I would like to thank my readers who stuck with me this far. I know it's been taking me so long to do these updates and I apologize for that. I get to it when I have time. With that being said, I guess that I'll continue where I left off. This is the Knuckles and Rouge date chapter. The action is just getting started. Trust me when I say that I'm going to end this story right.


Knuckles stepped out of the shower feeling renewed. A good shower really was all that he needed to just be fully relaxed and restored. Steam trailed from the bathroom as Knuckles walked out. He came out with a towel wrapped around his abdomen. He still had some water on his back, however, and when he walked past Rouge; his ripped torso was glistening in the room light. She caught a glimpse of his manly backside and staring hard. To Rouge, he never looked better. Water was still in his dreads as well; so when looked back at her, she really began to ogle him. He had that beach stud look on him.

"Rouge!" Knuckles yelled.

"What?" She finally responded. Rouge was staring at Knuckles so hard that she was not aware that Knuckles had been talking to her.

"What the heck are you looking at? Did I miss a spot?" he asked with a bit of cockiness to his voice.

"Not at all. In fact, I was just admiring you, uh, your bathing skills. You really know to clean up," said Rouge.

"Heh. Thanks, I guess," he replied with a smile.

He went over to the mirror and started checking himself out; making sure that he was in order. For a person who lives outdoors, Knuckles was acting a lot like a pretty boy. He actually was trying to look good instead of accepting his natural appearance. He used some hotel complimentary cocoa butter on his face so that it would smell nice and shine. Rouge had just gone inside to take her shower. He waited patiently until she was finished. When she came out of the shower, she had a white towel wrapped around her torso and abdomen. Her hair was dripping wet. It was surprisingly longer than you first realized.

She looked at her torn clothes in her hand, which consisted of her tights and her heart top. Her heart top was still in good conditioning but her tights were another story. There were severely battered and torn. It was most definitely not something that you wear for a date. She dropped them in the middle of the floor and went over to Knuckles and sat down on his lap, which made Knuckles blush.

"Rouge… uhhh…." He started.

"Knuckles, you have to take me shopping first. I have nothing to wear," said Rouge as she ran her finger up and down his chest.

"No way! That's where I draw the line. There's absolutely no way that I'm going to sit up in a store and watch you try on clothes," said Knuckles.

"Is that so?" she asked with a smirk. She got off his lap and sat right back down on his lap so that she was face to face with him.


About fifteen minutes later….

"I can't believe that I'm sitting up in this store and I'm watching her try on clothes," said Knuckles in such a depressed tone that it would've made even made Shadow feel sorry for him. After Rouge had a 'talk' with Knuckles, she somehow convinced him to go clothes shopping with him. They searched around until Rouge finally spotted a Lacy's department store. To Knuckles' dismay, he was dragged into the women's department. Rouge took off in search of a suitable wardrobe, leaving Knuckles standing in the middle of the store. He then walked over and found a seat, where he recited the first sentence of this paragraph.

Another gentleman was sitting across from him reading a magazine. He was a blue hedgehog with well groomed spikes and he wore glasses. His attire consisted of a burgundy sweater vest and a nice pair of black slacks. This gentleman lowered his magazine and looked over to where Knuckles was sitting.

"This must be your first time shopping with your woman?" asked the hedgehog.

"Huh?" asked a puzzled Knuckles.

"You're showing all the signs. You're mumbling angrily to yourself, you looked bored out of your mind, and your body language is just screaming 'shoot me now'," said the hedgehog with a chuckle. "How long have the two of you been married?"

"What? No, you have the wrong impression here, pal. I'm here with my….. friend," said Knuckles

"She must mean something to you if she's got you sitting up here in a woman's clothing store," said the hedgehog. "The only guys I know that insist on going to these stores are those weird, pushover types who can't score dates."

Knuckles laughed out loud. "Is that so? Well, I assure you that I do not fall into that category."

"Well, good. You didn't look like it anyway," said the hedgehog. "My name's Sean."

"I'm Knuckles the Echidna," Knuckles replied.

They shook hands.

"So, is your lady as nerve wrecking as mine?" asked Sean.

"Probably more nerve wrecking. I just don't understand her sometimes," said Knuckles.

"Does she get under your skin?" asked Sean.

"All the way down to the cells," said Knuckles.

"Well, there's no doubting it now, Knuckles. You've just told on yourself," said Sean.

"What do you mean?"

"This lady obviously means a lot to you. She's the type that you can fight and argue with all day but at the end of each day, you realize why you love her and you know that you'd do anything to please her. That's why you're here," said Sean.

"I doubt that's the reason," Knuckles replied.

"You might not think it to be true now but give it time. I know it's fate because it happened to me. I'm sitting here for the same reason that you are. I was talked into this by the woman that I love. Angela has to be the loudest, craziest woman that I've ever met. She gets under my skin all the time but at the end of the day, I know that she's my soul mate. That's why I don't mind doing this from time to time. It pleases her," said Sean.

"It sounds like this Angela is quite a woman," said Knuckles.

"She is, and I believe you'd feel the same way about your lady if you were willing to just lower your guard and give her a chance," said Sean.

Knuckles pondered for a moment. Sean really seemed like he knew what he was talking about. Maybe he was right. If he gave Rouge a chance, maybe she would turn out to be the one. Maybe it is possible for a treasure guardian and a treasure thief to find love within each other. Knuckles had to admit, Rouge really had been laying off of him about taking the Master Emerald. So why has she been coming to Angel Island for if she doesn't want the emerald anymore? Knuckles was snapped out of his train of thought when a hedgehog wearing a sundress and white sunglasses walked over to where Sean was sitting. She was very attractive, too. Nice curves, nice bust, and her cyan fur glossed in the light. She was one of a kind.

"I have my dress for the party, dear. Looks like I didn't need your help finding a dress after all," said Angela.

"You never do, babe. If you're going to drag me down to one of these stores and force me to sit here, the least you could do is give me something to do while I sit here," said Sean.

"Ok, sweetie. I'll try not to leave you alone anymore," said Angela.

"Thanks, babe," said Sean.

Knuckles looked and couldn't help smiling at what he saw. He couldn't see a thing wrong with her.

"I don't see what's so bad about her, Sean. She seems real nice to me," said Knuckles.

Angela looked at Sean furiously.

"So, you've been talking about me to strangers, Sean. Are you out of your mind?" she asked in spite. You could hear it on her tongue.

"Babe, Knuckles isn't a stranger. I've known him for a while now," Sean lied.

"I don't care!" she yelled. "My husband is talking about me behind my back like I'm some cheap floozy. A few heads turned and looked at the trio.

"Babe, what have I told you about causing a scene when we go out," said Sean calmly.

Angela looked back and saw people looking at her. She lowered her eyebrows and mean mugged the crowd. "What the hell are you looking at? Haven't you ever seen a couple have an argument before? Turn back around before I come and slap the tracks out of your head. Yeah, I'm talking to you, Weavie Wonder. Don't play dumb with me. I am not the one."

"See what I mean," said Sean, turning to Knuckles. "She doesn't talk to you. She talks over you."

Knuckles chuckled. Angela was quite the character.

"I heard you, Sean. It's not too late to get slapped in here. I'll slap your mouth shut for you," said Angela.

Sean turned to Knuckles, sighing. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a card. He handed it to Knuckles. It contained his contact information. "It was nice meeting you, Knuckles. We should hang out sometimes and get away from these crazy women."

Knuckles laughed once again as Sean practically had to drag Angela out of the store. Knuckles could hear them arguing with each other in the distance as they left.

"I can't take you anywhere," said Sean.

"Take me home before I hurt somebody. If you don't shut up, it might be you that I hurt," said Angela.

"I love you," said Sean.

"Shut up!"

Knuckles couldn't get over how they acted. Despite the arguing, Knuckles could tell that their love was still as strong as ever. It wasn't exactly the most conditional love but it worked for them. If they could love so hard despite their bickering, then perhaps he and Rouge were compatible after all. After listening to what Sean had to say, he seemed more confused now than ever about his feelings for the bat. Rouge affects him unlike anyone else ever has. Although, they fight all the time and his life would be easier if she weren't in it, he'd rather not have that fate. Seeing Sean and Angela opened Knuckles' eyes to the possibility that he might harbor feelings for Rouge.

"What was that all about?" Knuckles was brought from his train of thought by the voice of Rouge, who had snuck up behind him.

"Trust me, you don't even wanna know," said Knuckles. He turned around. Rouge was astonishing. She wore a tight, pink strapless top with an adequate amount of cleavage exposed along with her midriff. Her pants were an even tighter pair of her old tights that really exposed her ASSets and hugged her curves. She still wore her iron boots with the pick nails attached and her gloves. For a moment, Knuckles was at a loss for words.

"Do I look okay, Knuckles?" asked Rouge.

"Huh?"

She giggled at his lack of focus at the moment. Of course, she dressed like this on purpose but it seems like she overdid it just a bit. Knuckles was mush. "I'll take that as a 'yes'. Are you ready to go?"

"I've been ready. Let's go," he finally replied.

As they approached the door, Knuckles noticed that a price tag was still on the back of Rouge's top.

"Did you pay for these?" asked Knuckles.

"Uh, no. Be quiet about it, though," said Rouge.

"Come back, thief!"

Knuckles and Rouge turned around to see that a female clerk and two security robots were in pursuit of them. Knuckles and Rouge took off running out of the store before the guards could catch up to them. Before leaving, Knuckles picked up a clothing rack and tossed it like a javelin directly into the chest of one of the robots, which made it short circuit and spin out of control. The remaining robot shot a taser wire from his cuff. It just barely missed Knuckles, who dashed out of the way before he could be tazed. Once they were outside, Rouge took to the air with Knuckles holding her by the hand. The remaining robot jumped up surprisingly high. It grabbed Knuckles by the foot. The extra weight made Rouge start falling fast.

"Knuckles, I can't hold you both," said Rouge through gritted teeth.

"Well, drop me then," said Knuckles.

Rouge did as she was told. She let him go. As Knuckles and the robot fell from the sky, the robot loosened his grip on Knuckles. As he did, Knuckles reached down and pounded hard and rapidly into the chest palate of the robot. He beat the metal away to reveal its power core. One more punch to its chest and the robot exploded. The result of the explosion sent Knuckles flying back into the air. Rouge grabbed Knuckles around the waist as he shot back up towards her.

"I can't believe you!" said Knuckles. He was panting hard after beating on the robot. "I thought we were keeping a low profile!"

"Come on, Knuckie. Buying the dress wouldn't have been any fun at all," said Rouge. "Anyone can buy an outfit, but it takes real skill and prowess to steal one."

"I can't take you anywhere," said Knuckles with a slight chuckle, shaking his head.

"Shut up or I'll drop you," said Rouge.


I originally had not planned to end this chapter right here, but I felt that my readers were entitled to something. I hope this is enough to hold you over until my next update. Sorry for the long wait. I write when I have the feeling and time. It's hard matching the two, but it's coming back to me slowly. With any luck, I'll be able to update at the most earliest convenience. Thanks to all the readers who stuck with me this long. You guys rock!

ICY KNUCKLES