Sonic sped into the village and looked around for the food store. He was running low on his supply of chili, so he figured it'd be best to pick some up as soon as possible.
However, something made him stop.
Being as fast as he was, Sonic had extremely focused eyes and was able to notice things much faster than anyone else could, even when going at top speed. The newsstand had caught his attention, or more specifically, the newspapers sitting on the counter of the newsstand. He was sure he'd seen his name on it. Were they doing a cover story about one of his fights with Eggman? That didn't seem like big news...
Curious, he walked up and lifted the top newspaper off, gazing at the main article. Instantly, his eyes widened, his heart almost stopping. The person at the newsstand had been giving him a weird look since he stopped there, and now he understood why. Completely forgetting about what he came for, he sped off and arrived back at his shack in just a few seconds, walking inside and looking over to Knuckles.
"H-hey, Knux!" He tried to be casual when he greeted him, but he was in too much of a panic. "A-ahm... you should probably see this..."
Knuckles walked up to him. "What's up?" he asked. He noticed that Sonic seemed worried about something. "Hey, is something wrong?"
Sonic hesitated to answer, then simply pointed at the newspaper in his hand and started reading.
"Villagers around town were talking constantly about the sudden improvement in Sonic and Knuckles' relationship. To be honest, I actually hadn't noticed myself until I took a better look. It was true; they spent a lot more time together than they had previously, and while I saw the two spending time with the other five on occasion, the two were together with just each other much more frequently. I felt like there could be a story here, so I chose to investigate. I gathered up my camera and notepad, then set out to work.
"At first, it didn't seem like anything special. The two acted like close friends and nothing more. I didn't understand where the sudden spike had come from though, and the look they gave each other from time to time only rose my suspicions.
"Soon enough though, I got my wish. I had followed them in secret back to Sonic the Hedgehog's shack. The first thing I noticed was an extra bed in the house. From previous research I've read, Sonic slept on his hammock and nothing more, so why was there an extra bed there? At first, knowing that Knuckles the Echidna had no home, I thought that perhaps it was for shelter if it rained; he'd stay at Sonic's house if he had to. It seemed logical.
"But then I saw it. I took a picture without hesitation.
"Sonic was sitting comfortably on Knuckles' lap while Knuckles himself had his arms wrapped around the hedgehog. As someone who had done many romance shockers in the past, I'd seen these positions before. I also managed to catch Knuckles placing a kiss on Sonic's head, but I unfortunately wasn't able to take a picture.
"There's definitely more to this relationship than any of us inspected it, and I'm quite intrigued."
Sonic took a breath, then flipped the newspaper around so Knuckles could see the picture on the cover. He wasn't sure how to respond. It was the cover story, supposedly the most important story on the paper! Would anyone notice? Would they care? More importantly, what would Knuckles respond with? Sonic frowned, watching his boyfriend's face closely and with slight paranoia.
Knuckles' eyes were wide. "Has...has everybody seen this?" he asked nervously. He wasn't sure if he was ready to be 'outed' like this yet, but it seemed like their secret wasn't really a secret anymore.
Sonic shrugged. "I-I dunno. I just saw the cover page and booked it back here..."
He sighed, sitting down on the floor and staring at the newspaper with mixed feelings. "...Guess we never really talked about it, huh?"
"About going public?" Knuckles sat down next to Sonic. "No, I guess we never did."
There was a long silence between the two.
"So...what should we do?" Knuckles finally asked.
Sonic tossed the newspaper to the floor. "Not sure. This is way too sudden for me, y'know?" he asked, crossing his arms.
Admittedly, the two never even agreed on keeping quiet about it; it just sorta happened and they both accepted it since they seemed to be on the same page.
"I just... didn't want anyone to freak out. I mean, me dating is already one thing. Dating a guy - dating you - is a whole 'nother story." He sighed, wishing it wasn't so complicated.
Knuckles nodded. "Yeah.."
He sighed. "What are people going to think of us?" He gulped nervously. "What will our friends think?"
Sonic's ears twitched. "Geez, I-I didn't even think of that." Common sense told him that if they were really his friends, they wouldn't care, but they had been keeping this a secret for a long time. At least one of them was bound to be insulted at the very least, right?
"I mean... should we tell 'em first if they haven't read it yet? Er, no, maybe wait until tomorrow, or... no..." He put a hand to his head, completely unsure of what to do. He felt like he should've expected this, but apparently he was so lost in his own little world with Knuckles that he hadn't even thought of the possibility.
Knuckles thought for a while.
"I'm not ready, and you're not ready," he said carefully. "And I don't think we'll be ready tomorrow either. But maybe we'll be... ready-er, I guess? Is that even a word?" He had no idea if he was even making sense. He was just as lost as Sonic.
Sonic chuckled. "No, it's not, but I get what cha mean."
His eyes shifted from side to side, then he smirked and stood up, walking over to Knuckles. "Aaaaand since we already got caught once..."
He plopped down onto Knuckles' lap, leaning against him. "It's not like it'd be a big deal if we do it again~"
Knuckles grinned. "Fair enough."
He kissed Sonic on the head.
The next day, Sonic came back to his shack after picking up another newspaper. He hadn't bothered to see if people reacted to him; he just grabbed the paper and ran.
"Uh... we made the cover again," he told Knuckles, trying to joke around and smile.
"What are they saying now?" Knuckles asked. He was nervous, but he needed to know.
Sonic didn't know; he just saw that it was another article on them and brought it home. "Well..."
He looked down and started to read.
"As a follow-up to yesterday's article, I offered the cover to the people around town and asked their opinions on the matter of Sonic the Hedgehog and Knuckles the Echidna dating. Here were some of their thoughts."
"I don't really know how I feel about it. I was shocked, obviously, and I'm not quite sure it's sunk in yet."
"Oh, I knew it from the beginning! It was way too obvious! Those two were meant to be!"
Sonic blushed as he read that one, but tried to keep his composure.
"Seems too shady to me. They probably knew they were being followed and put on an act for attention; that Sonic's got such a big ego, after all. It's just like him to pull a stunt like this."
He grimaced.
"I don't have an opinion. It's just like if any other two guys got together. What's the big deal?"
"Personally, I think Sonic's making a bad decision. Knuckles is way too—"
Sonic stopped reading the quote, glaring at the remaining text; Knuckles definitely didn't need to hear that. He skipped it and continued on.
"It sounded a little strange at first, I'll admit, but once I really thought about it, they look pretty cute and happy together. What's not to admire?"
"I was just confused. I mean, it's fine with me, don't get me wrong, but I thought they were already in relationships with the two girls on their team."
"This is the last thing I wanted in a hero. I don't want my kids thinking that this stuff is okay, are you kidding me?"
Sonic looked further on the page for anything else, but that was the end of the article. Did that have to be the last quote?
"It sounds like everyone reacted differently," Knuckles mused. "I'm kinda scared about the negative people, though. What will they do if they see us together?" He knew that some people didn't take kindly to guys dating other guys.
"Well, if they make fun or hate us, I'll just have to introduce 'em to my spindash!" Sonic replied. Deep down, he knew he wasn't likely to do that, but what else were they supposed to do? It was right there in black and white for everyone to see: "Sonic the Hedgehog dating Knuckles the Echidna". How were they meant to approach this?
"...Either way, it's pretty much out there in the open for everyone to see," Sonic told him, putting a hand to his face. "We could deny it, but that'd probably just make things worse and it wouldn't feel right..."
Knuckles put an arm around him and squeezed his shoulder. "Well, I guess we can't really hide it anymore." He smiled softly. "We'll just have to face this like everything else: together."
Sonic smiled back, feeling a bit more reassured. "Yeah, you're right. Besides, even if some people hate the idea, I mean... whatever, y'know?" He shrugged. "Not like we can do anything about it. We're dating 'cause we just like each other that much; facts are facts."
Knuckles grinned. "You're right! And since it's not a secret anymore..."
He stood up and held out his hand.
"Sonic, will you go on a date with me?" he asked in his best 'romantic voice'.
Sonic chuckled and simultaneously blushed at Knuckles' attempt at romantic voice. "Sure! I was gonna ask you the same thing anyway!"
He grabbed Knuckles' hand and stood up too, then intertwined their fingers and walked out of the shack with him. It felt so weird, holding hands while they weren't inside his shack; the house had always been a safe spot of sorts, so this was somewhat out of their comfort zone.
Knuckles squeezed Sonic's hand. He was really nervous. Heck, he felt like his heart was going to beat right out of his chest. But, he knew that with Sonic, he could face anything.
"So... where would you like to go?" he asked his boyfriend.
It wasn't hard for Sonic to sense that Knuckles was nervous. His heart was beating too, but he was the stronger one in the relationship, at least emotionally, so he was certain that if he acted fine, Knuckles would follow suit.
"I-I dunno. Don't dates usually go out to fancy restaurants and stuff?" he asked. "I mean, we don't have to go somewhere super fancy, but Meh Burger wouldn't really be my idea of a date. 'Sides, that's our usual hang-out spot. If people know we're a thing, might as well flaunt it, right?"
"Yeah, that's true," Knuckles replied. "Wherever you want to go is cool with me."
Truthfully, he didn't really care where they went. He just wanted to spend some quality time with his favorite hedgehog.
The two eventually got to the main part of the village where all the shops and such were. Sonic felt his nerves get worse, but still managed to keep his cool by trying not to make eye contact with anyone; even thought he was holding Knuckles' hand, he wasn't quite ready to say that they'd been dating.
"You don't see any of our friends, do ya?" Sonic asked warily. He still had to prepare for what he'd tell them...
Knuckles glanced around. "Hmmm... don't see any of them yet."
Part of him was glad, since he had no idea what to say or do if they were confronted about their relationship. What would their friends say? How would they react to the news? The last thing he wanted was for one of his few friendships to be destroyed, but he knew deep down that he'd choose Sonic over them if he had to. He just hoped it wouldn't come to that.
"...Hey." Sonic gripped Knuckles' hand tighter. "It's alright."
Soon, they arrived at the restaurant. They ignored the weird looks that some people gave them, and got themselves seated at a table.
"Oooh, you picked a good place!" Knuckles said.
"Naturally!" Sonic said with a big grin. In reality, he'd never been here before and just guessed on a place to go to. To accommodate for Knuckles' size and just generally because they were more blocked off from all sides, they'd gotten a circular booth; they didn't mind being seen so much, but they'd prefer to start off small.
Soon enough, a waitress came by, looking quite cheerful as she saw the two.
"Hello! I'll be your server today," she told them. "Can I get you any drinks?"
"Uh, soda, I guess?" Sonic suggested. "Doesn't matter what. Surprise me."
"I'll have whatever he's having," Knuckles said. He was trying his best to hide his nervousness.
The waitress nodded, placing two menus at their table before walking away.
Sonic looked over to Knuckles. "Don't worry, okay? There were positive people in the paper too; not everyone's gonna think bad of us." He gave him a reassuring smile.
Knuckles smiled back. If Sonic was confident, he would be too.
He picked up one of the menus and started to skim through it.
"Oh, wait, I can't read..."
Sonic chuckled, then slid around the booth so he was sitting next to Knuckles. "Don't worry. I'll help ya."
He skimmed through the menu. "Any of the pictures catch your eye?"
"Hmmm..." Knuckles looked at the pictures of the various entrees. "Oooh, that looks good!" He pointed to one of the pictures.
"Alright! I'll order it for ya," Sonic told him, reading the name next to the picture.
The waitress came back after a few minutes, and Sonic filled her in on what they wanted to order. However, before she left, she slowly reached into her apron and pulled out an object.
Sonic blinked. "What's that for?"
She just smiled, placing it on a little stand in the center of the table and lighting it; a candle. She said nothing, only giggling a bit before leaving.
Sonic blushed, getting the message, averting his gaze from Knuckles and letting out a nervous grunt.
Knuckles stared at the candle. "What's that for?" he asked.
"U-uh..." Sonic sheepishly scratched his cheek. "It's for when people go out on a date. Helps 'set the mood', or somethin'," he explained.
"Ohhh," Knuckles replied thoughtfully. He smiled, putting an arm around Sonic.
Sonic giggled a bit shyly, though he felt more loved than embarrassed, so he didn't mind.
A while later, he suddenly felt something lightly touching his leg and looked over to Knuckles. "Is that you?"
Curious, he peeked under the table, and a young girl crawled out onto the seat, holding out a pencil and paper to him. "C-can I have your aut-y-graph, please?"
"Oh! Sure!" Sonic exclaimed, grabbing the object from her and scribbling down his signature. He hadn't expected today of all days to be asked for an autograph, but he didn't mind one bit.
"Here ya go!"
The girl took the paper and pencil back, then held them out to Knuckles. "Y-yours too, mister Knuckie?"
Sonic smirked, glancing over at Knuckles. "Well, looks like we've got a little fan."
Knuckles blushed, flattered. He was nervous, however, because he couldn't write. He glanced over at Sonic, silently asking him what to do.
Sonic debated on what Knuckles could do, then took the paper and pencil back and handed it to him. "Why don't you give it a shot?" he asked. He took a napkin and wrote down Knuckles' name, then showed it to him so he could imitate it.
Knuckles took the pencil. He studied the writing on the napkin closely, then proceeded to copy it onto the paper. It looked rather sloppy, but not bad for a first try.
"I...I did it!" He was so excited, he could hardly believe it.
Sonic giggled at his excitement, then put the napkin down and handed the girl her things back. "How's that?"
She lit up, looking extremely happy. "Per-fict! Thanks!" She leapt up and gave Knuckles a small hug, then stared at them. "Don't tell Mommy I was here, okay?"
Sonic could take a good guess as to why. "We won't."
The little girl smiled at them, then ran off.
"We have a little fan!" Knuckles grinned. "And I wrote my first word!"
Perhaps this day would turn out alright after all.
Sonic playfully patted Knuckles' shoulder. "I'm so proud of you~" He was mostly being playful, but there was a bit of seriousness too.
"I'm proud of me too!" Knuckles replied happily.
His stomach growled. "I can't wait for the food to get here. I'm so hungry, I could eat this whole table!"
"Yeah, I'm starving too," Sonic agreed, returning to his original spot on the table.
After a few minutes, the waitress came back with their food, and the two gave her a quick thanks before she left. "It's no chili dog, but it'll do," Sonic said, taking a small bite.
Knuckles tried a bite of his food. "Mmmm...this is good! How's yours?"
"Pretty good, I guess," Sonic replied. It was great, but is wasn't bad either.
He glanced back to where the young girl from earlier was sitting, then crossed one leg over the other. "I was surprised when that girl came up to us; she was so excited."
"She was." Knuckles smiled. "It was really cute!"
Sonic nodded in agreement. "Yeah!"
He paused, his face turning to that of nervousness. He stabbed lightly at his food, then shyly shifted his gaze towards Knuckles. "You want one...?"
Knuckles giggled. "Sure!"
"Really?" Sonic asked, now a bit curious. "I guess I should've expected that answer from ya." He chuckled. Honestly, he wasn't sure if he wanted the same. They'd have to adopt obviously, but would he be able to handle a kid?
"Yeah, someday," Knuckles replied between bites of food. He did want to adopt a child; after all, he himself was an orphan. But, he also knew that the two of them might not be ready for that sort of thing for quite a while. And that was okay. He could wait.
"H-heh, I dunno about me though," Sonic said sheepishly. "Y'think I'd make a good dad?"
"Are you kidding?" Knuckles replied. "Of course you would!"
Sonic smirked at his positivity. "Oh yeah? Well, I guess he'd never be late for anything," he joked. "I'd make sure of it!"
"Wha—ohhh." Knuckles laughed. "Or she," he pointed out.
"Oh, can you imagine?" Sonic asked with a laugh. "Would she be more like Sticks or Amy? You think my bandana'd be fashionable enough for her?" He tugged on his bandana and stuck his tongue out playfully.
Knuckles laughed too. "Well, he or she, they would be loved very much," he said with a smile.
"Yeah, obviously," Sonic agreed.
The waitress eventually came back once the two were done eating, taking their dishes away, though Sonic whispered something into her ear right before she left, smirking a bit to himself.
She returned with their check and a small to-go box. Thanking her, Sonic paid for their meal and slid the box across the table for Knuckles. "That's for you on the way home," he told him, standing up and walking over to him.
"Oooh! What is it?" Knuckles was delightfully surprised.
"I saw that one of their desserts was a grape tart, so I got it for ya," Sonic replied, reaching over and opening the box.
Knuckles gasped in delight. "You know me so well!"
"Well, I should! I'm your boyfriend, aren't I?" Sonic told him, giggling. He didn't care if anyone heard him; he was more focused on how happy Knuckles was.
"The best boyfriend ever!" Knuckles replied, suddenly throwing his arms around Sonic.
"H-hey!" Sonic laughed. "Don't leave yourself outta that ruling, Knux!"
He hugged Knuckles back, then grabbed the box and handed it to him as they walked out of the restaurant. "Try it! Hopefully ya like it."
Knuckles tried a bite. "It's great!" he exclaimed. He continued to eat it, making little "om-nom" sounds as he did.
Figuring that Knuckles was in a much better mood now, Sonic glanced up at him. "Y'know, they'll probably be waiting for us back at the shack since we didn't talk to 'em for the past two days. Any ideas on what we should say?" he asked.
Knuckles swallowed his mouthful of dessert. "No. I have no idea what we're gonna tell them..." Truth be told, he was terrified of what their friends would say.
"Well... no matter what happens, it'll work out, okay?" Sonic assured, placing a hand on Knuckles' arm.
"Okay," Knuckles replied. Sonic's touch helped calm his nerves somewhat. "I trust you."
As Sonic predicted, their three friends were outside his shack when they go there; Amy was even holding the newspaper.
"Right on schedule," Sonic mumbled under his breath, joking with himself to calm his nerves. "Yo, guys!"
Tails looked over and waved. "Hey."
Amy stood up from her place on the sand, then held up the newspaper. "Hey, so... I guess you've seen this?"
Sonic stiffened at the sight, but held Knuckles' hand. "...Yeah, we have."
"H-hey, guys!" Knuckles greeted, forcing a grin. His heart was in his throat, and he thought he might break into a sweat at any moment. Any sort of confidence he'd felt before arriving at the shack had now vanished.
Sticks wasted no time, walking up to the two and punching Sonic in the arm.
"O-ow, hey!" Sonic yelped.
"Why didn't cha tell us!" the badger asked.
"Sticks, calm down," Amy said. "Let them speak for themselves."
Sonic sighed. "...it's true."
Knuckles was too anxious to speak, so he just nodded. He squeezed Sonic's hand, bracing himself for whatever their friends were about to say.
"Look... it's not like we didn't want to tell you guys," Sonic told them. "It was more like somethin' we did but just didn't think about, y'know? I mean, yeah, we were a little worried about how you guys would react, but..." He simply shrugged, not sure what else to say.
Amy frowned. "Well, I certainly don't mind. I was a little surprised, but you two can date whoever you want."
Sticks crossed her arms. "Juuuust tell us next time when it's something important like this, okay?" The two could only imagine how paranoid they'd made her.
Sonic's heart calmed down as he gave a small smile. "Y-yeah, sure!" He paused, then looked over at Tails. "And... you, Tails?"
The fox stared at him, almost as if building up dramatic effect, then laughed. "Oh, me? I knew all along! I was just waiting for you to tell me!"
"Wha—you knew?" Knuckles asked in surprise.
Sonic was just as shocked. "Seriously?"
Tails nodded. "C'mon, Sonic. We've been friends for how long? You really thought I wouldn't notice?"
Sonic blushed red. He had a good point.
"So... are we all cool then?" Knuckles asked, wanting to make sure he could completely relax now.
Amy nodded. "Of course!"
Sticks seemed a bit sour still, but gave them a smile anyway. "Yup."
Sonic didn't need to hear Tails' response; he knew the fox well enough already. He giggled, turning to Knuckles and holding his hand tighter. "What'd I tell ya? I said that things were gonna work out, and they did!"
Knuckles breathed a sigh of relief.
"I'm so glad you guys are okay with this!" he said. "I was scared about what you would all think..." he admitted.
"What kind of friends would we be if we didn't accept you?" Amy asked. "Pretty bad ones, I'd say."
Sonic chuckled. "Y'can't exactly blame us though. It is a pretty big deal."
"Yeah, I guess. As long as you keep your promise and not try to hide stuff from us again!" she told him.
"We won't, we won't," he assured, waving a hand dismissively. He then stared over at his shack. "Sooo..."
"Oh, we just came to talk to you about what was going on," Amy explained. "We're actually gonna go hang out at my house right now." She giggled. "Don't worry. We'll leave you two lovebirds alone~"
Sonic's blush worsened as the three walked off. "L-lovebirds...?" he mumbled under his breath. Ahh, she's probably gonna make me blush every chance she gets...
"Well, that went well!" Knuckles said happily. "So, um... what should we do now?"
Sonic shrugged, heading inside his shack. "We could play some games together if ya want?" He tried not to smile so much, but it was difficult.
Knuckles grinned. "Bet you can't beat me!"
"Oh, beat me big time once and now you're all cocky?" Sonic asked with a smirk. "I was sick then; dunno if you remember!"
"Yeah, whatever!" Knuckles replied, waving a hand. "I can still beat you!"
Sonic giggled playfully. "If you say so~"
He sat down in front of the game console, then started it up and tossed Knuckles a controller. "Catch!"
Knuckles nearly dropped the controller, but managed to catch it.
"Let's do this!"
"Alright! You're so on!"
The two sat next to each other, and the game started. At first, it was a close tie, but Sonic had a plan, mostly to get back at Knuckles for 'daring to be so confident about beating him'.
As the two continued to fight, he kept one eye on the screen and swiftly kissed Knuckles' cheek, hoping to distract him a bit.
"Gah!" Knuckles exclaimed in surprise. Before he knew it, he'd lost the game.
"H-hey, that's cheating!" He sounded angry, but he was also blushing.
"Tough!" Sonic grinned. "You were askin' for it~"
Knuckles pouted. "I'm gonna get you back for that!"
"Oh yeah?" Sonic leaned close, his face inches away from Knuckles. "Wha'cha gonna do?"
"Oh, you'll see!" Knuckles replied with a sly grin.
Seeing his grin, Sonic was suddenly nervous. "E-eheh, yeah?" He tried to keep up his smug expression, but failed horribly.
"Yeah." Knuckles grinned wider when he saw Sonic's nervousness. "Let's start another game, shall we?"
Despite his cautiousness, Sonic didn't want to feel like a quitter, so he reluctantly nodded and sat back down, holding his controller tight. "Bring it!"
As they played, they were beginning to tie once again. But before Sonic could beat him again, Knuckles suddenly rushed towards Sonic and kissed him. Not on the cheek, but on the lips.
"Mm!"
Sonic, startled by the sudden motion, dropped his controller, his character in the game left completely defenseless.
Knuckles tried to focus on the game. He was so close to winning...but he became so into the kiss that he too soon dropped his controller.
Sonic would've smirked if it weren't for the kiss. He'd let Knuckles off easy this time since he didn't actually win. Giggling, he wrapped his arms around the echidna and kissed him back.
Knuckles returned the embrace, sighing contentedly. He'd completely forgotten about the game.
Sonic pulled away slowly after a few seconds, smiling at his boyfriend. "Heh... does this mean I win?" he asked with a wink.
Knuckles looked at the screen. Both of their characters were just standing there, waiting for the players to take control.
"Not this time!" Knuckles declared. He quickly grabbed his controller and attacked Sonic's character, who was now completely defenseless.
"A-ah, hey!" Sonic quickly picked up his controller and tried to make things even again.
Unfortunately, he was too late. Knuckles had the upper hand this time.
Sonic pouted as his character lost the game. "Aw man!"
He crossed his arms and tried to be angry, but he knew that Knuckles wouldn't buy it.
Knuckles laughed. "Told ya I'd get you back!"
Sonic blushed, then stared at Knuckles mischievously. "Fair enough... but I'm gonna win the war!"
He discarded his controller and knocked Knuckles' away, then tackled his boyfriend into a kiss.
"Mmph!" Knuckles grunted as was knocked to the ground. However, he soon became lost in the kiss once again.
The two had completely neglected the game at that point.
There wasn't even a tiebreaker.