Situations Are Irrelevant Now

“It all comes down to this,” Marcel spoke through the thick air that had descended upon us, “this will decide who is the best and who deserves to be on top…after all these years.”

Things just got about ten times more dangerous now that guns had been pulled. Bullets could hit more than just the people they were originally fired at. In fact, I wasn’t so concerned about the ‘epic’ battle itself, but more for Megan and Max, the supposed backstabbers.

What if they got hit unintentionally? That would be all my fault. And even more so, what if they were telling the truth? They could’ve saved my ass, and yet here I am in the middle of everything, putting my ass on the line.

Megan and Max have been in my life for years now, and I hate to say it, but they’re the best people anyone could ever know. But I’m still here with my brothers, who may be blood relatives…but all they’ve done is gotten me in trouble, like right now.

Michael Colquitt and Chase were the ones who had pulled out the guns. Now, I’m rather confident in Chase’s abilities because the guy’s got a good shot. It was Michael I was worried about. He’s just a little punk – how would he know how to use a gun properly?

The guns were still aimed steadily at the opponents and no one, other than Marcel, had spoken or made a single move. I glanced back up at Megan and Max. Each of them had their own worried expressions as they stared down into this pit. Any minute now the guns would be fired and someone would pay the price. I won’t let them be the currency used for that.

“Guys, get the hell out of here! There are guns down here,” I shouted up at them, trying my best to let them know how concerned I was without sounding like an entire asshole.

For some reason, they headed my warning and backed away from the ledge…still waiting nearby though.

“Enough talk, let’s get this over with,” Michael said as he steadied his trigger finger, about to shoot.

“Not just yet,” Randy said, leaping forward and getting a sharp grip on Michael’s wrist.

With a quick flick, the gun dropped to the sand where Joe sped over to pick it up. Randy and Joe came back over on our side of the playing field as we now held two guns pointed at the defenseless opponents. “Not so tough now, huh?” Chase sneered.

“No worries, we’ve got some tricks up our sleeves too,” Chris said as Marcel pulled something resembling a grenade out of his pocket.

He tossed it over in our direction and as soon as it hit the ground, a large wall of smoke appeared in front of us. “Those cowards are getting away,” I growled.

“They started this shit, we’ll end it,” Joe said firing his gun off, with Chase following suit.

Honestly, I didn’t expect them to make contact with any of them, but the painful screams told me otherwise.

Once the smoke cleared, Michael Cook, the little guy that sold us his last fix, laid dead, drenched in blood on the sand, while Michael Colquitt was severely wounded, being shot in the shoulder and hand, blowing off his left hand entirely. Randy looked pleased as he watched Marcel run to his brother’s side, on the verge of tears.

Michael’s screams seemed to be endless, and I just couldn’t bear to look there anymore…I had to get out of here. Chase caught onto my worried expression and could probably tell what I wanted to do. “Get out of here, Ronnie. Your reputation is at stake here. Go save yourself,” he told me, pushing me toward the other end of the pit.

“What? I can’t just leave you guys here,” I protested, even though I knew he was right. He gave me a stubborn look, and I knew I really didn’t have much of a choice…not that I could really complain.

I crawled out of the pit and made a run for the parking lot where my car was waiting for me. On the way there, I tried to look for Megan and Max, but they were nowhere to be found. They must’ve gone back inside the bar or something for protection…not that that place was much safer.

The closer I got to the parking lot, the more paranoid I became – I swear I heard cop sirens in the distance. I picked up my pace a little more and just as I was in reach of my car, something else distracted me. There was a gang of guys all trying to beat up one dude in some convertible. But it wasn’t just any dude in any convertible – it was Craig in his car!

Damn it, now I’ve got a choice to make…should I let that jerk get beat up and run away free or should I stop and help him out, with a chance of getting caught by the cops that I’m almost positive are coming in this direction? Why should I help him after all the times he’s tried to go after Megan? As much as I know I’m going to hate myself for this, I decided to help him out.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I shouted as I stalked over to the gang of thugs.

“What’s it to you?” one of them gruffly asked.

“That’s my friend you’re messing with,” I replied as I knocked him down to the ground with a harsh blow to the face.

“Hey you can’t just waltz over and do that,” another said as he pulled Craig out of the car, causing him to collide with another car.

“Watch me,” I smirked as him and I got into a fist fight, each getting some hits on the other.

“Ronnie, what are you doing?” Craig asked when I helped him regain his balance.

“Even though we’re not on the best of terms, I’m not a total asshole who’d just ignore you being mugged,” I shrugged.

Together Craig and I united to scare these guys away, leaving us with only a few cuts and bruises. “Thanks, man,” he smiled.

“Don’t speak of this ever again,” I laughed, taking a deep breath. Things were good for a brief moment. But it was only brief.

The sirens I thought I imagined before were quite real. Dozens of cops came out of nowhere, taking away Chase, Randy, and Joe in handcuffs. The police fleet looked between all the cops and as it turns out that bastard Alan Moore, the very man who’d be trying to catch me for all my counts of drug possession, found me there.

Even though I think I did what would be considered ‘the right thing to do,’ I didn’t feel all that great at this point. And honestly, it would seem that no one would be there to help me.

My brothers turned their backs on me and placed most of the blame for Michael Cook’s death on me so they could get away without prison, only rehab. I got stuck with two years’ probation and a three month rehab program.

I was placed in a fairly lenient prison that gave me access to radio, TV, and internet. Even though I was in a sticky situation, I knew things would turn out just fine, because they always do for Ronnie Radke.

The guys will postpone any ETF progress until I get out of here, and Megan will wait patiently for my release, allowing me to have more time to mess with her even more. Craig and his band will be long gone by then and out of our lives. Damn, life might end up being even better after prison!

*Normal POV*

For two years Ronnie would be behind bars. I think that really ended up hurting the guys more so than me. How could the band continue promoting themselves if they didn’t have a singer? It wouldn’t work. It really is going to be a shame – they had something special going for them, and now they might lose it all.

Blessthefall decided to call off the rest of their tour so Craig could stay here and try to help us figure things out, while the other guys headed back to Arizona for a vacation.

“How are you holding up?” Craig asked, coming into my room no longer shared with Ronnie.

I sighed, “As good as can be expected. Have you seen Max today?”

“No,” he replied, “he hasn’t left his room in three days.”

“So many things could’ve been done to avoid all this. When I really start to think about it, ugh it just kills me!” I said, frustration evident in my voice.

He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me into a hug while rubbing my back. “Don’t let it get to you, Megan, I’m sure something will work out.”

“How can you still be so positive, even in the midst of all this hardship?” I asked, amazed at his behavior.

He shrugged, “I’m not sure how to explain it, really. I guess I just don’t let the bad stuff get to me. Life is too short to dwell on what had been done, or what could’ve been done.”

Craig’s advice really managed to help me overcome whatever it was that had bothered me about this before. I managed to get out of the house and get back into my routine, even though Ronnie wasn’t there.

Max and I spent a long amount of time talking about things and eventually we managed to console each other and he finally came out of his room. The more time I spent with the guys and Craig, the easier it became to live without Ronnie.

I didn’t forget him, I could never forget him. But could he be replaced? The thought haunted me every single day that passed without him there.

Finally, I admitted to myself that there was only one thing left for me to do.

I waited patiently on the uncomfortable plastic seat with the telephone placed firmly up against my ear until Ronnie arrived. He looked like a completely different person – his hair was cut short and back to its natural light brown color, his tattoos were covered by a gray jumpsuit, and he looked fuller of himself than ever before.

“Nice of you to visit,” he smirked.

“Yeah, you know it’s hard to do things without you being there…it feels weird,” I mumbled.

“I miss you too, Megan. Remember that night we had in the treehouse? I keep thinking about that night and damn I wish it could happen again.”

I smiled slightly, “That was a pretty good night. But I don’t know what to do. I can’t stand your absence but what the hell can I do to fix it?”

“Come see me every day. We can talk here for a few hours and,” he leaned forward whispering, “I even know a secret place you can meet me at so we can have a little extra fun.”

He leaned back and lounged in the chair with a strange smile on his face. “We can have a relationship like no one else.”

“Ronnie, I don’t think we should do that. If you got caught –,” I started to say.

“If you love me, then you’ll do it,” he responded sternly. “You do love me, don’t you?”

I couldn’t bring myself to answer right away. Of course I loved him…he was the only guy my heart had desired for the longest time…until I met Craig. Ronnie has put me through so much shit, while Craig has done nothing but help me out in any way he can.

“I…I thought I did,” I whispered.

“We both know that you do. You’ll love me forever, Megan. You can’t escape our endless situations.”

“Situations are irrelevant now, Ronnie,” I said distantly, lost in my own mind as I stood up to leave.

“Don't go....I love you, Megan,” Ronnie mumbled, only a moment too late. I was already gone out into the world, totally unsure of what will happen next.

When it comes to issues of the heart, things grow in complication. But Ronnie was right; there would be nothing but situations ahead of us.

The only problem is…will I be able to do the right thing in the end or will I lose all I'd ever wanted?