Blurb: She falls hard for someone who will never feel the same.

Warnings: This imagine is sad. I am just prewarning you that this is an imagine that will not end happily. I mean no hate towards the Liz Allen character nor the actress, but for the sake of this short story, I may have made her SEEM like a bad person but in no way is that my personal opinion.

She walks the halls.  Her gaze isn't stolen by anything, rather she focuses on the path ahead until a familiar face is caught in her peripheral.  Her eyes are drawn to the curvatures of a former friend's face.  Peter's eyes are locked on Liz's, not even noticing Audrey's presence.  She walks past the couple and straight to her locker.  She opens it swiftly and exchanges her books in preparation for her next classes.   A small picture at the back of her locker catches her attention as she stacks her books. 

  Audrey reaches into her locker and pulls the polaroid off of the metal back.  She holds the glossy polaroid in between her fingers.  Her eyes trace each face in the photo.  Peter, Audrey and another face, the one of her recently deceased younger brother adorn the picture, a look of pure joy plastered on each face.

  Audrey stares at the picture until she feels sick.  She looks at how a once inseparable relationship could have been pulled apart in as little time as a month.  Her eyes sear, tears threaten to spill down her cheeks with each passing second of remembrance.

  A single tear traces its way down her face, the liquid splashes onto the polaroid, the water settling over her face encased in time by the flash of a camera.  She wipes her cheeks free of any trace of the tear before taking the picture between her fingers and ripping the paper.  The sound of tearing paper fills her senses.  She watches carefully as she tears away Peter's body from the polaroid.

  Audrey drops Peter's picture and lets the torn fragment of a picture float to the floor.  She admires the picture of her brother and her, the memory now a bittersweet glimpse into the past.

  She places the picture back in her locker before slamming the door shut.  She turns around to begin her journey to class only to be stopped by a body.  Peter stands in front of her, his hands are shoved deep into his pockets and his body language clearly verbalises his awkward state.

  "Excuse me," Audrey mumbles pushing past him.

  Peter catches her arm before she can walk any further.

  "Audrey, wait," Peter steps in front of her once more.  "Can we talk...Please?"

  Audrey looks up into his eyes with an indifferent expression.  "Hi. Bye. Happy?" She says in an inexpressive tone.

  Peter once again steps in front of her path.

  "Look, Audrey, please, it's killing me not talking to you.  Please!  Just 5 minutes of your time." Peter begs, his eyes pleading and desperate.

  Audrey's heart felt like stone after the night she found Liz and Peter at her little brother's grave and it remained that way weeks after.  She felt a pang in her chest.  Why should she give him a chance?  What did he ever do to help her?  When did he ever think about her feelings?

  "I gave you 17 years of my life Peter and that still wasn't long enough," She stares into his brown eyes, her face firm and unmoving.  "I have nothing to say to you, I said everything I needed to that night."

  Audrey pulls her arms out of his grasp and pushes past him.  She adjusts the strap of her backpack on her shoulder as she continues to push past the crowded hallway.  Tears cloud her vision, each image a blur and each person a moving vague picture.

  Audrey's eyes are on the floor as she walks, her mind not focusing on walking but rather what she was walking away from.  Audrey's breath hitches and she is thrown backwards, her back colliding with the floor with a 'thud'.  A loud grunt escapes her lips as she attempts to process what has happened.  She looks around as she lies breathless on her back.

  A girl kneels beside her and mumbles countless apologies, clearly as shocked over the collision as Audrey is.  Audrey lets out a groan as she collects herself off of the floor.  The girl that Audrey had so gracefully collided into was already picking up her books that had scattered across the hallway.  Audrey took a moment before starting to do the same.

  "I am so sorry," the girl states once more, continuing to pick up all the books.  "I wasn't watching where I was going."

  "Me neither, trust me, it was my fault." Audrey shoves all of her books back into her bag and proceeds to do up the zipper.

  "Since neither are going to own up to that gnarly mock up spear tackle, can we skip round two?" The girl jokes, hugging her books close to her side.

  "I can barely make it to the end of round one, I think I punctured my spleen." Audrey breathes out a laugh, massaging her sore side.

  The girl lets out a loud chuckle before shooting Audrey a friendly smile.

  "I'm Michelle, by the way," She sends Audrey a cheeky smile.  "Yes, yes, I know what you're thinking and yes, the rumours are all true.  Obama is indeed my middle name ok.  Barack and I are tight."

  A smile works its way onto Audrey's face and a small laugh escapes her lips.  Her smile is wide and real.  Her spirit feels light and her head clear for the first time in what seems like an eternity of darkness.

  "Audrey." Audrey introduces herself and reaches out to shake Michelle's outstretched hand. "Well, since we're in the business of spilling secrets, I might as well make it known that I did in fact eat my Breakfast at Tiffany's this morning and it was superb.  I somehow managed to smuggle an ashtray off campus.  Highlight of my week."

  Michelle's body quakes with laughter, her smile warm and comforting.  Her mouth opens, as if she was about to reply but is cut off by the bell.

  Audrey's face falls into her common expressionless place as the small moment of happiness is stolen away once again by an unstoppable force.  She stands frozen in her place, her feet seemingly bolted to the floor under her.

  Michelle glances at the clock then back at Audrey.

  "Till next time?  You bring the tea and I'll bring the sweet potato?" Michelle smiles, her lips pulled tight into a cheeky grin.

  "I'll be the one in the full body cast, you won't miss me." Audrey jokes, returning Michelle's quip.

  "Fantastic, I look forward to it." Michelle gives Audrey one last glance before walking away and being swallowed by the sea of infinite bodies.

  Audrey didn't want to leave that moment in time.  She was genuinely happy and for the first time, it wasn't heartbreaking.  For the first time it didn't feel like walking on eggshells or broken glass.  It felt...beautiful. And she hadn't felt that way in years.  It was a moment she would cherish and keep sacred from the day forward.

  First period was Chem Lab and she swiftly took out her textbook and flipped the cover.  Her eyes widen at the sight of the name in the top right hand corner.  Michelle.

  Her mind flashes back to earlier that morning and how she snatched up whatever textbook was in sight not really bothering to check whose book it really was.  She must've picked up Michelle's by mistake...and Michelle must've done the same.  Audrey purposed to get the Chemistry Textbook back to Michelle by the day's end, not wanting to seem like a thief to a fellow student.

As soon as class ended, Audrey headed to lunch.  She put away her books in her locker and locked her locker before heading towards the Cafeteria.  As soon as she entered, she searched for an empty table.  She spotted the usual one that she would sit at and proceeded to occupy her regular space. 

  Not too long into her steak sandwich another body joined her at the table, which was a shock to Audrey as she thought nobody even knew of her existence.  She looks up to see a face she thought she would never see again.  Michelle.

  "Is the seat taken?" Michelle points to the space to the left of Audrey. 

  "N-no, not at all, sit." Audrey pushes her backpack out of Michelle's way and clears room for her to sit.

  "Fancy seeing you here of all places!" Michelle jokes, taking a forkful of spaghetti and shoving it into her mouth.  "I would say 'Why aren't you at Tiffany's?' but then I remembered, they haven't made the sequel to 'Breakfast' yet so..."

  "They're still working on Brunch at Tiffany's," Audrey says, "Complications with the finger sandwiches, messy stuff, gory details, I won't go into it too deeply."

  Michelle lets out a snort before reaching into her bag.

  "Oh, before I forget," Michelle withdraws a Chemistry Textbook from her bag and hands it to Audrey.  "I didn't steal it, rather simply borrowed...unintentionally...then used it...unintentionally."

  Audrey snatches up Michelle's book from her bag and hands it to her.  "Guilty as charged I guess."

  "To hell with all of you!" Michelle booms as she tosses the Chem book across the floor.  Heads turn to witness the sudden comedic outburst.  Michelle reaches out and collects the book muttering a quick, "Actually I need that..." under her breath.

  Audrey presses her lips together, doing her best to suppress the laughter welling up in the back of her throat.  Michelle places her book back on the table and continues to eat her spaghetti.  Countless students stare at her as she eats, unsure of what to do after her sudden outburst.

  Michelle fills her mouth then looks up to be met by numerous sets of eyes.  She squints around at the crowd.

  "What?!" Michelle shouts ungracefully.  "Haven't you ever seen a student have an emotional breakdown then proceed to heal herself with food?"

  Everyone turns around and continues to eat their food and re-spark interrupted conversations.

  "Yeah, that's what I thought." Michelle shouts, stuffing her mouth with even more food.

  Audrey bursts into fits of laughter, forcing her to clutch her side where a stitch is forming.  Michelle revels in the laughter of her new-found friend, enjoying the company of someone she can be herself around without the fear of judgement.

  "I like you, A," Michelle comments.  "You're so...free."

  Audrey's laughter dies down a little as she processes the compliment.  My mind ticks over with each passing second.  Free was the last word she would use to describe herself.  If anything else she felt trapped.  Trapped in pain.  Trapped in betrayal.  Trapped in confusion.  How could she possibly be free?

  "Hey, what's this?" Michelle muses as she picks up Audrey's beaten up Art journal.

  "Oh, it's nothing."  Audrey panics trying to snatch the book back.

  Michelle holds it out of Audrey's reach and proceeds to open the book.  A small gasp passes through her lips as she studies the art etched into each page.  Hues of charcoal and greys fill each page.  Sketches of poses are inked into the tarnished paper and faces are carved into the pages.

  Michelle skims through the middle pages, amazed by the intricacy of these certain sketches.  "Who's this?"

  Audrey leans over her to view the portrait.  After seeing the pictures, Audrey sits back and continues to eat.  "An old friend."

  Peter's face is sketched in lines on the paper, his signature smile drawn into the pages with skilful precision.  Michelle follows along with Audrey glancing in her direction.  She sees Peter's body captured in a study position, shadows casted on everything but his face.  Michelle sees Peter walking into the college on his first day captured in ink.

  Audrey glances at the pictures and it reminds of the countless sleepless nights she would sketch her best friend as a way of taming her cruellest nightmares.  Looking at the pages float by, she watches of how much of her life was taken up by Peter and she muses of how it all came down to this very moment.  She watches Michelle trace the remainders of torn out pages.

  "There's a page torn out with a date between each year...what do you tear out?" Michelle asks as she turns the page to see the drawing of Audrey's body.  She follows each graphite line as it spells out a picture.  Audrey is crouched over a broken heart of glass, picking up each piece which cuts into her hands, the small drops of scarlet blood being the only colour on the page.

  "I draw a picture for my little brother each year on his birthday," Audrey explains.  "Each one is something that he loved.  Cars.  Planes.  Puppies. Pirates...Roses."

  "That's so sweet of you," Michelle smiles at Audrey.  "Does he like it?"

  Audrey's face falls as she suppresses her pain.  "I can't be sure...he...passed away a few years ago."

  Michelle catches her breath and places a hand on Audrey's shoulder.  "I'm so sorry, Audrey."

  Audrey shoots her a pained smile.  "It's ok, he's in a better place now."

  Michelle smiles at her.  "I'm sure he is, and I know he'll love looking at these one day and seeing what a talented sister he has."

  Audrey heart is lifted at her words and she bites her lip to contain the tears that would otherwise spill down her cheeks.

  Michelle comes to the very last page.  Her eyebrows pull together in confusion.  "It's...blank."

  "I guess I haven't had anything important enough to sketch yet," Audrey explains.  "I always thought the last page of a book should filled with something that brings you joy.  Something or someone that makes you look back on every other picture and sigh because it's all mediocre compared to that last picture.  I want that last page to be filled with something...life-changing."

  Michelle closes the book and hands it back to Audrey.  "Well, I hope you find your last page."

  Audrey looks deep into Michelle's eyes and smiles.  "Me too."

  "Well, enough chit chat!  That steak sandwich looks neglected." Michelle comments, shoving Audrey's shoulder playfully.

  Weeks followed that encounter, weeks that were a blur.  Michelle and Audrey slowly developed a strong bond which lead into a strong friendship.  The two shared common interests and did everything together.  Both of them were closer than they ever thought were possible, and to them, it was special.

   2 months later, Audrey took Michelle to Philip's grave and showed her his special spot.  It was a connection that Audrey felt happy to share, and grateful to cherish.  And yet, even amongst all this happiness, Audrey couldn't help but think of Peter.

  After weeks of practicing the words to say and writing countless speeches, she felt she couldn't put it off any longer.  She stood outside the school's lab, her mind thinking of countless ways this encounter could go.  She shook her head free and walked into the room.

  Peter sits alone at a lab desk, his head snapping up at the sudden company in the room.  Peter eyes widen at the realisation of Audrey's face and he swiftly tidies up his desk.

  "Audrey!" Peter greets, his tone high and pitched, as though he had been caught.

  "Hello Peter." She says.

  "Wh-what are you doing...here?" Peter's eyebrows furrow as he stands and walks towards her.

  Audrey takes a deep breath before speaking.  "I'm here to talk."

  "Audrey, this all my fault." Peter says, fidgeting with the screwdriver in his hand.

  "Peter, what you did really hurt me," Audrey began, her voice shaky and uncertain.  "I lost my best friend...my only friend to a girl who you knew only a few days.  I have known you since we were kids, Peter.  I know you better than anyone.  I know that you bite the very edges of your nails when you're nervous for a test.  I know that you hide your savings under mattress in your favourite pair of socks.  I know that your favourite colour is red.  I know that you have a deep phobia of not being strong enough to protect your family. I know where you hid the night Uncle Ben died.  I have memorised every facial expression you have and each and every emotion they contain.  The question is Pete...do you know me?"

  The corner of Peter's lips tug upwards as he remembers her every habit.

  "You hate when your bread goes soggy when you order a hamburger," Peter begins, his eyes glossy and his voice broken.  "You have a bad habit of spacing out when someone is talking because you are picturing every single way you could help them.  You bite your lip when you draw.  You hate geometry, but not maths.  You can say the alphabet backwards.  You have a deep phobia of dying in your sleep.  You smile before you cry to hide the pain you really feel.  Your favourite colour is grey.  You love wolves, and how in their loneliest hour, they still are comforted by the voice of their loved ones.  And I know that you deserve a love...and that love is so much stronger than I could ever give you.  Because you are one of a kind, A...and it took months of losing you to realise how long I've taken you for granted.  And the one thing you don't know about me is that is my deepest regret."

  Tears stream down Audrey's cheeks as she listens to Peter's confession.  Her body rocks with sobs as she runs to embrace him.  She clutches onto him as she sobs into his shoulder.  Peter's cheeks are red, his eyes are red from crying and his voice hoarse and broken.

  "I'm so sorry, Audrey," Peter sobs, "I am so sorry."

  "I'm sorry, Pete," Audrey cries, her voice shaky.  "I never meant for it to come to this."

  Audrey and Peter stay in that position for what seems like hours.  Both cry until they physically can't cry any longer.  Audrey steps back and wipes away her tears.  She sends Peter a pained smile.

  "A friend of mine recently pointed out that she saw me as 'free' and I never understood how she saw that in such a lost girl as me." Audrey explained.  "But now, I know what she means.  I once harboured in me hate, and love and fear, but now?  Standing before you and knowing that I'm no longer in bondage to that hate...I'm free.  I'm finally free, Peter."

  Tears stream down Peter's face as he breathes out a smile.  "You're finally free, A.  You're free to live...to love.  You're free to be you."

   "Goodbye Peter," Audrey smiles at him and turns to the door.  "I'll see you soon."

  "Good bye, Audrey." Peter's smile fades as another tear slips down his cheeks, leaving him alone once again to cry in the comfort of his shadow.

  Audrey slips into the hallway and walks into the Art room.  She sits down at her desk and she pulls out her Sketchbook.  She flips through the pages, reminiscing at each memory etched in the paper.  Tears slips down her cheeks as she comes upon each tear in the spine.  She continues to study until she reaches the very last page.

  She stares at the blank canvas, and in its own way it stares back at her.  She studies it bleak features, she studies all the possibilities this blank piece of paper has.  And with one last glance at the blank piece she begins to draw.  She sketches with a passion, each line deliberate and meaningful.  She sketches for hours, wanting each stroke to tell its own story, no matter the time spent.

  And when the sketch comes to its completion she stares at her masterpiece.  The curvatures of a face illuminate the page.  She smiles at the eyes staring back at her and at last she closes the book, and seals the pages.  The very last page etched into her brain.

  It was a sketch of Michelle that filled that last page, because it was Michelle that taught Audrey to live again and it was Michelle who helped her find what is meant to be truly free...at last.

Thank you all so much for your love and support!  I appreciate every single comment and vote!  I love you all so much!  And if you do feel as though I deserve it, please nominate me in the 2017 Fanfiction Awards!  I'd really appreciate it! 
Love to you all! Xx