Tragic Magic

Chapter Fifty Three

"Very brave of you to do, Juliet, but I always knew you and Ronnie were meant to be," Belle catches me at the reception party. 

"Thanks, Belle. I can't believe this is how everything worked out in the end," I say.

"Everything always works out in the end, but this isn't the end, sweetheart. Where is the psychopath anyways?" 

"Dancing with his daughter. She's sweet," I explain. 

"I'm glad," Belle gives me a hug, "Let me know if you need anything, I will always be there for you."

"Hey, what'd I miss?" Ronnie comes up behind me with Willow.

"Nothing," I smile and pull myself close to them. 

"I have a question," he wraps an arm around my waist. 

"That's never a good thing," I tell Willow.

"Would you be okay living with her?" Ronnie gestures to Willow. 

"Of course," I kneel down and look at Willow, "She's your daughter, I'm your wife."

Those are some interesting words. I never thought I'd be saying that to Ronnie Radke, being that I couldn't stand him for a good period of time. 

"Her mom will probably have her a couple nights out of the week," he explains.

"Does she have to though?" I stand back up and wrap myself around Ronnie.

"Funny. You know her mom wants to see her too."

"Yeah, I know," I roll my eyes at him. 

"Willow!" I hear a voice call out from the distance.

Shit, it's her. 

"Um, hey," I pull away from Ronnie, "I'm gonna go greet some more guests, I'll be back." I needed an excuse to get out of there. 

"Juliet!" Craig catches me running by.

"Hey!" I stop and catch my breath, "I didn't think I'd see you here."

"TJ is my best friend, what did you expect?" He gives me a look.

"Right," I feel at loss for words. I can't tell if he's happy or upset.

"I'm surprised, you and Ronnie," he starts, "I mean, I never thought you'd get together after what happened."

"Yeah, me too," I laugh awkwardly, "But I'm happy and he's happy so."

"Then we're all happy for you," he reassures me.

"Really?" I ask. 

"Yeah. I mean, if you two are happy, that's what you deserve. All I ever wanted was for you to be happy. We started a war there for a little while, you and Ronnie, me and you, then you and TJ. You and I were never meant to be, and I guess neither were you and TJ."

"I never meant to hurt you," I explain.

"Nah, you never hurt me. As long as you were happy, I was happy," he tells me. "There's a certain way he looks at you though, it's a look TJ and I never knew."

"What kind of look?" 

"He loves you. He's always had that look, I just saw past it. I never thought a person could love another person that much. I could never love you as much as he does."

How does Craig know all these things? Why would he be telling me these things anyways?

"I guess I never noticed," I say.

"You should. He's the one who's going to be there for you when you fall, not TJ or myself. When you're sick, he's gonna take care of you. When you had a bad day and feel like you're nothing, he's going to remind you that you are everything. You are everything in his eyes."

"When did you become so wise?" I roll my eyes at him.

"I'm serious, Juliet. Being with Ashley has taught me something about true love, and you two got it. I would kill for a relationship like that, and I think that's why I wanted to be with you so badly. But honestly, you two deserve each other, nobody else."

I feel myself melting listening to Craig talk. I couldn't help but wrap myself around him and cry. I didn't know if I was happy or sad.

"Thank you for being such a great friend," I mumble into his shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah, just know I'll always be here for you," he says.  

"Oh my gosh hi Craig, it's been so long, how ya doing?" Ronnie says, wrapping himself around us. 

"OMG Ronnie, I haven't seen you in like a week, oh my gosh hi," Craig plays along.

"I saw a hug party going on and I had to get in on it," Ronnie jokes. 

Craig lets me go and hands me over to Ronnie, making me feel a sense of relief. Craig and I haven't been on good terms until this moment, which was a great weight off my shoulders. 

"I'll catch you two later, gotta go entertain the wifey," Craig says, leaving us alone.

"So how was your family meeting?" I ask Ronnie.

"Family meeting?" He gives me a look.

"Willow and Crissy," I roll my eyes.

"Aw, don't get jealous, sweetheart," he pulls me close to him, "She was just picking Willow up, they have some salon appointment or something like that." 

"Shit, a three year old has a better beauty life than me," I laugh, wrapping myself around him.

"Whatever," he laughs with me, "We'll get you into the salon if that's what you want." 

"I just need a good nap and I'll be happy," I say.

"Well, that sucks, we're not done partying." 

"Good point," I wink at him, "Now come dance with me, the party is just getting started."