Chapter 9
Falling in love again
TAILS' HOUSE
9:20AM
Cream woke up with a blinding hangover, as was expected for someone who got drunk the previous night. Her entire body felt twice as heavy and she had a foul taste in her mouth that she just had to get rid of.
With a good amount of effort, she lifted herself of the bed and looked around. She saw that she was not in her room; her posters weren't there, the walls were orange and not pink and there was a desktop on a nearby study table. Then she remembered yesterday's events and sighed in depression.
Cream found two pills of aspirin and a bottle of water on the bedside table. She took the aspirin and gulped the water. Her hangover began to subside and the water managed to get the horrid taste out of her mouth. However, she was dreadfully hungry.
She saw her dress lying on a chair and instinctively looked at herself, relieved that Tails hadn't let her sleep in her underwear.
Cream ventured downstairs to the smell of freshly made toast and pancakes. She entered the kitchen and saw Tails at the stove, freshly showered and dressed, making pancakes. He turned around and smiled when he saw her.
"Good morning." He said.
Cream yawned. "Morning. What's for breakfast?"
Tails served the pancakes into a plate. "Pancakes. With syrup. Your favorite."
Cream sat down at the table and picked up a fork. She tried some of the pancake. "Wow, its good. You know there's no one else in this world that makes my favorite pancakes better than you."
Tails chuckled. "Thanks for the compliment. Would you like some juice?"
"Yes, please."
Tails poured her a glass of orange juice and served some pancakes for himself. They ate in silence for a while until Tails decided to prod her for more information about the happenings of last night. "How's your head?"
Cream rubbed it lightly. "It's better now. The aspirin really helped."
Tails nodded. "Yeah. It must have been really hard on you to drive you to the point of getting drunk."
Cream said nothing and returned to her breakfast.
Tails continued to prod. "What exactly did he say to you? I mean, it couldn't have just been catching him with another girl that made you upset."
"I don't want to talk about it." Cream growled.
Tails reached across the small table and gently squeezed her hand. "Cream, you're going to have to let it out eventually. The longer you keep it in, the more depressed and withdrawn you will get."
Cream sighed. "He made it pretty clear that all he wanted from me was sex. He never wanted love, just my pussy." She sobbed as the scene played through her mind. "He said that he had sexual needs that needed to be let out. And if he couldn't let them out on me, then he could always find some other girl."
Tails nodded slowly. "I see. So that wasn't the first time that he cheated on you. You just never caught him the previous times." He made a mental note to beat this cat up.
Cream finally let go, releasing all her tears and sobs. She buried her face in her hands and cried into them. She just felt so helpless and miserable.
She felt hands on her shoulders and looked up to see Tails standing there. He lifted her up and pulled her into a hug. She returned it for all it was worth, while softly crying into her shoulder. He gently rocked her back and forth, soothing her. Eventually she calmed down and pulled away. Tails didn't let go though.
He brought his hands up to her cheeks and wiped the tears away with his fingers. She looked up at him with those eyes, those cute brown eyes that he fell in love with. She was just so gorgeous, even if her face was a bit stretched from crying. Tails slowly brought his hand to her chin and tilted her head up. He slowly began to lean in.
Cream saw what he was doing and gently brought her finger to his lips. "Tails, I don't think I'm ready to start another relationship right now. I'll be real comfortable with us just being friends."
"Right." Tails cleared his throat and held her at shoulders length before letting her go. "It's just…" He shrugged his shoulders. "You should go take a shower. I have to get you home. Your mother must be worried sick."
Cream knew Tails wanted to say something else but she just let it go. For now. "Yeah. Do you have any spare clothes I could borrow?"
"Uh, yeah. I'll lay them out for you when you're in the shower."
"OK, then." Cream walked back upstairs, to the bathroom.
-X-X-X-
10:47AM
Tails parked his Pathfinder on Cream's driveway. Cream got out, wearing one of Tails' t-shirts and some skinny jeans. She turned around and leaned onto the car's window. "Thank you, Tails, for looking out for me and for being there. You are a true friend."
Hearing that sickened Tails. But he didn't dare say it; instead he just smiled. "Happy to help."
"Well, see you." Cream turned around and walked to her house. Tails reversed and drove away.
Cream unlocked the door and went in. She expected to immediately be confronted by her irate mother and bombarded with questions. Instead, the house was quiet. Then she remembered: today was Sunday. Which meant Vanilla was probably out with her friends.
Cream went straight to her room and threw herself on the bed. She cuddled with her favorite teddy bear for a bit. It helped her think after stressful events.
Right now she was thinking about Tails' hug. It was comforting to say the least but there was also something else that she felt, something she had never felt for the past three years. She had never felt it when Clement hugged her.
Then there was that moment when Tails looked into her eyes. She found herself melting when she stared at those ocean blue eyes. They had this unique hypnotic effect on her and that set the butterflies fluttering in her stomach. Wait, what was she thinking? Did Tails feel the same way? Well, he did try to kiss her.
Cream's mind instantly went blank and she focused on that moment. When Tails slowly lifted her chin, when he moved in. And she had to push him back. As sweet as it would be to feel those soft sweet lips on her own, she was not really sure if that was what she actually wanted. And then she had to friend-zone him.
Wait a minute; was she falling in love with him again?
Cream took out her cell phone and searched through her contacts list until she found the number she was looking for: her best friend from high school, Linda.
"Hey, Lin."
She did not have to wait long for the reply.
"Hey, Creamy. I was waiting to hear from you for like forever. How was last night's party?"
Cream huffed. Linda was always quick and direct in voicing her curiosities.
"It was of two halves: awesome and horrible."
"Aaaawww . Explain the horrible part." Linda texted.
"I caught Clement cheating on me."
Linda's reaction was immediate. "What? That bastard! I always knew he was a jerk."
Cream continued. "He told me all he wanted from me was my pussy and nothing else."
"You haven't had sex with him before, have you?"
"No. I always brought up an excuse every time he tried to push it too far." All the times when she and Clement were alone and making out, he always tried to take it a step further: pulling her shirt off, rubbing her through her panties. And all the while, Cream always found and or made up an excuse for him to stop.
Linda texted back. "Oh, good. Coz he wasn't worth it. But don't worry, you'll find someone else eventually."
Those words reminded Cream. "I think I already found him."
"Oh, really? ;-). Who is that?"
"Uh… Tails."
Linda took a while to answer. "Tails? That cute ex-boyfriend of yours?"
"Yeah. I think I'm falling in love with him again."
"That's great. I have to admit, when he left before, you really let the good one get one get away."
Cream laughed at that. "LOL. Well, he did have a certain effect on me. It was very unique. When he touched me, when he kissed me…" As she texted, she began reminiscing about those precious moments.
"Oh, you're definitely in love with him, Creamy. I can tell right now you're getting that distant look on your face."
Cream blushed as she texted back. "Yeah, I am."
(A.N: I felt so girly when I was writing this part.)
-X-X-X-
11:30AM
Tails had been driving for the better part of one hour. He had long since left the city and was now cruising through the wide open roads of the country. This was a kind of therapy he employed back when he was at Tronis. Whenever he felt stressed, he would drive through the countryside and try to clear his head.
He left the road and detoured into a grassy dirt road. Eventually, he came to the edge of a gentle slope that dropped to a small lake at the bottom. Tails killed the engine and got out.
He thought back to this morning when he tried to kiss Cream. And when she pushed him away. Was it that she no longer liked him that way? That whatever romantic feelings she had for him evaporated the day he left? In her own explanation, she said that she was not yet ready for another relationship and that they can just be friends.
Which meant he had just been friendzoned. He remembered a not-so-common saying: "Saying we can still be friends after a break up is like saying 'the pet died but we can still keep it.'" If that was the case between him and Cream, then he didn't like it. And he wasn't comfortable with it.
Because he still loved her. Not as a friend but something much more than a friend. And that was where he truly belonged with Cream. The only problem now was that Cream didn't see it that way.
As for Cream's current state of mind, Tails only had one person to blame for that: Clement. That blasted cat really did it. His selfish actions had led to Cream's emotional collapse.
Tails vowed he was going to make Clement pay. He didn't know how he was going to do it, but he was still gonna do something. He could rig up some sort of invention that could publicly humiliate him. He could concoct some sort of psychological drug that could temporarily cause him psychological trauma. Nah, these plans were too overkill for his taste. Which just left the one option: He could kick his ass.
Tails smiled at the thought. While most people would take one glance at him and quickly dismiss him as some physically weak nerd, he could prove them wrong. During his youth, he had received more than his fair share of hand-to-hand combat training and he was also extremely agile and his reflexes were sharp. So, yeah, he was going to give Clement one hell of a beatdown.
That should teach him to mess with someone he loves.
Grinning deviously, Tails hopped back into his car and began the long journey back to the city. He knew what he had to do.
-X-X-X-
A/N: The next chapter might be a little late so I'll try to be as fast as I can. I want to finish this story at least before mid-October.
J.W.H. 10
