All right, from this point on I'm going to try and subtly weave each girl's storyline with an undertone of sorts. I plan to have Audrey's focus in part on the emotional conflicts people face in their lives. It seems especially fitting since I perceive Audrey to be such a conflicted character. She acts cruel on the surface, but little hints of gentleness always seem to be hidden underneath her harsh actions.

As always, thank you for coming back to read more! In addition, there's bonus points for anybody that figures out the reference in the italics below. It's another thing that I think works very well with Audrey. Let us begin the next chapter!


Redhead – Part III

Why was she standing alone in the twilight? Please, let her go... She doesn't want any more lonely nights. She takes a deep breath beneath the hazy sky. She feels like she's losing, but it's gonna be alright...

The end of a chaotic night always brought the start of a new day. There was a form comfort to be found in the warmth of a morning sunrise. However, some preferred to be basked in the orange glow of sunset. Regardless, everybody that faced the midnight moon had to awaken and face the 'morning after.'

A groggy feeling seemed to wash over everybody when they first woke up from a deep slumber. It was about as normal brushing their teeth to purge the taste in their mouth from the night before. Eyes fluttered open to find an unfamiliar; stained ceiling starting back at them. This room, it was almost devoid of light apart from the brief slithers that penetrated the curtains. As Mike's senses returned, he became aware of a pair of gentle arms wrapped around his middle. They held him desperately, as if he were a teddy bear.

"Audrey…," the sight of the familiar girl gave him a smile. She lay beside him as bare as the day she was born. An aura of innocence radiated from her as she slept soundly at his side, the thin bed sheets protecting the womanly assets of her body from view.

It was very unusual to see just how delicate and fragile Miss Belrose looked as the soft embrace of sleep held her, "You look so innocent." Mike whispered his words with a degree of fondness at this most rare and somewhat picturesque sight.

His thoughts ran over the events of last night in brief photographic flashes. Many key points stood out above the others. Audrey's pale skin and the brightness of her clothes, the feeling of her body entwined with his, and the strange moments of comfort, they shared afterward…. The things Audrey did spoke so loudly, especially the way she held him in the heat of the moment.

"…..I didn't think I'd ever find love in this strange town, and I can't say I was looking when we played at Lusties that night..."

The abrupt realization that he had things to do today snapped Mike out of his happy musing. He stretched his free arm outward in the direction of the bedside desk, "C'mon, phone…. Where are you?"

His fingers ran across the surface during the length of their search. The long digits collided with a couple of alien objects along the way, "Audrey's cigarettes…. Nope…. Ah, there it is…." Mikey's hand scooped up the cell in a loose grip. With a victorious smile, he flicked up the screen in a finger press. Bright light beamed into his eyes and caused those emerald orbs of his to squint in mild discomfort.

Once the light's glare wore off, the young man focused his gaze upon the clock in the top corner of the screen, "Two in the afternoon. Well shit," came a small sigh from his lips, "I've become such a late riser since I graduated college."

Audrey still held onto Mike and did not budge. Nothing seemed to move her when she was asleep. In fact, her slumber was so deep that her lover wondered if it were possible for anything short of an earthquake to wake her.

Still, it made it much easier to move without incurring any undue wrath. "I need to get up." Mike's words served to prompt his actions in this moment of sleepiness. It took mammoth effort, but eventually he found the power to pull down the covers and move one of his legs out of the creaky old bed.

"Mmmm," A low murmur came from Audrey. It was almost as if she sensed that the man beside her attempting to escape her grasp. Her arms subconsciously tightened around his waist and pulled him even closer to the warmth of her body.

"Guess I'm not moving after all." Mike chuckled softly and pulled the covers over his scantily clad form. It was cold in this apartment…. He welcomingly accepted Audrey's warmth and ran a gentle hand through her bright red hair, "I wish you were this affectionate when you're awake…."


The walk across to the cabstand took long enough. Audrey lived really far out of the way from the centre of town. It made Mikey wonder just how she managed to get him back to her place after he was attacked last night.

The young man shook the thought from his mind and allowed his body to sink into the soft leather seating of the taxi. His fingers nervously fidgeted across the digital keypad of his phone, a desperate attempt to distract himself from the reality of what he needed to do before long.

"I have to break up with Tiffany." Such a thought made his heart hurt a little bit. Miss Maye was such a sweet girl. A bright and happy natural blonde; the captain of the college cheer squad; the perfect student, and a downright loving girlfriend. Yet, such an ideal picture of perfection was not what he wanted. His eyes found beauty beneath the flaws of a fiery redhead.

Mike, being a typically deep person to begin with, always saw something beneath the jagged surface that Audrey put out to the rest of the world around her. The picture he painted of her was through subtle actions she showed… the way she held him with such longing, the flickers of affection in her eyes even when she scowled, and most importantly… the manner in which she approached his relationship with Tiffany even though they weren't officially a couple... The tiny cries of a more gentle heart always seemed to slip through the cracks in the redhead's defences.

"Hey… bub. You want me to take a right here?" The driver's question served to snap Mike from his thoughts with its gravelly tone.

"Oh, yeah! Sorry! Turn right and it's the second building along." The young man's hasty response was enough to appease the driver, who quickly brought his eyes back to the road.

"I swear, you kids these days. You're always away with the fairies…."

The driver's grumblings brought the mental image of pink hair into Mike's thoughts, "Kyu." His fingers swiftly tapped the keypad to bring up the call registry, "Why did she hang up on me last night?"

He scrolled up until the name of his love fairy was highlighted in a bright shade of green. "I should call and check she's alright…." However, Mike's heartbeat seemed to escalate further and further with every passing moment he pondered the thought. Was she annoyed with him for some strange reason? Whatever the deal was, he needed to know. Unable to mask his unease any longer, the young man punched the 'call' button'.

A powerful sense of nervousness rose higher and higher with every passing moment the dial tone chimed. This felt just like Lusties a few nights back. Calling Tiffany to speak with her felt just as stressful. Mere seconds seemed to drag on for an eternity as another little cycle of beeps sounded over the line. The feeling of uncertainty, Mike hated it so much…. He kept on silently hoping that Kyu would just pick up already and let the torture of waiting end.

'Hey there! You've reached Kyu! I'm not near my phone right now, but leave me a message and I'll-'

"Voicemail," Mike sighed nervously and hung up. "Just what the hell is up with her right now?"

"Yo! We're here! That'll be eleven and thirty cents."

Mike brought his gaze upward and gave a hurried nod to acknowledge what was said. The driver looked across to him expectantly with an outstretched hand. Without thinking, Mike absentmindedly pulled a crumpled pile of bills from his pocket and placed them into the cabby's palm, "Keep the change."

The sight of a small and modern apartment complex entered Mike's field of vision when he climbed out of the car. The familiar setting of the three-story building built from brick and metal caused him to feel a small degree of comfort even amidst his current nervousness. A small neon sign hung above the archway that lead toward the main door, "East Drive, building B. I'm home…."

He passed by a couple of the other tenants along his way down the path and gave one of them a wave. Even the most trivial things served as a distraction from the bigger picture at this moment in time.


The elongated echo of footsteps resonated throughout the entirety of the corridor as Mike neared the door to his apartment. Only three other tenants shared this floor with him, one of which he knew was an older woman, "Crazy cat lady clearly isn't home right now." A chuckle resonated from his mouth at the thought. The tell-tale way of knowing she was home was hearing her television blurring from behind the door.

"Keys… keys…. For Christ sakes please tell me I didn't leave my keys at Audrey's." Frantic patting of the trouser pockets caused a sigh of relief to erupt from Mike. He pulled an assortment of different sized keys on a small chain from his pocket, smiling as he went. The amount of times he almost lost them on a weekly basis was unreal.

The door locks came undone with a few turns of the largest, shiniest key of the bunch. Hand now rested upon the handle, the peroxide blond turned it and swung the door open with a little extra force, "Home. Kyu! You still here?"

The silence he heard in response was almost deafening. Mike was so used to hearing Kyu's voice when he got home these days: to not hear anything this time around was making him feel a little sad.

"Hey…. Kyu? If you're home... let me know!"

Again, there was nothing but stillness and silence. Mikey kicked the door shut behind him and proceeded further inside. His shoes tapped softly across the expanse of the hardwood floor as he went.

"Okay…. So she's not in the living room," he whispered to himself as his eyes scanned the immediate surroundings. The sitting area looked practically untouched. The TV was off, and interestingly, the coffee table did not have any cups or glasses sitting upon it. Not even a stray cushion or blanket was thrown messily upon the leather sofa like usual. No Kyu-like signs of any kind caught the immediate attention, not even the one most common. The 'exotic literature' she usually left discarded in plain sight was nowhere to be seen.

The next part of the search brought Mike into his small bedroom in the back. A quick glance around alerted him to no immediate disturbances of his clothing or other belongings. In addition, none of his own reading material looked to be missing.

Finally, the young man gave a slight sigh, "Yeah. Kyu definitely isn't here right now."

After sitting down on his sofa-style bed Mikey allowed his brain to mull over the events of last night. His photographic memory generated little snippets of the key events. The fists of an angry man attacking him. Kyu hanging up the phone and his eyes gazing down at the screen in confusion. Moreover, there was also Audrey…. Her sudden and uncharacteristic outburst of emotion about her past. In truth, he never expected things to play out in such a complicated way.

Golden blonde hair in pigtails, the thought of Tiffany came to the forefront next. Mike had several elements of her personality memorized. Her smile; her laugh, and the way she always put the needs of others before her own when she wasn't studying. She was a good girl with a very kind heart. That somewhat balanced and ultimately stable type of young lady was very hard to come across nowadays.

"I wish there was some way I could let her go without having to hurt her. A girl as gentle as Tiff doesn't deserve the bullshit."

A scowl of contempt curved Mike's lips in response to his own words. He hopped up from his bed to make his way across to the large mirror beside his door. For the longest time his deep green eyes focused in on the full extent of his reflection, "Damn…. I look like shit right now."

The clothes he wore bore creases. There was no sidestepping the issue. They just looked straight up messy and untidy. The left side of his shirt had a fair sized rip in it from the scuffle last night. Then, there was his hair. The usually gelled and well-styled arrangement it usually had was gone. Right now, there was nothing but a look of supreme untidiness akin to that of his earlier and less successful days.

It had been a very rough night before, and the results were cast back in the form of a mirror image. Mike let out a small yawn. He felt tired as well. Thanks in no small part to Audrey for keeping him awake until the crack of dawn. "All that stuff from last night... It was crazy…. Audrey's had it a lot tougher than I thought..."

It was pretty clear that the Audrey choose to live her life by burning the candle at both ends. Such a thing was eye opening, and yet after everything she still came to his aid when he needed her most. Yet, there was always a big question Mike was always unsure of... For what reason did she choose to live in a manner so destructive? It was worrying thought he pondered all of the time he knew her. However, something the redhead said last night had finally given the blond a good idea of one possible cause.

'Daddy always treated my life like a game, so in the end I just started to do the same.'

"Is that how you really feel, Audrey?" The earlier anger Mike felt from before started to fizzle away slowly as he contemplated that tragic possibility, "….Are you trying to burn yourself out because you don't care about your life?"

Those words felt strangely haunting to recall. Such a terrible idea was enough to cause the blood in his veins to feel the slightest bit colder. A picture was being painted here, one of a sad and lonely girl that lived for today because her heart was too bitter and jaded to think about tomorrow.

"Fuck it. I need a shower." He had to take his mind off such a line of thought. Then again, was he overthinking things?

"No, I don't think so," came Mike's voice with a resolute nod.

Actions combined with a few snippets of words revealed so much that a harsh tongue did not. He believed that Audrey was unhappy. Her fulfilment was physical because she could not deal with the emotional side of things.


On his way into the kitchen Mike caught the sight of something from the corner of his eye, "Is that a note? I could've sworn that wasn't there before..."

Closer inspection of the piece of paper on the counter caused emerald eyes to widen in surprise. The pink pen it was written in gave proof enough that this article was composed by Kyu, even if she hadn't signed it at the bottom, which she had. Mikey cleared his throat in preparation to read the full contents of the letter aloud.

"Hey tiger! If you're reading this then I'm not going to be around for a little while. I guess I just… need a break from work for a couple of days. A fairy doesn't get overtime… shitty, am I right? Anyway… be careful around Mega Bitch, okay? I have this weird feeling shit might get crazy if I leave you on your own. Oh, and Mikey…. Don't go undoing all my hard work while I'm gone! You're like, really high maintenance… but your heart's in the right place! See you soon…. How about you turn over the note and take a peek at the back? You'll like it! Love Kyu!"

Mike sighed with relief. His tensed shoulders relaxed slightly and he closed his eyes for a second, "Kyu's okay... That's a relief. I don't know what I'd do if I pissed her off."

Curious, the young man turned over the paper and looked with curiosity, "A picture?"

"A bikini… a pink one…. What is it with you giving me these, Kyu? Seriously?" Despite his surprise, Mikey could not help his heart jumping a little as his gaze fixated upon the polaroid. Kyu's slender form lay sprawled upon a sandy golden beach. The excuse for a swimsuit that clung to her body was so minimalistic that it couldn't be compared to much more than a couple of strings. The word 'rawwr' was crudely scribbled on the bottom of the photograph in the same magenta coloured marker pen.

Despite his best judgement, Mikey still found himself sticking the photograph on the front of the fridge. He shook his head in amusement and shrugged. "Just what the hell am I doing? C'mon Mike… get a grip."

He reached out to pull the photo down. His hand struggled to fulfil the task, and in the end left the image alone, "I better hide it before Kyu gets back. She won't let me live it down if she sees it."

Actions related to every other girl had acted as a diversion today. It seemed Mike was doing everything in his power to not think about the one who he really needed to deal with. The promise to Audrey last night still rang true even if he was trying to forget for a moment.

"Tiffany….."

The cheerleader was still blissfully unaware of the truth. It was important to deal with the issue as soon as possible. The longer the whole thing went on for, the more it would end up hurting her.

"I'm really sorry about all of this." Mikey produced his phone from the confines of his pocket. His thumbs anxiously punched in the blonde's number. Alas, he found himself nervously waiting once again. He was at the mercy of the dial tone, something for which words could not even begin to express his hatred.

"Mikey! I was really hoping to hear from you! So, have you made up your mind about next weekend?" The cheerful voice of Tiffany met his ears. However, it only served to increase the feeling of dread the young blond man felt.

"I can't make it I'm afraid. I have plans that I can't move around. Sorry…."This whole thing was ending up to be far more disheartening than he thought. It really hurt saying these things.

"Oh… okay." The fact that Tiffany's usually upbeat voice sounded so disappointed did not help his current situation much either.

"Then how about we go see a movie or something? I'm not babysitting Philly this week, so we could still do something on Friday?" Another happy suggestion was the last thing Mike needed right now. It only served to make all of this more difficult.

"Can we meet tonight? I really need to talk to you in person…." It was the fastest response, the first thing that came to mind to counter an invitation on a date he could no longer partake. The musician felt his heartbeat thump heavily in waiting for any kind of reply.

"Alright! But… is there something wrong?" There was no way an A grade student like Tiffany would mistake the tone in her boyfriend's voice for anything but unhappy. "If there is," she continued, "Just leave it to me! I'll cheer you up before you know it!"

"Just," Mike felt his throat tighten. He wanted to tell her to stop. He couldn't stand her being so cheerful when he knew what he had to do. "Is Eight okay with you?

"Of course, eight's fine," Tiffany's concerned tone came in swift response.

"Okay. Let's meet at Nutmeg Café." In Mike's mind, it seemed like the most… neutral place to host a breakup. Such a setting was far less extravagant than a fancy restaurant, and far more personal than the booming music of Lusties nightclub.

"Nutmeg it is," Tiffany's tone picked up again almost as quickly as it faded. She wanted to be there for the man she loved about all else. "Mikey... try your best to cheer up, okay? I'm here for you. I promise!"

"I know you are…. You have been since the day I met you. Tiff… I'm sorry." Without so much as another word Mike hung up the call. A moment longer and he knew he would crack under the pressure. Finally, the stage was set. The blond singer exhaled deeply and tossed his phone onto the kitchen counter. "No turning back now."

Eyes cast back to the picture of Kyu on the fridge door; a sigh escaped his lips. After all, he couldn't help but feel a little lost without his love fairy, "I'll try not to fuck everything up while you're gone…"

Yet, Mike was still afraid. He felt so much conflict in his heart. Not because he questioned his feelings for Audrey, but because it felt horrible to make Tiffany suffer.

"Still," one of his hands reached across the counter for an idle shot glass. His emerald eyes tracked down a bottle of coppery coloured liquor sat across from it. Mike poured himself a particularly large hit of Whiskey and frowned, "What's worse here... the painful truth, or a blissful lie?"

He slammed back his drink and basked in the burn as the liquid slid down his throat. "This is turning out to be nowhere near as easy as I thought…."

To be continued….


Thank you very much for reading this chapter through to the end! Please feel free to leave me some feedback on the direction of the story if you would like. I am always very grateful for all of your opinions. The next chapter will be coming soon! Until then, keep enjoying Huniepop!