"You gotta be kidding me." I made an effort to elbow Freddie as I took off my steabelt.
"Let me get this straight because I think this needs clarification. You want me to pick out my own birthday present?" I asked, leaning forward to place my head between Roger and John in the front seats. Roger, staring into the rear vision mirror, nodded slowly.
"It's not like you can keep a secret from us, Lucy. We know what you want because you told Chrissie. Now, we're taking you to get it." John told me. I didn't think my mum had bothered to remember my birthday plans, let alone pull this together.
"Roger, stop perving at her chest in that mirror! Yes, darling. We're taking you to get your first tattoo!" Freddie bounded from the car like a puppy, excited for a walk. With Freddie around, it was going to be one long tattoo session.

"After you administer needles on a regular basis, you start to forget how much they bloody hurt." I whispered to Roger, one hand in his and the other between the tattooist's fingers. I had a blindfold over my eyes, an act of absolute faith that John would help Roger and Freddie be completely serious when picking out a design. It made me feel sick, waiting for when I could finally take off the blindfold (which was actually one of Roger's neckties) and see what the boys had chosen to have permanently inked into my skin. My wrist was burning, the needle dragging through my skin. Roger kissed my forehead, laughing at me.
"It's almost over." John chimed in from the other side of the room, no doubt holding Freddie back. Finally, the buzzing stopped. A few seconds later, I felt the artist wipe my wrist with a wet cloth.
"There you go, Miss May. All finished." He announced in his deep voice, proud of his work. Roger untied my blindfold and unraveled it, finally letting me open my eyes. Looking down, I gasped, I smiled, I cried, I pulled Roger in and kissed the top of his head. All the pain I'd experienced had just gone. It was like it had never been felt at all. I looked over at Roger, smiling.
"You picked well." I whispered, looking at my wrist. Freddie silently made his way over, checking over my wrist.
"Oh it looks tremendous. We do have strokes of genius once in a while." Freddie laughed. I grabbed him and hugged him harder than I'd ever hugged anyone before.

That night, Roger and I laid in his bed talking. I left the curtains open so the moonlights could seep in and soak our bedroom. Stripped down and hiding under the covers, we laid side by side on our backs, looking at the ceiling.
"Luce?"
"Yeah baby?" I moved my head so we were face to face.
"The boys and I start touring in Germany next week." I felt shattered. Since Ireland, time with Roger had been the highlight of my existence.
"How long?" I managed.
"Two weeks. Then we're roaming the rest of Europe for five weeks." I felt like checking my skin for a stab wound.
"Happy birthday to me." I whispered, sounding more hurt than I had wanted. Roger noticed and grabbed my left wrist.
"Hey, I didn't get you this so I could love you and leave you. I got this because I plan to stay around." He confessed, kissing my tattoo. I looked down at where his lips had collided softly with my skin and then back up at him again.
"I hope you do." I whispered back, kissing him. Out of the corner of my eye, the black ink looked bright in the moonlight. A peace sign and the word "imagine" scrawled in black calligraphy.