On his first night at Jorey’s place, Eric had learned a lot. Firstly, Jorey didn’t actually seem to care who stayed at his house. Alexei and he were the only permanent residents but his many friends came and went as they pleased; the front door was always open. There was nothing to steal anyway, they didn’t even have beds. Both Jorey and Alexei slept on an old mattress with stains and loose springs and rugs served as their blankets.

Though it was big enough, Alexei refused to share the mattress with him; thus, Eric was left with the unwelcoming rough carpet that felt sticky and was mouldy in places. Not that he would be able to sleep in this rat-infested, nasty hole anyway.

Luckily, in other areas, Alexei was kinder. Not only had he given him £700 from the sale of his watch—he had explained that because he had sold it on the black market, the sale price was lower than expected—Alexei had also handed him plain clothes and taken his designer clothes to avoid making him a target for robbers. Moreover, considerate as he was, Alexei had taken his phone to dispose of it so that his family could not track him down. 

In summary, all Eric had left of his old life were his pants. ‘Dirty pants,’ he thought with dismay—apparently, there was neither housekeeping staff nor a cleaning facility in this building. 

Alexei’s and Jorey’s lives were miserable, Eric concluded as hunger drove him to scavenge the kitchenette in what must have formerly been a breakroom for the office workers. Like the other rooms, it was littered with trash, dusty, and likely emitted a horrid stench; Eric couldn’t tell, his olfactory receptor cells had succumbed to the onslaught. 

“When is food being served?” he asked Jorey who only got up past midday. Neither he nor Alexei seemed to have jobs or other places to go to, seeing that it was a weekday. 

“Alexei, your sweetheart is hungry,” Jorey called, much less energetic than yesterday. “Let’s go and grab something to eat…”

“I’m not that idiot’s babysitter.” But despite his words. Alexei grabbed his jacket. 

Eric followed his new friends to an unassuming fast-food restaurant. When they arrived, it was already dark outside and uncomfortably bright inside. The neon green sign in the window flickered: URBAN GUYS, it said. It wasn’t a fancy place—Eric wrinkled his nose at the overwhelming smell of cooking grease; he couldn’t imagine anything edible coming from this locale. 

As it was around dinner time, customers were waiting at the counter but Alexei and Jorey didn’t join the queue. Instead, they grabbed an old receipt from the bin and waited. For a while, nothing happened and Eric impatiently watched the clock ticking and counted the number of times the sign in the window flickered. Ten times per minute, someone really needed to replace the light bulbs. 

Finally, there was movement. “Number forty-nine,” the server called out and Alexei went to the counter, showed his receipt and collected a brown paper bag with food. 

When had he ordered? Eric didn’t understand but Jorey quickly led him outside. “What’s it today?” he asked.

Alexei opened the grease-stained bag. “Two servings of chips and three burgers.”

Eric tilted his head, his lips pursing. He had never been to a fast-food restaurant before but the scene puzzled him still. “Don’t we have to pay? Can anybody go there and get food for free?”

Alexei and Jorey looked at him with big eyes. “Dude, we just stole this. Paying is for losers,” Jorey explained. “Seriously, Alexei, which planet did you find him on?”

“You… stole this?!” Eric quickly looked back to the restaurant. Nobody had followed them, and he wiped his sweaty hands on his trousers. It wasn’t like Eric always followed the laws to the dots—he had probably forgotten to pay more than once—but the difference was that now he didn’t have a personal assistant to clean up after him and an army of lawyers to protect him. Plus, if Eric was caught, his parents would find him which he had to avoid at all cost. 

Back at Jorey’s house, Eric sighed at the nutritionless chips that tasted like they were made of paper and salt. The burger wasn’t vegan so he had passed it on to Alexei. Surely, this could not be the only food they would have today? 

As Jorey was drinking—hopefully only drinking—with his friends downstairs, Eric looked for Alexei. It took him a while to find him, sitting on the rooftop, looking into the distance with a can of beer in his hand.

The concrete was cold and hard when Eric sat down next to him. The roof had no fence, just pipes and outlets with weeds growing in between. But the view made more than up for the lacklustre surroundings. Jorey’s house was taller than the nearby buildings and due to London’s hilly topography, Eric could see the red and white lights from the city centre in the distance. Not many stars were visible though, most were outshone by the lights from the city. There was a nightly spring breeze, as cold and harsh as the concrete ground and Eric shuddered, wishing he had brought a blanket. 

Alexei handed him a can. “It tastes better with whiskey,” he suggested, pointing at a glass bottle on the other side next to him.

Eric wondered whether his unusual friendliness meant Alexei was already drunk or that he had finally fallen for his charm. Whichever it was, Eric smiled and reached for the yellow-gold liquor to fill the void in his stomach and perhaps provide some warmth.    

Halfway through the motion, Eric paused, his arm over Alexei’s upper leg. He had never been this close to him, and his member twitched impatiently in response. Desperate to feel Alexei’s skin, Eric moved as close as he dared. “You know, I’ve always wondered why the sky is so dark but now I know: It’s because all its colour is in your eyes.”

“Don’t push your luck, idiot.”

“It doesn’t matter how you feel about me,” Eric said, hiding his disappointment while he poured some whiskey into his can. “Because I do love you.” 

His words felt out of place in this desolate place and Eric realised that Alexei probably didn’t even know the meaning of the word ‘love’.

Perhaps that was why Alexei didn’t bother replying and they sat in silence, watching the grey sky and the colourless night skyline whose glamour only made Eric feel more lonely. Perhaps that was also why they needed alcohol to survive—except it wasn’t drinkable. 

“Disgusting!” Eric exclaimed; it was only because of his upbringing that he managed to swallow the stinging beer-whiskey mixture. Cheap alcohol wouldn’t help him survive anywhere; in fact, he’d rather be dead than drink this swill again! 

“You get used to it...”

For someone to respond like this, this place must be grim. And indeed, it was nothing but the final station for the hopeless at the edge of society. “Don’t throw your life away like this, Alexei. Why are you even here?” 

Alexei took a sip from his can and leaned back, supporting himself with his free arm. “I was supposed to live with my aunt after I got out of Juvie but this place is still better than her shack.”

As Eric wanted to reply, the roof door opened noisily. Of course, Jorey had to ruin their moment... Who knew when Alexei would be this talkative and cooperative again? 

“What are you guys doing hiding all the booze up here?” 

At this point, his decision was final. Eric Nightingale would not rot away in this place and neither would Alexei. “I’m going to change your lives, that’s what I’m doing.”

Perhaps it was his imagination but Eric could swear he saw a glimmer of light in Alexei’s mesmerising blue eyes.