"Come on Tikal!"

"Yeah Tikal, hurry up! We're freezing!"

"This is no way to treat the birthday girl." Tikal complained, running up the driveway. "Why are you all in such a rush?"

The lights of her family's house (a two-story grey stone building with a vegetable patch in the front garden) were all out. It didn't seem like anybody was home. We were all crowded around on the doorstep, waiting for her.

"I'm just getting the key - " Tikal grunted as it got stuck in the lock. "I thought that Knuckles would be here to let us in, he was meant to be back from Knothole - "

"Maybe the date ran late." Rouge said casually. Too casually. But Tikal wasn't listening, still grunting and trying to force the door open.

"Just a - yes!" she cried as the door finally gave. "The lock's old, I'm really sorry - "

"I've got to go to the bathroom!" Rouge announced, running in ahead of us swearing as she tripped in her heels.

"I don't know why she decided to wear those to the cinema …" Tikal said, shaking her head.

"It's Rouge - you know what she's like!" Blaze said.

"True. But it doesn't explain why she insisted on getting all of us dressed up too - "

"Let's go into the kitchen and order pizza!" Cosmo said loudly. She and Cream grabbed Tikal by the arms and pulled her forwards. Maria, Blaze and I followed them, trying to bite back our laughter.

"Guys, what's going -?"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIKAL!"

Tikal jumped as the kitchen was flooded in light, revealing the crowd - Tikal's parents, her grandmother, and the guys, cheering as they saw her stunned expression. The table was laden with food - pizza, chips, guacamole, and a giant birthday cake.

"Happy Birthday!" Cosmo and Cream chorused, wrapping their arms around her. Tails darted forwards to join the group hug, his glasses getting knocked askew in the excitement.

"You guys!" Tikal wailed. There were tears in her eyes. "I had no idea!"

"Really?" Blaze's eyebrows were raised.

"Really!" she repeated, sniffing. Her parents and grandmother came over to hug her as the freshmen trio pulled away, laughing at her expression. Knuckles slipped unnoticed out the door, grinning at us as he passed. Maria let out a squeal of excitement that turned into a yelp as Blaze elbowed her, frowning. We didn't want to give away the surprise.

Someone turned on the music. Tikal's father started pouring us drinks. The room was soon filled with laughter. I picked up a slice of pizza and looked at the cake that Vanilla and Cream had made for the party - they'd transferred a photo onto it, a shot of all of us girls in our talent show gear. Our arms were linked and we had huge smiles on our faces. I looked away, my heart full.

Tikal was opening all of her presents - a vegan cookbook, a potted succulent, a new yellow raincoat, a multipack of metal straws, and a necklace with an amber pendant hanging down from it.

"It's beautiful," Tikal said, her eyes shining. "Where's Rouge? I want to thank her - "

Her voice broke off into a yelp as Blaze and Cream grabbed her and pulled her around so that she was facing the door. "Ow! What are you - ?!"

She fell silent, her mouth hanging open as she stared at the open doorway and the figure standing there; I'd never met her before but I knew who she was - I'd seen enough photos of her on Tikal's phone.

"Um - surprise, I guess?" Marine said, raising her hand in a semi-awkward wave. Tikal gaped at her, then at all of us. I wondered, briefly, if we'd broken her.

"Nobody tells me anything!" Tikal cried. We all burst out laughing. Marine let out a chuckle, physically relaxing. "I wanted it to be a surprise!" she said.

Tikal stepped forward after a second's hesitation and threw her arms around Marine, almost knocking her into Knuckles and Rouge who were standing in the doorway behind them, identical expressions of satisfaction on their faces.

"It's so good to see you! How long are you staying for? Oh my gosh, we have to go to to Deja Brew - they have so many more vegan options now! This is insane, I can't believe - "

"I've known for ages, but it was meant to be a surprise - my bag's upstairs, I have your present in it - "

"How did this even happen? Was this your idea?"

Knuckles and Rouge shared an amused glance. It confirmed the suspicions I'd had ever since I was told about the surprise party last night … What two people cared about Tikal the most? Who would go to the end of the world for her if she needed it? Who would do anything to put a smile on her face?

Maybe that's what kept them from committing to a real relationship, kept them playing hot and cold so they wouldn't get her hopes up about anything, kept them apart … but it was also what brought them together - and it worked. If this party proved anything, it was that if they focused all the energy they spent fighting with one another on working together, they were a force to be reckoned with.

I watched them walk back into the kitchen, towards the island in the middle of the room. Knuckles poured Rouge a drink and when he passed her the cup, the look that passed between them was so tender that I had to look somewhere else.

I saw Sonic standing in the corner, tapping his phone screen. I suddenly wished that I had eaten my pizza more slowly -

"Hey Sonic," I said, stepping tentatively towards him.

"Oh, hi Amy." he replied. "How are things?"

"They're good, yeah. Abigail's been asking me when you and Maria are coming back to play with her." I forced a laugh, but Sonic barely reacted. He stared down at his phone for a few more seconds before slipping it back into his pocket. I waited for him to respond, but he took a long sip of his drink instead -

"So - are you having a good time?"

- was he trying to avoid talking to me?

"Yeah. Yeah - who knew that Knuckles had it in him, huh?"

"Well, with Rouge's help - "

"I'm surprised they managed to pull this off without killing each other."

I frowned. "I don't think that's really fair."

He'd pulled his phone out again and was looking at the screen. "Sorry - trying to sort out the track schedule. Training starts again on Monday."

"That sounds tough." I bit my lip. "You know, if you need any - ?"

"Nah, it's fine. Sally's helping - she's good at organising things, and she's on the team anyway - "

"Right - of course!" I cut him off quickly. Shame rose within me. Of fucking course Sally Acorn had it all covered.

Silence settled between us.

"Hey, I've got to go and ask Silver something - I'll see you at school."

"Yeah - Yeah! I'll see you - "

He was gone before the words left my lips. I watched him walk across the room and insert himself between Silver and Blaze, laughing and ruffling her hair, and putting his arm around Silver. It was just the kind of person he was, I told myself. He wanted to make sure he got to talk to everyone.

Marine and Tikal were catching up in the corner of the kitchen, their heads close together - maybe to hear each other better over the sound of Florence and the Machine, but the pink flush that stained both their faces made me think they had other motives. Tails and Cosmo were standing apart from everyone else, hanging shyly by the doorway. Knuckles, Rouge, Shadow, and Maria were standing together. Maria's head was resting on Shadow's shoulder.

"Are you alright, Amy?" Cream asked. She was standing next to me, clutching Cheese in her arms, and blinking up at me with those adorable chocolate eyes of hers.

"I'm fine." I said lightly. "How are you? How were the holidays?"

"They were fine." she let out an uncharacteristically pensive sigh. I frowned at her, looking at her properly.

"I don't buy it."

"Well … On New Year's Day - "

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you …"

"I'll tell you later." Cream whispered. We joined the choir of voices as a blushing Tikal was pulled to the table by a laughing Marine, so that she could blow out all of the candles on her birthday cake.

"I don't understand how you managed to lose weight over the Christmas holidays," Rouge huffed, toying unenthusiastically at her salad. I guiltily gulped down the last of the cookie I'd bought as a back-to-school reward.

"I was pretty active, with helping teach the Junior Ballet classes." Maria shrugged. She leaned back into Shadow. He was gazing intently at her, which wasn't unusual in itself but there was something different about his expression - a hardness that wasn't usually there.

"You're also having regular sex. Like that's gotta burn a load of calories." Rouge yawned, stretching her arms out. Knuckles' eyes wandered down to her straining shirt buttons.

"I just got a message from Tikal!" Cosmo announced, looking up from her sketchbook to her phone. "She and Marine are going to Deja Brew for lunch tomorrow - shall we join them or ..?"

"Definitely join them." I said. "We need to see if Tikal's made any kind of move yet."

"I'm so proud of you, Amy. You've learned so much under my influence!" Rouge sniffed, pretending to hold back a tear. "I can only hope that Tikal's learned something from me too - "

"Chaos help us, I hope not." Knuckles groaned. She rammed her elbow into his side and the two of them started arguing. So much for tender looks across the kitchen.

"Has anyone seen Sonic?" Blaze demanded, appearing at the table. Her tail was lashing backwards and forwards in annoyance. "He borrowed my history notes for our paper and I want to go over them tonight. "

"He's probably out on the track." Silver said. "Want me to text him?"

"Please." Blaze nodded, taking the seat beside him. Her tail was still twitching, but she physically relaxed when Silver started to rub her back.

"No response." he said. "Weird."

"I have to go to the bathroom - I'll be back in a minute."

But I walked past the bathroom. Down the alcove. Out the glass doors. I walked down the path, shivering in my light jacket, until I was looking out at the track field. A handful of track team members were there. I could see Jet talking to Wave, who was standing off to the side to support him like the loyal girlfriend that she was. Sally Acorn was stretching nearby, laughing at something one of the other guys - a fox that I didn't recognise - was saying.

And Sonic, who was the only one still running; his feet hitting the ground again and again in a never-ending rhythym that seemed to match the beating of my heart.

"It's nice being home with my best girls!" Mom said, smiling around the table at us. It was one of the rare times where we were all together in the evening, and so we were all eating dinner in the kitchen.

"I have something I wanted to ask you both …" she drew in a breath. "Would it be alright with you if I had someone over for dinner on Saturday night?"

My stomach lurched. I had to force down my mouthful of spaghetti.

"Who is it?" Abigail asked.

"A friend from work."

"Is it a boyfriend? Amy has a boyfriend!"

"No I don't!" I hissed, tightening my grip on my fork.

"Well Sonic's a boy and he's your friend, soooo - "

I stood up from the table. "I'll be in my room."

"I bought ice-cream for - "

"I'll be out in a few minutes," I said. "I just have to get some homework off Maria."

"Okay …" she sounded crestfallen. Abigail looked confused. I didn't care - I couldn't care about anything except trying not to cry before I got into my room.

My phone was lying on my bed. I picked it up and saw the green dot beside Sonic's name. He was online. But the message that I'd last sent him - almost a week ago by this stage - was still there …

Read.

I put my phone back on the bed and started gathering up my books to do my homework.

"In my defence, I'm not used to the new year yet." Maria pulled a face as she picked up our tub of recently expired cream. "I got confused by the date on the packet - "

"We're almost halfway through the month!"

"I've been very busy!"

"Are you guys okay?" Nicole asked. She and Sally were watching us with vaguely amused expressions from their table. Their cake was perfect, of course.

"You can use the end of our cream if you want," Sally offered. "We're just about done with it."

Sally was already chopping up strawberries to stick on top of the cake. I tried not to feel irritated by how neatly she managed to do it without even looking. The four of us chatted about the holidays, how much we'd eaten, how much it sucked that we were back at school -

"Elias was asking for you, Amy." Sally said.

"Huh?"

"I didn't realise that you two were such good friends!" she added. There was something off about her voice, and the way that she wouldn't meet my eyes - was I reading too much into it?

"We've chatted a few times." I said, trying to match her casual tone.

"Okay like, has anyone else noticed that Miss Barony is acting … strange?" Nicole asked in a conspiratorial whisper. We all glanced across the room to where Vanilla was standing, looking out at the room. That wasn't unusual, not from a teacher, but the way that she was looking at us was. It was like she wasn't really seeing us at all, like her mind was far away.

"She keeps fiddling with her hand …" Sally said, narrowing her eyes.

Someone dropped a knife. There was a loud clatter and Vanilla's hand flew up to her mouth. "Are you alright?" she cried.

Almost simultaneously, the four of us sucked in a breath. There was no mistaking what was on her finger.

"It was New Year's. I stayed over at Cosmo's house after the party. When I got home I found out … Well, they're getting married. In June"

"Oh wow, that's - soon."

"Yep."

Silence.

"How are you feeling?"

She didn't answer, or make any indication that she'd heard me, but her grip tightened on the metal swing ties, her knuckles pale from the pressure. The playground was empty - it was still Winter, and it was getting lateI kicked my feet against the dirt on the ground. I didn't say anything else - I could feel the pressure building between us, like air in a glass jar, and I knew that if I waited long enough then the lid would burst off.

"I guess that by now you've noticed that my dad isn't in my life." she said, finally. "It's always been me and my mom, ever since I was a little kid. I was really young - and everyone thinks that I was too young to remember but, I don't know how you could forget something like that."

"Like what?" I asked, my voice soft.

She released her hands so that she could scoop Cheese up from the ground and hold him close. She pressed her head against his for a few seconds, her eyes squeezed shut.

"My dad he - he wasn't very nice to me. Or my mom."

I instinctivally reached out to her. She opened her eyes and looked at me. They were spilling over with tears.

"He - he - "

Her voice cracked. Cheese chirupped at her, nudging her with his head. She stroked him once, twice, three times, the whole length of his body in such a cohesive movement that it was clearly wasn't just another mindless touch between a girl and her pet. I'd never asked why Cream needed a service pet and had chalked it up to her generalised anxiety.

I could see it all more clearly now as she opened her mouth and struggled to find the words to describe the awful things that her family had gone through. I could see Cream more clearly - why she and her mother were so close, why she was so protective of her, so wary of someone else coming between them, why she had Cheese, why she shirked away from attention from boys …

She let out a sob and all of my self-consciousness fell away. I got off my swing and wrapped my arms around her as best as I could, squeezing her tightly.

"You're so brave, Cream." I said. "You're one of the bravest people I've ever met."

"Me?" she gasped, struggling through her tears.

"You're so kind and gentle - and those are really hard things to be, and to be them after what you've gone through? I'm honestly in awe of you."

"I'm not kind to Vector." she said, her voice muffled by my shoulder.

"Because he reminds you of your dad?"

She nodded. I let out a breath, thinking, deliberating -

Because what could I possibly say?

"I used to go to counselling." Cream said, tilting her head upwards so that her chin was resting on my shoulder. "That's why I have Cheese. I know that not every man's like that, but I'm just so scared."

"I know." I whispered. "That's okay."

She eased into my embrace a little. Cheese continued making soothing sounds. We stayed there like that, locked in our embrace.

"Cosmo's parents are divorced. So are Sonic's and Rouge's." Cream whispered. "Your dad left too."

"He did."

"Dads are the worst."

"You're right," I said. "Dads really are the worst."

Blaze Sol: Can you please do something for me?

Amy Rose: Of course!

Blaze Sol: Sonic still hasn't given me back my notes. I really need them back, I have a tutoring job tomorrow right after school and I need to prepare

Blaze Sol: I hate to ask but … your house is near his, right?

My finger hovered over the screen. In the meantime another text appeared.

Blaze Sol: I'm sorry if it's inconvenient. It's just that he hasn't been around all week, he hasn't replied to my messages, and I'm getting stressed.

My fingers moved quickly.

Amy Rose: Oh my gosh Blaze, please don't worry about it! Of course it's fine! Anything for a friend!

Blaze Sol: Thank you so much. I swear he has a lot to answer for

Amy Rose: Isn't it a little weird that he hasn't really spoken to any of us …?

Blaze Sol: Not really. Track's back this week, right?

Amy Rose: I suppose so but does that explain why he's dropped off the face of the earth?

Blaze Sol: I can see why you'd think that. But trust me, it's not all that unusual for Sonic to suddenly check out. He's a really supportive friend, he is always there for your 100% when you need him, but he needs some time to himself.

Blaze Sol: It's not that he's a loner, or all that introverted - believe me, I'd know. He's just a free spirit. You can completely depend on him for the big stuff, he's always in your corner, but the little things like lunches and replying to texts? They don't always register with him in the same way.

Amy Rose: That's not the impresison I had of him.

Blaze Sol: Well, he's been different since you got here. More present.

Amy Rose: What do you mean …?

Blaze Sol: Nothing. Only that … you seem to get through to him when the rest of us can't.

"Amy! What a lovely surprise - it's so nice to see you!"

"It's nice to see you too," I said shyly. Friend's parents were still kryptonite for me. "Is Sonic home? He has something of Blaze's."

"Good luck getting anything back from him!" Manic called from somewhere inside the house. "He still hasn't given me my jacket!"

"Manic, you have plenty of jackets."

"I wanted to wear this one for my date!"

Aleena shook her head. "Whoever said boys would be easier lied! I'm sorry Amy, Sonic's not here at the moment - he went to Knothole after school."

"Oh that's alright!" What's he doing in Knothole? "I can call over later - "

"I'm driving there now to drop Manic off," Aleena continued. "I can bring you over - and you can come back here for some dinner before you go home!"

"That's so kind, really, but - "

"It's no trouble"

"I don't want to put you out of - "

"No Amy, I insist!"

What can I say? It was like kryptonite. Within minutes I was sitting in the backseat of Aleena's car. It was beginning to dirzzle outside. She cranked up the heating and the car hummed softly. Manic fiddled with the radio, checking his reflection in the mirror every few minutes. Aleena questioned Manic about how late he'd be, what bus he'd be getting back home, whem he was going to learn to drive, how much homework he had left -

I closed my eyes and pressed my head against the glass, watching the raindrops race each other down the window.

Manic got out on main street. I watched him approach a girl standing under the awning of a shop - the mouse who worked in the newsagents near our house. She was wearing fishnets and an oversized grey sweater. She waved at him and the two of them linked arms and walked off together. Aleena started up the car and drove on. The further she drove, the sicker I felt, because it felt extremely familiar …

And my suspicions were confirmed when we went up the Acorn's driveway.

Aleena's boss rang her, so she asked me to go inside and get Sonic. I felt like my heart was stuck in my throat, but I shakily knocked on the door. I waited a minute before knocking again. Elias opened the door, his eyes widening slightly in surprise when he saw me.

"Amy. What are you doing here?"

"Sonic's mom asked me to get him."

"Right. Yeah, they're just back now. I'd give them a few minutes. Do you uh, do you want a drink or something?"

They. He led me into the kitchen and poured me a Coke. I drank it quickly, wanting to get out of here and go home. The shiny kitchen surfaces seemed to shrink around me, and Elias was staring out into space, raking a hand through his hair … His eyes were a little red-rimmed …

Laughter rang out from another room - Sonic's laughter. I gulped down the end of my drink, my throat burning.

Sonic and Sally were in a small living room, watching an old episode of 'How I Met Your Mother'. There were two glasses on the coffee table, perched on top of coasters. They were both wearing workout clothes and smelled faintly of body spray.

"Amy!" Sally cried. She shifted in her seat. She and Sonic weren't sitting noticably close together, but the fact that she tried to put more space between them than there already was because I was looking felt like a blow to the stomach. "What are you doing here?"

"Um - Sonic, your mom is - "

"Right." he said, getting up from the sofa. "Yeah. I'll grab my stuff."

"You have everything?" Sally asked. She was still sitting on the sofa, her limbs artfully arranged so that she still looked gorgeous in clingy sweaty gymwear.

"Yeah. Yeah, you know you were right Sal, the Knothole gym is really cool. I'll defenitely be checking it out again."

Sal.

I excused myself to go to the bathroom. I didn't want to risk them seeing me cry. I vaguely remembered the way from the party - what house needed this many rooms?

I was halfway down the hall when I heard muffled voices from inside one of the other rooms. I froze, listening to the angry tones;

"We'll have it happen out of town somewhere. She can stay in a hotel."

"No - "

"A nice hotel. Nicer than she's used to. We'll pay for it. You know that money's no object."

"It's for the best, darling." A third voice. Female. "It'll be easier this way."

"Easier for who?"

"Easier for the family." The first voice, the gruff male one.

"Easier for her." The woman added.

"Easier for both of you, you mean." The third voice grumbled. It was a young male voice. I suddenly realised who it was -

"This is such bullshit!"

"Elias!"

"You guys are always telling me to take more responsibility. That's what I'm doing now."

"There is more than one way to - "

"No, dad, what you're suggesting is to sweep it all under the rug and forget that it ever happened."

"So you can have a good life! So that you can stop squandering every opporunity you're given - stop wasting your potential - all of our hard work - We've put up with this for too long! With that girl! Listen to me, this teenage rebellion of yours has gone on too far - "

I'd never heard anyone sound this angry before.

"It's not - "

"What kind of example are you setting for your sister?"

"You know, I realise that it's probably really hard for you to realise that not everything I do revolves around the two of you, but my relationship with Megan has nothing to do with you -"

"Spare me!"

"- I love her."

"Love!" His father spat. "What do you know about love?"

"A shit-ton more than either of you seem to."

A gasp.

"Don't use language like that around your mother! "You're seventeen years old!"

"I'm nearly an adult!"

"Exactly - nearly an adult. While you're living under our roof, you'll follow our rules. You'll do as your told. When you're eighteen you can do what you want - starve in a gutter, become a pianist, fly to the moon - but now you are my son and you shall do what you're told."

"Dad - "

"Phone her. Tell her we're making the appointment for next week. Somewhere in Mobius. Phone her now."

"I won't - "

"What do you think's going to happen if you don't? You're in highschool. She's already a drop-out. How will you live? Do you think we'll buy you an apartment somewhere? Or did you think we'd let you both stay here? Because I can tell you one thing, Elias, that is not happening. If you don't go through with this, you're never seeing her again. You can finish your schooling somewhere else."

"It's for the best, son." The woman said again, her voice softer. "Megan will see it too - she'll understand - "

She stopped suddenly, her voice broken off by the sound of Elias' broken sobs. I backed away from the door, a cold chill running down my spine, as I rushed back to the kitchen. I could hardly breathe. What was going on?

Sally was waiting for me by the door. Sonic was already sitting out in the car. Aleena waved at me through the windscreen. I mumbled a quick goodbye to Sally, neither one of us meeting the other's eyes, and clambered into the backseat. She stood in the doorway as we pulled away, and I could feel her eyes on the car as we went down the driveway. I looked back in time to see her disappear back into her house, to where here family were fighting in the other room. I suddenly felt a wave of sympathy for her. I couldn't imagine having to exist in that shiny kitchen space all the time.

Though, I reasoned, I'd take it over being in this car right now.

"Amy called over to get some notes off you, Sonic."

"They're Blaze's."

"Oh yeah. I'll get them when we're home."

"I have Health with her in the morning, so I can give them to her then."

"Cool."

The rest of the car journey passed by in silence, apart from the radio. It was damp outside, but had stopped raining.

When we got to the house Sonic led me up to his room. It was unchanged since I was last here, but it felt colder. He picked a large purple ringbinder up from his desk and handed it to me. "There you go. Tell her thanks for me."

"Maybe you could tell her yourself?" I tried to make it sound like a joke, but my delivery came out flat, like a drink that had been left out too long.

Sonic made a non-committal noise and lay down on his bed, staring up at the celing. I stood there for a minute, unsure what to do.

"Are you staying for dinner?" he asked.

"I don't know." I bit my lip. I had a million questions that I wanted to ask him - what had changed? Was he angry with me? Why hadn't he spoken to me since he was at my house? Did I do something wrong?

"Should I go?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "If you want."

Silence.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. "Are you okay?"

He let out a sigh. "I'm just tired."

"Tired of what?" I asked.

"Running."

"What are you running from?"

He continued to stare up at the celing. The silence seemed to stretch on, but he gave no indication that he was going to answer. Finally, he turned around to look at me. Our eyes met for a long moment.

I turned away. "I should go. Homework … I'll see you around, Sonic."

"See ya."

I made my excuses to Aleena and left. It was a short walk, but it seemed to take twice as long as it should have.

We met Matthew two nights later. He wasn't what I'd expected at all - though I guess that mom had been almost eight years younger when she'd last dated someone. Her tastes may have changed.

No patched denim jacket. No piercing. No faint smell of weed. Matthew was, well, ordinary. A smiley bear with large hands. They were cool to the touch when he shook my hand upon coming in the door. Abigail watched him with vague interest at the dinner table.

He was from Station Square. His father had known our granny - gone to bridge with her. He worked at the hotel too, as a receptionist, but he'd been taking night classes for a while and was hoping to move up. He needed glasses for reading. He

He asked me some questions about school - he seemed to find it easier to talk to me than to Abigail, treating me like a smaller adult. He'd brought a fancy supermarket cheesecake for dessert.

It was nice.

And he was … nice.

I looked at my mother out of the corner of my eye. The smile on her face.

He didn't stay long after dinner. Which was good.

"What did you think of him?"

Her expression was so anxious. I tried to force my doubt down. "He seems nice."

"I liked him!" Abigail announced. "He brought cake."

I didn't say much. It was getting late, so I said my goodnights. I wanted to text Sonic, but I didn't know what to say. So I texted Cream instead;

Amy Rose: Does he make your mom happy?

Cream Barony: Yes

Amy Rose: Do you trust her judgement? That she'll keep you guys safe?

Cream Barony: …

Cream Barony: I do

Amy Rose: Maybe you should give them a shot.

Cream Barony: I probably should.

Cream Barony: Thanks Amy - you're a great friend.

Amy Rose: So are you.

It was nice to talk to Cream. But the person that I really wanted to talk to didn't seem to want to talk to me.

I appreciate my reviewers. I appreciate your reviews. I appreciate constructive criticism. And I can understand feeling annoyed by things that happen, the slow-burn nature of Sonic and Amy's relationship, and the fact that I generally don't meet the deadlines I make.

And I take responsibility for most of that, I really do, I realise it's frustrating. At the end of the day though, I am a full-time college student with a part-time job and a lot of other commitments. And this is something that I am doing myself for free. It's not even a brand new idea, it's a rewrite of something that I finished when I was thirteen. And I wanted to do it, and I still do, but please don't talk to me about deadlines unless you're editing/publishing/paying for/grading my work (which other people do for other things like my scripts, theatre reviews, and college newspaper articles) - at least not in such a condescending way. I don't talk about it a lot but I am also dealing with mental illness and going to counselling, so that's a whole other thing that can affect this work - which again, I do voluntarily, of my own free will. Often I set these deadlines to put extra pressure on myself and give me extra incentive, and maybe I should be more transparent about my process, but I did explain myself with the last chapter. There was a serious family illness very close to the holidays and that throws things off.

I guess that I wouldn't mind as much if my chapters were shorter, but as of late they regularly come up to 5000-7000 words each (which I know in terms of actual writing and publishing is too long and a lot should be edited out, but this is publishing on a fanfiction website).

Also, I'm sorry if you think it's 'cheap' that Sonic and Amy didn't kiss in the last chapter. I get the frustration. But I'm not trying to string you guys along for the sake of it. I thought that it was pretty clear in the narrative why the characters didn't kiss and why the time wasn't right. I know it's frustrating, but I just want this to feel real. The original story was so personal to me, I want this one to be similar.

Thank you again for your reviews, I appreciate the feedback. Sorry for the long drawn out response, the reviewer in question used a Guest profile so I couldn't respond privately.