Author's note:

This was the week I learned the term rarepair.

Chapter 15: Unread Messages

The clock on Chara's phone rolled late into the morning, yet she did not rise from the bed. Mew Mew curled against her within the cramped space available to them. Both still wore the clothes that they been in last night, shoes included. They simply crashed after walking inside.

Chara remembered part of what went down on the sidewalk. It certainly threw her into a loop. She and Mew Mew had known each other for a long time, though neither of them had ever shown any signs of… whatever that was… before. Somewhere she had heard that absence made the heart grow fonder. Maybe that was the reason why Chara stared at Mew Mew's dozing face on her shoulder and wished that the moment would last for ages.

Her phone buzzed again. A bubble of text stretched across the screen. Chara averted her gaze until it faded away. Although she had set the device to 'Do Not Disturb,' it didn't save her from the messages that flooded her MyShare inbox. The number three burned over the little envelope at the top of the window; three ever-growing strings of unread messages from the last people whom she wanted to hear from right now.

At this time of the day, the messages were coming in faster. They just couldn't take a hint, Chara huffed. In the end, she logged off and tossed the phone to the floor. She had to get up to use the bathroom anyway. Another pity that she wasn't a monster; a black hole to food and liquor offering no escape until her demise released everything in a big bang of nutrient-rich dust.

Chara's stomach became the next organ to demand her attention. All she found in the pantry was Mew Mew's favourite cereal, a chocolate atrocity with too much sugar for even Chara to swallow most mornings. But she was desperate, so it would have to do. Chara poured milk over a bowl. It came out in thick, putrid lumps.

"Argh! Mew!" she shouted. Chara stormed into the bedroom and held the bottled biohazard in the air. "Why the bloody hell do you have this in the fridge?!"

Mew Mew lifted her head, rubbing the sleep from her eye. "For cereal… And coffee…"

"This stuff expired two weeks ago!"

"It tastes better that way."

Chara caught another whiff and almost vomited. "I can't believe this shit hasn't killed you." She hurried back into the kitchen and screwed the lid on. The apartment now reeked, though. Chara threw a window open. Then she disposed of her sullied breakfast.

"To hell with this. I'm grabbing an egg roll from the diner. You want anything, Mew, or are you happy with your curdled death?"

"You don't have to be rude about it," Mew Mew complained as she walked into the room. "Pick up a latte if you don't mind. I'm going to finish this off." She snagged the leftover milk bottle.

"Just keep the bloody window open. And blast some air freshener when you're done."

Chara looked down upon the street. A dingy pickup truck rolled to a stop outside the apartment building. It looked familiar. 'Is that…?' From the driver's seat, Asgore stepped out. "What the hell is he doing here?"

"Who?" Mew Mew asked. Chara walked past her without giving an answer. She hurried down the staircase and through the front door. By then, three other monsters had already gathered around Asgore.

"Well, Mr Asgore," the mushroom-shaped goon among them sneered, "we don't often get visitors in our humble, little neighbourhood. How would you like for us to make your time here more memorable?"

"Oh, that's quite kind of you," Asgore replied, growing uncomfortable with the thugs crowding in on him. "But if you don't mind, I just need to…"

"Hey! Agarick!" Chara snapped. The mushroom and his cronies turned towards her. "Get the hell out of here!"

"Mind your own business, Chara." Agarick shook a fist in her direction.

"I make it my business when you three bums try to shake up my brother's old man! Now piss off!"

"Hey, Chara!" Mew Mew called from the window. "Ya need me to smack their heads together for ya?"

Agarick's bunch began to sweat. They might have thought they could take Chara on all at once, though having Mad Mew Mew involved as well seemed more than they could stomach. Agarick clicked his tongue irritably. "Forget it," he grunted. "Let's go, boys."

"Yeah, that's right! Go spread your spores in a dark corner, Cap Head!" Mew taunted. "Hey, Chara! You mind picking up some more milk on your way back? 'Kay, thanks!" She pulled her head inside before Chara could answer.

Sighing, Chara turned to Asgore. "You okay?"

"No worse for wear," he tried to laugh. "Golly, that wasn't the warm welcome I was expecting. Um… Thank you, Chara."

"You really shouldn't have come out this way," she grumbled. "Why are you here, Asgore?"

His expression became serious. "I'm here because I'm worried about you."

Chara couldn't believe it. Did he really drive over a hundred miles just because he was worried about her? She gestured to herself. "Well, I'm here and I'm fine. So, there's nothing you need to worry about."

"Are you sure? Kris and Frisk have tried calling you all night. Have you spoken with either of them since you left?"

Chara suppressed as much irritation from her sigh as she could. "No, and I don't plan to. I really don't want to talk to them right now. And please don't take this the wrong way, Asgore, but I especially don't want to talk to you, either."

She walked away, hoping that would be the end of this conversation. Too bad for her, Asgore followed. "Chara, please. Don't be like this. Frisk explained what happened to me. It's okay. Families fight sometimes. That doesn't mean it's the end of the world when they do."

"What am I supposed to do, Asgore?" Chara spread her arms towards the dirty street around them. Cracked windows and graffitied walls surrounded them as far as the eye could see. "This is what I've grown up like. All the crap you can see around you right now is what I'm like inside. What the hell would either Frisk or Kris want someone like me around for?"

"Because they love you," Asgore answered.

"Really? After the horrid things I've said and done? If any of you were smart, you'd realise I'm no good to have around. All I do in life is lie, and hurt people, and steal. I'd just end up bringing the rest of you down with me."

"That's not true!" Chara had never seen Asgore cross before. The intensity with which he spoke enflamed his great size. It stunned Chara like a lightning bolt and faded from Asgore just as swiftly. "Chara… I understand that you have done things that you might not be proud of. And I understand you might feel that you never had a choice in your actions. But I also know that there are good things in your heart. You're strong. You're resilient. And best of all, you care about your siblings."

Asgore touched Chara's shoulder. It vanished inside his palm. "And your brother and sister care about you just as much. They miss you. They want you to come back. We all do."

"Asgore… I… I can't."

"It might seem like things between you can't be fixed. But please don't run away like this. You and your siblings finally have the chance to have a future together. Don't throw it away when there's still time to make things right. All you have to do is come back to Hometown with me. Then we can all sit down and talk things out together."

She held them in, but Chara struggled to keep the tears from her face. "I'm sorry, Asgore. I can't do this. I just can't…"

He released her. Asgore sighed softly. "It's alright, Chara. I'll be staying in town for a little while in case you change your mind. You can call me if you need me."

Chara turned and walked away as he returned to his truck. She heard Asgore start the engine and a sob tore from her throat. The truck's old axes screeched as he pulled out onto the road. Chara watched him pass.

She couldn't do it. She wanted to, but she couldn't. Asgore might know about what went down, but he couldn't understand how thoroughly she smashed her relationship with Frisk apart. There was no way to put the pieces back together. If she tried, Chara felt that they would cut her to ribbons. The pain was too much to bear, so she chose to run from it. Running was all that she could ever do. It was all that she was good at.

Chara stewed as she chewed listlessly on an undercooked egg roll. The cup of long black alongside it was so gritty it almost made her feel better. She deserved crap coffee. Chara barely remembered to pick up Mew Mew's milk and latte on her way back to the apartment.

"Took you long enough," Mew Mew whined when she walked in. The house didn't smell much better than how Chara left it. Lavender spray mixed in with the spoilt dairy odour. At least the morning breeze took the edge out of it. "Yo, Char…? You feeling okay? You look rough."

"I'm fine. Just hungover."

"What did that guy outside want from you? I heard you say he's your brother's dad?"

"Yeah, the current one," Chara dropped onto the couch. She sank into its saggy, moth-eaten cushions. "Just came by to give back some stuff I left at his place."

"He drove all the way from Hometown just for that?" Mew Mew whistled. "Dang. Some guy. Didn't stick around long?"

"He tried convincing me into going back and talking to my siblings again. I don't want to deal with that shit right now, though."

"Ah, well. Good thing he didn't stick around too long, then. You need me to keep an eye out for him in case he comes back?"

"Nah. Asgore's cool. He's just sticking his nose in my business, is all. He'll go home soon enough." Chara stared off towards the ceiling. "Do you think I'm a coward for walking out like I did?"

"You had the cops breathing down your neck, so I don't blame you," Mew Mew said. She sat down next to Chara, tucking her legs underneath. "Besides, I'm glad that you came back."

"I'm just wondering if I made things worse. Like, Kris had nothing to do with the fight I had with Frisk, and I just ditched him without saying anything. What the hell does he think about all this?"

Mew Mew rested her chin on a fist. A soft frown covered her face. "Do you want to call him and find out?"

Chara considered it for thirty seconds before throwing her head back. "I don't know."

"Then just sit on it for a bit and cool your jets. It's not like he's going anywhere, right?" Mew Mew shrugged. "And if you still don't want to talk to him after that, then that's your answer."

"Careful with the wise words, Mew. You're showing your age."

"You didn't give a shit about my age last night! I remember you cramming your tongue down my throat." Mew Mew huffed, blushing as her ears folded. She pulled her legs close to her chest. "Hey… So… about that? Should we… talk about it?"

Chara burned red. "Talk like it never happened… or that you want to again?"

"Well… Which would you rather?"

"God damn it, Mew. Just spit it out. You're the one that started it."

"Argh! Fine." Mew Mew's tail twitched. "Look… I missed the hell out of you while you gone. I couldn't believe that I actually got so pissed off that you up and left so suddenly. It's not like others in the gang haven't done the same. It's just that having you… not here… really sucked. But now things feel like they can finally go back to normal. At least… I'd like for 'this' to be normal."

"Is this your roundabout way of saying you've got the hots for me?"

"Hey, it's not like I've wanted to suck face since we met or anything creepy like that!" Mew Mew growled. "This was something… super recent that happened. It's more like I really like having you around, and last night made me realise why. Does that make sense or is it still weird?"

Chara brough her own knees to her chin. "I guess it does make sense. While I was away, I kept thinking about you a lot. We could have had a blast in Hometown if you had come along. And… I kind of liked what happened last night more than I thought I would've."

"So… you want to do it again?"

Chara blushed. "Right now?"

Mew Mew nodded. Her face turned as pink as her hair. Swallowing hard, Chara shuffled closer to Mew. She leaned over the girl until their faces were almost touching. Chara stared into Mew Mew's eyes. This was way more intense than anything she had ever done before; and that was saying a lot.

"You did wash your mouth out after using that rancid milk, right?" Chara asked.

"Well, yeah," Mew Mew scowled. "Just because my mouth is made of plastic, doesn't mean I don't brush after meals."

"Just checking."

Taking a deep breath, Chara plunged through the final threshold. Her lips met Mew Mew's, moulding against them. This was unusual. Chara never thought about kissing another girl in her life, least of all Mew Mew. Yet, here she was. So far, she liked it. Mew Mew purred into her mouth, pressing back while her hands cupped Chara's face. When they parted, Chara felt like an electric current had run through her body.

"So, that was… cool," she murmured.

"You think so?" Mew's ears perked.

"Yeah… Have you ever kissed anyone before?"

Mew Mew's eyes darted. "Um… Not really?"

"Seriously? Over a century and not even once?"

"Hey! I didn't care about that stuff before I found this body!"

"Jeez, relax. It's cool. It must be a record or something, though." Chara then smirked. "So, do you want to try and break it, or do you wanna keep going?"

"Just shut your smug mouth and get over here already."