[center][img]https://44.media.tumblr.com/da006d42187029a7dd9ec479b9b19910/be22b091fe236832-14/s400x600_f1/5364c3864910a81875ffaa84a581f68317e77804.gif[/img] [img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/220221/726c4dbb344f781e8a9c3000c9027388.png[/img][/center] [hr][hr] It was a strange feeling. Love. It was an idea or a feeling that Mei had never truly understood but had so desperately wanted to. She often watched her parents, who were so in love that it made her sick. To an offcomer, Will and Shannon could easily pass for a couple that had been together all their lives. They were the type of couple that finished each other’s sentences, instinctively knew what the other wanted in the moment and started and finished every day with a soft kiss and a moment to say “I love you”. The Ramsey’s were a near perfect example of what the essence of what love should be. The truth of the matter was that Will and Shannon had not been together all their lives. Truth be told, Will was a second choice and he never forgot that. Shannon had dated Sylvester James all through her time at Edenridge High. She was his next door neighbour and the whole story played out like a white picket fence Americana cliche but it ended in a fiery ball of flames. For Will, a nerdy kid with a penchant for Bruce Lee movies and maths, entertaining the thought that the head of the Clovers, Shannon Ling, was even remotely interested in him was baffling. It started with a tutoring lesson and Shannon being involved in a rather nasty breakup. Now they were the picture of a perfect couple and everything Mei aspired to be. They were soulmates. At this point in her life, the priestess fully believed that she had found her soulmate, her love in Jill O’Brien. No one had ever made her feel so complete and so whole, the missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle known as Mei Ramsey. Yet before her came another. She had fooled around a lot during her time so she didn’t count those. No; only once before had Mei ever come close to feeling like she did with Jill and that was with Quinton. [hr] [i]November 17th 2017[/i] Somewhere across the multiverse, Mei Ramsey and Quinton Woods were the worst dynamic duo of superheroes that the world had ever seen. She, a goth witch with anger management issues and he, the tech genius with a god complex. In reality, they were a pair of misfits joined together by a town surrounded by a shroud of darkness. They had been friends all of their lives, one of few that they both had as neither really adhered themselves to anyone who lived between Scott Street and Carlisle Avenue. It wasn’t until the tail end of freshman year that things changed for them. Mei had really struggled after the death of Allison and in Q himself was dealing with some other issues. Trapped in a snowstorm of uncertainty, they caved in to one another. Both questioned whether what they had was real or whether it was simply a means to an end to not feel the crushing loneliness that had plagued them both. Alas, they convinced themselves of the former and that they were meant to be together. The young couple sat in Quinton’s room, him immersed in his third Mass Effect speed run and her doodling away on her notepad. Neither had really said much since she had arrived an hour earlier, there was something off in the air that day. [color=C652D5]“Hey Q, I won’t be staying too long. I'm gonna hang out with Jill and CeCe tonight. There’s this new move we wanna get down before the next game”[/color] [color=75CC20]“You mean you’re gonna hang out with Jill because Caitlin will flake like she’s been doing since last year to go fuck her not so secret boyfriend, get bored and text me when I’m about to go to sleep”[/color] Q’s response was peppered with venom as he didn’t even look away from his screen. [color=C652D5]“I’m sorry? Who do you think you’re talking to like that?”[/color] A great sigh was breathed out from Quinton’s chest as he paused his game. He turned on the bed and pushed his glasses up from the bridge of his nose. [color=75CC20]“I’m sorry babe. I didn’t mean for that to sound so nasty. I’ve just got a lot on my mind you know? I didn’t mean to shade your friends”[/color] Mei folded her arms and leaned back against the bed rest, her heavily made up eyes shooting lightning bolts at her boyfriend. [color=C652D5]“Like what? You haven’t been talking to me lately. If I don’t know I can’t help Q”[/color] [color=75CC20]“You right, you are. I’m sorry. I’ll tell you everything”[/color] He shuffled a little further onto the bed and closer to her, putting his hand on her ankle. [color=75CC20]“For starters my brother hasn’t called in months so I think that’s really fucking with my Dad. This whole illegitimate daughter thing has soured their relationship”[/color] [color=C652D5]“And how are you dealing with that? Must be hard having her come to dinner and make nice. Plus, I mean she’s Bianca Washington, Queen of Pinehurst, she’s a cunt. No offence.”[/color] A genuine smile cut across the face of Quinton and a small giggle broke his stern barrier. [color=75CC20]“None taken”[/color] This was a rarity for Q. For the entirety of his life, most have called him abnormal or strange because he didn’t seem to feel things the same way others did. There was never any doubt that he was highly intelligent, bordering on a genius but the actual feeling of things, empathy for others, in those areas he was sorely lacking and that made him a target. [color=75CC20]“Like I know having a hot cheerleader half sister is like the start of a porn hub video but for me it’s difficult. I need my routines to get me through the day and when it was just me, mom, dad and TallBoy we were good, you know? Now Mom is gone, Dad is at work all the time, my brother is who knows where and I have a sister who thinks the particle accelerator is a band”[/color] Mei tried to stifle a laugh at her boyfriend's last comment. Whilst the rest of it was purely heartbreaking stuff, knowing how much of an idiot Bianca was made joy well up in her chest. [color=75CC20]“It’s all getting to me lately and I’m not sure why. It’s so hard being the smartest damn person in the room all the fucking time. I am literally surrounded by morons and thugs. Take yesterday at lunch, I went off campus to take my dad some paperwork. He barely acknowledged me because he is working a case on the Yardies right now but as I was walking out, I passed that Neanderthal Cameron Hyde wrapped up in chains and covered in blood and I literally, I mean literally watched Duke spill a shake all over my car. Idiots. This town is actual scum. I cannot wait to get out of here forever.”[/color] Leaping up from her stationary position on the bed, Mei wrapped her arms around Quinton and hugged him tightly. Her heart went out to him, she had not known how lovely he truly felt yet even in this moment of vulnerability she couldn’t help but see that his belief in his own superiority was only getting worse. [color=C652D5]“I get to come with you right?”[/color] She mused. [color=75CC20]“Yeah”[/color] Quinton pulled away from her and smiled. [color=75CC20]“Don’t worry about tonight. Go be with your friends. I’m going to try and get Charlie in for some tutoring”[/color] [color=C652D5]“As in Charlie Decker?”[/color] [color=75CC20]“Mmhm. He needs work in Calculus and I was unfortunately nominated to be his buddy. Talk of Neanderthals, just cos he can quote Shakespeare people think he’s some sort of deep soul. Kids an idiot and a murder we but I’m getting laid so whatever right?”[/color] Q reached his hand under his bed. [color=75CC20]“Which reminds me, I found something you might like”[/color] After feeling around for a few moments he slid out a plastic bag and handed it to Mei. As she uncovered what was inside, her mouth went agape and her jaw almost struck the floor. [color=C652D5]“Is this what I think it is?”[/color] [color=75CC20]“Yup”[/color] Q smugly grinned. [color=75CC20]“It is indeed an original vinyl record for Gallows, featuring your favourite song and most importantly a glimpse at your teenage dad”[/color] He pointed to the cover of the sleeve. Poised as a snapshot of a group of teenagers in a garage, there were five of them. A pretty female keyboardist, two male guitarists, a red haired lead singer and an Asian American boy on the drums, Mei’s dad Will. [color=C652D5]“He’s gonna fucking freak. I love this, thank you Q”[/color] She leaned forward and kissed him softly, holding the record to her chest with one arm whilst stroking his Afro with the other. [color=C652D5]“Where did you even get this?”[/color] [color=75CC20]“Believe it or not, from Charlie Decker. I was tutoring at his place the other day and he showed it to me. I think it was his way of trying to connect since he knew we were dating and obviously your father and his father were both in the band”[/color] Mei flung herself back onto the bed before handing the record back to Q. [color=C652D5]“Play it baby. I wanna hear it before I go”[/color] As Quinton popped up to place the vinyl onto his record player, the goth girl smiled to herself. The first notes from the first song began to play and she closed her eyes in bliss. [color=C652D5]“Thank you, Charlie Decker”[/color] [hr] [i]The Present[/i] Jill lay asleep on the bed as Mei put the finishing touches onto her latest show. She sent the next playlist through to Kylee for the Dawn Patrol and got up from her bedroom station to make her way over to the vinyl collection. Her dark eyes scanned the massive assortment of music which she had collected over the years, her fingers tracing the spines of the sleeves as she searched. Finally she pulled the Gallows vinyl from the stack and made her way over to her turntable. She placed the disc down and dropped the needle. Instantly she was hit by the distinct feedback of Gallows opening track, her favourite track, [i]The Comet[/i] Things didn’t end well with Quinton. And things certainly didn’t end well for him either. He never got out. He never got the chance. She still remembered his smile when he knew he was right and Mei wondered if he had that smile on his face when Charlie blew his head off. She mourned him, even though by that point they hated each other. Without him em show her what love wasn’t supposed be, she wouldn’t have known how to love Jill like she did. Mei closed her eyes and allowed the music to wash over her. [color=C652D5]”Thank you Q”[/color]