Just a little something that came together while in isolation... I started this story at Christmas last year and wanted to wait until I had finished it to start posting so relive your holidays here!

'So, do you guys want to do anything for the weekend?' Knuckles asked through a mouthful of food.

'It's Christmas! We have to do something together?' Cream exclaimed, Silver raising his mug of cocoa to agree with her.

'I don't see why not? We could just do something low-key here?' Tails answered as he took a seat on the couch with a cup of tea.

'We could all make something to bring over? Help lighten the cooking load?' Blaze suggested, looking at Rouge for support.

'And maybe do a secret Santa so everyone only needs to be responsible for one gift.' The ivory bat cocked a brow towards the boys, who merely responded through a snicker.

'I could get a few festive decorations? Shadow will help me!' Tikal exclaimed. Shadow gave her a confused glance before shrugging it off and nodding.

'I can bring over some Christmas music? This will be fun!' Amy smiled brightly before a blue blur came to take a seat next to her.

'I bet I could find some mistletoe on a run tomorrow morning.' Sonic added and passed her a cup of tea.

She thanked him and they smiled, just a second longer than normal. Amy broke their gaze by looking down into her tea, her cheeks heating up and her stomach twisting painfully with excitement. Was he flirting? He was flirting. She thought she should know by now... it had been like this for weeks. Little hints and jabs here and there, laughing together more and more. Did he... have feelings for her? Finally? She mentally slapped herself whenever these thoughts crossed her mind - she was in her twenties, for God's sake. Grow up and just do something. Rouge watched this from the corner of her eye, smiling as she sipped her tea.

'That settles it then! We'll have Christmas here!' Tails announced gleefully.

Everyone excitedly agreed before changing the subject. They all continued to chat as they huddled around the lounge room, mugs of tea and cocoa in hand. It was starting to get late and the first flakes of snow began to fall. Everyone slowly peeled off and made their way home, trying to beat the storm. Amy felt her stomach flip again when hers and Sonic's gaze last a few seconds longer, just like before, as they said goodbye.

'You should bring your new friend you mentioned yesterday.' Tails suggested, beginning to clean up after everyone was gone.

'Yeah, I uh- I was thinking maybe I would.' Sonic awkwardly agreed.

'You didn't tell me their name?' The twin-tailed kitsune asked as Sonic wandered to the balcony.

'Her name's Violet.'

.

Santa, tell me if you're really there

Don't make me fall in love again

If he won't be here next year...

Amy moved around her bedroom in a towel, fresh out of the shower. The music filled the room as she sang the words softly to herself and applied the finishing touches to her make up. She caught herself smiling at her reflection, happy with the view before turning to the little red dress that hung on the outside of her wardrobe. The fuchsia bundle stripped herself of the towel, sprayed a sweet perfume and began to dress.

Santa, tell me if he really cares

'Cause I can't give it all away

If he won't be here next year...

She was strapping on a pair of little red heels, almost ready to go as she heard a loud knock on the door. She startled before calling out to them that she was coming before stumbling over to the music and turning it off. She fumbled around her feet as she continued to put her shoes on, deciding to just call out to her visitor to just come in.

'Amy Rose not ready on time? Are you running a fever?' The sensual, ivory bat smirked as she came in and saw Amy fumbling to get out the door.

'Yeah, yeah. Hilarious, Rouge.' The bubblegum heroine snickered back, 'What do you think?'

'He's going to drop dead when he sees you.' Rouge responded through a wink.

She smiled giddily at the response, just the thought of Sonic reacting to her making her stomach flutter. The fucshia bundle quickly grabbed her coat, food and gift before the two of them walked out the front door, Amy locking up behind them. They made their way down the path that lead to Sonic and Tails' home, the dirt track covered lightly with snow. The two began to chat of their weeks and what they had been doing, complimenting each other's outfits and talking all the excitement of Christmas before they had finally arrived. Amy stopped short just outside the garage entrance.

'Tonight's the night, Rouge,' Amy began, causing the ivory bat to look back at her with an arched brow, 'I'm going to say something to him. No more messing around.'

Rouge nodded firmly through a smile, causing Amy to do the same. The two made strides through the garage and up the stairs to where they could hear the chatters grow louder and louder, the warmth of the room starting to envelope them. They stepped in and felt the sound of Christmas envelope them; laughter, carols, glasses clinking. Tails saw them first and walked over to greet them with a hug, taking their coats. Cream came up behind him, greeting them similarly before guiding them to the kitchen to put their food down.

'You can put your gifts under the tree, if you like!'

Amy nodded through a large grin before turning towards the tree. It was placed in the corner of the room, next to the doorway to the balcony, it's warm glow beaming on the faces of everyone near it... including Sonic's. She couldn't seem to see that, though. All she could see was him standing under the mistletoe... and a woman holding him, pecking his lips gently. She felt the breath sucked from for lungs, sickness rising in her throat, her hair standing on end. The ivory bat behind her watched the scene unfold, turning to Tails.

'What the-' Rouge mouthed at him.

He went to mouth something back before shrugging. She seemingly just fit in with everyone so easily - people chatting to her and the blue blur, chatting to each other around them - like nothing was amiss. She was snapped back into the room when she caught Sonic look at her, brief and fleeting. He looked uneasy when their eyes met, before quickly turning his attention back to the conversation he was in with Knuckles and this amethyst goddess.

'Amy-' Rouge began behind her.

'Hey, I just need to use the bathroom. Can you take these for me?'

Before Rouge had a chance to respond, a small gift and a bowl of salad had been thrust into her arms. She made strides down the hallway as fast as was unnoticeable to the bathroom, refusing to let a single tear fall before she was behind the closed door. The ivory bat stood in shock for a second, before turning her attention slightly to Sonic, catching his eye. They just stared at each other uncomfortably for a second, she thought she might fly off the handle. The cobalt hedgehog stiffened under this mystery woman's touch the longer Rouge watched him.

'Hey!' Tails tried to break the tension, 'Cream could you help Rouge with everything? I just realised I left my gift in my room... better get it under the tree!'

The beige bunny nodded quickly, taking everything out of Rouge's arms and guiding her to the kitchen island. Tails made his way down the hall, passed his scarcely used bedroom and to the bathroom door. He hesitated for a second before tapping the wood with his knuckles gently.

'Just a minute!' A shaky voice called back.

'Just me, Amy.' Tails responded.

'I'm fine, Tails. I'll be out in a minute.'

'Amy...' The kitsune began, opening the door ever so slowly.

Maybe he wasn't the person to deal with this, or get involved, but he knew this threw a spanner in... well, things. He peeked his head in, Amy's head hanging low in front of the basin. When he stepped in, she looked up, he could see the tears streaming down her face in the mirror's reflection. His shoulders dropped, he didn't know what to say. She scurried to stand up straight, wipe away her tears and appear like nothing was wrong.

'Do you want to talk about it?' He asked nervously.

'About what? There's nothing to talk about? I'm just-'

'Come on, Amy. It's not like I don't know...'

'Really, I-' Amy began before cutting herself off through a sigh, turning to face him, 'Who is she?'

'He mentioned a couple days ago he'd made a new friend a few weeks ago. He found this small group of lost campers on a run, helped them get home and... I guess they hit it off? You know he's kind of private.'

'Oh yeah, they look real private.'

'I-'

'We better get back out to the party,' Amy began after a moment's silence. 'You go, I'll be out in a sec.'

She smiled at him a little before turning back to the mirror to fix her make up, tidy her hair. He smiled back sadly before walking out and closing the door behind him. Amy heard his footsteps leave, waiting until they were gone before letting out a few more sobs. Had she misread him so bad? Had everything been in her head? She stiffened up, refused to cry anymore... tonight. She took one last look in the mirror before leaving the bathroom, forcing herself to be bubbly and excited as she came back to the rest of the group. Everything is fine.

'Hi!' A voice came from beside her.

It was her. This woman couldn't have been older than Amy herself, and she was beautiful. A dark purple fox with beautiful long curls, long lashes and sporting a beautiful white pant and crop two piece. Amy felt herself freeze for what felt like forever, this new person's words drowning out into a haze. She was shocked back to reality when she realised this girl had stopped talking, looking at her as if she was waiting for a response.

'H-Hi! Sorry, I'm Amy,' The bubble-gum heroine shook her hand, 'A-and you are?'

'I'm Violet. I've heard so much about you tonight, it's so nice to meet you!'

Great. She was beautiful and kind. She started talking again but Amy could hardly pay attention, her eyes flicking between Violet and Sonic who was standing beside her, silently, with only a small smile. She felt a painful sickness rise in her throat again, unsure if she was going to vomit or cry. Maybe both. She tried to pay attention to the conversation but was desperately looking for an out.

'Let's eat!' Knuckles announced from the kitchen.

Phew...

.

The rest of the night was a blur. A long, unending blur. She barely ate, had to try so hard to maintain conversations, smile, laugh. She made sure she sat far away from Sonic and Violet, still not having said more than a 'hello' to him. When the meal finally ended, everyone still drinking and snapping Christmas crackers, someone suggested an exchange of their secret Santa gifts.

'I'm sorry we didn't include your name,' Silver said to Violet, 'We would have had we known you would be joining us.'

'Don't be silly! You all know each other so well, you would buy better gifts, anyway!'

God, Amy wanted to hate her. She knew it wasn't her fault, though - and she hated that more. Everyone slowly opened their gifts between conversations and sips of wine. Amy held her small gift in her lap, wondering who it might have been from. She looked down as she opened the little box and her heart stopped. A little gold chain with a small oval locket on the end, 'A' delicately engraved in it. She felt tears form when she opened it to see a photo from months ago. She was piggy-backing familiar blue quills, the two of them laughing, looking away from the camera. Knowing who it could only be from, she thought this could only be a cruel joke on her.

'I'm so sorry,' Amy announced, 'I'm suddenly feeling unwell. I think I'll get going.'

'Are you s-'

'Yeah, yeah,' Amy assured Tikal, cutting her off, 'I'll be fine, just need to get some sleep. Thanks for having me guys and uh- thanks-thanks Santa!'

The tears were going to fall.

'Bye!' She exclaimed through a smile before scooping up her gift and heading for the door to the garage, picking up her coat along the way. Everyone startled a little before going back to their conversations, just to ease the tension. Sonic whispered something to Violet before getting up and heading down the stairs, casually before running once no one could see. Amy was almost out the door before he caught her.

'Ames, wait-'

'Don't! Please!' Amy yelled at him before striding down the road, into the snow.

'Amy, I didn't- the gift, I-'

'Stop!' Just turned to face him, looking him dead in the eye as tears streamed down her face, 'Just... stop.'

Sonic watched her figure fade the further away she got, retreating into the light snow towards home. His chest felt heavy, his breath quickening. He didn't know whether or not to follow her. Even if he did, what could he possibly say? He looked up at the living room balcony, the warm glow of the lights and laughter spewing out into the night. He took one last look at where Amy had been walking before turning on his heel and slowly making his way back through the garage, cursing under his breath.