Trouble-Maker

"Nasty! You two have a room for a reason!"

I buried my face in Ronnie's shoulder as he groaned at the sound of his friend's voice. He slid off of me so that he wasn't laying on top of me on the couch anymore and instead he sat by my side as his band mates invaded the bus.

I looked to Derek as the thick man dropped down onto the couch next to me. "What are you doing back here?" I questioned, crossing my arms over my chest.

Derek grinned. "Interrupting, apparently," he replied, looking around me at Ronnie who was visibly fuming.

I chuckled and patted Ronnie's knee. "Don't worry, babe," I murmured in his ear as I stood up, "You have to be at your signing in a half an hour anyways." I walked to the bathroom and shut the door behind me so that I could fix the little amount of makeup that I was wearing and brush out my hair since Ronnie's tattooed fingers had left little snarls at the base of my neck.

"I think I'm going to go walk around," I called as I exited the bathroom, "I'm going to check out the crowds."

"Do you want me to come?" Ronnie asked, getting ready to get up.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I'll be fine, Ron," I murmured, "They don't recognize me unless I'm with you anyways so when I'm alone I'll be perfectly fine. Just going to see who's starting to play and check out some of the tents. Maybe even bump into Alex or something."

Ronnie rolled his eyes.

I chuckled and walked over to kiss his lips.

Derek groaned loudly and kicked his feet at us. Ronnie held his middle finger out towards the guitarist as he deepened the kiss in spite.

I chuckled as I pulled away. "I'll drop by the tent later," I promised, "I'm just going to enjoy the Warped experience as one of the fans." I shoved my tour lanyard into my pocket so it wasn't visible.

Ronnie frowned. "You're not going to be able to get through the back entrance without it," he told me, his eyes moving from the necklace to my eyes.

"I'm taking it with me," I defended, "I'm just going to put it away when I get in there." I checked that I had my cell phone and my wallet before I headed to the steps of the bus. "I'll see you later. Text me if you need something."

Ronnie nodded and I was out the door. I walked across the pavement with the sound of live music already filling my ears. I was thankful that this area was fenced off completely from fans and bystanders. It would be hard to have to make it through crowds of kids while trying to even get in the venue.

There was a security guard standing at the gate and I flashed him my pass. I smiled politely as he opened the gate for me and permitted me to go on in. Automatically I was swept up in the current of people. They seemed to be heading off in every direction. I decided to head towards the stages first to see who'd taken to them.

I didn't know who was playing now but from what I could hear they sounded alright to me. As I grew closer the vocals grew clearer and I was grinning ear to ear. Music wasn't just Ronnie's thing, it had been my escape for years, too. Growing up in the shadow of Brett Gurewitz inspired a lot of late night iTunes binges where I acquired a pretty large range of musical tastes.

Although Warped Tour didn't have a large palate of different genres, it was definitely an interesting mix that had ended up here this year. From world famous bands like Falling in Reverse to the songs of a a single man dressed in a nerdy, white collared shirt. America was known as the melting pot of cultures but Warped had to be the melting pot of the music world.

I pushed through the crowds and bought myself a water before I headed to the grass in front of the main-stage. I sat cross-legged on the ground and looked over the heads of the cheering kids to the four young boys that stood on stage, creating a nice pop-rock melody that sounded pretty good with the voices of the two that were singing.

That band, whose name I learned was Divided by Friday, left the stage not too long after I sat down, which had me believing that they'd been playing for awhile since everyone got a pretty decent slot on Warped, no matter the popularity of the band.

A group of seven took their place. This particular band didn't have a sound that I'd ever been interested in but when their singer opened his mouth I realized that they weren't as bad as I anticipated. Echo Movement wasn't something that I'd ever fawn over, but they had a few catchy lines.

They played for about a half an hour before they raced off stage, all sweat under the heat of the sun and the pressure from the crowd. I barely stuck around for half of the next performance, not really into the lone man that stood on the stage.

I headed back through the people towards the tent where I knew the guys would be. There was a huge line already formed. The kids were grinning widely as they stepped out of line for just a minute to look down to the tent where Ronnie and the rest of the guys sat in chairs, passing posters to each other and talking animatedly with the fans that meant everything to them.

I got a few looks from people who recognized me and even more from those who didn't. As I grew closer I pulled my lanyard out of my pocket and put it around my neck just incase someone tried to say something to me.

I smiled at the people in line as I slid between them so that I could walk around to the back of the tent. The heat was becoming almost unbearable as I caught the guys' attention and was waved through by the one security guard that was regulating the signing.

"Thanks," I said politely as I walked past the man who was clad in a bright orange shirt.

The sound of my voice caught Ronnie's attention and he looked up quickly in mid-sentence. "Atti," he called loudly, nodding for me to come over to him.

I grinned and walked over, resting my hand on Ryan and Ronnie's shoulders as I smiled at the young teens on the other side of the table. "You look busy," I said with a laugh, watching as the guys continued to sign more and more posters.

I sat back in an empty chair and watched as they conversed with their fans, leaving me speechless. It was such an easy thing for them. They connected with every person that walked up to them. They truly cared about the fans. It wasn't an act that they put on, it was an honest thankfulness.

"They're so loyal to you," I told Ronnie as they said that they'd be taking a ten minute break.

Ronnie nodded. "Hell yeah, they are," he replied, "I have the best fucking fans in the world."

After that I ran to get the guys waters. When I came back they were signing again, determined to sign something for every kid who wanted something. Ronnie promised to talk to every kid. I watched him with a swollen heart and a grin on my face. He had to be the most amazing sight I'd ever seen. I knew I'd never meet another person like him, either.

I ended up leaving the guys to do their thing so that I could head back to the stage and listen to some more music from people I'd never heard of before. There were two things that I was looking forward to at the moment. Listening to one of my favorite bands live, and seeing my boyfriend set foot back on stage for the first time since he life had been flipped inside out and up side down.

My nerves were already climbing for him.