Trouble-Maker

"It was nice meeting you, Atticus," Olivia said as she and her family walked me to the door, her arms around Arch comfortingly.

I nodded and smiled down at Arch. "I'll stop by tomorrow, Honey," I said as I reached out and and ran my fingers through his soft hair. "I'll bring you that frame for your photo."

Arch moved forward and wrapped his arms around my waist. I leaned down and hugged his head to my chest.

"I'm going to miss you," he muttered against the fabric of my shirt, "I wish I could go to daycare again."

I smiled sympathetically at Olivia and Will before I leaned down in front of him so that I could look him in the eyes. "Arch, now you have Olivia to spend time with you. I'm sure the two of you will have loads of fun."

He nodded his little head and smiled sadly.

I stood back up and situated my bag on my shoulder. I waved at little Georgia before I headed out of their house and back to my car across the street. I waved goodbye one last time as Will Harris pulled Arch into the house and shut the door. I climbed into the driver's seat and put my back on the passenger's, pulling my phone out so that I could call Ronnie.

"Hey, Att. What's up?"

I smiled at the sound of his voice. "I'm just leaving Arch. I have to run to Walmart real quick, but are you still with the guys?"

There was some shuffling on the other line and I heard Derek shouting in the background. "Yeah," Ronnie said as he moved away from the guys, "We're at Ryan and Jacky's place. Do you want to come over?"

I shook my head even though he couldn't see it. "No, have fun with the guys. I'm going to the store and then back to my place to grab some more clean clothes."

Ronnie chuckled. "We really should start doing laundry."

I smiled and added, "Dishes, too."

"We'll get everything cleaned up before we leave."

"Yeah," I replied, "But I'll talk to you later, I'm trying to drive and it's a little difficult one handed."

I could almost hear Ronnie's grin. "Okay. See you later."

"Alright," I replied, "Bye."

Ronnie said his goodbyes, too, before I ended the call and tossed the phone onto the dashboard. It wasn't a very long trip to Walmart and soon enough I was heading into the store. There were a lot of picture frames to chose from, so I looked carefully at which one would honor Arch's picture best. Eventually I decided on a simple, square, black one. I carried it over the check out and sighed when I realized that I'd have to wait in pretty long lines, even though it was just the '10 Items or Less' line.

"Hello, how are you today?" the woman at the counter asked politely.

I greeted her in a friendly way and bought the frame.

I hadn't been to my house in a while. Ronnie's apartment had become the only place I wanted to be. The drive back to my place seemed to last forever since I'd gotten used to being in Los Angeles.

I pulled up in my driveway and looked at the forgotten house. The only time I'd been back was with Arch. The lights were off but the curtains were still wide open. I unlocked the front door and went inside, smiling as I flipped the lights on and looked over my large living room.

I climbed the stairs easily and moved into my room. I moved to my closet and pushed it open. I started pulling outfits out and tossing them onto my bed so that I could carry them to my car. I knew that I'd have to pack for tour soon so I grabbed shorts and T-shirts along with the usual jeans.

I grabbed my suitcase from the back of my closet and threw everything in there, since I knew I'd need it anyways. It took me a minute to get it zipped up since I had almost tried to shove every summer appropriate piece of clothing into it.

Before I took it downstairs I grabbed the familiar black hoodie off of my bed where I had let it the night Arch stayed here. I felt the fabric under my fingers. It was nothing but a simple cotton hoodie but it was the same one that Ronnie had given to me the first night we watched movies with the guys.

Times like those seemed so far away. It was two days later that I gave in and told him that I'd date him. It seemed like it had been so easy, yet so difficult to choose Ronnie. I had told myself 'no' over and over again but when I time came, I melted like butter.

I grabbed the hoodie and yanked my suitcase downstairs. I looked around the house once more before I left, locking the door behind me. I got back in my car and put the bag in the back.

I was ready for tour. I didn't know what was going to happen with these guys but I knew I was in for an experience I would never forget. This was a free trip around the world with Ronnie. I was glad I hadn't decided to back out.

When I got back to Ronnie's place I let myself in. I pushed open the door of his apartment and groaned loudly. "What the hell are you guys doing here?" I asked, looking over the men that sat around the living room, "I thought you were at Jacky and Ryan's?" I crossed my arms over my chest as Derek climbed to his feet to wrap his arms around me once again.

"We were," he said happily, "But we came to see you."

I stopped and stared at him when he pulled back. "You all had to come all the way here just to see me?" I repeated.

He nodded quickly and I looked over my shoulder at the rest of them, who nodded as well.

"Great," I said sarcastically. Then I frowned. "Where's Ronnie?"

Derek and i walked over to the rest of the guys and I squeezed down between Jacky and Ryan on the couch.

"So where is he?" I asked again, looking over the guys' faces.

"He's with Nason," Ryan replied, his phone glued to his fingers tips. "They'll be back later."

I looked at him and reached to yank his phone from him. "What are you guys always doing on this thing?" I questioned, looking at the screen. "Twitter?" I questioned.

Ryan nodded his head. "You know what it is," he said simply. He grabbed his phone back from me and continued typing.

"That's how you all talk to your fans, right?" I questioned, holding my hand out for Mika's cell phone as he pulled it out to check his own Twitter.

"Get your own," Mike replied, holding his phone close to him.

"Come on," I whined, "Someone let me see it."

Jacky handed me his cell phone. It wasn't as fancy as Ryan's because he wasn't a flash kind of person but he logged into Twitter for me and let me browse around.

"What's so special about this?" I questioned, "It's just different people talking about things that make no sense to me."

Jacky smiled and nodded his head.

Derek rolled his eyes. "That's because Jacky is following people that have to do with him. If you made your own Twitter, you could follow who ever you want," he said, explaining how it works.

I nodded my head. "Eh," I muttered, "That doesn't sound too thrilling."

The guys and hung out for about a half an hour before Nasty and Ronnie came barreling through the door, grinning and laughing. Ronnie's smile changed when he saw me and he walked over to me and wrapped his arms around me from behind the couch.

"Hey, Atti," he murmured, placing a kiss to my lips, "We don't have anymore studio work until after the tour so we were thinking about going out to celebrate. You want to come?"

I didn't care that I had to meet applicants tomorrow, I just nodded my head against him and pressed my lips against the slight stubble on his jaw. "I'd love to," I replied, then I jumped up off the couch, careful not to smack my head against his. "I have to get ready!"

As I hurried down the hall towards the bedroom, Ronnie and the guys laughed. "We're not leaving for awhile, Atticus!" Ronnie called after me, taking my spot on the couch as I waved my hand over my shoulder at him.

I heard the guys laugh at me as I moved into the bedroom to start picking out my outfit and decide what I wanted to do with my hair.