It Burns So Bright, This Flame Will Never Die.

***Ronnie's POV***

Driving home with your wife silently crying in the passenger seat, and your son noticing and making a bit of a fuss in the backseat is not the most enjoyable thing to participate in, lemme tell ya. All I wanted to do was get home, put my kid to bed, and then call up Max and bitch him out 'til never.

"Baby, just go inside and go to the bedroom, I'm gonna put Trav to bed." I said softly, rubbing her shoulder comfortingly for a second. She nodded and hiccuped, slowly getting out of the car and walking into the house.

"Poor mama." I sighed as I got Travis out of his car seat. He was still making quiet little whining noises, making me frown. "It'll be alright, bud. Uncle Max is just a big dummy." I chuckled when he smooshed his face in my neck, grabbing a fistful of my shirt under my jacket.

I changed him into his pajamas and got him into bed. I walked into our bedroom and peeked in, noticing Scarlet sitting on her side of the bed, crying. It broke my heart to see my wife like this. She didn't deserve it.

I tiptoed over and sat down next to her. She buried her face in her hands and I wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her into my side. I let her cry for as long as she wanted, rubbing her back and trying to comfort her the best I could. After about 10 minutes of this, she had been reduced to sniffling, and she started to talk.

"I don't get why h-he would be like t-t-this to me...she c-cheated on him...! She had sex with that guy, and she kissed you!"

"Max was always special, Scarlet..." She giggled lightly at my attempt to lighten the mood with a joke. "he was dropped numerous times on his head as a small child, I believe."

"He must've been." She grumbled. I kissed the top of her head and she looked up at me. I smiled a little at her. "He'll realize what he did in a few days, don't worry. He'll be calling you and begging for your forgiveness."

"He better." She sighed, wiping at her eyes. I pulled her into my lap, and she kissed my cheek. "So, I have a question..." I nodded my head and smiled. "How long did it take Lexus to kiss you when you guys went in the back to talk?" I laughed and she smirked. "Not even 60 seconds, dude. She's desperate, and I knew that was her plan all along. Max wasn't gonna be there. She was probably gonna feed me some bullshit that he went to the store and would be back soon, then she'd probably try to seduce me. With what, I dunno. She doesn't have an ass or tits..."

Scar started cracking up and I grinned, happy to see her happy again. "She has the curves of a wall." She nodded, laughing. "What I'm wondering, though..." She said, after her laughter died down. "...is where the fuck that Nick dude came from. I mean, I thought she knew you were coming over today..." I shrugged. "I don't know, and quite frankly, I don't care. I want nothing to do with her anymore. I thought she'd changed, and she wasn't being such a whore these days. Obviously, I was wrong."

"What if...Max decides to stay with her? Even after he pretty much walked in on her cheating on him with two different guys." I bit my lip, staying silent for a minute. There was no doubt in my mind Max would forgive her and stay with her; he was so hopelessly in love with that girl. Once again; why, I don't know. She treats him like shit, and he stays and deals with it. He's pathetic, in my eyes.

"Who knows with him, he's unpredictable." I wasn't going to say what I just thought to Scar. I know she never liked to see Max hurting, and obviously she hated Lexus for what she's done, and what she just did to him, again. I don't want her anymore upset than she already was just a few minutes ago.

She nodded and pecked me quickly on the lips, making me smile again. "Oh well. I love you." She said randomly. I laughed. She was too adorable sometimes.

"Love you too, babe."

$$$

***2 weeks later***

Beginning of May. We had 3 months and some days until our second album released, and we were in the process of getting everything together, from the release party, to the after party for the release party, to the after party for the after party for the release party, to tours...it was all making our heads spin.

"Holy shit, can't we just have a pizza party at my house for the album?" I groaned as Sally, the girl who was planning all of this for us, and who works at Epitaph, blabbered on and on about all the details of everything for the parties, how much this would cost, where this would be, how many people will be here, where we're going after we go to this place...blah blah blah.

"You want to fit over 500 people in your house? Hope you have a big house and lots of pizza." She joked. I smiled and chuckled. "Anyways, first release party in LA will be at Angels and Kings. After party will be at club Playhouse. Second release party's going to be held in Vegas at Hard Rock, after party will then be held at Club Luxor."

"Are there going to be strippers at the parties in Vegas?" I cracked up at Jacky's question, shaking my head at him. He grinned and shrugged.

"If you want." Sally sighed, smiling and shaking her head like I was. Jacky "woo!"'d, making me snicker. "Then your headlining tour's gonna kick off exactly one week after the record's released. And you'll basically be touring non-stop for the rest of the year."

"And the year after thaaat...and the year after thaaat..." I grinned, making her laugh. She was kinda cute.

"Pretty much. You're a successful rockstar, of course you're gonna be touring your ass off." I smirked and nodded. "But, that's all for today boys. Ronnie," We all stood up and I nodded my head up, smiling at her. "you, Elvis, and I are gonna have that meeting tomorrow instead of Wednesday, because he had a meeting with a new band he's hoping to sign pop up."

"That's fine." I nodded. "What time?"

"Try to be here before 2. I know you have a difficult time getting anywhere on time, but for the sake of mine and Elvis' sanity...please." I laughed and shrugged. "No promises, but I'll try."

The rest of the guys left, but I stayed around for a few more minutes talking to Sally. "So, I was wondering...how busy are you here at Epitaph?" I asked casually, leaning against the table we were just sitting at, crossing my arms over my chest.

"How busy am I?" I nodded. She shrugged. "Usually I'm not super busy, but since I'm planning everything for your guys' album release, a little bit more busy than usual. Why do you ask?"

"I'll just be blunt and straight-forward; I need an assistant at my label. Personal assistant." She raised her eyebrow, nodding slowly. "You're good at planning shit and keeping everything on track, so I think you'd be perfect for the job." She chuckled, nodding again. "Plus, I pay good money."

"Oh really?" She laughed at my joking tone, making me laugh too. "Alright, yeah. I'll do it."

"Really?" I smiled. I didn't think it'd be so easy to get her to agree to it. She nodded and smiled back. "Yeah. I like being busy and having things to do. So I'll do it."

"Great." I grinned.