I forgot to mention that this chapter, along with the last two, all take place in the same timeframe. So Sonic and Amy hugged, and Tails happened to be there, and then Cream happened to come along. So it's one scene in three different perspectives in three chapters. FYI

It's Time to Wake Up

She had known.

She had known all along, but her heart was stubborn and uncooperative and made her fall deeper and deeper into its own hoard of lies and sweet untruths and had convinced her, the sweet and innocent little bunny, that she could win. But she knew – she always had – that she never stood a damn chance. Not she, a tiny and insignificant rabbit, and not against Amy. Not against beautiful, confident, charismatic, lovable Amy Rose. Not when it came to love.

Not when it came to Tails.

There had always been the signs - most as subtle as bomb explosions - that Tails had his sights somewhere else, somewhere far away from where the rabbit stood. Even just the small things, like how he laughed with Amy, or how he would touch her, even just a small brush of his hand on her shoulder, and Cream would notice it, the look in his eyes, the tone in his voice, the linger of his fingertips…she had seen it.

But no…no, he couldn't love Amy, Cream's treacherous heart had claimed.
But he did, and today there was nothing that anyone or anything could do to deny it any longer. There's a point in time when life gets sick of your willful oblivion and decides it's time for you to smarten up. Time for your heart to be crushed and obliterated and time to get that crap over with. And now was that time for Cream the rabbit. Cream the soft, innocent, loving rabbit.

The first indication was the very fact that Tails hadn't even come to see her…at all. Naturally, the first person he went to see instead was Amy at her coffee booth. Cream hadn't been informed that Tails was in the area. He told her usually that he was, but who knew how many times he stopped by to see Amy and not give a shout out in the rabbit's direction? Cream met Tails on that day purely by chance when she had decided to stop by to see Amy because Cheese was sick and could use some company. Besides, she found that Amy had been rather distant as of late, ever since Rouge's slumber party.

She knew why now.

Second indication: the look of pure agony on Tails' face. It was an expression that belonged exclusively to those with shattered hearts and crushed souls, one that Cream knew now. That look of defeat, where you know you've lost something incredibly precious to you and you know that you'll never, ever regain it. But it wasn't this look alone that pieced everything together, although Cream would have been just as sure without the third indication.

And this final insinuation, this last stroke to the painting, was the direction in which Tails' tormented gaze lay, where a disgustingly exultant couple was encompassed in a passionate embrace, their shadows morphed together…those of Sonic and Amy's.
Amy, with her arms wrapped tightly around the hero, she eyes closed and a smile at her lips.

And then, that final touch – the cherry on the cake, the nail in the head, the framing of the painting – was Tails' tears.

His sobs were like a foggy window cracking and collapsing and revealing the ugly desert and breaking Cream's illusion of a blissful paradise, like a bucket of ice cold water waking her up from a pitifully delightful delusion, like a slap in the face and a scream in her ear to Wake. The hell. Up.

So she did. She was wide awake now. Wide awake.

She led Tails away from the gruesome scene, back to the park where they sat on a lone bench, and all the while Tails did not stop crying. Cream tried her utmost to console his broken heart while containing hers, but she could not help herself from shedding a great number of her own. She cried for both of them while she held him in her arms, his tears soaking her cute dress and her fur, as though her skin began to absorb his despair and she became a net to catch his sorrows. But who would catch her and her pain at the end of the day, when Tails was gone and she was all alone with two bleeding hearts to care for?

Tails, through his tears, found himself confiding in the young rabbit, for she had always been dear to him and she was easy to talk to. His heart poured without him even tipping the glass, without realizing he had suddenly burdened her with the most heartbreaking of details; he had confessed his love to Amy. It had been before the girls went to Rouge's. Which meant something horrible.

Amy had lied to her.

Amy, the girl that Cream had looked up to in every possible way. The woman who Cream admired and confided in had lied to her.

Then Tails cried about how he was always in Sonic's shadow, how, no matter what he did, he could never compete with him. Sonic would always win, no matter how undeserving he was of the prize, and poor Tails would always be runner up, would always be the sidekick, would never win the girl. He hadn't the slightest clue of how well Cream could relate. Not even the slightest.

Eventually, Tails decided it would be best to stop crying in public and head back to the school. Cream offered to accompany him back to the plane, but he told her it was all right. He left her only with a sad smile, a warm and far-too-short embrace and a whispered thank you, and as he turned away from her she began to cry anew. He walked away with her heart – unknowingly, for he hadn't the slightest idea – and she swore she could see it dragging on the ground along his feet, like it had fallen out of a pocket and was hanging only by a vein. She felt empty and broken and she didn't care about the concerned glances and the 'are-you-all-rights' from passerby. Nothing mattered then. Nothing.

"Cream?"

Sniffing and wiping her face, she turned to the familiar voice and came face-to-face with Sonic the hedgehog.
Sonic, whose grandness shed an overbearing shadow on his sidekick. Sonic, who stole away the girl that Tails loved. Sonic, who held much of the blame for the tears that Tails had shed moments earlier.

"Cream! What's wrong? Gosh, are you ok?" The hedgehog put a hand on her shoulder and expressed sincere worry, but the effect was the complete opposite of what he had been expecting, for her melancholy unexpectedly twisted into rage. She was angry for Tails, angry that this insufferable hedgehog had hurt Tails so much -

…wait. No. That wasn't right. It was a good thing, Sonic stealing Amy. Amy, who didn't deserve Tails, would go with Sonic instead. So while the hero did play a significant role in the scene, Cream couldn't direct all of her fury towards him. No, it hadn't been to Sonic that Tails had confessed to. It hadn't been him that had been leading Tails on with his smiles and pretty face, nor had it been him who had rejected the fox. It hadn't been him who had lied to Cream's very face.

When she heard the hedgehog say her name again, she raised her gaze to stare back into his, a flaming look burning in her eyes. Her glare, so intense and so full of hate, made Sonic step back reflexively.

"It's her fault," Cream growled, her voice no louder than a whisper. Sonic hadn't heard what she said, and at his request she repeated, "Amy. It's Amy's fault."

Before Sonic could ask what she meant, the rabbit shoved past him and ran back to the mall. She rushed and pushed her way through groups and families and couples, flying faster and faster as her rage built inside of her, pulsing through her being and looking for a way out of its confinement. She found the pink hedgehog with her face in her palm, looking dreamily into space and smiling pathetically at nothing in particular, no doubt thinking back to the long embrace that had led to Tails and Cream's aching hearts.

Her body shaking and her heart pounding fast due to her fury, Cream stormed up to the distracted girl, only catching her attention when she abruptly slammed her hands on the counter violently. Amy was so shocked at the bunny's behavior that she nearly tripped backwards, catching herself on the display counter behind her. She was extremely concerned when she noticed her dear friend's murderous expression, and for a moment she felt afraid of her. It was such a shock to see such a sweet, loving child like her to behave in such a manner and naturally it raised some apprehension.

"You're a liar!" Cream screeched, her face millimeters from Amy's. Before the hedgehog could inquire, Cream explained, "You told me Tails liked me!" Visibly, Amy began to cower, stepping slowly away from the rabbit. "But you lied! He loves YOU!"

Amy began to panic inwardly, and so reflexively she began to deny it, and this set off the fuse in the young rabbit and sent her into overdrive. "HE TOLD YOU THAT HE LOVES YOU! YOU WERE LYING TO ME! AND YOU'RE LYING TO ME AGAIN!"

"H-How do you-"

"We saw you." Cream's eyes burned with unshed tears, but she refused to let Amy see them. She couldn't let her see them. "Tails came, and we saw you in Sonic's arms."

"T-That wasn't anything-"

"YOU REJECTED TAILS AND THEN YOU GO CUDDLING WITH THAT STUPID HEDGEHOG! RIGHT. IN FRONT. OF TAILS!"

"…Tails…saw?"

"AND HE CRIED!" Suddenly, she calmed down and her eyes went downcast as she recalled the sight in her mind, her heart splitting all over again. This silence took Amy off guard and scared her. "He cried, Amy. You broke his heart. You broke it."

And, in turn, Amy's heart broke as well. She turned her body away and brought her hand to her lips, tears forming in her eyes. And then Cream laid down the final blow, the bullet to the heart, in the quietest and most disturbing voice she had ever heard Cream speak in and that would keep Amy Rose the hedgehog crying at night for weeks.

"I hate you. I never want to see you again."

And then she was gone.

Been working on this for a while. Couldn't get the right feel until now. Sorry :( I also need to redo the first couple of chapters. And I think I should rename the title to Carol of Broken Souls. What do you think?

I'm gonna try my best to work on the next chapter ASAP...But don't I always say that? I'm working six days a week and am moving in two weeks. Forgive me? ^^

Chapter title runnerups were: 'The Sweet and Innocent Little Bunny' and 'You Are a Liar.'