"Can I say something?" Tails asked, stifling a yawn as they were stuck waiting for the train after just missing the last one. Sonic was tapping his foot impatiently on the wood floor when he looked over at the fox, motioning for him to go ahead with what he wanted to say. "I like the darker blue you've got going on," smiled the fox.

As though he hadn't noticed until he mentioned it, Sonic looked down at his darker self and chuckled, "Hah, yeah, I guess I am a bit darker now. I suppose that's just me... getting older, I guess." Inwardly, he felt a little foolish for saying 'I guess' two times in one sentence. Ripping his mind off of beating himself up for a moment, the blue blur replied, "That brown shade isn't treating you so bad either, l'il bro." The brown fox's cheeks turned a tad red, which was just too cute. "Geesh, you're so big now but you still act the same..." Sonic laughed, hanging his head low and closing his eyes as he enjoyed the feeling of belonging he felt around him.

Unsure of how to feel about that last comment, Tails asked, "That's not bad, right?"

He blinked his eyes open. "Oh," Sonic reacted, "I—yeah, no, it's the opposite of bad!" Reaching for the fox's shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze, he assured his twin-tailed date, "You're okay, Tails. Heck, you're doing a lot better now than I was when I was eighteen."

Tails nodded, his smile returned. When he looked back at the empty train tracks, an idea came to him – one he introduced to Sonic promptly, suggesting, "Y'know, I bet you could run all the way over to Station Square faster than the train will get here."

"Funny you should mention that, Tails," Sonic grinned, shaking his head, "I kinda did on the way here, but it totally wiped me out." The fox looked at him in disbelief, mouth agape, but the hedgehog insisted, "No, really! I'm not in the shape I used to be in... the train will get here sooner than it'll take me to feel up to pulling a stunt like that again..." There was a playfulness to the conversation, but internally the hedgehog was growing uneasy with the frequency of which he was reiterating his oldness.

It was not lost on the fox, who could see him tense up each time he caught himself bringing it up again. "We've got our whole lives ahead of us, Sonic – don't waste one minute of it on worrying about how old you're getting," Tails told his distraught date, who was a little surprised to hear it coming from him, but not too much. Tails was always a smart guy, Sonic thought, he saw much of the world through a lens of logic that served him well in keeping perspective on worries such as those the hedgehog was having.

At last, the train arrived. "Finally," Sonic sighed, as the automated doors opened before them. They began to make their way into the train, only to find a pair of old friends exiting the way they were entering. "Amy? Knuckles?" Sonic said, confusedly.

"Amy! Knuckles!" Tails beamed, tackling them with a big, joyous hug that neither one was prepared for. "It's been forever! I missed you both so much!" The twin-tailed tinkerer exclaimed, looking back and forth at the both of them with an excited look. "Thanks so much for coming by – what brings you here?" He asked.

Neither one was unhappy to see their old friend, but Amy was the first to speak, saying, "Oh Tails, it's just good to see you again... We're really sorry it's been so long, but we're here now and that's what matters, right?" She looked expectantly at the hedgehog, awaiting his affirmation, only to see he was still keeping his distance.

Looking at the two receiving an excited hug from the fox, Sonic shook his head, "Yeah," he said, "thanks for coming over." This seemed to be convincing enough for the pink hedgehog, but, in truth, he was only approving of their being there because he didn't wanna get in the way of Tails having the whole 'family' back together. "We were actually gonna head out to Station Square. I know it's a drag, just coming from there, but Tails and I've got a date to have so..." Sonic casually mentioned, causing the two's jaws to drop.

It was quiet, leaving plenty of time for both Sonic and Tails to realize perhaps the blue fool may have said too much this time and that they may be in for an earful, now. Tails uneasily released the two from their big hug and looked down, bracing himself for the worst. Instead, Knuckles exasperatedly asked, "Who're the girls?" He was promptly elbowed by the pink hedgehog, who knew full well what Sonic meant.

Rolling her green eyes at the echidna, she explained, "He meant that they're going on a date with each other." She then looked back at the two and offered a smile that looked a little hollow to the hedgehog, saying, "Don't let us stop you two, we can ride back with the both of you – we're here to hang out after all, isn't that right, Knuckles?"

They all looked at the echidna, waiting for his response. "... I'm still a little confused – so how can you go on a date with each other without two other girls to go with you? Isn't that just hanging out time?" The other three all groaned at the red guardian's apparent inability to understand, but he added, "Kidding, kidding. I gotcha. It's just I really do need to head back to the Master Emerald. I don't want it getting broken... again... 'cause then I'd have to find all the little pieces and have to put it all back together... again..."

"Okay, Knuckles, see ya later!" Tails waved, joined by the rest as they all waved goodbye to the echidna for the day. "So..." the fox shyly started, turning once again towards Rosy and looking down to her eyes, "it's really not a big deal that me and Sonic are going on a date? I figured it would be, since you were always trying to get Sonic to..." his voice trailed off, but he hoped she got the gist of what he was saying.

Looking up into the fox's blue eyes, Amy smiled that hollow smile from before once more, assuring the fox, "Of course it's not—I'm not Sonic's mom, he can do what he wants. C'mon, now, I'll ride with you to the square and then I'll let you both have your date." She then headed into the train she had left moments ago, leaving the two to look at one another, shrug their shoulders, and follow along.

When the 'trio' took their seats, Tails was to Sonic's left, and Amy to his right. He let out a very tense exhale and began to tap his feet anxiously, waiting for it to all go wrong. It was then that Tails took the hedgehog's left hand and held it firmly. The idea was to give him something to squeeze in stress, but much of the hedgehog's stress seemed to vanish the moment he felt the fox's gloved hand in his already, so it was a gentle hold. "Can't get anything past you, huh, bud," Sonic said to the fox, smirking and rubbing the back of the fox's hand with his thumb.

"Hey," Amy said, suddenly, "Sonic, can we talk?"

He faced the pink hedgehog that had pined for him for years, gritting his teeth as little as he could manage. "I don't see why not," he replied a little disingenuously. "I'll be back before you know it, l'il bro," Sonic assured the twin-tailed tech-whiz before standing up and heading over to a private part of the train with the hedgehog in the pink dress and pants. Tearing his gaze off from the ground and looking at Amy, Sonic cautiously asked, "So what's up?"

Taking a deep breath before starting, Amy began, "I know you think I'm gonna explode at you right now, I know I disappointed you with how we treated Tails, but... honestly, Sonic, I'm so happy for you." This surprised Sonic, to put it incredibly lightly – further cementing his previous conclusion that the pink hedgehog had indeed matured very much since he last met her. "... I'd just like to know something... why him and not me? And why so soon when you just met him again after being away from him—all of us—for years?" She asked – a little closer to the question he was expecting to hear from her initially, though her previous statement helped make it less scary.

Not in any hurry, Sonic took time with his answer. "To tell you the truth... there wasn't really a conscious reason behind it... my feelings kinda snuck up on me, here," Sonic started, confusingly enough, "He told me how he felt and it was like... it unlocked something in me... Now, I'm not big on thinking, so I don't have a concrete answer for it, but my best guess would be... Tails is the only person I could ever feel like this about. There's not anyone I know better than him, and it was him and not you because of that. I got to know him, we got to be friends... and I guess it doesn't hurt he's also such a lovable guy, haha," he chuckled at the end of his attempt at an explanation, before catching himself and deciding perhaps it wasn't the best time for laughs. Instead, apologizing, "... I'm really sorry, I probably don't have the solid answer you were looking fo—"

"No!" Amy blurted out a little loudly, causing Sonic to jump a little. "I-I mean... that was a good answer, I get it now," she clarified, calming the hedgehog down a little. "I guess there's only one thing left to do, now," she said, before reaching to behind herself, getting a wrinkled piece of paper and handing it to the hedgehog. "Take it, please... It's our perfect date I had planned... wh-when I was little, I mean." The blue hedgehog's eyes widened, but she insisted, "You can have it, I don't need it. You can even use it for your date with Tails... that'd make me really h-happy."

Sonic could hear her stammer, but when he looked at her she looked... relieved. Perhaps the two of them needed closure of some sort and this was it. Smiling and letting go of the years of being chased, Sonic said, "Thanks, Amy... that's a real friendly thing of you to do." It felt like they were finally getting to be friends.

With that behind the two, they returned to Tails and sat down. Tails leaned his head close to the hedgehog's head, eyes closed, and wrapped the hedgehog in his tails. Chuckling softly, the hedgehog leaned his own head against the fox's and closed his eyes.

They were in a crowded train bursting at the seams with conversation and activity, but they may as well have been the only ones there. No one could disturb them, nothing could get between them – everything was out of the way of their feelings and they could just enjoy each other's company. The rest of the ride to Station Square seemed to fly by like the greatest song anyone ever heard. When they arrived, Tails unwrapped the hedgehog and stood up. "See you later, Amy," Tails smiled brightly before taking Sonic's hand and pulling him up out of his seat. "Now c'mon, sleepyhead, you still have to prove you really love me," he told the hedgehog with a knowing look.

Jokingly, Sonic replied, "Five more minutes, mom, geesh," before getting up and walking out of the train with him. It was nighttime, but the sapphire speedster felt more awake and ready to make the most of the rest of the day than he had in years. "Okay, let's see, what's next on the gay agenda..." Sonic said without thinking, eliciting an unexpected burst of laughter from the fox.

Tails laughed, "Gay agenda?! Where'd you hear that one from? It sounds like something one of those ridiculous right-wing news channels like Jerx News would come up with!" He looked to the blue boy to see he was mistaken and that Sonic was in fact referring to something more serious, but the hedgehog's expression told him otherwise. "Oh my god, you don't... Do you...?"

Frantically, the speedy spindasher searched for the right word, half-seriously defending himself, "Look—listen—I mean, there's not a lot in the world that makes me feel smart, okay? Can't I have this one thing?" This only fed the fox's infectious giggles, which, in turn, made the hedgehog chuckle along with him. "So as I was saying, what's on the gay agenda is... well, gosh, I'm hungry. Wanna head over to Burger Shop – the restaurant with quite possibly the most on the nose name in the city that has a bookstore called Station Square Books?" Sonic proposed, getting another giggle from the fox.

"Sounds like a good date to me," Tails decided, as they exited Station Square Central Station and made their way to the Burger Shop. The walk started out uneventful, but that changed when they passed by the newstand. She seemed to give the fox a funny look, which made the fox uneasy, so they left as soon as they could—assuming that would be the end of it.

They were mistaken.

More and more, heads were turning and eyes were widening. Much as his legs plead for him not to, Sonic began to hurry to the burger shop, wishing to get the fox away from what felt like very judgmental and insensitive attention. Looking at Tails, he looked very distressed, so Sonic assured, "It'll be okay, Tails, we'll get to the Burger Shop and we won't have to worry about this."

"I hope you're right, Sonic..." Tails sighed, "It's been awhile since I've had to put up with this... maybe this was a bad idea after all..." the fox wondered, causing the hedgehog's heart to sink—though he couldn't blame his twin-tailed partner. He couldn't possibly imagine what it must be like to live life while viewed as some sort of freak to everyone else.

As long as it felt, they shortly arrived at the Burger Shop. It was a slow day as was to be expected at the shop, not many people were around and those that were there were too tired to notice the two arriving. The cashier looked half-asleep, but he would do. "Y'know what you want, bud?" Sonic asked.

Looking over the poorly-lit menu, Tails pondered over his decision very carefully, before deciding, "I think... I'll have a cheeseburger. With fries and a soda..." then hastily adding, "I-I mean, if that's not too much to pay for."

"Chill, bro – I'm not sparing a single expense on our first date in this tiny burger joint," Sonic replied, which eased the fox's worries whilst tickling his 'funny bone.' He then walked over to the cashier, ordering, "I'll have a hamburger, fries, soda, and gimme that but with a cheeseburger instead of just a hamburger for the li—" Sonic caught himself about to call the fox 'little,' chuckled, and continued, "... a cheeseburger for the big guy over there, please." He doubted the cashier noticed, but he hoped the guy was conscious enough to catch their order.

Vaguely, the cashier nodded, so the hedgehog seated himself on the opposing seat at the table for two that Tails had picked. "Nice table, huh?" The fox asked the hedgehog, who nodded. The wait wasn't unreasonable, but that did not stop the hedgehog from tapping his foot enough to make the sound of his tapping resemble more of a constant single note being 'played' by his foot on the floor. During an especially quiet moment, Tails apologized, "I'm um... sorry for all the attention we were getting earlier, 'cause of me..."

Sighing, Sonic looked at the apologetic fox sorrowfully, saying, "Please, don't be... they should just be able to get over that, it doesn't take a super genius to realize how othering that can be." He put his arm on Tails's shoulder. "It's not your fault," he stated, firmly, eliciting a nod from the unconvinced fox.

Finally the time had come for their order to finish. "Come over, blue dude," the cashier said. Sonic complied, walking up to the cashier who was looking over the receipt one last time. "We have a hamburger with fries and a soda, and... a cheeseburger with fries and a soda, for the big guy ov—" the cashier then happened to look over where the hedgehog had been sitting and spotted the fox. "... O-oh my god. Dude, I can't make you pay for this," he stammered.

"As if tonight couldn't go any worse," Sonic thought to himself, before asking, "Now why is that, er..." he paused to read the cashier's bordering-on-illegible name-tag, "... I'm gonna say 'Steve?'"

The cashier reacted as though the hedgehog had just sprouted antlers. "Are you kidding me? Isn't it obvious?" He asked. Sonic had a guess as to why, but the cashier instead explained, "That's Tails Prower! The hero of Station Square!" To say the two's eyes widened upon hearing Steve's answer would be an understatement—if this was a zany cartoon show, their eyes would've bulged out from their sockets in shock. "Any order he makes at Burger Shop is... i-is on the house!" Steve declared.

With that, the hedgehog took the tray with their food. "Okay, dude... Thanks... I mean, really, thanks, dude!" Sonic smiled, before carefully speeding their food over to the fox, flashing a big grin at the fox before unwrapping his hamburger. "How about that? They remembered you!" He exclaimed.

Amidst tears, Tails smiled along. "Uh-huh," he said, "D-do you think everyone else outside was doing it because of that too?" He inquired, eliciting very eager nods from the hedgehog, "Oh gosh..." the fox sobbed with joy, "Th-they like me... they really do..."

It seemed to the hedgehog that things were getting a little better, after all, as time went on. As they polished off their burgers, Sonic thought on how much of a far cry it was from the way they treated the fox all those years ago – now they truly saw what a great fox he was, how remarkable and wonderful he was. Tails was being appreciated, just like he should be. "So he doesn't really need me, does he..." the thought came to Sonic. It felt awful, but it was on his mind. After all, with a whole city that adored him, what use would he have with some bum hedgehog like him.

"Hey, Sonic," Tails said, grabbing the hedgehog's attention by grabbing hold of his hands and looking him in the eyes, "I'm so glad you were here with me when this happened. Out of all the people I've ever known that I could've had this moment with, I'm glad it got to be my best friend..." The fox's tearful smile melted the hedgehog's wary heart, and his words were so sweet and soothing he felt a peace he had never known before. "Thank you, Sonic, for the perfect night."

Gently, he loosened the fox's hold on his hands and wiped the tears from his date's eyes. "C'mon, bud, you're the one who made it perfect..." Sonic replied, though the fox's words did move him. Maybe he was wrong, he thought; maybe he was worth being around, without any 'too-cool' persona; maybe he could stay. Perhaps, he could stay for awhile—forever? Sonic was getting ambitious, it must have been the star light. "You're welcome, I guess, haha..." he smiled, as he leaned over and sipped his soda with his straw, outstretching his lips goofily. This wasn't an act, or a facade, it was just Sonic being Sonic.

Before long, they finished up their fast food and got up from their seats and left the building, where they were greeted with rapturous applause. "We love you, Tails!" One little girl shouted out. "You're the man, man!" Another shouted, from further back in the crowd that had developed outside the Burger Shop. All this love, all this attention, all for Tails Prower – hero of Station Square. Sonic got his arm around the fox's side and pulled him in for a side hug before leading him down the sidewalk as the crowd parted ways just for him.

"Let's get going, hero," Sonic smiled as he led the fox away to somewhere more private, the both of them waving away at the crowd. Usually he was the one who would attract the big crowds, but, Sonic reminded himself, that was a long time ago. It was a nice change of pace to have someone else have the spotlight, the credit, the gratitude.

When they were alone again, Tails looked very excited. "Well, I've had my fun, haha..." he said, "I think it's about time I stopped drawing this out..." He leaned in close and pressed his forehead against the hedgehog's, bunching his hair up cutely, but when his lips were meant to meet Sonic's... the blue hedgehog turned his head, causing it to be a mere kiss on the cheek. "Mmah—huh?" Tails smooched, "Why'd you do that?"

Taking a step back to get some more air and space, the hedgehog collected his thoughts, then replied, "There's just one more thing I wanna do... to prove I really mean what I said." Sonic then began to walk further along the sidewalk, motioning for the fox to come along.

As Tails complied and followed him along, he asked, "Like what?" When the hedgehog didn't immediately respond, he sighed, "Sonic... this wasn't supposed to be that serious, I trust you now. Really, I do." Still the hedgehog went on, intriguing the fox as they entered into the hotel. "I really don't get it – usually you're all talk and you'd gladly talk my ears off about what you're doing."

"I'd like a—hey," Sonic interjected himself, turning away from the person at the front and facing the 'mouthy' fox, "... okay, maybe you're right, but I'm about to do a cool thing," he said, before turning back to the hotel employee. "A room, please," he finished his sentence, signalling for the employee to get busy arranging it for him. "Okay, that was the cool thing," he stated as he turned back to the fox.

While it wasn't immediate, Tails did manage to piece together most of what he was doing, guessing, "You're gonna be staying for a little while longer, at the hotel?" This alone would have been enough for the fox, who added, "It means so much that you're gonna stay even for a little bit longer than you meant to... earning just that much makes me feel like a Super Tails, or something, haha..."

He could hear the fox's words, but the hedgehog could not believe them. "Wait," he started, "you thought that was why I left? Because... because you didn't deserve to have me around?" He looked into the fox's eyes that appeared to have become windows of Tails's feelings of inadequacy. "Oh... oh Tails, I'm... a big jerk..." Sonic realized, before pulling the fox into the tightest and most loving embrace he had ever given. "Tails," he started, "I'm the one who didn't deserve you. I didn't leave because you sucked, I left because I thought I sucked—but then that's what made me suck, so... so I've decided... I'm done hiding. I'm staying at this hotel for now so I can have time to move my stuff over to your place so I can stay for good... with you... That's what I'm doing, and that's my proof that I mean it when I say I love you." He could feel the fox's hands shake as he held the hedgehog there in that embrace like his life depended on it. "I'm staying. I'm here. I'm staying."

"Okay, Sonic... Okay, Sonic..." Tails sobbed. He closed his eyes and, for the first time since he saw the hedgehog on the ground in front of him earlier that same day, let himself believe it was happening.


Four Days Later

"One, two, three, go—Hey, fast pals!" Sonic exclaimed to the camera, "It's me, Number1FastBoy here with a May update video. I know lots of you have been wondering where I've been lately. The truth is—real-talk—I needed to do some things that I had been putting off for a long time, and..." he paused, his plastic 'attitude' faltering before a real smile came upon his face, "... that's what I'm doing here."

The video-blogging hedgehog, in the middle of moving places and settling into a happier life with his new twin-tailed boyfriend, went on to thank his viewers and fans. He knew he would be letting some of them down, but it was the right thing to do, he knew. "I'm glad I had this opportunity to entertain all of you. This is Number1FastBoy signing out," he said, before reaching over to his camera to stop the recording.

As he hit the record button, the clear, beautiful sound of a knock on his door came to his pointy ears. "Sonic, are you in there?" He could hear the fox ask from the other side of the door.

Swiftly, Sonic sped to the door just as he had numerous times before—only this time, when he opened the door, there was someone there. "Hey, my guy, come on in - I was just finishing up," Sonic said, warmly.

"Got it," Tails replied, as he entered into the once-lonesome house Sonic begrudgingly referred to as home for so many years. Looking around the area, he commented, whilst absently twirling his tails, "So this is it, huh? Not too bad, but I can see why you're moving on..."

He had turned his back to the fox, putting the camera and his laptop into his 'luggage' before shutting it tight. "Okay, all set for the Tornado Express, captain." Sonic smirked, then turned back to the fox and wrapped his arms around his waist. "Exciting times, am I right?" Sonic asked.

A knowing smils was on the fox's face as he answered, "You bet," then leaning in and giving the hedgehog maybe the twelfth kiss they had shared together in the days since they had reunited. There wasn't any hurry to leave, so Tails took the time to enjoy the kiss, using some tongue in it—which was greatly appreciated, if Sonic's approving moans were any indication. Pulling out for air, Tails inquired, "Do you know how long I've been wanting this?"

Sonic shrugged, sporting a big grin, "Eh, I think I've got a pretty good guess."

Tails grinned back, "What do you think?"

"Ages."

The End