“Okay so what’s my surprise?” Moira asked, her irritation with the sickenly cute couple evident as they pulled away from one another and looked over to her.

“What’s the one thing you’ve always wanted?” Odessa asked her and Moira cocked an eyebrow at her older sister.

“Uh well you’re sitting on him. So if you plan to give me Andy then you might as well get it over with.” Moira smirked over at her sister as Andy laughed softly and looked over to her.

“Okay besides my boyfriend…think Moira.” Suddenly it clicked and Moira felt hot tears come to her eyes.

“Yep. Come on let’s go before you change your mind.” Odessa said happily as she got up from Andy’s lap and held out her hand to Moira.

“Where are you going?” Andy asked as he first looked to Moira and then looked over at Odessa. She leaned down, kissing his lips softly before pulling away and smiling.

“We’ll be back in a bit. Order a pizza?” She flashed him a smile as he smirked and moved to grab his phone. The two girls ran down the hall hand in hand and Moira couldn’t believe what her older sister was about to do for her.


The two girls laughed as they piled into Odessa’s car and she took off down the road. Moira could feel the nervousness building in her stomach. She had never done this before…what if it hurt? She looked over at her older sister, who was currently singing at the top of her lungs, and smiled. When had they become so close? It was probably right as Moira got sick and things were put in to perspective for her. Death was not something she was afraid of because in the end her soul would be at peace and her body would be six feet under. Moira cracked the window, the chill night air blowing through her short hair as she closed her eyes.


Finally the car came to a stop and Odessa looked to her younger sister. This small girl was so brave and Odessa was happy that she got to spend time with Moira before things got bad. That was one thing she regretted about what happened with her father-he had told her to go and so she did. Odessa held back tears as she squeezed Moira’s hand and both girls opened their doors.


“What can I do for you ladies?” The girl behind the counter asked as Odessa wrapped her arms around her sister’s shoulders and smiled.

“We are here for her very first tattoo.” Odessa said proudly as Moira looked down, her face felt hot and she was incredibly nervous.

“Parental permission?” The girl asked as Odessa nodded and signed a paper that was being passed to her over the counter. Moira looked around her, taking in the dark walls and all of the flash boards that hung on the walls.

“Alright. Do you need a minute to think about what you want or do you have something in mind?” The girl asked as Moira focused a head of her and shook her head.

“No…no I don’t need to think about it. I’ve had this planned out in my head for a while.” She smiled then and as they made their way back to an open Moira felt Odessa grab her hand.


Moira sat down in the chair and pulled her phone out to bring up the design she wanted. The girl spent a few minutes drawing it up and then Moira indicated the location she wanted it in. She shivered as the stencil was applied to her skin and she felt light headed as the first few pinches of the needle hit her skin.

She had always wanted this, ever since Dess had started getting tattoos Moira had begun to plan out her own. Thirty minutes in and finally she felt numb to the pain and she looked over at Dess to see there were tears in her eyes. She loved her sister. Dess was always there for her, even if she didn’t want her to be and this was the perfect ending to the trip of a lifetime.


“All done.”The artist said as she rubbed some ointment on to her skin and Moira watched as she placed a small bandage around her wrist. Odessa paid at the front and then they walked back out to the car.


Moira had the window down again and she laughed as she heard Andy’s voice singing through the speakers. She let her hand wave out the window, the cool night air making the hair on her arm stand up but she didn’t care. In a month she probably wouldn’t even be able to get out of bed and in two months she probably wouldn’t be alive. But she felt so alive in this moment and as they pulled into the parking garage Moira felt a happiness she had never experienced before. Dess grabbed her hand and they walked hand in hand towards the elevators.


“Wasn’t so bad right?” Dess asked and Moira just nodded. Her wrist stung like a motherfucker but she couldn’t keep the grin off of her face as they entered the apartment.

“Alright…where did you guys run off to?” Andy asked as they entered the livingroom and he smiled as Odessa came over to him, wrapping her arm around his waist as she leaned her head against his shoulder.

“Moira got her first tattoo…”She said softly to him and he leaned down to look at the smaller girl.

“Hurts like a bitch doesn’t it?” He laughed as Moira grinned up at him, her fingers were already trying to peel the bandage off.


Finally she was able to remove the bandage and she held her wrist up for him to see. Tears were hot in his eyes as he took in her new artwork. The logo that he had come up with when he was just a kid himself stared back at him, the back to back B’s dark against her pale skin as she rotated her wrist and his own words shown back up at him, ‘We are young and we are strong.Through strength in self we become’. Andy reached out to the small girl, his arms wrapping around her tightly. She was so frail that really he could have wrapped his arms around her twice if he tried hard enough.


“I can’t believe this…” He whispered as he looked over to Dess who was wiping at the corners of her eyes with her thumb.

“I want to be able to look down at my wrist when I’m laid up in bed and be reminded of the best part of my life…” Moira said as she looked down at her sneakers, her cheeks were flushed red and Andy felt his heart ache.

“It makes me so happy to know that we mean that much to you Moirabear.” He said softly as he moved in to hug the younger girl.

“Yeah well I guess I better get to bed. Early flight tomorrow morning.” Moira said as she pulled out of the hug and smiled up at the two of them before heading back to get ready for bed.


Andy motioned towards the kitchen table where a pizza sat with only a few slices missing. Odessa smiled up at him softly as she took a seat and reached into the box to grab her own slice. He sat down across from her and his heart went out to Dess as he watched her silently pick at the pizza in her hands. He knew she was sad at the fact that this was it for Moira. The next time they would see the vibrant girl she would probably be too sick to really enjoy their visit. Andy reached out, his hand resting atop hers as she stared off into space.


“Do you want to watch a movie? Get your mind on something else for a bit?” He asked as she sighed and set the half eaten slice of pizza back down in the box.

“Sure that sounds great babe. You pick while I go change.” She said to him before getting up and heading to the back to grab her pjs.


Andy grabbed the first movie that his hands landed on and as he placed it into the player he saw that Odessa had come back out. She had on one of his old t-shirts, the hem of it coming to right above her knees and she had pulled her hair back into a ponytail. He said nothing as the movie started and as he sat down on the couch he motioned for her to come join him. They both sunk onto the couch, his back against the pillows as she laid between his legs, her head coming to rest right below his stomach. Andy felt her small hand reach out to his and he entwined their fingers together.

Suddenly he felt her shaking, a small noise leaving her lips as she tried to contain her tears. He placed a hand on the top of her head, his fingers brushing her hair aside and out of her face. He squeezed her hand softly and she squeezed back but he knew it was just to placate him. He couldn’t even imagine what she was going through right now. He reached out to her, moving his arms so that they encircled her in his protection and love. He felt her tears hit his skin and he had to bite his lip to keep his own tears in check. They laid like that for a while and finally he knew Dess had dozed off.

Andy repositioned the two of them so that they were laying chest to back and he zoned in and out as the tv played in the background. Life wasn’t fair, not in the slightest and he felt himself get angrier every day when he thought of everything that Dess had been through. There were terrible people in this world and some of them had never experienced the real pain that she was going through. Andy didn’t even know how much she was hurting-he had never lost anyone in his life. He felt helpless as he held her and he knew that no matter how hard he tried he wouldn’t be able to take away her pain once Moira passed.

Andy felt his eyes grow heavy and he began to nod off. Odessa laid there in his arms, sniffling in her sleep softly and he tugged her even closer to him. He loved this girl…she seemed to fit perfectly in his life and in his arms and he knew he would never let her go.

As Andy finally drifted off, he placed a soft kiss against her head and hoped that somehow he could find the courage to take her pain away.

Notes

Another update. Please review? I love to hear how much you guys are enjoying this and it makes me smile. So this story is already up to 36 chapters and I'm still going strong, so we have a long road ahead of us.

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