There's Only So Much I Can Take

“Good morning, love!” I exclaimed getting up and stretching.
Ronnie hadn’t moved. He was still in the same place I had found him in.
Okay, take a deep breath! I’ve been hung over plenty of times so I know it’s not that easy to wake up all the time.
I walked into the kitchen and got a glass of water for Ronnie and two Advils. He would surely need these three things when he woke up.
Since I wasn’t about to sit next to a guy with a hangover possibly until two in the afternoon, I exited the apartment and got in my dad’s BMW. There was no way I was going to get sued by own father for stealing his car. Trust me, it was not above him to sue anyone. He sued my mother!
I put the top down and drove off in the convertible to give my daddy his car. He kind of needed it to get to work.

After walking the five miles home, I found that Ronnie had moved from the bed to the couch. There was a red ice pack atop his forehead and he lay there moaning and groaning.
Loosing myself in seeing Ronnie, I forgot all about his hangover. “RONNIE!” I screeched running and lying myself on Ronnie.
“Ow!” he moaned but put his arms around me nonetheless. “Babe, I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I have a serious goddamn hangover that kills like a motherfucker.”
“Oh my God, I totally knew that but I lost myself in seeing you awake.” I whispered kissing his lips seductively.
“If I wasn’t so hung-over I would make hot, passionate, apology sex to you right at this moment but at the moment I don’t think I could take all the screaming and moaning you do in bed.” Ronnie said. “So I’ll just apologize for everything I said. I was the one who lost all your money so I shouldn’t have been disappointed in you and I should never ask you if it’s your time of the month, that was just wrong. I sincerely apologize for what I did.”
“Oh Ronnie, I’m sorry too! I overreacted. I shouldn’t have run away like a pathetic girl, I should have just had you turn around like you were going to.” I apologized.
The two of us lied in silence. Ronnie’s heart was all the noise I needed at the moment. It thumped to the rhythm of my dream song. All my mother’s words came back to my head. This moment right here was the reason I was still here. Being with Ronnie whenever I came home was the reason we were still in crazy, teenager, drama love. These were the moments that reminded me of why I was still here. These were the moments that reminded me why I was passionately in love with Ronald Radke.
“Why don’t I feel like this is the end of our story?” Ronnie whispered.
“Because we still have,” I pulled out my iPhone and checked the calendar, “thirteen days left to pay the rent and eighteen days until you go on tour.”
“We’ve already lost the battle.” Ronnie sighed.
“But we haven’t lost the war.” I added. “I’m gonna quote Breaking Benjamin here but ‘I will not bow I will not break’ I’m gonna fight to the end whether you’re by my side or not.” I got off of Ronnie. “I’ll be right back!”
I ran to the parking garage and unlocked the doors of my red Honda. I could sell this piece of junk for at least $25,000. It was so nice looking, new, and it was a Honda. What better combination can you get if you aren’t rich and need a car fast?!
CarMax wasn’t too far away from our apartment building; it was about ten miles after you got to the outskirts of Vegas. The reason I say that isn’t far, is because Max used to live near CarMax because he said it fit his name. He only moved three months ago so I knew all the shortcuts on getting there quickly.
My way of getting back? I would call Max to come and get me. Everything was planned out and perfect. In this scheme nothing could go wrong. While in the car Max and I would discuss Ronnie and I living with him for a while. It was like God was on our side.
I made a sharp left turn into the entrance of CarMax. As if there was an alarm on my Honda, a guy in a suit walked out and as soon as I was out of the car he stuck out his large black hand expecting me to shake it.
When I swept right past him the guy took back his hand. “That’s a nice Honda, one of the newest models.” The man said awkwardly.
“Thank you, I try to take good care of it.” I replied turning to him. “Listen I want to sell and I want the money in cash.” I turned back to the building before turning back around. “By the way, don’t try to sell me another car, my boyfriend and I have another already.” This time when I turned around I kept walking. A smile slipped on my lips as I walked to the building. The man walked behind me trying to catch up.
He showed me to his office once we were both situated in the building. “Thank you for choosing CarMax.” I put up my hand right after that sentence.
“Listen, I know exactly how all this works. Give me the paperwork and make me write the car history because honestly, I don’t want the rest of the fucking speech. I’ll sign any fucking contract but remember, my twenty thousand is in cash.” I rolled my eyes.
The guy sighed before standing up. He walked over to another guy who gave me a large stack of paper.
“This is the contract, this is car history, and this is the paperwork you need to write. When you finish you’ll get your check from that guy over there.”
Oh. My. God. So much paper so little time.

I handed the check man my papers and he handed me a check for twenty-one thousand five hundred sixty dollars. He thanked me for my patience and I thanked him for his money. So far so good.
The time wasn’t too good though. It was four thirty and I’d left at like one. Hopefully my druggie is okay.
Impatiently I took out my phone. The worst ideas came through my mind as I pressed in Max’s number on the touch screen. Ronnie couldn’t survive on his own, it had already been proven and knowing our luck Ronnie’s probably dead or something.
“Hey Max, I need a ride from CarMax.”
“On my way.” Max hung up.
I put in Ronnie’s number and hit send.
“Hello?” Ronnie sounded skeptical.
“Hey babe, sorry it took so long.”
“It’s cool, gave me time to sober up and find myself. How much did you get?”
“Twenty one thousand five hundred sixty dollars. On my way home I’m gonna cash the check.”
“Sweetness. Alright, well I’m gonna go have a snack. Love you.”
“Love you too.” I pressed the end button just as Max’s green van drove up to pick me up.
“Sure you don’t want to sell that too?” the black guy who had taken me up before asked.
“Fuck off.” I replied. Max stopped the car in front of me. “Peace!” I got in the van and Max drove off.
“So Maxwell.”
“So Katherine.” Max replied smirking.
“Uh, Ronnie and I are going to need a place to stay soon.” I said staring out the front window. No way was I even going to come close to looking Max in the eyes at the moment.
“Why, what happened to the apartment?! Oh my God, did Ronnie already burn it down!?” Max exclaimed looking at me with wide brown eyes.
“Hell no, it’s just we only rented it for a certain amount of time and so once we pay rent we get kicked out and we don’t have enough money to afford our own place.” I explained. “Ronnie suggested we live with you and I thought that was smart because you like us so very much.” I peeked over at Max who seemed to be thinking over the idea.
Oh shit was all that ran through my mind. Max had no obligation to say yes. He knew that Ronnie could make it on the streets but he knew I wouldn’t be able to handle it. Now I felt bad for just randomly springing this up on Max. Oh shit, what if he said no. Ronnie and I hadn’t thought through the whole plan if Max said no.