The head of Medusa was in the centre of his upper back and the twenty-ish snakes stretched nearly to the edge of his shoulders. There was no chance of missing the tattoo. It covered the whole of his upper back and was inked boldly with dark prominent lines.

I reached out and stroked the closed eyes of the gorgon making sure it was real. That everything was real.

The question was rhetorical. I could feel the answer in the air and in the way he was watching me over his shoulder, but I wanted to hear the words from his lips.

"Why did you get medusa tattooed on your back?" I asked because I needed him to confirm the reason and hear it from him.

He turned around. His lips were up in a small smile as he wrapped one of his bulky arms around my waist and pulled me to him.

I closed my eyes at the contact and waited for his reply.

"Because it is forever a reminder of the girl I am in love with." He rasped out.

"What?" I managed to voice to make sure it was not a wild and wonderful dream.

"I am inexorably in love with you, Ella."

He said it with such ease like it should not have come as a surprise to me. There was no beating around the bush. He said it such surety that it seemed that his feelings were irrevocable.

I pointed towards myself, still in shock "Me?"

"Yes. You." He chuckled "Drizella Miller. The mean green machine, you."

"You do know that tattoos are permanent. That means you cannot get rid of them." I blurted out.

His grip on my waist tightened as he let out in his rough voice "I am well aware. Now when people see my back, they will know who I belong to."

"When?"

"When what?" He replied.

"When did you catch feelings for me?"

His head shook "I am not telling you that."

I frowned "Why not?"

"You came in here and looked like you wanted to flee." He answered, "I am not scaring you away by telling you how fast I fell, and it would scare you to know how fast I did."

At his words, I crumbled. If my poker face had even slightly remained a second before, it had gone now. I wanted to shout a million names and insults at him for making me feel this way, but I also wanted to smash my lips on his. There was nothing else to do but surrender.

"You are insane." I pointed out with adoration present in my tone as I got a sudden urge of confidence "I love you."

His pupils dilated and for a moment I thought I could see stars in them. They were endless dark matter filled with so many different emotions swirling around. Some I could interpret. His eyes contained delight, warmth, hunger, and most prominently love.