Saved - Ronnie Radke

Guitars

Juliet's POV

Ronnie was silent, he hadn't talked to me since I broke down. It really bothered him, I could tell, but I couldn't help it. He drove, his hands clenched tightly on the wheel and his eyes straight ahead. I sighed, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. I cracked the window and flicked it. Ronnie glanced at me and turned back to the road.

"Ronnie?" I asked, my voice quiet.

"What?" He asked, still staring at the road.

"Can I lean on you?" I asked, "please?"

"I don't care," he said, straight faced.

I slid myself over, laying my head in his lap and putting my feet up on the seat. Ronnie's body tensed as he took in a shaky deep breath. I crossed one leg over the other and took another hit of my cigarette. I looked up at Ronnie, studying him for the millionth time.

"Ronnie?" I asked.

"Hm?"

"I'm really sorry," I said, placing a hand on his chest, moving my thumb.

He sighed, "Juliet," he looked down at me, "you can't be sorry for something you can't control."

"But I am," I whined.

"Juliet," he continued staring at the road, "I need you to promise me you won't do it anymore. The drugs, the self harm, anything."

I took a deep breath in. Could I really promise him that? Was I strong enough to quit everything I've ever known? I sighed, "I promise."

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"Juliet," I heard Ronnie whisper as I felt something on my cheek. I opened my eyes, seeing him gently brushing his thumb over my cheek bone, cupping the rest of my face.

"Hm?" I asked, yawning.

"You've been asleep for three hours and I'm tired of driving," he said, playing with a strand of my hair.

"What state are we in?" I asked, sitting up.

"Colorado," he said, motioning to the mountains all around us, "clearly."

"Shut up, you're such a- oh my god pull over!" I yelled.

"Holy shit okay!" He yelled, startled by my screaming.

He parked the car in a small parking lot. I darted out of the car door, running across the street to a small store that said 'Vintage Music Memorabilia and Instruments'. "Ronnie come on!" I yelled, rushing inside of the store. Looking around the store, I was immediately greeted with some classic rock music, vinyls hanging on the walls, posters, merch, and of course, guitars. I walked over to them, looking at the beautiful designs.

Ronnie approached me, placing a hand on my back, "woah," he said, running his fingers over the white electric guitar with black outlining. "This is so cool."

"Get it." I said, shrugging.

"Juliet, I can't, that'd use up like all of your money," he said, looking between me and the guitar.

"Ronnie, you're gonna need it, aren't you?" I asked. He nodded. "So get it, we just won't eat for a few days," I laughed, causing him to laugh. "Besides, you can pay me back when you become a rockstar," I smiled at him.

He laughed, "are you sure?"

"Yes, get it, and grab an amp too," I pointed to an amp.

"This is going to cost so much money, oh my god," he shook his head.

"I don't care, you need this," I looked up at him, placing my hands around his waist.

"You really won't let me leave without this guitar, will you?" He looked down at me, playing with a piece of my hair.

"Nope, grab it, come on, one more state to go and we'll be in Nevada," I let go of him.

He groaned, "alright."

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I drove, Ronnie messing with his new guitar while also writing in his notebook. "My Dear Juliet?" I heard Ronnie ask.

I looked over at him, "hm?" He continued to stare at his notebook.

"That quote on your ribs," he looked up at me, I nodded, "can I use it?"

"Use it for what?" I asked.

"A song," he answered.

"Sure," I said, "so that's what you were writing," he nodded, "got anything solid yet?"

"Kind of," he shrugged.

"Can I hear?"

"No!" He almost yelled.

"Okay, okay, geez," I laughed.

"Sorry, it's just kind of personal," he responded.

I nodded, "well, we're in Nevada now, maybe another hour before we're in Vegas."

"Really?" He asked, "holy shit Juliet, this is actually happening."

"Yeah, it is," I smiled.

"Thank you so much," he looked at me.

"For what?" I laughed.

"For pushing me to do this, I wouldn't have made it out here without you," he smiled.

"I knew you really wanted this, so I made it happen," I laughed.

"I know, and thank you," he grabbed my hand, kissing the top of it. I felt my cheeks flush red as my heart pounded in my chest.

"Don't mention it," I shrugged, pulling my hand away.

I continued to drive through the deserts of Nevada. It was boring, sand, dirt, cacti, dust, plain boring. I saw Ronnie hooking up his new guitar to the amp. He began playing little tunes, like he was trying to get the sound right, testing out different samples of notes. He struggled to find something he liked, constantly scratching out things in his notebook.

He played a certain tune and reached for the notebook. "Wait!" I yelled.

"What?" He asked.

"Play that last one again," I said.

"Okay?" He seemed uncertain, yet he played it anyway. "What?"

"Take it up an octave and raise the chord," I said.

"Juliet," he sighed, "this just isn't working."

"Ronnie, I'm serious, raise the chord and take it up an octave."

"Alright," he shrugged. He began playing it and suddenly he was into it. He liked it. I smiled, watching him finally find something he liked.

When he finished, I turned to him, "see? Maybe listen to me once and a while."

"Shut up," he fake glared, "that was great. How did you think to do that?"

"I played piano for like ten years, I tended to branch off from the pre written songs and write my own," I laughed.

"Why didn't you tell me that?" He asked, "that would've been so helpful like an hour ago."

"Because you were determined to do it yourself. Am I wrong?" I smirked.

"Shut up," he laughed.

I looked at the road, seeing a small town right outside of Las Vegas. I figured we shouldn't stay in Las Vegas due to the price of a hotel being way too expensive for the money we had left.

"Ronnie," I said.

"What," he said.

"Let's stop here," I said.

"Alright," he smiled.