Symphony for the Lost

Hurt

If you're reading this and you haven't read "Young Like Us" up until the chapter "enter the Boartex" Then do that now.
This is a companion story so the best way to read it is to read Young Like Us and then this each day when chapters come out.
If you're reading this and both stories are completed, then just switch between the stories. Or just read young Like Us and then this. But the plot works better if you switch.
Trust me.

There was a short period in my life when I felt happy. I was almost thirty, living on my own with a pet polar bear my brother had given me for my birthday. I had a steady job at Timmies and I was starting to make friends with the Scandinavians who lived next door.
I went to that New Years party they had and met this guy named Gilbert. He was attractive and the way he talked to me was so different from how anybody else had. I grew attached to the albino German that night.
It was probably the worst and best decision of my life.
I didn't see him again before my life crashed into the ground. My landlord found out about Kuma and suddenly I was on the streets. I didn't know where to go, but luckily fate wanted me to be happy for just a bit longer. Tino was sitting on his front step when I walked by and noticed me.
"Moving out?!"
"I was kicked out." I sighed. I didn't have much luggage on me; just a suitcase full of clothes and a wagon filled with whatever else I could grab on my way out. I didn't own much, what with the lack of money I always seemed to have.
"Oh no! Do you have anywhere to stay?!"
"I'm sure I'll manage..." I shrugged it off. It wasn't like I hadn't lived on the streets before.
"Why don't you stay here? Everybody else moved out!"
"I just..."
"Come on! It's lonely here without roommates."
I sighed. "How much is rent?"
"Fifty bucks a month?"
"That's not a lot."
"I can go lower. My job pays well."
"Oh."
Tino held out his hand. "So, what do you say?"
"I...if you insist..."
"Great! I'll get a room ready for you!"
Shit.