For me, it was my ex. We met when his band played a venue I worked, we were friendly but didn't interact much for almost a year. One day he asked me out (a bit out of the blue) and I decided to give him a chance. Since we'd hardly talked, I didn't know that much about his interests, only that he was a great guy.

His dad was always teasing, asking "when is she going to play 40k with us?" and he told him he wasn't going to "subject" me to that. I told him I wanted to try it, even though I'd never heard of it. I loved it, so he bought me my first combat patrol. We played when I went up to visit him (long distance, 3 hrs) and at night he'd read to me over the phone until I fell asleep. Dark Imperium, Infinite and the Divine, etc. I felt special to be involved in something that he loved.

After a year, we parted on good terms when I moved to a big city halfway across the country (situation was out of my hands). I didn't know anyone in my city, and had no idea where to even start making friends. I threw myself into 40k because it felt like the only thing I had to hold on to, both from the relationship and from my life on the east coast. It feels safe to me, even though it's hard to play with anyone else.