Infinite

"Jacky!" I shouted down the hallway of his house, yelling over the noise of the people in the building and the attempts at music that were coming from the garage and making their way through the open door into the house.

The quiet man poked his head out of one of the bedrooms, his eyebrows raised in question. His hair poked out over his signature bandana and his tattoos were bright against his dark clothing. He stood up straight and stepped into the hall.

"Where's the rest of the drinks!?" I questioned loudly, catching the attention of some of the people around us. I smiled apologetically for screaming in their ears and stepped closed to Jacky.

"Fridge in the garage," he called down to me, offering me a smile before he disappeared back into his bedroom to finish getting ready.

I sighed in relief, thankful that he didn't forget to buy them. I squeezed back through the hall and set my things down on the kitchen counter to take a small break and catch my breath. I smiled at a couple as they slid past me. A blonde woman smiled back brightly, her eyes trailing over me a bit longer than was necessary.

"Sorry for staring," she apologized when she saw me looking back at her. She brushed her bangs out of her face and came over formally. "It's just that I've heard so much about you, but I've never actually met you until now." She glanced back to the man she'd been with when he came back to her side.

I kept a smile on my face even though I couldn't figure out who she was. "I'm Atticus," I introduced, holding my hand out to her, "I'm sorry, I don't know your name."

"No, you wouldn't," she replied, shaking my hand eagerly, "I worked on Warped Tour for a little while this summer. I was more behind the scenes though. My name is Elley."

"You were on Warped?" I questioned, not recognizing her or her name at all, "How did you hear of me?" I crossed my arms as I leaned against the counter, trying to remember if I'd seen her at any point or if I'd even heard her name in our immediate circle.

"I was helping my brother with the technical side of things," she clarified, "we were mostly on stage when no one else was around."

"You're Jay's sister?" I questioned, remembering him much more than I remembered her.

"Yeah!" She nodded. "I was only on the tour half the time because of some family things, but I heard a lot about you from everyone who met you. They all loved you and had a lot of great things to say."

I nodded with a smile on my lips, remembering the great faces from this summer. "Well, thanks for coming," I said cheerfully, "I'm going to need witnesses when Ronnie gets here and realizes that I threw him a party even though he told me not to."

She laughed softly and waved her hand in the air like what I was saying was ridiculous. "I'm sure he'll secretly love it," she denied, shaking her head, "What men don't love having a day all to themselves?"

"You tell me," I replied, grinning. I glanced into the living room as Derek started shouting my name from near the garage door. I frowned at the man. "I have to go," I said, trying to figure out what Derek wanted, "I'm being paged."

"I'm glad I finally met you," Elley said politely, smiling widely at me, "I'll talk to you later, Atticus."

"See you later," I replied before I turned and rounded the counter into the living room. Derek stood in the doorway of the garage, a cell phone held to his ear as he shouted at someone.

"What's going on?" I asked, stepping down the single step into the garage.

Derek pulled the phone from his ear, ignoring whoever was on the other line as he answered my question. "Ryan says that Ronnie refuses to leave the apartment," he stated, a dull expression on his face since Ronnie's stubbornness was no surprise, "I'm guessing he knows and is planning on boycotting."

"Send Nasty over there to carry him to the car," I demanded, crossing my arms over my chest, "He's on his way here. Just call him and tell him to make a pit stop."

Derek sighed loudly. "You know that your fiancé is impossible, right?" he asked me before he relayed my directions to Ryan on the other end of the phone.

I patted his shoulder comfortingly. "I know," I stated, "but he tends to listen to me more than he listens to you lot."

Derek shouted at Ryan on the other end and then ended the call with a loud groan. When he saw he had my attention, he tossed me the phone. "You call Nasty," he demanded, "I'm done. I don't love Ronnie enough for this bull."

I laughed at the obvious lie but agreed to call Nason anyway. I scrolled through Derek's contacts and clicked on the name and picture of the man who was the band's bassist for about three seconds and who also happened to be one of my favorite people in Los Angeles. The phone rang only a couple times before Nasty answered.

"What the fuck do you want, Derek?" he asked typically, "I'm trying to drive."

"Actually," I replied, "it's not Derek."

Nasty's mood changed drastically when he realized who it was that was bothering him. "Mrs. Radke!" he shouted into the phone, his voice cheerful, "Why the hell are you calling me?"

"Hey Nason, good to hear from you too," I replied, rolling my eyes at the man's malleable attitudes.

"Yeah, yeah," he stated offhandedly, "What do you want?"

"I need you to stop by my apartment and get Ronnie's ass out of the house," I told him, knowing that he'd be up for the challenge, "Since it's his birthday, he's obviously figured out why I'm not there and he's refusing to get in the car, so if you could be a doll and drag his ass over here, I'll be forever grateful."

Nasty laughed on the other line. "That sounds like his stubborn ass."

I nodded at Derek, letting him know that Nasty would do it, before I headed back into the house among the guests and replied. "Just get him here," I demanded, "I'll see you in a twenty minutes?"

"I'll tranquilize the man if I have to," he stated, laughing as he pictured how he was going to get Ronnie here when the singer was adamant that he wasn't showing up to his own birthday party.

"Thanks, Nas," I replied, grateful to have someone on my side that was always one for challenges. "See you in a little bit." I hung up the phone after he called his goodbyes and pocketed it, knowing that Derek didn't care if I brought it back to him right away.

I walked around groups of people, most I knew but some I didn't, who were waiting for Ronnie to show up to his own party. Jacky in Ron were in Jacky's bedroom, messing around with the present that I bought Ronnie for his birthday. They were supposed to have it boxed and wrapped just before he got here, but they'd been spending too much time playing with it to even do as they were told.

"Jacky, Ron!" I shouted through the door, knocking my knuckles against the wood, "Is it ready? Nason is dragging Ronnie over here soon and I don't want him to find it before he's allowed to open it!"

Ron opened the door barely six inches and poked his head out. "What?" he asked innocently, offering me a smile, "Yeah, yeah. We're almost done."

I rolled my eyes at him and at what I could see of Jacky over his shoulder. "You two," I sighed, "get it done!"

"Yes, ma'am." Ron saluted and slammed the door. On the other side, I heard Jacky laugh adorably at one of his jokes. I walked back through the kitchen and checked the cooler. It was more than half-way empty so I slid past the growing number of people in Jacky and Ryan's living room. "Hey everyone," I greeted as I walked to the garage door, "thanks for coming. Ronnie will be here as soon as Nasty drags his ass to the car."

Most of the people in the room chuckled and nodded their heads.

"For those of you that don't know me," I added, seeing a few unfamiliar faces in the room, "I'm Atticus, Ronnie's girlfriend."

"Fiancée!" Derek shouted to the group as he brushed past me with a case of soda in his hands. He came out of the garage and headed to the kitchen, doing my job for me. I loved him even more than I already did.

"He's right," I admitted, grinning at the people who called out their congratulations. Jenn walked over and wrapped her arms around my waist, pretending to discreetly steal a glance at the ring that Ronnie bought me. I laughed as she pretended to be blinded by the diamond. "It's not so big that it's gaudy!" I exclaimed, shoving the girl's shoulders so she'd get away from me.

She laughed. "It's beautiful," she said honestly, "I'm just playing with you Atticus." She moved back over and sloppily pulled me into her arms again.

The guests grouped back into their usual circles and continued the conversations they were having. I managed to slip out of Jenn's grasp and head into the kitchen to make sure Derek put the drinks in the ice. I smiled when he was in there doing it right away.

"You're the more productive one today," I stated, patting his back, "Maybe I should've given you all the tasks instead of splitting them between the four of you. They sure would've gotten done faster."

Derek finished getting the rest of the cans on ice and stood up straight. "Honestly, I don't know if I would've been working very hard if you left me in a room with Ronnie's gift, either," he said, grinning.

"It's the only thing he really wanted," I said, knowing that Ryan and Jacky probably still hadn't managed to get it ready to be 'opened'. "I didn't know what else to get him. I just hope he doesn't become as useless as Jack and Ron when he sees it."

"It's a good move," Derek replied, moving the cooler closer to the wall so that people wouldn't trip over it, "Ronnie is going to love it, Atti."

"I hope," I stated, rubbing my hands on my jeans, "I know that it's a big move, but I figured it's not as big of a deal as getting engaged."

"That's true." He nodded and pushed himself up on to the counter. "I mean, this will definitely prepare you to be parents."

I didn't exactly blush at the idea of being a parent, but I grinned and ran my hands over my face, pushing the idea away. "That's not going to happen for a long time," I said, shaking my head, "I'm not really into the idea of pushing a baby out of me any time soon."

"I don't blame you," Derek replied, grimacing at the image, "I wouldn't want to either."

I chuckled. "If Ronnie could have my babies, then sure, I'd consider it," I added, "but until less that day comes soon, we're not having any kids for a while."

Derek nodded understandingly. "You guys are still young," he replied, "I don't think you should even worry about having kids right now. Just focus on being together."

I smiled softly at his words and nodded my head. "This feels like the first time we've been just the two of us in a long time," I said honestly, "between the tour and having my sister all the time, it's never just us."

"How long have you two been kid free?"

"About a week," I said with a laugh, knowing it wasn't very long in comparison to other couples without children. But Ronnie and I weren't like other couples. Between my famous dad and his famous band, we were just different. Neither of our families were conventional and that put a lot of pressure on both of us to be there for the people who needed us, even if we were arguing with them about life decisions.

Jacky and Ron came out of the bedroom, struggling to carry a large, wrapped present between them. "Atti, where do you want this?" Ron questioned, calling into the open kitchen at me as he tried to hold onto it.

I glanced between the counter and the cupboards into the living room. "Near the window." I motioned in the general direction of the huge front window and the large flat screen TV that sat in front of it. "I want it to be right up front when he walks in."

Jacky's eye caught something outside the window as they gently set my present down on the ground. "That'll be real soon," the British man said, catching my eye as his widened.

The car doors slammed in the driveway and Nasty and Ronnie could be heard shouting at each other. I wiggled my eyebrows at our guests as they went silent. "Here comes the very stubborn birthday boy," I called in a sing-song voice.

In seconds, Nasty was bursting through the door with a riled up Ronnie trailing behind him and a blatantly annoyed Ryan bringing up the rear. Ronnie scanned the crowd until his eyes met mine, then he made a direct b-line to me.

"Hey, baby," I greeted, a cocky smile on my lips, "Happy birthday."

Ronnie glanced at the people all around us. "Atti," he greeted simply, "I'm guessing all of this is for me."

I nodded, smiling. "Before you tell me and everyone that you didn't want a party, just know that the only way you're getting your present from me is if you stay," I stated, watching as our friends smiled around the room.

Ronnie looked at me suspiciously as our friends laughed at his reaction. "What is it?" he questioned, glancing around for any sign of it. My plan had been for him to see it when he walked in, but he'd been so determined to find me among everyone else that he paid no mind to the huge wrapped box sitting in the front of the room, despite the noise that was coming from it.

I glanced over his left shoulder and he turned, following my gaze. He lightened up when he saw the present. He glanced back to me with a smile on his face. Finally, he addressed all his friends. "Hey everyone," he said with a smile on his face, "thanks for coming out."

There were cheers from around the room.

"If you don't mind," Ronnie said, frowning as the sounds continued from the box, "I'm going to open my fiancée's lovely present before it explodes or something."

Another few chuckles around the room as the excited man moved over to his present. By the look on his face, I knew that he knew, but it didn't matter. He dropped to his knees and tore the wrapping paper off, exposing a black and grey dog container.

"Shit, Att, you didn't," he stated, turning the large "cage" around so he could see through the metal cage door. He grinned even wider when he came face to snout with a black, male Pitt Bull, complete with a collar that was made to look like a link chain.

I walked between our friends and over to my boyfriend as he kneeled on the floor, sticking his fingers between the holes towards his new dog. "Ron, you can open it up," I told him, patting his shoulder with my hand, "I'm sure he wants to come out and get his new name."

"You haven't named him yet?" Ronnie's dark eyes shot back to mine.

"He's yours, you get to name him," I replied, leaning down so I could wrap my arms around his neck from behind. "Happy birthday, birthday boy," I whispered into his ear, blushing when the crowd cheered as he kissed me.

"All right, knock it off," Ronnie laughed when we stopped kissing, "or I'll sick my Pitt on you." He opened the cage and coaxed the dog out. The black puppy slowly walked out of the cage, a little freaked out about the whole wrapping paper ordeal. "Come on, man," Ronnie coaxed, "let me check you out."

I left Ronnie and his dog alone and headed back to the kitchen to get started on finishing lunch for everyone in the house. I'd initially planned on ordering something from a restaurant, but when I realized that it was going to be much cheaper to make it myself, I opted out of ordering in, especially when Jenn offered to help.

When I walked into the kitchen, Jenn was already getting started. She and I had brought everything we needed over to the boys' house earlier in the day and started this morning so we wouldn't be rushed when we were supposed to eat.

Ronnie travelled around the living room, calling the dog by different names, apparently trying to figure out which one sounded best to the both of them.

"Gosh, he's like a kid on Christmas," Jenn commented, watching Ronnie as he laughed and talked with his pals.

I nodded, rolling the hamburger meat into patties. "Despite all his whining, I'd new he'd love it once he got here," I replied.

"You two are fucking perfect for each other," she stated, shaking her head at our relationship, "I don't even know how you two managed to find each other."

I grinned at her. "It's a combination of rock bands and a record label," I told her. "Add in an angry father, a daughter, and a lead singer and you've got your story."

"I'd really like to hear that story sometime," Jenn said honestly. "Nobody has managed to tell it to me yet."

I finished up the burgers and started on another food. "Really?" I asked, genuinely surprised that Ryan hadn't at least mentioned our story to her, "I figured since we're getting married that the story would be all over the internet."

"You've probably got your own Wikipedia page by now," she replied jokingly, although there was some truth to it.

I shook my head, biting my bottom lip between my teeth. "There's no way," I murmured, "Jacky doesn't even have his own yet and he's fucking brilliant."

"The internet should really get on that," she replied jokingly, "Ryan has had his own Wiki page for a long time now."

The two of us worked together to get the food out while our friends and the guys' hung out in the living room and played with the yet nameless dog. Nasty kept circling the living room and coming back to small kitchen to sit on the counter and ask if he could have a snack earlier than everyone else.

"Nason, you get out of here," I demanded, trying to shove him off of the counter top, "There's not enough room in here for you."

He glanced at the narrow kitchen. "Why didn't you have this at your guys' place?" he questioned, seeming to insinuate that our kitchen was bigger, which it was by a landslide. Our entire apartment was basically the side of Ryan and Jacky's house, besides the basement, garage, and backyard.

"It's an apartment building," I told him, smacking his hand away from my plate of summer sausage and cheese. "We can't have a party without bothering the neighbors. "

"Who gives a shit about the neighbors?" he questioned, rolling his eyes like consideration was the dumbed concept he could imagine.

"Get out of here," I demanded again, shoving him away, "Go bother someone who actually cares about you." I turned away from the black and white haired man, turning my back on him as I moved back to the food on the opposite counter.

He laughed loudly at my mean words and pushed off of the counter. His arms wrapped around my waist and he picked me up, practically squeezing the life out of me. "Nasty!" I laughed as he spun me around quickly, "There's not enough room for this!"

He set me on my feet and backed away, probably hoping that I'd be dizzy enough to fall over or something. When he walked by, I shoved his shoulder and ducked behind Jenn when he turned back around to face me. "Get out of here!" I demanded, laughing through my words, "Go mess with the birthday boy."

Nason looked at me like I was crazy. "I had enough quality time with Ronnie when I tried dragging him out of your apartment," he stated, crossing his arms where he stood on the edge of the kitchen, "He's not fun when he's acting like a grumpy seven old who just happens to know a lot of curse words."

"He's in a better mood now," I offered, glancing between the cupboards and the counter at the man who sat on the couch, trying to yank the dog onto the leather with him.

Nasty glanced towards the singer. "Why the hell didn't you go get him?" he asked, "He's obviously wrapped around your finger."

I playfully rolled my eyes. "Just go," I stated, shaking my head, "You can come back when the food is done. Until then, stop bothering me." I turned my back on him again and walked over to my spot near the sink, smiling at Jenn as she glanced between Nason and I. He walked off finally, leaving us to finish cooking.

The atmosphere was light and everyone was all smiles around the room. Jenn and I talked as we cooked, not just about what we had in common, but also about we didn't. I started in on the story about how Ronnie and I met, and she mentioned that she'd tell me about her a Ryan once I was done.

On the other side of the room, Ronnie was actually enjoying himself, just like I knew he would once he finally made his way here. He seemed to forget about his aversion to getting older and focus on being with his friends and his family once they arrived.

He came into the kitchen when the food was almost done, calling his dog by yet another name to get the little puppy to follow him. "Hey, babe," he greeted, leaning against the counter next to me, "Thanks for him." He nodded towards the nameless dog. "And for all of this."

I leaned over and kissed him softly, glad that he was enjoying himself. Ronnie's hands moved to my waist and I glanced over his shoulder, making sure his guests were pre-occupied before he deepened the kiss. I cupped his jaw with my hands and rubbed my fingers against his cheeks.

"Well, what the hell is going on in here?"

I blushed and dropped my forehead to Ronnie's shoulder. Ronnie chuckled and reached out to shake hands with his father, letting the man pull him into a hug. "Hey, Pops," he greeted, hugging his father back.

"Hey, son," he replied, patting his son's back, "Happy birthday, Ron." Russell turned to me and smiled widely, moving past his sons to embrace me in a hug. "If it isn't my favorite daughter-in-law," he greeted warmly.

"Hey, Russell," I replied, hugging him tightly, "Thanks for coming."

"Wouldn't miss it," he stated, smoothing my hair down when he pulled away from me, "I brought the boys along, if that's all right."

"Where are they?" I asked since the four of them weren't in the house. "Did you leave them outside?" I questioned incredulously, trying to look out of the huge front window to see if I could see the four young boys.

"Hell yes, I did," Russell replied like it was no big deal but a great idea, "I was not about to bring four messy boys into Jacky and Ryan's house until they'd signed a waiver."

I laughed and lightly pushed his arm. "I'll go get them," I told them both, shaking my head at Ronnie's father's antics. I left the kitchen with Ronnie's puppy following me towards the door. I snapped my fingers to get him to come all the way. "Ronnie," I called back to him, stealing his attention away from his father, "Where's the puppy's new leash?" I asked when he looked at me.

"In the cage," he told me, pointing towards the plastic cage near the TV.

I grabbed the leash and hooked it on to the little dog's chain link collar. He eagerly followed me towards the door. When I pushed the glass door open, four brunette boys stood on the front lawn, their eyes widening when they saw the dog and I headed their way.

"Atticus!" the youngest shouted. He took off across the grass towards me. "You have a dog!"

"James!" I greeted, holding him up with one arm when he jumped onto me, "It's good to see you again, man." I hooked my arm under his legs as the other three came barreling in my direction.

"When did you and Ronnie get a dog?!" Tanner asked as he dropped onto his knees in front of the puppy. His brothers followed his lead, their jeans already dirtied by the soft ground.

"He's Ronnie's birthday present," I told them, handing Devin the leash. I hitched James a little higher in my arms and nodded towards the house. "Do you guys want to come in? I don't know why your Grandpa left you outside."

Nolan stood up and crossed his arms. "He said that we're messy," he explained, looking in through the front window at all the people. "He wanted to ask before he let us in."

I rolled my eyes playfully. "Lets leave the puppy out here for a little while and go inside." I tied the puppy up so he could do his business and trucked all four of the boys into the house. James scrambled down from my arms and followed his older brothers in search of their uncle. I watched the dark haired boys disappear into the crowds and I headed back into the kitchen. Ronnie grinned at me as he crouched behind the counters, obviously hiding from his nephews.

"You're such a trouble-maker," I muttered, running my fingers through his hair as I moved past him, pretending he wasn't there for the sake of his nephews not being able to find him.

He peaked over the counter top and dropped back down when he saw James and Devin heading in our direction. I paid no mind to their antics and I went back to finishing the food, fending off Nason once again as he tried to foil Ronnie's hiding spot.