Pink and Green Headaches

It took a month or so, but Amy finally decided that it was best to sever ties with Sonic, Knuckles and Rouge. It would not be healthy for her emotionally to deal with them or to pretend that nothing happened and continue to smile at them as though nothing happened. She had much association with Tails and Cream to keep her uplifted, and Espio's company was invaluable in her time of recovery.

The chameleon had recounted to her the details of his own heartbreak. He had been romantically involved with a beautiful agama lizard named Bella, the love of his life. They were to be married, he had told Amy, but without reason Bella had backed out of the relationship and had completely cut all connections with him. She had changed her phone number, address, and even work place and could not be found no matter what he tried. Amy sympathized extremely with Espio, for everything that had happened to her had been without apparent reason either, just as with the chameleon.

Over time, Sonic crossed Amy's mind less and less. Similarly, Espio did not think of Bella half as much as he used to, for he was in Amy's company regularly. Eventually, Amy occupied herself by taking up employment at the coffee booth, as she concluded that she would not be given funds for any heroic duties as she used to, no longer being in the Sonic Team. None of them, besides Tails, had made efforts to contact her, which was good enough indication that she would no longer be fighting Eggman or saving lives.

Throughout her first few weeks as a cashier, Amy truly felt that she was finally getting somewhere in her life. Sure, working at a coffee booth in the middle of the mall wasn't going to get her far, but she was feeling that this step would help her take the next one. With her constant communication with Espio and her colleague friends, her mind drifted to Sonic and the gang less and less. She only thought of them when she was alone, and with her getting together with her girls from work so often, such a pondering was only occurring before she went to bed.

Had life ever been this good? Well, it had, back when she was part of the Sonic Team, but now was different. For the first time, she felt like she was able to do things on her own. It took a while, but she realized her happiness wasn't dependent on Sonic, though his affections for her would contribute greatly to it. If such a fantasy were ever to become reality, she wondered if she could die of such happiness. If he would ever brush his lips against hers, if he were to whisper huskily in her ear that he was in lo-

Oh! but what was the use fantasizing over such unreality? She often caught herself in the middle of such delusions during her shifts when customers were scarce. The majority of these situations were blotted out when Espio would pull her out with his deep voiced greetings. The two found that they became extremely hopeful upon the other, and by now, having suffered two to three months without any communication with Sonic or Bella, they had become closer than friends, yet not anything romantically significant.

There came a day when Amy was in a specifically cross mood, where there were far more couples wandering around than she recalled to be normal, and Espio had mistakenly decided to bring along a friend of his that he thought might get along with Amy. He'd been wrong before.

Amy and Jet were barely acquainted, meeting only under certain circumstances before. Through those sightings and rare interchanges, they had each made terrible first impressions on each other, causing Amy to have decided upon her dislike for the hawk. He was aggressive and completely inconsiderate of the feelings of others, Amy thought, because this was the impression Jet had left through little communication, though there was always so much more to the person being judged, and only those who would make the effort would see a more agreeable side.

"It's...Jet, right?" Amy did her utmost to keep herself from scrunching up her face in distaste, rather forcibly pulling her lips into a distorted smile, being the best she could achieve.

"Yeah. And you are?" He gave off an unpleasant air, one that showed a self-assumed superiority compared to others, particularly to the hedgehog before him who was supposed to give him his espresso. His green feathers even seemed to ruffle as if to shed more light on his obnoxious personality, proving himself to be nothing more than a snob, his gleaming shades concealing his eyes.

Espio could feel Amy's vibes easily and saw that things were tensing up. He tried to laugh to ease the mood, but the two just stared each other down. "Jet, you remember Amy, do you not? From the grand-prix?"

Jet's brow tightened into a frown, either in consideration of this name or because he thought he'd made it clear that he didn't care who she was and hadn't been wanting an answer after all. After almost a minute of awkward silence in wait for a response, he finally nodded. "Oh! You're that annoying fan-girl who was all over Sonic! The one who was chasing him everywhere!"

The remark was a nice punch in the gut for our dear heroine. Amy had never considered her now-damaged reputation throughout her efforts in wooing the blue hedgehog, but Jet's realistic statement brought to life the fact that she would forever be known as the obsessive fan-girl who never won Sonic over. She realized just how unpleasant the outcome of having given such an impression was, and also just how much of her life she had wasted on such pitiful attempts.

"Yes, well..." Amy frowned down at her gloved hands. "I'd prefer you didn't bring that up."

"Heh. No kidding! I felt embarrassed FOR you, you chasing him around like some crazed buffoon!"

Espio elbowed Jet in the ribs, making the hawk cringe forward with a groan. Amy, enraged at being called a crazed buffoon, dramatically inhaled and stared him down to the core, fists balled up in front of her to keep her from strangling the guy. A BUFFOON, he said!

"If I'M a buffoon," she blew, "then that would make you a freakin' snot-nosed, terd-throwing ORANGUTAN! Seriously, learn to consider others before saying whatever the bloody hell you want, you good-for-nothing-but-yourself arse-face!"

Though still in pain, Jet jumped up, infuriated, but still had to support himself on the booth. She called him snot nosed! SNOT-NOSED! HIS perfect face...snot-nosed?

"Y-Y-You...YOU CALLED ME WHAT?" This was an outburst would have normally frightened any opposer, him being well known for his past as a gang leader and a hot-tempered nuclear bomb. Espio tried to intervene, but once either of them started, they didn't stop. Amy was completely unfazed at Jet's temper, instead crossing her arms and lifting her nose to the air, an action so well performed that it rivaled even the great hawk's fearsome glare.

"A snot-nosed, terd-throwing orangutan," she repeated in reply. That's what he asked for, no?

His expression melted in an instant, jaw falling to the ground and his eyes widening. How could she be so...unintimidated? Better yet, how dare she REPEAT such an insult!

He pounded his fist onto the counter and scowled at her. "Now you listen here you-"

Espio then brought his fist down on Jet's head, knocking off his sunglasses and making him fall to the ground. With an innocent smile, Espio asked how Amy was doing. She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"It's been a pretty crappy day, actually. What the heck is up with all the stupid couples everywhere? They're making me sick. And then this guy," she gestured to Jet as though she was referring to a dead maggot on her counter, "came around and he looks like he jumped into a pool of snot and bathed there for a year."

"I did NOT jump in a pool of snot!"

"I mean look at him," Amy continued, completely ignoring his denial. "He's just this ill-mannered distortion of genetics that floats around on a board stealing things. How could my day NOT be ruined even more?"

Espio chuckled, also ignoring Jet's rage. "I sincerely apologize for bringing him and am deeply grieved that the two of you can't stand each other. I was hoping you would get along."

"And I was hoping that Sonic would confess his love and propose, but that didn't turn out exactly as I had hoped."

"Can you blame him?" Jet unwisely said, receiving a hammer in his face as a result.

The three went off to the arcade, a popular hang-out location for younger folks. Amy and Jet bickered the whole way there and competed aggressively in every game there was. Now, Espio was not the sort to be irritated so easily. He did, after all, deal with Charmy on a regular basis, and everyone knows how exhausting it is to be around him too long, so one could say that Espio was a very patient man. You can imagine, therefore, just how tiresome it would be to be in the presence of Jet the hawk and Amy Rose the hedgehog, two people who couldn't stand each other's guts. Yes, Espio's patience was being put to the test.

Shed every tear in sympathy, dear reader.

The ninja slipped away at some point when they were battling it out at Dance Dance Revolution. His head was hurting and he was embarrassed at how many stares had been directed his way. He worried that they would break one of the gaming machines, so aggressive they were, but decided that he would just have Jet pay for whatever damage they inflicted on public property.

An hour later he came back, observing each machine and allowing himself to be impressed at the systems' durability. He found Jet and Amy competing at Guitar Hero, but far less spirited than earlier. If he hadn't known any better, Espio would have reckoned that the two had been friends all along. He walked up to them cautiously, wondering whether they would suddenly attack him or melt into puddles or turn into unicorns, so shocked he was that the two weren't at each other's necks.

"I can't believe they have Family Force 5 on here," he heard Amy say, a smile on her face. He heard Jet agree and start ranting on about how spectacular the group was. Amy was in complete agreement with him, nodding at everything he said and adding compliments of her own.

"Hey, Espio!" Amy greeted when she caught sight of him. "Where have you been?"

"Just went for a walk," he responded carefully, eyeing the two. "How are you guys doing?"

"Great!" Amy responded, eyes back on the gaming screen. "We were freaking out because our favorite band has been added to Guitar Hero."

"Can you believe it, Espio?" Jet piped in, missing a note. "Family Force 5 is on here! They aren't that popular either so naturally I was excited!"

Espio gawked at them in disbelief. It had taken nothing but having a mutual adoration of a music group to keep them from killing each other. He shook his head, then claimed he needed to go walk around some more. He disappeared, sighing in exhaustion and sitting on a bench on the third floor. Slowly though, a small smile did creep up on his face, for Jet was a very close friend and Amy was very important to him, so naturally he would have wanted them to get along. He was pleased, then, that the two had come to tolerate each other and that, potentially, they could become close friends.

And this, dear reader, is where the story really begins.

For those that have already read this, you'll notice that there are less chapters. I've combined chapters 4, 5, and 6. Don't be confused. :) Enjoy!