Free Bird || Ronnie Van Zant (Completed)

🕊Heart Like A Hand Grenade🕊

"To be honest Ronnie I don't know." This was the question I hoped he wouldn't ask. The thought of Alabama didn't seem so sweet and homly anymore, the rash descion of parting ways with Lynyrd Skynyrd once an for all didn't seem as attractive since Ronnie's suicide attempt. I sat up, slowly but surely I was leaving the bed. "Please go to sleep Ronnie."

I turned my attention towards Leslie who had just came in, being sure to slam the door shut behind her. "The press are killing us all. Allen and Gary are trying to get them to leave."

"Did any of them touch you?!" Ronnie asked with concern, tensing himself up. I knew he was very protective of them. No man would touch those honkettes with a ten foot pole if Ronnie was around. I almost pitty the press if they had to deal with him on this one.

"It's fine Ronnie. Just um.. could I stay in here for a bit to get away from all the rukas?"

"You know what? I'm gonna go deal with this right now. Where are my pants?"

Leslie kept her attention to the window, that showed the shitshow happening just outside the room. "I think they're leaving now."

"Thank God." I whispered to myself. "Leslie, could we have a minute?"

"Of course." The brunette nodded, giving me a sympathetic look as she left the room.

I sat back down next to him, doing everything in my power to stop the tears from coming. Choking up, I muttered the following words; "I thought I could forget you. But I can't. You're Ronnie Van Zant. There will never be another Ronnie Van Zant. And I don't want our baby to grow up without a dad..."

What happend next, I didn't expect. What started as one thing, in my opinion a period of emotional innocence, turned into a moment where he tried to kiss me. I turned away from him quickly, so he only caught my cheek.

"Oh.." Ronnie sadly looked down and wiped a tear forming in his eye. "I'm... sorry."

"You're just a little confused Ronnie." I quietly said as I took both of his hands in my own. "I'm sorry but I just... can't."

Later on, Ronnie's family came to visit him. During this time, I played cards outside the hospital with JoJo.

"You win again." I slumped against the wall and looked at the cards with a disproving glare. "You sure can play them right."

"Only sometimes hunny. Only sometimes." She quietly replied as she cleaned up the mess. "Let's go inside."

"Sweetheart!" The moment I stepped back in the building, Marion (Ronnie's mother) had her arms around me. "Oh hunny."

"Good Lord." Now it was Lacey, Ronnie's father, who was all up and hugging me. "Little Johnny is in seeing Ronnie. He's asking about you too."

"He's a good kid." I muttered as I pulled away from Ronnie's closest kin.

"He's sixteen now." Marion said proudly as she thought of her youngest child. "All grown up. He can be quite a handful, Jesus help me."

---
"Hey Johnny." I was shocked to see how much he'd changed. "How are you?"

"I'm... well.. you know." Johnny said as he leaned against the door frame. "Ronnie needs you and he loves you. He's my brother. All I have to say."

Johnny walked off, leaving me alone at the doorway again. Seems Ronnnie took my advice, and finally decided to go to sleep. 

"Hey Elle." I sat next to him as he finally began to wake up. "De ja vu, huh?"

"I love you." I stated simply. "I always have and I always will end nothing is gonna change that."

"Does this mean what I think it.. means?" Ronnie asked with excitement and hope in his voice. "That we can have our happy ending after all?"