Infinite

"Atticus, you ruined everything!"

I cringed at my younger sister's accusing words. The couple at the table I was serving raised their eyebrows in confusion and looked at me. I was the only 'Atticus' in the building. "Excuse me for just a moment," I asked of them, clipping my pen to the notepad before I turned around and looked down at the main floor of the restaurant.

Frida stood there with Ronnie trickling into the building behind her, Nico Moon wrapped in his muscly arms. I stepped down the three small stairs and stood in front of my sister, noticing the sympathetic smiles that I was getting from the diners around us.

I smiled sweetly at my sister and rested my hand on her shoulder. She was getting tall enough that she was almost at my height, merely one or two inches shorter than me. "How could I possibly ruin everything in your life, Frida?" I questioned, gripping her shoulder tightly.

She rolled her dark, Gurewitz eyes and pushed my hand off of her. "You sent your boyfriend to my boyfriend's house and now that's all Caleb is going to talk about for months," she said dryly, crossing her arms over her chest.

Ronnie slid past her and rolled his eyes. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss against my mouth. "I didn't even go upstairs," he defended.

Frida lightly shoved his shoulder so that he wasn't standing between us. "No," she answered, "But he texted me and when I mentioned to Caleb that he was there, he started freaking out and demanded that I take him downstairs to meet Ronnie."

I smiled at my youngest sister and pulled her from Ronnie's arms. "Hey, Nic," I greeted softly, bouncing her in my arms. She smiled back at me and scrunched her nose at the sound of Frida's voice rising. I set the little girl on her feet and touched Ronnie's arm when he grabbed the three year old's hand for me.

"Frida." I directed my attention back to her. "You should be thanking Ronnie for picking you up, not yelling at us because Caleb happens to like his band."

"Yeah, okay," she said sarcastically, her gaze sliding between him and I. "Thanks so much for being so famous that I can't escape you anywhere that I go."

"You're welcome," Ronnie replied, shaking his head in amusement at her attitude. "Just don't tell your boyfriend who is picking you up next time."

Frida glared in response.

I managed to herd the three of them to a table in my section. Ronnie lifted Nico into his arms and walked behind me, making sure that Frida was behind him. I took them up the small steps and to the small back room where just a few diners sat, waiting for me to check in on them.

"I'll be right with you," I promise a man who had lifted his hand in the air when he saw me walk in.

I took these three to a booth and motioned for them to have a seat. I walked over to the small closet near the opening to the room and pulled out a wooden high chair for Nico. I dragged it back over to them and watched as Ronnie situated the little girl in the chair.

"I'll be right back, guys," I told them, "Let me go make sure everyone is alright."

Frida glared at me, Nico clapped her small hands together, and Ronnie stood up. I tilted my head to the side in interest as he stepped around Nico's high chair and grabbed my hips with his tattooed hands.

"I'm working," I told him quietly, looking around us at the people who needed to be checked up on. I smiled when he smiled at me, but tried to push it away. "You're going to get me in trouble."

Ronnie shook his head and kissed me softly. "Relax," he said quiet enough that no one else could hear him. I smiled at him and dragged myself away, knowing that if Cody were to walk in he'd make a scene out of calling me out.

"I have to go, babe," I said to Ronnie as I slid out of his grasp, "I have to go tell Stephanie that you're here so she can die happy."

Ronnie smirked. "She's the one who's been wanting to meet me?" he asked. We'd talked about my co-worker when I first starting working here and the young woman figured out who I was. By the time that we'd gotten home from Warped, it seemed that everyone knew that I was Ronnie's girlfriend. And about a month later, they all knew who my father was and what his take on our relationship was.

"Yeah." I nodded. "She's going to die when she sees you."

Ronnie chuckled huskily. "That's all on you, Att."

I grinned and stepped away from him completely. "I can live with that." I ran my fingers through Nico's growing hair before I turned and walked back over to the man that called for my assistance. "What can I do for you?" I questioned brightly.

"We need refills," he replied, pointing to his ice-filled cup and the woman's too.

"Okay, No problem," I said politely, "A Coke and a Sierra-Mist, right?"

The woman answered, "Diet Coke, but yes." She smiled at me as I nodded and grabbed the engraved glass cups from the wooden table.

The restaurant was a beautiful place. The walls were a dark burgundy color with golden trim and accents. There were lamps that hung above each booth. They were red and had been pieced together with stained glass that looked like it belonged in a large church building instead of here in a pizza restaurant. Rich and his wife had done everything they could to make this one of the most memorable and genuine restaurants in this part of the city.

On my way back to the kitchen to refill their drinks, I paused and waited for Stephanie to finish clearing the table she was standing in front of. She turned around with her arms full and stopped when she saw me. "What do you need?" she questioned, getting a better grip on the round, black tray.

"I'm swamped," I replied, sighing and shaking my head. "Could you cover table 12 in the back for me? I've really got to refill table eight's drinks. They've been waiting awhile."

Stephanie nodded easily. "Yeah, no problem," she stated, smiling. She walked away a few steps and then turned back. "Oh, Atticus, did your dad agree to pick up your sister?"

I smiled widely and nodded. "Yeah, don't worry about it. It's all worked out."

"Okay, good," she responded, "That's a relief."

I nodded and smiled secretly when she turned around and headed the way that I'd just come. I hurried into the kitchen and moved to the soda machine so that I could refill the cups. I stuck new straws in new cups and hurried through the front room of the building.

Ronnie stood in front of the table, smiling at the young, blonde woman who stood in front of him with her hand covering her mouth and her eyes wide. The other people in the room stared at the duo with confusion. They weren't inside of the world that we were living in, so they wouldn't understand the big deal about a tattooed man sitting in a pizzeria with a couple of kids. I gave the customers their drinks and offered them a wide smile.

"Surprise!" I cheered when I finally made it back to Ronnie and Steph.

Stephanie turned to me and quickly wrapped her arms around my neck. "This is so surreal," she gushed, pulling away and turning to Ronnie. "Like, I knew you knew him but part of me didn't really believe that he'd ever be standing in front of me!"

I chuckled and shrugged my shoulder. "He's not some toy, Steph!" I laughed. "You can talk to him, you know!"

Stephanie shook her head and looked back at him. "It's so amazing to meet you," she announced, "I am so lucky that I got this job!"

Ronnie and I both chuckled. I lightly smacked Frida's shoulder as she rolled her eyes at the star-struck woman. My sister, having grown up around many famous people, had never really understood what "the big deal" was about meeting celebrity and musicians. And just like today, whenever one of her friends became excited about our father or others that we'd met, she'd become easily annoyed with the celebrity and the friend.

"Atticus, Stephanie, what's going on?"

Ronnie's gaze moved over my shoulder and I paused; the owner of that voice ingrained in my memory. Ronnie took a small step closer to me as Cody Rantum entered the room, smiling politely at the customers who were chowing down on their meals.

Stephanie replied to Cody's question. "Atticus was just introducing me to her family," she divulged.

Cody straightened out the red 'Uno's' shirt that covered his mid-section as he grew closer to us and to Ronnie, who at that moment had to look threatening to a man like Cody Rantum.

Cody was only a few inches taller than my short frame and he looked even smaller next to Ronnie's 6"1 height. Cody's hair was trimmed almost to his skull, leaving less than an inch of length. He wore khaki shorts and tennis shoes that pointed out an obvious personality difference between Ronnie and him.

"Cody," I introduced begrudgingly, wishing he would turn around and leave the room so I didn't have to follow societal protocols, "This is my boyfriend, Ronnie. Ronnie, this is my manager, Cody Rantum."

Ronnie held his hand out to the man he'd heard about before. Cody, having heard about Ronnie just about a half hour ago, looked surprised that this was the man I had been referring to. But he composed himself gracefully and shook Ronnie's hand without any hesitation. "It's nice to meet you," he said.

Ronnie nodded and his arm brushed against mine as he stepped back into place beside me. "You could say that," he answered, pulling his hand back and reaching for mine instead. Cody noticed the gesture and then his eyes darted back to mine.

"How long have you two been together?" he asked, trying to make polite conversation.

"16 months," I replied, smiling at Ronnie who couldn't help but smile too. We celebrated our one year on tour. Ronnie woke me up early in the morning and brought breakfast to the back of the bus, with a little help from Ryan, who actually knew how to cook. We spent the entire day together, attached at the hip. And then, during his show, he pulled me on stage and gave me a 'Falling in Reverse' jacket to go along with the diamond necklace he'd given me earlier in the day.

Cody nodded in reply to the information. He glanced at Stephanie and I awkwardly before he cleared his throat and slid his hands into the pocket of his jeans. "Well, you two need to get back to work soon."

Ronnie cut Stephanie off before she could say anything. "Can we have a moment?" he asked, "They'll check on their tables in a second, I swear, I just need to talk to them both first."

"I really need them to get back to work..." Cody said softly. It was obvious he wanted to say more, but Ronnie had the kind of persona that people didn't usually argue with. Cody didn't seem to catch on. "I wish I could let them both stand around and get paid, but that's not really how Rick runs this place. I'm sorry."

Ronnie rolled his eyes noticeably before he swooped down and kissed my lips. When we pulled away, he didn't let go of my hand and I turned to Cody. "I'm going to take their orders," I said to him firmly.

Stephanie grinned at Ronnie one more time before she turned and headed out of the back room, since this was my territory tonight. Ronnie slid back into the booth and smirked up at me. "What can I get you guys?" I asked, pulling my pen and pad out of the pocket in my apron. I turned to Frida first and pursed my lips, knowing she'd be the hardest to please. "How about a pizza?" I suggested.

Frida leaned her elbows on the table without replying. So I turned my attention to Ronnie and waited for his answer. "Pepperoni and olives?" he asked, quoting my favorite kind of pizza back to me.

"Only if you save me some leftovers," I demanded, my stomach growling at the thought of biting into a saucy, cheese covered green olive covered piece of pizza.

"Deal," Ronnie confirmed.

I wrote their order down, along with their drinks, and took it to the kitchen so that Cole could get started on the pizza while I filled up their cups and made chocolate milk for Nico Moon. I dropped their drinks off at their table and moved on to another table to collect their payment and thank them for the tip before they left.

The dinner crowd kept coming in as the night progressed, and as I bounced around the back, I stopped to take a few bite's off of Ronnie's plate when could. It was a little before seven when I was finishing up. The girls for the next shift were trickling in and groaning simultaneously when they realized that Cody would be staying to supervise their shift too.

Nico Moon was sitting in Ronnie's arms when I came walking out of the back room with my bag and my cell phone tucked into my pocket. The little girl's head was resting on his shoulder with her dark eyelashes resting against her cheeks as she started to doze. "You guys ready to go?" I questioned softly.

Ronnie stood up and gently shifted Nico in his arms. "Grab the leftovers, won't you, Frida?" he asked, offering the 16 year old a smile.

Frida sighed and grabbed the white box from the table as she climbed out of the booth. "Lets just go," she demanded, "I'm ready to go hangout with Max."

"Well then, he's going to have to come get you, Fri," I replied as we walked out of the building.

Frida looked like I'd suggested something completely outrageous. She stopped walking and looked at me as though I was losing my mind. "Max hates L.A!" she exclaimed, "He's not going to drive here to come get me."

I shrugged my shoulders. "Then have Dad come get you because I'm going home and staying there," I told her, walking them to Ronnie's car since mine was parked in the employee parking lot on the side of the building.

Frida was on her cell phone within seconds, dialing our Dad's cell phone number frustratedly. I strapped Nico into the car-seat in Ronnie's back seat, kissed his lips, and told them that I'd see them at home.

"Atticus!" Frida shouted after me, "This isn't fair! Dad's not answering!"

I shrugged my shoulders and waved over my head. I heard her groan in annoyance and I chuckled at the fact that I was leaving Ronnie to deal with my moody, younger sister. He had his own way of handling it, but it was always entertaining to watch him try.