Disclaimer – I don't own the Sonic characters.

You Don't Know Me

Sonic, located in a dark alley due to making a wrong turn, stood with hand on hip and foot tap tap tapping as he tried to figure out where he went wrong en route to the new chilidog restaurant. He was not unaware of Amy's presence—he'd noticed her trailing him five blocks back—and sidestepped her passionate dive by pressing his back against the alley's wall.

Amy crashed into a couple of cylinder trash bins. "Ow!" Standing, she rubbed her sore face (it had slammed into one the trash bins) and turned to Sonic. His back was still plastered against the slim alley's brick wall; he'd chosen the wall to his right since the one on the left belonged to the store he was currently boycotting—they refused to give him the hero discount.

"Amy," he said and moved to the center of the alley, "what the f—"

"You don't have to say it," Amy interceded. "I know. I know." She shook her head shamefully, and the banana peel that had ended up on it flew against Sonic's face. "What the first thing I should have done was be faster, like you. Then we would be together right now, on the ground, arms around each other, happy."

Sonic swiped the banana peel off his face. "No." He stared hard at Amy . "No."

Amy nodded. "Right, as always. It's too cold for us to cuddle out here. We would go back to my place."

"We would not go back to your place."

"Yours then?"

For perhaps the thousandth time, Sonic wondered what indiscriminant thoughts scurried around Amy's head to lead her to such inane conclusions. She honestly seemed to believe that if she caught him, he would welcome her with open arms and return her perverse love. This was a contradictory belief since she had managed to catch him a few times already, and he'd yet to proclaim any ardor for her. So why did she hold fast to this belief. Why did she hunt him day and night, often leaping off of four story buildings, out of birthday cakes, and from atop tree limbs? "What is wrong with you," Sonic demanded.

"Well, my nose has been a little stuffy."

She had to be crazy. But Sonic didn't believe this. There'd been several instances in which he had happened upon Amy, catching her living a life that exuded sane. Yet the moment she glimpsed him, all sanity flew out of her pink head. So in a way, Amy was crazy. Crazy about him.

Amy took a step toward him. Sonic stood his ground; he'd heard the best way to stay a wild animal was to motionlessly stare it down. Though he grabbed a trash can top and held it defensively before him, just in case. "Amy, I want you to tell me something truthfully."

"Of course! I'll tell you anything you want to know. Two plus two is four."

"I know that already!" Sonic took a deep breath to relax. Still staring Amy down, he asked, "What is it you like about me so much?"

Amy blinked. Her mouth opened, then closed. She blinked again. "Everything."

Sonic nodded. Yep, it was obvious. Everything about Amy's love for him was insane. Or maybe she didn't really know what she liked about him. "You love everything about me?"

"Everything," Amy chirped.

Hmm, perhaps she was no different from his other fans, just more aggressive in her pursuit. "Well, that's what all my fans say, and they don't love a single thing about me other than the fact that I'm sexiest hero they've ever seen."

Amy's brow furrowed and her cheeks puffed up. If there was one thing Amy couldn't stand, it was being compared to Sonic's brainless base of fan girls. "Don't compare me to those harpies," she hissed. "I love all of you. The good and the bad."

"How vague."

"Oh, so you want specifics?" Sonic nodded. "Okay, then. I love the way you smile, the color of your eyes, your voice."

Sonic snorted. "That's all physical."

"I'm not done. Now let me think. Um, I love the way you're always there for the people who you care about, like last week when you defended Cream against those bullies. And your sense of humor," she giggled. "I really liked that joke about the spider and the walrus that you told to Tails. Oh! And I love when you're modest. You told the newspaper journalist the mayor's cat was rescued because of Shadow when it was really all because of you."

Shocked, Sonic dropped the trash can lid. "Oh my gosh! You really do stalk me every hour of the day."

"Nuh-uh," Amy protested. "Cream told me about the bullies. And when I asked Tails where he'd gotten that joke from, he said you. And Shadow's the one who told me about the cat."

"Okay, so then you're obsessive. Who else would remember such useless information."

Amy disagreed. "But it's important. Those little stories tell about your character, Sonic. Those stories reveal what I love about you."

For the first time, Sonic was moved by Amy's words. He found a small part of his heart opening up to her. Maybe, he thought, Amy wasn't so bad. "Hey, Amy, you want to go to lunch?"

"Of course I do," she squealed, latching onto his arm.

Sonic smiled, deciding that this, instead of being repulsive, was actually cute. "Good. We're going to a new restaurant that opened. They have a buffet there of your favorite food."

"Pasta?"

Sonic laughed. "No, your other favorite food. Chilidogs."

Amy frowned, and her arms loosened. "That's not my favorite, that's yours."

Sonic's brows lifted in honest bafflement. "Oh, I could have sworn you said it was yours too. Anyway, let's do something after we eat."

Amy's smile returned. "Sure. What did you have in mind?"

"Well I was thinking we'd see a movie. I've been wanting to see Dawn of Heartache. You like romances, right?"

Amy pulled away from him. "No. I like action films. You like romances."

"Wow. I could have sworn—but never mind. Let's hurry to the restaurant before the lunch rush hits. I know how you hate waiting."

Amy's fists clenched. "I have no problem with waiting, Sonic. If I did, I wouldn't have waited this long for you to ask me out. But honestly, now I think I've wasted my time. You don't know me at all."

"Sure I do."

Amy lifted her chin, challenging him. "Oh yeah? What's my favorite color?"

"It's blue."

"It's pink. What's my shoe size?"

"Who would know that?"

"When's my birthday?"

"Uh, the first of January."

"NO! It's today!" Exasperated, Amy stomped past him.

"Wait," Sonic called after her. "I know you're favorite singer is Kelly Clarkson."

"I don't even know who that is," Amy shouted back.

"Sure you do. You love watching American Idol."

"I hate reality shows!"

Several minutes later, Amy reached her apartment building and walked up the stairs to her second floor apartment. She found Shadow standing outside her door, a pink wrapped present in his hands. "Shadow?"

Blushing ever so slightly, Shadow handed her the gift, muttering, "Happy birthday."

"Ooo," Amy cooed, brushing her hand over the wrapping. "It's beautiful."

"Pink's your favorite color, right," Shadow asked.

Amy nodded. Then—never one to restrain herself—she tore off the wrapping and opened the box. A pair of gorgeous sandals sat inside. Amy gasped. She and Cream had seen them while window shopping last week. She had wanted to get them, but couldn't afford them. How had Shadow known? And they were the right size!

"Oh thank you, Shadow. I've really been wanting these."

Shadow smiled. "I know, Cream told me."

Amy blinked. For a several seconds she stared at Shadow, who shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. "Here." She shoved the gift into his arms and dug into her dress' pocket for her apartment keys. "Since it's my birthday, let's order some pizza."

Now Shadow blinked. "Uh, sure." Amy opened the door and pulled him inside. "What type of pizza do you like," she asked.

"Cheese," Shadow stammered.

Amy smiled. That was something she hadn't known. There was a lot about Shadow she didn't know. But—she looked at the gift he'd given her—she was going to start learning. "Then let's order half cheese and half pepperoni." Picking up the phone, she started dialing in the number for Pizza Hut. "By the way, what's your favorite color?"