I have no excuse for my late update apart from that I briefly lost my motivation, but it's back :) I can't promies weekly updates but I honestly do try. A big thank you to Skyelara, SuperShadow-1248, xPurpleTopazx, BlueyO, ChillyNight, doctorcookiemonster, Lightning Eyes, Kaikai Kitsune, Hollie the hedgehog and Valerika (welcome to the story! ^_^).

So... in case its been so long that this story has gained some cobwebs in your minds, just to recap: Cream mentioned that it wasn't the same without Amy with them and Sonic left the group... But why?

Chapter 10 – Matchmaking

Amy couldn't believe it. He'd run off. Again. They'd come so far; he was even starting to open up to her and then, like so many times before, he'd ditched her. Perhaps it wasn't specifically her; the rest of the group were equally disappointed with his sudden exit, but that didn't stop her from feeling anxious and frustrated. Why was it so hard to get that boy to stay in one place? He just couldn't wait to get away from her, could he?

.

Even when she was in disguise, he somehow managed to shun her in every way possible. She roughly grabbed a clump of sand, clutching it tightly and watching it seep through her fingers. It was amazing how closely it resembled Sonic. You try and catch him and he only leaves you faster, she thought bitterly. She focused harder on the sand, trying to lose herself in the tiny grains of gold and black, wishing she could just disappear into them.

.

The clatter of plates brought her out of her daze and she noticed her friends clearing up the picnic. Was the day nearly over already? She jumped up to help them, glad to be momentarily free of her thoughts. So while they carried out the monotonous tasks of stacking the plates, collecting the cutlery and rolling up the blanket, she could concentrate on them rather than thinking about a certain blue hedgehog. She held up one end of the blanket, struggling to roll it properly, as the other end was caught under the windshield. She leaned forward, yanking on it and almost toppling over.

.

Suddenly it was free, and a slender gloved hand was helping her to finish the job. Amy sent Rouge a grateful nod. "Thanks."

"No problem." Rouge handed her the edge of the blanket, with a smile on her face that wasn't her usual smirk. It was genuine, and Amy saw a light of compassion in her that she'd never seen before. She watched the bat curiously as the two of them finished the jobs, as if properly seeing her for the first time. Rouge had helped her more than she'd realised, even if she wouldn't always admit it.

.

"Don't worry about Sonic," Rouge told her, after they'd cleared up. The two of them were standing by the edge of the sea, watching the thousands of sparkles created by sun as it sprinkled its rays onto the ocean below.

Amy looked at her companion. It was nice of her to say that, but Amy would still worry. She always did; it was just one of the many ways that Sonic affected her. "Thanks," she replied.

"I mean it, girl," said Rouge. "You know what Sonic's like. He needs his space, but he'll come back soon. He'd better anyway. It took me a long time to plan this whole daytrip so he'll drag his blue butt back here if he knows what's good for him."

.

Now that was something that Amy had forgotten. Rouge had planned everything. She'd arranged the date, the time, and she'd somehow got all of their friends to go. That wasn't something that was easy to do. Amy scanned her once again, analysing her. Rouge had gone to a lot of effort, considering her usual tolerance levels, and Amy had only just realised it. The two of them had been given the chance to spend a bit more time together recently and she'd come to think of Rouge as more than just an ally. In fact, nobody had ever helped Amy as much as Rouge had in the past few days.

.

"Rouge," she said slowly. "Why are you helping me?"

Rouge kept her eyes on the horizon but the corners of her mouth twitched into a smile. "I could say that I'm only in on it for the action," she said.

"But the truth is?"

"Well… you're not half-bad, Pinky. I suppose at first it was just a bit of fun but I don't mind helping you. You're sort of like a more naïve and careless, crazier and sillier version of me, so I thought you'd need some guidance from a professional. No offence, of course," she added, smirking.

.

Amy frowned slightly. "None taken," she said. "But what I'm trying to say is that you've gone to a lot of trouble and it's not really like you."

"You mean I'm usually in it for the one and only?"

Amy paused. "Yeah," she admitted.

Rouge's smile grew. "That's generally the case but I do feel kind of sorry for you so I thought it wouldn't hurt to lend a hand. And you can't deny it's been fun."

"True," Amy said, nodding. "It's a lot better than struggling through this by myself, I'll admit. And maybe we don't always agree but you've really helped me out, Rouge. So thanks. You're a good friend." She smiled brightly at the bat, who suddenly held a light of surprise in her teal-blue orbs.

"I didn't know you thought of me as a friend," Rouge said. The layers of polished suavity were gone from her voice, leaving it softer, younger.

.

"Well I do," Amy replied. "You're really not the way you act around everybody else. You know, you can actually be very supportive and you managed to calm me down quite a few times, which is something to be proud of. Don't you think we're friends?" she questioned the older girl, tilting her head.

Rouge blinked, and a pure, simple smile graced her features. "I suppose we are," she said, pleased.

Amy felt once again the sense of understanding between them as the two girls looked at one another, realising that perhaps they both had something to learn from each other. Rouge had been the only person for Amy to turn to for the past five days and she'd lived up to that role more than Amy had expected she ever would. And for that, the hedgehog decided that she was soon going to do what she'd promised: get Knuckles and Rouge together at all costs.

.

She glanced behind her and noticed the echidna himself, his plum-coloured eyes resting on the two girls with a scowl on his face. How long had he been watching them for? "Anyway, Rouge, I've got things to do. There's still my side of the deal to hold up," she said, nodding to Knuckles.

Rouge tilted her head up as if it didn't concern her. "Really, Amy, I wouldn't bother," she said.

"But we have a deal," Amy insisted.

"I know that, but he's not worth the trouble. He'll come crawling after me soon enough."

.

Amy didn't argue. Rouge could pretend not to care as much as she liked; Amy wasn't convinced. The bat clearly had a thing for Knuckles and Amy wasn't going to believe otherwise. And whether or not her new friend counted it, they had a deal, and this hopeless romantic of a hedgehog was more than happy to play the matchmaker. With a small wave to Rouge, she moved back down the beach towards Knuckles, feeling increasingly uncomfortable under his glare. His narrowed eyes were constantly following her, sizing her up. She put her hands in her pockets as she reached him, to stop herself from fidgeting if nothing else.

.

She'd barely stopped in front of him when he snapped, "What do you want?"

Her discomfort was suddenly swapped for annoyance and she bit her lip to prevent an angry comment from escaping. If she'd have been able to act normally, she would've whipped out her hammer right then and there. But instead, she said coolly, "That's no way to greet a friend."

"I'm not your friend," he said.

"Why? What have I ever done to you?" she demanded, already feeling that she was losing her patience with him.

"You turned up," he muttered, and Amy couldn't be sure if he'd intended for her to hear it.

.

She felt a sudden bolt of anger shoot through her, fuelled by her quick temper. "You're just jealous because I was over there with Rouge," she spat. "Alone with her."

To her satisfaction, a light flickered across his violet eyes and he, too, clenched his fists. "You want to try saying that again?" he snarled.

"Sure," she said, suddenly grinning. "You're jealous because I was alone with Rouge."

In a rush of fury he was up, standing close to her, his nose almost jabbing into hers. His gaze was so fierce it was almost painful. "How about we try for round two?" he cried.

.

Amy suddenly regretted teasing him. She did not want to get into another fight, especially with no more tricks up her sleeve, and she needed to sway the conversation in her favour. "Hey," she said hesitantly. "Sorry, dude. I didn't mean to get you all fired up."

"It's a bit late for that now, don't you think?" he growled, but his voice was quieter.

"It's not my fault that I might have struck a nerve," Amy said. "It's so obvious that you like her."

His eyes narrowed further. "I don't want anything to do with her!"

"Oh please, Knuckles. Who are you trying to convince?"

"Well I sure as hell don't give a damn what you think!"

.

Amy sighed. Sometimes talking to Knuckles was just as effective as talking to a rock. The two of them had a patchy friendship thanks to their tempers which were equally likely to flare up in an instant. Perhaps it was time for a softer approach. "Look, I'm sorry if I offended you," she said. "I just don't understand why you don't ask her out."

"I don't like her like that!" he insisted. "And you two are too busy going gaga over each other anyway!"

"What do you mean?" Amy asked, feeling embarrassed and knowing perfectly well what he meant.

"You two are always flirting and you've only known each other for a few days! All Rouge ever talks about is you!"

"Have you ever thought that she might be trying to make you jealous?" Amy said, hinting at him. He paused.

"As if," he said, finally calming down. "She only has eyes for you."

.

Amy shook her head, realising that Knuckles really was bothered by 'Andy' and Rouge. She had no idea he could be so sensitive. She felt guilty now, understanding just how aggravated he was. She'd never been particularly close with him but it was clear now that he really did like Rouge. "It's not like that," she said softly. "Rouge likes you. Just ask her out."

"So you can rub the rejection in my face?" he said bitterly.

"No. So you two can be happy."

"And where do you fit into all this?"

"I don't, because I don't like Rouge like that."

"Don't you?" he said flatly, though he'd clearly gained more interest.

"No."

"You act like you do."

.

At this, Amy stood taller, trying to look smug. "That's 'cause I'm a ladies' man," she declared.

Knuckles rolled his eyes, his glare returning to his face. "Sure you are," he scoffed.

Amy quickly made herself look more serious, hoping that she hadn't lost the faint link between them. "But seriously, Knuckles, you should ask her out," she said.

He looked away slightly, murmuring, "Hm," as a response.

"I mean it," she said. "I'm not trying to make you angry; I don't want to be your enemy. I just think that you two would make a good couple." She waited for his response.

.

"I'll consider it," he said gruffly, and Amy smiled.

"Good," she replied. "You'll regret it if you don't."

"And you're not going to turn it all around and make me look stupid?" he said, the menace temporarily returning to his expression. "You're not going to ask her out instead?"

"No," she said firmly. She turned to walk away, but couldn't resist shooting him a cheeky grin. "But, just to let you know, if you don't ask her soon I'll get there before you do."

"What?" he exploded. "I thought you didn't like her like that!"

"Well yeah but come on, dude, you know how it is: she's hot," Amy called, fighting off laughter. That ought to have sealed the deal. She hurried back to Rouge, giggling.

.

Rouge eyed Amy nervously, half-wishing that she'd stopped her from talking to Knuckles. The hedgehog was grinning like an idiot, and Rouge dreaded to think what she'd said to him. Then again, at least he wasn't looking so grumpy anymore.

"My debt is repaid," Amy chirped.

"What did you do?"

"Exactly what I said I would. He's going to ask you out!" she said gleefully. "Any day now, I bet!"

Rouge couldn't help feeling pleasantly surprised. Had Amy seriously gotten him to agree? Not that she cared, of course. But either way, it might be nice to spend some proper time with him without the Master Emerald being concerned. "What exactly did you say to him?" she asked.

.

"Don't worry," Amy tittered. "I just said that I knew he liked you and then I told him to ask you out." She decided to leave out the part where she'd told Knuckles that Rouge liked him. What Rouge didn't know wouldn't hurt her - quite the opposite, in fact. Amy beamed at her friend, very pleased with herself and her matchmaking skills.

"You didn't have to do that, you know," said Rouge. "Some sense would've been knocked into his thick old skull eventually."

Amy just smiled. "I know what you really mean. You're welcome," she said cheekily. "It's only fair that I help you with your romance while you help me with mine."

.

She waited for Rouge to counter that remark with her own witty comment but the bat just smirked.

"Speaking of which," Rouge said, looking past Amy's head.

Amy turned around and her heart jumped inside her chest. Sitting on the sand, further down the beach, was Sonic.

So.. I wanted to add some Rouge and Amy-ness because their friendship is something that I'm trying to show the development of. Hopefully I'm managing to do that properly, as well as setting up Knuckles and Rouge... I must say I enjoy writing the banter between Amy and Knuckles ^_^

I hope that this chapter was worth the wait. You'll have to wait again to see what happens next though, sorry ;) But I'll try not to make it 3 weeks this time ^^'

Thanks for reading! Reviews are appreciated!