PruCan Week

Day One:

This is going to be similar to last year in that I am stringing the days together to make a longer love story that takes place over several years.  You have Em to thank for that.  And also for the tattoos.

So I suppose that these are dedicated to her.

Indelible

“I want a tattoo.”

Gilbert rolled over onto his stomach and stared at Matthew.

“You’re fourteen.”

“So?”  Matthew frowned.  He was drowning in his oversized sweater and there was a pimple on his chin where it jutted out in defiance.  He looked too young to know what he wanted.

“Well, I mean, how do you know what you want?”

“I don’t know what I want yet.  I just want a tattoo.  My cousin has one on his wrist.”

Gilbert hummed and studied the posters on his wall.  The two of them had tacked them up last summer and the words ‘I WANT TO BELIEVE’ were crooked because neither of them could agree on whether it was straight or not.  

“Your cousin is an idiot.”

“You’re the one who kissed him.”

Gilbert jolted upright.

“Yeah, when we were nine years old!”

Matthew chuckled and rubbed his nose on the sleeve of his sweater.

“Francis said you asked to kiss him.  He said you wanted to practice.  He said you’re a terrible kisser!”

“Francis is a dirty liar,” Gilbert growled.  “And he wet the bed until he was seven!”

Matthew burst into shocked giggles.

“He did not!”  He sounded so scandalized that Gilbert forgot what they had been talking about and beckoned Matthew closer.  He cupped his hand against his mouth and leaned in.  Matthew twisted towards him.

“Do you know what else Francis did until he was seven…?”