A/N: Written as part of the Meet Cute Marathon. Thank you as always to my wonderful betas.

Word Count: 1, 549

inked and coloured in

"You bloody, fucking bastard!"

Ron was furious. The rest of the band were howling with laughter and Ron flipped them all off, dropping his drumsticks and walking away.

"You're all pricks!" he added for good measure, slamming the stage door behind him and going down the corridor into one of the backstage rooms. The rehearsal had been going well, until he'd checked his phone during a break and had seen a text that had made him feel nauseous.

You are booked in for a tattoo at 19:00 tomorrow evening. Please arrive ten minutes in advance. Your deposit has already been accepted.

When he'd read it out to the others, thinking the tattoo parlour had sent it to the wrong number, Seamus and Hannah had both started cracking up. Apparently they'd convinced him to agree to get a tattoo a week ago. Ron couldn't remember a thing, probably due to all the whiskey he'd been drinking.

Seamus pushed the door open and Ron crossed his arms sullenly.

"Mate, the whole reason we got you to agree to it is because you wouldn't stop going on about how cute the guy was. You spent half the night chatting him up at the bar and when he said he was a tattoo artist you looked like you were about to -"

"What the fuck are you going on about? I'm happy being single," Ron snapped. "First off you know my Mum's going to kill me if I get a tattoo. She's already convinced I'm going to turn into a wild child because we're on tour and she's coming to see us gig next week. You know all this and still you encouraged me and apparently handed my card details over. You backstabber, this is betrayal."

"You're the drummer in a rock band that has just been on the cover of international music magazines and have two songs in the charts. Our album's about to go platinum. You not having a tattoo now, that's what's weird." Seamus shrugged. "It may have been betrayal but it's going to be magnificent. All in your best interests."

It was easy for Seamus to talk. He was the lead singer and particularly talented at being a 'rebel', as the media dubbed it. He was very proudly gay, wrote subversive lyrics and each of their albums titles had a distinct arsonist theme. They'd met in school and started the band together, eventually being taken on by Hermione Granger who was their manager. Hannah was the bassist and had the foulest mouth of them all, despite her 'Girl Next Door' image with her hair in pigtails. The trio were on the last leg of their worldwide tour, finally back in the UK after months away.

Ron had been looking forward to seeing his family and being back home. Their home in the country was beautiful in the spring, his sister had already been sending him pictures of the daffodils in the garden. Now, he was dreading it.

"How much was the deposit?" Seamus asked, "If you really don't want to get one, just let it go."

Ron refused to entertain the thought. He'd grown up so poor that even now he got teased for how careful he was with money, despite having enough to last him well into retirement.

"You're coming with me," he said fiercely. "Because I blame you. You're all still dickheads."

"You're awful cute when you're angry, Weasley."

Seamus was still grinning broadly when later that day they got a taxi and headed to the tattoo parlour.

"I think I've pulled a muscle, you might have to owe me some compensation."

Ron gave him a withering look.

"I really am happy being single. You can't sleep around if you're in a relationship."

"True, true and you've been doing plenty of that. How many people did you shag in Portugal? Ten?"

"Hannah and I had a bet going. She was right though, when she called it off she said that everyone just wanted to use us, have whatever we had. None of it meant anything," Ron said, feeling distinctly jaded. He had dreamt about being a musician almost all his life but there was a dark side to the music industry, full of sharks waiting for a hint of blood in the water that he hadn't anticipated. There was the drugs which he'd watched destroy people's lives, the harsh realities of how tough it was to even get on the ladder and the stupid games you had to play. It certainly had jaded the dreams the band had started out with, but they'd stuck together, stayed true to themselves and were stronger for it.

The journey to the tattoo parlour went quicker than Ron had anticipated. He hadn't really even had time to compose himself before they were going inside 'The Skin Canvas'.

"Hey, I've got Ron Weasley here for a tattoo," Seamus said, immediately turning on the charm. Even Ron could admit they were gorgeous, one tall with kind brown eyes and the other almost a foot shorter, with thick glasses and bright green eyes. Even so, he did think his friend was laying it on thick when Seamus leant on the counter and grinned.

"Hey Ron, nice to see you again."

Ron smiled politely and the green haired guy rolled his eyes with a laugh.

"My name's Harry, remember? I didn't think you were that drunk, or I wouldn't have booked you in."

"If you don't want the tattoo it's fine."

"That's so kind of you," Seamus cooed. "What's your name, handsome?"

"Dean…"

Ron and Harry shared a glance, both of them struggling to keep a straight face as Dean looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights, Seamus wearing a wolfish grin.

"I'd still like the tattoo, actually, although I am bricking it a bit. I've had an idea, can I talk to you about it?"

"Yeah, it's got to be a good tattoo because of the paparazzi and media. You've probably heard of us."

Harry gestured and they walked away from Seamus who was apparently determined to brag and chat up Dean at the same time.

"Sorry about him. He's… enthusiastic."

"I remember from the bar, you guys were having what looked like an amazing night."

"Yeah well, it was our first gig back in the UK after months, we headlined the arena. It was incredible so we were all quite buzzed."

Ron had decided he wanted to get a lion on his shoulder. He and Harry talked and then Harry admitted that Dean would probably be better.

"I'm more skilled at lettering and shading, dotwork tattoos whilst Dean is the artist the does watercolours and vibrant colours."

"Will you stay anyway?"

The words tumbled out of Ron's mouth before he could stop himself and Harry smiled, ever so softly.

"Sure. I'll even hold your hand."

He assumed that Harry was making fun of him but when Ron finally sat back in the chair, his shoulder prepped, Dean wearing gloves and that tattoo gun buzzing, he reached for Harry's hand subconsciously, squeezing as the needle touched his skin. Seamus was alternating between taking pictures and playing some retro video game series on a handheld console Ron didn't even recognise.

"Some of the vintage stuff he has I've never even heard of," Ron muttered. "I'm rubbish at tech."

Harry squeezed his hand back and told him to breathe through it. Then he started talking, at first asking how Ron had gotten into music, what his family was like until via tangents and rambling, they were both talking about their childhoods and topics which Ron would never have told a stranger. There was something about Harry that made him want to be vulnerable.

When Dean spoke, Ron nearly started. He'd almost forgotten that Seamus and Dean were there, he and Harry had been lost in their own world.

"All done. Now, Seamus has mentioned that you're both rockstars but I'm afraid I can't knock anything off the price," Dean said with an easy smile. "You're not famous until my mother has heard of you, I'm afraid."

"I'll send her a signed CD if you'll come out to dinner with me."

"Your friend really is relentless, isn't he?" Harry murmured. "I'll wrap your tattoo up."

"Seamus, you're paying since it was your idea," Ron said stubbornly and Seamus shrugged, getting to his feet and following Dean to the front of the parlour.

Having Harry's hands on his arms made Ron struggle to concentrate, so he had to ask Harry to repeat about aftercare three times.

"If you're going to be in the area, you could always come back and I'll take a look at it," Harry offered.

"Yeah, yeah I'd like that." Then Ron decided to stop overthinking things and be a little bit more like his best friend. "Actually, what if I come back, not just for that but to take you out to dinner or drinks?"

There was a split second where Ron felt his heart sink. Harry was going to turn him down, he was sure. This was why he didn't put himself out there, he didn't want his heart broken. If he could have, he would have begged for Harry to say yes or for the earth to swallow him whole. Then, Harry squeezed his hand, his eyes warm. Somehow, a drunken night and reckless decision had led to this, Ron feeling as though his world had suddenly burst into colour. Harry kissed him slowly and then leant back to speak softly.

"Yeah. Yeah I'd like that."

A/N: Prompts and challenges entered:

- Meet Cute Marathon Day #7: "you drunkenly paid to get a tattoo at my parlor and didn't want to lose the money but the day has come and I have to hold your hand while someone else tattoos you"

Library Loves: Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis - (creature) Lion, (plot point) Betrayal, (word) Magnificent

The 365 Prompts Challenge: 175. Job - Rock Star

The Insane House Challenge: 754. Job - Rock Star

Serpent Day: 59. Rock Star

Gobstones: Black Stone - Spring + (Accuracy: "Dream' by Imagine Dragons, Power: 'Portugal' by Walk

The Moon, Technique: Don't Go Breaking My Heart' by Elton John)

Scavenger Hunt: Write an AU set outside of the wizarding world (no magic)

Character Appreciation: Write about a fight

Disney Challenge: Write a rags to riches!AU

Book Club: Larry Underwood - (au) rockstar, (word) journey, (dialogue) "You're awful cute when you're angry, [Name]."

Days of the Month: Singles Awareness Day - Write about someone who is happily single

Showtime: (genre) Friendship

TV Show of the Month: Dr. Lance Sweets - (dialogue) "I think I pulled a muscle.", (item) video game. (action) giving advice

Jenny's Jovial Quotations: "You're not famous until my mother has heard of you." - Jay Leno

Liza Loves: Shamrocked - Write about Seamus' band