No Regrets

*HARRY’S POV*

Liz and I just hung out for a few hours. We played old records that she had on this really sick vintage record player that she had just bought and drank wine out of the bottle. It was about 10:30 when I had an idea.

“Hey Liz?” I asked her after we were quiet for a moment, listening to the lyrics of a song.

“What’s up?” she asked back.

“I have an idea of what we can do tonight to make our last night special.” I told her, with a grin.

“Oh yeah? What’s that?” She asked as she stood up from how we were seated on her living room floor.

“Come with me to get a new tattoo.” I told her. “I want a tattoo that stands for me and you. These past few months with you have been a part of my life that I don’t want to forget, so they are deserving of a tattoo.” She bit her lip, obviously thinking hard after I finished pitching her my idea. “One more thing, before you say anything…”

“What’s that?” She asked.

“I want you to decide on what the tattoo should be.” I told her confidently. That would make it even more special to me, while I’m on tour and even after that.

“Are you serious right now?” she asked me.

“Dead serious, babe.” And I was. The more I talked about my idea, the more I liked it.

“Well then let’s go!” She said as she stood up. “We can take the streetcar down to this tattoo place where my friend works. I’ll text him and see if he’ll be there tonight.” I stood up and ran my fingers through my hair. This was just another reason why I loved her- she really just went with the flow of things.

“Okay,” I said, “I’m ready to go, so you better start thinking!” She laughed at me as she grabbed her keys.

*LIZZIE’S POV*

While we were on the streetcar, my mind was literally going about a billion miles an hour. Here I was, about to decide on what Harry Styles’ next tattoo was going to be. I wanted it to be something small, but really meaningful. The more I thought of how popular Harry was, the more worked up I got, so I had to calm myself down by just thinking of the Harry that I knew- the goofy, clumsy, sweet boyfriend Harry.

“Love?” Harry asked as he squeezed my hand. I realized I hadn’t said one word to him after we left my apartment- partly due to the paparazzi waiting outside, partly because I was still thinking.

“Shh. I’m thinking.” I told him which made him laugh at me. I started thinking about everything that Harry and I had been through… from when I was his waitress at dinner, to going to his superbowl performance, to celebrating his birthday with him, to free falling off of a cliff with the boy.

That’s when I thought of it.

“I’ve got it.” I told him.

“Really? What is it?” He asked anxiously.

“Nope. Not telling you yet.” I said.

“How is that fair? It’s going on MY body!” He whined.

“Shhh. Don’t worry, you’ll find out soon enough. Plus, would I do anything permanently bad to you?” I asked him sweetly.

“Weeell, I don’t know… you’re pretty devious sometimes.” He told me with a wink.

“Okay really?” I asked him.

“I’m kidding! I trust you, Liz.” He said as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and kissed my forehead. Yep, this was the right tattoo. I could feel it.

When we finally got off at our stop, I was nervous. We still had to walk about two blocks to get to the place, and those felt like the longest two blocks of my life. Luckily, the paps didn’t follow us, so Harry and I were left to walk in peace.

“So what is it?” He kept pestering me.

“Nope.”

“Pretty please?” He asked.

“All right, I’m going to get my boobs tattooed on each of your extra nipples.” I told him with a smile.

“You can’t be serious..” He asked me cautiously.

“Oh my god, of course I’m kidding! Geez, Styles, lighten up.” I laughed as I playfully elbowed him. “Well we’re here. Before we go in, do you want to know what I really decided on?” I asked him seriously as I turned to face him and wrapped my arms behind his neck.

“Yes please.” He said as he wrapped his arms around my waist in return.

“Well, I was thinking of you getting the words ‘free falling’… Nothing else. No pictures, or boobs, or anything… Now, before you talk, let me explain. To remind you, that’s the song that you sang in the shower when I eves-dropped on you the first time you showered at my place. It was the morning after what was supposed to be our first real date, but we ended up staying in,” he smiled at the mention of it, “also, it reminds me of how willing you were to free fall off of that cliff with me a couple weeks ago, even though you and I were both scared, but as soon as your hand was in mine, I wasn’t scared to fall anymore. And of course, that reminds me of our first ‘I love you’ which you told me right before we fell together.” The whole time I was explaining, he was just staring at me with his green eyes which were practically twinkling in the dark lighting, “and lastly,” I began my closing argument for my choice, “it reminds me of loving you. Because since I’ve never felt this way before, as cheesy as it sounds, I don’t know how to handle it; learning to love you is a free fall by itself. So, technically, you could say I’m free falling for you, Styles.” I smiled, and he kissed me. It was a soft, gentle kiss. Our mouths were open, but there was no tongue. It was nice.

“Liz,” he whispered as he smiled at me, “I think that’s absolutely perfection. And for the record, I was singing that song in the shower all those weeks ago because it reminded me of how I felt with you. Those exact lyrics.. I remember them right now.. Wanna write her name in the sky, I wanna free fall out into nothing, oh, I'm gonna leave this, this world for a while, now I'm free, free fallin, fallin, now I'm free, free fallin, fallin” He softly finished singing those perfect lyrics, and I couldn’t help but tear up a little bit. I’m normally not an emotional person, but this moment was so perfect I almost felt like it wasn’t happening to me. But it was, I was here, outside of a tattoo parlor, on a Monday night, with my boyfriend who happens to be Harry Styles, and everything between us was going perfectly. I kissed him again, the same way that he kissed me the moment I stopped talking. I backed away for a moment and leaned my forehead against his with my eyes closed before I spoke.

“Now that I’ve forever engrained that in my memory, let’s go, before I say something stupid and ruin the moment.” I said as I entwined my fingers into his again. Harry held open the door for me, and we walked in to be greeted by my friend, Tom, who hugged me.

“Hey Tom!” I said, “this is my boyfriend Harry. Harry, this is Tom, the guy who’s going to do your tattoo.” I told each of them. They did one of those handshake/half-man-hug things as they exchanged hi’s.

“Okay, so what are y’all thinking of doing. I’ve shut down the place for the night, so we have time for whatever.” Tom explained.

“Actually it’s something quiet simple,” I began, looking at Harry for re-assurance. “He’s just going to get the words ‘free falling’ on his upper arm.” Tom looked at Harry who nodded.

“Oh, one other thing,” Harry added, “I want it in Lizzie’s handwriting.” I wasn’t prepared for that, but nonetheless it wouldn’t be a problem.

“All right then, Liz, you’ll have to come over here and write it on this paper that I can use to transfer to Harry’s arm. Harry, fill out this paper work and then go take your shirt off and look in the mirror and decide on placement and stuff.” Tom instructed us. After a few different times writing it, I finally decided on one that I liked.

“Okay, I’m done.” I announced as I took the paper over to Tom who was sitting on a stool next to Harry who was in a chair. I handed the paper to him as I went and sat on the stool on Harry’s other side. Tom cleaned off where Harry wanted it on his arm, and held the transfer design there for a few moments before he peeled it off- revealing my handwriting on Harry’s arm. Tom held up a mirror and showed Harry.

“That’s sick.” Harry said as he looked at it. I laughed at his choice of words- they were so Harry.

As Harry got the tattoo, I held his hand, but it didn’t seem to affect him. I guess he had gotten used to the pain by now. Tom was almost finished when I remembered to get a picture.

“Oh wait!” I said as I pulled my iphone from my back pocket, “smile, you two!” I said as I took the picture of shirtless Harry who was pulling a very cheeky smile, and Tom with the tattoo gun in hand who chose to go cross-eyed for the picture. “Y’all are ridiculous.” I sighed as I put my phone up.

“Aaaand… I’m done!” Tom announced as he wiped Harry’s arm and took a step back. Excited, I hopped up and walked around the dentist’s chair that Harry was in. There it was, my handwriting forever tattooed on Harry’s arm. It fit in perfectly. Harry hopped up and stood in front of the full length mirror, admiring his bicep.

“It’s better than I imagined, love.” He said as he turned and gave me a quick kiss. “Thanks, mate.” He turned to Tom, who was getting ready to bandage Harry’s fresh tattoo. But of course, I had to take a quick picture first.

“Wait, one more, don’t kill me!” I said as I slid my iphone out again. This time, Harry chose to flex his bicep and show off his new tattoo, while Tom chose to throw up some gang signs with his fingers. It made me laugh, because Tom was obviously the perfect guy to do Harry’s tattoo for us.

“Okay, now one of you two!” Tom said as he reached forward and I handed him my iphone. Harry chose the same pose, and I girlishly posed to the side with my hands on the top of his shoulder and one foot popped while making a kissy face. Tom handed me back the phone and I laughed at the picture- making a mental note to instagram it later- as he bandaged Harry’s tattoo with gauze and tape.

“Now, I’m assuming you know about traditional tattoo aftercare,” Tom told Harry as he eyed up Harry’s somewhat tattoo sleeve. Harry nodded, “well then I have nothing else to tell you, but you’re a very lucky man, Harry. You better treat this little lady right.” Tom finished as I blushed. Tom was more of a gay older brother to me than anything else. He helped me a lot after Grayson and I broke up.

“Trust me, I know.” Harry said as he kissed me on the cheek, making me blush more.

“Awww! Now, you kids get out of here and enjoy your night. The tattoo’s on the house.” Tom said. However, before we left, Harry pulled a $100 bill out of his wallet and left it on the chair without Tom noticing, and Harry and I left hand-in-hand as we went off on our next adventure- not wanting to waste a moment of our last night.