Lea Michele Gets a New Tattoo to Honor Late Boyfriend Cory Monteith

Lea Michele got two new tattoos on Monday night, including this one in honor of her late beau, Cory Monteith. (Main photo: Instagram; inset: Getty Images)

Gone but not forgotten.

On Tuesday, Lea Michele shared a photo of her latest tattoo — a number 5, in honor of her late boyfriend and former Glee co-star, Cory Monteith. “And one more.. for my Quarterback.. #5,” she captioned the black-and-white shot.

Of course, Glee fans will remember that 5 was the football number of Finn, Monteith’s character on the hit show.

Monteith in character as Finn. (Photo: Fox)

This isn’t the first tattoo that the star has gotten in honor of her beloved, however. After his shocking death from an overdose in July 2013, Michele had the last words he ever said to her inked on her ribs: “If you say so.” And she later released a song by the same name.

“If you say so,” were the last words Monteith said to Michele. (Photo: Getty Images)

The 29-year-old Scream Queens actress has long been a fan of small remembrances in the form of tats, so it’s no surprise that this addition for Monteith wasn’t the only ink she got at Tattoo Seen in New York City on Monday night. In addition to the tribute to Monteith, she honored her late grandmother as well. Michele shared a shot of her hand, showing a tiny, steaming coffee mug inked on the outer edge of her right ring finger.

Photo: Instagram

“I lost my beautiful grandma this week,” she revealed. “She wasn’t your typical grandma. She gave me my first cup of coffee when I was 8 years old. She said something inappropriate to every boyfriend I’ve ever had.” (No word on what her grandmother said to Monteith.) “She never made pie or knit me a sweater. But she was my grandma and I loved her… More than anything.. I love you Grandma.”

While the tattoo honoring her grandmother comes at an understandable time, since she just died, the timing for the tattoo for Monteith is a bit more curious. It’s probably worth noting that Michele and her boyfriend of nearly two years, Matthew Paetz, recently split, and according to reports, she was “completely crushed.”

Indeed, just weeks before they parted ways, Michele gushed about her beau on PodcastOne's “Ladygang” podcast show, noting that Monteith would have approved.

“We’ve stood by each other through anything that was thrown our way, and [Matt] is such a great man that he would never let anything like that crack our lovely little core that we’ve created,” she insisted. “And you know, he is also very respectful toward the person that I was with, and that, again, is something I love so much about him.”

According to Michele, the respect would have been mutual. “I really know that Cory would love him too,” she continued. “And that’s all that we hold within our hearts, and so does everyone else in my life. Other people don’t know him and they don’t know my private life, so I understand that people are going to say whatever they are going to say. As long as he and I are good, my family’s good, my friends are good, that’s all that matters.”

All of us grieve loss in our own way, and perhaps tiny tattoos is hers.