Knuckles' eyes go wide and he looks at Tails like he desperately wants him to yell 'Just kidding!' so we can change the subject. Tails does no such thing. Knuckles looks at me with this distressed expression on his face and I have to laugh at how flustered he is right now.
"W-what kind of question is that?" he stammers. Tails keeps staring at him, waiting for a proper answer.
"Relax, Knux. If you get any more worked up your cheeks will be as red as your fur," I say. He frowns as he looks back at me and gets up from the couch once again.
"That's not what this is about, Tails!" he says, throwing his arms in the air and then throwing them back down in frustration.
Tails is unfazed, looking at Knuckles through half-lidded eyes. "You don't have to get bent out of shape about it, Knuckles. If you like Sonic you can just say so, it's not like anyone will have a problem with it-aside from Shadow, obviously," he says. Knuckles' eyes look like they're about to pop out of his skull and roll onto Tails' carpet.
"He's right, Knuckles. Just be honest with yourself. Everyone knows how irresistible I am, they'll totally understand if you're in love with me or something," I tease because I am loving Knuckles' facial expression right now. This is just too good.
"What are you two on about? Weren't we talking about Shadow and-" He's interrupted by a light knock on the front door. Tails get up to answer it, and I hear that familiar shrill voice.
"Hey, Tails! I was just stopping by to-oh! I didn't know you were here!" Amy says as she steps into the living room and sees me and a still flabbergasted Knuckles sitting on the couch. She walks over to us and gives me a hug. Me being in a relationship hasn't stopped her from being touchy-feely.
She pulls away from me and sees Knuckles, punching him on the shoulder playfully. "Hey you!" she says. Knuckles waves at her and leans back on the couch, probably grateful for the interruption. Amy turns her attention back to me and puts her hands on her hips.
"I stopped by your apartment, but Shadow told me I had just missed you. He seemed irritated and rushed me out before I got the chance to ask where you went, but now I know," she says, smiling and squeezing into the spot between me and Knuckles.
"There's another chair over th-" Tails begins, then immediately stops talking when Amy shoots him a dirty glare. He gets the hint and takes his seat by the table.
Knuckles groans and moves to the side, leaning on his armrest. Just as he does that Amy pops up from her seat, unclasping the gold buckles and digging into her brown purse. "I almost forgot why I came here. I wanted to give you this, and since you're here, I can give you yours," she says as she hands Tails and me what looks like some sort of invitation. According to her fancy script handwriting written in blue ink, it is an invitation-to a dinner party in a few days. "I didn't forget you, Knuckles," she adds as she hands him one too, with the ink on his written in red.
Tails scans his invitation briefly and when he sits it on the table, I see that the ink on his is written in yellow. Color-coded invitations. Of course. "A dinner party? What's the occasion, Amy?" he asks.
"There needs to be an occasion for me to have my friends over? I just want everyone to get together and have a good time!" Amy says in that cheerful voice of hers as she takes her place in the center of the couch and throws her arms around my shoulders.
Tails takes another look at his invitation then looks back at Amy. "It's kind of short notice, don't you think?" Tails asks. Amy shrugs and lets go of me, opting to rest her head on my shoulder instead.
Knuckles, Amy, and I stay at Tails' house for a couple more hours until it starts to get dark out. "I should be getting back home," Knuckles says, getting up from the couch and stretching his arms.
"I should be heading out too, Shadow probably can't stand being away from me for so long," I say and see Tails roll his eyes at me.
"Well, I guess I should take my leave too. I'll see you three at the party, right?" Amy says as she gets up from the couch too, adjusting her purse. She waves and walks out the door, leaving the three of us in the living room.
Knuckles and I follow soon after. I think Tails was ready for us to leave, he was looking pretty tired.
"Do you want me to take you home, or will Shadow be waiting outside to attack me?" Knuckles asks after we step outside.
"I didn't realize I needed an escort," I say. Knuckles looks offended, but why would he ask me that anyway? He knows I can get home a lot faster if I just run there, why waste time walking with him?
He sighs and turns away from me. "You try to do something nice…" he says, throwing his hands in the air and shaking his head. Whatever. We've been at Tails' house for hours, and I'm ready for some late-night activities with Shadow.
"I'll see ya later, Knucklehead," I say and speed off.
When I get upstairs to my apartment I try and turn the knob, but it won't budge. I keep trying, as if jiggling it harder is going to make it open, but of course that doesn't work. I didn't think to bring my keys with me, but I'm pretty sure Shadow is awake anyway.
I knock loudly just in case he's asleep and wait for a response. I don't get one. I knock again, even louder. Still nothing.
"Shadow? Shadow, are you there?" I yell, still knocking.
"Oh, I'm here Sonic," I hear him clearly from the other side of the door.
"Well, do ya think you can let me in? What's the deal?" I say.
"We had an agreement, Sonic," he says simply, as if that explains everything. I don't know what deal he's talking about, but he better…wait. Seriously?
"Is this about me leaving with Knuckles? Are you for real, Shadow? We went to Tails' house, we didn't go screw each other in some cheap motel," I say. I hear Shadow throw out his usual 'Hmph' and that's all. I don't hear him walking over to unlock the door like he should be doing.
I start jiggling the knob some more like that will solve something. "You're being ridiculous, Shadow," I say, giving up and resting my forehead against the door.
"I told you if you went with him you wouldn't get back in this apartment. You should have listened," he says in that low, smug voice. If only I could slap him through the door.
"Are you going to make me break the door down, Shadow?" I ask.
"You can do whatever you want Sonic," he says in that same annoying tone of voice, trying to act like he doesn't care. Clearly he does or he wouldn't be getting all whiny and jealous like this for no reason.
A brilliant idea strikes me. "You know what, Shadow? I don't need to break the door down. I don't need to get into this apartment," I say and start walking away.
It's okay if Shadow doesn't want to open the door, I'll just go stay with a friend. A certain red, dreadlocked friend. I'll see how Shadow likes that.
