Tumors And Hearts

Xx-nikki-xX

“Hey! You’re a crazy bitch
But you fuck so good I’m on top of it
When I dream I’m doing you all night
Scratches all down my back to keep me right on...”

Manda and I sang along to Crazy Bitch by Buckcherry as we drove down the streets of Southern Pines, North Carolina. We stopped at a red light as an old couple was crossing the street. I laughed at the dirty look they gave us when they heard the lyrics blasting from our car.

This weekend TNA was doing house shows in North Carolina – Jeff and Shannon’s home state. Tonight we were doing a show in Fayetteville. But right now we were on our way to Shannon’s tattoo shop, where Manda and I would be getting some “body modifications” along with some of the other wrestlers.

The light turned green and Manda turned our rental car down another street.

My phone started playing I Caught Fire (In Your Eyes) by The Used – Shannon’s ringer. I quickly turned down the music that was still blasting in our car and answered the call.

“I can see your car.” he said before I could even say hello. I could tell he was smiling. A few seconds later Manda turned the car into the parking lot of GasChamber Ink. “And now I can see you.”

I rolled my eyes and hung up on him. I got out of the car and was immediately pulled into Shannon’s arms.

Manda went on into the shop. Through the awesome looking glass doors, I was able to see her be attacked by Matt Hardy. I secretly wondered if they would stay together much longer. It seemed like Manda was falling out of love with Matt and more in love with Chris.

Shannon kissed my forehead, drawing my attention back to my own boyfriend. “I missed you.” he said.

“It’s only been four days.” I said smiling up at his gorgeous face.

“I still missed you.”

“I missed you too.” I leaned up on the platforms of my feet and kissed him on the cheek. “How’s your ankle?”

“Better.”

He let go of me except for my hand and led me towards his amazing looking tattoo shop. I noticed that he was walking with a little bit of a limp, but decided not to say anything about it.

We had just made it in the doors when Shannon took a step and his ankle seemed to give out on him. I quickly caught him as he was about to hit the floor. He straightened up and I led him over to an empty chair behind the front desk.

“I thought you said it was better.” I said, helping him ease his way down into the seat.

“It is.” he said not meeting my eyes. “I just stepped on it wrong.”

“Shannon...”

“I’ll be fine.” he said pulling me down onto his lap. “Don’t worry.”

Manda and Matt came over to us, holding hands. I locked eyes with Manda and she gave me a look that said “we’ll talk later”.

I gave a quick nod and turned my attention back to Shannon as he started to speak. “I have the design for your tattoo done.” he said. “Do you wanna see it?”

“Yeah, but I don’t want you to have to get up.” I said looking down at his ankle again. It still looked a little swollen.

“I’ll be fine.”

I bit my lip, unsure if I wanted to move. If I didn’t move, then neither could he. I really didn’t want him moving around anymore than he had too. I already knew he was planning on wrestling tonight. He refused to listen to me when I tried to talk him out of it.

“I can go get it.” I said. “You should rest your ankle.”

“I’ll be fine.” he repeated.

“Humor me.”

He sighed. “Go all the way to the back of the shop and go in my office. The design’s lying on my desk.”

I kissed him on the cheek before getting up. “Now was that so hard?” I asked.

He mumbled something as I walked away, but I couldn’t make out what he said.

I went all the way to the back of the shop and found a door with Shannon’s name on it in a way awesome calligraphy design. The last “n” of his name swooped down and connected to the skull and cross bones that looked exactly like the tattoo Shannon had under his bellybutton that hardly anyone ever got to see…

Hey now, I’m his girlfriend. I have a right be down there. ;-)

I pushed the door open and went inside. I immediately fell in love with the way his office looked. I was so busy looking around that I almost forgot why I was in there. Almost.

His desk was actually the last thing I looked at. And there it was. My tattoo design. I picked up the paper and smiled. Shannon really did an amazing job. It was a set of angel wings. They were black and looked like they would take up my whole back.

I grabbed the paper and was about to turn around when I saw something that caught my eye.

A very familiar picture was sitting on his desk in a black and silver frame.

Shannon and I were at the Impact Zone. We were both in our ring gear. Shannon’s arms were around my waist and mine were around his neck. I was standing on the tips of my toes and we were kissing. Manda had taken it a few days ago. It was the same picture I had in my room back at my apartment.

The picture made me happy and sad at the same time. I was happy because I thought it was kinda sweet of him to have a picture of us in his office. I was sad because that picture made me flash back to yesterday when I was crying in my room. It was a reminder that I only had three months to live.

Less than that now… the voice in my head reminded me.

I dried the tears that had formed in my eyes and quickly left the room.

The first thing I saw as I closed the door to Shannon’s office was Kazarian sitting in a chair and getting his back tattooed by Shane Watkins. I smiled as they both waved at me. I waved back before heading back to the front of the shop, my tattoo design in hand.

I changed directions when I saw Manda, Matt, and Shannon at one of the other stations in the shop. Manda was sitting in the chair. Matt was sitting in a folding chair next to her, still holding her hand. Shannon was picking out his needle.

Manda and I were both getting piercings as well. Manda was finally getting her Monroe piercing. She was getting it on the left side since her right nostril was already pierced. I guess she didn’t want too much metal on one side of her face. I was getting the snakebites I had been wanting since middle school.

I leaned against the wall that separated this station from the one next to it and watched. I could tell Manda was really excited; she’d been talking about this all week.

Shannon finally picked out the needle. He pulled on a pair of latex gloves and cleaned the area above Manda’s lip with a cotton ball. He had her lean back a little so he had a better angle.

“Close your eyes.” he told her.

Her eyes closed and next second, Shannon was sticking that long needle through her top lip from the inside out. He pushed the needle out and replaced it with the labret Manda had picked out earlier.

Shannon set down the needle and pulled off his gloves. “All done.” he said.

Manda opened her eyes and took the mirror Shannon offered her. She opened and closed her mouth a few times.

“Did it hurt?” Matt asked.

“Not really.” she said continuing to look at the mirror. “It was over before I even realized he did it.”

“How does it feel?” I asked.

“It feels… weird… but cool at the same time.” she said looking at it from every possible angle.

“You’ll get used to it.” Shannon said taking the mirror back. “It’ll heal up in about three to six weeks. And you might want to pick up some Ibuprofen for the swelling.”

She nodded and stood up. “Your turn.” she said moving out of the way.

I bit my lip and glanced up at Shannon.

“You’ll be fine.” he said, turning to me with a smile. “I promise.”

He took my hand and I let him guide me to the chair. I sat down and clasped my hands together so they wouldn’t shake. I was excited, but really nervous at the same time.

Shannon used a pen to mark the two spots on my lower lip where the needle would go through. He pulled on a new pair of latex gloves and cleaned the spots with a cotton ball as he had done with Manda.

Manda managed to separate my hands and take one of them – not an easy thing; they had a death grip on each other. Matt took the other. “Just don’t squeeze our hands off, kay?” Manda joked.

I tried to smile but wasn’t really sure if it worked. “I’ll tr-what the fuck is that thing for?!” I was staring at the clamp in Shannon’s hand.

“Relax.” he said.

I didn’t take my eyes off the clamp as he stood over me and placed it on my lower lip. I finally noticed the needle in his other hand.

He kissed me on the forehead. “Relax.” he said again. “And close your eyes.”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. There was a slight poke on the inside of my bottom lip. I felt the clamp leave my lip momentarily and then be placed back down on the other side.

“Take another deep breath.” I heard Shannon say.

I did as I was told. Another little poke and then the clamp was gone.

“Open your eyes.” Shannon said.

That was it?

I opened my eyes and was looking at my reflection in the same mirror Shannon had handed Manda. I stared at the two silver studs protruding from my bottom lip. I smiled. Manda was right. It felt weird… but cool.

“Snakebites are a good look for you.” Jeff said leaning against the wall of the station.

“How long were you there?” I asked as Shannon cleaned up the area.

“Long enough to see the needle sticking out of your lip.” he said smiling. “Did it hurt?”

“Not really.” I said standing up. “The clamp hurt more than the actual needle.”

“That’s what most people say.” he said.

Shannon handed me a bottle of water and some Ibuprofen. “It’ll heal up in three to six weeks.” he said. “It should really only hurt for about three days. Take plenty of Ibuprofen.”

“Thanks.”

He kissed me on the cheek. “We probably shouldn’t kiss for a while either.”

“Fuck that!” I said.

I stood on the tips of my toes and kissed him. I immediately regretted it as my lower lip started hurting.

“I tried to tell you.” Shannon said smiling.

Kazarian had finished getting his tattoo. He came over and thanked Shannon. He complimented Manda and me on our new piercings before leaving.

“Are you sure you don’t want Shane to do your tattoo?” Shannon asked looked back at Shane’s station. “He does a lot better than I do.”

I ignored my throbbing lip and laced my fingers through Shannon’s. “I’m sure.” I said smiling.

He sighed. “Then sit back down.”

I straddled the seat as he got the design ready. He had me take off my shirt and unhook my bra. The paper actually felt a little damp as he pressed it to my back. A few seconds later he peeled it off. He had me go look in the full length mirror on the wall to the make sure it was positioned right. I got really excited when I saw the outline of my angel wings.

x-later-x

I saw the sign on the side of the road that said “Welcome to Whispering Pines!” as we entered Shannon’s home town at last.

The house show had been over for a few hours. Manda and I had been in the Knockouts’ locker room from the time our match ended to when Matt [who had come to see the show] and Shannon threatened to break the door down if we didn’t come out soon. Manda was having a really hard time right now. She was in love with Chris Sabin – there was no doubt in her mind. She said that she liked Matt – liked, but not loved. She didn’t want to hurt Matt, but she really wanted to be with Chris.

She was going to stay with Matt tonight. I could tell she really didn’t want to. On our way out of the locker room I told her to call me if she needed to, even if it was four in the morning.

We hugged goodbye and went our separate ways with our boyfriends.

Shannon pulled the car into his driveway. He cut the engine and we got out of the car.

“How’s the back?” he asked lacing our fingers together.

“Ehh.” was all I could think of to say.

He laughed as he led the way to the front door. “How’s the lip?”

I groaned in pain. Manda had accidentally hit my lip during our match. Twice.

He laughed again and kissed me on the forehead before opening the door to his house. I knelt down and finally got to meet Oz – the only dog Julie hadn’t taken during their divorce.

“Hey there Oz.” I said letting him sniff my hand.

His tail started wagging and I took that as a good sign. He sat down in front of me and I started scratching behind his ears. Pretty soon he was lying on his back and I was scratching his stomach. His tongue was hanging out the side of his mouth and his leg was kicking like crazy.

Shannon was watching with a huge smile on his face. “Fine Oz,” Shannon said in a fake-hurt voice. “Don’t say hi to me.”

As if he understood him, Oz quickly stood up and went over to greet Shannon.

When we were both done playing with Oz, Shannon took my hand again and led me to his room. He headed into the connected bathroom and came out with some more Ibuprofen.

“Have I told you how much I love you?” I asked.

“Not for a few hours.” he said smiling.

I took the pills and pulled out the half-drank bottle of water I had grabbed at the show. I popped the pills into my mouth and downed the rest of the water.

Exhaustion finally seemed to hit us. Shannon stripped down to his boxers and crawled into his huge bed. I changed into a white beater and black shorts and crawled in next to him. He turned out the light as Oz plopped down on the floor next to us.

“’Night Oz.” I said.

He snorted and I took that as a “Good night Nikki.”

Shannon’s arms snaked around my middle and pulled me closer to him.

I stifled a yawn. “Good night Lover Boy.” I said using the nickname I had come up with for him. I was Pretty Lady and Shannon was Lover Boy – sometimes shortened to just Lover.

I was already asleep when he said “sweet dreams Pretty Lady” and kissed my shoulder.