Well here's chapter 2. Charmy misses Espio. Aww...

The next morning, the blue hedgehog known as Sonic came to Chaotix HQ. He was running an errand for his good friend Tails. When Sonic went to knock on the door, he was surprised that it was slightly open. He then peeked his head inside.

"Uh… Hello…? Can I come in?"

The blue hedgehog did not get a response. He stepped inside and called out the residents' names.

"Charmy? Espio? Vector? You here?"

Sonic then heard snoring coming from Vector's office. He peered inside to see the crocodile sound asleep on his desk. Sonic approached quietly and tapped Vector's arm. In reaction, he jumped up from his seat.

"Who wha… Who's there!?" he said in a daze.

"It's me, Sonic."

"What are you doin here?"

"Tails said he talked to you about this. That you were supposed to investigate Eggman's plan for a new robot? I'm picking up the plans for him."

"Oh… Oh! Right! Sorry bout' that. Here… um… now where did I put them?"

Vector began shuffling through all the paper work on his desk. He eventually found them and handed them to Sonic.

"There ya go!"

"Uhh… thanks…" he said in mild disgust. One corner of the plans was covered in Vector's drool. Sonic then noticed the dark circles under Vector's eyes. "Geez Vec… You look terrible. Didn't you sleep last night?"

"Not really… And neither did Charmy. He's takin a nap upstairs."

"And what about Espio?"

"I wouldn't know… He quit the team last night. That's kinda why we're not well rested."

"Quit? Why?"

"It's a very long story… Hey Sonic, you and Shadow are still… an item, right…?"

"Um… Yeah… Why do you ask?"

"Do you feel that you are not spending a lot of time with your friends anymore?"

"Well I do admit I don't spend as much time with them I used to, but I still make time for them. In fact, Shadow insists upon it and reminds me about it. He doesn't want me to lose my friends over him."

"I see… He's a good guy then."

"Is Espio dating someone?"

"Yeah… A real tool named Dameon."

"A guy? Never thought Espio played for my team."

"Yeah… It's kinda recent though. Anyway this guy is bad news. He's completely warping Espio's mind. And on top of that, he's abusive towards him.

"How awful…"

"I told him to leave him but he wouldn't listen to me. So I said I didn't want Dameon around here for Charmy's sake. He saw this as disrespect towards Dameon so he quit."

"I guess you just have to let him make his own decisions."

"I know. That's what I was trying to explain to Charmy. Poor kid… He's takin this so hard…"

"How are you taking it? He was your best friend after all."

"Not so well either… I can't believe that so many years of friendship could be destroyed by a guy Espio barely knows…"

"I don't think your friendship is destroyed. Deep down I know that Espio must still care about you and Charmy as you do him. People sometimes make irrational decisions when they are in love."

"Yeah, I guess you are right."

"Well… I better get going. Tails needs to go over the plans and find the weak points on this bot so I can smash it. I hope things get better for you."

"Thanks. See ya later."

"Oh, one more thing Vector."

"Yes?"

"Be sure to be there for Espio. By how you described this guy, it sounds like Espio will eventually crash and burn. He's gonna need someone to catch him, or else… you might lose him forever."

"Yeah… I'll be sure to remember that."

With that, the blue blur took his leave. Vector then began to think about what Sonic had just told him.

"I really hope it doesn't get that bad though… I don't want to see Espio hurt…"

Both Espio and Dameon had slept in until about 3:00 in the afternoon. Espio woke up to see Dameon wrapped around his body. He smiled a small smile and then kissed Dameon on the nose.

"Morning sweetie… " Espio's eye then caught the time on the alarm clock. "Or should I say afternoon… Goodness, it's late."

Espio got up and put on his shoes and gloves. Dameon squirmed around in bed for a moment trying to find Espio. He let out a yawn and said…

"Hey Esp, come back to bed. I was so peaceful here with you."

"Dameon, it's 3:01. We should probably get up now. "

"Yeah… I suppose you're right." He then stretched a bit and noticed Espio wiping his injured eye with a tissue. "Your eye feelin any better?"

"Yeah. A little. Just tears a lot."

"Aww baby, I'm so sorry for doing that to ya. How can I make it up?"

"It's fine. Don't worry about."

"You sure?"

"Yes, yes. Now, how does a mid afternoon breakfast sound?"

"Sounds delicious."

"Good. Well, I better get started. Love ya."

"Right back at cha."

"I knew Vector was wrong about him." Espio thought. "He has his flaws, but he's a real great guy. Last night was just an accident. That's all. I'm going to help get his life back on track."

Back at Chaotix HQ, Vector was doing his best to keep focused on his work. But the thought of Espio now being in the hands of that "scumbag" kept running through his mind. To make things worse, the bills for the office came that day. Vector hated bills with a passion.

"Dammit!" he shouted as he made a mistake while writing a check. He voided it and grabbed a new one.

The bills came out higher this month than it did the last. That always seemed to be the case. It was going to be even harder to make ends meet without the aid of Espio.

After the bills were taken care of, Vector slouched in his chair. When he did his leg hit the underside of the desk causing a drawer to open. Vector's eye then caught the small flask he kept in there. He wasn't a heavy drinker but he'd like to have one every now and then when he was stressed. And right now, he was stressed more than ever.

"Ehh… a sip wouldn't hurt…" Vector managed to down the entire thing. It did help him mellow out a bit.

He was about to take another five minute when he heard the sound of Charmy's buzzing wings. That usually meant that Charmy was about to come fly in his office and start asking what he was doing and start touching his things. But this time, he somberly flew right past Vector's office. Normally, Vector would find this a blessing. But knowing what situation they were in at the moment, he decided to check on him.

Vector walked to the living room to see Charmy sitting upside down on the couch.

"What'cha doin there Charm?"

"Nothing…"

"Have a nice nap?"

"Nope."

"Anything I can get you?"

"Nah-uh."

Vector sat on the couch next to Charmy.

"Come on, Charmy. Let's talk."

"I don't feel like talking…"

This coming from the kid who never shuts up.

"I know you are worried about Espio. I think we should talk about it."

"But I don't know what to talk about…"

"Well… How bout' what you're feeling right now?"

Charmy then turned right-side-up.

"Sad… How could Espio leave?"

"It's love, I guess… If that's what you call 'love'".

"Do you think he'll come back?"

"I'm not sure right now. I hope he does."

"I wish I got to say good-bye… But he just looked so mad. I was afraid to."

"There's nothing to be afraid of. Espio loves you."

"…"

"Would you feel better if you got to talk to him?"

"Hmm…?"

"Well… I guess I could maybe a… dial Dameon's number for ya."

"You would?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Alright!"

Vector smiled as he watched Charmy happily fly around the room. It was good to see him act like himself again.

"Are you going to talk to him?"

"I don't think that'd be a good idea right now. Best you talk to him. He'll probably just hang up on me."

Back at Dameon's house, Espio was busy cooking pancakes for the two of them. Pancakes had always been Espio's specialty. He used to make them for Charmy and Vector all the time. All of a sudden, the phone started ringing. But Espio had to watch the pancakes to make sure they wouldn't burn.

"Dameon, could you get that please?"

"Yeah, sure."

Dameon went to the other room where the phone was. The radio was on in the kitchen so Espio couldn't hear who was on the phone.

"Yeah, who's there?" Dameon said after picking up the phone.

"Um… Hi. Is Espio there?" said a child's voice on the other end.

"Who wants ta know?"

"It's me… Charmy."

"Oh! The Charm-miester! Didn't recognize you over the phone. How've you been?"

"Um… Okay… So… Can I talk to Espio?"

"Uh… You know what? He just left the house like 5 minutes ago. Ya missed him."

"Oh… Okay… Well, can you tell him I called?"

"Sure kid, sure. Kay bye."

Before Charmy got to say good-bye to Dameon, he had already hung up the phone. He then hung up his end of the phone with a sad look on his face. He left the office and met Vector outside.

"Well?"

"He wasn't there… Dameon said he went out."

"So you talked to Dameon, huh?" Vector said with an uneasy tone his voice. "Well, don't worry about it. I'm sure he'll call you back."

"Yeah…"

"Hey cheer up! Whaddya say we go get some ice cream?"

"… Can I get the honey flavor?"

"Sure you can."

"Oh boy!"

The crocodile and the bee then headed to the ice cream parlor down the street.

Meanwhile…

"Who was it Dameon?" Espio asked.

"Oh… Um… Just some bill collector."

"Oh. Well, the hotcakes are almost done."

"Great! I'm starving."

Yeah... Sorry this chapter was kinda lame XD. It'll be better next time.