Mr Brightside (May 2009 - September 2009)

Thanks to a mutual friend, one night after an evening class at my university I ended up on a date with Mike. Our break up was so terrible that I deleted every single photo of us, except one. 

It isn't the best photo, but there we are. When I met Mike, we got on like a house on fire and our relationship moved at an incredibly fast pace. I quickly learned that he was severely bipolar. The amount of pills that he took twice a day was quite scary. After about a month we went away together to my favourite place, Hogsback. When we got back from there we had decided to move in together. To be specific, he asked me.

So, I moved in with him. Everything was okay for a while. Every now and then he would go away to Lesotho for the weekend with the Wits Ski Club. Although he never invited me, I always assumed that it was a guys weekend, but later learned that many girlfriends went with too.

We then decided to get two kittens, and it was left to me to name them. I decided on Bella and Esme, it seemed to suit them, as they were very beautiful and also mother and daughter. I remember one night Esme disappeared and we spent hours outside in the cold looking for her. She eventually turned up 2 weeks later, a lot skinnier than she had been.

Mike and I had a good relationship in the beginning. We would say goodbye in the mornings, and chat to each other the whole day until we'd both get home and see each other again. When he found out about the fact that my previous boyfriend Wes had thought we were still a couple even when Mike and I had been going on dates, he played Mr Brightside to show how he felt and it became our song. 

Mike had his issues, one minute he would be fine and happy, the next he would be freaking out about any little thing. So, one day, we were both sitting in the TV room. He suddenly looked at the book shelf, which had both his and my books on it, and said that he couldn't handle the fact that all my books were on his shelf. 

This quickly escalated in to him freaking out about me moving in. I had started to get used to his funny moods so I walked in to the next room to check on the cats. He then came in and apologised. Later on we broke up properly, I was so embarrassed to go home that I drove to my university and slept there.

The next step was moving out, which I did all by myself since he had decided he needed to be away and think, which made me feel like this was all somehow my fault. Definitely one of my stranger relationships. 

I heard later on that he had given the cats away. This hurt more than the break up, they were my cats too, so he really could've at least offered them to me. 

I thought I'd never see Mike again, but he showed up a few years later when I went to a birthday party. I finally got an apology from him that night.  

Mr Brightside by the Killers

I'm coming out of my cage
And I’ve been doing just fine
Gotta gotta be down
Because I want it all

It started out with a kiss
How did it end up like this?
It was only a kiss
It was only a kiss

Now I’m falling asleep
And she’s calling a cab
While he’s having a smoke
And she’s taking a drag

Now they’re going to bed
And my stomach is sick
And it’s all in my head

But she’s touching his chest now
He takes off her dress now
Let me go

And I just can’t look its killing me
And taking control

Jealousy, turning saints into the sea
Swimming through sick lullabies
Choking on your alibis

But it’s just the price I pay
Destiny is calling me
Open up my eager eyes
‘Cause I’m Mr Brightside

I’m coming out of my cage
And I’ve been doing just fine
Gotta gotta be down
Because I want it all

It started out with a kiss
How did it end up like this?
It was only a kiss
It was only a kiss

Now I’m falling asleep
And she’s calling a cab
While he’s having a smoke
And she’s taking a drag

Now they’re going to bed
And my stomach is sick
And it’s all in my head

But she’s touching his chest now
He takes off her dress now
Let me go

Cause I just can’t look its killing me
And taking control

Jealousy, turning saints into the sea
Swimming through sick lullabies
Choking on your alibis

But it’s just the price I pay
Destiny is calling me
Open up my eager eyes
‘Cause I’m Mr Brightside

I never
I never
I never
I never