Strings Attached

XII

Quinn-

Stage lights were burning his eyes as he sat in a black velvet chair next to some talk show host with a raspy English accent. Johnny and Clarke passed on the opportunity to be on Irish TV. Instead they chose to visit the local pubs to see what kind of whiskey they could get their hands on.

The host talked in a loud and energetic voice,"Today we have a very special guest. Lives in the United States, but is a Dublin native, Quinn McLaughlin everybody!"

A spotlight fell upon Quinn, he put his hand up to wave, and the crowd, gathered behind the camera began to clap and whistle. The host started talking again.

"So Quinn, what's it feel like to be in Dublin again?"

"Well," he let his Irish accent out, it never really went away, he just hid it."It feels great to be back home. It seems like it hasn't changed one bit since I've left."

"Aw, well isn't that just lovely folks? Quinn feels at home with us!" The crowd clapped again. "How's your time here been so fa-" His phone rang, and it was on full volume, which meant it was really loud.

"Oh, Quinn, would you like to get that? It could be important for all you know."

"Yeah, give me a moment, thanks."

He got up, walked backstage, and answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"QUINN!"

"Uh, yeah, who's this?"

"This is Alex's mom, you need to come home now!"

"Why? Did something happen?"

"It's Alex, she's in the hospital, something happened last night. You really need to come home now, it's really bad." He could hear re voice crack as she started sobbing.

"I'll be there by tomorrow, just calm down. I'll catch the next flight back."

The call dropped, apparently the connection was worse than he thought. He ran back on the stage and grabbed his black denim jacket off the chair.

"I have to go, something's come up."

The host looked shocked, but didn't say a single word, the crowd let out a stereotypical loud gasp as this happened.

He ran offstage and out the building, Clarke was waiting outside, he smelled like whiskey, and he could tell Clarke was piss drunk.

"Clarke, cancel the show, I have to go back home."

"What? Why?"

"Something's come up, I have to be back by tomorrow."

"UGHHHHHH, fine, how long will you take?"

"I don't know, but it might be better to put the tour on hold. And it'd be better if you guys went home too, it's going to be a while until we can tour again."

"Quinn, what the fuck is going on? I'm not cancelling shit until you tell me what's happening."

"It's Alex, she's in the hospital, I got a call a few minutes ago, and her mom told me I have to be back, like now."

"Shit, okay. I think you will need more than a week or two. I'll convince Johnny to pack up and go home. Here," he handed him some money, "pay for a ride to the airport, and get the hell out of here. You know Johnny would try to beat the shit out of you if he knew about this, especially because he's a lot more drunk than me. Just hurry up, he'll be here in like, ten minutes."

Quinn didn't say anything, he just ran and hailed the first taxi he saw. The ride to the Dublin airport didn't take too long. He sprinted to the front desk.