day."

"I bet you will. Everything you've let me read is incredible." I reassure him. "Will you keep King for the fame or write as Charlie Dechart?"

"Mmm, Dechart all the way." He bites his lip.

"I love that." I smile as I pull into the parking lot for the bookstore. We head inside hand in hand and I let Charlie lead us to the café.

"I want to get a s'mores Frappuccino and some chocolate chip banana bread." Charlie's eyes light up as we pass some of the books.

"I'm kinda hungry too, can you order me a coffee and something I'd eat." I ask, eyeing the vinyls.

"Do you want some records?"

"Maybe."

He nods and orders us our stuff, showing up with some freshly baked chocolate chip cookies for me.

"Thanks." I smile and eat them. "Not as good as yours."

"Aww, thanks." He kisses me and holds out some of his bread for me.

I take it and lick my lips. "Yum." I look around. "Interested in getting some new books? I saw you looking at them."

"Yessssss." He grins.

"Go for it, I don't mind staying out for a while." I sip my coffee and lean back.

He nods. "You should get a book."

"Nah," I shake my head. "I don't have the patience to read."

"Come ooooon, What about cowboy books? Porn? Something!"

My eyes shift to the side. "Cowboy books?"

"Yeah! Books set in the Wild West. Maybe some historical books to pique your interest."

I bite my lip. "I do like history..."

"Cutie."

I glare at him. He's just making me all embarrassed and blushy today. It's not fair.

"What? You're amazing."

"You're even more amazing." I smirk. "You make me the luckiest man alive."

"Aaaaaaaaaawwwwww." He hugs me.

"I suppose I can look at the cowboy books." I relent, wanting to see his happy face.

"Yay." He hugs me and pulls us along after we eat our food, drinks still in hand.

I follow, looking around. He's so cute when he's excited.

He takes me to the historical fiction section and historical fantasy sections. "Here is where you'd find cowboy stuff. If you go to the historical section, you can find some bones and artifact stuff. There are some journals with the findings."

"Ooo." My eyes flicker over the covers and I pick up one that looks interesting, checking the back for a description. I go through a couple books before choosing two that pique my interest and move on to the other section.

I take a few factual books before returning to the fiction and looking through each time period, taking a few more. Once my arms are full I find a comfy chair and sit down to actually try to read one to see if I actually want to buy it.

I open one of the cowboy books I chose and start. I have to read the first sentence a few times before I fully absorb it and move on. Soon I'm five pages in and I've lost consciousness of where I am or where Charlie is.

Once I decide which books to purchase, I put them in a basket and look for my boyfriend to see where he is and whether or not we can look at the vinyls.

It takes a while, but eventually, I find him nose deep in a book as thick as a phone book. He's completely absorbed, sipping his drink every now and then. His face makes different expressions as he reads and he does so quickly.

I walk over and watch him for a little bit before tapping his shoulder. "Love."

He spins around, eyes wide before he sees me. "It's you. Hi."

"Sorry, baby." I apologize.

"You're fine. I just had a flashback." He kisses me.

"Tony?" I ask and sit down with him.

Charlie nods.

I pull him into my arms. "I won't tap you again. Is it okay to get your attention verbally?"

"It's fine. It was just that we aren't in a safe place with you right beside me. In the house, I don't think it would've brought up anything."

I nod. "That makes sense." I kiss his temple. "He's gone now, Charlie. Locked away where he'll never be able to hurt us again."

"Not for too long." He exhales. "I feel like he's always going to hate me..."

"I'll never let him near you, I promise. I'll keep you and our home safe." I rock him. "If he hates you forever, that's a waste of his energy. And it's a waste of yours to care about it. His opinion of us means nothing."

Charlie nods. "Do you want to look at the vinyls? I saw some Queen ones."

I chuckle. "I have all the Queen albums. I do want to check them out though, maybe find some of The Smiths." I stand and help him up. "I picked out some books to try." I show him.

"Yay." He grins and shows me his book. "It has pirates, sirens, and merpeople."

"That sounds epic." I smirk. "You'd be such a pretty merman."

"I hope I'd have a purple tail." He grins.

"I'd like a black one." I smirk.

"A reflective one or matte?"

"I don't know, what do you think?" I ask.

"Reflective, because in real life, you acted like you were super dark, but you're really a bundle of light."

I blush. "You're sweet."

"So are you." He grins, picking up a record to look at.

I find a few for my bands and take them before returning to him.

"Any good sex music?"

I chuckle. "No, cupcake. My music taste does not work in the bedroom."

He sighs. "How sad. I guess hearing you moan will be music enough."

"Your moans certainly are." I whisper and bite his ear.

"What a flirt." He shoves me lightly.

"Me? Oh, baby, you need to take a long look in a mirror." I pinch his cheek and run off towards checkout.

He follows me and scoffs. "You ran off when I'm the one with the funds, loverboy."

I pull him in by his shirt. "I knew you'd follow. You always take care of me."

"You're always trying to get fucked." He laughs and pays for everything once we reach the front of the line.

"Actually, I think it's my turn to fuck you. My dick misses your warm, plump, glorious ass." I smack it lightly once we're outside.

"You can come just from me fingering you." He wiggles them.

"So? So can you." I smirk and wiggle mine back.

"Gasp! I prefer your dick."

"Good." I kiss him and get in the car but I don't start it yet.

"Ethan?" He quirks an eyebrow and I see his arm tattoo.

It's beautiful. It's mine. He's mine.

I look into his eyes. "I love you."

He seems to shed any stress. "I love you too, Ethan."

"Charlie..." I begin, blushing prematurely. "Were you... uh... were you serious about the Jamie thing?"

His face turns red. "I-I mean, you'd hate that. And I don't want you to ever think that I didn't choose you..."

"I don't think that." I promise him. "I know how much you love me and how much I love you and nothing could ever threaten that. I'm not asking because I'm worried you want him more..."

His eyes darken. "Then why are you asking, Ethan," he purrs my name.

Fuck. He knows just how to get to me.

"I-uh," I clear my throat and look down. "I keep... thinking about it."

He leans in. "In good or bad ways?"

"Good. It's good and it's bad but it turns me on... and so if you wanted to do that... I might consider it." I look at him finally.

"I'd like to try more things with you." He bites his lip. "We just need to heal up. We used condoms anyway."

I nod. "Yeah, it could be fun to try lots of different things." I touch his bottom lip and gently push my thumb into his mouth. "I just wouldn't want him to kiss you on the lips."