Amy spent the whole day in a daze. After making her way home and showering, she headed into the café for her afternoon shift. She somehow juggled managing the café while being a full-time student, but it was not without great stress. Her hangover lingered on even as she made it to work, making it just a little too hard to focus on making schedules.

Well, that was part of why she was so distracted.

She saw the voicemail from Sonic, but she didn't want to listen to it yet. She'd rather wait until she could cry in bed. She had so wanted it to be him, so desperately wished he'd be the one to take her for the first time. She wondered if it would have happened last night, if he'd shown up for their date. Did he even think of her in that way?

She thought for a moment about Shadow, and immediately her cheeks felt hot. She remembered only bits and pieces of the night before, but she did remember how his lips felt against hers. She'd kissed boys before, of course, but never had it been like that. His touch was gentle, yet dominant. His kiss was like fire. She recalled how she'd cried out his name. Shadow.

The thought had her feeling strange. She mourned what she thought she'd one day have, but… perhaps it wasn't all that bad. That was what she'd wanted after all, to move on from Sonic, to find some way to detach herself from him. Maybe this could propel her to her independence. After all, what better 'Fuck you' to Sonic than screwing his rival?

This thought made her laugh.

"Amy?" One of her waitresses caught her attention. "Can I talk to you about my vacation?"

"Um?" She replied, unable to process her words quite yet. They shared an awkward moment before Amy got it together. "Yes, good timing, I'm making schedules right now." She gave the girl an earnest smile, thankful for the momentary distraction from her thoughts.

Amy carried on with her day in a similar fashion until the café closed. She spent the entire walk home consumed by her thoughts, rehashing the same thing over and over. How did she feel? She didn't know. Nothing changed. Everything changed. What was she going to do?

She kept her head down as she walked, so she didn't notice the hedgehog hanging outside her building until he called out to her from half a block away.

"Amy!" He cried, closing the distance between them in the blink of an eye. "Where have you been?"

She was dumbfounded. "S-sonic." She said, unsure of herself. "I was working. What are you doing here?"

Sonic scratched the back of his neck, a sheepish grin on his face. "Well, you hadn't called me back, so I figured you're probably pretty mad about yesterday, so I thought I would come and see you, and uh, apologize and stuff."

She stared at him blankly for almost a solid minute, waiting for the words I'm sorry to actually leave his mouth for this supposed apology; as usual, she got her hopes up for nothing. "No," She said with a slight chuckle. "You should have shown up last night." With that, she pushed past him, eyes locked on the gates to her apartment.

"I know, I know, I feel like a real jerk." He said, zipping back in front of her. His boy scout charms had no effect on her now, so she simply walked around him. "Amy, c'mon! Look, let me make it up to you! I'll take you out tonight, right now!" He said as he followed her down the street.

It took every ounce of strength she had to protest. "I'm tired." She said, biting back tears.

"Please, give me another chance, I swear I'll make it right."

"You've had more than enough chances, haven't you Sonic?" She replied, voice barely above a whisper. She stopped at the door to her apartment building and turned to face him. "What makes you think you deserve another?"

"Amy, c'mon, it's me, I mean…" Sonic's smile faded, and Amy's cold stare remained frozen on her face. "When I didn't show up, I just thought, you know, I was busy, and you'd understand, and we could just do it later, you know?"

"When are you going to stop taking me for granted?" Amy asked, eyes glistening with tears. When he only stared dumbfounded, she looked down and said, "Go home Sonic," before slipping inside, leaving Sonic on the doorstep feeling like a fool.

It took less than a minute for Sonic to zip at top speed over to Tail's home in the suburbs. He banged on the door for another full minute until his longtime best friend opened it. "Sonic, it's late, what are you doing here?"

"I need to talk, may I come in?"

"Of course, Sonic!" The young fox said, stepping aside for Sonic to enter the home. "Come on in."

Sonic entered the small home and made his way to the living room, sitting on the couch with his feet up and his arms crossed. "Amy just rejected me, flat out!"

Tails grimaced. "Uh, yeah, I'm not surprised." The fox sat in an armchair across from Sonic with his hands folded in his lap.

Sonic cocked and eyebrow. "Why's that?"

"Oh, uh, well I saw Knux today, and he told me…" Tails went quiet for a moment. "Well, it's impolite to spread rumors."

"No, tell me." Sonic insisted. "What did Knuckles say?"

Tails bit his lip, regretting not thinking before speaking. "I guess after you stood her up, she went to a party with him and Rouge."

Sonic's face twisted. "Let me guess… she slept with some guy, didn't she?"

"Yes." Was all Tails said, eyes down at his hands.

"D'you know who?"

Tails swallowed. He didn't like to lie to his best friend, but… "No, I don't, sorry."

Sonic looked defeated. "God damn." His arms fell to his sides and he looked toward the window. "What do I do now, dude?"

"I don't know Sonic. Let her go, I guess, if she rejected you."

Sonic frowned. He knew he was at fault, but somehow, he wanted to be angry at Amy. "I thought she'd wait for me."

Tails gave him a dumbfounded look. "Sonic… She did."