Best of Friends

Chapter Forty Three - Tattoos and Timing

I know a lot of you probably skip my author's note and that's a-okay with me, but this one is IMPORTANT so you should PLEASE READ it thank you 

Hi guys, I know it's been awhile crocodile and I just want to thank you all from the deepest part of my heart. Forty three chapters and here we are. The end. The last chapter. 

 I've really been playing around with how I want this book to end (because unfortunately it has to sometime) and this is the chapter that I keep coming back to and the ending that I keep coming back to. I know it's not the ending that you are probably looking for (don't worry there's an epilogue that might make you happier) but it's the ending that speaks to me the most. 

When I started this book, I was a spunky seventeen year old girl that didn't know much about love, despite the fact that I loved to write it. Now, as I finish it, I'm nineteen, only a few months from turning twenty (yuck), and I've had a relationship and I've had my heart a little damaged because not everything works out like the movies and the books and I've lost a lot of that spunk. (I'm okay everyone, don't worry)

So, I know this ending isn't what you were hoping for. But see it for its own beauty, and I hope you enjoy. 

Once again, I'd like to thank you for being so so SO patient with me as I went through two whole years of college and sporadically updated and somehow churned out forty three (43!!) chapters. I love you all. Thank you so much. I hope you've loved reading as much as I've loved writing. (If you really love me you'll check out more of my work) if you have any questions/comments/concerns/conversation ideas feel free to contact me in any way that makes you feel comfortable and I promise I'll do my best to get back to you. xxx love you all -Maddie

Chapter Forty Three - Tattoos and Timing 

The buzzing sound of the needle filled my ears as I lay on the vinyl table. Iain smirked at me as he held my hand, rubbing the back of my hand soothingly with his thumb. The tattoo artist, Joey, was tracing the stencil he'd drawn from Iain's sketch onto my back with the tattooing needle, and it stung like a bitch.

Iain's warm eyes melted into mine, and I knew at that moment I couldn't wait to get home and fuck him.

"I love you," he whispered to me.

"I love you too," I replied with tears in my eyes. Both from the pain of the tattoo and from the beauty of the moment.

I had become a sap, ever since our future together had been thrown in the air. I was deciding between colleges and he was trying to find a job after he graduated in a month, and for once in our lives, we were at two completely different points. The world had a funny way of making sure that the two of us were around each other constantly, and then once we finally got together; tearing us apart.

I wanted to go to school wherever Iain got a job, but he wanted me to follow my dreams. Love was about sacrifice, and I think we both were willing to give up too much for each other. That was both the beauty and the ugliness of our relationship.

The tattoo artist finally finished, and the area on my shoulder was still sore and tingly, but it was a beautiful work of art that I loved. I was hooked, I wanted more tattoos. I loved the way the ink looked on my skin.

We thanked the tattoo artist and tipped him for his work, and Iain and I walked back to the car, hand in hand.

"Do you like it?" he asked.

"I love it almost as much as I love you," I said, kissing him hard on the lips. He quickly responded and grabbed my ass, picking me up just enough so my feet were off the ground, and he pressed me against his car. Eventually, we parted and drove home—back to his place. I was still living with my parents, but they were out of town for the weekend and I'd taken advantage of it by staying with Iain.

Iain parked his car in his usual spot, turned off the car, and turned to me without making a move to get out of the car.

"What if I told you I got a job in Columbus? Iain asked and my heart pounded. That meant I could go to OSU. Before Iain and I had started dating, OSU was my dream school, but it was too far away from a future with him. But if he got a job there, then it wouldn't be impossible and we both could do what we wanted.

"That's great!" I said, "I got into OSU's honors program! We could be so close to each other!"

He returned my excitement with a sad smile.

"There's no job in Columbus, is there?" I asked.

"Kitten, I love you so fucking much," he said, "But I need you to make a decision without thinking about me. Without us being a factor. I don't want you to make a rash decision and wake up thirty years from now and regret it. I know OSU is your dream school. Don't lie to me. I can see the way your eyes and your face light up when you talk about it."

I bit my lip. I hated the pit in my stomach that said he was right. I hated knowing that one decision that I was supposed to make was going to make or break my entire future. My future career or my future with Iain.

"I need you to take me out of your decision. You need to pick where your heart takes you," he said.

"You have my heart," I said softly, and he kissed me hard on the lips.

"For once, Kitten, I don't want you to be my girl. I want you to be my friend. I'm not saying we're breaking up, because it took so much for us to get here, and I don't want to stop kissing you or loving you. But I want you to realize that I'm here for you no matter what. And I think right now, you need me to be your friend more than you need a boyfriend," he said.

"If we're meant to be, it'll all work out in the end," I said, and he nodded, kissing me. I wasn't heartbroken, because it wasn't necessarily the end, but I still felt a little lost. Iain pulled me into him. I pulled off my top slowly, and the faint glow of the streetlamp was just enough for me to see the love and pain in his eyes inside the car.

I pulled off my shorts, and he took off his shirt, pushing me down onto the car's bench seat. He covered every inch of my body in gentle-soft baby kisses before pulling a condom out of his wallet and pushing his jeans down. I watched him with tears in my eyes, and he quickly turned to me.

"We don't have to have sex...," he said, kissing me on the lips and wiping away my tears, and I shook my head.

"I want to. Iain, I don't care what this is, I love being with you. I need to be with you," I said. Being with Iain was beautiful in its own sort of way that made me feel like I was on another plane of existence.

He pulled down my panties and lined himself up at my core. He grabbed my hands and intertwined our fingers and thrust into me. He fucked me gently and kissed me on the lips intently. We soaked up every last inch of each other, as if trying to memorize this moment in all of its glory. I wanted to remember the way his tongue moved and the way his breaths got raspier and his voice more Scottish and the way he felt inside of me, giving me every inch.

I came and my body convulsed around him, spasming as I rode out my orgasm. A single tear escaped my eyes and rolled down my face quickly. This moment was beautiful and I wanted to live in it forever.

"I love you," he whispered after he came.

"I love you too," I said, "Friends?" I knew that this was the kind of moment that would change my life forever. Because we still loved each other, but sometimes timing has a funny way of ruining the best things that ever happen to a person. For me that was Iain.

"Best of friends."