Page 28 of Broken

When I look up at his face, I break. The walls come crashing down, all the feelings I had held back are rushing through me. He’s fucking crying. Simple tears falling down his cheeks. “You’d follow me for the summer?”

“I’ll follow you for the rest of my fucking life Kitty.” He smiles, opening my front door. We run up to my room and I pull my laptop out, opening it to find us tickets.

“Are you sure?” I ask, “Won’t your parents be pissed?”

“No, they were upset I was sticking around for the summer.” He kisses my shoulder. This is dumb, he’s still going to leave. This will still end. We will end. He can say that we're endgame, but he’s got a bright future and I don't. I don’t even know what I’m going to do with my summer, how am I supposed to know what I want to do for the rest of my life.

I found two tickets heading towards the west coast. We’ll have three stops, one with a sixteen hour stop, why, I’m not sure. But it’ll give us time to explore new areas. I buy the tickets and let out a sigh. “Okay, they’re bought. We leave tomorrow.”

He lets out a laugh as he pulls me back on the bed, kissing my neck. “Katherine Marie Winston, I will show you what it means to live your life.” He makes a promise, we’ll see if he can keep it.

Sixteen hours to do whatever we want. This bus ride has been fucking amazing. We’ve slept, played games and gotten to know each other better without having to worry about anyone coming through to judge us. “We’re in Vegas.” Westley lifts me up and I wrap my legs around his waist. “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas baby.” He presses a kiss to my lips.

“Wanna get a hotel for the time we’re here, so we can shower and nap on a bed?” He asks. His parents sent him with three different credit cards. I just have the money I’ve been secretly collecting from holidays, birthdays, and random things. My parents gave me five grand when I graduated and told me not to spend it on drugs. They’re paying for Yale for George, and I get a lousy five thousand dollars. But whatever, it’s funding my trip. Once I find somewhere to stay, I’ll get a job and find somewhere to live.

“A shower sounds amazing.” I moan, as he puts me back on the ground. We walk hand in hand until we find a hotel off the road where the bus stop is.

West grabs us a room and when we get there, there’s flowers on a heart shaped bed. “What room did you get?” I ask, looking up at him.

“I just asked for a room, they said this one was available. I just didn’t expect this.” There’s a disco ball hanging from the ceiling. What the fuck!?

“As long as the shower works, I don't even care.” He drops his backpack and bag onto the floor. “Come sweet Kitty. Let’s get cleaned up.”

After our shower, and three orgasms for me, we find ourselves just laying on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. “What are we doing for the rest of the time?” I ask. He checks his watch, since he seems to always put it on when he gets dressed.

“We have thirteen hours before we load up. Wanna go sightseeing? Or sleep?”

“Hmm, we can sleep on the bus.” I shrug, “Let’s go see all the things. That’s the point of this right?” I push up off the bed, looking down at him until he stands up too. "I say we leave the stuff here, take what we need and go explore." He kisses me on the temple and I melt into his chest, my heart feeling things it shouldn't. I have to keep reminding it that he will leave soon and to just enjoy the time we have together. Even if it's not forever, it will be enough. He makes me laugh, makes me feel like maybe, just maybe, I'm not broken after all.

"Well, then Kitty, let's go get into some trouble in Vegas." He takes my hand, leading me through the hotel room as I scoop up my purse and he grabs his wallet from the table. We leave and make our way back out to the street. Where we can just go, without anyone judging us. Him wearing his damn pink shirt and khakis, I'm in my entire black ensemble, studded boots and all. When we exit the hotel, we hang a left and find ourselves just walking in silence.

The signs all around us tell a story. From the tarot readings to naked girls dancing, reminding us that we are in fact no longer at home. There's a red neon sign flashing in front of us and we both stare at it. I tilt my head to the side, and smile. "You wanna go in?" He asks.

"Can I?" I ask, squeezing his hand.

"You don't have to ask me for permission, Kitty, this is your summer." He brings my hand up to his lips and kisses the back of it.

"Our summer." I remind him, he agreed to come with me. To enjoy the country as I try to find myself, to find where I belong.

There’s a bell that dings over our heads when I open the door and walk in. The whole shop smells clean, and I see drawings in frames all over the walls. There’s a front counter and I walk up, smiling.

“Tattoo or piercing?” the woman asks. She’s rocking bright green hair, spiked in every direction with her Slipknot tee.

I bite my bottom lip and smile, “Tattoo please.” I reply.

“ID.” She pulls out a paper and lays it on the counter in front of me. “Fill this out.” I fish my wallet out of my cross body purse and hand it to her, then quickly fill out the paper. “Anything for you?” She asks Westley, but he shakes his head. “Okay,” she takes the paper from me. “I’ll get copies of this, if you want something premade, there’s books over there with prices.”

“Thanks.” I skip over to the table where she pointed and grab the first one. I flip through the pages in every book, twice before settling on one that I just can’t stop looking at. It’s three roses, small and detailed. I wonder if I could get that on my wrist.

“Have you chosen?” I look up to see a big guy, with a hat on backwards and sleeves of tattoos.

“Yes, I like this one.” I show him the picture, “There’s a better one I can show you. It still has the three roses, but there’s a skull too.”

“Hell yeah.” He nods for me to follow him and I do, as I walk by the counter, the green haired girl hands me my ID, and I continue. I’m so excited to see how it turns out.

After two hours, I’ve have a new tattoo. I can’t stop staring at it as we walk, the second skin thing they put on is clear, so I can see it so clearly.

“Elvis Marriages.” Westley laughs. “That’s hilarious.”

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