Memories are too important to forget (Aurora)

[scott caleb holloway]

To say that Scott regretted the bus ride to New Haven was the understatement of the year. Actually he should have known better. Considering the fact that his back had been giving him absolute hell for the last few days. However he had an appointment to make and he didn't really want to put it off any longer than he already had. Fact was that he'd had to cancel the appointment twice already and he wasn't willing to let his back completely dictate the rest of his life. It wasn't as though this issue was going to disappear any time soon, since there was no cure for his condition, so he might as well just settle down with the fact that he'd always be in massive amounts of pain and figuring how to deal with it. Laying on the floor in his apartment day in and day out really wasn't going to be an option and he didn't want to end up being on welfare because of his disability to work for the rest of his life. No this boy would have to figure out something to do because this wasn't going to be allowed to ruin his life more than it already had.

Struggling he managed to push himself out of the seat on the bus and out onto the pavement. Standing up really was better than sitting down but he had to grit his teeth non the less, this was such a bad idea. What if he'd have to sit for another long while to get the tattoo done? He'd never had one before and he really didn't know how long it was going to end up taking. His design was simple yet complicated all rolled into one. It was a yin yang symbol with cracks going through the white section. It sounded simple enough, sure, but he wanted it to look like actual cracks, not just thin lines and he wanted the whole thing to have a three dimensional feel rather than just be a flat non shaded black and white image. It was likely going to take some time to work on. While he'd been checking where to go and what to get he'd also stopped by some pages talking about where was the best and worst place to get tattoos pain wise and he'd realized that where he wanted his wasn't going to be the least painful spot. Somehow though, he highly doubted that the pain of a tattooing needle would even compare to his nerve damage so it wasn't going to be a problem.

Slowly he started making his way down the street, pulling his phone out so he could use the gps to track where he needed to go. After all he didn't want to have to walk around more than needed and he was already almost a little late. It wasn't his fault that the bus had been delayed in the first place, he just hoped no one would be angry with him for being late or that he'd have to come back on a different day. Sighing he looked at the time and pulled out a small pouch that had been attached to his belt, he always had that with him whenever he went out. The bag contained his pain medication and as it so happened it was about the right time to take some more. This was a very good thing through as he pain really was starting to become almost crippling. Glancing around he tried to see if there was somewhere to buy something to drink and spotted a vending machine not too far off. Getting himself a soda he downed a few pills before moving on his way.

After another ten minutes or so of agonizing walking he finally spotted the tattoo shop's sign and let out another sigh. Thank fuck for that. Actually, now that he was there, he felt a little uncomfortable about going in. He'd never been in a tattoo shop before and those places had always kind of creeped him out. Not that tattoos did, there was just a general air about those shops that made him uncomfortable for some reason. Taking a deep breath, he pulled the door open and walked inside, looking around and forcing a smile to the woman he spotted. She had all sorts of tattoos and honestly she looked pretty damn awesome. "Hey," he said, trying his best to mask the fact that his back was making him want to scream. "I'm Scott Holloway.. I had an appointment ten minutes ago, but my bus was a little late." he explained, looking like he was feeling bad about being late and worried that he might not be able to get his tattoo after all. As he waited for a reply he sort of leaned against the wall in a failed attempt at taking some pressure off his back and legs.

[aurora]

Puts on her best smile

But underneath she's a broken girl

Quickly shooting into an upright position, Aurora looked around her room, expecting to be in the hospital. Breathing heavily she wiped the sweat off her brow and slowly laid her head back on her pillow. She hated those dreams, that one in particular; then again it was more a nightmare than anything. Reliving her parents and little sisters death was never on her 'to do' list for the day. Rory could still hear the squealing of the cars tires, could see the look on her entire family's faces; it all seemed just like it did that long Christmas night in her nightmare. Letting out a long sigh, Rory flipped over onto her stomach on the bed and looked at the clock. 12:00. The red numbers flashed in her face as she tried to blink the sleep out of her tired eyes. Shit. Xavier was supposed to be at class around an hour ago, knowing that it was very unlikely that he had gotten himself up, and she was supposed to be at work right about, well, now. So much for being the responsible big sister that she claimed to be. Rolling out of her tiny bed onto the floor she scrambled herself up onto her feet and ran for her brother's bedroom, not even caring the she was only in her bra and boy shorts.

"Xav! Xav!" Throwing open her little brother's door, it slamming hard into the wall, she rushed in and looked around. "Xav, get the fuck up!" She screamed at him and threw a pillow at the lump in his bed. Hitting her target the sheets flew up in a puff of air, only to deflate completely. Aurora blinked at the empty bed and looked around the room. Had Xavier seriously gotten himself up for once? Bravo. Shrugging and walking out of his room, slower than she had came in, she looked behind the door where it hit the wall. A new dent had appeared. Cussing under her breath she rolled her eyes and slammed the door closed. Just what she needed, another dent in their shitty apartment. Stepping over a pile of clothes near the laundry room, she swiftly got into the shower and got ready for work. As if she wasn't already late enough, she took her time, thinking about the dream that had awoke her earlier. Her past sucked. Loosing her twin at birth, then loosing her dad and her little sister, and kind of her mother, shitty high school experience, and having to take care of her little brother; though he did do his best to help. She had it bad, but I guess she really didn't have it that bad.

On her way to work, Aurora might have sped a little bit. And broke a few laws on the way there. While she usually walked to work, because it really wasn't that far away, she decided driving there like a maniac might be a better idea considering how late she was. On the way there she checked her phone for the first time that morning, noticing that she had a few texts from a few people at work but nothing from her little brother. Weird. He usually notified her of where he was. Pulling up a new message at a stop light she typed as fast as she possibly could and sent him a message. you better be at school, twerp! Rory laughed as she used the nickname she had given him when he was just a little kid. He was always so annoying then, more then than now at least. Thanking the gods, or whatever was out there, that there was a close parking spot Aurora whipped her car into the space and jumped out onto the sidewalk.

Rushing up to the Permaninked door she swung it open, bells chiming over her head as it closed shut. "Sorry I'm late!" She yelled into the back of the shop, noticing that no one was really around up front. Where was everyone? Heading behind the counter she threw her stuff to the floor and checked the appointment book, noticing that she was the only one with appointments today, apart from the walk-ins that they usually got. The usual people that took walk-ins were the ones that had texted her, and were probably out behind the back of the shop smoking, or had gone to get lunch. Didn't matter though, because Aurora's first appointment had started around ten or fifteen minutes ago. She really hoped that the person hadn't come in already and left just because she wasn't here. Sighing she heard the door open and looked up, smiling at the person walking in. Cute kid, she thought to herself and leaned onto the counter. Laughing at his comment she waved it off and shook her head. "No big deal, I just got her myself to be honest. I was running a little late too." Rory walked to the other side of the counter and held out her hand. "Nice to meet you Scott, I'm Aurora. If you want you can call me Rory, it tends to be my nickname around the shop. Follow me," she finished leading the boy over to her station. "Did you have any thoughts on what you wanted to get today? Aurora asked, wondering to herself what this kids back story was or if he was just some punk wanting to get some 'ink'.

*--- scott/liv *--- 904 *--- sorry it took so long, as you know i had some issues xD

_{TEMPLATE BY ROYALSTANDARD OF NS and CAUTION 2.0.}

[scott caleb holloway]

Relief washed over him as he heard the woman behind the counter laugh when he apologized for being late.At least she wasn't going to be mad at him, which was good, because he really didn't need to be told off for the bus being late. When she reached out her hand towards him, he braced himself and reached out to take her hand. "Well I guess that's good for me, not being the only one late. Nice to meet you Rory" he said, trying his best to be polite and get over his initial quiet and shy streak that always showed itself when he was meeting new people. Scott had never been the best when it came to meeting new people, oh he was always polite but he struggled with finding the right words to say or to make small talk, it just wasn't what he was best at. In fact he always preferred being the guy who sat silently just listening to everyone else for a while before he got involved in the conversations.

Once he was told to follow her, he clenched his teeth as he pushed himself off the wall and followed her rather slowly, trying to avoid looking like there was something wrong with him. Sometimes it was difficult though, not allowing the pain he felt to shine through in his actions. After all it hadn't been long since he took his pain medication and so he was still in a substantial amount of pain. "Yeah, uhm... I kind of made a drawing to suggest what I want, but it's not that great. Drawing isn't my thing you see... " he said and rummaged through his pocket to find a folded up piece of paper. Once he had it, he held it out to her so she could see. There was a drawing of a yin yang symbol, where the white parts of it was cracked with loads of lines cutting through the white space. "I kind of want something like this, but I'd like it to look a bit more... hmm how to put it... well a bit less flat? If that makes any sense? Kind of like it's a round piece of rock that is shattering? So there's some more depth to it?"

It was very clear by the way that he spoke that he was not a very outgoing person and that he felt a bit insecure about the whole ordeal. Tattoos was something he'd always thought looked awesome on others, but that he'd never even considered getting for himself until now. Now it made perfect sense for him to have one so he could always carry a piece of his brother with him, not that his heart wouldn't always do so anyway, but he was hoping that looking at it would be some form of comfort on the days that were the worst ones. As he was thinking about the reason behind the tattoo his face darkened a little, it wasn't as though he was doing it on purpose, but thinking about Jack always made that hole he felt inside grow and made him feel like he was going to cry. Sure, it had been a year and a half, but that didn't mean the idea of never seeing Jack again had gotten any easier. He still woke up sometimes and thought about telling him something, only to realize he was gone.

"I hope that made some kinds of sense?" he added, hoping that his voice would stay level not only because of the sadness thinking about Jack brought him, but also because he really was hurting quite bad because of that spinal injury of his. Looking around, he hoped there might be some place where he could lie down instead of sitting when he was getting the tattoo. "I was hoping to place it here" he said and pointed to his lower arm, right below the bend of the elbow. Maybe it seemed a strange place to have it, but the idea was that he'd be able to look at it any time he wanted, without having to find a mirror or something. As he talked he shifted his weight lightly from one leg to the other, trying his best to find a comfortable position but knowing he wasn't likely to find one. At least Rory seemed nice enough and maybe it wouldn't end up being all sorts of awkward silence like while he was getting this done. As much as he didn't feel comfortable around new people, awkward silences was one of the worst things he knew about. It just felt so... awkward.