It Burns So Bright, This Flame Will Never Die.

The rest of the ride home was awkward and silent, so I was relieved when we finally pulled into the driveway. We both got out at the same time, Ronnie going on his side to get Travis out of his car seat. "I'll do it." I mumbled, stepping in front of him and unbuckling our son. I lifted him up and he wrapped his arms around my neck, his head thumping on my shoulder as he was already almost asleep.

I let Ronnie grab the few toys Travis decided to bring with him on our little lunch date, and we walked inside. I headed straight for the nursery, laying Travis down and pulling his blanket over him, kissing him on the forehead.

"Have a good nap, boo." I cooed quietly, smiling at him. I walked out, gently closing the door behind me. I ignored Ronnie as I walked straight past him into the kitchen, putting some dirty dishes in the dishwasher.

"Are you mad?" He asked quietly.

"No." I had to admit, I sounded really cold when I said that. And the truth is I wasn't mad...yet. I was just...scared. And when I'm scared, I start acting like a robot.

"We did nothing but talk, and all we talked about was the band and her band..." He sighed softly. He wrapped his arms around me from behind, but I quickly peeled them off. "Scarlet, come on."

"Why did you seem so nervous when Max said he had some news I might not like?" I turned around to look at him, hands on my hips. "Or when we were in the car? You didn't sound so sure when you said that was all you talked about."

"It was, alright?!" He snapped. "I wouldn't fucking do that to you! Especially not now."

"I can never be sure, Ronald." I growled. I started the dishwasher and tried to walk past him, but he grabbed me by the arm. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You and that girl from Epitaph seem pretty friendly with each other lately." I snarled. "Sally? Isn't that her name?"

"She's planning our damn album release party!" He exclaimed. "Am I supposed to be an ass to her?" He paused for a second, cutting me off as I began to speak. "Wait, how do you know if I'm being "friendly" with her?"

"Your texts?" His eyes widened. "What is with you and going through my texts?!"

"Oh, should I not? Something your hiding in there?!" I start panicking, fearing the worst.

"NO!" He blurted out. I stared at him, then held my hand out. "This is ridiculous, Scarlet." He grumbled as he handed me his iPhone. I went to his texts and read through the ones he sent to "Sally".

"Just because I use a bunch of smiley faces in texts to a girl doesn't mean I'm fucking her."

"You used a winky face."

Alright, even I couldn't help it; I started laughing at what I just said, and Ronnie started cracking up again like he had earlier. "Wait, let me-"

"Oh SNAP! A WINKY face!" He said dramatically, grinning. "You know what THAT means!"

"Shut up!" I huffed, tossing him his phone.

"If someone uses a winky face, we all know what happens next-" He paused and started thrusting his hips and I laughed, shaking my head at him.

"Whatever!" I walked off to the bedroom, still laughing to myself.

"Ooh baby! A winky face!" I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes at Ronnie as he came in, fanning himself. "Those get me all hot and bothered!"

"You can shut up now." I grumbled. He grinned, laughing and wrapped his arms around my shoulders, pulling me into his chest. "Ohhh, Scarlie...Scarlie, Scarlie, Scarlie..." He chuckled. "I'd hate to be the bastard who uses who uses multiple winky faces, instead of just one like I did."

"I'm never living this down, am I?" I muttered into his chest.

"Nope." He laughed, hugging me tight. I slowly wrapped my arms around his middle, smiling when he started swaying us from side to side.

"Now you love me?" He chuckled. I lifted my head up and smiled. "Only on weekdays." He pretended to looked shocked and offended.

"I am hurt." He pouted. I poked his bottom lip. "Be a man." I grinned.

"So are we all better now? Is da baby Scawee aw bettuw?" I glared as he talked in a baby voice and made kissy faces at me.

"Now you're just being retarded." I pushed him away, grinning. "Actually, you ARE retarded."

"But I'm your retarded!" He exclaimed, putting his hands in the air. "Wait...I mean retard...dammit." He sighed as I started laughing at how stupid he was. "I never win." He grumbled.

***

***1 week later***

I decided to go over to Max's house today to discuss the whole Lexus situation, since we really hadn't talked much since he informed me she was back.

I pulled into the driveway of his house, taking the keys out of the ignition and stepping out of my car. I noticed a black BMW sitting in the driveway, but I figured it was Craig's. He said he was getting a new car soon, anyways.

I knocked on the door, hearing someone walking towards it a few seconds later. My face contorted into a look of shock as Lexus answered it.

"Oh, hey." She smiled, in a sickeningly sweet manner. "Here to see Max?"

It took all I had in me not to start hurling insults at her, and to hurl myself at her. "Yeah." I said, my body becoming stiff. She stepped out of the door way, letting me come in. "In our room."

I noticed the emphasis she put on "our", and I rolled my eyes. I didn't bother to say another word to her, I just stalked into his bedroom. I knocked on the wall when I entered, and he turned around from straightening his hair in the mirror of his dresser, his eyes getting slightly bigger.

"Scarlet?" He asked, sounding confused and slightly nervous. "What're you doing here?"

"I came to talk." I closed the door behind me, narrowing my eyes at him. "What the fuck is she doing here?" I whispered.

".....She, uh..." He scratched the back of his head, smiling a little. "...lives here now." I shook my head at him. "Wow."

"Well, what? What do you want me to do?" He set the flat iron down and walked over to me. "I still love her."

"Why?" I asked, sounding disgusted. He shrugged. "Why do you still love Chris?"

I was floored. He simply raised his eyebrow at me, waiting for my reply. "W-What...?"

"You heard me. I know you still talk to him, and I know you still love him."

"How would you know if I still talked to him?!" I exclaimed.

"I ran into him the other day. We talked, and he told me you two started talking again."

In case you're totally lost here, Chris is my ex-boyfriend. My first boyfriend. My first everything. We started dating when I was 18, it ended when I was 23. It didn't end in a horrible way; he didn't cheat, I didn't cheat. We just started growing apart and we wanted different things. I was ready to marry him, he wasn't ready for that. He wanted to focus on his band, Motionless In White. So, we separated.

"Just because I started talking to him again doesn't mean I want him back." I stated.

"Just because Ronnie talked to Lexus doesn't mean he's gonna cheat." I didn't know what to say at first; I never knew my brother could be so quick and smart with his replies. Hell, I never knew my brother was smart!

"Look, this isn't about me. I wanted to talk about you and Le-"

"Stay out of my relationship." He snapped, his eyes now possessing anger. I blinked and stared at him, wondering where the hell that came from.

"Excuse me?" He rolled his eyes. "Stay out of it. It's nothing you have to worry about. What you should worry about is not fighting in front of your son so often. That's not good for him, and you know that."

"You think I just fight with Ronnie in front of him for the fuck of it?!" I yelled. "I can't help it! And I try to make sure he doesn't see it, I try to put him in another room when I know we're fighting!" I ran my hand through my hair, sighing heavily. "Jesus, Max, this isn't what I came here to talk about," I stressed. "How long has she been back?"

"About a month. We got back together a couple weeks ago, like I said before."

"When did she move in?" My face scrunched up, and he barely chuckled. "When we decided to get back together."

"So she's been here for 2 weeks?" He nodded. "And Ronnie's been here multiple times during that span of 2 weeks?"

"Yes he has. But don't worry!" He put his hands out to stop me from saying anything else. "I was around them when they were in the same room together! I didn't find them fucking each other on my kitchen table!" I glared at him and he scoffed. "Well, jeez. That's automatically what your brain went to when you find out he saw her, wasn't it?"

"No." I shook my head, and he stared at me like I was stupid. "I just...I think I have a right to be nervous when those two are together."

"They won't do anything, Jesus." Max exasperated. "Her and I are together, and you're married to Ronnie. You two have a kid. She knows that. She is not interested in Ronnie anymore, trust me on this one." I glanced around the room. I wanted to trust him about this, and I wanted to trust Ronnie. But I know how she is. And I know that Ronnie can get like that too, if you get what I mean.

"I know Ronnie. And I know he loves you more than anything," Max spoke softly. "and I know he'd die for his little family he's created. He wouldn't do that to you."

"Fine." I mumbled in defeat. I knew there was no point in arguing with him over that, because then he'd launch into his typical speech on how "he's known the dude for over 10 years" and blah blah blah.

"But when she cheats on you with some other dude in a band; don't say I didn't warn you." I warned, pointing my finger at him. He only rolled his eyes. "OK. I won't." I shook my head at him and told him I'd see him later, to which he muttered a "bye" to me. I opened the door, closing it behind me and walked through his place, Lexus making something on the stove. I felt her look at me as I walked towards the door to leave.

"Goodbye!" She called out behind me, and I could hear the sick smirk in her voice.