I Can't Believe, I'm Actually Meant to Be Here!

***Scarlet's POV***

"You gotta let me date, Ronnie." I sighed. I squeezed his hand a little and looked at him, to see he was staring at the steering wheel with an upset look on his face.

"All guys are jerks." He mumbled angrily. I laughed a little. "Oh, what, you want me to date you?" I obviously joked. There was no way I would ever be in a relationship with Ronnie. I love him, trust me; he means a lot to me, but I don't love him in...that way.

My heart rate quickened as he seemed to freeze up on the spot, not saying anything. Dear God, no...

"Uhhhhh..." I slowly pulled my hand from his and stared at him. He seemed to snap out of the little trance he was in and laughed nervously.

"No no no! No, that just.....that sounded weird." I breathed a sigh of relief and laughed. "Phew! Thought you were in love with me for a second." We both shared a laugh and he shook his head. "No, not...no." I giggled and nodded.

"Well, how about we just leave it at that?" I smiled at him. He smiled back. "Yeah." He started the car up and pulled out of the Starbucks parking lot. "Anywhere else you wanna go?" I shrugged. "Not really. I don't know of anywhere else we can go out here." I laughed. He chuckled and nodded, heading back to the venue and our temporary home-on-wheels.

"So how was your dateee?" Derek teased when we walked onto the bus. I laughed and rolled my eyes at him. "I wouldn't call it a date...I'd call it, like.....a..."

"Date?" Ronnie laughed. I sighed and smiled. "I guess so then."

"That sounds weird...you two on a, "date"." Ryan did air quotes. I laughed and nodded. "It does. That's why I don't really like calling them dates...it makes it sound like we're together."

"That'd be weird." Jacky laughed quietly. I smiled and nodded. I glanced over as I saw Ronnie stalk off to the bunk area. I raised my eyebrow at him, but shook it off.

Suddenly the bus started moving, signaling we were on our way to whatever the hell the next state was. I followed Ronnie into the bunk area and sat down in my bunk, taking my shoes off and shoving them under it. I grabbed some pajamas and went into the bathroom to wash my face and change into the comfy clothing. When I walked out and back to my bunk to grab my laptop, I saw Derek and Ronnie talking quietly to each other, but they stopped when I had walked in. I grabbed my computer and walked out slowly, then heard the door close behind me, making me even more confused.

"What're they talking about in there?" I whispered to Mika as I sat across from him at the table. He shrugged.

"I dunno. Ronnie kinda stomped off, and Derek got a weird look on his face and followed him." I blinked and Mika nodded. "I know, odd."

"Ooookayyy..." I shook my head and opened my laptop up, trying to not think about it anymore.

$$$

***Ronnie's POV***

"That sounds weird...you two on a, "date"." Ryan did air quotes. Scar laughed and nodded, but I frowned a little. "It does. That's why I don't really like calling them dates...it makes it sound like we're together."

"That'd be weird." Jacky laughed quietly. I sighed angrily to myself, not wanting to hear anymore about how it sounds "weird" that Scar and I go on "dates", or if it would be "weird" if we were together. I don't see how "weird" any of that is. It all seems just fine to me.

Maybe it's because you're in love with her...

I grabbed my phone and walked off to the bunk area. I sat down on my bunk and pretended to be busy doing something with the crap in one of my suitcases, but I'm sure I just looked like an idiot.

"Hey..." I looked up and saw Derek. I nodded. "Yeah?"

He bit his lip and leaned against the bunks. "You seemed kinda...annoyed when they kept saying it sounded weird to say you and Scar were on a date. And that it'd be weird if you two were together." I shook my head and looked down at my phone, trying to not seem nervous, but inside I was ready to have a damn panic attack. Great. Now Derek's getting suspicious.

"I'm not annoyed. I just saw that my phone was about to die, so I had to hurry and plug it in..."

Really, Ronnie?

REALLY?!

"Okay, I'm sorry, but that was the WORST lie I've ever heard in my life." Derek laughed quietly. I sighed and put my head in my hands.

"Dude...you don't, you know...you're not....." Derek had stopped laughing and his voice sounded nervous now.

"I've been...having these weird feelings-" Our heads snapped up as we heard the bathroom door open, and Scar come our way.

"So yeah, the pillows from Walmart are way fluffier and comfier than the ones from Target..." Derek started, scratching the back of his head. I just stared at him as Scar looked at us funny, but then grabbed her laptop and hurried off.

"Are you stupid?" I asked simply as he closed the door behind her.

"Well I wasn't just gonna stare at her and smile awkwardly! I had to do something..."

"PILLOWS?!" I whisper yelled.

"Look, it was a cover up! That's not the real subject!" I rolled my eyes. "Well at least now I know where to get fluffier pillows." Derek sighed. "What were you saying before she came in here?" He asked, completely ignoring my sarcastic remark.

"I......." I bit my lip and looked at him. He smiled a little. "You like her, don't you?"

I sighed and flopped back in my bunk. "I've known that woman for 12 damn years, and not once did I ever think of her as more than like a baby sister to me. And now all of the sudden..."

"You're falling for her?" He whispered. I nodded and gulped. "She's so.....I don't know, dude. I love her. I've always loved her, but.....I love her."

"Love-love her?" He smiled. I nodded and smiled a little back. "But.....I can tell you right now, she does NOT want a relationship with me." He frowned and sat down in Scarlet's bunk. "Because, you know, according to everyone and their dog it seems, it's "weird"." He laughed quietly and I grumbled to myself.

"I think you two would be good together. She keeps you in check, keeps you grounded. You need a girl like that." I nodded and chuckled.

"I most definitely need a girl like that." I chewed on my bottom lip again and frowned. "But she doesn't think of me as more than, like, her big brother and her best friend. She's never shown any type of interest in me like that."

"What about the day you got out of prison? When we were all waiting for you outside?" He smirked at me. I laughed and nodded, thinking back to that exact moment.

I had just signed the final paper in order to get the hell out of this shit hole. The lady smiled at me and stood up, shaking my hand. "We better never see your ass back in here again, unless you're coming to visit someone." I laughed and grinned. "I will never be back here again, trust me."

"Stay out of trouble, Radke. You know what happens when you don't." I laughed again and nodded. I grabbed the duffel bag they gave me to take whatever I wanted to, and was lead out of the prison by two security guards. The grin on my face only got bigger when I could see, through the small square window on the door that would let me walk out to my freedom, all of my friends and band mates, and Scarlet standing there, waiting.

They opened the door and Scarlet let out a scream, making me laugh. I tried not to run over like a complete lunatic and tackle her to the ground, but halfway through my walking, the bag dropped from my hands and Scarlet came sprinting at me, literally SLAMMING into me and actually making me stumble back a few steps.

"Oh my God!" She cried, her arms wrapped as tight as they could go around my neck without strangling me to death. I laughed, the sound coming out choked up as I started crying with her.

"Fucking finally." I choked out. My arms were wrapped tightly around her waist, and I was relieved to finally being able to hold her after 2 and a half long, gruesome years.

"I love you so much, Ronnie." She wailed/cried in happiness. I laughed again and tried to pry her off of me a bit so I could see her face. She smiled at me and I cupped her face gently, wiping her tears away even though they kept coming in bucket loads. She smiled and leaned in, pressing her soft lips to mine gently, just for a few seconds, obviously caught up in the moment.. I smiled and laughed into it, kissing her back.

"You have absolutely no idea how much I love you, baby girl." I whispered, pecking her lips again and again, still holding her cute little face.

"I love you, too." She whispered back, smiling at me and kissing my cheek.

"The thing is, I wasn't falling for her back then. Hell, I was just so glad to be free, I don't even remember WHAT all was running through my head." We both laughed and he nodded.

"Honestly, I think she does love you more than she thinks. She wouldn't have kissed you that day if she didn't feel something more for you."

"She got caught up in the moment, Derek." I sighed.

"But you know she loves you, Ronnie. She loves you a lot. She's told us she'd die for you if she had to." I sat up again.

"And I'd do the same exact thing for her. I'd take a bullet- hell, I'd take 100 bullets for her."

"You need to tell her that. Tell her everything." I looked down at the ground. "Her birthday's next week." I smiled and nodded. "Yeah?" I looked up and Derek smiled.

"Do something for her. Something really, really special that she'll never forget."

"Propose?" I joked. He laughed and shook his head.

"Let's wait a little while for that one, Radke." I smiled and glanced over at the door. as it opened, revealing Scarlet with her hands on her hips.

"Alright, what're you two boys talking about in here?" I laughed and shook my head.

"Stuff!" Derek yelled childishly.

"Tell me!" She whined. I got up and walked over to her. She wrapped her arms around my neck and put her "puppy-dog face" on. "Tell me, Wonnie." I laughed and wrapped my arms around her waist, kissing her forehead. "Has to do with your birthdayyy." I sung. She got a huge grin on her face and I laughed again.

"OOH! I REALLY WANNA KNOW NOW!" We all laughed and I shook my head.

"Gotta wait 'til next week, babydoll." She pouted and I shook my head, smiling down at her.

"Nope." She huffed and pulled herself away from me. "Fine! I didn't wanna know anyways!" She yelled as she stomped off to the other end of the bus.

I laughed and looked at Derek. "So what's the plan?"