They all talked with each other and caught up about all the new events. Their job advancements and relationships and whatnot, I tried to pay attention but there was a lot of base info I didn’t have. Em and the guy were engaged and showed us their pair of shining sun and moon tattoos. That of course led to Em asking me about my own marks. Most people have some on their chest, some have a lot, but not a lot of people have intertwined ones along their arms and neck like I do. I get that people are curious about the stories, but I don’t think I will ever like the questions. I saw Noah glance at me worriedly. I had eventually talked to him about the terrible therapy session. But I took a deep breath and talked about a few simpler ones. The little ones that mainly resided just below my collar bone, childhood loves and easier break-ups. Noah’s friends listened and didn’t look judgmental as far as I could tell. Em started to ask about specific ones when luckily their last friend arrived. She was very muscular and had brown hair up in a ponytail. She greeted me warmly after being told I was Noah’s friend and roommate. I was thankful that she had interrupted the conversation. 

We all continued to talk, eat, and drink for a long time. It was fun to hang out with people again and I hadn’t felt this comfortable in a long while. I started acting a bit more like my old self, I had forgotten how blunt and forthright I used to be when I was younger, even crass at times before I had started pushing that part deep inside. I worried a bit when it kind of came out naturally, but no one seemed to mind. I still tried to stay polite though, I wanted them to like me, and I wanted to hang out again. I talked happily with Noah nearly the whole way home, only stopping when I noticed him smiling at me and I got embarrassed.