Samantha27 ( x 2, lol), SherryHedgehog, HaosBlossom, Alyssacookie, Bullet Nick, demiparamore, Crails123, GodsSonicGirl, Amyfan111, Jacklethekitsune, Elise the Cat, Stendylover, SwedenSpeedway: ...Wow. I...didn't think I'd be getting this big of a response. *sweatdrops* Well, I'm glad you all seem to like it, atleast. Goodness, what can I say but...thanks? I mean, it'd take me hours to respond to all your wonderful, well thought out reviews. But please don't ever, EVER think I don't appreciate them, cause I do. You all have no idea. You all simply inspire me to keep writing my best and hardest, and you all have my eternal gratitude for that. And I, hopefully, will repay you with this story. Wish me luck, and enjoy.

...xxx...

Chapter 4: Fear

...xxx...

"Amy? You doing okay, hun?"

The pink hedgehog nodded, even though it was painful to move her head right then, as a splitting headache had been eating her all week. If only that were the worst of her problems.

"I'm fine." Her grumpy tone betrayed otherwise, but she turned back to her menu. Even though the very thought of food made her nauseous, it was certainly better than the suspicious eyes of Rouge and the worried eyes of Cream.

The three made an odd trio, but they were good friends all the same. Still, Amy hadn't confessed to either of them what her and Sonic had done a month ago. Normally Amy was one to spill her guts, even if the listener could care less, but this...she was keeping locked in her heart, for better or for worse. But whatever. Amy just wanted to forget the whole thing had happened, and the [very] few times she'd seen Sonic since let her know the feeling was mutual. Sonic had been nothing but a gentleman to her those times, but she could still see the guilt in his eyes, and knew that all she was was a mistake, a regret to him. And he still wanted to avoid her now, if not even more than before.

Fine, let the jerk suffer. Like she cared anymore.

Ah, but who was she fooling? There was still a smoldering of leftover feelings stirring in her heart for that dang blue hedgehog. There always had been, and there always would be. It appeared that no matter what he did to her, she was going to be his slave. And he didn't care one lick.

No, maybe she liked him more than ever now. It was strange, but ever since they'd shared that moment of passion...something deeper, a deeper connection had been built between them, and now Sonic had even more of her heart. But did she have any of his? Did he care for her, at all? Or was she now even more revolting to him? Had she turned him off to romance forever?

"Amy..."

She turned her eyes up from the sickening food choices and to the scared brown eyes of her best friend. "It's your turn to order," the rabbit informed her softly, not wanting to invoke her wrath.

Oh...food. Amy suddenly had to swallow, as bile had risen to her mouth and the acid stung her throat. Not again. She'd been puking on and off, to go with the headaches, and Amy had a serious hunch to what that could mean...

She smacked the menu down on the table, hoping to distract her mind from that...that which she simply couldn't deal with right now, but knowing her luck so far, would happen.

"I'm not hungry," she snapped to a very shocked waiter.

Rouge and Cream exchanged glances, but when they looked back across the table, just saw the retreating back of Amy running to the restroom.

The girl burst into a free stall and paused above the toilet, breathing hard and waiting. But no, it seemed like she'd fought off the acid for now. She climbed onto the seat and lifted her dress, hopefully...dang it! Still no blood. But that made it what? Nearly 8 weeks. She'd actually been about to start again when it happened, and still, a month later, her cycle was not flowing.

That could only mean one thing.

No.

No, no, no, no...not this. Not-

There was another break in her thoughts as Amy had to spin around so at least some of the acid spurting from her mouth made it into the toilet. Unfortunately, this did nothing to comfort her and was only reality slapping her in the face and confirming her fears.

Dear God, not this. But yes...it was true. The puking, the lack of her period, the headaches... It all pointed to one thing: Sonic's seed must have found something desirable in her and decided to stay put and grow.

Grow.

Oooooh, what was she going to do? Fear gripped her heart and dug in it's icy fingers, and Amy felt her ever present waterfall of tears about to gush out when the door suddenly slammed open.

"Amy."

Rouge's voice, now actually deep and serious for once, further cut into Amy's fear. Oh no, what would she say? What would Cream say now? Oh, sweet little Cream, what would her best friend think of her now that she knew that Amy was just a slut -

"Amy, you're telling me what's wrong. Now."

The pink hedgehog wiped at her mouth but stayed perched on the toilet. Her heart was hammering like crazy, but it was from unbridled fear and not from excitement. She glanced down at her belly, but there was no bulge. Yet.

"I know you're in here, girl, so don't try and hide from me."

Oh no, she couldn't hide from this...this...truth. Unlike some people, she couldn't just run from her problems. She was stuck.

A soft whine emerged from one of the stalls, and Rouge's heels clicked across the bathroom floor. "We can only deal with it if you spill it, Amy."

The bat paused outside the door and was wondering if she'd have to kick it down when Amy blurted out the truth.

"I'm pregnant."

She'd admitted it, pronounced it, and by doing so, the reality sunk in along with fear's cold grip.

Rouge blinked. Well...she certainly hadn't expected that. Though maybe she should have been suspicious, as Amy had just given a death stare at even a hint of Sonic recently. Rouge had just assumed he'd done something terrible to her, and that Amy would just move on as always and get back to her lovey-dovey mood. But no, she was still reeling from it, and Rogue cursed herself for not figuring it out sooner. Her mind quickly figured out the details of the only way Amy would be so upset at getting to carry Sonic's baby: he'd done the deed and promptly left her.

She was going to kill that hedgehog.

The bat made quick work of the bathroom lock and swung the door open, but winced at the sight of Amy. She'd never seen her look so...afraid in her life. Her red dress, normally impeccable, was splattered with puke. Her eyes, normally shiny and cheerful, were dull, like fake Chaos Emeralds.

"Are you sure, Amy? Did you get a test done?"

"No," she admitted softly. "But I haven't had my period in like - Oh Rouge, I'm just so scared!"

Amy launched herself at Rouge and the older girl winced at her tight grip and the fact that her own outfit was ruined, but hugged her back. Amy started sobbing uncontrollably.

"Listen, we need to get you to a doctor. This may all be for nothing."

All for nothing. Tell me about it, Amy thought bitterly. As she clutched onto the bat, she couldn't help but wish that it was Sonic that was holding her. What she wouldn't give to be in his arms again, and to have him whisper that everything would be okay, that he would take care of her. She needed her partner here comforting her, just like it was supposed to be.

But no, Sonic was off doing who knew what, and he certainly wasn't thinking of her. No, he was free. He didn't have the burden of their mistake. He didn't have to deal with this. He wasn't stuck. Oh what would he say when he found out? A thousand possible reactions hit Amy's imagination, but none of them were good. No, the idiot would just run away, leaving her again. To suffer alone.

Yes, all Amy had right now was Cream's confused brown eyes, and Rouge pulling her to the doctor, where it'd be confirmed: that she was soon to be a mommy. And Amy would've never thought she'd be so scared and unhappy to hear that. Oh gosh...how could it be that something she'd wanted for so long...to have a baby, with Sonic...had gone so wrong for her?

...xxx..

Run. Just run. Just run, run, run...run to escape your problems, and all those unfamiliar emotions rushing through your heart at hyper sonic speed. Run. Run to escape the image of a once perfect and pure pink hedgehog that makes your thumping heart ache. Run.

Sonic still felt guilty. He still felt bad, and wished that there was some way he could repay her and make it up to her. But no, his last attempt at paying his dues had gone way overboard.

And...he was scared. Yes, he was scared. Scared that he'd ruined everything between them, and not only his friendship with her, but also any chance of it blossoming into anything more. Yes, Amy probably hated him now, and with good reason. He'd accept her hate as his penance and deal with it the way he'd dealt with her devotion. By avoiding her.

But he was keeping his distance, not to hurt her more...but to hurt her less. Because he was scared of breaking what was left of her once pure heart again. He was scared of doing any more damage. He was scared of what he'd let himself do and become.

Sonic had never been so terrified in his life, of when he'd gone to check on her, and she hadn't been Amy. She was some shell of herself, some pale, thinning, weak, ghost of Amy Rose. And it absolutely KILLED him to see her that way and know that HE had caused it. For she, in some way, had always been a source of joy to him...but now that beacon had dimmed. And it was all his fault.

So no matter how much Sonic just wanted to gently hold her and just apologize, whispering that everything would be okay, and he would take care of her from here on out, he couldn't. For Sonic had lost the right to hold her, such a sweet girl, ever again.

But oh, what he wouldn't give to see her smile at him again. To be able to tease her and hear that giggle, that contagious tinkling of joy. To hear her say his name so sweetly, so innocently...

Tears pricked his eyes, but the droplets were soon whisked away by the rush of wind around him. So much for moving on, blue. Yeah, so much. How much longer would he still feel guilty and scared? He didn't know if he could take much more, and knew that only a good long talk with her would fix anything.

But the way she'd spat, "Fine, never better" in his face and glared at him coldly let him know she never wanted to see him, think about him, again. Fine, he'd give her what she wanted, even if it was tearing him up inside.

If only it hadn't come to this. If only he could turn back time, to that night, and erase his urges, and if he would have just held her gently, kissed her gently, the way she would have liked...she would have been so happy. And know knows what they'd be doing now. Why, maybe they'd be on another date. Ya know, simply holding hands, laughing, teasing, smiling...

A buzzing on his wrist jerked him out of his thoughts. Sonic skidded to a halt and carelessly wiped at his eyes before having to face...

Oh gah, not his little brother. No, not Tails. Anyone but - okay, maybe not anyone, but certainly not Tails. Not the little fox that had idolized him and copied him since they'd met. He had tried his hardest to set a good example for him, ever since the little guy had said, "I want to be just like you, Sonic..."

Oh, what would he say if he knew? Fear clutched Sonic's heart as he pictured his best buddy turning on him...

"Sonic?"

He sniffed and hoped his eyes weren't too bloodshot. "What's up?" he rasped.

For a second Tails could just gape at his sibling's face in the monitor. Sonic was...crying? Did that mean he already...He'd only seen Sonic shed tears once before this...

"Uh...I need you to come to my workshop."

Oh goody. "Eggman?" he asked almost hopefully. He'd take anything to get his mind off of Amy right now. Anything.

"Just...just come. You'll see."

Hmph. "Okay, be there in a jiffy."

...xxx...

Okay, about the whole timing thing: I must confess that my knowledge about pregnancy and stuff is limited, so if any of you feel like I'm making a mistake, like a month is too early, please let me know. But the reason I did a month is because I don't think these events would take much longer than that. It was long enough for Amy to find out, yet short enough so they're still in pain.

And by the way, if any of my readers has been pregnant or just knows a lot about pregnancy, I could use your help for the coming chapters. I mean, I've done some research but talking to an actual person who's been there would help. My mom would freak out if I asked her too much...

I realize that this is the perfect couple to write this sort of story about, with Sonic and Amy's personality, so I want to thank Samantha27 for her a-mazing idea.

And I...cried while writing the Sonic part. I'm sorry, but I did. I feel like he's slightly OOC, but c'mon the guy's dripping in remorse. Sonic has just been humbled, guys. (It's about time!)

And yeah, it sucks to be a girl sometimes, so all you fellas feel lucky.