All Characters belong to Sega/Archie except my OCs.

Chapter 12: Just You & Me

I awoke the next morning with the same blissful high that I'd fallen asleep with. My butterflies were still active in my stomach and my lips couldn't force down the smile that had permanently molded itself on them. My mind was still filled with the image of Sonic's beautiful face and the sensation of his lips moving against his. I curled deeper into my blankets as my smile grew. I imagined him lying beside me, his muscular arms wrapped tightly around my waist and his light breaths hitting the back of my neck. I wished he were still there with me.

My phone let out a small noise as it vibrated, signaling that I had gotten a text. I didn't feel like moving so I merely stretched my arm out to grab my phone. A smile came across my face as I saw Sonic's "Big Bad Wolf" name flash on my screen. I opened the text to see he had written a simple "Rise and shine beautiful" with a smiley face next to it. For a text so simple, it sent tons of butterflies to my stomach. I grinned as I texted him back. I wrote a mere "Good morning to you too handsome" before dropping the phone down on my bed. I curled back up into a ball as my body's weariness caused me to yawn. For some reason, I was awfully tired. That was strange since Sonic had gotten me home before eleven the night before. But then again, I had spent most of the night fantasizing about our next date and Sonic in general. I wasn't exactly sure what time I went to bed last night. I didn't even remember falling asleep. The last thing I remember from the night before was a daydream of Sonic lying next to me, holding me tightly and kissing me passionately…

God, I was so hopeless. Sonic had only taken me on one date and I'm already making up scenarios of our relationship going further. I needed to slow myself down. Sonic wasn't the only one who had some type of emotional damage. While I may not feel it all the time, a part of me did feel a deep sadness for the life that I had lost. My implicit mind reminisced the old memories and quietly pondered over the ones that could've been made. A part of my heart still belonged to Scourge. While my new mind didn't know him, my old one did and it sure was keeping a strong hold on whatever feelings I had for him. Despite the fear and hatred that my implicit brain gained after his actions of changing me, there was still a part of my thoughts that reasoned that I still loved him and that he was doing it to make me happy. That should mean something right?

I didn't get to answer my mental question before a soft knock rang on my door. "Come in," I called. The door obediently creaked open and my mother popped her head in. She smiled warmly at me as she walked into the room. "Good morning," I told her.

"Good morning sweetie," she said as she walked up to my bed. She sat down beside me before pecking a soft kiss on my head. "How did things go last night?" I shifted my body in the bed so that I could look up at her. Her wide hazel eyes were filled with curiosity. I began to blush as thoughts of the night before rushed to my head.

"It was…perfect," I sighed out.

"Details; I need details. Did he take you out to dinner or movie or did you guys just hang out somewhere nice? Was he a gentleman? Did he make you feel comfortable? Did you kiss you? Answer me those questions."

"He took me out to this really fancy restaurant – I don't exactly remember the name. I just remember that it was so romantic. There was dim lighting and soft music and intimate table settings and it was just completely beautiful. There was this wooden bridge thing that was decorated with these pretty sparkly lights that we walked on after dinner and we talked a little bit. Yes, he was the perfect gentleman – which is surprising considering how rude he was to me a couple months ago. And yes…he did kiss me." I blushed deeply as I said the last statement. My lips tingled at the memory of how good his lips felt against mine. My mother smiled at me, her eyes expressing a mix of concern and happiness for me.

"I'm glad that you had fun, sweetie."

"I can feel a "but…" coming on," I told her as I sat up. My mother sighed.

"I just want you to be careful, Amy. Your vampire senses don't seem to be as strong as most of vampires which may or may not mean that you are more vulnerable to mortals' harm…especially when it comes to boys." I crinkled my eyebrows together in confusion.

"So, you think that Sonic would sexually assault me?"

"No, no, I'm not saying that he would. But I'm also not saying that he couldn't take advantage of you. You're young and naïve, Amy, and you know that. I know that you can't help but to follow your heart but I am asking you to make sure it leads you in the right places. Can you do that for me?" I nodded. My mother smiled, her shoulders slumping down from her subtle breath of relief. "I just want you to remember that danger doesn't always have to be physical – it can be emotional and psychological too. Something of which I think you can see from your own experience." I blushed softly as the image of the smiling blue eyed boy flashed before my eyes. My mother leaned forward to kiss my temple. "I love you, sweetheart and I just don't want anything to happen to you." I looked into my mother's warm hazel eyes and instantly a flash of complete darkness overwhelmed my vision for a moment. I blinked the sudden sensation off as quickly as I could – or at least I tried to. The darkness wasn't like the friendly one that visited me at times. Instead this darkness was hostile and unnaturally deadly. I had never thought that behind my mother's warm smile and bright eyes, there lied a hidden darkness.

"You've been hurt before," I murmured without thinking. My mother's soft smile immediately dimmed, her hazel eyes losing some of their enthusiastic sparkle. "I'm sorry. It's just, when you looked into my eyes I saw…"

"I won't lie to you, Amy. I've been burned many times than I'd care to admit. My mortal life wasn't exactly the best in the whole wide world." As my mother spoke, her voice lost the maternal tone that it had adopted and instead took on one of a younger woman. She shrunk a bit too, morphing from my mother figure into more of a sister figure. I could only tilt my head at her sudden transformation and wonder what exactly had happened to her in the past life.

"How…how old were you when…" I asked cautiously.

"I was just about to turn twenty six," she replied, her voice low. I scooted closer to her and put my hand over hers. My eyes asked the question of what happened though my mouth was too afraid to ask the words. Amber got the silent message, however and sighed softly. "My mother was a drug addict," she murmured. "She didn't know who my father was so she just claimed that her boyfriend was my father. It didn't matter much though. I looked just like her anyway. She was a beautiful woman…but she was so messed up. She only gave up drugs while I was in the womb…once she popped me out, she was right back to getting high off of whatever she could find. I wish she could say that she took just as good care of me as she did when I was in the womb but she didn't.

"She neglected me – left me alone in our dingy apartment all the time without food or anything. It wasn't until I turned about six that she found some use for me. She used to have me run out to buy drugs for her…she used to sell me to get money for the drugs…she let my "father" do some of his dirty work for him. I had an awful childhood. I barely passed high school with acceptable grades. Once I graduated, I came home in my cap and gown and my mom sent me right on the corner. She told me to pick a spot and call it my office. That's where I spent the next seven years – selling drugs and my body to satisfy my mother's drug habit and our bills. But then Richard came into the picture." A small smile arose on her face.

"I remember I was standing on the corner, waiting for one of my usual drug trades when I saw him walking down the street. It was strange…seeing him. He was wearing a nice shirt and slacks and fancy shoes. Plus he was unnaturally beautiful." Slight blush appeared on her cheeks. "He…um, he walked up to me with this stern frown on his face. At first I thought he was going to reprimand me just like some other guys tried to do. But he didn't. Instead he commanded me to tell him my name. I was reluctant since no guy usually asked what my name was – none of them cared enough to ask. I did tell him my name and he nodded and told me to come with him. I obeyed since that was the command that most men gave me. He basically kidnapped me; he just put me in his car and drove for a long, long time without telling me where we were going. I will admit that I was afraid as I watched my run down town pass me by. He didn't stop until we were in a whole different state – or two; he wanted to buy me some food and get me a change of clothes. So, he brought me a nice outfit or two to wear and he took me out to dinner at a small, casual restaurant. He didn't talk much which made me nervous. I was still waiting for him to jump on me and do what he wanted. He never did though. Even when we finally arrived at his big house that night, he never touched me.

"He gave me a big room that lay next to his and told me to go to sleep. Then I kind of asked him if he was serious." She let out a small awkward laugh. "I was so used to being mistreated that I didn't really know how to accept his kindness towards me. Sometimes, even know I have a hard time wrapping around my head why he chose me to take off that street… Anyway, Richard just looked at me as if I had three heads. He had shaken his head before he walked up to me. I expected for him to make his move right then and there but instead he…he slowly reached out with his hand and caressed my cheek with the gentlest touch I'd ever experienced. Then he left me there, standing there gawking after him like an idiot. He took good care of me after that day. The next morning, he'd let me take a shower and get better cleaned up. He introduced himself and assured me that he wasn't going to harm me. Then he…he explained to me what he was and how he felt a need to…to save me from my world. Richard is a guardian warrior, like you and your brother, but he just chooses when to act on those instincts. I looked at him like he was crazy when he tried to explain that he was a vampire. I didn't believe him; I thought he was on some serious drugs to make him think such a thing. But then he showed me his fangs and…and I wasn't afraid. I learned to look past the species that he was and see the good in him. That's how I fell in love with him. He transformed me into a vampire by my own request…he'd never have done it if I didn't want it. He's a good guy; I'm very lucky he took me under his wing or else I probably would have died a long time ago."

I smiled at Amber and gave her hand a soft squeeze. The soft, young look in her eyes faded as her maternal expression returned. "Not all humans have the strength or the will to see past what we are like I did with Richard. So, I'm asking you to be very careful with this boy. I know that you really like him but just make sure that if the time comes that you have to reveal yourself to him: he'll be able to at least live with it." She kissed my temple. "You don't deserve any more heartbreaks," she whispered. I leaned my head on her shoulder and curled my legs up to my chest. Hopefully Sonic would be able to love the girl I was inside despite the monster instincts that lay on the surface. If not then…I guess I'd have to deal with the consequences.

Sonic actually did call me both Saturday and Sunday night that weekend. Since I had been trying to finish a book during the daytime, when he called I usually just babbled on about what was going on in the book. He listened intently to me, asking questions and inserting comments when it was appropriate. Although half of his comments were sarcastic or rude to the characters, I still liked the fact that he was listening to me. I bet I sounded like a complete nerd to him but he didn't seem to mind. He actually seemed interested in my opinions of the book events – which made me like him even more.

When Monday finally arrived, I will admit that I was a bit excited to see him. I rummaged through my closet to find the perfect baby doll top and my favorite jeans early that morning. I wanted to look cute for him. So, I ended with a coral floral baby doll top and my light wash jeans that hugged my thighs. I threw on a pair of casual wedges with the outfit and straightened my hair. Adrian raised an eyebrow at me as I skipped into the kitchen but he didn't comment. Instead he just rolled his eyes – a normal younger brother gesture. I tried hard to contain my smile during the actual ride to school but sadly, I couldn't help to let a small smirk surface.

"Who kissed you," Blaze asked as we were getting out the car. I opened my mouth to ask how she knew but she quickly spoke again. "Ames, I've known you since pre-kindergarten; I know you a lot better than you think." I blushed softly.

"Well I did go on a date on Friday," I started. She nodded her head, signaling for me to continue. "With Sonic," I murmured. Blaze's small, encouraging smile that had formed on her face immediately fell and a small frown took over. "Blaze, you don't understand. He was so sweet to me. He drove me to this fancy restaurant on the beach where there was this dim light bridge. And he kissed me and it felt so right…so good. The night was so perfect and he's so perfect and… Why are you so against him?"

"I just don't want you to get hurt," Blaze said simply. "Your mind may still be cloudy from the high of being with him but to be logical: he is advancing pretty fast for someone who just broke up with their girlfriend. I get it, he wasn't happy but still. They were together for some time. I just don't want you to fall too hard and he does something stupid to hurt you, that's all."

"Thanks for the concern, Blaze," I told her. Although I was a bit irritated at her hostility towards Sonic, I knew that she had my best interest at heart. Everyone around me did; they all just showed it in different ways.

Cream was completely oblivious to Sonic and I's date. I managed to contain my giddy smile and offer her my usual friendly one. She seemed hyper though. She had a huge smile on her face and her chocolate eyes were glazed over with the after effects of a love spell. "Someone had a good weekend," I told her.

"Oh, Ames, this weekend was so perfect! Tails surprised me on Friday night and took me out on a date! It was literally the sweetest thing ever! He took me out to this really fancy restaurant downtown and…" Cream began to babble on about her date, leaving me smiling and nodding along with her story. I was happy that Tails finally got the guts to take her out. Now he just needed to ask her out. Since he'd taken her out, I suspected that it wouldn't be long before he actually made things official with her. Cream had explained before that they'd always liked each other but she felt strange dating him since he was Sonic's best friend. At least now they're starting to get over that bridge and follow their hearts. I didn't mention anything about Sonic and I's date. I figured that if he didn't tell her then he may not have wanted her to know. So, I kept my mouth shut.

My stomach filled with butterflies when I saw Sonic in the hallway when Cream and I were walking to second period. He was already staring at me when I looked over at him. Immediately after our eyes connected, he shot me a small, dimpled smile. I shyly smiled back and offered a small wave. Sonic's smile increased at the sight – and then he was gone. I didn't see him again until our lunch period. I was at my locker, exchanging my books when my nose caught his distinct scent. I looked up from what I was doing to see that he was walking up to me, a small frown on his face. I took in his serious expression, my stomach twisting up into worry. "Can we talk," he asked as soon as he reached me. He leaned on his shoulder against the locker next to mine.

"Hi to you too," I told him. He rolled his eyes. He looked around the semi-crowded hallway. I looked around too, confused as to what was wrong.

"Later. I'll drive you home," he said.

"Okay," I asked, my euphoric high falling down a bit. Sonic waited for me to finish at my locker before walking with me to the cafeteria. I had my arms crossed against my chest to hold my textbook but I did notice his hand reach out to try and grab mine. When he noticed my hand wasn't there, his hand looped between one of my belt loops and gently tugged me closer to him. I didn't question his actions. Instead, I stayed quiet and walked on with him while he talked about…I don't even know. Honestly, I wasn't paying attention. Instead, I was too busy trying to figure out what his problem was. Did he not like me anymore? Did I do something wrong? What did we need to talk about?

I made up several different scenarios over the course of the day, making me anxious for the time when we actually would talk. I tried to anticipate the worst but judging from Sonic's continuous smiles and waves to me in the hallway, I knew that it was nothing too serious. By the time we were in his car, riding through the Orlando streets, he was completely relaxed. He had a small smile on his face, with his dimple showing, and he was holding one of my hands in his. He seemed content; all the tension that he'd shown before was gone. The sight washed away my own fears and I also relaxed a bit.

When we finally arrived at my house, I offered Sonic something to drink so that I could sneak away to the kitchen and pour myself some blood. I put it in a coffee mug that was completely colored over so you couldn't see what was inside. I had barely touched my blood that morning since I was too busy daydreaming over Sonic so I was beginning to feel an awful burn in my throat. I took a sip of the blood as I took out a can of soda for Sonic. Immediately, the burning in my throat began to ease.

My lime eyed boy was sitting on the couch, looking around at the various paintings my mother had put up around the house. When he noticed I'd walked back into the room, he smiled at me. I returned the smile and settled down next to him. He wasn't having that though. He pulled me up into his lap and cradled me close to his chest. My head rested in the corner of his neck between his shoulder, his distinct scent filling my nose. I sipped softly on the blood in the cup, trying to ignore the urges to taste his.

"So, what did you want to talk about," I asked after a few minutes. Sonic sighed deeply, his chest moving me up and down with the movement. I looked up at him to see that his light eyes were gazing down at me. I shot him a soft, encouraging smile.

"I just think that…I think that we should take things slow. We should get to know each other better and spend more time together before we start moving too fast." I nodded.

"I think that's fair."

"I also think that…we should keep our relationship under wraps…" I crinkled my eyebrows together in confusion.

"What does that mean?"

"It means that we should keep our mouths shut about what's going on between us. Now, I don't want you to take this the wrong way. I would love to hold your hand and kiss you in school but… I did just dump Sally and she is kinda crazy, as you've witnessed. I just don't want any unnecessary drama to come between us." I picked my head up to look fully into his eyes. His hand came up to cup a side of my face. "I want to know Amy – without any distractions. I want there to just be me and you…nothing else. Would that…would that be alright with you?"

"Yes," I told him with a soft smile.

"Good, good. I'm sorry that I came on the way I did…I just didn't know how you would take it."

"It's alright." He smiled, his eyes falling down to my lips. His hand that had cupped the side of my face now fell to lightly grasp the sides of my chin. I blushed as he gently tugged them in his direction. "Are you going to kiss me or not," I asked him teasingly.

"Don't rush me, kitten." I giggled. "All I've been thinking about all weekend is the next time I would get to kiss these perfect lips of yours. I wanted to make sure I did it just as right." I turned a brighter shade of red as he once again tugged at my chin. This time, he brought my lips all the way down to meet his. Butterflies immediately rushed to my stomach as his lips immediately took the time to mold themselves with mine. His lips were so sweet, so soft, so delicious… I pressed my body against his as his tongue lightly entered mine, deepening the kiss. I wished that we could have stayed like that for longer but sadly, we had to break apart at the sound of my front door opening. I blushed deeply when I saw Adrian come into view through the doorway. He was already frowning before he looked to Sonic…and me sitting on his lap. He looked us up and down, his mouth curling into a slight grimace.

"Hey Adrian," I told him. He grunted a "hi" under his breath before he continued on his way into the kitchen. I looked to Sonic when he was gone to see that my lime eyed boy had his head tilted slightly.

"I don't think your brother likes me very much," he commented. I shrugged.

"Adrian just doesn't really know you yet, that's all. Once he gets to know you, he'll like you just as much as I do." Sonic smiled and leaned up to peck a kiss at my lips.

"I should get going." I frowned.

"Do you have to," I whined.

"Sadly, yes. I'm sorry, Amy. I'll call you later, okay." He kissed me again for a moment. I reluctantly got up from his lap and lead him to the front door. He kissed me once more before finally heading outside to his car. As soon as I shut the front door, my phone beeped lightly in my pocket. I crinkled my eyebrows in confusion as I pulled out my phone. The first thing I saw was an unknown number. The next was the text message the blocked number had sent.

Pretty human…it'd be a shame if something were to happen to him…

Then I felt my heart drop into my stomach.

I quickly opened the door to see if Sonic was still there but his car was already turning off the street. I silently swore as I looked around our quiet neighborhood. I tried to sniff out the seductive scent that the Bana carried with them but I didn't find anything. My stomach churned as the thought of them already following Sonic entered my mind. No, no, no…

"Adrian," I called as I shut the door. My brother was at my side in a nanosecond, his eyes wide with alert. "The vampires," I spoke shakily. "The ones who've been harassing me…they…I think they're going to go after Sonic. Look!" I showed him the text message. Adrian read over it calmly before shaking his head.

"Don't worry, Ames. They won't hurt him. They're under Scourge's orders and I doubt Scourge would know about him so quickly. Even if Scourge did know, I highly doubt he would waste his time. I'm sorry to say this, Amy, but you're his main concern. Not Sonic." I let out my worried breath.

"Are you sure that they won't hurt him?"

"Yes. Trust me, Scourge only sees the obstacles that are in his way. Right now, his minions are just trying to scare you. Don't worry." I nodded.

"I'll try."

Thankfully, later that night, Sonic did call me just as he had promised. He sounded as if he were perfectly fine – a little tired but fine nonetheless.

The next day at school, I tried hard to contain my worried expression but sadly Sonic noticed it. We were at my locker before lunch when he asked me why I looked so sad. "It's nothing," I'd told him. Sonic had grabbed my chin and tilted my head so that I would look up into his eyes.

"Amy," he said softly. The sound sent butterflies to my stomach but I ignored them. "Talk to me."

"It's nothing, Sonic. I promise that it's nothing."

"If it were nothing then you wouldn't look like someone ran over your dog. Now, tell me what's wrong. Is it those guys again? Are they trying to hurt you? If they are then you need to tell me; I'll help you."

"I know that you would help me but they're not hurting me. I'm fine, Sonniku. I promise." Sonic didn't look convinced. His beautiful eyes still held concern for me. I didn't know how else to get off the subject so I stepped closer to him. "Sonniku, we should be on adorably awkward right now, not all serious and tense. Let's save that for later in the relationship, shall we?" His lips tugged up into a smile.

"Sonniku, huh," he asked me. I blushed but nodded. He smiled wider. "I like that nickname." I giggled at him, thankful that his worry was able to fade away.

I kept a close eye on Sonic throughout the week. I made sure that he got home safely after he dropped me off and that he was safe at home as well. I used my vampire abilities to my advantage to check up on him during the night and various times during the late afternoon. He was always fine and oblivious to my presence. My brother hated me sneaking out without telling anyone but I was a bit too embarrassed to say out loud that I was trying to protect my boyfriend. Sure, he may have been the human I was supposed to protect but now we had romantic titles attached to each other. My family may think that I was just using an excuse to stalk him – or at least my parents might. I only showed Adrian the text message from the vampires so he understood what was going on…not that he liked it though.

Thankfully, Sonic remained in one piece by the time Friday came around. That afternoon while we were in math class, he proposed hanging out and doing whatever I wanted to do. I had to think hard about his proposal. I didn't exactly feel comfortable strutting around town with Sonic's beautiful face on my arms and those ruthless vampires watching us. While Adrian may think they weren't going to do anything, I didn't exactly trust that. So, I just told Sonic that we could spend the night in.

After I had gotten home, I immediately went to take a shower and get dressed in one of my cute, comfortable casual wear. Sonic told me that he was going to show up in sweatpants which was fine by me. I didn't want to be too dressed up so I settled on a baggy crop top and a pair of yoga pants. I tidied up my room since my parents told me that we could hang out up there. It felt like I was cleaning forever before a knock finally sounded on the door. I rushed downstairs to open it but Adrian had already opened the door.

"Back again I see," he told Sonic as he moved aside to let him in. Sonic looked unnaturally good in his baggy black sweatpants, a fitted tee, and his hoodie. His blue curls were messy but they emphasized his outfit. He looked really…hot.

"What can I say? You have a great sister," Sonic replied.

"I also have a great metal bat in my room," Adrian replied. Sonic raised an eyebrow but I quickly rushed between them before he could question what Adrian meant.

"Hey Sonniku," I told him. Adrian shot him another one of his evil little brother looks before walking off into the living room. Sonic watched him, his eyebrow still raised.

"I'm convinced your brother just hates me," Sonic said. I shook my head at him.

"Don't worry about him. Come on; let's go upstairs." I tugged on his hand. Sonic's lime eyes traveled to me and I saw them light up with admiration. I blushed as a proud smile crept up on his lips.

"You look good," he told me.

"Thank you," I told him. He let me tug him up the stairs and into my room. His eyes analyzed every single aspect of my room, walking around curiously as he did so. I blushed as I realized how vulnerable this felt to him. Showing him my room felt like showing him a whole other layer of what lay behind my face. In my room were my books, my music collections, my favorite movies, a mix of my old and new pictures – my personality in a deeper context. I waited patiently for him to finish looking around although I couldn't help but feel his anxiety. His whispering thoughts were in a bit of a small frenzy – as if he wasn't sure what to do. His eyes then traveled to my bed and I saw his jaw tighten. I diverted my own eyes towards my huge, welcoming bed and realized why he was so uncomfortable. Everyone in the school had known that Sonic and Sally did…things. I wasn't sure how far they'd taken things but I did know that this may have been a lot to adjust to for Sonic. He did say that he wanted to take things slow so that meant that we wouldn't be getting anywhere near the sex talk anytime soon.

"I set some movies out," I told Sonic, causing his gaze to come back to me. "I'm not sure how much of a romantic movie fan you are but I thought we could watch some of those. Maybe break out some ice cream, candy and soda and drown ourselves into diabetes." Sonic chuckled.

"You're cute," he said simply. "But I was thinking that maybe we could just…talk." He took a seat on my bed causing me to stare at him with wide eyes. "Come on kitten, I don't bite," he said as he patted the seat next to him. I blushed deeply as I walked up to him and sat down beside him. It felt strange, sitting so close to him on such a…tempting surface. I could feel the tension in the air that I'd read about in my books. I thought it was strange since Sonic and I had just started dating. We shouldn't be feeling so strongly so fast, should we? But then again, we had been bantering around for the past couple of months. Maybe the tension had always been there but we both hadn't taken the time to pay any mind to it. But now it was there…and so was his heartbeat…and his alluring scent…

"Do you want to see my old pictures," I blurted out suddenly in an attempt to distract my mind away from the predator thoughts it was leaning towards. Sonic seemed caught off guard by the question but agreed by it. I got up to grab one of the other scrapbooks from my old life that I hadn't had the time to look through. The title of it said "Friends & Family" so I hoped that there was nothing too bad in it.

Sonic pawed through the book slowly, his eyes taking in every detail of all the pictures. From my fifth birthday party to a small amusement park trip with my friends. I could feel his thoughts making small comments but I couldn't detect what they were saying. His wall was still up, making his thoughts hard to decipher. He stopped at one picture; a family portrait of a younger Adrian and I and our late parents. He opened his mouth to ask the question of who the people were and why they weren't still with me. I answered his question before he could ask though. "My biological parents died in the freak accident I told you about…the one where I lost my memory. Amber and Richard are…family friends who were kind enough to take Adrian and I in. I don't really remember them…" Sonic raised his eyes to me but I kept my eyes on the picture. I looked like my biological mother. She was beautiful with emerald green eyes, pink hair, and tanned skin. Her eyes were the same unique shape as mine. From the way the old me described her in my journal, she was a gentle, sweet, thoughtful woman – kind of like how the old Amy Rose used to be.

"I'm so sorry, Amy. I…I didn't know that you lost your parents." He gently put his hand on my back to rub gently. "I'm sorry for your loss."

"It's okay," I told him. "They're in a better place now." Sonic pecked a kiss at my temple before flipping to the next page. On it was a picture of Scourge, Blaze and I. We looked to be about fourteen; we were smiling around a table with a birthday crown atop my head.

"Who's this," Sonic asked as he pointed to the smiling blue eyed boy.

"An old friend," I murmured.

"What's his name?"

"Scourge."

"What happened to him? How come Blaze's still around but he's…not?"

"He just…changed. I haven't seen him since my accident, honestly. We used to be best friends."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know that you lost so many people who were close to you. I probably sounded so stupid telling you about how I lost my mom when you've lost so much."

"You didn't sound stupid, Sonic. Everyone handles their grief in different ways. You remember your mom; I don't remember my parents or Scourge all that much. All I know about them are from pictures, what people tell me, and old documents. I don't even remember who I used to be. That's something I just learned to live with. Since I don't remember, it was easy to move on. I understand that you loved your mother; it's normal for you not to move on as easily." I grabbed his hand and gave it a soft squeeze. "It's normal for you to miss her." Sonic forced a smile before pulling me close to kiss my temple again.

"Does it feel strange," he asked once he was done flipping through the photo album. "Having amnesia?"

"Yes," I admitted. "Sometimes I feel like I'm not the person I used to be…as if the old Amy got lost somewhere in my mind. Sometimes I feel lost…as if I don't know what I'm doing with my life."

"Well we're young, you've still got a lot of time to figure that out." If only that was true. While I do have more than an eternity of life open to me, the thought of not having anything to spend that time made my heart feel empty. I will admit that sometimes I wanted to be like the mortals. I wanted to get older, get married, have children… The families I'd seen always looked so happy…so united. I could sense that the old me used to want to raise a family. Sometimes when I dreamed, I got flashes of an older Scourge and I laughing at our wedding or us chasing little toddlers around. The old Amy Rose wanted to live the American dream…it was too bad that all that had to be taken away from her.

I blinked out of my thoughts when I felt Sonic push some hair away from my face. I smiled up at him, taking in his beautiful light green eyes and his long eyelashes. I slowly reached up to caress his cheekbone before letting my hand drop down to his defined jaw line. My fingers curled around to his chin before traveling north to trace his full lips. It took all my strength not to hurt him, to keep my touch as light as a feather. I could feel his fragile bones and muscles beneath my fingertips, making me extra cautious. I didn't want to hurt him. I relaxed my touch a bit when I got to his silky curls, so soft and thick between my fingers. Sonic's eyes softened as he let me examine him with my fingers. He put his hand on the side of my neck where he slightly added pressure so that I would tip my head back a bit. Sonic dipped down slowly to capture my lips with his.

I immediately melted under his kiss. His lips were once again gentle, slow, and oh so passionate as they danced with mine. I looped my arms around his neck and twisted my hands into his hair as I scooted closer to him. One of his arms wrapped itself around my torso while his other hands lightly tangled itself in the hair at the back of my head. My stomach fluttered as I felt the still foreign touch of his tongue against my lips. I felt a bit nervous about deepening the kiss since we were in my room…on my bed…alone. I was a bit afraid that things would escalate fast but I didn't want to pull away. Besides, I didn't get the idea that Sonic wanted sex from me. Instead, he was just kissing me.

His tongue slowly worked to get my mouth open. I tried to fight against his attempts but it was hard to resist his sweet taste. So, I gave in to his requests and let my lips part for his tongue's entrance. He immediately took advantage and gently deepened the kiss. About a moment after, I felt his arms use subtle strength to begin to lower me down onto the bed. The butterflies began to take a turn in a different direction as I felt my back hit my mattress and Sonic's firm torso press up against mine. Before I could take into account what the butterflies were doing, a memory flooded over in my mind.

"Scourge," I whimpered from under my boyfriend's perfectly sculpted body. His lips were on mine, passionately kissing me. His hands were on my hips, lightly tugging at my belt loops. My stomach had churned at the tug though I knew that it wasn't from fear of him doing anything. I was just afraid in general. I wasn't ready to lose my virginity. To Scourge yes but at the moment no. "Scourge," I whimpered again as I pushed as his shoulders. "I want to stop." Scourge picked his head up, his strikingly blue eyes boring down into my emerald green ones. His mouth pressed into a concerned line as he tilted his head at me.

"You okay, baby," he asked. "I wouldn't have touched you unless you asked me to."

"I know but I just…I'm scared," I murmured as I turned my head away.

"Amy," Scourge said as he grabbed my chin. He led my eyes back to his. "You don't have to be scared. I won't hurt you."

"I'm not worried about that." He crinkled his eyebrows together.

"Then what are you worried about?" I blushed deeply as I once again looked away.

"Won't it hurt when we…" I asked. Scourge sighed before he kissed my cheek.

"Don't worry about that Amy. Remember that this will be something new to both of us; I'll do my best to make sure I don't hurt you." I looked up at him from under my eyelashes. His blue topaz orbs were sincere, promising. My stomach fluttered in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry," I murmured.

"Don't be, baby." He pecked my lips. "I love you."

"I love you too." He smiled before leaning back down to crush his lips against mine.

Tears welled up in my eyes as my implicit memory mourned the memory. It's new control over my body noticed the foreign lips moving against mine and decided to retaliate against it. Without thinking, I bit down on Sonic's lip. He pulled away quickly, his eyes wide with surprise. My own eyes widened when I saw that I had caused him to bleed the slightest bit. "I'm sorry," I immediately told him. I leaned up to touch him but he moved back a bit. He licked the blood off, diverting his lime eyes away from me. I silently swore as he got off me. "I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to. I just…" Sonic stared at me with an eyebrow cocked, a smirk tugging at his lips. I felt my cheeks burn as his smirk won the battle on his lips.

"I thought we were done with the claws kitten," he said.

"I'm sorry," I murmured.

"Amy, it's fine." He kissed my temple. "I shouldn't have advanced so quickly. That was my fault. Are you alright?" I nodded. "Good," he said simply before pecking a kiss at my lips. "I'm the one who's sorry," he murmured against my lips.

"It's okay," I whispered back. He kissed me for another moment before pulling away. "So…movies and ice cream and soda?" Sonic chuckled at me.

"Let's drown ourselves in diabetes."

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