Matchmaker

A/N: I'm back! With a really crappy chapter! I mean seriously! I don't even know why I wrote or posted this. I was going to jump straight to the party, but that left the JulieXKnuckles scene dangling. so, I added some girl scenes before the party. I hate this chapter.

Song: Avril Lavigne's I'm With You (lyrics appear like this) I'm not trying to steal! This song completely belongs to her and all of Avril's producers.

On with the story!

With Julie-Su…

"Jules! … You look amazing! Where? … When? … How?" Knuckles stuttered at the female echidna's change. He was so used to seeing her scruffy, baggy tank-tops and jeans complete with a pair of ripped up tennis shoes that he wasn't even sure if this was his best girl friend that he was talking to.

Girl that was a friend. Not girlfriend. But a girl that just happened to be a friend.

Julie cut him off with a brilliant laugh as she sat down next to her red counterpart. Slipping her brown bag off of her shoulders, she rested it on the worn gray bench, lightly covered in wonderland flakes, which the couple was assembled on. "You're just now noticing my change?" she teased.

Knuckles immediately turned bright red and averted his gaze from her to the endless blue sky before them. "Well… I…. Maybe…. How long were you looking like this?" he finally decided on his question as he turned to her again.

Jules' warm smile completely changed to an ice-cold frown at the question. "Let's see… oh about, well… TWO YEARS!!" she yelled angrily at him, her stray pink quills shifting into her face.

Knuckles' face paled and he immediately turned to the sky again.

After a couple minutes, when Julie figured he wasn't going to say anything, she finally broke the tight air around them. "So… why did you want to met me here?"

Rubbing the back of his neck, blushing, he said, "Well… I kinda wanted to ask you something…."

The female's heart rate suddenly sped up to twice its normal rate. Her face became flushed and yet again, her body began to feel like it was a hundred degrees outside. "Yeah…" she whispered quietly, turning to her long time crush.

Knuckles moved so that he could face her. "Well, you see… the Valentine's Day party is just around the corner…"

The corners of Julie's lips tugged into a warm smile as she slowly shifted closer to Knuckles. "Yeah…"

Knuckles became to look more embarrassed as he continued. "Well… I was kinda wondering…."

In her mind, soft romantic music began to play. Nothing else seemed to matter anymore, just the here and now.

"If…" Knuckles continued.

The birds seemed to come out a chirp along to the soft music playing (not really). The sky, ground, everything became more and more gorgeous. The colors seemed to take over.

Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves Knuckles continued, unaware of the female's fantasy world. "If… You could see if Rouge was going with anyone."

The music came to a screeching halt, the colors drained to black and white, and the birds seemed to fall to the ground, dead. The warm smile disappeared into a confused frown. "Wha?"

"Well, you see… I was kind of crushing on Rouge for a while and well… I thought that the Valentine's Day party would be a perfect time to hook up! But… I didn't want to make a foul of myself so…." He stopped short when he noticed the echidna's hurt face staring at the ground. He tapped her shoulder lightly with one gloved hand. "Jules? You okay?"

Julie-Su quickly snapped out of her pity phase. "Yeah! Fine! I just remembered that I have to be somewhere right now! So, bye!"

Without another word, the heartbroken echidna grabbed her bag and walked, more like ran, away from her confused ex-lover. Tears threatened to fall from her eyes as they dangled near the edges.

Sitting on the bench with a confused look on his face was Knuckles. His dreadlocks blissfully danced in the wind as he watched one of his best friends run away from him.

"What's with her?" he thought, "Did I say something? Maybe she doesn't have a date to the party. Although with her new look, I can't figure out why. What is with that new look anyways? Why did she change? Did she change to impress another guy? Ah well… I guess I'll have to ask Rouge myself. Maybe I'll ask her to that party tonight." With that, Knuckles shock off the snow that had playfully landed on his coat and headed towards the Station Square train station.

With Julie-Su…

Dashing up the stairs to he apartment, the fallen echidna locked the door and slid to the floor. The tears that had threatened to fall were now coursing freely down her chill nipped cheeks, freezing her and making her face sting even more.

"Why?!" she asked herself for the millionth time. On the dash home, many thoughts raced through her mind. "Why did he have to be such a jerk?" she questioned herself out loud.

Couldn't he see how much she liked him? Couldn't he tell? Why did that idiot think of her as only a friend? Why did he treat her as one of the guys? Why did he have to fall for Rouge? Why?! Rouge seemed to get everything to her! Why did she have to get Knuckles too?!

"You know that's not true…" said a little voice inside of her. "Rouge doesn't get everything…"

"I suppose you're right…" whispered Julie-Su, drying her tears and pausing when she reliazed that she had spoke aloud. "Great! I'm talking to myself!"

Picking herself off of the floor, Julie shifted her brown coat and boots off of her. Hanging her coat near on the nearby hook and placing her boots on the little blue rug, the echidna made her way to her living room.

Julie-Su's living room wasn't anything special. Sure, it was big and she shared it with Amy, but that was it. Sure, they had a plasma screen hook-up to the wall and soft velvet seats, but they had worked hard for that stuff. A gold trimmed red rug covered most of the tan carpet. Sets of maple oak nightstands with gold lamps sat near each side of the seats. The big red lounge chair and matching sofas provided excellent seating.

Sighing as she sat in her lounge chair, Julie snatched the remote from her cup holder built in and flicked on the TV. "News… Sports… Home shopping channel… Sports… Cooking… Old time shows… Sports… Home makeover… Drama… Sappy love movie… Sports… What is with all of the sport programs?" Julie yelled as she channeled surf.

After flipping to channel 506 and still finding nothing good on, the bored echidna flipped off the TV and shifted back in her chair, stil feeling slightly depressed. "Why do the TV programmers make so many dumb shows?" she muttered, eyes downcast.

Spinning herself around in her chair, the echidna pointed the remote at the built in stereo and pressed the red button.

"Hey, hey, Ladies and gents!" broadcast one of the announcers. "It's three o'clock on the east side! Today we have a request… Avril Lavigne's I'm With You! Bobby hit it!"

A newschannel worthy male voice suddenly came on. "You got it, Steve!"

Julie slightly perked up at hearing her favorite song. As the intro music played, she thought of how this song related to her situation and soon found herself singing along.

Her cool voice filled the air along with the singer's, hitting each note perfectly.

I'm standing on the bridge.

I'm waiting in the dark.
I thought that you'd be here
By now.
There's nothing but the rain.
No foot steps on the ground.
I'm listening but there's
No sound.

That's how she felt right now; alone. Thinking that he would care when he didn't. Tears coursed down her cheeks, but she continued to keep her voice from choking and hit each note perfectly.

Isn't anyone trying to find me?
Won't somebody come take me home?

Why couldn't life be like a fairytale? Why couldn't everything be perfect? Well, news flash… life sucks.

A couple minutes earlier, with Blaze…

Gathering up her courage as she watched Silver race around the track for the umpteenth time. Thankfully, he was alone.

After minutes of going over possible food choices and angering awaiting customers, the cat had decided on a poppy seed muffin and a caramel coffee.

Of course, Blaze had no idea if Silver would like this choice… But he had said that he like caramelized apples and she failed to see what was wrong with poppy seed anything, so it was this or come empty handed.

Perking her ears, the female could hear the soft sound of music above the airboard noises. It sounded like it was coming from the speakers stationed around the track.

"Now or never…" purred Blaze as she walked down the steps to the rail gate. With one hand, she unhooked the rail and led her way to a grass patch on the side of the track, watching Silver. She nervously pulled at her coat and shirt until she saw Silver give a wave as he made his way on his airboard to her.

"Hey…" he said coolly, as he looked Blaze over, shifting his airboard under his arm. "You look prettty." More like gorgeous but the hedgehog didn't have the guts to say that.

"Thanks Silver and...here." With a blush rising upon her white muzzle, the female offered the brown bag out to her secret crush.

"What's this?" he questioned, taking the brown bag and looking to Blaze, who had a bright smile.

Blaze scratched her left cheek and looked to the ground, trying best to surpress the blush that ws already present. "Umm… see… I thought that since it was around lunch time and you usually hang around here all day, that you might be hungry," she laughed nervously.

Silver returned her smile, which made her sigh in silent relief.

Opening the bag, the silver hedgehog saw his favorite; poppy seed muffin and a caramel coffee. "Thanks!" he exclaimed as he fished it out. "How did you know that this is my favorite!"

Blaze gave a silent thanks that she didn't mess up. "Lucky guess?" she nervously laughed.

Silver gave her a wink. "Well, you're pretty lucky then." He took one quick bit on the muffin and one sip of the coffee. His gaze slyly shifted to his watch in sudden alarm. "Oh! I'm sorry, Blaze, but I've gotta be somewhere."

Flipping his airboard on the ground and mounting it, Silver shoved the half-eaten food and its container into the cat's hands. "Will you take care of this?" Without waiting for an answer, the persistent hedgehog drove off.

To get the airboard up the stairs, Silver built up air and released it at the exact timing. His companion could only watch, stunned, as he did an impressive flip to land right on the doorway's entrance, exiting without even a goodbye.

The female blinked several times, contempleting what had wrecked her perfect plan in a mere matter of seconds. Looking at the food in disgust, as if blaming it would help solve her problems Blaze gave a disheartened sigh before trugging up the stairs. Why was he always so busy? Why couldn't he slow down? Just once! Just for her.

The female cat listened to the soothing tunes of the the radio, which you could now hear without the sounds of someone's airboard tearing up the track as she tossed her handful into a nearby trashcan.

Blaze's ears perked up as she recognized one of her favorite songs playing, Avril Lavigne's I'm With You. As she made her way up the stairs, an idea struck her.

"I have time…"

The female slid into one of the stands and listened to the tune. When the song reached the part she knew, Blaze started singing out loud along with the tune. Her voice echoed along with the song throughout the stadium. The tune of her voice carried a silky texture to it and it sometimes purred along the r's.

It's a damn cold night.
Trying to figure out this life.
Won't you take me by the hand.
Take me somewhere new.
I don't know who you are,

But I…
I'm with you.
I'm with you.

Right now, this is exactly how Blaze felt, unwanted. Could just once someone in her life be her knight in shining armor? Couldn't she get the guy once? Well, nobody said life was easy. And if they did, they were brain dead.

I'm looking for a place.
I'm searching for a face.
Is anybody here?
I know.

Sometimes, the female cat felt like a stranger. Her flames had cursed her for all eternity and yet… she had friends. Amy, Julie, and Rikku were all great… but… They didn't understand how she felt.

Silver did. They use to be best friends. Now, she felt like he was a stranger.

A few minutes earlier, with Rikku…

"What would go with this?" questioned Rikku.

The vixen had just gotten off the phone with Cream and wrecked her closet trying to find an outfit. The radio was blaring the whole time. Finally, she had found one that was brand new. "Cute… Trendy… Why didn't I wear it before?" questioned Rikku. (A/N: I'm not going tell you what it looks like! That would ruin the fun for the next chapter!)

Right now, the fox was looking for accessorizes. So far she had found two blue ribbons, blue tail bracelets, and tan gloves. Now, all she needed was a necklace.

"Nope!" she said, observing a green and gold emerald necklace. A sparkly set of pearls was next. "Nahun! Now what else do I have?" The fox continued to shuffle through the various piles of clothing, searching for suitable jewelry. A choker would be nice or maybe just a little blue gem...

Suddenly, her fingers found a silver locket with a blue sapphire in the center and pulled it from the ground. She had thrown this into the bottom of her closet and had piled several clothes on top of it to keep the depressing memories grounded.

Laying her ears flat, the vixen sat on the corner of her bed and examined the locket. "Tailsy…" she whispered.

The female fox remembered when Tails had given it to her. Back when they were dating around this time, the male fox had been saving up for something expensive. Rikku had saw the necklace while window-shopping many times, but it was always too much money. Tails had noticed this and … Well, you could probably guess all of it from there.

Running her slime hand over the sapphire, a single tear found its way down her cheek and onto the necklace.

Just then, the vixen noticed what song was playing. Avril Lavigne's I'm With You. When Tails and her were dating, she had claimed this song to be exactly how she felt towards Tails.

That she was always with him.

Soon, Rikku found her voice drifting out and mingling with the notes in perfect harmony. People had often said that she had a voice that almsot matched Avril's. She never believed them though and the thought of her being a professional singer and having to deal with the paprazzi made her cringe inwardly.

Cause nothing's going right.
And everything's a mess.
And no one likes to be
alone.

Alone… the last word drifted through her mind. No one likes to be alone. Especially not Rikku. Her voice continued.

Isn't anyone trying to find me?
Won't somebody come take me home?

Wasn't Tails going to try to get her back? Wasn't he going to search for a way. Back in the alley, it seemed like he cared. But… he kissed Sharon. That secretly broke her heart.

A few minutes earlier, with Amy…

"I can't believe that Sonic!" Amy yelled to no one as she stomped up the stairwell to reach her apartment.

The pink hedgehog had tried and failed again to provoke Sonic into coming with her to the party. Sonic had flat out said no.

Why was he such a brat? He was… what? TWENTY! And still couldn't tell her how he felt. It was always, "My actions speak for themselves," or "Tomorrow." Amy was tried of it.

Unlocking her door and slamming it shut, Amy threw her coat on the hook. Abruptly, she stopped, hands frozen in midair from taking off her shoes.

Music was flowing out of the living room. Her favorite song! Avril Lavigne's I'm With You. Her ears also picked up a cool voice mixing in with the music.

"Jules must be home," Amy thought, quietly tiptoeing into the living room, shoes still in tact.

Julie was lounged in her chair, her back turned to Amy, singing along with the song. She sounded sad.

"Knuckles probably did something…That jerk! I'll have to remind myself to punch him later!" she mused silently. For a second or two, she just stood there, Julie not taking notice of her presence and her considering to ask the question of what was bothering her friend.

Sighing inwardly, Amy simply shrugged her shoulders and decided to let it go. This song was pretty catchy though and it did kind of fit how she was feeling. Always with him but alone. Soon, she found herself whispering the lyrics in her soft, angelic voice.

It's a damn cold night.
Trying to figure out this life.
Won't you take me by the hand.

Julie swung about in her chair, surprised at the other voice and embarrassed ot be caught singing. Her purple gaze landed on Amy, leaning against one of the couches. She had heard the pink hedgehog sing many times in the shower in the mornings but never had she heard her sing so softly. Thw water from the showerhed in the mornings drowned out most of the notes, leaving only the high notes and the "na, na, na's" if the song had any. Even Jules had to admit that Amy was pretty good. Her voice mixed in with the harmony perfectly.

Amy gave a warm smile as she continued to sing.

Take me somewhere new.
I don't know who you are,
But I…

I'm with you.

Julie's voice soon mixed in with Amy's.

Amy & Julie: Oh!
Why is every thing so confusing?
Maybe I'm just out of my mind.

Blaze: Yeah, yeah, yeah...

Amy & Julie: yeah, yeah, YEAH!! ...It's a damn cold night.
Trying to figure out this life.

Rikku: Won't you take me by the hand!
Take me somewhere new.

I don't know who you are,
But I…!

Amy&Julie: I'm with YOU!
Take me by the hand.

Take me somewhere new.
I don't know who you are,

Rikku: But I…

Blaze: I'm

Amy&Julie: With

Rikku: You.

Everyone: I'm with you.

A/N: Told ya this chapter sucked! The chapter had no meaning whatsoever! I know it's hard to follow. Basically each girl is singing the same song but different lyrics. Their all singing at the same time, its just which girl I choose you get to listen to. (Does that make any sense?) Anyways, Next chapter: The party! Note: It took me forever to get the lyrics right.

See ya! The next chapter will not suck as mcuh as this one did/is!