Chaotic hedgehog: *facepalms at your laziness*
Shadow: *no comment*
Pfffffft. He's a pain.
*Don't we all? xD*
*nudge nudge* xD
Robyn: Oi! D:
You lost that bet, son :P
YES THE FACEPLANT.
Kelly: :3
*throws the chapter at you* HERE xD

Chapter Six

That afternoon sparked the beginning of an amazing friendship between Sonic and the rest of us. Just as I had predicted, he fit right in with us. He and Tails became fast friends, surprisingly bonding over chemistry. They were always talking about their class experiments (this led to Rouge affectionately nicknaming them "Geek One and Geek Two"). My brother really admired Sonic, I could tell. To my delight, he returned the admiration one hundred percent.

Shadow and Sonic had more of a rivalry than a friendship. The two of them were almost always butting heads. I had declared a tie for that race and while Chaos and Shadow hadn't been surprised, Sonic was the complete opposite. Apparently he was one of those people who believed in a "final victor" or whatever. Chaos didn't seem to care enough; he had only joined that race for the hell of it. Shadow, however… I couldn't explain what was going through his head. But he entertained the idea of beating Sonic in a race someday.

Boys. Never gonna understand them.

Sonic developed an "older brother" relationship with Kelly and Cosmo. It was freaking adorable how soft he was with them! It always brought a smile to my face knowing that they were in good hands. In return, he got the rest of us girls as his "older sisters". The guys would roll their eyes as we gushed over Sonic (who was always amused by this, no matter how many times he tried to deny it).

Surprisingly though, Sonic seemed to have a particular fondness for me. We texted all the time. We got called to do impromptu skits in our Creative Writing class. The biggest surprise was when he showed up to Symphony Orchestra one day and told me that Miss Hallins wanted him to be our guitarist. That was the first time I got to hear him play as I challenged him to a play-off. Chaos had immediately cranked up the background music for "Roundtable Rival" by Lindsey Stirling and the whole class knew that things were gonna go down. At the end we had both been impressed with each other's performance and Miss Hallins had been amused.

After that we began to hang out a lot more. He'd come over to my house with his guitar and we'd hang out in the basement, blasting our instruments at full volume. We'd translate each other's music and get into long discussions about famous musicians. Chaos would sometimes join us, although on a few occasions he'd just sit at the piano and hit random notes.

I will admit that Chaos and I did seem to kinda drift away a little bit. He seemed to be bothered by something and I couldn't put my finger on it, although half the time I was with Sonic. Every time I did ask him if everything was okay, he'd just nod and give me a little smile. Eventually I stopped asking him- I trusted that he'd tell me if something was seriously wrong.

-XxXxX-

A couple of months passed. One Friday afternoon after school in November, I was at home with my siblings and Kelly. My echidna friend was helping me prepare a hangout that I was hosting that evening for the gang. Well, she was SUPPOSED to be helping me… I was cleaning up the place and I looked over to see that she was still on her phone. Her eyes hadn't left the damn thing since we had left school.

"Kelly, are you messaging your boyfriend again?" I teased.

The echidna looked up from her phone, her muzzle turning a pale shade of red. "He is NOT my boyfriend!"

"So you ARE talking to him!" Zoey grinned triumphantly as she walked into the kitchen.

"... Merp!" Kelly uttered before fleeing to my room.

I giggled and put my hands on my face. "She's so cute when she's trying to deny something!"

Alustriel rolled her eyes as she continued to chop vegetables. We were having homemade Chinese food for dinner, and Ace made some of the best. Well… she made awesome food in general. Zoey can't cook to save her life sometimes.

"Who's this boy you're talking about again?" my blue-furred sister asked.

"His name is Xavier. Kelly met him a few years ago at camp and they became fast friends. He lives on Angel Island so she only gets to see him when she goes back home. I'm telling you, they're gonna end up together someday," I said as I moved my hands away from my face.

She chuckled. "I could say the same about a certain sister of mine in this room with her new hedgehog friend."

CLANG!

Zoey dropped a pot into the sink, staring at her twin with wide blue eyes. I'm pretty sure I matched Chaos' quill color as I also stared at Alustriel.

My genius sister smirked as she kept her gaze on the vegetables. "What're you both gawking at?"

"You just admitted that you see Robyn and Sonic together. You're engaging in GIRL TALK for once!" Zoey squealed.

Master eye roll from Alustriel. I kept quiet as Zoey continued to grin. "I'm so proud of you, Alussie!"

"Shut up Zoe," was Alustriel's only response.

"I will have to disagree with you though. Chaos and Robyn will be together forever," my red-furred sister said as she clasped her hands together.

If it was possible for me to turn any redder at that moment, I did. "Z-ZOEY!"

"WHAT?" she grinned.

I groaned and stood up. "I'm going to see if Kels is done talking to Xavier yet…"

I could hear Zoey snickering as I made my way up the stairs. When I reached the second floor, Tails poked his head out of his room. "Nothing's broken down there, right?"

"Nope. Zoey dropped a pot into the sink," I told him.

"And whyyyyy did I see Kelly retreat into your room a few minutes ago?" he asked.

I grinned. "We were teasing her about Xavier. She's been on her phone since we left school."

My brother smiled as he joined me in the hallway. "And you automatically assume she's talking to Xavier?"

"When her face is glued to her phone for that long, yes," I responded as we walked to my room.

Kelly was STILL on her phone when Tails and I walked in. She was lounging in my beanbag chair by my window. I flopped onto my bed while my brother proceeded to sit in front of Kelly and poke her legs repeatedly. "Whatcha dooooooin'?"

"Talking to Xavier. Quit poking my legs!" she said as she swatted his hand.

He smirked. "You should join us in an actual conversation, Kels."

"Sorrrrrrrrrrrrrry. He was ranting about his friends giving him a hard time with something. I told him to find a way to get back at them," the echidna explained as she FINALLY put her phone down.

I lifted my head and gave her a long Look. "Really?"

"Yes! Well… he also wanted to know when I'd be coming home next. He misses me," she admitted with a faint blush.

I smirked. "Called it."

"Robyn…! He's my best friend," she sighed exasperatedly.

"That's what they all say," I said as I rolled onto my back and stared at my ceiling.

"… You know, that IS what they all say. It's what you say whenever someone teases you about Chaos," Kelly said as she pointed at me.

I opened my mouth to protest, but Tails cut me off. "Oh it's worse when someone asks her about Sonic."

"Hah, I've noticed that too. I'm surprised he hasn't made a move yet. It's so obvious he likes her," Kelly grinned.

"I've asked him about it. He gets all red and embarrassed. I know he wants to," Tails chuckled.

"Uh, hello? Still here?" I interrupted.

They both shot knowing looks at me. I facepalmed. "You're full of crap."

"You won't be saying that when he finally grows the balls to do it," a voice said from the doorway.

All three of us looked over. "Rouge!"

The white bat grinned as she walked in. She was wearing an aquamarine top (it matched her eyes) and black leggings. Comfortable, but she always managed to look sexy no matter what she was wearing. I envied her so much for it.

"You seriously don't believe this nonsense, do you?" I asked her.

She chuckled and sat in my chair by my desk. "Sorry, Robyn. If you really studied the guy, you would see it too. He's smitten with you."

I groaned and my face hit my bed with a muffled thump. Then my ears twitched as the doorbell rang. Kelly shifted in her seat. "I bet that's Chaos."

She was proven wrong a few seconds later. Zoey opened the door and then she called up the stairs, "Robyn! Sonic and Silver are here!"

I quickly sat up. "Send them up!"

Footsteps sounded on the steps and then Silver made his dramatic entrance. "Never fear, ladies! Silver is here!"

Rouge, Kelly, and I groaned. Tails started chuckling. Sonic rolled his eyes as he stepped around the other hedgehog. "Hey guys."

We greeted our blue friend. Sonic smiled at me and looked like he was going to sit next to me, but Silver dumped his stuff on the floor and jumped on my bed, nearly tackling me in the process. "Robyn I forgot how amazing your bed was."

Kelly immediately started giggling. I took one look at her and instantly knew how she took that sentence. I threw a pillow at her. "Kelly!"

Rouge and Tails started cracking up. Sonic facepalmed. Silver smirked and wrapped an arm around me. "It's okay, Robyn. Nothing to be ashamed about."

"SILVER!" I yelled as I smacked his arm.

Kelly was howling with laughter at this point. Tails was flailing his hands at us and Rouge had her hands on her face. Sonic was shaking his head in disbelief as he came and sat next to me. "Wow."

"You can't be surprised, Sonic. You've been here about two months now," Rouge said as she moved her hands from her face.

The blue hedgehog shrugged. "Still."

"It's Silver, though. You never know what his screwed-up mind is gonna come up with," Kelly said with a giggle.

"THANK you, Kels- hey, wait a second!" Silver yelped.

Now it was my turn to crack up laughing. Sonic was also laughing- he started clutching my shoulder for support. Silver started pouting and Kelly smirked from her spot on the beanbag. Tails and Rouge shook their heads, and then they looked over to the door as Blaze walked in. "Hi Blaze!"

"What's all the giggling about?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Kelly's being mean to me!" Silver whined.

"Silver set himself up to be insulted, not my fault," Kelly protested.

Blaze rolled her eyes and sat next to Rouge. "You guys are something else."

"Silver are you picking on my cousin again?" Knuckles demanded as he suddenly appeared in my doorway.

"No!" Silver's eyes widened. "She insulted me first!"

Knuckles grinned as he walked over to Kelly and ruffled her dreads. "That's my girl."

Kelly giggled. "Where's Amy?"

"She's picking up Cosmo. Should be here any minute," Knuckles answered as he flopped next to her.

"So, Robyn, do we have a game plan for tonight?" Rouge asked me.

All eyes turned to me. I sweatdropped a little. "Um… well, Ace is making Chinese food for dinner. Lo mein, sweet and sour chicken, vegetable fried rice, honey glazed shrimp, and egg rolls. She said she had stuff for us to make cookies, if we wanted. Zoey's got her ginormous movie collection for us to look through…"

Rouge's eyes gleamed mischievously. "I've got a suggestion."

I eyed her for a moment, and then I facepalmed. "Rouge…"

"What? Sonic has yet to be subjected to it," she pointed out.

Everyone except Sonic understood what she was getting at, and they either facepalmed or groaned. Sonic looked confused. "What…?"

"Truth or dare," Rouge whispered with a wicked grin.

-XxXxX-

Don't get me wrong, dear reader. I loved Rouge to death. I'd known her the longest out of all of my friends. She always stuck up for me; in elementary school I was picked on for being a shy, quiet girl. I remembered that she actually got into a fight with Scourge (one of my main tormentors back then) and busted his lip for saying mean things about me. She was loyal and didn't take crap from anyone.

When it came to Truth or Dare, however... she could be merciless.

We managed to put off her suggestion for several hours. First we ate the food Alustriel made, and then we kinda made a mess trying to bake cookies (okay, it was entirely Knuckles' fault…) Ace got irritated with us for that and banned us from the kitchen. We couldn't decide on a movie to watch until Zoey stepped in and suggested "Me, Myself, and Irene". It actually turned out to be a pretty good movie! Then Kelly, being a really big geek, wanted to watch a few of the Batman movies.

During this whole time, I was trying to get ahold of Chaos and Shadow. They hadn't shown up, and they lived right across the street. Every time I glanced to their house, the lights were always off. Chaos had promised that they'd attend, so naturally I was worried.

Sent- 7:04pm

Robyn: Hey, everyone else is here. We're about to eat dinner. Where are you?

Sent- 8:58pm

Robyn: Guys, where are you at? We're about to start "Batman Returns". Is everything okay? :/

Sent- 9:30pm

Robyn: So, Silver just managed to spill popcorn all over the entertainment room floor. -_-

Sent- 10:01pm

Robyn: Seriously, you two… please answer. We're all worried here.

"Still no response," I told the others as I stared at my phone.

Kelly frowned sadly. "I hope they're okay. This isn't like them… well, it's not like Chaos to ignore his phone. Shadow's a different story."

"Shadow answers his phone sometimes. It depends on how urgent the message is," Amy said as she chewed on a piece of an apple.

Rouge shrugged her shoulders. "Well. Until we hear a response from them… Truth or Dare time!"

Silver was the first one to groan, and that got a pillow thrown at him for it. "Was that really necessary?!"

"Yes," Rouge said.

Kelly clapped her hands. "I'm actually excited for this one! Rouge, ask me."

"Okay, Kels. Truth or dare?" the bat asked with a knowing smile.

"Dare!" Kelly exclaimed.

The rest of us stared at her. Kelly usually wasn't one for doing dares. The fact that Rouge went along so easily with it… something was up.

Rouge's smile widened. "I dare you to sing that song I caught you singing in the shower the other day."

With a smile, Kelly stood up and pulled her iPod out of her pocket. She placed it into the stereo system we had in the gaming room and flipped through several songs before finally stopping on one. She pressed "play" and turned to us as a guitar began the song. My ears pricked as I recognized it- "Beautiful with You" by Halestorm.

Now I understood why she was eager to do this dare. Ever since Miss Hallins had given her the part of the singer for "Shatter Me", she had been obsessed with Lzzy Hale, the woman who sings the song. My echidna friend had found out that Lzzy had a band, called Halestorm, and she had gone through all of their songs in about two days.

I stare
at the girl in the mirror
t-shirt
torn up jeans, no beauty queen.

But the way that you see me
You get underneath me
And all my defenses just fall away

Fall away…

My eyes widened. Was there ANY song Kelly could NOT sing? She sounded AMAZING!

(Chorus)
I am beautiful with you
even in the darkest part of me
I am beautiful with you
Make it feel the way it's supposed to be
You're here with me
You show me this and I'll believe
I am beautiful with you…

I stand
naked before you now
no walls
to hide behind, so here am I

See all of my scars
Still here you are
I bare my soul and I am not afraid

Not afraid…

(Chorus)

I am beautiful with you
even in the darkest part of me
I am beautiful with you
Make it feel the way it's supposed to be
You're here with me
You show me this and I'll believe
I am beautiful with you…

I've been the strong one
for so long but
I was wrong

Doesn't make me weak if you're needing someone
I'm not holding back yeah, I know what I want!

I am beautiful with you…

I am beautiful with you…

You want me for myself
You get me like no one else!

I am beautiful with you (with you!)

(Chorus)
I am beautiful with you
even in the darkest part of me
I am beautiful with you
Make it feel the way it's supposed to be
You're here with me
You show me this and I'll believe
I am beautiful with you…

When the song ended, we were already cheering wildly for her. Rouge had a smug grin on her face while Kelly blushed and sat down. "Thanks guys!"

"All right, Kels. Your turn," Rouge said.

Kelly's eyes scanned the group before landing on Amy. "Ames, truth or dare?"

"I'm gonna go with truth for now," Amy smiled.

The blue echidna tapped her chin. "Oooooooookay! Hmmm.. how long have you gone without showering?"

My eyes widened again. Bold question. Amy's face turned slightly pink. "Um… well… okay, three and a half days. BUT! I had a reason. Remember that summer I went on a road trip with my family?"

The rest of us nodded. Amy took a deep breath. "Our bus actually broke down in the middle of nowhere, so instead of using the water to shower, we used it to keep ourselves hydrated and sane until someone came to rescue us."

"Fair enough. Your turn," Kelly nodded.

"Knuckles, Knuckles, Knuckles. Truth or dare?" the pink hedgehog asked.

Knuckles blinked. "Uh… dare, I guess."

Amy slowly grinned. "I dare you to raid Zoey's closet and wear one of her tiniest shirts for the rest of the game."

Rouge, Kelly, and Silver immediately started cracking up. The rest of us went "Ohhhhhhh!" and Knuckles' eyes were the size of watermelons. "Are you serious?!"

"Yes I'm serious. It's either that or you have to answer two truths," Amy laughed.

Knuckles grumbled and looked to me and Tails. "Is she in her room?"

"Nah, she's in the lounge watching some reality show," Tails answered.

Knuckles grumbled again and got up to leave the room. We all waited anxiously for a few minutes. When he returned, we all started dying of laughter- he was wearing my sister's black crop top with the word "SEXY" written across it in bold, sparkly pink letters. Kelly was in absolute hysterics upon seeing her cousin that she fell off the couch clutching her sides. Knuckles' face was the exact same shade as his dreadlocks and he flipped all of us off as he sat back down.

"Tails, truth or dare?" he barked.

My brother took a few seconds to stop laughing so hard before answering. "T-Truth."

"Hmph… have you ever lied to your sisters for any reason?" Knuckles asked.

"Nope! Never had a reason to," Tails said cheerfully.

He turned to Silver. "Truth or dare, Silver?"

"Eh, truth," the hedgehog said.

"Let's see… if your life was made into a movie, who would be cast to play you?" Tails questioned.

Silver rolled his eyes and spread his arms dramatically. "Puh-lease. I would be cast as myself."

"Heaven forbid that we get someone who can actually act like Silver," Rouge snickered.

The rest of us started laughing again. Silver's mouth fell open and then he pointed at the bat. "Rude! Y'know what Rouge, truth or dare?"

"Dare," she answered without hesitating.

"I dare you… to… run around the room imitating a monkey!" Silver proclaimed.

Rouge went still and blinked at him like she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "A… monkey?"

"Yep! A monkey!" Silver smirked.

Knuckles was already trying to hold back his laughter. Rouge shook her head in disbelief and stood up. She fidgeted for a second before she tucked her arms inward and started prancing around like a monkey. The rest of us started howling as she screeched and jumped up onto the nearest empty chair.

She got down and gave Silver a very long Look. "Hate you."

"The feeling is mutual," he simpered.

"Ugh. Cosmo, truth or dare?" Rouge asked.

The seedrian's face immediately turned red. Poor girl was shy enough; whatever Rouge had in store for her couldn't be good. "T… Truth…"

"Aww, you're so boring," Rouge pouted. "Fine, have you ever sang and danced in front of everyone at the grocery store?"

Cosmo looked confused. "No. Why would I do that?"

Rouge nearly facepalmed. "For fun, silly! Jeez. We need to get you out more."

"Um… Robyn, truth or dare?" Cosmo quickly turned her attention to me.

"Truth," I said, a little surprised.

"If you could be anyone in the world, who would you be?

I didn't even take a second to think about it. "Lindsey Stirling. Y'all know how talented she is."

"Hey, you're talented too," my brother said as he prodded my side.

"Oi. Maybe so but I cannot dance with a violin to save my life, much less be as flexible as she is," I said with a poke back.

He chuckled. We went on for a few more rounds. Kelly was dared to prank call Tikal (which she didn't fall for. Smart girl). Tails asked Blaze what she wanted to be when she was older (that answer being an author). Round and round and round we went, until…

"Sonic, truth or dare?" Rouge smirked.

Oh no. Here it comes. Sonic looked nervous. "Um… dare…?"

I mentally groaned. He had just played into the bat's hands. Rouge smiled widely. "I dare you to kiss the girl you really like in this room."

That got a few squeals out of the other girls. The guys all chuckled. Sonic's face turned bright red and his ears flattened against his head. "I… I don't…-"

"Tut tut, Sonic. We ALL know the girl you like is in this room. It's obvious," the bat pressed.

I felt bad for him. He was clearly being pressured to do something he didn't want to do. "Rouge, he doesn't have-"

And I was cut off by the feeling of Sonic's lips against mine.

EVERYONE cheered and clapped at the sight of this. Me, I sat there with my eyes wide and my body frozen. Sonic slowly pulled away from me and avoided my gaze by looking towards the door. My face was burning up, I could tell. I gently put my fingers to my lips, still feeling the kiss.

"What in the world-?!"

Everybody immediately shut up upon hearing that voice. We turned our heads to see Chaos standing in the doorway, eyes wide and mouth open. Behind him Shadow was standing with his arms crossed and a blank expression.

Chaos' eyes found mine. I was startled by the look in his blue orbs. It seemed… disappointed? Shocked, definitely. But disappointed? That confused me.

"Where in the name of all that is good and lovely have you two been?!" Silver demanded.

The others began bombarding the two brothers. Chaos didn't answer though; his eyes were still on me. Finally Shadow got impatient and shoved past his brother, fixing us all with a hard glare.

"We were at the hospital, if you must know. Maria… Maria is dead."

Dun dun dun.

Man oh man. This chapter took me longer than I thought. I have all these ideas for this story and it's just a matter of getting from idea to idea. Sheesh.

Anywho, I'm an evil author. But you guys already knew that :3

See y'all later!