Chapter 3: You built up a world of magic, because your real life is tragic

When Quinn woke up the next time, she had a difficult time separating which had actually happened last night and which had been part of her foggy dream, result of a night of bad sleep and a full mind.

She could remember getting home to find Amelia scared and crying because of the wrecked mess that was their father. She felt goose bumps rising on her skin, the sound of her little sister's sobs all too loud and alive in her head. Quinn then remembered putting Amy down to sleep and leaving the house, ready to face her own demons.

Russell was sitting in the same bar he went every day since his wife died, sipping on the same old drink he had every time, looking the perfect portrait of a miserable man full of his own demons inside his head. The eighteen-years-old girl swallowed back a sob when she thought about confronting her father, saying things she never thought she would say out loud to him. The worst part is there was still so much more to be said.

Then she remembered Samuel. He had appeared out of nowhere and saved her from the heavy palm of her abusive father's hand. He had taken her away from there and they had walked together…

A smile slowly grew on her lips as she thought about how the night before ended.


— Alright, can you tell me where we are going now?

Samuel smiled sideways, looking the smaller girl beside him from the corner of his eye. Quinn bit her lip and looked away when their eyes met. She felt so stupid for acting that way, but that handsome stranger had the power to make her feel like a normal teenager, something she had given up on years before.

— My, um, father used to bring me here when I was little. — He explained, indicating the way into an empty street which led to nowhere that Quinn knew. Suddenly, she regretted coming with him. — Don't worry, I'm not a psycho and I'm not going to hurt you.

She relaxed a bit after his words and chuckled, rolling her eyes.

— I didn't say anything.

— Yeah, but you thought.

She looked back up to him and their eyes met for a brief second, bright green into deep hazel, and there was a connection so strong that they both had to look away — not because they were embarrassed, but it just seemed like they weren't ready to go there yet.

The thought scared the girl, but she let it pass when Sam exclaimed a "tah-dah!", meaning they had arrived their destination.

It was an old, abandoned playground and there was no light but the moon's. It gave the place a creepy look, sure, but for some reason, it also looked so… peaceful. Quinn gave the man beside her a quizzical look and frowned, but the smile never left her features.

— Well, as I told you, I was a child the last time I came here… — He chuckled with an apologetic shrug — And it didn't look half as creepy as it does now and—

— No.

It was his turn to give her a frown.

— No?

Quinn smiled, shrugging and stepping forward to the park.

— No. I like it, it's not… um… entirely creepy.

They had both laughed and she had found out then that the sound of his laughter was better than any music she had ever listened to.


Just hours before, Quinn had found out many things about the stranger. His name was Samuel Evans, but most of his friends called him Sam. His father used to call him Sambo, and they both laughed at that. She decided to not ask why he kept talking about his father in past tense, but she could figure out the reason.

He had been in Army, as she thought earlier the day before, when they met. In fact, he had enlisted when he was eighteen and was dismissed now because of personal issues in his family. He didn't go further into the topic, and she was fine with that. He had three siblings, all of them younger, but it had been a while since he had seen them. It had also been a while since he had been home, which was — and she smiled widely when she realized where the accent came from — in Nashville, Tennessee.

The blonde was glad that he didn't ask about her father and the situation he had found in the middle of that bar.

Samuel didn't tell her what he was doing in Lima, but the rest of their night had been spent on little conversation while they swayed back and forth in those old swings. He had told her that it brought him a lot of memories, and she swore she saw his eyes getting wet, but he was quick to go back to his military self, looking older than his twenty-one years old.

A couple of hours had passed when she told him she had to get home because her little sister was sleeping alone. Despite Quinn telling him it was not necessary, he had walked her home and they said their goodbyes with comfortable smiles, but no unnecessary touch. She was slowly realizing that Samuel's boundaries were a lot close to hers. They didn't like to go further into things that weren't absolutely needed at that moment. And, right then, she was completely fine with a shy goodbye and a "See you around". She didn't even have his phone number, and God knew she'd rather die before being the one to ask for that.

Quinn, finally, rolled off the bed and went back to her bedroom, kissing her sister's forehead and leaving her to sleep a few more hours. She couldn't have that — there was still a mess downstairs she had to clean before Amy woke up. And, like a bucket of cold water, reality hit her hard.

She couldn't be the happy, normal teenager everyone her age was. She was still the fucked up kid she was the day before, and she would still be that tomorrow.

Fighting back the tears when she found Russell passed out in the couch, she went straight to the kitchen and started the damage control she always had to deal with the day after. It was wrong and so unfair that she had to deal with that. It was so fucked that she couldn't be a normal girl, daydreaming in her bed about the guy she had met the day before.

She would never be normal.


A/N: Oh my God, I can't apologize enough for how long this took! Turns out that my computer was effed up, and I just got it back from the store. Thank you for being patient! I hope everyone likes and reviews this chapter, because I believe it brings a little perspective that this is not a cliche love story. (I hope so, at least!) And... maybe... ahem, I might post another chapter sooner than you expect, so stay with me! xX