April 23rd, 1:30 p.m.

Sonic hadn't expected to see her there, sitting in his usual spot where he did his best thinking. Truth be told, he wasn't quite ready to face her yet. He had done a good job of avoiding her so far since March, thanks to Egghead. Part of him felt bad that he was ignoring her, but he just couldn't chance it. He hadn't figured out his feelings for the pink beauty yet and didn't want to do anything he'd regret later.

He contemplated running and going someplace else before she noticed him. She was hunched over in the long grass that tickled her legs. Her bare arms were hugging her body as she rocked back and forth. Her shoulders were shaking and he noticed tears for the first time.

Shit.

He knew she was probably crying because of him. Didn't he always end up making her cry? Why did she even love him if all he did was hurt her? Regardless of his wacked up emotions, he knew he had to make the situation better. He couldn't keep running away from it all, hurting her in the processes. It wasn't her fault he was acting like this. She didn't deserve it.

He picked some of the daisies nearby, hoping it would be enough to make her smile. Once he was ready, he ambled over towards her sitting form. If she noticed him, she paid no attention.

"Mind if I join ya?"

Amy lifted her head up, staring at him with swollen eyes. "What?" her voice sounded raspy from all the crying she had been doing.

He held out the flowers towards her, suddenly feeling awkward. "Here."

She gaped at him as if he was crazy, and then a laugh bubbled out of her mouth. "Are you serious?" He nodded, taken aback. Her laughter stopped abruptly. "What do you take me for, Sonic the Hedgehog? Do you honestly think you can waltz on over here with flowers and expect everything to be better?"

He felt as if he had been physically slapped by her words. "It's my way of apologizing."

"Well," she said in a matter-of-fact tone, "I don't accept."

"What?"

"I. Don't. Accept."

Sonic the Hedgehog was known for never giving up, and he wasn't going to start now. He dropped the flowers, sat down next her, and placed his hands behind his head. Even though she didn't accept right now didn't mean that she wouldn't in the future. He wasn't about to leave her alone in this state of misery. Besides, he liked a challenge.

"What are you doing?" Amy asked, wiping the tears off of her cheek roughly. "Did I not make it clear? I don't want you here."

"I don't believe that for a second," he said, leaning back and closing his eyes.

"And why not?"

"Because you're the type of person who wants to be comforted when upset. Besides, how can I leave you when you're crying?"

"I'm not a charity case, Sonic!"

"I never said you were." He opened ones of his emerald eyes, looking up at her. "But I'm the one who made you cry, right? If I did that, I should at least have the decency to keep you company until you feel better."

She tore her gaze away from him. "Such a sudden change for someone who ignored me for a whole month," she muttered under her breath. She paused, her tone of voice changing to a softer one. "Why did you ignore me?"

Sonic gave a small shrug in response, not wanting to talk about it just yet.

Amy persisted. "Did I do something wrong? You left so quickly that day…did I say something wrong? Did I give you the wrong impression with the chocolates? Did you feel obligated to give me the ribbon?"

He watched as she touched his gift that was holding her hair back. He couldn't believe that, even in a state of anger, she was wearing it. "Did you like it that much?" he blurted without thinking. He clamped his mouth shut as soon as the words came out, embarrassed.

Her eyes surveyed him carefully, stringing her words out slowly, "Yes, of course I do. It's beautiful."

Sonic knew sooner or later she was going to get back on track and ask him more questions. He knew that, while he was not ready to talk about it yet, he had to give her a sufficient answer. He stared at her with a serious face. "Ames, I'm not good with this kind of stuff, you know."

Amy immediately diverted her gaze, taking this moment to wipe a stray tear from her eye. Sonic wasn't having any of that. "Sonic, please—"

He cut her off, "Jeez, Ames, I didn't think I was as ugly as Egghead," he joked, trying to get her to lighten up. "I promise looking at me won't turn you to stone or anything."

A genuine laugh bubbled out of her lips. "You're a bit easier on the eyes than Eggman," she smiled at him. "Hope that doesn't inflate your already inflated ego."

He pretended to get struck in the heart and fell backwards. "Ouch!" he cried out. "That hurts!"

"Shut up, Sonic."

He grinned at her and chuckled. "But it got you to smile and laugh!"

"You're the one who made me cry in the first place," she reminded him. A soft smile graced her lips. "But thank you for trying to cheer me up and make it better."

He shrugged. "No problem. But, Ames," he paused, unsure whether or not to keep going.

She titled her head to the side in question, "Yeah?"

"I really am sorry for ignoring you," he said, trying his best to sound sincere. "I've just had a lot on my mind and need to figure some things out. You didn't do anything wrong, I promise."

"What's on your mind? Was it the kiss?"

He closed his eyes, enjoying the nice spring breeze. Her perfume caught upon the wind and tickled his nose. It was a strange mixture of vanilla and spice, one that made his head spin. He sighed, trying to enjoy the moment and ignore the question at hand. Amy seemed to notice that he was done talking for the time being, so she too sat there quietly.

"What's your favorite color?" he asked after minutes flew by.

She seemed startled by his sudden question. "Um," she paused, thinking for a moment. "Green."

He couldn't help it; he laughed.

She wrinkled her nose at him. "What's so funny, mister?"

"Nothing," he assured her, still chuckling. "It's just…I always assumed it would be, well, pink!"

"Well," she shot back, "is your favorite color blue?"

"Good point. Why green?"

Amy shrugged and a small blush crept upon her cheeks. "No reason."

The hedgehog eyed her carefully. "Come on, there has to be a reason!" Amy mumbled something softly so Sonic had to lean towards her to hear it. "What was that?"

"Your eyes," she confessed, looking right at him. "I like the color of your eyes. It reminds me of spring, which is my favorite season."

He had no idea what to say to that response. He felt something warm creep up his neck, so he turned away quickly hoping she wouldn't notice. His legs began to twitch, desperately wanting to run away from this now awkward situation. Willing them to stop, he snuck a glance at his female companion. She was still watching him intently.

What the hell was he supposed to say now?

He cleared his throat. "Me too."

"Excuse me?"

"Green…it's my favorite color too."

"All this time I thought it was red," she let out a laugh and shook her head. "All this time…"

He raised an eyebrow. "Is that why you always wear red?"

An amused smile graced her lips. "Part of the reason. The other part is because not much looks good with pink!"

He let out a low chuckle. "Very true. You could only wear green during Christmas!" Amy shoved him and he laughed even harder.

"Oh shut up, Sonic! At least I'm not the color of the ocean."

"At least I'm not pink like cotton candy!"

"Blue is a cotton candy color too!"

They bantered back and forth for a while, and all Sonic could think was how happy he was that things were back to normal. They were friends and he was finally getting to know her after all of these years.

Green…who knew?

May 19th, 6:15 p.m.

Sonic felt extremely groggy when he woke up, to say the very least. The room around him was blurry and the bright lights made him want to shut his eyes, lest he get a headache. He blinked rapidly, willing his vision to return to normal.

He heard a dim beeping in the background, though he could not place what it was. Was it an alarm clock maybe? Was he at Tails house? No, that did not make sense. Something in his gut told him that he was somewhere important, but not Tails' workshop.

Beep. Beep. Beep. The beeps synchronized to the rhythm of his steady heart beating. They almost sounded like…

Robots! He had been fighting Eggman's robots! He must have been hit hard and fell unconscious. At that revelation, he tried sitting up in bed only to tumble back down. His whole body seared in a pain he had not known before. Something near his stomach felt like it was going to rip and tear open if he tried any sort of movement. It was then that he noticed that needles were stuck in his arm with tubes leading out into machines. When he looked over his body he could see purple bruises forming under his skin. Worst of all was his head; it felt like Egghead was drilling into his skull.

There was only thing for certain; this was not where he had been fighting Eggman.

What the heck had happened? Had he lost to that oversized egg? No, that seemed absurd. He never lost to that ridiculous Robotnik. For the life of him he could not remember what had happened between fighting Eggman's robots to being in a hospital.

It was like those tubes were pumping adrenaline through his veins. Images and voices swarmed through his mind, painting a picture of a cloudy timeline. Robots. His friends. Eggman's high cackle. The low hum of an airplane engine. Shouting. Pain. Darkness.

He had to get out of here!

Slowly this time, he propped himself up in bed. The dull throbbing in his gut seared with a full on attack of pain. Looking down, he noticed stitches delicately holding the skin together. There was dry blood caked around the area. Any more sudden movement would surely rip the suture. He grunted both in discomfort and annoyance. His feet were already twitching with movement. Sonic the Hedgehog could not stay in one place for very long, let alone lay in a hospital bed for a couple of days.

Noises outside his door interrupted his impending escape. He stopped his movement, trying to make out what the voices were saying. He deduced there was more than one person talking, and from the sound of it, the voices were female. The one female voice, which was light and girly, quickly rose in a heated pitch. The other female had a deeper, more mature tone that was currently scolding the younger girl. A third voice, that of a younger boy, chipped in. From the sound of it, he was trying to calm down the younger girl.

"Can it, Tails!" the younger girl screeched. Her attention turned back to the elder lady, which Sonic assumed was the nurse taking care of him. "I don't care that it's not visiting hours. You will let me and my friend in to see Sonic."

"Amy," he heard Tails' timid voice, "please calm down. She's just doing her job."

"I don't care about what her job is. We are Sonic's friends and we have a right to see him, visiting hours or no visiting hours."

"Ms. Rose, he's recovering at the moment. I cannot allow you in to see him."

"And I cannot allow you to not let me in to see him. I have rights, you know!"

The nurse seethed, "He has rights too!"

A chuckle rose out of Sonic's mouth as he listened to their argument. There was no way that nurse was going to win. Amy was the most stubborn person he knew; she was not going down without a fight. He knew that from experience. His head hurt just thinking about all the times she had walloped him with that hammer of hers.

Without warning, the door swung open. "Look for yourself. He's sleeping peacefully."

"Um, hi," Sonic grinned with a small wave. The nurse looked as if she were going to kill him while Amy looked like she wanted to kiss him. Tails peeked around the door, smiling sheepishly.

The nurse pressed her finger tips to her temple. "Mr. Hedgehog," Sonic shuddered at the title she gave him, "you have…guests during non-visiting hours."

"Well, I wouldn't want to kick them out if they came all the way to see me," he said with some amusement.

The nurse gave him a curt nod and then let out an overly dramatic sigh, sending a pointed look at a smug Amy. "You have a couple of minutes and then we need to check him over again."

"Thank you," Tails said with a grateful smile before the nurse walked out of the room.

Amy ran over to Sonic's bed, checking him over with wide green eyes. "How are you feeling? Are you all right? I'm so glad you're okay!" her voice was breathless as she spoke. It was like she was afraid that this wasn't real, that he wasn't real.

She amazed him, really. When she wanted something or was fighting for the people she cared about, she was the most frightening being on Mobius. But when it came to someone she loved being hurt, she was tender and considerate.

"I got a killer headache," he rubbed his head and then let out a low laugh. "It's like you clobbered me in the head with your hammer." Her lower lip wobbled and Tails gave him a pointed look. "Not that you did, of course," he stammered, alarmed by her reaction to his joke. "Right?"

Amy shook her head, her pink quills sashaying around her. "No, I didn't."

"Sonic," Tails approached the bed, standing next to the pink hedgehog. "Do you remember what happened?"

The blue blur shrugged. "Does it matter? As long as Egghead got defeated that's all I care about." He did not miss the exchange of glances between his two friends. "What?"

"Well," the fox rubbed the back of his head, suddenly looking embarrassed, "we were holding his robots off pretty well, but you were taking a lot of damage."

"Go on," Sonic said, sitting back and crossing his arms.

"One of Eggman's robots got you in the stomach. You were bleeding pretty badly."

Sonic nodded in response. It would explain the stitches.

"I tried to tell you to pull back, that Knuckles and I could handle it so that Amy could fix you up in the meantime. You said that you were fine and that you could handle yourself."

Sonic gave Tails a toothy grin. That sounded like him. "And I can." He paused and then added, "But it's good to have you guys there fighting alongside me and looking out for me. What happened after that?"

"We started winning again thanks to everyone's persistence. Eggman, the coward," Tails spat in disgust, "decided to pull one of his tricks at the end of battle to try to turn the tables."

"What did he do?"

"He pulled a gun on Amy."

The cobalt hedgehog's blood boiled and he barely registered the accelerating sound of beeps on the machine. His legs jerked, his hands clenched, and the only thought that entered his mind was murdering that oversized egg for even threatening to hurt his girl.

Had he not been so livid, he would have hit his head against the wall for thinking that Amy was "his girl".

Amy placed her hand on his, eyes pleading for him to calm down. "I'm fine, Sonic, really."

"Did he hurt you?"

She flinched at the malice in his voice. "No. He didn't hurt me."

A sigh of relief escaped his lips as he ran his hand through his quills. He had never been so thankful in his life. The thought entered his mind that he wouldn't know what to if something happened to her, but he tried his best to dismiss it. He convinced himself that he would have felt the same way if it had happened to any of his other friends. Besides, she was fine and there was nothing to worry about for the moment.

"Good. What happened next?" Sonic asked.

"His robot got you while you were distracted. You got hit over the head…you kind of crumbled to the ground like one of my old ragdolls," the pink hedgehog whispered, hands now playing with the bland sheets on his hospital bed. "I had never been so scared in my life. You looked so lifeless lying there on the ground in front of me. I think even Eggman knew he had gone too far because all of the sudden his body stiffened when he saw you."

He frowned as he listened to her tell the story with a quivering voice. He couldn't help it; he grabbed her hand and stroked it with his thumb. "I'm okay, Ames. See? Can you feel my hand touching yours?"

She sucked on her lip, nodding, looking like she was on the brink of tears. "Yeah…but…."

He shook his head vigorously. "Nope, no buts missy. I'm all right so you can't be sad anymore, okay? Eggman can't keep me down for long. Anyone who can keep Sonic the Hedgehog down deserves a medal or trophy."

She let out a little hiccup giggle at this.

"And if Egghead can't keep me down for long," Sonic continued with a smirk, "neither can some stinkin' hospital."

"It was my fault though," she said with a small whimper. "I'm the reason you got hurt so badly."

Sonic reached out and wiped a stray tear off of her cheek, which was quickly replaced by another one. "I can't keep up if you keep crying like that," he said with a soft smile. The next thing he knew, he almost fell over from her hugging him and sobbing into his shoulder. He let out a small "Oof!" as she did so, wincing a bit in pain. He looked away, patting her back awkwardly. He never knew what to do in these situations.

Tails snickered silently and Sonic sent him the nastiest look he could muster, to which Tails blew silent kisses in the air. As much as he loved his little buddy, he wanted to kill him at that moment.

"So, what happened after I was knocked out?" Tails pointed to Amy in reply and Sonic let out an "Ooh" in response. He had watched Amy go psycho on Eggman's ass in the past for hurting him, he wasn't the least bit surprised that she had done it again. In fact, he was a bit proud of her for taking control and beating the crazed Robotnik. That proud feeling died down, intertwining with a small twinge of embarrassment. He had failed to protect her for the first time. What did that say about his capabilities?

The hedgehog glanced down at the girl in his arms. His lips pulled down in thought. What happened today was precisely the reason why he thought nothing could ever escalate between Amy and him. But, regardless, Eggman still used her as bait. Was it because of her feelings toward him? Did Eggman think that he had feelings toward the pink beauty as well? Did he?

He leaned his head against hers and stared at Tails. This was getting more and more complicated and he was more and more confused with each passing second. He would have to make a choice sooner or later. Was Amy Rose just a friend? Could they become something more? Did he want to be something more? Was it worth what could happen to her in the future because of him being a hero?

Unfortunately, he still didn't have the answer.

June 23rd, 7:43 p.m.

Only Sonic the Hedgehog would be early to his own surprise party.

He had been told by Amy to be at her house at precisely 7:45 p.m. because she apparently had something that she wanted to discuss with him. He had shown up at her house at around 7:40, pacing outside for a good three minutes because he was panicking about what she wanted to talk about. Did she want to discuss the drunken kiss? Did she want to discuss the battle last month for the millionth time? Did she-he gulped-want to discuss their relationship?

Honestly, he had no idea what their relationship was anymore. Tails was on his case about their hug in the hospital and how he wiped tears from her cheeks. Wouldn't that be something a boyfriend would do, perhaps? Why, no, Tails, it was something a good friend would do for another friend who was obviously upset.

At least, that's what he kept telling himself.

Finally, the fastest hero on Mobius mustered the courage to face the imminent conversation. With one gloved hand, he knocked on the door. He could hear feverish whispering behind Amy's front door. He raised an eyebrow, puzzled, wondering what other people could be doing at her house when she wanted to have a private talk with him.

"Amy?" he called after a moment, wondering why she hadn't come to let him in yet.

"Just a minute," he heard her call from the other side, giggling.

He felt all the color fade from his face as his heart dropped and then lodged itself in his throat. Why was she giggling? Why did she sound so happy? Don't tell me that I've accepted a date without even realizing it! Sonic groaned, hitting his head against the door.

"Come in," Amy called from inside, "the door is open."

Hesitantly, Sonic touched her doorknob and turned it. He was not expecting the sight before him as he opened the door. "Surprise!" all of his friends shouted as they jumped out from various hiding places.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed with a short laugh. "What's this for? It's not even my birthday."

All of his friends exchanged looks. "Sonic," Tails said with an amused smile, "it is your birthday."

The hedgehog grinned sheepishly in response, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, at least my friends can remember my own birthday. Thanks everyone. Let's get this party started!" He let out a whoop and fist pumped into the air.

After about an hour or two, Amy strolled up next to him and smiled from ear to ear. "Can I steal you for a minute? Before everyone gives you their presents?"

Sonic felt his earlier dread return. He fought the instinct to run and tried to act casual. "Sure thing, Ames."

She beamed, eyes twinkling like stars up in the night sky. "Great! Come here," she said as she grabbed his hand, leading him past all of his conversing friends and into her room. She let go of his hand to go rummaging underneath her full size bed.

He rubbed his nose, feeling more uncomfortable by the second. "You know, Ames, I don't really think now is the right time to talk like you wanted…"

The rosy hedgehog peeked up and let out a loud laugh. "Sonic, I used that as an excuse to get you to come over. I don't really need to talk to you right now."

He wore a confused expression upon his face. "Then why did you bring me in here?"

She heaved a medium sized package from under her bed and placed it in his hands. "To give you your gift, of course."

Sonic eyed the wrapped package carefully. It was decorated in green and blue wrapping paper that said "Happy Birthday!" all over in black cursive lettering. There was a big red bow on top in the corner with a small name tag that stated his name in delicate loopy handwriting. Underneath said Amy's name with a heart next to it. His palms began to moisten as he stared at the giant red heart. "Why couldn't you give it to me in front of everyone else when they give their gifts in a couple of minutes?" He was sure he already knew her answer.

He watched as splotches of dark pink spread from her neck to her cheeks. "I wanted to give it to you in private."

If Sonic hadn't wanted to run before he sure did now. He hopped from one foot to the other, hoping that it would be enough to satisfy the itch. "Should I open it?" It was a dumb question, he knew, but he was stalling. She rolled her eyes and nodded in response. He ripped the wrapping paper off swiftly, wanting to get it over with as fast as he could. When the paper was completely off, he stopped in his tracks.

"What is this?" he asked in disbelief, staring at the book in front of him labeled "Memories".

Shyly, she ambled up next to him and placed her hand on the cover. "It's a scrapbook I made for you. So even if you travel around the world, you still have something to remember us by."

"I don't need photos to remember you guys, though."

He immediately wished he could have taken back those words as he watched the excitement drain out of her face. Her shoulders drooped, her smile faded, and her lips were parted. "Oh," she said, voice broken, "I guess I picked the wrong gift to give you then."

"No, Ames, I didn't mean it that way," he said, trying to reassure her. "I love it. I really do."

"Don't you dare lie to me, Sonic the Hedgehog," she said with narrowed eyes. "Last time I checked, if someone gave you a gift you should be thankful for it."

"And I am thankful, Ames."

"I worked really hard on it," she continued on like he hadn't said anything, pacing around her room. He tried to reach out for her, but she batted his hand away, stopping to stare at him with incredulous eyes. "And you have the nerve to tell me you don't need what I worked hard on." Then, she shook her head. "Stupid! I'm so stupid! You normally don't even carry anything when you run or travel anyway. What was I thinking? This is a stupid gift."

This had to be one of the few times that Sonic was truly speechless. He had never seen Amy like this before and he knew it was his fault. Something told him that it wasn't just his reaction to the gift that caused this response. He knew that he had to figure out what was bothering her, fix it, and fast. With his unoccupied hand, he grabbed her shoulder. She stopped pacing, staring up at him with liquid green eyes.

"Show it to me," he said in the softest voice he could muster. "I want to see what you worked so hard on."

"But—"

"Please, Ames."

The rose colored hedgehog sucked in a deep breath before sitting down on her burgundy sheets. Sonic took a seat next to her, sinking lightly into the mattress and bumping shoulders with her by accident. He placed the scrapbook so that part of it rested on his right leg and the rest on her left leg.

"Show me," he repeated.

Amy nodded as the corners of her lips lifted in a smile. She lifted the soft green cover, which reminded him of the color of shadowed leaves. The first page had a big Happy Birthday in the middle of the page, written in Amy's neat loopy handwriting. All around, like a spider web, were little messages written from all of his friends, wishing Sonic a happy twentieth birthday. The hedgehog stole a quick glance at Amy, who was looking at him apprehensively.

"I got everyone to sign it before you came," she explained, fingering the corner of the paper.

"Thanks, Ames," he said, bumping her shoulder lightly. "I mean it."

Her cheeks colored a bit, but she was beaming again as she flipped to the next page. There were pictures scattered about, from when they were little ranging to their older selves. There was a picture of Tails with wide rimmed glasses when he was around five years old, hiding behind his two tails. There was one of Amy after she had first joined Sonic's group, hugging him tightly. Her hair was spiked up, like his, and she wore her green and orange attire. You could tell from the look on his face he was unsure of what to do in her embrace and was entirely uncomfortable.

Nothing had changed, really, he mused to himself.

Knuckles, a couple of pages in, had joined the group. He was sitting cross legged in front of the Master Emerald shrine, wearing something in between a fedora and a cowboy hat. The next picture of him he had ditched the hat, wearing a scowl as Sonic wrapped his arm around his neck, grinning. There was another with an older looking Tails, without the glasses, working on the Tornado. Sonic laughed as he saw a picture of Rouge kissing Knuckles' cheek and Knuckles looking flabbergasted. Shadow was in there with his arms crossed, a permanent glare etched on his face as Amy hugged him, smiling cheerfully. Lastly, there was an entire group picture taken on New Year's before the ball dropped, before his troubles with Amy began. Next to the group picture, though, was one of both him and Amy. Sonic had his arm wrapped around her, grinning. Amy was giggling, both arms around him. Happiness touched her eyes.

Sonic touched the image and then stared at Amy. "I forgot about this picture."

"Tails took it," she said absentmindedly, "on the last day of summer last year, right before my birthday."

He nodded in reply, taking the scrapbook and placing it next to him on her bed. "Thank you."

Warmth touched his arm as her body leaned into his, bright green eyes staring up at him. "You like it?"

"Yeah. I do."

She smiled lightly. "I'm glad." It came out as a small whisper, her breath tickling his chin.

The blue blur stood up quickly, aware of how close her face was to his. His heart hammered in his chest; he could hear it pounding in his ears. "We should, um, get back to the party before the others think something's up."

Amy stood up sluggishly, like she didn't want the moment to end, smoothing down her dress with her hands. "What if something was up?" she asked after a moment. "Then what would you do?"

"Amy," he said, trying to hold back a groan. His fingers touched his temples as he exhaled. He knew this conversation would come sooner or later. "Look, you're a good friend and—"

"Oh," she said and shook her head, a frown tugging at her lips. He hated it when she frowned. He preferred it when she smiled, because it brightened everything around her. "Look, Sonic, I get it. You don't have to say anymore. We're just friends."

His heart sank as his lips turned down. "Ames…"

She shook her head and let out an empty laugh. "It's okay, Sonic. You don't have to walk on eggshells. I know we're just friends. I know the kiss at New Year's didn't mean anything." He was dimly aware of her lower lip quivering. He knew she was holding back tears.

Dammit, why did he always end up making her cry?

"Ames," he took a step toward her, but she evaded, making a beeline for the door. "Ames, please wait."

But she didn't, and for once, Sonic was the one left behind.

Hey guys! :) Hope you enjoyed the next chapter of Changing Seasons! I hope the length made up for the long wait for an update. Big thanks again for 01sonamy01 for editing the chapter for me. You rock!

Please leave a review about what you liked or what could be improved upon...until next time!