[ my god lets go i like this idea a lot // song is by the front bottoms

my photo gallery hates me so if you want to know what the flowers look like, they're in my character shit book

warnings: language, mentions of needles and tattooing (nothing descriptive bc details and me never get along), this is more of,,, important people in his life finding out he has the tattoos??

this ended up kinda bad bc i was so spread out in writing it. i wanna apologize preemptively lol

stay safe,
lew. ]

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CYCLAMEN - 'I AM SHY' ; LACKING SELF CONFIDENCE | 15

Lewis tried his best to keep anyone in his family from seeing the tattoo on his hip. He knew it would just get him in trouble, but dammit, all of his friends were getting new ink, he wanted to do it too.

Chloe saw the tops of the flower design about a month after he got it done. She'd snuck up on him as he was getting dressed, and before he could get his jeans up all the way, she stopped him, gently touching his shoulder.

"Is that a temporary tattoo? Weird placement choice, but it's really pretty, Lew."

"Don't tell Mom!" He blurted out, hands clasping over the ink. "She doesn't know I got that-"

"It's real?!" Chloe's voice rose an octave, her nails digging into his shoulder a bit. "How-?"

"Fake ID. Friends lied to get me in too. It was a design on one of those 'wheel of doom' things where you get whatever it lands on done for fifty bucks," he sighed, finally fastening his jeans. "It's been like a month-"

"Oh, so it takes you like five minutes to be like 'Chloe, I snorted coke' or 'Chloe, I lost my virginity', but something like this takes you a month to tell me? What the fuck, Lewis?"

"I-I dunno, everyone told me to keep it a secret- keep it hidden. And you wouldn't've known if you hadn't barged in here!"

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VIRGINIA CREEPER - 'I CLING TO THEE' ; SHYNESS | 18

Lewis really wasn't expecting his phone to be full of missed calls when he got offstage.

The last time his mom called him this many times, someone had died. In a way, that was justification enough for him to drag Logan into the room so he could call her back without the nerves swallowing him whole.

"Sorry I missed your calls, Mama. Is everything okay?"

"Lewis Ryan, did you get a tattoo?"

"I have two. Why? Is that- are we not supposed to do that? And please don't bring middle names into it, I feel like I'm in deep shit."

"I just thought that you'd at least tell me! I had to find out from a teenage girl who brought in a picture of you so I could tell her what flower that was!"

"Mama, I'm sorry, I was gonna tell you but- it kept slipping my mind. Then I forgot you didn't know. Please don't be mad at me, I-"

"Shh, I'm not mad. Just- Tell me next time, honey."

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GARDENIA - SECRET LOVE ; PURITY | 22

Spontaneity and Lewis didn't normally mix well. He liked to think out his decisions, but he had those rare occasions where he just went with his gut.

One of those times led to Lewis getting a tattoo, and managing to hide it from his boyfriend for a few weeks, which seemed like an amazing feat by itself.

"Logan, I got something I need to show you," he said during a party one night, tugging on the singer's sleeve.

Both considerably tipsy, they started the trek up to their shared room, Lewis tucked into Logan's side for balance. Their laughter echoed through the empty halls, but hey, the smiles on their faces made it worth the possible noise complaints.

When they finally got into the room, Lewis wasted no time in peeling off his shirt and covering the right side of his chest with a hand. "Mr. El-Amin," he began, using his free hand to shove Logan towards the bed. "I wanna show you somethin' fairly new and really fuckin' special."

"Is it... that you're being confident?" Logan tried, tugging his own shirt off as he sat down. "'Cuz it makes me happy to see ya like that."

"Sorry, but that's not it. Remember when you asked me out and brought me flowers? Well... Look!" He uncovered the ink, smiling as he leaned in closer. "I got one of 'em because they're pretty, and they remind me of you."

His fingers trailed over the flower; he had to laugh at the way Lewis shuddered at the gentle touch. Natural reactions were weird as hell.