A/N: Another day another chapter of DCT, and it's the longest chapter yet! Sorry that I won't be able to make the christmas chapter on time but c'est la vie. Thank you all so much for your reviews, it means a lot, and keep them coming! I love hearing what everyone thinks about the story. Anyway, enough from me, enjoy.
Chapter 10:
Party Panic
School flew by at a quick pace. Tails studied hard and Sonic struggled to stay awake every class. Each night, Tails and his friends would gather after school to further plan Sonic's surprise 17th birthday party. Snow continued to pile up, increasing height around the streets further and further as not one sunny day broke through the clouds that week. Each morning, Sonic's parents forced him to shovel snow out of the driveway and each day it got harder and harder for him as the levels got to almost 3 feet.
Throughout the week, Tails and Sonic would continue to meet up after dinner and hang out. Some days they would play video games and others, Tails would help Sonic finish his homework. However, most of the time, both of them were perfectly happy to just lie back in each other's warm embrace and watch the many individual snowflakes dance on the winter winds of the early evenings.
Friday afternoon finally rolled around as the two boys left their final class.
"Finally!" Sonic yelled, fist pounding the air in happiness as he sprinted out of the room. "This week felt like it would never end," adding emphasis on the word never.
"You should just try enjoying class a little more. You might enjoy it if you pay attention," Tails giggled, a smirk crossing his face as he walked beside the cobalt hedgehog who just sighed in reply, laughing with his fox friend.
"I'll definitely start paying attention next year," Sonic replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
"Sonic, Tails!" A voice called out from behind them as they arrived at their lockers, packing the many different books into their bags.
"Sup Knucks?" Sonic responded, turning around to give the red echidna a high five.
"Nothing. Tails, we need to go prepare more for-" Knuckles began but was cut off by Tails who shoved his gloved hand in front of the echidna's mouth, muffling the rest of the sentence.
"Prepare for… uh… the… um… assignment that Knucks and I have to finish before we go home tonight. Right Knuckles?" Tails quickly spouted out at rapid fire speed. He silently cursed the red echidna's name under his breath.
"Yeah, that's it," Knuckles smiled, laughing as Tails grabbed his bag and ran away, waving goodbye to Sonic and saying that he would see the sapphire blur the next day. Tails waited until they had rounded the corner and out of Sonic's ear shot before opening his mouth again.
"What the hell was that for!?" Tails shouted, giving Knuckles a small punch in his left arm.
"Why are you yelling at me? Maybe we wouldn't have to do our project on a Friday afternoon if you told me about it earlier!" Knuckles yelled, crossing his arms over his chest in annoyance, huffing loudly. Tails brought the palm of his hand up to his forehead, slapping it.
"There is no project, you idiot."
"Then why did you say there was? You had me worried."
"Because you were about to tell Sonic what we were doing with his surprise party. Key word… SURPRISE! As in secret!" Tails punched the echidna's arm again, not as rough as the previous time.
"Ohhhhh. Sonic was the one we were not supposed to tell. Sorry, I forgot who we were told to keep it a secret from," Knuckles apologized, rubbing the back of his head with his hand and laughed awkwardly to the golden fox. Tails sighed audibly for the third or fourth time since walking away as the two met up with the others.
"Hey Knuckles," Tikal, the orange echidna called out, waving. The red echidna walked up, grabbed her around the waist and planted a wet, sloppy kiss on her cheek. Tails tried to shield his eyes from the horrible display of affection. He never would admit it but he hated the way some of the guys at his school treated girls. Like objects! Disgusting.
'I'd never even think about treating Sonic that way,' he thought to himself.
"Earth to Tails! Anybody in there?" Amy asked, waving her hand furiously in front of his face to snap him out of the daze he had transitioned into.
"Just leave the brat alone," Shadow muttered, folding his arms across his chest as he leant back against the wall of the room. That snapped Tails out of his trance.
"Shut up Shadow. Why are you even here anyway? I thought you and Sonic were rivals," Tails stated coldly, trying to avoid Shadows piercing gaze.
Shadow shrugged before speaking, "How can I miss it? I'm the only person here who is able to drink that faker underneath the table." Tails could have sworn that he saw the beginnings of a smile on the ebony hedgehog's muzzle. A rare sight indeed.
"Okay everyone, listen up," Tails called out, grabbing the attention of all his friends. Blaze and Silver looked up from the card which they were decorating for Sonic's birthday, Cream and Amy stopped their conversation to listen to him, Shadow closed his eyes, seemingly disinterested and Knuckles and Tikal broke out of their intimate kiss to turn their attention to the golden kitsune.
"I have told Sonic to come over for a pizza and games night at 7 tomorrow night. I want all of you to be at mine by 6:30 so we can all get in positions to surprise him. Let's make this a night he won't ever forget." Cheers erupted from his group of friends as they all excitedly chatted amongst themselves, ready to surprise their cobalt friend.
…
"What's this, Sonic?" The young kit asked, grabbing the wrapped box from the hedgehog and rattling it around, trying to hear what was inside.
"Open it!" Sonic urged, shaking visibly with anticipation. The two boys sat in Tails' room, the moon high and bright in the sky, casting shadows around the kit's room. Sonic sat next to Tails on his bed, their feet resting on the orange sleeping bag that lay crumpled and wrinkled on the floor.
Tails pulled the edges of the ribbon and neatly removed the wrapping paper of the gift.
"Just tear into it!" Sonic said, basically yelling as the waiting time was figuratively killing him. Tails nodded and ripped open the remaining remnants of the paper and pulled open the wooden box to reveal his gift.
…
Ding Dong
Tails rushed to the door and opened it, revealing Amy standing at the door, a gigantic wrapped box in her hands. She was barely on time, it was 5 minutes to 7! She wore a marvelous, pink dress with black straps that wrapped over her shoulders. The dress became thinner at the waist, accentuating her hips and flared out at the knees. It was sewed with the finest Saturn and Tails knew that it must have cost a fortune. 'What this hedgehog wouldn't do for Sonic,' he thought, shuddering to himself.
"This place looks… amazing," Amy gasped, walking into the room. Amy walked around the room, marveled by all the decorations. Multi coloured balloons contained by the ceiling littered the air and fairy lights were hung all around the house, flashing different colours at sporadic intervals. Tables lined the walls of the house, filled with ruby red bowls of chips, candy and chocolate of different varieties. A large, blue cooler was situated next to the door leading to the outside decking, filled with a multitude of bottles of beer, cider and other alcoholic beverages.
The atmosphere of the party seemed a little heavier than she was expecting. Guests in the dozens paraded around the house, almost every one with a drink in their hand. Clearly they hadn't waited for the man of the hour to arrive before getting their groove on. A sweet, danceable melody wafted through the house which enticed Amy to follow it to the source, exchanging greetings with the many guests as she passed them.
Blaze and Silver sat on the couch in the corner, lying in each other's arms as they fed each other small chocolates and drank crisp, apple cider together. She glanced over to see knuckles, leaning against the wall with one hand, courting Tikal as she giggled under her breath.
"Great party, isn't it?" Cream said, running up to Amy and giving her a big hug. "You look amazing! Gimme a twirl!"
Amy obliged, spinning around on her heels as the dress flurried up around her, thanking Cream for her compliments. The pink hedgehog walked over to pick out a fresh drink when suddenly the shrill voice of Tails cut through the atmosphere.
"He is on his way up the drive now. Quick, cut the music and turn off the lights. Everyone get in position!" The guests ran around frantically, switching off the stereo and flicking off the lights as they all dived into positions behind couches or corners.
Tails stepped to the door and opened, trying to hide the excitement from his face. Sonic stepped inside the house and greeted Tails, giving him a big hug.
"Happy Birthday, Sonic!" Tails said, returning the hug.
"Thanks buddy, always great to spend my birthdays with you. So are we alone?" Sonic asked, somewhat seductively. Tails' mind was too preoccupied with the surprise that he didn't realize what Sonic was actually asking.
"Yep!" he replied, only trying to trick Sonic so the surprise would be even bigger. He completely forgot what Sonic normally did when they were alone together. Sonic, as if on cue, closed his eyes and began to lean down to Tails, getting ready for a kiss, right in front of all the guests who were watching from the shadows.
…
Tails picked up the chestnut brown goggles from inside the box, fitted with special auburn lens' that made it easy for the wearer to see things while moving through the air at fast speeds. A strap ran around the edges with a small opening between the two eye pieces where a nose could fit between, making sure the goggles fitted snug against the nasal cavity. Tails looked at the inside of the band and saw some dark letters engraved on the inside of the goggles. 'To my best friend: Tails. Love, Sonic'
Sonic took the goggles out of Tails' hands, who happily relinquished them, and pulled them over the fox's head, setting them on his forehead, just above the trio of bangs that jutted out neatly.
"Happy 13th birthday, buddy. Hope you like being a teenager," he smirked. Tails threw his hands around the hedgehog and hugged him tightly, filled with great happiness.
"Thanks, Sonic. I love them. I'll wear them always. I'm so lucky to have the best, best friend ever!" he whispered, breaking away from the hug and smiling warmly.
"Best friends forever," Sonic replied, holding out his fist. Tails bumped it with his own and they both flung their hands away from each other, imitating a jelly fish swimming away with their fingers. "Now, how about another round of ghost fighters 3? I'm definitely going to win this time!" he laughed, picking up the controller.
…
Just as Sonic leant down, Tails realized what was going on as the cogs in his mind began to turn at a rapid pace. He jumped back before Sonic could move any closer and yelled, "SURPRISE!" throwing his arms up in the air as all the guests jumped out from the shadows, mimicking the golden fox.
Sonic shot up, like his spine had been replaced with a long, straight, metal pole.
"Were you surprised?" The pink hedgehog asked excitedly, rushing up to him and giving him a long, tight squeeze, crushing his rib cage in the process. Tails looked on in jealousy, wishing it was him that was allowed to hug Sonic in front of everyone and not Amy but he knew it couldn't happen in public.
"Ha-ha, you guys all got me good. Especially you, Tails," Sonic glared at Tails, his glance mixed with a wash of both anger and joy. He was so happy and thankful for his best friend to prepare this amazing party, yet he was annoyed that Tails stood there and almost let Sonic kiss him in front of everybody. Blaze watched Sonic, intrigued by the way he was staring at the fox, thinking about what she had just witnessed. Something was… off, but she just couldn't think what.
"What are we waiting for? Let's party!" Knuckles yelled, grabbing another beer out of the iced cooler. The night grew long and all the friends danced through the night. Drinks were shared, music blared loudly from the pulsating speakers and the lights flashed in seemingly random patterns. Everyone was having a great time, even Shadow seemed to be enjoying himself.
"Everybody shake what your mother gave you!" Silver yelled, grabbing Blaze by the arm and rushing onto the dance floor, plugging in his phone and playing his dance song play-list. One by one, the others all joined them on the dance floor, shaking each body part in rhythm with the pounding beat of the song.
They danced through the many hours of the morning until eventually Sonic got too tired to keep going. Although he had incredible lung capacity and could run for ages, dancing was another thing entirely and he had been the only one dancing nonstop. His cobalt fur was covered in thick layers of sweat. Sonic felt disgusting and his tongue was parched beyond believe, begging for the sweet taste of liquid sustenance. Sonic bounded over to the table and filled up one of the remaining plastic cups with the cool, refreshing cherry punch, sculling the whole cup in two, big, greedy gulps.
"H…Hey Sonic, great party," a shy voice breathed. Sonic looked to his left to see Amy, clearly intoxicated, standing next to him.
"Oh, hey Amy. Thanks, but this was all due to Tails," he replied, seemingly disinterested in the hedgehog. He was too busy watching, well more like he was mesmerized, by the swaying yellow fox on the dancefloor, hovering up and down with his twin tails and dancing beside Cream the Rabbit.
"So Sonic…" she trailed off, clearly nervous by what she was about to say. If only Sonic was paying more attention to the signs. If only he wasn't too busy watching the golden kit. He should have seen this coming, he normally saw it coming and was able to stop it, but this time, he didn't. Without warning, Amy reached over and grabbed Sonic, pulling him into her embrace and pushing her lips against his. Sonic was taken completely off guard, not knowing how to react. He pulled away instantly, pushing Amy off of him and backing up, wiping away the spit remnants on his upper lip with his gloved hand. "S…Sorry," Amy whispered before running off, holding back the tears that begged to be released. She had thought she would actually be able to go through with it, despite her dreams, but that was not the reaction she had hoped for.
Sonic feverishly tried to get rid of the remaining saliva from his muzzle and turned back to the dancefloor, but before he could feel guilty for his actions, he had been completely consumed by rage. He was staring straight at Tails, in a long, passionate kiss with Cream on the dancefloor. Tails opened his eyes to stare at Sonic, flames dancing on his azure pupils. Sonic almost screamed, storming out of the house and out to the back yard, not listening to the calls of his friends asking him to stop and sprinted off down the road.
"T…Tails… That was amazing," Cream began, completely flabbergasted by what her love had suddenly done without warning. Unfortunately, Tails had looked over to the hedgehog right when Amy decided to make her move. Thinking that Sonic had instigated the kiss, understandably since Amy was normally way too nervous and shy to even think about attempting to do that, sticking with just crushing his ribs in a hug, his first reaction through the throbbing pain he had experienced in his heart was retaliation and revenge. This reaction led him to kiss the closest person to him… Cream.
"Sonic!" Tails called, guilt tearing through his brain, knocking him all over. "Come back!" Tails raced out the door and down the street, trying to find his fox friend.
'Where would he go? How could I do that to him?' His mind raced with a thousand thoughts all colliding with each other and greeting a great storm within the reaches of his mind. Suddenly, as if his feet were showing him the way, he subconsciously stopped outside of the local park which the two friends would frequent.
"Sonic?" The fox called out.
"Go away! I never want to see you again," Sonic screamed back, trying to mask his sobs.
"S…Sonic, I'm sorry."
Tails tiptoed through the park, his ears straining, searching for the sound of distant sobs in the park. Tails eventually stopped outside of the blueberry bush. Of course, he should have known that this is where Sonic had run off to. The only safe place the two shared in this homophobic community, away from prying eyes. Tails broke through the shrubbery layer of foliage and knelt down next to Sonic in their little hiding place.
"What part of I never want to see you again did you not understand?" Sonic asked without even looking up.
"I'm sorry, I saw you kissing Amy and I was filled with so much hurt that I just grabbed Cream."
"I didn't kiss Amy, she kissed me! You know I would never do that to you," he looked up at Tails, his red rimmed eyes staring into the sea in Tails' eyes. "I've never loved anyone before, Tails. But for you, I opened myself up. I let all the feelings flow in. I let my guard down because I trusted you and this is how I get treated!" Sonic was practically yelling now.
Tails didn't know what to do and didn't know how to make things right. "Sonic… I'll leave you alone, but can I give you your birthday present first?" Tails asked.
"Whatever," he replied coldly, putting his head back between his knees.
Tails took a deep breath and began to sing softly to the hedgehog, his melodic voice dancing through the freezing winds and warmed Sonic's soul…
I've cried
So many tears were shed
But when I am with you
You chase away my dread
If I didn't confess my love
By now I would have fled
mmm-mmm
Unfair
That they won't let us feel
But when I am caught in your stare
I am able to deal
Somehow you answered my prayer
Can't believe this is real
Sonic,
I won't lead you astray
Alone with you affects me
What more can I say
Together we will find our way
Have a happy birthday
'Cause know that I love you
Sonic, I love you
And you love me too
When I'm with you I never feel blue
Complete through and through
you make me feel anew
Our secret can't be told, it's true
But Sonic, I love you
Sonic,
Do you know what you are?
You are much more beautiful, than every single star
Even if you got a scar
It wouldn't look bizarre
You're hot and I love you
Sometimes, you're a pain
But I can't complain, cause I can't contain
My love for you, bigger than my brain
And it's inhumane, that I must detain
My whole love for you, secrets can cause pain
But I'll hug you, kiss you again
Our love campaign
Sonic, I love you
And you love me too
When I'm with you I never feel blue
Complete through and through
you make me feel anew
Our secret can't be told, it's true
But Sonic, I love you
We're like glue
Together, me and you
He hung on the last note for a few extra seconds before silence filled the area between the two again. Sonic slowly looked up at Tails, their eyes locking. He didn't need to say anything. He didn't need to do anything. He simply leant over and pressed his supple lips against Tails' and wrapped his arm around the fox's back. All the hurt, pain and anger that was frothing around inside of him had immediately dissipated into the wind after hearing the ballad by his love.
"Thank you," he whispered when finally pulling away from Tails.
After a few minutes of the two snuggling together under the thick brush of the blueberry bush, Tails finally spoke up. "We should go back to your party now," and with that, the two walked back to the party, hand in hand the whole way until finally breaking apart when they reached the driveway.
A/N: Thank you all for reading and reviewing. Next chapter might be a little longer than usual because christmas and all but stay tuned and i'll get it done as soon as I can :) Don't forget to check out my read through of this story on youtube!