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Lukas woke up to the chirping of birds. He and Tingting had fallen asleep on the park bench with nothing but the spare clothing in his luggage to cover them. Lukas rubbed his eyes tiredly and shifted his position slightly to stare at his bearings.

The sun blazed with all its might and the sky was a vast picture of blue. Not a cloud in sight. Morning dew glistened on blades of grass and the ground had become slushy with all the excessive moisture.

Soon sounds of chattering could be distinguished from afar.

'Seriously?'

Lukas hurried to wake Tingting. He wanted to leave before anyone discovered them. The embarrassment he would feel should anyone see him was unimaginable. What if they thought of him as homeless, or a lazy bum? He couldn't let that happen.

Tingting finally stirred and grumbled slightly. Lukas's expression darkened.

'Don't tell me she's not a morning person.'

Luckily, she was.

Though her speech was sluggish, her eyes seemed to show her liveliness and she finally got to her feet.

Hearing the children, she tilted her head, wordlessly asking what they should do.

As Lukas stood up and forced his way through the thickets and bushes, she followed without question. Once they had emerged, both looked like they had been attacked by a bird protecting its nest. Their faces were cut by thorns and their hair was caked in dirt. Moreover, the droplets of water that had not yet dried clung to them making them seem even more unsightly.

Tingting merely dusted herself off then turned to look at Lukas who was picking out a beetle from his hair.

"Shall we go look for a proper place to stay?"

Lukas grunted in agreement, too busy plucking out a spider which had crawled up the side of his shoulder. Tingting giggled and grabbed his hand to lead him into town.

The town was bubbling with life. It was almost annoying. Lukas scowled as he walked down the streets. Many who walked by the pair frowned and gave them dirty stares, reprimanding them inwardly for being so shamelessly unkempt and dirty. Most of these people whispered things like 'delinquent' or 'gangster' once they glimpsed a streak of blonde amongst the dirt in Lukas's hair or spotted his studded ear. Tingting, for once, wasn't giggling. Instead, her eyes were glued onto a group of thug-like teens who were briskly approaching them. They stopped about a metre away from the pair. One of them spoke.

Thug 1: "Well well well. Look what we have here."

Thug2: "Which gang do you come from? With hair like that I doubt you even go to school anymore."

Thug3: "You think you're so cool don't you? Dying your hair so blonde. Bet the girls are all over you."

Thug 1: *sniggers*

Thug 3: *whistles* "Well what do we have here? What a cutie."

Thug2 : "How 'bout you leave this dude here and come with us?"

Thug 1 : *laughs unpleasantly*

Lukas glared at them and pulled Tingting's hand, indicating that they should just go.

Thug 3: "No need to get so angry brother, we were only joking around."

Thug 3 turns to the others. "Come on. Let's go."

The group of boys left, leaving the pair to stand there.

"Don't mind them. People always make jokes about my hair like that. They're normally no harm at all. Come, let's go." Lucas reassured Tingting in a light voice and began moving.

"Sure..."

Tingting looked at a place some distance back from where they stood.

She squeezed Lukas's hand. "I'm going to go somewhere ok?" She let go and ran across the street.

"Oi. Where're you going?" Lukas shouted, worried that the thugs would seek her out.

Tingting turned and smiled mischievously.

"Go find a place for us to stay." She shouted over the noise of car engines and chattering crowds.

"I'll be back soon." With that, she ran off.

After her hasty departure, Lukas had wondered around aimlessly and finally found a place to stay. It was on the outskirts of town. Though slightly run-down, the owner was a sweet old lady and she was the one who had taken the initiative to invite him to stay.

She had met him in town during her daily grocery shopping. One look at Lukas's tattered appearance moved her to tears. She had dropped her bags, ran over to him and practically dragged him back to her block of apartments. At first, Lukas had tried to stop her but she was having none of that. After ushering him into an unoccupied apartment, she hurried to the bathroom and had the taps pour hot piping water into the bathtub. After she was satisfied that it was hot enough, she added as much nice smelling soap as possible and pushed Lukas inside, threatening to give him a bath if he wouldn't do it himself.

The threat was more than effective.

After half-an-hour of soaking in the relaxing water, Lukas emerged clean and pleasant-smelling. The old lady, who had made herself busy with tidying the place, tutted when she saw that he had put back on the same dirty clothing from earlier. She shoved a clean set of clothes into his arms and pushed him back into the bathroom.

For the final time, Lukas walked out of the bathroom wearing black jeans and a clean white dress shirt. Paired with his golden hair, he looked charming. The old lady clapped her hands in applause and showed him around the house. There was only a bedroom, a small kitchen, a living-room and a bathroom. After the tour, she led Lukas back to the living-room and sat him down on a sagging couch. She picked up a notepad and scribbled on it. She then passed it to him and smiled gently. Her smile reminded him of someone forever lost in his past.

Lukas accepted the notebook and read the neat words she had scribbled onto it.

"Make yourself comfortable. This is your home now."