Clueless

Chapter Two

Well, here goes nothing. I knocked on the door of Tikal's apartment. Funny, I have never visited an apartment before. Tikal invited me around earlier before the others to go over some things before the 'show' started. So far, things were going well. Sonic actually believes that Tikal is my girlfriend. Him and Sally made up yesterday after hours of talking. I felt jealously brewing within me again. No, Shadow, focus on this. I knocked the door again since I didn't get an answer before.

Finally the door opened. It wasn't Tikal; it was a taller echidna that was red. He was well built and had purple eyes; he was quite a mysterious character. Oh shit, please don't tell me that's Tikal's brother. He looks like he was would squash me in a second. And trust me, I can't fight.

"Hi, I'm Shadow." I greeted quietly. The echidna stared at me like he didn't know who I was. I thought he knew about me? "I'm Tikal's…" He surprisingly cut me off.

"I know who you are. I just didn't realise how stunning you are." I started blush furiously. Was he insane? Sonic is the stunning one, not me. I looked down at the ground, avoiding his gaze.

"Is Tikal here?" I asked, in hope he would he let me through and just drop the conversation.

"Why are you trying to convince an oblivious idiot that you're straight? You should be proud of who you are." I shook my head at him.

"You wouldn't understand."

"Why would I not understand? I'm gay." I widened my eyes. Really? He didn't look gay. He looked like he would share Playboy magazines with Sonic.

"You should think about what you really want to do. Because, honestly, you won't be happy doing this and neither will Tikal. She deserves better." Our conversation ended when Tikal herself walked up to the door.

"Hi Shadow! It's nice to see you again! Knuckles, stop being a jerk and let him through," He sighed, but stepped aside to let me through, "This is my big brother, Knuckles. I hope he hasn't made you uncomfortable." I looked at him. He sure has.

"No, it's ok," I lied. I held out my hand to him, "Nice to meet you, Knuckles." He took my hand firmly and shook it, without saying a word. I could feel his eyes going straight through me. We let go.

"Ok, Shadow. How should we do this? So far, it's going well. Do you have my number?"

"No." She handed her phone to me. I found her number and typed it into my phone. In the corner of my eye I could see Knuckles leaning against a wall, watching me.

"Right, since I don't know you well, just pretend we do. So if I mention any interests, pretend to know it, got it?" She smiled. I nodded.

"What about…intimacy?" I asked her. I felt stupid because that sounded so pretentious. I could hear Knuckles chuckling at my suffering. He was right; this was going kill both Tikal and me. It wasn't fair, why did I have to put her through this? Why couldn't I just be proud of who I am. But then I thought of Sonic.

"I'm sure it wouldn't harm to kiss a girl. I know you're gay and all but don't they do that anyway?" I shrugged. I didn't know how to be gay, probably because I've been acting too straight for too long, if that was possible.

"Not all gays do that." Knuckles defended; sounding very offended. Tikal smiled at him.

"Is there anything else we need to cover?" I asked, feeling slightly nauseous at what was happening tonight.

"I think we will be alright, Shadow. If our cover is blown, just act like it hasn't." I don't know what she meant by that, but I was assuming she meant that I should stay calm. Five minutes later, Sonic and Sally arrived. They looked like they were in high spirits. They definately had something to drink before they got here. They like to drink together, sometimes a bit too much.

"Is everyone alright?" Sally asked as she kissed everyone on the cheek, even me. She was definitely tipsy; otherwise she was being totally fake. Sonic gave me a quick high five. I noticed that Knuckles was intently watching Sonic.

"We brought gold from the East. Well, the wine shop." Sonic joked, pulling out two bottles of Malibu. I wasn't sure if Tikal drinks, but she didn't refuse it.

Knuckles grabbed his coat and started to make his way to the door.

"Where are you going?" Tikal asked. Knuckles looked at her and smiled.

"I'm just going to the gym. I'll be out of your way. Have fun. Be careful with how much you drink." Tikal nodded. He gave one last look at me. He winked at me. I blushed as he did so. What the hell? He left.

"Shads, do you want some?" Sonic asked. I nodded. I don't normally drink. But just for Sonic, I pretend I do. The taste of alcohol isn't very pleasant for me, however. I took a glass and slowly began to drink the substance. It tasted slightly better than the others I had tried, but it still tasted gross. Who would want to drink this? I watched as the three began to down their drinks. Great, they love it.

I wasn't surprised that they were drunk an hour later. Tikal wasn't so much. But she was merry. Sonic, however, was all over the place. It was ridiculous. The two bottles were empty. Sonic and Tikal were scavenging the whole house for more alcohol. Sally was drunk but not as loud as the others, she spent most of the time laughing and looking through her phone. Well, trying to anyway.

"I swear he had vodka in here." Tikal said, whilst messily looking through the cupboards. She dropped pots and pans onto the floor.

"Holy shit! You scared me." Sally slurred, readjusting her lying position on the couch.

"AHA!" Tikal cheered. She pulled a bottle of vodka from the cupboard. Sonic picked her up and carried her back into the living room. They were both laughing like crazy animals.

"Hey, Shads, I got your girlfriend, what are you gonna do?" He teased. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Just put her down, Sonic. Before you…" Too late. They both collapsed to the floor with a loud bang. The vodka bottle flew across the room and smashed against the wall.

"Oh my god." I murmured to myself as I got up. Sonic and Tikal were laughing crazily as they tried to get up.

"For fuck's sake," Sally swore as she tried to go to sleep, "Keep the noise down." Sonic landed next to her on the sofa and tried to tickle under her shirt. I ignored their sexual behaviour and focused on cleaning the mess. There were bits of glass everywhere. I looked around the kitchen, trying to find a dustpan and brush.

"Tikal, can you get up and help me, please? You're the one who will get in trouble." Tikal slowly got up. She walked into the kitchen and grabbed kitchen towels to clean up the liquid.

"Knuckles won't get mad, I'm sure this has happened before."

Knuckles was mad. He ordered everyone to wait outside of the apartment as he tried to clean up the floor. Sonic and Sally sat on the floor and began to make out. Gross. I walked back into the apartment in disgust. I saw Knuckles trying to pick up every glass piece off the floor. I kneeled beside him and joined in.

"I thought I told you to wait outside." He mumbled, more focused on picking up every piece.

"I'm not drunk I can help you." He didn't say anything after that.

A few minutes later, most of the mess was cleaned up.

"I'm so sorry this happened." I apologised. He looked at me and smiled.

"It's not your fault."

"It is. I'm sober. I should have controlled the situation better."

"Please, don't worry about it. Tikal is responsible for this." I looked down the ground and noticed a few more glass parts on the ground.

"There's another piece." I informed him. I went to pick up the piece. His hand grabbed mine instead by accident. I quickly pulled away in embarrassment. Knuckles cleared his throat.

"Well, I think that's everything, thanks for the help." He said as he got up. He opened the door to find Tikal rushing in.

"Sonic's thrown up."

"You just had to do that, didn't you?" I hissed at Sonic who was lying across the back of Knuckles' car. We already dropped Sally home. Her parents weren't happy.

"Do you make a turn here?" Knuckles asked after a few minutes. I was giving him directions to Sonic's house.

"Yeah, then go straight forward."

"Shads? Where are we?" Sonic asked really slowly, like he was going to throw up again.

"We're taking you home." I told him. I looked at Knuckles. He was just looking straight ahead focusing on getting the job done. I still felt really bad about what happened.

"I'm sorry about Sonic." I could see him starting to smile.

"Do you have to apologise for everyone?"

"Yes."

"You're cute." I blushed and looked at Sonic. Did he notice that? I seriously doubt it.

We arrived at Sonic's house.

"Do you need help?" Knuckles asked as I helped Sonic out of the car.

"No, I'll be fine. Just wait here." I had to carry him all the way to front door.

"Is anyone home?" I asked Sonic.

"Why would they? They don't give a shit about me." Sonic spat. There was no way I could carry him up the stairs so I put on the sofa instead. I put a blanket over him and grabbed a bucket and a bottle of water from the kitchen.

"Right, Sonic, I have to go now. Just please sleep and don't do anything. There's a bucket for you to puke in and water to drink, ok?" Sonic nodded lazily, "See you in the morning."

I closed the front door and ran to Knuckles' car. He looked slightly uneasy about something. I'm surprised that he is actually worried about a drunk teenager.

"Ok, he'll be fine." I told him, before he asked me.

"Have you seen the area he lives in?" Knuckles said after a few minutes. What? I looked out of the car window. Shacks, boarded up shops and hooded men walking about. I've seen it millions of times so I'm used to it.

"Yeah, it's a bit rough around here. But it's not that bad once you come here often. I haven't been robbed once." I laughed. Knuckles didn't find it funny. He carefully watched a big group of young men in hoodies swearing and taking drugs.

"Aren't you worried about him?" Knuckles asked.

"Worried about what?" What's his problem? I thought he didn't like Sonic.

"That he might become like one of them?"

"He won't become like that." I was confident of that. I've known Sonic for too long. I know he wouldn't let that influence get him.

"How do you know?"

"Because he's around me." I thought about what I said and blushed for the umpteenth time this evening, "Sorry, that was a bit arrogant."

"No, no, it's a good explanation. You're a good guy. I'm sure he loves being around you."

"I love being around him."

"So that's why you love him." I frowned; he didn't need to bring that into the conversation.

"I… guess you could say that."

"Shadow, he is straight."

"Yeah, but maybe someday, he'll realise that's there is something between us." Why was I so desperate to prove a point to him? He was right. Knuckles shook his head.

"You are lying to yourself." Knuckles said. I was now the one shaking my head. I'm sure Sonic has some feelings for me. We've shared so many memories together. We have always been there for each other. How can we not have something more than friends?

"Can we just drop the conversation, please?" Knuckles shrugged and continued driving eyeing up anything suspicious in the area. As we left Sonic's area, I started to give him directions to my house. I didn't say much after that, I didn't want to. I could tell that Knuckles saw me as a child. Anything I said wasn't good enough for him. I can see what Amy means now.

We finally pulled by my house. I thanked him for the ride. As I stepped out of the car, I could feel his hand grip onto my arm. I fell back into the car.

"What…" Knuckles grabbed my face and kissed me. He pulled away. What. The. Fuck?

"I want to see you tomorrow," I frowned. What is he doing? I swear he's in his twenties! "I know where you live now, so there's no escaping." He smiled. I gave a sigh.

"Ok." I didn't know what I was saying 'ok' to. I was more surprised that he kissed me. I just had my first kiss with my fake girlfriend's older brother. I wanted more. I wanted to be embraced just as I dreamed with Sonic.

He let go of my arm.

"See you tomorrow." He whispered. I gave a slight nod and stumbled out of the car. I couldn't believe what had just happened. I watched the car speed off down the street. What have I gotten myself into?

"He kissed you!" Amy yelled in disbelief. "Why?" I shook my head.

"I really don't know. He knows I'm gay so…" She jumped off the bed and grabbed my shoulders.

"He totally wants to date you!" What? I can't date Knuckles! What about Sonic? I'd give anything to date him, even for one day. "I know what you're thinking, 'what about Sonic?' I really think you should give Knuckles a shot. It'll be good for you to explore your sexuality than being in the closet." I thought about for a minute. She was right. I knew it was. But I didn't want to. I wanted to wait for Sonic. I didn't want to explore. I liked being safe at the back of the wardrobe. I've been too used to it.

"Tell you what? This will make you do it. If you don't date Knuckles tomorrow, then I will tell Sonic that you love him." I widened my eyes at her. She wouldn't.

"If you did that, I will never forgive you!"

"It's for your own good." I moaned, covering my face in my sweaty hands.

"Fine, I'll do it." Amy dragged me into her room. She went to my wardrobe and pulled out a dozen of shirts.

"Right, what could you wear?" I looked at the open wardrobe and laughed mentally at the irony. My closet was being opened.

…

Well I hope you're liking the story so far. I'm getting hooked on writing. I'm not giving details about couples, romance or anything. It's all a surprise. It won't be awful; we could all do with a different scenery.