Chapter's song: Lay it all on me by Rudimental

Two weeks later, we forgot everything about moving out. We returned to our usual routine, Mr. Gomez included. He didn't stay over, though. He won Seth's friendship when they started to watch basketball games together. For once, Seth had someone to talk to about plays and moves that actually understood what he was saying.

However, my crush for Bryan kept getting worse. I couldn't stop thinking about him. I couldn't keep my eyes off him, and my mind seemed to freeze whenever he was around. It was awful.

Sighing, I nibbled on my grilled sandwich. I'm screwed. Suddenly, my plate was empty. "Hey!"

"What?" Seth grumbled out of a full-mouth spitting crumbles. He blinked, trying to look innocent.

Glaring at him, I crossed. "You stole my breakfast!"

He raised a palm and turned to the fridge. He placed a milk carton and the cereal box in front of me. "Seriously?"

Juno walked in smiling at us. She ignored our bickering, as Seth said, "I could have just walked away, you know?"

Huffing, I poured cereal in my bowl. I was about to grab the milk when Seth got it first and started to drink directly from the carton. "Seth! Get your own freaking milk!"

He chuckled before finishing the whole thing. "I'm in a growing sprout," he offered as an explanation.

Rolling my eyes, I started to eat to my cereal ─minus the milk. "I think I want a tattoo." The thought popped into my head and I blurted it out without thinking much about it.

Seth was about to leave the room when his whole body froze. "You're joking, right?" his hazel eyes were wide as he looked at me as if were crazy.

Juno clapped her hands. "That's so cool!" Seth rolled his eyes and raised his hands in exasperation. We ignored him. "Can I come too? Maybe we can get matching tattoos?"

Seth groaned. "Seriously, am I the only adult here?"

"Says the guy who ate my whole sandwich in one bite." He glared at me. "And I'm not sure what I'd get June." I also didn't know if I wanted to have matching tattoos with my grandmother. "I want something small. I might ask Andrew about it today."

"The delinquent guy you went out with the other day?" Seth was on a roll.

Juno dismissed him. "We don't hold prejudice against other people, Seth." He rolled his eyes again. "I think a tattoo is a wonderful idea, Jess."

"Thank you." I wasn't sure about it yet, but the more I thought about it, the more excited I became.

It took me an hour to get to school. As usual, Bryan was already there. I stopped by to say hello after I saw his truck parked on the side of the building. He didn't have his chef coat yet. Since I met him, I learned that wearing jeans and a t-shirt were his everyday clothes. Today, the t-shirt was green. I liked that about him; the fact that he didn't have to dress up or worry about fashion.

His lips curved up as he glanced at me. "Hi Jess."

"Hi," my cheeks warmed up instantly. Sheesh. I so wanted to slap myself.

He was a holding several folders in his hands, but he leaned over his desk and placed them there. "We're going away to camp in a week and Tom is pretty busy at the moment." He pressed his lips together. "I reckon you should stay here in the afternoons to help me organize everything, but I promise to make it up to you and give you training at my restaurant after camp."

His restaurant? I didn't mind missing my practice hours. "That sounds awesome, thank you."

He laughed and shook his head. "Don't thank me, yet. You might regret it." As if. "We're going to be loaded with work until then," he pointed to the manila folders. "I'll need you to contact all these suppliers." I nodded.

Tom and Bryan, well, more like Bryan, wanted to take us camping. He said something about making us bond like a team or something like that. He'd planned it since day one.

His gaze wandered to the clock hanging on the wall. "Thank you," he bobbed his head. "I should get ready," he said as he reached out his coat hanging on the wall. I turned around to leave my backpack in my office, when he spoke again. "Jess?" I gazed at him. "How was the rest of your weekend? Did you work things out with Juno?"

A small smile played in my face. "Yeah. We talked about it and we're not moving." I made a face. "Juno told us that she wouldn't marry if we did."

He chuckled. "She's laying it thick, huh?"

I grinned back. "Yeah." His eyes roamed all over my face, making my heart race like crazy and the room felt too warm.

"That's good, I guess." He took a step forward, closer to me.

"It is." I mumbled breathlessly as he took another step. "I'm also getting a tattoo!" I blurted out of nowhere, panicking for having him so close.

His whole body tensed and he raised an eyebrow. "Are you?"

"Yeah." Why did I just say that?

"What are you getting?"

I shrugged. "I'm thinking of getting a dragonfly."

Bryan stared at me in silence for a moment before a smile broke on his face. "Do you already know where to get it?"

Frowning, I pressed my lips together. "I'm going to ask Andrew to take me somewhere. I think I should get it tonight, before I talk myself out of it."

His eyes narrowed for a second before he crossed his arms. "Well, if you're not sure about getting it done, you shouldn't get it. It's sort of a lifetime commitment. However," he took another step closer, "I have a friend who could get it done for you. He's clean, safe and not expensive."

He was making it look easy. "Does it hurt?"

"Only a little. It depends on where you want it." Oh shit. I hadn't thought about it. My eyes widened and his smile transformed to a smirk. "We'll go tonight and you can talk to him about it. You don't have to get it until you're sure."

"Okay. Thank you." I rubbed the back of my neck as he flashed me the smile that made my knees feel like jelly.

"No problem."

I tilted my head as he walked away, wondering if he had a tattoo. I'd never seen anything peeking under his t-shirts, and let's be honest, I did pay attention to those toned arms.

Sighing, I grabbed the folders he set on the counter and got to work. Only that it was really hard to concentrate. I kept trying to guess whether he had a tattoo and where. It lead to picturing him half-naked with a giant dragoon tattoo on his shoulder blades. The tattoo lost my interest as I speculated about his chest being toned as well.

If I had thought my blushing was out of control, I was a lost cause now.

Especially because he was our teacher for the day. He taught us to make pasta, and I almost mess up the recipe because I couldn't measure the flour correctly. I had to check my notes three time before getting it right. Monica and Andrew made fun of me. I didn't screw up so easily.

When I finally got the ingredients set up, I started to knead the dough and Bryan stood beside me. My hands were trembling so bad. He noticed, and instead of explaining me how to do it, he showed it to me.

My heart was in a frenzy when he started to knead with me. He talked me through the process, while making part of my pasta. An electric current travelled up my arm when his hand grazed mine and my breath caught in my chest.

Oh man. I'm so screwed. 

Hey everyone!! 

I spent last week in bed, really sick, sleeping all the time. I think I'm a bit stressed out at everything that is happening. Whoever said that a writer's life is easy is dead wrong. Trust me. I've talked to many writer friends and we are all in the same boat. 

Anyway, I miss you guys so much. You have no idea... :(

What do you think will happen with the tattoo, though?? (*evil smirk*)