Chapter 11-I Don't Wanna be in Love

It was hard to believe that only a few days ago I was doing everything in my power to avoid any and all thoughts of Sonic the Hedgehog, but now I was lying here in the tall grass with him feeling just as care-free and serene as I had several years ago with him. He had this stupidly wonderful way of always making me talk to him, whether it was words I intended to say or not. How could he make me spill all those words from my mouth without even thinking it through? I mean, I had just told him things Rogue, my freaking ROOMATE didn't know for God's sake! So how did he do it?

It seemed like I had been saying so much more than him, which was weird because I wanted to know what had happened to him too, but every time I asked he just ended up telling me that he hadn't really changed other than missing me. From how I saw it, he was being careful, like he didn't want to say anything bad or I might just leave again. But I wasn't physically capable of walking away from Sonic; not now or ever from now on.

It was such a beautiful day; hot like summer should be, but with a gentle breeze and, as we were just lazing around in the tall grass, the stillness made the heat seem to sink in and blend with my body temperature so that the extent of its effect was a few small beads of sweat dotted across my arms and stomach where I had tied my shirt up.

The grass was long and over my head when I lay down next to Sonic on the little hill we had chosen for our afternoon spot, so it felt almost like being separated by a thick forest rather than scattered grass. I kept glancing over to make sure he was still there until his hand finally slid into mine, a sweet reminder that he wasn't going anywhere either.

"I still need to call Rouge; it's almost sunset and it'll be harder to do anything when it's dark." I said, breaking our momentary silence.

"Okay; maybe we can find a key to the cabin or something now that it's brighter out." He suggested and stood up, offering a hand and pulling me quickly onto my feet so that I stumbled back a few steps at first. "Hah; same ole Amy." He laughed as I rolled my eyes.

"It doesn't help that my legs are both asleep." I said, trying to catch my footing without my knees wobbling.

"Well tell em to wake up; you can't go down a hill this steep if you're shaky." He said, giving me only a second to stretch before deciding it would take too long and scooping me up, almost instantly at the bottom of the hill.

"Jeez, I'm gonna wake up tomorrow and not be able to move at all." I groaned.

"Why's that?"

"Well, I skipped a morning jog today and we've both been lying around doing nothing; usually I've done about five miles at least by now in a day!"

"No worries, Ames; I don't think you're at risk of laziness or anything." He laughed, poking my flat stomach teasingly.

"That's probably what Decoe and Bocoe used to tell Eggman." I said, both of us laughing a little.

After a few minutes of searching for a key that probably wasn't even there, I noticed one of the windows a little crooked in the middle. Sure enough, it wasn't locked on the inside and we could open it and get inside easily. After calling Rouge and explaining that my camping trip had been "extended" and telling her to let Cream know, I met Sonic in the kitchen, where he was searching through cabinets for something to eat.

"They have absolutely nothing here but canned soup! Well, that and some very old…I think some sort of vegetable." He said, peering into a plastic container with a shudder.

I took a quick skim through the cupboard, spotting a can of chili with a funny idea. "Okay, I'm going to do a magic trick, but you can't come into the kitchen until I tell you to." I said with a smile.

"How is it a magic trick if I can't watch you-"

"Just go!" I interrupted and he rolled his eyes but obediently left the room.

I snuck back outside and retrieved my little backpack I had brought. My next step was turning on the stove top and silently celebrating when it actually worked. I heated up the can of chili while cooking the whole pack of hot dogs from my bag. I hoped Sonic still liked chili dogs, but, then again, I wasn't sure if he could ever stop. Finally I told him the trick was done and he just about exploded from gasping so hugely.

"No way! How'd you make chili dogs out of soup?" he exclaimed.

"I told you: magic." I said, waving my hands around mystically.

"Well magic tastes pretty good." He said through his already stuffed mouth. I laughed and picked up a plain hot dog, ignoring his babyish tease that I "couldn't handle the awesome".

It wasn't until that night that I started to feel wrong about all of this. It was those horrible dreams! Why couldn't just be normal? I didn't want to remember anything, but apparently my subconscious was relentless in keeping me away from Sonic. I awoke the next morning having replayed that horrible night. How he had bluntly said to my face that he didn't care.

I woke up before him, obviously since the sun had yet to have risen and the world was an eerie sort of grayish orange. I was shaking but not crying; I hadn't cried in quite a while and I wasn't sure I was even capable of such anymore. I grit my teeth, longing to have forgotten with yesterday. I could forgive and forget, I had hoped, but now the second one seemed impossible. I would never forget the devastation as he told me that he really didn't care.

It seemed different now, but I knew it couldn't be! I was willing to forgive him and all, but…I wasn't sure if I could ever love him again. No, I would always be able to, but I couldn't let myself. Not if it might end in another few years of chasing someone with the false hope that one day he would finally see it my way.

I waited until he woke up on his own, trying my best to forget the horrid flashback before saying something irrational.

"Sonic, I want to go home today." I told him

"Really? But…what about Shadow?"

"I'll lay low and I won't go anywhere alone or anything; I'll be fine."

"But…I thought we were…having fun." He sounded disappointed, but what I really needed was some time alone to think.

"I am, I mean-we are, but…" I sighed, "I just want to go home right now."

He sighed too, much more deeply and sadly than me though. "Okay."

We went back by my campsite and I tried my best to let go of my own dismay from the dream. I wanted to be happy, like we were yesterday, and did my best to keep us both in high spirits.

"You know we'll hang out again now, right? Just like we used to, only…I'm not always in the same house is all."

"Yeah, you're right." He said, brightening at the thought.

After packing up my campsite and loading it onto my motorcycle, I noticed him sulking slightly. "Do you want to see how fast I can go?" I asked with a smirk.

"Sure!" he said, obviously pleased in remembering that my motorcycle didn't quite remain at average speed.

"Will you ride with me? You can tell me to stop whenever and I'll let you run, but…I want you to get the full affect, ya know?" I asked, seeming less awkward a question than I had thought it would.

"Okay." He agreed.

"But you have to promise…that you won't worry about me. No matter what I do."

He thought about this for a moment, "Don't do anything purposefully stupid," he lectured and I laughed.

I got out the spare helmet I had only used on the rare occasion Rouge needed a ride and handed it to him. After we both had one on, I mounted the bike and let him slide on the back, wrapping his arms around my waist a little too carefully.

"You're gonna have to hold on tighter than that." I said, revving the engine and checking that it had full power.

I felt his breath on my neck as he chuckled and tightened his grip around me. I had to make a conscious effort to stay focused on the bike rather than the tingling feeling I got whenever his body touched mine in any way. I released the clutch, slowly at first until I got onto an actual road. That's when I started going fast.

I brought the bike faster and faster down the empty highway, getting closer to the maximum speed, I was sure, but I had never really reached it to have something to go by. Still the speedometer easily climbed past 200 and slid higher by the second. I smiled behind the tinted shield in front of my helmet, giving it enough gas to quickly climb more than another hundred miles per hour.

A lot of people didn't believe in speed like this, but here it was, right at my fingertips. I pushed up past the half way mark on the speedometer, past 500 and up to 8 by the time I reached the interstate. By this point, Sonic decided to run along side me off road to compare speeds. I took off again at full speed, keeping my eyes on the road that was passing to quickly to really see anyway, but sparing a few quick glances to him keeping pace with me on the edge of the road.

It wasn't long before I reached my exit ramp, leading mainly towards Station Square but with my city just past it. I barely had time to slow from my speed of 850 miles per hour to a speed that I could even possibly make the 360 degree rounded exit. Still at 300, I leaned all the way into the turn, feeling the heat of the road only five inches from my shoulder as I leaned the bike practically sideways to make the turn.

We raced all the way through the city, swerving around traffic and going neck and neck all the way to my apartment. We arrived and my motorcycle skidded to a halt in the parking lot. I parked and met with Sonic, who actually had to stop and take a few breaths.

"Damn, girl! How'd you do that?" he asked and I giggled.

"Like? Think I could beat Sam?"

He shrugged, "You're actually almost even with him. If he knew, he's force you on his inventor's team. But…HOW?"

"Tails taught me everything I know." I said.

"Well I'll tell you one thing, you're pretty good at keeping up. Promise to be careful, though?"

"I know."

"Not just about the motorcycle?"

I didn't meet his gaze, so he came closer, so close that it hurt. His hand brought my chin up and a gentle hand brushed the hair from my face. I bit my lip, trying not to break down and fall into the deep pools of his emerald green eye.

"I…" I trailed off, feeling us somehow growing closer. No! This couldn't happen! Not now! "I can't do this!" I said, pulling away.

He looked at me strangely for a second, seeming confused.

"I mean…" I didn't know what I meant, but I continued anyway. "Every time I'm with you, I start to fall for you; it's involuntary! But…I can't! I'm sorry, this is probably just dumb, but…"

"But what?" he sounded concerned, but not provocative.

"But…just…stop it!"

"Stop what?"

"Making me fall in love with you! I don't want to be in love!" I practically yelled, throwing my helmet onto the handle bars of my bike and running towards the stairs. Away from him.

"What can I do?" he called after me, but I needed time to think. I wanted to stay and tell him, but I couldn't.

Back in my apartment, I slammed the door, not caring if Rouge was still there asleep with some random guy. That was her basic night when I was away, so I was sure she had tried to make up for it while I was gone. But instead of Rouge, I found the apartment scarily quiet. Too much for comfort. Before I could stand to go and get my iPod, I saw a dark figure appear in front of me. Before I could scream, a cloth went over my mouth and I involuntarily inhaled the smell, gagging once and then going black.

A/N: Hope you like; three reviews for next chappie! Oh! Getting tense! I'm pumped here, so let's hope I don't let go of that and I can update much sooner! Alright, everyone! Feedback for more! Thanks for reading! :)