Infinite

"I want to have kids," Ronnie said just as he laid down next to me in bed.

I chuckled and wrapped my arms around his chest, pressing my lips against the tattoo there and then resting my cheek on his sticky skin. "We've already talked about this, Ron," I replied, closing my eyes peacefully when his arms wrapped around my shoulders.

"No, I mean now," he replied. He kissed the top of my head and then smiled when I looked up to him with furrowed eyebrows.

I shifted so that I was leaning on my elbows which rested on his chest. "What do you mean?" I demanded, tipping my head to the side, "We agreed that we weren't ready to get married."

Ronnie nodded. He rested one of his palms against my bare back and tried to his fingers through my tangled hair. He pushed it over my shoulders and brushed it down my back with his fingers until it reached to my lower back. "Wouldn't you want to have a baby with me?" he asked, looking up at me with his smoldering eyes.

I sighed and pushed his matted hair out of his face. "We're too busy right now, Ron," I told him quietly, "We won't have any time to take care of a baby."

"We'll make time," he promised eagerly, "We'll have time for it. I'm not even that busy right now."

I sighed. "Ronnie, you'll be swamped in nine months. You probably wouldn't even have time to come to the birth of your own child."

Ronnie rolled his eyes and smoothed my hair against my back. "It'd be my child, Atticus. I would always have time for my kid. Just like I always have time for you. It would be our kid and it will mean more than everything to me, Atticus."

I smiled at his words and nodded my head. "Trust me, I know that, Ron. But we can't have a kid right now. You're working on your next album and going to tour soon, and I just picked up a bunch of shifts, and we don't even have a second bedroom. It just wouldn't work, Ronnie. Not right now."

"We'd make it work," he replied, being stubborn and unconvinced by me.

"No, we wouldn't, Ron," I stated, shaking my head definitely, "Because we're not having a baby right now."

Ronnie pushed me back so that I wasn't laying on him anymore. He sat up and pulled his blankets over my shoulders and around his waist. He found my fingers and slipped his between them, holding on in a grasp that I knew meant much more than just holding my hand.

"You don't want to have my baby?" he questioned, looking down at me with makeup smeared eyes.

I reached up slowly and wiped the eyeliner from under his eyes. I nodded my head and then shook it. "I just don't think it'd be a great idea to get pregnant now. Then we'll get married and people will think that we got married because we accidently got pregnant."

Ronnie smiled. "Then lets not get married."

I stared at him blankly for a few seconds, then I said the words slowly and confidently. "I want to get married, Ronnie," I demanded, shaking my head, "I'm never having any of your babies unless you marry me." My blank stare deepened into a vehement stare that dared him to challenge me on this.

Ronnie didn't answer me. He only slid out of the bed and grabbed his jeans from the floor. He ruffled around with them and instead of pulling them on, he slipped into his boxers and held something clasped tightly in his palm.

He walked over to his side of the bed and held his hand out for me. I pressed the sheet against my skin and scooted to sit on the edge of the bed. Ronnie brushed my hair over my shoulders and out of my eyes before he smiled and slid into bed next to me. He grabbed my hand and this time there was something cool and hard between our palms.

"Atticus, I love you," he said softly, "I know I don't always say exactly what I mean, but I don't know what I would do without you." He smiled nervously. "But, if you marry me, I promise I will tell you exactly how I feel about you everyday of our lives."

I looked at the palm of my hand when he let go and uncurled my fingers. It was a small and gorgeous silver ring with a white diamond. My mouth went dry and I stared at the man. "Are you asking me to marry you?" I asked desperately, looking between him and the ring in my hand.

"Are you going to say yes?" he questioned, looking as though he couldn't figure out how to separate excitement and nerves.

"No," I stated automatically, shaking my head vehemently. I curled my fingers around the ring again and held it out to him. "I'm not marrying you, Ronnie," I said, dark eyes moving to his, "We can't."

Ronnie frowned deeply, surprised. "Why not?" he asked, turning towards me even more.

I scoffed and looked around the room. "Because we're naked, Ronnie. And this is not the story that I want to tell people when they ask me how you proposed! Naked after sex is not romantic, Ronnie, no matter how cute it is that you turned it around and had me be the one to bring up the topic."

Ronnie rolled his eyes and climbed to his feet. "You won't have my baby because we 'don't have the time' and you won't marry me because we're naked when I asked."

"Exactly." I nodded, raising my eyebrows in challenge.

Ronnie groaned loudly and tossed his head back. He looked at the ring that I handed back to him and then looked at me and stood up. He sat down on the edge of the bed again while he thought and then he stood up and went to our closet.

"What are you doing?" I asked, shaking my head at him as he rifled through the clothes that were hanging on hangers.

"Just get dressed." He tossed a stunning dress at me. It was a bright red color, but it wasn't overwhelming in the least. The dress was strapless and once it was on, it would cover my thighs with red fabric and lace and stop right before my knees.

"Why do you have this?" I asked, setting the silky dress down onto the bed beside me and running my fingers over the material.

"Just put it on," he encouraged, already pulling on a black pair of jeans that matched the black button up shirt he had laid out and the skinny tie that was the exact same color as the dress.

"No, are we actually going some where? Because if we're going out in public I need to shower and do my hair." I crossed my arms over my bare chest, just the blanket between my arms and my chest.

Ronnie rolled his eyes and buttoned his pants. "Stop being such a girl and get dressed, Atticus."

I mimicked him with the roll of my eyes. "Stop being such a man and come shower with me."

Ronnie stopped and looked back to me. I stood up and dropped the sheet back onto the large bed. I walked around the bed and past the watching man until I was in the hall, waiting for him to catch up with me. I grinned cheekily when he showed up in the doorway, his arms crossed over his bare chest.

"Lets hurry up," he forcefully suggested, grabbing my hand and leading me down the wide hallway and into the bathroom so that we could get ready for whatever cockamamie plans he had up his sleeve for the night.

We showered together, but quickly, seeing as Ronnie now had no interest in anything physical. He washed his hair first and then pushed me under the spray of the running water so I could wash the smell of him off of me and replace it with my favorite shampoo instead.

I grabbed onto Ronnie's narrow waist and planted my lips on his neck. I ran my mouth over his steaming skin then smiled as I pulled back and looked up to him. "I don't want to go anywhere," I said softly, pressing my palms against his sides. "I want to stay right here." I stood on the tips of my toes so that I was tall enough to initiate a kiss.

Ronnie let me kiss him, but he didn't kiss back. He shook his head and reached behind me to turn off the water. "We're going somewhere, Atticus," he replied, licking his lips, "So get dressed and do your hair." He looked over me and bit his tongue. "Not necessarily in that order."

I rolled my eyes and stepped out of the shower. I grabbed a towel off of the rack and wrapped it around myself. I walked out of the bathroom and headed towards the room we shared, knowing that Ronnie wouldn't relax until I agreed to go out with him tonight.

I closed the bedroom door and locked it before I shed my towel and wrapped it around my hair instead. I grabbed undergarments from the dresser and then the dress from the bed, proud in a strange way that Ronnie knew my size and bought a dress that fit me perfectly and was incredibly beautiful.

"What shoes am I supposed to wear?" I yelled through the door.

"Those sexy black ones!" Ronnie replied, chuckling in the hallway.

I smiled and grabbed them from the closet. They hadn't been worn in quite a while so I had to kick a few pairs of Ronnie's shoes out of my way in order to get to them.

"Gorgeous," Ronnie commented when I opened the door and stood in front of him.

"Thank you."

Ronnie went into the bedroom and left the door open as he got dressed. I moved into the bathroom and started to dry my hair, knowing exactly what he was going to ask me again, this time out in public and in front of people who would no doubt find my reply heartbreaking and slightly odd, even though it wouldn't break Ronnie's heart, only fuel him to ask again in a more extravagant way.

"Atticus, are you ready to go?"

I stepped out of the bathroom and instantly smiled at the sight of Ronnie standing before me. He wore dark jeans that weren't ripped in any way. His belt was simple and didn't draw attention away from the formal button up shirt that covered his tattoos. When I walked to him, I grabbed the end of his skinny tie and felt the silky material between my finger tips.

"You're beautiful," I whispered, running my hand up his chest and resting my hand on his shoulder.

Ronnie chuckled and rested his hand on mine. "You're ready? You really look gorgeous, Att."

"Lets just go, you goof." Ronnie touched the pocket of his jeans before he took my hand in his and led me out of the apartment. "Where are we going?" I asked as we climbed into his large Cadillac SUV. Ronnie kissed my lips before he closed the passenger's door and went to get into the driver's side.

"I love you, but shut up, Atti," he laughed, shaking his head at my request to know where he was taking me.

I glared over the center counsel. "Just because you love me doesn't mean you can be mean," I retorted, "And just because I love you doesn't mean I'm going to marry you."

Ronnie grinned and shrugged his shoulders. "You'll change your mind."

I folded my arms over my chest. "Don't be so sure, Mr. Radke."

Ronnie was still grinning as we headed downtown. He pulled up in front of one of the nicest restaurants in town. It had just opened a few months ago and even though it was past dinner time, the place was still full of people. It was a nice mix between a fancy restaurant and late night bar. After a certain time, it became twenty one or older.

"Are we really going in there?" I questioned, looking through the large windows that showed the people inside sitting at tables, ordering food, and chatting quietly over the hum of the other people in the building.

Ronnie wrapped and arm around my waist. "Why not?" he questioned.

"Because you're going to make a scene and I'm pretty sure that these people don't want to be bothered," I replied, trying to pull back and march back to the SUV.

"A proposal isn't a bother," Ronnie answered while grinning.

I sighed and shook my head. "It is when it's refused."

Ronnie just grinned wider and shook his head. "We'll see," he stated.

"No," I answered, "That's my final answer."

Ronnie opened the door and pushed me in gently. A woman stood at a podium and smiled as a greeting. "Table for two?" she questioned, nodding at our clothes. "You two look wonderful tonight."

"Thank you," I replied, looking over her green dress and color coordinated heels.

"What brings you to Mataeo's tonight?" she asked politely as she led us through the bar area where people were sitting on stools and sipping expensive looking drinks as a football game played on the TV behind the bartender's head.

"I'm trying to get her to marry me," Ronnie replied, tightening his grip around my waist as she looked over her shoulder, surprised at the bluntness of his answer.

She turned to me and smiled sympathetically. "He didn't ruin the surprise, did he?"

I shook my head and settled against him. "This won't be the first time he's asked," I told her, wrapping my arm around his waist. "That was about two hours ago."

Ronnie rolled his eyes. "She said no because we weren't dressed," he retorted, making it obvious by the tone of his voice that he believed it was a stupid answer.

The woman nodded awkwardly and motioned to a table right in the corner of the place. "Here's your table," she stated, "Your waiter will be right with you to take your order. But while I'm here can I get you anything to drink?"

"I'll take a rootbeer," I told her, surprising her once again.

"Coke, please," Ronnie added.

It was obvious that she was surprised that we weren't ordering champagne or something alcoholic on the possible night of our engagement. I just smiled politely and shrugged my shoulders in reply to the question on her expression. Ronnie took my hand over the table and tangled our fingers together.

"He doesn't drink," I said to her softly, sounding more fond of him than I'd ever sounded before.

Ronnie rolled his eyes. "She hardly drinks either," he added to the woman, "She just likes to pretend I'm the one who hinders her fun."

She smiles and licked over her lips. "I'll be back with your drinks soon," she promised before she turned to Ronnie and rested a hand on his shoulder. "And better luck tonight," she wished, glancing at me with a smile on her face.

Ronnie grinned. "Thank you," he replied, "But I won't need it."

The waitress laughed and smiled at me before she repeated our drink order and promised once again to be with us as quickly as she could. I shook my head at Ronnie and watched his smile grow. I didn't know how tonight was going to turn out for us, but I knew that my answer wouldn't affect him when it came to wanting to ask it again. It was adding fuel to the fire, and I was determined to keep that ring in his pocket for much longer. Because no matter how much I loved him, neither of us had any time for a wedding and we deserved something perfect.