The doorbell dinged among other things. It wasn’t really a doorbell, as much as a bell over the door that alerted us to another customer entering the shop.

“Jenny! Can you get it?” My brother, Dean, asked. He was one of the tattoo artists in the shop. People always seemed to be in and out of here with a new tattoo-mostly created by Dean.

There were other artists here. Viper, a girl with green eyes was typically at reception and managing calls. Sometimes she would ink small tattoos for people, especially those who hadn’t been inked before. Her calm demeanor seemed to make them more relaxed.

Then there was Xander. He had darker, side swept bangs that looked like pure ebony. He was another big artist here and worked alongside Dean. Both of them were great friends.

With a sigh, I got up. Dean was working on some middle aged woman with red dyed hair. She was getting a pink breast cancer ribbon. I think it was for her mother or something…

“Isn’t Vipe here?” I asked him. He shook his head and refilled the pen.

“Nope. She went on lunch break. I didn’t think we were going to have another scheduled customer for until two o’clock, but I guess someone might need another tat redone.” Dean shook his head. As much as we loved all our customers, sometimes they came in at the most inconvenient times. Dean was supposed to go on lunch break, but depending on who this client asked for, he could be stuck for up to another three hours working on a tat.

“Where’s Xan?”

“Lunch with Vipe?”

“Ooh!” I chuckled. Xan was always flirting with Vipe, but Vipe was always oblivious to it. It was pretty obvious that Xan was easily frustrated by this. I walked to the front desk, sliding into the rolling chair without looking up too much. I was normally so quiet in front of new people, but once they got to know me, I was assumed a pretty bubbly person.

So when I looked up, slightly annoyed at the customer in the middle of lunch, I caught my jaw dropping to the floor.

A man in gauges, a pair of dark brown eyes, wide brimmed cap, and adorned with a brilliant smile was leaning on the desk. I basically internally screamed so hard that the Artic Circle could hear me.

The one and only Tony Turtle Perry stood over, waiting for me to ask the typically questions.

And all I could think was, WHY WAS TONY FREAKING PERRY DOING HERE!?

“H-hi.” I stuttered, pushing back a strand of pastel blue hair back from my face so I could be sure that this was reality.

“Hey! So I was wondering is Dean was in?” Tony asked. I nodded, brown eyes still wide. The man who either looked dead serious in pictures or incredibly adorable laughed at my reaction and thanked me before going to sit down. I got up and went to the back.

“Dean?”

“Who was that?”

“Um, Tony Perry.” I gasped. Dean smiled and looked up. He just finished with the woman, who thanked him and gave him a tip. He shook her hand, wished her mother luck fighting cancer, and watched her leave.

“Oh, Perry’s back?” He asked me while moving to clean his tools. I froze.

“You mean, ‘he’s back?’” I asked him curiously. He nodded.

“Oh yeah, I did a Star Wars tattoo for him a while ago.” Dean closed his eyes in remembrance, like he always did when we was thinking.

“AND YOU DIDN’T TELL ME!?” I nearly screeched. Dean rolled his eyes.

“Because of that reactions.” He sighed. I went to the front, storming away. Dean laughed and finished up with the tools, quickly following me out.

“He’s here.” I grumbled to Tony. He looked a little confused, but then brightened up from his chair as soon as Dean came out.

“Hey, Dean!” Tony shook his hand and Dean grinned.

“Turtle, it’s good to see you again. Here for another tat?” He asked. Tony nodded and pointed to part of his unpainted shoulder.

“I’m trying to decide between a wolf or a type of bird.” He told my brother. I snuck a glance between the computer monitor and the file folders.

“Hmm…I’ve got some cool wolf designs in the back. Hold on a sec and I can get them out. There’s some new patterns I’ve come up with, but I have bird stuff for you as well.” Dean patted his shoulder and walked through the back door. Tony took a seat by the window. I almost started to stare, but caught myself. Again.

“What do you think?” He asked.

I looked up to see him looking at me. He looked curious, as if it was a genuine question, not just filling up air.

“Dean’s got some good designs in the back for the wolf. I personally like that idea.” I shrugged a little, trying not to the let the inner fangirl out.

“Are you sure?” He asked. Tattoos aren’t like earrings that you could just take off and exchange. It was permanent.

“Pretty sure. I drew some of them out.” I whispered shyly. Tony got up and leaned against the front of the reception desk. I glanced up to those dark eyes.

“Really? So you draw?”

“Yeah. I’d love to be a tattoo artist when I get a little older, get my license, and stuff. Dean was impressed by some of them, and he let me put some of my designs in for customers to look at.” I shrugged, trying to play it off. Tony’s eyes sparkled, still trained on mine. It seemed like he was actually into our conversation.

“No way! Now I have to see these.” He grinned. I blushed deeper and Dean came back. He eyed Tony for a moment, seeing how close he was to me.

My brother was always overprotective of me. There wasn’t a moment that I could be out of his sight. Basically, this meant I had no love life. If the boys were exactly up to Dean’s standards (which were insanely high) then they just weren’t the right guy.

“I have the designs.” Dean pushed the papers towards Tony. He eyed a few of them. Tony looked at me, raising an eyebrow in a silent question. It was if he was asking me which ones I had drawn.

“So which do you recommend?” Tony asked me. I took a look at the paper. His eyes were wide, biding me to point out the ones I had drawn.

“Oh, number four, twenty two, and twenty three are pretty good.” I chuckled. Dean rolled his eyes with a small smirk. Tony looked at all of them carefully.

“I like these.” He noted. I leaned back in the desk and played with a piece of long blue hair. Dean continued to talk about each design, saying some were from other top artists around the state.

“I think I’ll go with number twenty two.” Tony pointed out. I silently cheered as loud as fifty thousand fans on game day. Dean winked to me, clearly oblivious to the fact that Tony wanted one of my designs. It was a tribal wolf tattoo that looked like a wolf jumping and howling to a broken moon. It was my favorite sketch I had done.

“Great! This’ll take about two hours to do. I can get the ink set up now and we can finish by about two.” Dean smiled. Tony resumed leaning against the desk as Dean went into the back.

“Up top.” He held up his hand. I gave him a high five and chuckled. It would be our own little secret that he had chosen my design on “accident”.

“So you liked it?” I asked him. Tony nodded happily.

“It really was my favorite.” He admitted, blushing a little. I couldn’t stop smiling from this feeling in my gut that he gave me. It was like he was tying little ribbons of happiness heart.

For some reason, I think he didn’t only get the tattoo because it was mine, but because it reminded him of me.

Two months later…

I was at the desk of the shop again. Tony had made every excuse he could find to make his way into the shop. Today was any regular Tuesday, but Tony came in looking a little sad.

“Hey, Turtle. Why do you look like life kicked you on your shell?” I asked him. He sighed again.

“We’re going on tour, but it’s going to be for a month.” He grumbled. My face fell a little. I was going to miss his daily visits and gifts of pizza!

“Oh, well you’ll have fun, right?” I asked him, trying to hide the disappointment from my voice. He gave me a weak smile

“Yeah, sure. Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask you something….” He started out before Dean came out, looking at Tony with a glare that said get-away-from-my-sister-before-I-beat-your-face.

Dean had been acting strange ever since Tony came to get the wolf tattoo done. It looked spectacular, but Dean’s looks at the man weren’t so cool. I was afraid that he was getting overprotective again. I mean, I might like him, but he can’t like me, right?

I’m just a nobody!

“In here for another tattoo today, Tone?” Dean asked curtly. Tony shook his head.

“Just dropping by to ask a question to Jenny.” Tony smiled brightly. I leaned on the reception desk. Vipe was out-again.

“Oh, what is it?” Dean asked. I bit my lip nervously. I didn’t want any fights to break out.

“So the boys and I are going on tour for about a month and I’d like to bring Jenny along to help us sell merch and such. We need someone responsible for this.” Tony smiled widely, hoping to win Dean’s good side.

“No.” Dean stated flatly, glaring at me as if it was my fault. I looked at him in shock.

“Why?” I asked. It had gotten me so excited! Tony wanted me with him on tour to help sell merch! Why could I not go!?

“Because you’re too young!” Dean stormed. Tony took a step back from the sibling fight.

“I’m twenty two! That’s old enough! I can drive, I got out of college, and I can take care of myself!” I fought back.

“No, I can’t let you go. Look, there’s a lot of things out there. It’s not that I don’t trust Tony, it’s just that I don’t trust the other people in the world.” Dean told me flatly, trying to end the conversation. I folded my arms and dragged him into the back room. The tension was starting to heat up.

“I can’t just keep staying at home, living like I’m some sheltered child!” I argued. He tapped his foot impatiently.

“I’m not going to see my little sister hurt. End of story.” He said. I rubbed my face with my hand, still not believing this.

“This is my life, Dean! I can’t always spend it behind the tattoo desk!” I growled. His eyes filled with sorrow. I started to turn around.

“Where are you going, Jenny?” He roared. I glared at him.

“I’m going with Tony! He’ll keep me safe and let me actually have a little fun and not keep me locked up in the apartment.” I shot back. Dean looked hurt and I started to push through the door.

“I can’t lose you like I lost mom. I promised her that I wouldn’t let anything hurt you.” He whispered. I froze, one hand on the door and a tear coming to my eye. Our mom had died when a car hit her as she crossed the street. Dean had been there, gotten to say his last goodbyes to her. I missed out and regretted every moment.

“She did?” I started to break.

“Yeah. I know I’m being really overprotective and I know you hate it when I don’t let you hang out with any guys, but I can’t live with myself if I see you hurt.” He choked up. I turned to him.

“Okay.” I whispered back.

“So are you going?” He asked. I shook my head, trying to clear confused thoughts. I hated hurting my brother, but I hated hurting myself by missing out on this opportunity.

“Yeah.” I said, just not caring about being hurt anymore. I don’t give a crap. Dean sees this now and nods, accepting that I’ve been hidden away from life for far to long.

“Stay safe.” Dean whispered as I walked out the door. Tony looked at me, very confused.

“So…?” He asked.

“I’m going.” He smiled at that. Before I knew what was happening, Tony swooped me up in a great big hug and I returned it. I glanced at his recent wolf tattoo and smiled.

Maybe things would start to get a little more exciting with Tony in my life, and me out in the world…

Notes

This one shot is for Mike's_Secretary_! I hope you enjoyed this little chapter and sorry that it took a while to get written! I needed to make it perfect for you!

If you want a one shot, just feel free to request one! I'll do one for any band member.