A long-running dilemma...

Meh.
It's not a good night for me, really...

Pop Will Eat Itself played at the weekend in England - and I couldn't afford to go.
A friend of mine was at all three gigs - and I MSNed him to ask how it went, and if he got the "Fastest DVD Ever Made" as filmed at one gig and sold at the next.

Well, I was kinda on and off MSN, so the conversation had long gaps - I asked if he got the DVD, and asked how his new job was going... And if he'd been taken on permanently.

His response was "Stop only contacting me if you want something".
Well, at this point I start to get somewhat angry.

You see, I used to think of this guy as one of my best friends.
When you meet him, he's a really really nice guy.

I then became his flatmate - It seemed a good plan. We're both into comics, both into the same music, into the same movies, and share quite a few friends.
The problem is, some time after moving in... He lost his job.

The bills began to mount up, and to cut a long story short, he now owes me £600 ( And the Council are chasing me for £90 worth of Council Tax that he said at the time he didn;t need to pay. He was mistaken, as he was only due a discount, NOT a total wiping of the debt. )

So what am I to do?
It's been almost 3 years since this debt first accrued, and I've been TRYING not to mention it too often.
But when he's off to 3 gigs in London and off to visit his Dad in Amsterdam, and I can't even afford to go to ONE gig in London... It kinda gets on my nerves.
I understand that he's not got lots of cash - And that he's in a band, so finding a job compatible with that is difficult.
I understand all this... But THREE FUCKING YEARS!
It's getting slightly old.

I would like nothing better than to be able to relate to this dude as a friend once more.
Than to ring him up, and invite him over to the flat to just sit and chew the fat about comics, music, life, the universe... anything.
That's the problem - If he was a bad guy, then I'd write him off as a thief and chalk the debt up to "Some scumbag ripped me off".
He's not though... Not really. Unless I'm very much mistaken, he IS a good guy at heart and would never deliberately hurt anyone.

So what the fuck do I do?
I could do with the cash - It would go some way to paying off some of the bills that I NOW have to pay.

I know, I'm gonna get "You should have kicked him out", or "Why did you lend him the money?"
I didn't lend him it. I paid the electricity bill, the gas bill, and the phone bill. ( He managed to sort his rent out himself in the end, but the utilities were in my name. )

I couldn't kick him out, as I had to replace him or take on the whole flat myself. Not an option. And I'd never see a friend on the street if I could help it.
I had to pay the bills, or we lost power, gas and phone.

And now I'm fucked, stuck with a £600 dept from someone that I feel bad about asking for the money - and HE'S now angry at ME for bringing it up!


If anyone has any good suggestions as to what I can do here, without fucking the guy over or otherwise being a dick myself... PLEASE let me know.
I'm sick of this and have been for a long time.