Young Like Us

Enter The Boartex

I went to a Halloween dance last night and I won the costume contest cuz I'm a rockstar, yo.

The inspector was a man with dark brown hair with glasses and a mole on his chin. He was partnered with a brunette lady with a very pretty flower in her hair that reminded Berwald of that couch he saw at work once.
They looked over the house, Tino nipping at their heels, eager for an answer. It wasn't until Matthew finally left his room for the first time that day that they said a word.
"Who is zhis?" The man asked.
"That's Matthew. He's our roommate."
"So he lives here?"
"Mhm!"
"We'll have to run a background check on him too."
"Oh, yeah," Tino shrugged and Berwald nodded. Matthew didn't seem like the kind of guy to do illegal things.
"But ozher zhan zhat, zhe house looks pretty good!" The woman beamed.
Tino squealed excitedly and jumped into Berwald's arms. "We get to keep him!"
"I know!"
"We need to celebrate! Let's call Lukas and Emil!"
"Mhm."
"If zhat's all, we'll take our leave." The man bowed his head.
"Thank you so much! You have no idea how happy this makes me."
"You're welcome." The pair exited the house and Tino ran to Peter's room to give him the news.
Matthew cursed under his breath and went back into his room, shutting and locking the door behind him.
Did he not like having Peter around?
Berwald didn't have much time to reflect because his watch went off, signalling the time for his doctor's appointment.
"Tino, I have to go!" He shouted as loudly as his low voice could carry. He heard a pitter patter as Tino ran back down the hall and launched himself into Berwald's arms. "Bye! I love you!"
"I love you too." He was just so excited and cute. Berwald could just eat him up.
"Come back safe, okay?!"
"Of course." Berwald kissed Tino softly before setting him on the floor.
"See you later, alligator!"
Berwald nodded and headed out to his car.
Little did he know that this checkup would change everything.

•••

"Matthew? Where are you going?" The Canadian was hauling a suitcase full of stuff toward the front door and Tino wanted to know why.
"I don't know yet...I'll probably stay with Alfred for a while and then-"
"What are you talking about? You're welcome to stay as long as you want."
Matthew sighed and set his baggage down. "I can't. You worked so hard to give Peter a good home and I'm just going to destroy it."
"How could you possibly say that?" Tino gaped. "You're a good person."
"I did a lot of stupid shit when I was a teenager. I got caught with weed so much...I've got an awful criminal record and there's no way they're going to let Peter stay with you guys if I'm here."
"Matthew, I-"
"I'll be fine."
"You don't seem fine."
Matthew averted his eyes. "I'm doing this for you...and Peter. I know what it was like living in foster homes all the time...and I know what it's like to have a child taken away. I don't want you guys going through that." His eyes were watering slightly.
"At least call us every once in a while, okay? I want to know how you're doing."
"Mhm..." Matthew lifted his suitcase back over his shoulder.
"Do you need a drive anywhere?"
"I'm good." He sauntered out of the house and into the unknown.
Tino didn't expect to get a phone call from him any time soon.

"Yo babe, I'm trying to drive here."

If you want to keep tabs on Mattie's side of the story, check out Symphony for the Lost.
The cover is just this:

ill have it posted Monday.