I Don't Wanna Lose You
Chapter 1
(A/N: I'm thinking about writing a sequel. Let me know you think if I should.)
The two echidnas sat in a tree watching the sunset. The orange reflection ran down their faces until the glowing ball of fire set behind the horizon. Then they climbed out of the tree and Knuckles walked his girlfriend Julie-Su home. When they arrived at her apartment Knuckled kissed Julie-Su goodnight. Julie-Su walked to her couch and sat down.
She was happy that Knuckles was her boyfriend. He was the only one who seemed to care about her. Everyone else disliked her for her past as a Dark Legionnaire. A lot of the time the echidnas of Echidnaopolis would ignore her, make fun of her, or run from her. Being raised a Dark Legionnaire there wasn't anything she could do about that. Finally she changed and went to bed.
In the morning she showered and got dressed in her typical vest and put on her belt. When she walked out side she saw a figure tumbling out of the sky and to the ground. The pink echidna started running to the place where the figure crashed. When she got there she saw it lying on the ground. Quickly she ran up to it and kneeled on the ground next to it. It was Rouge!
The bat laid there on the ground with one wing torn. Julie-Su didn't care for the bat at all but she knew she had to help her. She pulled her cell phone from her pocket and called to have an ambulance come pick Rouge up. After about two minutes the ambulance arrived and put Rouge on a stretcher. Two raccoons pushed it into the vehicle. Julie-Su watched the automobile drive down the road and disappear in the distance.
Julie-Su walked back to her apartment and saw Knuckles standing in front of it. "Hey Knuckles!" she called out as she walked up to him.
"Hi Julie-Su," he responded and kissed her on the cheek. "Where have you been?"
"Oh, there was just a bat falling out of the sky when I walked out. I went and found it and called to have it taken to the hospital," she replied leaving out a couple details.
"A lot of excitement for one morning huh?" the red echidna asked.
"I guess. Hey, why don't we go have ourselves some breakfast?"
"That sounds good."
The couple walked to a little diner not too far from Julie-Su's apartment and enjoyed a nice breakfast together.
Julie-Su didn't want Knuckles to know Rouge was in town. She was afraid if he ran into her again he would fall for the bat and leave her behind. She just couldn't bear to lose him. Knuckles and Julie-Su were walking through the park together. All the flowers made the park look beautiful.
Kids were running around and playing on some play equipment on the other side of the park. "Such a nice day huh Knuckles?" the pink one asked him.
"Uh huh," he returned kind of looking into the distance.
"Are you ok?"
"Yeah, in fact I'm great."
Julie-Su looked at him suspiciously. Then he looked at her and gently grabbed her hand. They held hands the rest of the way through the park.
Finally evening arrived and Knuckles walked Julie-Su back to her apartment. "I had a great time," she said to him sweetly.
"I did too," he responded and he kissed her on the lips.
"Good night!" she called from her doorstep. He disappeared into the darkness and she went to bed.
The next morning she decided to be lazy and just slip into her white dress and lay on the couch. She flipped on the TV and just listened to it. She drifted off to sleep.
The dream:
It was bright and Julie-Su was walking down a sidewalk by herself. She looked at all the couples sitting on the benches and walking together. Knuckles walked up to her. "Julie-Su, I don't want to be with you anymore," he said sadly.
"What! Why not?" the pink echidna demanded.
"I've got a new girlfriend."
Then she started getting dizzy and the world was spinning non-stop! She couldn't stand it. Then everything just went blank.
She woke up on the couch two hours later and the TV was still on. "Oh thank goodness it was only a dream," she sighed.
She showered, changed, and headed out the door to the park. The female glanced around but didn't see Knuckles. She sat down on the empty bench next to her and looked around again. No sign of Knuckles. Then she saw Rouge working her way down the sidewalk on crutches. Her wing was wrapped up with gauze and her left leg was in a brace.
Without hesitating the echidna got up from her seat and leaped into the bushes not wanting to be seen by the bat. She looked through little gaps in the brush. Rouge passed and she looked around to make sure Knuckles didn't show up. "I'm being way too paranoid," she told herself.
Then she climbed out of the bushes. Rouge turned herself around with her crutches. "Oh hi Julie-Su," she said.
"Hi Rouge," the echidna answered trying to sound friendly. She did not like the bat at all. Rouge got on her nerves. The way she dressed, the way she talked to guys, the way she flirted with Knuckles. It all made Julie-Su sick.
"What happened?" the pink one asked trying really hard to sound sympathetic.
"Oh I was just in a fight that's all," the bat returned calmly. "It really isn't any of your business."
That made Julie-Su really angry. No one spoke to her that way without getting beaten up. The echidna took a deep breathe and just ignored the remark.
"See you later Rouge," she said starting to walk away.
Rouge just ignored Julie-Su's good-by and turned around slowly limping away.
Later Julie-Su was walking through the city with her jacket on; lonely with no one to talk to. But she needed some time alone to reflect and think. This whole Rouge deal scared her. For once in her life she was afraid. Afraid Rouge might take her best friend from her. Tears rolled down her face. She didn't feel comfortable sharing those feelings with Knuckles.
She knew she needed to be honest with him but it just seemed too painful. Julie-Su just wasn't sure why. There wasn't anything that Julie-Su didn't share with Knuckles. This was just a sensitive spot with her. There was no one on the streets. No cars, nothing but the stars, the moon, and her.
Finally the echidna started back for her apartment; with her jacket wrapped around her and the wind blowing softly against her face. The air felt relaxing and cool. As if it was trying to lift her worries from her. The only thing she could hear was the wind, the chirping of the crickets, and the sound of her feet on the curb. When she came to her apartment she went find the key in her pocket.
The female rummaged around in the pocket but couldn't find her key. Julie-Su was furious with herself for locking herself out. Then she remembered her window was unlocked. The pink one unbuttoned her jacket and pulled her grappling hook from her belt. With that she fired the hook around a bar on the railing of her balcony.
The echidna swung herself up onto her balcony. As she went to step on the ledge near the side of the balcony she slipped. Quickly she grasped a bar on the railing. The girl pulled herself up onto the balcony again and tried the ledge again. This time she did not slip and she worked her way to her window.
Then she reached the window when she heard a car pull up and saw the headlights shining on her. Julie-Su turned her head and saw Constable Remmington step out of the car. "Why hello there Miss Julie-Su. Would you care to explain why you're climbing up there?" he asked calmly.
"Uh, I just locked myself out," she replied honestly.
"Well I can't have you climbing around up there. Why don't you come down here?"
Julie-Su sighed and jumped down. She walked over to the car and looked at Remmington. "Don't you have a spare key out here somewhere?" he asked.
"No, I'm afraid not sir," she replied.
"It's not like I don't believe you but I have to treat all the citizens equally you see. I can't have you prowling around in the dark. I'm afraid I'm going to have to take you down to headquarters."
All because I forgot my stupid key! "Sure officer," she said angrily.
She got in the car and he drove to the police station.
The next day after Julie-Su was questioned she was finally released. As she walked down the street she yawned, not getting any sleep the night before. Then she saw Knuckles coming up the road to her. "Hey Julie-Su!" he called cheerfully.
"Hi yawn Knuckles," she said groggily.
"What happened?" he asked concerned.
"I locked myself out late last night."
"Why were you out so late?"
"I was just taking a walk. Oh by the way do you have a spare key to my house? I can't remember right now if I gave you one."
"Yeah I have one. In fact you gave it to me just in case something like this happened. Why didn't you come get it from me last night?"
"I didn't want to wake you up."
Kuckles reached in his pocket of the jacket he had on and pulled out the key. He handed it to Julie-Su. "I hope you get some sleep, you look exhausted."
"See ya."
Julie-Su trudged back to her apartment and unlocked the door. She put the key on the table and just collapsed on the sofa.
The dream:
Julie-Su saw Knuckles sitting in a diner, alone. The pink echidna walked inside the diner and sat down next to him. "Hi," she said happily.
"I can't believe you Julie-Su. If you were scared that Rouge and I would get together you should have just talked to me," the red echidna said not looking up from the table.
"How did you know Rouge was in town?" the girl replied.
"I saw her and I talked to her. We're over Julie-Su."
Julie-Su sat there watching him get up and walk out of the diner. He walked over to Rouge who was standing in the parking lot on her crutches. The bat stuck her tongue out at the female echidna.
"Gahhhhhh! Knuckles! Don't leave me!" she yelled awakening from sleeping on the sofa.
She was sitting up by now and was wiping the sweat from her face. "I have to talk to Knuckles," she told herself.
Quickly she rushed to the shower and got herself dressed. Then she busted out the door with a key and her coat. The girl started running down the street toward Knuckle's house.
Finally she arrived and knocked on the door. There was no answer. "Knuckles open up I gotta talk to you!" she called.
Then she started running to the park since that was one of his favorite places to be. When she got there Knuckles was sitting on a bench alone. "Hey Knuckles I need to talk to you," the female said to him.
"Ok," Knuckles responded not sure what to expect.
"Remember how I said I rescued a bat the other day?"
"Yeah."
"So what I didn't tell you was that it was Rouge."
"Uh huh? So what does that have anything to do with us?"
"She's in town and I was just afraid that I would lose you."
"Lose me? To her?" he started laughing.
He put his arm around her and said "You won't lose me that easily."
Julie-Su felt better but kind of embarrassed. But now her conscience was clear and hopefully her nightmares would go away.
To be continued?
