Trouble-Maker

"Atticus, I only have to pick up our tour ID cards from Epitaph today, then I'm free. Do you want to get lunch?" Ronnie questioned loudly as I got ready the next morning.

"Sure," I called from the bathroom, since he was still laying in bed. "I think I want Chinese today."

I heard Ronnie laugh softly. "When don't you want Chinese?" he asked as he moved down the hall towards me. He leaned against the door frame and folded his arms over his bare chest.

I glanced at him through the mirror and hid my satisfaction. I continued to straighten my hair with the intense heat. "You don't have to come into the building, later," I told him as I compressed more of my unruly hair.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I like coming in," he replied, "Jamie's heartbeat always rises like she's just run a marathon."

I scoffed and smacked his chest. "You're unbelievable," I laughed, "Stop picking on that poor girl. It's not her fault she finds you attractive."

Ronnie smirked. "That doesn't bother you?" he asked, "That one of your friends pictures me naked every time she sees me?"

I rolled my eyes and turned off the straightener. "Of course not," I told him, meeting his eyes through the mirror, "I find other guys attractive and they have girlfriends."

Ronnie's smirk left his lips. "What guys?" he questioned, his arms crossing once again.

I shrugged and picked up Ronnie's eyeliner. "Heather's husband, Aiden, is adorable. He's got that 'boy next door' look that just kills me," I replied, a smile coming to my lips as I thought about the adorable couple. "You know that they're going to have a baby."

Ronnie shook his head. "I didn't know that."

I finished doing my makeup and turned to face him. I wrapped my arms around his thin waist and looked up to his face. "Aiden is cute," I said, "But I'd take musician over boy next door any day."

Ronnie smiled down at me.

"Okay," I said after another minute, "I have to go or I'm going to be late and Symantha is already unhappy with me." I slid past him and out of the bathroom. I found my shoes in the living room and slipped into the comfortable tennis shoes that would let me chase children around. "We're getting a child at the daycare today," I called back to Ronnie as he lazily meandered down the hall towards me.

"One to fill in Arch's place?" he asked, his mind shooting to exactly where I knew it would.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Not specifically. We'd probably be getting this child if Arch was still here," I told him as I grabbed my phone and my wallet. "I'll see you later."

Ronnie's arms wrapped around my waist and his lips touched mine. "See you for lunch," he said when I pulled back.

I nodded. "See you later." I made sure I had everything I needed before I hurried out of the apartment towards my car.

It didn't take very long to get there since Ronnie's apartment was way closer than my place. The drive was exciting as Ronnie's voice came onto the radio, his song playing loudly through my car.

"and I'm so high on misery
can't you see?

Oh, can't you see?
Can't you see?!"

"That was 'The Drug in Me is You' by Falling in Reverse off their recent album. I just got wind that Falling in Reverse will be headlining Warped Tour this summer so get your tickets now. Vans Warped Tour 2012. Up next we have. . ."

I grinned at the fact that Falling in Reverse was being advertised on the radio. I wondered how many kids had just heard that announcement and become really excited that Falling in Reverse was touring for the first time.

I pulled into work listening to a song I'd heard many times before. I climbed out of my car and smiled at a couple parents who were showing up early with their children. If parents needed someone to watch their kids early, we never turned them down. We opened when people needed us.

"Morning, Jamie," I greeted as I entered the building behind a little girl and her father.

Jamie stood behind the desk and was getting the binder out so that this father could sign his daughter in. Jamie looked up to me. "Good morning, Atticus," she said with a warm smile, "We're getting a new boy in today."

I nodded. "I heard, how old is he?""

"Seven," Jamie replied, since she'd already looked over his file, "His name is Fletcher Alexander."

I nodded my head as she started talking to the little girl's dad. I moved down the left hallway to my office. I didn't have much to do until the kids got here, so I just turned on my computer and dumped my bag on the couch. Kids would be arriving more swiftly in about 20 minutes so I headed out to the play room to help some of the other employees clean up from yesterday.

We usually had each kid put away what they were playing with at the end of the day, but with young children they either put it away in the wrong place or just toss it some where else and run out to wait for their parents.

"Atticus."

I looked up at the saying of my name. Sven stood near me, a sly smile on his face. "Sven," I greeted cooly.

He walked over. "I heard that you're quitting," he said, "How come?"

"I've got plans for the summer," I told him, "And I didn't have enough vacation time left."

He nodded his head. "Where'd you go for vacation?" he asked pleasantly.

I shook my head. "I didn't go anywhere," I told him as I looked around for more stray toys, "I was in a car accident."

"Really?" he asked sounding concerned, "Were you hurt really badly?"

I shook my head. "Just my wrist and three knuckles, but Ronnie, my boyfriend, had his left crushed severely."

Sven nodded. "And you took off to take care of him," he stated with a tone of distaste.

I looked at him oddly. "Yeah, does that bother you?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "No," he said simply, not meeting my eyes as he turned to walk away from me at the call of one of the other women who worked here.

I was confused as I called for him. "Come back here, Sven. We're not done with out conversation."

He looked back at me and rolled his eyes. But he turned around and headed back anyway. "What do you want?" he asked, his posture suddenly hostile.

"What's your problem?" I asked slowly, "You really don't like Ronnie. I thought maybe it was just a joke but you seriously have a problem with him. What for?" I crossed my arms over my chest, wondering what could possibly fuel such distaste for a stranger.

"Our pasts coincide," Sven said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"What does that even mean?" I questioned, looking up to him.

"We both knew Michael Cook," he said, his eyes staring down into mine as recognition crossed my face.

"That boy that was killed..." I trailed off, waiting for his confirmation.

He nodded. "The boy that your boyfriend killed."

I shook my head automatically. "He didn't kill him," I said quickly, "He was just there when it happened."

Sven chuckled disbelievingly. "Even if you really believe that. He was still friends with the guy who did it. Anyone who could be friends with someone like that isn't a good guy."

"You can't judge someone because of they're friends," I said softly, "If you did that, then you would think that I was a bad person, too."

Sven sighed. "Michael was my ex-girlfriend's little brother," he said, "He was good kid. Everyone loved him. Three babies in their family have been named after him since he died."

"Ronnie didn't pull the trigger," I said urgently, "He just..." I trailed off, not knowing how to justify the reason for the fight. "It wasn't just his fault. Michael Cook's friend was the other reason for the fight."

"His name was Marcel," Sven said, "And he felt so horrible over Michael's death that he committed suicide."

I shook my head. "Just because you hate Ronnie doesn't mean that it'll bring that boy back. Ronnie did his time, for everything. He spent years in prison because he couldn't follow probation exactly. He lost his band, his best friend, and he never once blamed it on anyone but himself. He knows that the fight in the desert ruined other people's lives, but he didn't kill Michael Cook. He's not a bad person."

"But something bad happened because of him!" Sven said loudly, his emotions running rampant in a clearly evident way.

"And because of that other guy, Marcel. But because Ronnie didn't take his own life, he's the bad guy?" I asked incredulously, "What if Marcel hadn't killed himself, would everyone still hate Ronnie the most? Both sides of the fight had guns. Someone got shot," I stated, not down playing the damage, but just trying to understand how they could blame everything on Ronnie when he wasn't the only one.

"You don't understand," Sven said, his voice quiet, "Michael was the light in many people's eyes. He meant so much to so many people and everyone involved in his death is running free, living their lives."

I sighed and pushed my hair out of my face. "It's not mine, or Ronnie's, fault that the murder charges against Chase Rader were dropped. But Ronnie has given up a lot of things because of this accident. Don't tell me that you want his life, too."

I turned around and walked away from Sven, tears welling in my eyes as I realized that Michael Cook's family and friends would never be fulfilled because they'd lost someone so violently. What hurt the most was that they wanted two people's in return. Marcel Colquitt's and Ronnie Radke's. But Ronnie was still alive, so the hate would never end.