Infinite

"Well don't you look beautiful."

I looked up from the stairs where I was watching my step and grinned at the man standing at the bottom. "Nason," I cheered, hurrying down the last three steps, "You're so sweet." I wrapped my arms around the man's shoulders and his went around my waist.

"I try," he chuckled, helping me down the last step, "How have you been, Atti?"

"Pretty good," I replied simply, allowing him to lead me through the groups of people who had gathered in my house. A lot of them I knew, but a few I didn't. I smiled at the familiar faces and followed Nas into the kitchen. Ronnie stood leaning against the counter. The band loitered around him as they all chatted with some friends.

"Ron, I found something that belongs to you," Nason said to the dark haired man with a cheeky smile on his face. Nason wrapped his arms around my waist and dropped his chin onto his shoulders, wiggling his eyebrows at Ronnie as the singer turned around.

"Nasty, get your hands off my girl," Ronnie grumbled, rolling his eyes at us as I leaned into him.

"I don't know, man," Nas replied, "she seems to be pretty into me."

I chuckled and pushed away from the man. I walked up to Ronnie and leaned against his side instead, grinning at the familiar and unfamiliar faces around the kitchen. "Hi, I'm Atticus," I introduced to the couple across the island from us.

"I'm Mattie and this is Clark," the woman introduced, touching the man's arms, "We're friends of the band."

"Really?" I asked, glancing up at Ronnie's eyes, "I thought I'd met most of the couples that Ronnie knows."

"They're friends from Epitaph," Ronnie added, "I'm surprised you guys hadn't met seeing as you've been spending a lot of time over there lately, trying to get everything set up for when you start."

The group around us shifted as some left the kitchen and some grabbed more drinks. A few people came in to get drinks and snacks and others left to dance or chat with friends. The couple across from us shifted against each other and looked surprised at the mention of me being at Epitaph. "You work at the record label?" Clark asked for the both of them, "Is that how you two met?"

I grinned at the mention of our "meet cute". Everyone we associated with on an average day knew our story (as did many fans), so it was foreign to come across someone who had no idea how we got together. "Yeah, kind of," I said with a nod, "My father owns the place so I used to be there all the time between working there."

"Oh my gosh, I remember now," Mattie exclaimed, covering her hands with her face, "You're Brett's daughter. I remember hearing your story through the grapevine awhile back."

"You did?" I questioned, glancing up at Ronnie. "What 'grapevine'?"

"The Epitaph grapevine," she replied with a smile, "A few people were talking about how lucky Ronnie was to end up with a beautiful woman like you."

I grinned and thanked her. "So, you two are musicians?" I asked, wondering if they were in a family band or something. I wondered what kind of music they made together if they were on the Epitaph label.

"Yes, that's what brought us together when we were in high school," Clark explained, grinning at his girlfriend, "We joined a band together and have been making music ever since."

"Originally we met through a mutual friend who wanted to start a band," Mattie said, "We never met to fall for each other. It just sort of happened." She laughed as she recalled their younger years.

"It seems like that's the best way for it to happen," I replied, knowing that was the truth of our own story, "Sometimes it just sneaks up on you and your life is never the same."

I blushed as the room around me jokingly "awed", the band leading the group. I glared at the men and pressed my cheek against Ronnie's chest as he told them all to shut up.

As they all went back to their own conversations, Ronnie's tattooed hands went to my hips and my arms went around his shoulders. "Lets go dance." He nodded towards the living room where music was playing loudly.

I nodded. "Before my baby brother shows up," I agreed, taking his hand, "Because once he gets here we're completely innocent towards each other."

Ronnie groaned loudly and we moved towards the center of the dancing couples. Ronnie pulled me against his body and pressed his fingers into my sides. "I'm pretty sure your 'baby brother' isn't innocent like you want him to be," he murmured with a hint of laughter in his voice, "I'm sure he doesn't think we're completely innocent either."

"Ew," I groaned, shaking the thoughts out of my head, "Please don't talk about Maxie like that. He's forever going to be my celibate baby brother and he'll always imagine me the same way."

"Please," Ronnie muttered, "With a girl like Kasey, your brother hasn't been innocent for a long time."

I elbowed the singer in the stomach and glared at him. He groaned softly and let go of me to wrap his arms over his stomach. "Seriously, Att?" he asked rhetorically, catching some attention from the people around us.

"Don't ever imply that my brother has sex," I demanded, hearing a few chuckles around the room.

Ronnie stood up and smoothed down his shirt gently. "Alright, fine," he grumbled, "Just don't injure me again."

"Okay," I agreed. I wrapped my arms around his neck and smiled at him softly, already missing these moments together. Tomorrow would be a new year and we would be apart for most of it, starting in February. "I'm going to miss you," I murmured as a slow song came on.

Ronnie's eyes softened and he nodded, his bottom lip slightly between his teeth. "I'll miss you too, Atti," he replied, cupping my jaw in the palm of his hand, "But you don't have to stay here all the time. You can still fly out for a few days at a time."

I nodded and cupped his neck with my hands, my fingers covering the tattoos that were etched there. I pushed up on my toes and pressed my lips against his. His hair fell down and tickled the backs of my hands and my cheek, but I paid no mind as my mouth pressed against his.

"God, Atticus. You two have to do that on the dance floor?"

I pulled away quickly and embarrassed, but grinned at the woman standing behind me. "Heather, Aiden," I greeted, wrapping the blonde in a hug, "How have you been? How is Kyat?"

"We've been really good," she answered as we pulled away, "I mean, it's only been 16 days since we've seen you last, but they've been a pretty good couple of weeks. Kyat is still sleeping through the night most nights."

"That's great," I replied, "He's honestly the most adorable little thing I've seen in a long time."

"But that doesn't mean we don't want a night away from him," Aiden said with a grin, glancing around at the large group of people in the house and then back to us. "Ronnie, how have you been, man? Tonight's a pretty big deal for the band, huh?"

Ronnie shook Aiden's hand and nodded with an excited and proud grin on his face. "Oh yeah, we've got fans around the world waiting up for the album release."

"Man, that must be a lot of pressure," Aiden responded, shaking his head at the thought.

Ronnie nodded but didn't look worried at all. "Yeah, of course you always want people to like your stuff, but we are so proud of this album that it wouldn't matter if everyone hated it, we would still feel this way about it."

"That's the way it should be," Heather replied with a firm nod, "A band shouldn't release an album just to make people like it, they should release it because they're proud of it."

I patted Ronnie's stomach. "That's these guys," I said, quickly glancing around the room for the other band members. "Well, you guys have fun tonight. No baby and no worries."

"That sounds wonderful," Heather replied, taking her husband's hand, "We're excited to hear some of the album."

They walked off towards the kitchen for snacks and drinks while Ronnie and I headed towards the door to let in another group of guests. When Ronnie saw it was my brother, Max, he groaned under his breath. I shot him a warning look and pulled Max into a hug.

"I'm glad you guys came," I said to him and Kasey, "You need to live it up while you still can. College is going to control your entire lives if you let it."

Kasey and Max shared a grin. "We won't let it," Kasey answered, taking my brother's hand. "We enjoy having fun too much."

"Well go on," I demanded, motioning towards the crowds of people inside, "Go have some fun. Just stay away from the liquor." I gave the teenagers a hard look as they grinned and walked past Ronnie and I.

"Hey, everyone, listen up!"

Mine and Ronnie's head snapped towards the kitchen entryway as Derek called for everyone's attention. He looked at us and met Ronnie's eye before he nodded towards the clock near the stairs. Both of our eyes saw it and Ronnie grinned, heading to take his spot next to Derek. He grabbed my hand and dragged me along.

"Hey everyone!" Ronnie greeted as we headed to Derek, "Thanks for coming tonight. Whether it was for the band, the party, or the free alcohol, it still means the same to the guys and I."

The crowd laughed at Ronnie's lame joke.

"Well, it's almost time for the album to stream, so we're going to sign into Twitter on the TV and show some live tweets while we have a good time." He moved over to the internet capable TV and signed into his Twitter, rather than the band's. He had told me earlier that he wasn't worried about the reviews, but the way he quickly pulled his eyes away from the screen told me he was a bit nervous to see his fans' thoughts.

"Alright, go get it," I demanded, pushing him away from the TV by his hips, "You can't show us what people think and not even let us hear it for ourselves."

Ronnie grinned and went to grab the disc. The guys from the band moved closer to the TV and scanned their eyes over Ronnie's "Mentions" feed. The number at the top was climbing and one refresh was all would take to show the boys what people thought of their songs.

Ronnie excitedly tromped down the stairs with a single disc in his hand. It was the same as what was streaming on their website and what just went on sale all over the world. Ronnie opened the Xbox and stuck the disk in the hardly used gaming system.

"You all ready?" he asked, holding the controller in his hand, his finger poised on the button that would play the CD.

Everyone cheered and I nervously clasped my hands together. It came from Ronnie, so I knew I would love it, but his recent change in attire and style had made me wonder what drastic change his music had gone in. While I'd heard bits and pieces through out the months, I hadn't been privy to much more than his fans.

I watched the faces of those around us as the album played. Some danced as best they could to the sounds, some analyzed it, and some just listened, taking in the new style of Falling in Reverse and trying to make up their mind about it. After hearing the single that Ronnie was proud of but others didn't love, the album was a different, but pleasant, surprise to a lot of people, myself included.

In my younger years I'd never been a fan of rap, outside of Eminem, but when combined with some of Ronnie's songs, I saw myself enjoying it and loving Ronnie's idea of combining two things he loved into one.

Ronnie wrapped his arms around my waist quickly and pulled me against him. "What do you think?" he asked, his eyes wide and excited.

"It's so different," I said first, brushing his messy hair out of his face, "but I think it's in a good way. There has never been anything like this at all, so I'm proud of you for having the guts to do what you want with your music, Baby."

"This is so fucking strange, man," Davey Jones said as he came up behind Ronnie and I, "I can't tell what the hell you're trying to do, but there's some good shit on here."

"Thanks," Ronnie replied, hugging the man back, "Seriously. It means a lot." Ronnie glanced towards the TV stand behind our friend. "Grab the case, will you? There's some stuff I want you both to read."

Davey handed the CD case to Ronnie, who handed it to me with a smile on his face. While it wasn't a shy smile, it was soft and caring. I took the case with him on it opened it up so I could slid the CD booklet out of its spot.

"Flip to the back," Ronnie instructed, doing it for me before I could, "Here." He handed it back to me with the book open to the "thank yous" page.

I held the book up so I could read Ronnie's section. He thanked the label, his producer, and even my father. Farther down he thanked Davey, the band, and then I saw my name.

"I want to thank the woman who has shown me so much and who has always stuck by my side. She's the reason I'm in the place I'm at and I feel as though none of this would be possible without her support and love. For Atticus, it'd give it all up, but because she is who she is, I know she would never ask me to. I love you, Atticus, and I'm looking forward to our infinity together.

I held the book in one hand and dropped that arm to my side. My other arm wrapped around Ronnie's neck and pulled him down to me. "I love you," I said before I kissed him, pressing the CD booklet against his back as I held him to me.

I stood back and handed the book to Davey, who held his hands up in defense and wouldn't take it from me. "Woah, if you said something nice about me, don't expect me to kiss you."

Ronnie pushed the CD case into his chest and rolled his eyes at his best friend. "Come on, man, just read it," he grumbled, shaking his head at the goofball. "Put it back under there when you're done." Ronnie took my hand and told Davey that we'd talk to him later.

"Where are we going?" I asked as he led me towards the stairs. Since it was a small second floor, nobody had made their way up there except us and I was grateful that our friends knew to respect my privacy and stay out of my room.

"Just come on," Ronnie demanded, yanking me up the stairs, "Walk now, ask questions later." He led me into my bedroom and kicked the door shut with the heel of his shoe. I laughed as he wrapped his arms around my waist and lifted my feet from the ground.

"Ronnie, what are you doing?" I asked as he carried me over to the bed, "You're going to wrinkle my dress and mess up my hair."

"You look amazing either way," he replied as he laid me on the bed and covered my body with his own, his lips attaching to my neck.

I pushed his hair off of his cheek and closed my eyes, loving the feel of his mouth on my skin. "Baby, we've got under twenty minutes until the count down," I informed him, having caught a look at the clock on the nightstand, "If we don't get down there before it starts then someone will come looking for us."

His hand moved up my leg under my dress and rested on my bare stomach. "Atticus," he whined softly, his breath hitting my neck, "You don't really want to go down there."

I put my hand on his, the fabric of my dress between us before he could lower his fingers. "Yes, I do," I claimed, causing him to press his face into the purple comforter that covered my bed.

He said something that got muffled against the blanket. His hand moved under mine so I pressed it against my stomach to stop him. "I said 'okay'," he said clearly when he lifted his head, "Let go and we can go downstairs." He moved his hand to rest it on my stomach, only innocently on top of my dress instead of under it.

I rested my hand on his exposed shoulder and smiled at the man. "I didn't say we had to go back right away," I murmured, moving my fingers across his shoulder to cup his neck, "Just that we weren't starting anything right now." I leaned forward and pressed my mouth against his, not caring that my lipstick would probably smudge against his lips.

He slowly parted my lips and rolled so that his body was pressing mine into the bed and the blankets. I took a labored breath as he moved his mouth to my neck. "No marks," I said, reminding us both of our earlier days of hiding our relationship from my father.

He nodded, his warm breath hitting my neck and causing a chill to run up my spine. He pressed his hot mouth up my neck and along my jaw before his lips touched mine again, his left hand moving up my side and his right tangling in my hair.

"You're so beautiful," he breathed, "Oh, fuck, Atti, you're so beautiful."

I pushed his hair back and kissed him hard. "We have to go downstairs," I murmured, opening my eyes to check the clock, "Ten minutes and counting."

"Forget out the countdown," he complained as he pressed his forehead against my shoulder, "It'll be twenty-thirteen even if we don't celebrate it."

"We're celebrating it," I stated, pushing on his shoulder, "So get up and lets go downstairs to be with our friends."

Ronnie got up and fixed his clothes so that people wouldn't be able to tell that we were making out in my bed. I checked my hair in the mirror on my closet and smoothed down my dress. We debated on leaving the room at different times but then realized that would be more suspicious than inconspicuous, so we walked downstairs hand in hand as Jacky switched the TV from Twitter to the news, showing a replay of the ball dropping in New York.

"We've got about six minutes to go until we're beginning a new year, so guys grab your girls and everyone solidify their resolutions, because two thousand and twelve is coming to a close."

Around us, the room split into couples and the singles watched with adoration. I wrapped my arms around Ronnie's waist and he draped an arm over my shoulders.

"Ten!

"I love you."

"Nine!

"I love you too."

"Eight!"

"I can't wait to spend the rest-"

"Seven!

"- of my life with you, even if it -"

"Six!

"- means we'll have to be apart."

"Five!

"Four!"

I wrapped my arms around his neck and his dropped to my hips. His nose brushed against my cheek as the room shouted, "Three! and everyone considered their futures and the upcoming year.

"Two!"

Our bodies pressed together and his lips hovered over mine, waiting.

"One! Happy New Year!"

We kissed for the last and first time of the year. It wasn't like the hurried kissed upstairs, it was slow and gentle, it reminded me of the past and inspired hopes for our future at the same time. I kissed Ronnie with my fingers in his hair and my chest pressed against his, our literal hearts just inches away from one another.

"Happy new year," Ronnie whispered against my cheek.