Infinite

Jett and his band took to the stage after that. The room around them was boisterous as they set up, everyone in full-blown celebration mode. Ronnie and I moved to stand along the back wall as Arch dozed in my arms, too tired to even be excited any longer. I wanted to take Arch home soon but seeing how thrilled the boys were to have Ronnie watch them play, I kept my thoughts to myself. But when Ronnie wandered over to the stage door to check it out, I went back into the band's room to let Arch sleep without the noise of the crowd.

After staying with him for a good ten minutes, I made sure he was comfortable as he slept and stepped out of the room, closing the door tightly behind me. Nobody ever entered the room besides the band, but even so it would be easy to keep the door in sight to see exactly who was going in and out.

The younger band had disappeared from the stage, so I assumed they were finishing up before they came out to play. Ronnie had reappeared at one of the tables, so I walked over and wrapped my arms around his neck from behind, causing him to look straight up at me, interrupting the conversation he was having with another guy. "Where's Arch?" he asked, glancing around the room behind him.

"Sleeping on the couch," I explained as Ronnie pulled me around to sit on his lap. I chuckled at our position, moved into my own seat, and smiled at the stranger across from us. "I'm Atticus," I introduced, holding my hand out to the older man.

He grinned and nodded. "I'm Travis, Evan's father, so I know who you are. We're very lucky to have met you, Ms. Gurewitz. I hope to see you back here often. We consider you almost like family, now."

"I'm just doing my job." I laughed, smiling at his proud expression, "We'll probably come by some time, but Ronnie's leaving for tour soon so I won't have a lot of free time once he's gone."

"What're you talking about?"

The three of us looked up as Jett and the other boys walked over in a cluster. "Why aren't you playing?" Ronnie questioned, "That's what we're all waiting for."

"There's something wrong with Andy's amp," Zack answered before steering the conversation back towards the mention of a tour.

Their eyes lit up after hearing that Falling in Reverse would be leaving early for an extended Warped Tour. All the members of Sumarow turned their attention back to Ronnie and began asking questions about his tour. They'd heard that Warped Tour would be coming up, but not about the early start that my father had arranged. Ronnie started naming the shows he could remember from the other day and said that their California Warped tour dates wouldn't be until the end of the summer, answering the question they had asked when they spoke to him on the phone.

Falling in Reverse would leave from Los Angeles on their bus and head out to Salt Lake City where they'd meet up with the couple bands that were opening for them. The plan was that they'd headline their own tour across the US, and after their last show, they'd fly straight back to Denver, Colorado from Albany, New York. An overnight flight was already booked so they would make it on time. Their bus driver would head to Amsterdam and someone new would take over for the first leg of Warped.

I told Ronnie that I was going to check on Arch and got up without another word. When I turned around to head to the only door along the back wall, I caught Chance's eye, who stood within a group of his friends. I glanced away and continued to where Arch was.

I pushed the door open and closed it behind me, smiling softly as the little boy who slept with his arms folded under his cheek. I softly sat down beside him and ran my fingers through his disheveled hair, surprised when the door opened and Chance walked through, his eyes looking over the two of us.

"Sorry," he whispered, closing the door and blocking the noise, "Just thought you could use a little company."

I shrugged and sat up straighter. "Just checking on my kid," I said, not bothering to rephrase even though that statement wasn't completely true.

Chance sat down on the edge of the couch and turned 45 degrees towards us. "So why are you looking after him?" he questioned, referring to the sleeping boy who's feet were in my lap.

"That's sort of personal, isn't it?" I questioned, rubbing Arch's back.

Chance shrugged. "It's not everyday someone tells you that they're looking after 'a friend' who they happened to call their child and who's only five years old. If he was yours, nobody would care. You're old enough to make your own decisions."

I smiled but shook my head at the twenty year old's words. "Arch isn't my son," I explained, "I used to work at a daycare and he was one of the boys that I watched. He ended up in foster care and now is between homes, so I took him in."

Chance was obviously surprised by the story of how Arch came to be a part of our lives. He ran his palm over his short hair and shook his head. "That's rough," he muttered, looking at the child in a whole new way, "But it's really nice of you to take him in like that."

"He needs someone who is going to look out for him," I said, "and I couldn't imagine anyone else caring about him as much as I do."

"So why haven't you adopted him?"

I faltered when I couldn't think of an answer automatically. The reason was a personal and between Ronnie and I. I didn't know how to word it to keep the conversation from getting too serious. "There's just a lot going on in our lives right now," I said referring to Ronnie and I, "I mean, we're only fostering him for now and we've already taken him into a bar. It's obvious we're not the best roll models."

"Lilly hangs out here all the time and she's a great kid," Chance defended, "Drew is trying his best and she's turning out okay."

"Okay," I said, using Andrew as an example, "Andy didn't know that he would be subjecting his daughter to this lifestyle when he had her. How can Ronnie and I knowingly bring any child into a life where there's always going to be uncertainty? Ronnie's leaving for a tour that will take seventy-five percent of the year, so how can we be hands-on family to a child? Whether it be our own or Arch."

Chance frowned. "I hadn't thought of it that way," he admitted, "Honestly, I don't know what Andy is going to when the band goes on tour. Lilly won't be able to go with."

"She's going to have to stay with family," I said, knowing the rules that Epitaph put on it's touring bands, "She'll be able to come and visit and stay for a couple weeks, but they tend to frown up raising children on tour buses."

"I guess this really isn't a child friendly lifestyle," he stated, "but if you care about him and he has no one else, then you have to take care of him, Atticus."

I turned and looked at the docile boy. He had won my heart and the thought of giving him up to some other family would hurt, but I couldn't be wholly responsible for the well-being and up-bringing of an innocent kid. Ronnie and I had a life to live and it was in no way child-friendly. The only options were that Ronnie and I would have to be separate much more if we had Arch to look out for. Ronnie would tour and I'd stay home with him.

The two of us dreamed of having children of our own, little versions of ourselves running around the perfect dream house, but that would also change the course of our life. I would be home with our children while Ronnie would be playing shows for thousands of fans. Neither of us wanted it to be that way, but a tour bus was not a family home and bouncing from state to state wouldn't provide a stable lifestyle for the kids we'd dreamed up in our heads.

There were things we were going to have to sacrifice. But neither of us were quite ready for that yet. So I changed the topic and gently rubbed Arch's warm back as he slept. "Shouldn't you be out there celebrating with your friends?"

"Shouldn't you be spending time with your fiance?" he countered, "Elliot said that he's leaving soon to get an early start on Warped tour."

"Something like that." I nodded.

Chance laid his arm along the back of the couch. "Man, you guys must be excited."

"Yeah, we are," I replied, "Although I'm a little bummed that I can't go with this time. Adult priorities, you know, not all of us can live out childhood fantasies for a living."

Chance chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, I understand. The band got lucky with this one. I've been riding their coat tails ever since."

"Bands need roadies."

Chance laughed, covering his mouth to mute the sound. His laughter trailed off when the door opened and Ronnie stepped through, eyeing us both with a frown.

"What's going on?" he asked, closing the door and stepping further into the room.

I smiled at the dark haired guy and shrugged my shoulders, motioning for him to drop down on the couch next to me, a good two feet between him and Chance.

He shook his head and glanced at the younger guy. "Sumarow just went back on stage," he said, "I didn't think that you'd want to miss it."

Ronnie and I went back out to the main part of the venue and Chance followed us. I'd noticed that around Ronnie the twenty year old grew a lot quieter and our conversations became nothing more than small talk. We sat back at the table with Jett's grandfather and watched the new band as they performed in front of their biggest crowd yet. They played their own songs and covers of idilic rock songs for just about thirty minutes before they were packing up and thanking the crowd.

Ronnie turned to me and nodded towards the door along the back wall. "We should probably get going," he said, "It's not cool to leave Arch to sleep on a couch in a bar."

I nodded and was about to go gather the five year old in my arms when Chance rebutted. "You guys haven't been here that long," he said, "Drinks are on Evan tonight, stick around a little longer, I know both Sumarow and PC will appreciate it."

I smiled politely at the twenty year old but stood up. "Sorry," I said as I stepped around him, "Responsibilities." I nodded towards Arch so he'd understand what I meant.

Chance sighed and stood up. "I'll get the guys," he said, and then took off towards the other side of the room. Ronnie took my free hand, that frown still on his face. I bumped him with my shoulder.

"What's wrong?" I asked, squeezing his fingers, "Didn't you have a good time?"

Ronnie nodded distractedly as we headed to the black door. When I bumped him again and called his name, he answered. "There's just something about him," he said, meeting my dark eyes with his own, "I don't know, he bothers me."

"Chance?" I questioned, chuckling at his suspicions. "He's just a kid, there's nothing nothing for you to dislike."

"I don't like how he's always there when you turn around," he replied, closing the door behind us, blocking the noise on the other side, "He's just too friendly and helpful. It's really annoying."

"Ugh, Ronnie, come on," I muttered, rolling my eyes at his jealously, "Chance is a nice guy, but that's ridiculous. The band probably told him to look after me and talk them up. Plus, I'm wearing an engagement ring and you're here, it's not like he has any ideas in his head. Don't over think things."

Ronnie didn't reply but I could see that he'd relaxed due to my words. The band funneled into the room one at a time and thanked me repeatedly for signing them, all while trying to stay quiet enough not to wake the child that Ronnie now held with one arm.

"Bye guys," I said as we headed out, Arch's head on Ronnie's shoulder, "Congratulations. Hopefully I'll bump into you when you make your first trip to Epitaph."

Ronnie called his final goodbyes and we hurried out of the bar. Arch slowly woke as the noise grew louder, but by the time Ronnie had him all strapped in the Escalade, he was right back asleep. I climbed into the passenger's seat and Ronnie drove us home. I glanced back at Arch and smiled, happy that he had wore himself out so Ronnie and I would have one last shot at a moment alone before he left.