Disclaimer: I do not own any StH characters, as they belong to SEGA. Anything else (brand-name, song, etc.) isn't owned by me either.

x*Even Friendships Are Complicated*x

-Chapter Ten: (Anything But) Nice and Simple-

In the span of just four days, Amy got over her cold - with the help of a certain ebony friend of course. It was true, staying at home under Shadow's especially strict rule was boring, but the fact that he took it upon himself to take care of her was amazing. And the kiss they shared wasn't forgotten. Both just decided to put it aside for her wellbeing and the ebony male settled for simple kisses planted on her cheek. (And boy, did it make her heart soar…!)

Amy, on the other hand, was so happy that the male felt some kind of way towards her. Even he couldn't deny that for a particularly small seventeen-year-old, she was attractive. But, the rosy female had conflicted feelings on who she'd have more affection for. Sure, it was Shadow now, but it wouldn't be long before she ran into Sonic again.

And that's when things got all the more complicated…

She held them both at the perspective of being their friend, but she and Shadow were going a little beyond that for the moment, while Sonic was being left in the dust. If Sonic were to ever find out, there was going to be a fight, no doubt. Rouge's plan was in one way or another somewhat flawless.

The plan had been made simple; make Sonic jealous. But she needed a safe back-up plan loophole. Something that wouldn't backfire on her in the end.

And it didn't help Shadow may have already figured her out before then…

~.~

After those significant four days, another week or so passed as October rolled in and it become increasingly colder. But it didn't deter the blue hedgehog from his plans of winning the female's attention. In fact, he was planning to put things into action that night.

"Where are you planning to take her?" Cream had asked that morning.

"Well, I don't think a restaurant would do, considering I've already screwed that idea up for future possibilities, but I think something simple could go a long way here." he replied.

"Simple as in…?"

"I'm not going to tell you, Cream. All you'll do is go back and tell Amy and I want her to be surprised!" Sonic grinned when the rabbit had pouted. And that was all she knew. The rabbit didn't bother to tell Amy (like she ever was in the first place…) and left it up to Sonic to try and make something of his feelings for Amy. But the girl couldn't help but have a biased opinion on who she wanted to come out on top.

Sonic has broken Amy's more times than they can be counted (She should know, she's been around a emotionally distressed Amy many times). Cream was glad they finally settled through things and became friends, but she was starting to see where Rouge was coming from.

Did he deserve her after all he's done to her?

Could he somehow still win her heart when she failed to win his?

All those questions raced around her head as she watched the blue hedgehog leave Tails' house to go to action. Cream knew she couldn't predict the future, but she still had a bad feeling about him suddenly confessing his 'love'.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

When Amy heard her doorbell ring, she was more expecting to see Shadow at the door. She had got all dolled up in case he decided to drop by, which was funny seeing as she'd done the same thing when she was hopelessly in love with Sonic. But, to actually see Sonic show up as she had done so…was just strange.

"Hey, Ames! You look nice." the blue hedgehog greeted with a grin. The female, however, was a little speechless. Being around Shadow, she forgot about his 'seemingly strange' behavior. Looking over her outfit, a simple pair of dark blue jeans and a clean white long sleeve shirt. Yep, nice.

"Um, thanks. You do too?" When he chuckled, she then figured that he'd finally lost his mind. She didn't realize she had made a joke.

"Funny you should say that. I'm actually here wondering if you'd like to go out. Just for the night." Sonic said. Amy was a little taken aback by that question. Since their compromise, he said 'hang out', not 'go out'. Knowing this, she immediately regretted her next words.

"L-Like a date?" she stuttered. Clamping a hand over her mouth with wide eyes and a blush, she mentally kicked herself. Why did you say that you idiot?! Didn't we just go over the deal? DIDN'T WE?!

"If you want to call it that, sure. Would you like to go on a date with me?"

Records scratched and everything slowed down. Did he just ask her out? Like, ask her out for real?! The Sonic she knew wouldn't come straight out with what he had initially meant, he was that mysterious sometimes. The pink hedgehog was clearly in a frozen stupor, but when she finally came back to reality, she really should've thought about her next choice of words.

"S-Sure…" she replied with a small blush.

Mental face-palm.

The grin never left Sonics' face, "Great. Let's get going!" She had a minute to react before her door was shut and she was scooped up into his arms, just like Shadow. Though the ebony male held her more securely, she knew he wasn't one to take things slow. Wasting not another moment, the blue hedgehog took at a speed that was his namesake.

To think she'd be used to this by now…

~.~

Within the next minute or two, Sonic came to a stop in the park. After walking a ways inside, the blue and pink hedgehogs arrived at a lake. When Amy saw the blue male sit, she also took a seat the lake's edge.

"Why here?" Amy asked. It was the first time she had spoken since being there.

"Ah, you know. I didn't want to overdo it. I thought something simple would've been nice." Sonic replied, picking up a rock. He flicked his wrist as the stone skipped across the water before sinking just before the other end.

"You brought me here to skip rocks?" the girl asked, clearly not hiding the somehow irritated tone she had.

"Not particularly…I wanted to talk," he said, skipping another. He then turned towards her, "I want to talk about…us." he stated, looking her directly in the eyes.

The smaller hedgehog was confused and shocked, "What do you mean?"

"I mean…well, do you ever think about what we'd be like if we were a couple?" The small female felt like the world was about to end. Was Sonic the Hedgehog actually sitting here asking if she thought about them being together? Where had he been five years ago?

"If you mean before the whole date fiasco months back, then sure. I thought about it all the time." she replied. Which had some truth behind it, because she had.

"No, I mean now. Do you think about us now?" Sonic asked, and the look in his eyes meant that he was being serious about this.

Amy thought about her answer a bit carefully before saying something, "No, I don't. I just figured since we're going to be friends, I didn't need to fantasize about what could of, would have been," she then finally turned to look at him, "What brought all this on?" she asked, finally voicing her curiosity.

He hesitated. This was supposed to be the moment where he confessed his hidden feelings to her.

She was right there…

All he had to do was utter those three simple words…

But he was scared to know her reaction…

"I don't know honestly." he replied. Technically that was four.

"So, you just randomly want to know what I think about you now?" Amy asked suspiciously. Something had to be up; the weird behavior, taking her out places, simply tolerating being near her, and now this?

"Well, maybe…I don't know…" Sonic stuttered. All he learned from Google just flew from his mind. Maybe in this case, Sally would've been the better consultant.

"Sonic, what's really going on? You've been acting weird since that date. Are you sure nothing's going on?" the girl asked. Sonic now knew he had a choice. Tell her or chicken and try again later…

"Amy…I-I like you." There he said it. He saw the girl gasp and Sonic looked away when she did. That didn't sound too happy. Alright, brace for impact of lethal hammer….NOW!

After a few seconds, he realized nothing came.

When he built up the nerve to look back at her, the rosy female had tears threatening to fall, and her mouth was agape. His emerald orbs searched her jade ones, finding sadness and even anger…and he knew he was the cause of it.

"Amy…"

"Why now…?" Amy suddenly asked.

"What?"

"Why now?" she asked more sternly. One tear managed to slip away, but she quickly caught it, "Why after all this time I've been confessing my love to you, you wait until we're friends to do this to me?"

"I-I don't know. It just…happened."

"This didn't just fucking happen, Sonic! You think after all those years of standing me up and treating me like I wasn't worth your time, I'm just going to accept your feelings as if you did what I wasted five years of my life doing?!" Amy now shouted at him, standing. Sonic stood also, somewhat hurt by her words.

"I never treated you like that, Amy! All those times I didn't show up to your dates because a mad scientist was trying to take over the city! Did you just expect me to stop saving the world to give you an hour of my time?" he exclaimed.

"It wouldn't hurt every once in a while." the female argued, with a scowl.

"Everything isn't about you Amy!" Sonic shouted. Sure, she had a compelling point, it didn't stop her from sounding the least bit selfish. And the Amy Rose he knew was a selfless person; the very opposite of this Amy Rose.

"Well, everything isn't always about you either, Sonic! You go around like everything and anything is just going to go your way! You don't think I don't know why this just happened? It's because you're jealous of Shadow and me!" Amy yelled, tears streaming down her face. Sonic looked at her with a facial expression struck between a scowl and shock.

"I never said I was jealous." Sonic quickly countered.

"You don't have to. I know from experience what jealousy is and looks like. I was jealous of all the girls that threw themselves at you and you went along with it. You're jealous because all my attention isn't on you-"

"To hell with that, Amy! I'm not jealous of anything that bastard doesn't have! All he does is lie, cheat, and steal; he's not good enough for your company!" the blue male interrupted. The next thing he knew, the pink female's hand ran across his face in a fierce slap as she glared at him through her tears.

"Don't you EVER say that about Shadow again! He's a lot better than you ever were to me!"

Forgetting the stinging sensation in his cheek, Sonic did something - from Amy's perspective - out of character. Grabbing her by her shoulders, he firmly pressed his lips to hers and held them there as he tried to kiss her. Amy struggled against his grip by hitting him and punching him and pushing him, but his grip held strong. Caught so off-guard by his actions, she really couldn't give up much of a fight. The kiss itself was angry and lustful.

When she stop long enough to his liking, he deepened the kiss; one hand tangled in her pink curls of hair and the other holding her by the waist. At this point, Amy couldn't stop it, and her brain was having processing the whole thing.

So…she gave up.

The old side of her - the hopeless Sonic romantic - took control as she kissed him back just as deep, nearly competing with him to get the upper hand. Her hands went into his quills, the kiss becoming heated. Sonic was surprised that she just gave in, but he didn't argue or fuss about it and went on with what he was now occupied with; her lips. The rosy girl chanced to open her eyes a bit while it all happened.

What am I doing…? What about Shadow…? she asked herself, in the heated daze she was experiencing. Her gaze went over to the miles of forest that linked directly into the park and saw something in between two trees.

…What is that black dot over there behind the tree?

Though her mind was still preoccupied, as were her lips, her eyes went wide catching a glimpse of red in that black dot. Something in that instance clicked in her head.

SHADOW! her mind screamed.

Amy tore away from Sonic just as the black dot disappeared. Without a second thought, she dashed off after it at full speed; or at least as fast as she could manage to go. The blue male was left standing there dumbfounded.

"Amy!" Sonic called after her. Once he had his senses back, he began chasing her as she chased the black dot she presumed was the ebony hedgehog. Since the blue blur was a lot faster, it wasn't long before Sonic caught up.

"Amy, wait! Stop!"

"NO! Move!" she cried, her tears had returned. She had been afraid of this. Get close to one, hurt the other. Since Sonic had not known about her sharing the one kiss with Shadow, it had been alright for the time being. She couldn't bare the thought of causing either of them such heartbreak, but Shadow even more so with his tragic past…

And because of this, because of what he had seen, he may never trust me again…

"Amy, Amy! Why did you run away?!" Sonic tried again, blocking her path as she tried to maneuver around him.

"Sonic, just get out the way!" Amy shouted.

She brushed past him finally, but Sonic managed to catch her wrist a little harder than intended, which made her lose her footing and fall. A black blur came by and made sure she didn't hit the ground and when she was safely positioned in front a tree, she only saw Shadow looming over Sonic, who was on the ground holding his bruised cheek, with his fists clenched at his sides.

"What the hell, Shadow?!" Sonic exclaimed.

"Don't play that innocent shit with me! How could you?!" Shadow screamed at him. He just as enraged as he was heartbroken. Of course, it had been a complete coincidence that he was taking a walk through the forest thinking about a certain pink hedgehog when he happens to see a glimpse of pink and hoped it was her.

It was her…but he didn't expect to see her locking-lips with Sonic. A lot more than he ever shared with the girl, but shocking nonetheless. When she had spotted him, he knew he had to get out of there. But when he saw how he had grabbed her, he couldn't live with just have letting her fall when he could've done something to prevent it.

So he came back to give Sonic a piece of his mind.

"You don't own her! What makes you think you have more rights over her than I do?" Sonic yelled back. Standing on his own two feet, the males stared each other down as Amy tried to get a grip on what was happening while standing.

"What gives me more right?" he started, giving a crude laugh before he returned the glare, "It more along the line of who deserve her, and after all you've done to her, you think you deserve her more?" Shadow challenged.

"Damn right I do! I've known her longer!"

"And out of that time, when have you actually taken time from your so-called 'busy' schedule to be with her?" Sonic was caught off guard with this question. It was the same thing Amy had said. Only, he made it seem it was about her.

"I…Well…"

"Don't even try to answer that, you…" he sighed. His scowl grew deeper, "You know what, why do I even try to talk some sense into you? Maybe you're better off with her, at least someone can work your shitty attitude." and with that, Shadow began walking away. As Sonic, stared at his retreating form, Amy stood there, watching. Her tears were steadily streaming down her face.

What have I done?

"Yeah, well who needs you! Your attitude is just as bad, you bastard! Enjoy being a sadistic loner for the rest of your life!" The blue male shouted. Birds flew overhead at the disturbance and noise levels, squawking as they flew away. When the blur finally turned around to face Amy, he found that she was gone.

"God damn it!" he cursed.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Amy didn't know how long it took, but by the time she had reached her home, she was out of breath and her sobs and tears did nothing to help. She couldn't believe she let it go this far. The rosy female didn't even bother to go inside, but collapsed on the doorstep and cried. Just cried for all it was worth.

And just what was the worth?

She had lost two good friends and she didn't have the heart to fix the damage she had caused. How could she? They'll just start fighting over her again.

"For once, something went right in my life! Why can't it stay that way?!" she yelled to no one. Pulling at her quills nonstop, she sobbed and cried and sobbed some more.

"Why? WHY?! Why me, why not someone else? I just want something to go right! Why can't it?!" she screamed. The ground welcomed her once more as she took on a fetal position and continued to cry, not caring about anything anymore.

Why should she? She was destined to be alone. No one would come for her anyways…

~.~

When Shadow stalked inside the GUN headquarters building and brushed past Rouge without so much as a hello, she immediately knew something was up. Though he wasn't the most social person around, a simple nod of acknowledgement would do the hedgehog justice.

But to just storm right past?

Rouge thought about what she should do. She had to work, but she had a feeling - a very strong feeling - that he wasn't the only one that needed some kind of assistance. Call it best friend's intuition. Looking around, she made sure nobody was around to see her, before rushing to the door and taking flight to her destination.

The ivory bat landed and what she found was not what she wanted to see. A pink hedgehog curled up on the steps of her own home, still shaking with quiet sobs. Tsking softly, she picked up the heap of female and helped her to the door. She didn't know how long she had been there, but the whole left side of body was filthy with dirt, her face stained with the color of gravel from the gravel doorstep.

With the bat's help, they finally made it inside and shut the door and Rouge led the broken female to her bedroom. As soon as she did, Amy dropped to the floor.

"Amy, please get up…"

"Why? So the floor can hate me for stepping on it?!" she cried. There were no tears left for the rosy girl to cry. Just empty sobs.

"Amy, this is not you. You need to get up sweetie." Rouge picked her up again, but the hedgehog was being a bit difficult in her emotional funk. Using all her might, she got the girl on her bed at least.

"The world hates me…Why can't I just go back to Mobius and be the only Mobian on the planet and live the rest of my life alone away from people?" Amy said.

"Well, if you did that, you wouldn't see your friends-"

"WHAT FRIENDS?!" Amy shouted, "You mean Shadow and Sonic?! They aren't my friends anymore…why are friendships complicated with guys? Why can't you like one, and not the other without worrying they'll fight?" she asked.

"Just give them some time to cool down. You know they're both total hotheads. Shadow is just as…well, whatever you are. What did you do exactly?" Rouge asked politely. She figured to help the female it would be best to take it slow.

"I kissed Shadow."

Rouge's face lit up, "Oh, well, then Sonic is just-"

"I kissed Sonic, too." she stated sadly. The ivory bat's face fell a little.

"Oh. Now I see the problem. Sonic saw you?"

"Shadow saw us. Just a few hours ago…I think it was a few hours. Sonic said he liked me, I yelled at him, he yelled at me, and then he forcefully kissed me…and I fell for it."

At this, the bat didn't know what to say. And she knew that somehow this was her fault. If she hadn't suggested that plan she made up, her best friend wouldn't have - wouldn't be in this situation now. Casting her gaze to the floor, she thought of something to say.

"I know you're blaming yourself. But honestly, maybe I just shouldn't have listened to you and messed up when I did. I should've just left it alone…" Amy said. She took off her ruined shirt, leaving her in just a white camisole and laid back down in her bed. Pulling her purple sheets over her head, she said one last thing;

"Just give me some space, Rouge. I need to be alone right now."

Without an argument, the bat left and snuck back into the office. But when she got there, she realized she shared the same side of the cubicle with Shadow, being partners and all. Quietly easing into her chair, she pretended to get started on work and the ebony hedgehog behind her never said a thing.

Maybe I did go a little far…Shadow's quiet, but never this quiet. Something else is up with him. And I have to fix this. My end of the plan.

Surprised to see an early update? I know I am! I couldn't believe it when I finished the last of this. As you can see this was the big equalizer, not so much Sonamy, but bare with me, I really did try to make a scene that fit into what I originally wanted. So, Amy's in a funk, Rouge is trying to fix Shadow, but where is Sonic?

Only next chapter will tell and how things get resolved. Hoping you guys will stick around for it.

Also, VOTING! Yep, it's finally here. Those of you who already voted, I'll count it towards the final score, so you don't have to revote or anything. The vote will go on for about four or five days, and anything after cannot be counted, I'm sorry. There are no polls going up either. I've started on the next chapter, but it'll probably change after the votes are in. And yes, I know, I'm making Sonic the bad guy here, but trust me, there's a twist…

So, please leave a comment on how you might've like it (or in this case, a vote too) or how it could be improved. Until next time… -D.A.K