"Is there anything I can do? Please, I just need a few more days-" the door was slammed shut on Connor Murphy yet again. He sighed and started to walk away from his- what used to be his family's house. After what Larry said, Connor guessed it would be better to not associate himself with the rest of the Murphys.

The sky was cloudy, hiding the setting sun from view. Connor needed to find somewhere to stay, if only for the night, but he had the feeling luck wouldn't be on his side. Only a quick look through Connor's past record would show that he was a quite violent individual, which really didn't help his case as a recovering addict. And, as Connor had learned the hard way, it doesn't seem to matter how hard you're trying to get clean. No-one with the words 'drug addict' on their record will be likely to find help of any kind.

Connor, however, didn't want that to stop him. He ran his hand through his long dark hair, a habit he'd had for forever, and walked into a homeless shelter. Only when the nice lady behind the counter asked him his name did Connor realise that he really was homeless. He must have been lost in that thought for a while because some guy flicked him on the back of his head. "Hey, Hot Topic, you good?" The random guy said. Connor, who assumed that Hot Topic must be referring to him, turned around to find that the guy was just a bit shorter than him, wore a purple-y red jacket and glasses, and, strangely, had a Lush bag clutched in his hand. 

 "Huh? Oh, yeah. Sorry." Connor mumbled. Lush guy smiled a bit and let Connor carry on talking to the lady and filled out some paperwork. "All right, Connor! We have a spot open so you can stay here for tonight. As you probably know, this is first come, first serve so, if you're lucky, you might be able to secure a place tomorrow as well! Unfortunately, we do have to close between 8am and 8pm so you can't stay the entire day. However, I trust you have a job to go to or errands to run. Am I correct?" She asked. Connor knew that admitting to being unemployed as well as homeless probably wouldn't help his case, so he vaguely nodded and moved on from that question.

When Connor finally finished talking to the lady he sat down on a chair on the other side of the room. Lush dude sat down next to him and attempted to start a conversation. "Hot Topic! Where did you get your clothes? Hot Topi- wait no. Umm... What's your name? I probably should've started with that," he laughed. 

"Connor. How about you?" Connor replied. That's when Lush guy did the absolute weirdest thing Connor had ever seen. He reached into the Lush bag, pulled out a bath bomb, and proceeded to TAKE A FUCKING BITE OUT OF IT. HE ATE A BATH BOMB. WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?!

Bath bomb bitch noticed Connor staring at him and immediately apologised. "Oh shit, sorry! Do you want one? I'm Jared, by the way." Connor looked at the bath bomb that Jared was handing him and politely declined. The bitch ate bath bombs, Connor didn't want to mess with him.

They talked for a while before a girl with round glasses and long hair walked out from the desk, wearing a volunteer uniform. "Hi Alana! Oh, Connor, this is Alana. Alana, this is Connor." Jared introduced Connor to her and vice-versa. "Ooh, is he your boyfriend?" Alana grinned. "I can be the officiant for your wedding, since I'm already a refined lawyer!" Jared went red but Connor was just confused. What the fuck is an officiant? Jared began to lecture Alana, "Firstly, he is not my boyfriend! Secondly, you aren't a lawyer. You got an A+ on your law essay, but that does not make you a lawyer in any way! And thirdly," Jared turned to Connor, "You better not be a homophobic piece of shit. If so, I advise you to fuck off before I pop out your eyeballs and blend them up into a smoothie that I'll give to my fucking grandma!"

A few people had turned around to see what happened, but turned away again once they saw Jared. Connor guessed that this was a normal occurrence.

"Hey, take a chill pill. You're not getting anywhere near my eyes, as for my sexuality, it's more fluid, I like both boys and girls," Connor replied, "and it's definitely more fluid than anything my eyes have, so maybe blend that into a smoothie next time." 

"... Is that a mildly threatening way of saying you're bi?" Jared slowly worked out.

"Fuck yeah." Connor smiled. Maybe today wouldn't be so bad after all.

••••••

Today was very bad. Jared and Alana had to leave eventually, but luckily he got their numbers. Unluckily, though, the text waiting for him wasn't from either of them.

Cynthia

Please come back. You know that your father didn't mean what he said.

Connor blocked her, along with Larry and Zoe. He didn't want to be associated with Larry. Connor knew that Cynthia wanted the best for him but he couldn't bare to be around them any longer. 

Connor opened his bag and pulled out a guitar and a notebook with a few pens. The guitar used to belong to Zoe, but she got a new one so Connor took her old one. The notebook had scribbled notes and lyrics spread across the pages. When he was nine, he made a bet with Zoe that he'd become a famous musician before her. Connor had only said it to encourage her to go to jazz band, because he knew she was too shy to do it on her own. But Connor realised that he actually really enjoyed writing songs, so he carried on long after the bet was forgotten. 

Connor wrote down a few lyrics and played around with possible beats and tunes. All of Connor's songs were quite sad, so he opted for a faster and more upbeat melody because his sadder songs were getting less and less attention. His last uploaded video had only gotten 46 views and about 20 likes. Don't get him wrong, he wasn't only playing for popularity, but song writing was the only thing he was moderately good at and he didn't have any other way to make money.

Obviously though, the rough first lyrics twisted themselves into what seemed like someone losing hope. Granted, Connor's subconscious did base songs off of past experiences and he didn't get out enough or have any friends to make fond memories with. He wanted the song to be about finding your way out of a tough situation, so he used the word 'map' a lot, but it seemed like the person couldn't find a map by the end of the first draft.

Connor decided to roll with the direction the song was headed and eventually came up with the name 'Where's the map?'

The pen slowly started to run out of ink, and Connor took that as a sign to stop writing for the night and get into one of the stiff beds to attempt to get some sleep. He pulled the thin quilt over his head and slowly try to calm his thoughts. Connor had to admit, he was going to miss Zoe, but he knew it was best to leave and let her live a peaceful and calm life. She didn't deserve to be crammed into the same house as the freak that can't even control his mouth. Instead, he tried to think of the times that they were happy together. Connor could only remember less than three years of happy memories before his mind wandered to the times he shouted at her.

Connor didn't even notice the tears that were rolling down his face.

He didn't notice his body shaking as he tried to be as quiet as possible, since he was the only one awake.

But one thing he did notice was the unceasing scraping and banging coming from outside the small foggy window.