Trouble-Maker

Our confessions surprised me. I hadn't thought about being in love with him at all up until then. We'd only been together two months, and those were spent hiding our relationship from my family and from everyone out in the world. But when I said them, I realized I meant it, and I realized that two months was long enough to fall in love with him. I was pretty sure that it had only really taken three days.

Ronnie and I spent the rest of the night just being together, watching movies that we'd both seen before and talking about things that didn't really matter. He made me laugh like no one else and I didn't think of anyone but him when he was around. Keeping him from my family bothered me, but not that much, because I loved hidden nights like these.

"Want to go out with me tomorrow?" Ronnie asked, eyes still on the TV.

"Where?" I replied in much the same way.

Ronnie shrugged, lifting my head with the movement. "Anywhere."

"You decide," I said as I turned so that our noises were touching, causing his face to turn to me, his eyes on me as well. He smiled, lips brushing against mine.

Ronnie shrugged again, arms wrapping around my torso. "You can decide tomorrow. I just want to take you somewhere."

"Six Flags?" I asked as the idea popped into my head, the thought of Ronnie and I on roller coasters almost too much to handle. I was grinning at the image of us strapped in together.

Ronnie laughed at how giddy I seemed. "Sure. If you want."

"I want."

~

Ronnie drove the two of us to Great America the next morning. He knew I was nervous about the two of us heading out in such a public place, but it seemed that since Ronnie told me he loved me that I could handle it. I could handle it if my father knew, our relationship deserved for him to know about it, but I just didn't want to be the one to tell him.

Ronnie bought us passes and then lead me over to the Superman Ride. The lines were long and the amount of kids there who were looking at Ronnie was crazy. "They recognize you," I told him with a laugh as I nonchalantly motioned to a large group of kids who were a little farther up in line. They stared at us the whole time we were there, but luckily no one was really taking pictures. They probably didn't have their phones.

When Ronnie and I got up towards the front, he moved us over into the front row line and I began to get really nervous. Ronnie's arms were around my waist as we watched the ride shoot off, causing people to yell and scream as they were jerked into the air.

"Scared?" Ronnie asked into my ear with a smile.

"No," I defended as I turned around to face him.

"Liar," he laughed and then he nodded to the seats that were rolling in behind us.

"You're right. I don't want to do this anymore," I cried as Ronnie pulled me over to the seats that would be ours.

"Oh no," he grinned, "We waited in line and now I want to ride this fucking thing."

Ronnie grinned as I nervously took my seat and pulled the bar down tightly. He sat next to me and did the same. As the roller coaster seats moved so that we were facing the floor, lifting our feet off the ground, I took Ronnie's hand and held on tightly.

"If I die, I want you to remember that I love you," I told him seriously as we began to move.

Ronnie laughed loudly, amused that this experience had invoked that type of confession from me. "I love you too, Atticus," he said, grinning at me, "You'll be fine though."

I screamed as the ride shot downwards, sending us face first towards the ground. I squeezed my eyes shut right before the ride hit the ground, and then opened them when it jerked us back up into the air. It only lasted a minute, but it threw us in every direction and I ended up letting go of Ronnie to grip the harness for dear life.

As the ride pulled into the loading station, I smiled, relieved to be able to get off. "See," Ronnie said as we stepped out and headed down the back stairs, "You're fine."

I shook my head as Ronnie walked with me down to the ground. "I'm shaking."

Ronnie took my hand in his as we made it back to the Earth. I glanced around and noticed the same kids from earlier standing there with small bags in their hands. I nudged Ronnie. "You've got some fans."

"Mind if I go over there?" Ronnie asked, looking hopeful.

"Nope." I smiled. "Go right ahead."

Ronnie pulled me over there with him and I smiled when I noticed the fans getting pretty excited. They grinned widely when Ronnie stopped in front of them. "How's it going?" he asked, like they had been friends forever.

"Good," one of the girls answered, looking excited but nervous. I laughed when the boy who was holding her hand rolled his eyes.

"That's great. Do you guys want me to sign some shit or something?"

Almost the entire group nodded quickly, searching through their bags for pens and cameras. A blonde girl with blue dye at the tips of her hair took a small step forward and jingled her camera. "Can I take a picture with you?" she asked quietly, tucking a piece of hair behind her pierced ear.

"Sure! No problem," Ronnie answered with a nod, "Just make sure it's of me and not her." Ronnie motioned towards me and winked. I playfully rolled my eyes at his arrogance.

"Is she your girlfriend?" another girl asked as Ronnie stepped up to take a picture with the young blonde girl.

Ronnie nodded once the picture was done. "Yup. She's beautiful, isn't she?"

"What's her name?" the last girl asked, the one holding hands with the tall boy.

Ronnie looked to me, asking permission before he could tell them my name. I shook my head slightly, knowing that I probably looked bratty but I had a good reason. Ronnie turned back to the fans. "We don't really want our relationship public yet. It's cool for people to know I have a girlfriend just not who. Is that cool?" Ronnie asked them, offering a big grin.

"Yeah," one girl said quickly, "I wouldn't want paparazzi to be be hanging around my girlfriend either," the girl laughed, "I mean, my boyfriend."

Ronnie nodded, "Yeah. I'm glad you guys understand. Well, anything else you want me to sign?"

A few minutes later, Ronnie had taken my hand and led me to the next roller coaster. That continued through out the day with only a couple more fan encounters. Each time Ronnie asked them not to take my picture and that he was sorry, but he didn't want my name given either. We were there all day and I was glad that I had left my cell phone in Ronnie's car.

When Ronnie did finally pull me out to the car it was getting dark and there were barely any people. I was carrying a giant stuffed animal and sipping on a rootbeer as Ronnie unlocked his car and motioned for me to get in. I tossed my stuffed animal into the back seat and buckled my seat belt.

"Did you have fun?" Ronnie asked as he started the car and drove out of the pretty much empty parking lot.

I nodded, exhausted. "I had a great time, baby."

"Good," he grinned, "Let's head home."

It was a forty-five minute drive home and I settled in for the ride, grateful that he was driving and not me. I talked as he drove, speaking softly about the day and how much fun it had been. Being in public hadn't harmed us. We'd survived a day of fans and roller coasters and come out together on the other side. I couldn't remember having a day like this in such a long time.

We were thirty minutes from home when I looked up and couldn't see the street. Lights were blinding me and I squinted into them. I saw Ronnie smile out of the corner of my eye, his eyes on me, watching my expression. Then I screamed, realizing that the lights were closer that they should've been.

"Ronnie!" I screamed, not even recognizing my own voice.

His eyes darted back to the road, the look on his face something that I would definitely remember. "Oh shit!" he screamed, a reflex, and slammed on his breaks.

I shut my eyes tightly as I felt the car jerk, much like the rides we'd spent the day on, and slam into something hard on my side of the car. I let out a cry as I heard Ronnie groan and then something else slammed into left of our vehicle, pushing the car to the right and back, and compacting it against us.

I opened my eyes to look at the man next to me, and my heart dropped into my stomach when I was that he wasn't awake. "Ronnie!" I yelled as I reached to shake him, ignoring the pain in my right hand. "Ronnie!" I yelled again, "Wake up! Wake up!"

But Ronnie didn't wake up, not even when the paramedics came and pulled us out of the car. As they put me on a stretcher, I looked back and saw that the passengers side of the car had been smashed into the barrier on the side of the road. But even worse, Ronnie's side of the car had been hit by a another vehicle and was impossible to get in or out by opening the door, or what was left of it, anyway.

I frantically tried to look for Ronnie before they got the brace on my neck. Two paramedics were asking for me to stop moving, but I couldn't see him, didn't know where they had taken him.

"Ma'am, what hurts the most?" a woman asked me as they loaded me into my own ambulance, "Ma'am, can you hear me?" She glanced down at something when I didn't respond. "Atticus, can you speak up? Please, I need you to tell me what hurts the most."

My name brought me back to the present and my eyes focused on the woman. "Where's Ronnie?" I asked, feeling others touching my arms and legs and clothes, "Is he okay? Where is he?"

"Ma'am, you need to cooperate," she answered, "We need to worry about you before we can tell you anything more."

"I'm fine!" I screamed, tears running down my cheeks, "Just tell me what the hell is wrong with my boyfriend!"

The lady's expression softened as I became more frantic. "He's in another ambulance ma'am. I'm not sure what's wrong with him but I was told that he's awake."

"Is he okay? When can I see him?" I questioned quickly.

The blonde woman sighed as the man in the ambulance reached for my right hand. "You need to relax. Your right hand is broken, along with three of your knuckles."

I sighed and laid my head back against the bed. I knew that worrying over Ronnie and demanding to see him right away couldn't help either of us. So, I let them set my hand and clean some of the cuts on my arm and face. I gave them my information along with Ronnie's and then I waited for my father to show up.

I was laying in a hospital bed, still void of any information, when my father walked in with Max, Frida, and Nico. I could see Gina in the hallway through the window, speaking to a woman at the nurses station. "Atticus!" Frida said, sounding relieved to see me alive. "What happened? Nobody will tell me anything!"

I put a smile on my face to reassure her that everything was alright. "I was hit by a car, Frida. But I'm okay."

Dad handed the baby over to Max, who was standing near the door and asked my siblings to take her out to her mother. They left reluctantly, offering me sorry smiles and grateful glances. My father shut the door behind them and stepped over, looking at me like it hurt him. "What happened?" he asked, hand covering his mouth, "I haven't been able to hear any of the details."

"I just told you," I answered, frowning, "I was hit by a car-"

"Who were you with?" he cut me off angrily, "Why was I told that I'm not allowed to be given any information regarding the driver? I want to know who you were with and what really happened, but nobody will tell me anything."

I shrugged unconvincingly. "I don't know."

"Don't lie to me Atticus! I'm your father and I deserve to know!" he shouted loudly, making me wince at the sight of his anger. He didn't yell often, but this had been the reaction I was expecting.

I fumbled, unable to get the words out. I didn't want to do this here, didn't want to hear the things my father would say about Ronnie when I didn't even know if he was really alright. "Dad, can you please just go?" I asked softly, frowning at the man, "I was hit by a car and crushed and I really can't handle being yelled at right now."

He was surprised by me asking him to leave and calmed down. He sat on the edge of the bed, careful not to sit on my feet, and explained himself more rationally. "Atti, I don't like to be left in the dark," he said, shaking his head, "I have no idea what's even been going on in your life and now you're here and there's all these secrets."

"Dad," I sighed, tears in my eyes as I thought up the words. I was going to do this on my own. Rather than the sit down explanation that I expected Ronnie and I to give him together, I was going to tell him now, just the two of us, and have to defend our relationship all on my own. "My boyfriend was driving," I said, watching the shock.

"You have a boyfriend?" he repeated, eyes on me, "What?"

"Yeah, I do," I repeated, "We've been together a couple months now."

Brett tried to smile but it turned out to be more a grimace, a very confused one. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, "I'm not against you dating, Atticus. You're almost twenty-six years old. Why didn't you feel that you could share this with your family?"

"Because there's more," I said before I could chicken out.

Dad looked suspicious.

"Before I tell you, I want you to know that I really love him. That I've never felt like this about anyone else before. If you could imagine all the qualities that you would want in someone for me to end up with, he has them. I can't even explain to you how much I care about him, or how much he cares about me." I picked at my blankets, watching his expression.

I was scared to tell him that it was Ronnie. He would throw my words out the window when he learned the truth. Nothing I could say about Ronnie would overpower the stigma that my father felt about me, or my siblings, dating someone in the music industry. My father saw a piece of himself in these musicians, and while a lot of times that was a good thing, when it came to relationships, it scared the shit out of him.

"Who is he, Att?" Brett questioned, eyes on mine, "I'd like to know."

"His name is Ronnie," I said, watching my dad pause, "Ronnie Radke."