ronnie radke fanfic

When I should have been listening to William and Michael talking about TAITV and what they were planning on doing for it, I was looking around. I happened to spot Ronnie weaving through the crowds, phone pressed to his ear, a bottle of water in his other hand.

William and Michael were discussing what they were going to do for TAITV this week. It seemed to revolve around pranks. The parts I heard included water guns, fireworks and smoke bombs. This made me feel slightly uneasy, but they were apparently excited about the first episode on Warped Tour.

Ronnie closed his phone and slid it into his pocket, slowing his pace. I kept my eyes on him and after a moment he looked up and our eyes locked. Some emotion flickered across his face but was gone before I had a chance to recognize it. He half-smiled and I half-smiled back.

“We could put jam in Sisky's hair and record it on camera!” Michael said excitedly, almost bouncing up and down.

“We could...” William said, thoughtfully. “But I don't know if I want to risk it. Sisky's pretty vicious, dude. He might... replace our toothpaste with shampoo or something.”

Michael squinted, thinking. “Dude, that toothpaste thing is a good idea.”

I rolled my eyes. At least I knew what to look out for if they decided to prank me. “Guys, I'll be back in a second. Don't attack Sisky or something.”

They both looked at me for a second, curious, but then went back to talking pranks. I got up from the ground where we were sitting and started walking towards Ronnie. He smiled wider as I approached him. He was wearing an Avenged Sevenfold t-shirt, no hoodie, and I could see tattoos covering both of his arms.

“Hey,” I said with a quick smile.

“Hey,” Ronnie said, returning the smile. That same emotion I saw a moment ago flickered across his face before disappearing again. It annoyed me, I wanted to know what it was. Ronnie smiled as he added, “Are you seriously wearing a Star Wars t-shirt?”

I glanced down at the t-shirt I was wearing and grinned proudly. “Yes. Yes I am,” I said. I grinned sheepishly as I said, “I'm the biggest nerd you'll ever meet.”

Ronnie laughed. “That's fine by me.”

I smiled and shifted my weight to my other foot. “I forgot to give you back your hoodie.”

“Keep it,” Ronnie said, and before I could respond, he said, “Do you want to come watch me play?”

I looked back over my shoulder at William and Michael. They were distracted by people who I assumed were fans. I looked back at Ronnie and nodded.

“Sweet,” he said and we walked back through the crowds.

The stage Escape The Fate would be performing on was nearby. When we had gotten backstage, I glanced out at the huge crowd that was gathered already.

“Impressive,” I said, returning to Ronnie.

“Oh please,” Ronnie said with a laugh. “You play to huge crowds every day.”

I shrugged and before I could say anything else, someone had jumped onto Ronnie's back. My eyes widened but Ronnie was only briefly phased.

“Emily, this is Idiot,” Ronnie said, introducing us. “Idiot, this is Emily.”

The guy on Ronnies back looked at me and his eyes grew wide. He had snakebites, like Skylar's, and his black hair fell over his eyes. He had one arm wrapped around Ronnie's neck and he outstretched the other towards me. “Max!”

“Hi,” I said, shaking his hand. He grinned and wrapped both arms around Ronnie's neck. I was surprised Ronnie hadn't choked yet. It seemed like he was used to this. I could relate. My band was just as spontaneous and weird... but that was why I loved them.

“This way to the stage, Ronnie!” Max said loudly, trying to pull Ronnie towards the stage. Ronnie nodded for me to come over. When we reached the side of the stage, the three guys standing there looked over. They kept their eyes on me, making me feel very self-consious.

“Emily, these are my other bandmates,” Ronnie said and he nodded at them each in turn as he said their names. “Bryan, Omar, Robert.”

“What's up!” Robert said, holding out his fist. I pounded it. He grinned and took a sip of his water.

“What brings you to Warped?” Omar asked. He smiled cheekily as he said, “Is it us?”

“Oh, of course,” I said, nodding. Ronnie laughed and I said, “My band's playing this year.”

“You're in a band?” Max asked loudly, leaning over Ronnie's shoulder. Ronnie suddenly took a step back, making Max briefly lose his balance, before grabbing onto Ronnie's collar. Ronnie laughed.

“Yeah,” I said “Broken Colours.”

“I've heard you guys,” Bryan piped up. “You're good. You sing, right?”

Ronnie gave him a strange look and I nodded, smiling shyly. “Yeah.”

“Guys, you're on,” a member of crew said and Robert finished his water quickly, throwing the bottle away and jumped up and down, his mane of curly brown bouncing up and down.

“Dude, if you need to pee during our set, it's your own fault,” Omar stated and Robert just grinned at him.

Bryan walked up next to Ronnie and Max and said something I couldn't hear. Ronnie just nodded.

“Let's do this!” Max almost screamed. He punched his fist in the air and quickly grabbed Ronnie again before he started walking onstage.

“Hold this for me?” Ronnie asked, handing me the bottle of water he had been holding. I took it and pointed towards the stage.

“Get out there!” I ordered and Ronnie smiled as Robert, Omar and Bryan ran onstage. Ronnie ran onstage with Max still on his back. The crowd erupted into explosive cheers. I smiled and took a step back, watching as Ronnie took the mic.

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Ronnie held the mic as Max jumped off his back and ran over to grab his bass.

“What's up everybody?!” Ronnie almost screamed into the mic and the crowd cheered loudly again. Ronnie looked to the side of the stage, instantly spotting Emily, a couple of the crew members behind her. She smiled and waved at him, making him smile back. Ronnie looked back over the crowd and said, “We're Escape The Fate!” The crowd cheered louder.

Ronnie stepped back as they got ready to start their first song. He glanced at the side of the stage again, watching Emily's reaction. He wasn't sure if she knew he was looking, she was watching Bryan as he started the opening riff of the song. The opening lyrics of this song reminded Ronnie of Emily and the night he met her. Ronnie raised the mic, ready to sing, while still trying to see Emily's reaction.

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As soon as I heard those opening lyrics, my jaw dropped, and the bottle of water Ronnie had given me slipped out of my hand. My eyes grew wide.

“You caught my eye when I walked by. Judging from the way you moved... You're heart is bruised...”

My head snapped up to look at Ronnie. He turned his head away from wherever he was looking. I listened intently to the lyrics of the song.

“As make-up runs down your cheeks, you found that you are lost again. Try to make your way back home, found that you're alone...”

I stared at Ronnie as he sang those lyrics. There was a knot in my chest as I listened.

But it was the bridge of the song that really hit me hard.

“Fall down, searching for the perfect place for you to lose it all again. Slow down, keep it at a steady pace as I watch you fade away...”

When the song ended, I looked up at Ronnie and saw him looking back at me, smiling, happy. I managed a small smile before he looked back out over the crowd that was going wild.

It was the pure truth in those lyrics that I could relate to so well.