Reprobate Romance (Andy Biersack) ✔️ (editing)

1: Bad Reputation

It was pretty much the end of the American tour. We had all decided to visit a few more cities to relax and enjoy some time off before the majority of us would head back home, while the others would be off to Europe. We were staying in the same city until New Year's Day, so that meant we had hotel room arrangements. No staying on the tour bus for the holidays. Thank fuck.

"Hey there, Ratliff." I heard someone calling out behind me as the desk girl handed me the keycards. 

Of course I knew who it was, though, so I smiled and turned around. "Hi, Radke." I greeted him.

He shot me a smile in return. "Hey so um- where is everyone?" He asked as he looked around. I merely made a drinking gesture, which immediately made him laugh. "I see. Care for a smoke, then?"

"Yes please!" I exclaimed happily as I punched the air with my fist.

I then walked out to the front of the hotel with him and sat down on the curb.

"You look like you could use some sleep, by the way." Ronnie then mentioned as he sat down next to me, holding a cigarette between his fingers.

I nabbed it off him and chuckled. "I'm taking care of five children, what do you expect?"

Ronnie looked at me and smiled warmly. "I expect that you're going to be a great mother someday." That comment pierced straight through my heart, though. For a moment, I had forgotten completely about the situation with his baby girl. That was pretty fucking stupid of me. "Don't worry about it." Ronnie then whispered.

I looked back at him, frowning curiously. "How did you...?"

He laughed softly and lit my cigarette, shrugging like it was nothing. "Well I know you, and I know what people say about you. And they're wrong, y'know. You're so selfless; you're always there for everyone else. So what, you had a little fun and slept with a few guys. That's not who you are."

I took a long drag from my cigarette and sighed deeply, slowly letting all of the smoke back out. "It's all they'll remember, though." I simply pointed out to him.

"Just as all they'll remember is me being an addict and going to jail. But that's just the haters. Becoming a father really changed me, you know? Even though I don't really get to be a father as much as I would like to, I'm still trying to be a better man. Some people see that, people like you for example."

Honestly, I was taken a bit off guard by Ronnie's speech. "This is a really deep conversation for a morning." I finally murmured. 

But then Ronnie simply burst out laughing as he lay back in the grass.

"It may be the end of the year, but there's no need for such emotional talk. Let's please just have a good time. If any tears should fall, they should be happy ones." I said, trying to steer the conversation elsewhere.

"Amen, Ratliff. Amen." Ronnie muttered as he raised his cigarette in the air, like he was toasting to my little rant.

"Eh, hi. Were we interrupting your morning prayer?" 

I looked up and saw all five of the guys standing there, half asleep, all with sunglasses on even though the sun was clearly covered by the clouds. Yep, they were definitely hungover. I snickered softly at the sight and smiled. "Shut up and help me up." I demanded as I raised a hand.

CC grabbed a hold of it and pulled me onto my feet, just as Andy nabbed my cigarette from my fingers. Typical.

"That's mine!" I whined like a childish five-year-old.

Andy then took a single big drag and handed it back to me. "Learn how to share, woman." He murmured with a grin playing on his lips.

I smoked the last bit, rolling my eyes, and then reached for the keycards in my pocket. "I already checked you all in. You all have separate hotel rooms, so hooray, clean up your own mess for a change."

"Even you?" Ashley wondered, disappointment lacing the tone of his voice.

"Yes, even me, thank you." I let him know, narrowing my eyes at him. "If you need me, you can find me in room 306." The way I said it, had a clear just-leave-me-alone tone in it. And I assumed that they'd understand. Tomorrow was Christmas, not exactly one of my favorite days of the year; despite the fact that I got to spend it with the people I actually liked this time around.

I handed them the cards and pointed at the entrance of the hotel behind me. "Breakfast has been arranged for all of you. Go eat, you'll feel better. And yes, Jake, there's a gym."

Jake then excitedly punched the air, naturally being the first one to run into the hotel.