#this is shorter

Day Three:

This is going to be similar to last year in that I am stringing the days together to create a longer love story that takes place over several years.  You have Em to thank for that.  And also for the tattoos.

So I suppose that these are dedicated to her.

Indelible

“Have you decided on the colours yet?”

Matthew was curled forward as Gilbert traced the outlined skull of a deer in the centre of his back.  The birds on his shoulder had looped around to land on the antlers and there was nest with three eggs perched on top of the skull.  It looked almost like a crown.

The antlers were tangled with twine and cornflowers.

Gilbert ran his fingers over the cornflowers and grinned.  Matthew had chosen to tattoo his favourite flower on his back.  It made him feel surprisingly flushed and warm.

He pressed a gentle kiss to his spine.

“The bluebird should be blue,” Matthew offered sagely, waving his hand in lofty circles.  Gilbert pinched his side and twisted until he squirmed.

“Thanks, jackass. I had no idea.”

“The crow should be black,” he continued.

“You’re a genius,” Gilbert wiggled his fingers and Matthew bucked, giggling.  “The greatest mind of our generation.”

“The string should be red.”

Gilbert stopped tickling him and stared at the outline on his back.  The twine wrapped around the antlers and cornflowers.  His cornflowers.

“Uh, I’m not an expert but…  I think that, uhm, red string symbolizes…  Fate.”

“Soulmates,” Matthew nodded.  He turned around to look at Gilbert.

“But I thought the cornflowers…”

“They’re for you.”

“But…”

“The red string is for you too.”

“I…”

“You’re my soulmate, Gilbert.  You were my soulmate before we ever started dating.  You’ve always been my other half.”  He cupped his face between both hands.  “The two years you left me behind to go to college were the hardest years of my life.  I was so happy when you asked me to move in with you.”

Gilbert swallowed. Matthew looked so serious, so focused, and it felt like he was falling into his eyes.

“I, uh, missed you too.  A lot. But…”

“And I was so happy when you asked me out.”

“But…”

He smiled softly and kissed him on the forehead, the nose, the lips.

“I love you.  I have always loved you.  I will always love you.  And, no matter what happens to us, that is part of who I am.  I want it to be part of my tattoo.  Forever.”

Gilbert closed his eyes and tried to remember how to breathe.

“That is ridiculously sappy,” he muttered.  

Matthew kissed him again.

“I know.”

“You’re embarrassing.”

“So are you.”

“You’re sooo embarrassing,” he stressed, but he was just as happy with how things had turned out.  Matthew completed him.  He filled in the gaps he did not know he had and smoothed his rough edges and Gilbert wondered why it had taken them so long to figure it out.

They were meant to be together.

They always had been.

“So you’ll do it, then?”

Gilbert pulled back and reached for the red ink.

“You already knew I would,” he laughed, shaking his head.  “I’m wrapped around your little fingers.”

Matthew grinned.

“Good.”