Benji stirred at the sudden light streaming through the windows in Rylann’s room. Seeing Rylann still asleep, he was quick to limit his movement. Starring at her, so peaceful, he felt better than he has in a while. For the first time in so long, he felt good not only being with her, but also without the feeling that something bad was looming over them. He adjusted himself on his elbow, just taking in everything about the moment. She slept on her stomach, her hair brushed off of her neck across her pillow. The sheets we situated perfectly at Rylann’s hips, covering most of her still naked body. Benji became fixated with Rylann’s tattoos. He had seen them so many times before, but this time he couldn’t resist their beauty. He grazed his finger over the outline of stars across her lower back, gently so not to disturb her. He followed the pattern of stars up her spine to the ‘AFI’ tattooed in scroll letters. He traced his finger over each letter, sending a chill down Rylann’s spine.
“Hmmmmm….”Rylann moaned as she turned herself over on her back. Her eyes slowly fluttered open. A smile overtook her half-asleep face as she saw Benji starring at her. She followed his stare before realizing she was still unclothed. She was about to pull up the sheets to cover herself, but decided against it. She propped herself on her elbow to face Benji. “Good morning…”she whispered, a smile still evident on her face.
“Great morning…” he beamed, meeting her eyes, before his stare drifted again.
“Stare much?” she kidded.
“Huh? Hey, I’m not staring at those, though they are wonderful,” he smiled. “I was looking at the tattoo, the star in the center, BETWEEN THOSE!” he joked back.
“Oh…yep, the star…what about it?” She asked with genuine curiosity, since Benji had seen her star tattoo on her chest cavity before.
“Nothing, I was just looking at all of your tattoo’s, before you woke up…They’re so, beautiful…” he looked into her eyes as he spoke.
“Thank you, designed them all myself, all 6 of them…”she answered as she moved closer to him.
“ Yea, all stars, cept for the AFI, with more stars…wait, 6?!? I thought you only had 5?” His eyes darted across her bare skin searching for a tattoo he hadn’t seen before.
“Nope, 6…oh yea, there’s one you haven’t seen before…”she grinned.
“No fair! You’ve seen all of mine…Where is it, I mean c’mon, we’re laying here naked, where is it hiding?” he started to pull at the sheets. Rylann grabbed hold of the sheets tightly and laughed. “C’mon…” he whined while pouting his lip.
“ You haven’t seen it because I got it since we’ve last been together AND you were in such a ‘hurry’ last night, you must have missed it…”
“Is it down THERE?!?” He dove under the sheets in search of the new ink.
“ No!” she laughed and pulled his head back up. “Here…” she slid the sheets just below her very pronounced hipbone. Centered perfectly on the front of the jutting bone was “B.M” in rich, scroll letters.
“My initials…” he gawked in awe.
“Yea…I got it done the night…the night I left.” She looked down.
“Why would you get my name on your body when we weren’t together?” He took her chin, forcing her to look back at him.
“ I guess because, inside, I knew it wasn’t over…and it was my way of proving that to myself. I swore I would never tattoo a guys name on my body, cause nothing lasts forever, but this was a way of telling myself that this, us, is forever.” She smiled shyly. Benji starred into her eyes, hardly believing what he heard. He smiled widely, before kissing her softly.
“God…I love you so much right now…” he whispered, his lips against her soft cheek.
“I love you too…” she smiled, nuzzling her head between his neck and chest. They laid together, enjoying the moment beyond all belief, when a knock at the door ruined it.
“WHAT!?!?” Benji shouted toward the door in frustration. The door swung open to reveal Joel, still in his boxers. Rylann scrambled to adjust the sheets over both her and Benji. “Dude, have some decency around my fiancé and put some clothes on!” Benji exclaimed.
“You should talk!! I know NEITHER of you have much clothing on under there! Sorry Ry, weren’t fast enough…nice rack by the way…” he smiled shortly, Rylann turning a bright shade of red.
“HEY! You have your own girlfriends rack to look at!” He defended, knowing Joel really hadn’t been looking.
“Relax…I am fully aware of the great rack my girlfriend has…” he smirked.
“Anyway…you still have yet to prove your purpose for being in our bedroom in your boxers?”
“Oh right…I just got a call on the cell from Steve, he wants us to come down to EPIC to go over the scheduling conflict and why we had to be rushed back, though I am sure we’re all thankful we were…” he trailed off.
“Urgh!! What time…?” Benji said with obvious agitation.
“45 minutes bro…so I suggest you end this little, ‘love session’ and get your ass showered!” With that Joel left the room before Benji could respond. Benji looked down at Rylann who he held tightly in his arms.
“Aww…I don’t want you to go…” Rylann pouted.
“I don’t wanna go, but I have to…I know! Why don’t we go out tonight, just you and me..” he said with hopefulness.
“Like a date?” Rylann smiled.
“Yea, like a date.” He grinned back.
“Really?!?! This is great, we haven’t been on an actual date, since… since we met!” She beamed before kissing him quickly.
“I’m glad you’re so excited…does it make up for me not being here today?”
“Absolutely! Now go get ready, the faster you go the faster you can get home…” she smiled bright.
“Okay, okay…” He kissed her forehead as he sat up. Rylann sat up, with her back turned toward Benji, stretching. “Hey Ry…I was just wondering, what does AFI stand for, other than the band?”
“Well, it is for the band…but it stand for ‘A Fire Inside’…” she turned her neck to face him.
“I like that…they must be really special to you to get them tattooed, especially since all your other tattoos are star designs.”
“Yea, they are. I think tattoos are only interesting when they tell a personal story. The band has had a huge impact on me, and I think ‘A Fire Inside’ represents something so passionate within us all. But you know what it’s like…they way you have ‘Rancid’ and MXPX tattooed on you …you know I mean…”
“Yea, I do…and yours definitely tell a story…” he smiled.
“Thanks Baby… now go shower!” She kidded.
“Only if you join me…”he grinned. She smiled and laughed.
“Uh! If I HAVE to!” She exaggerated. “But you have to catch me…” as she jumped up and took off through the room toward the connected bathroom. He laughed and jumped up after her, grabbing her from behind just before she reached the bathroom.
“Ha! You’re mine!” he laughed evilly.
“Ha! I always was…” she grinned cheekily. “Oh, and lookie here, no need to undress…we’re already!”
“Oooooh! LET’S GO!!” He exclaimed as he tossed her over his shoulder and proceeded into the shower…