A/N:  (Looks at joint he's holding) Wow!  I don't know what's in this joint.  Whatever's in here, it really improved my writing abilities, not to mention motivate me to write a romance fic of all things.  Normally, I'd be the last person to do such a thing.  Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter.  Hmm, if it worked last time, I wonder… (Takes an even bigger hit of the joint) *cough* *wheeze* *hack* *cough*!  Okay, too hard *cough* *cough* *cough*.  Alright, I'm cool.  Here we go!

Ages:

Sonic:  21

Amy:  19

Knuckles:  21

Tails:  13

Disclaimer:  Uhhh, I don't own a damn thing!

            Miami, Florida U.S.A.  Sonic's apartment, balcony.  12:41 P.M. EDT.  Same day.

      Tails had been staked out on the balcony, waiting for Sonic anxiously.  In one hand, he had a set of binoculars taken from Operation Blackbeard, in the other, a can of Vanilla Coke.  Just recently, he had seen Amy return to her place across the street.  When he flew down to meet her, she told him about seeing him at the mall, and that he should be right behind her.

      Now, fast-forward half an hour.  Tails was still staked out on the balcony, peering into his binoculars every now and then.  Inside the apartment, Knuckles was laying lazily on the couch.  From one of the upstairs apartment, he had been hearing shower water running for the past twenty minutes.  Exactly what were they washing up there, the tarp at Pro Player Stadium?  Even at that, he didn't think it took that much water to wash that.  Anyway, back to Tails.  "Y'know the old saying 'a watched pot never boils'?"  The echidna asked through the open balcony door.

      Tails just glared at him.  "Uh, it's just a figure of speech.  Yeah, it'll boil.  You'll just get bored watching it."

      Knuckles smirked.  "Exactly.  So, why not chill out, and—" A familiar Indy car-like whine approached.  Now it was Knuckles' turn to get excited.  "Finally!  It's about damn time he got back!  Who does he think he is, making us wait for Generals?  I should—" Another thing caught his eye on the ground twelve stories down:  Sonic wasn't showing off like he normally did when he got back.

      Sonic could've arrived a lot sooner hadn't he taken the scenic route to buy time to think, and to let Amy get settled into her place so that he could slip into his building across the street undetected.  He let his bike coast as the thoughts cycled through his head.  "That kiss… Valentine's Day, three days away…that kiss… Valentine's Day, three days away… that—whoa!"  He got carried away in his thoughts and was shocked to see another car's rear end approaching fast.  Sonic hit the brakes so hard, the bike did a front wheelie, and he missed rear-ending the car by mere inches.  Sonic sighed deeply.  He had to deal with this before it consumed him.  "This can't be healthy."  He breathed.  He pulled up his helmet's visor.  His building along with Amy's could be clearly seen.  Yeah, his place, his computer, and his copy of Command & Conquer:  Generals.  He knew exactly how to get his mind off of it.  With that, he maneuvered around to the back of his building, and into the waiting parking garage.

      Ascending the twelve flights of steps was a simple matter for him, being the fastest thing alive.  A right turn from the stairwell later, apartment #1203 was in sight.  He unlocked, and opened the door, and was greeted by Knuckles and Tails.

      "Man, what took you so long?!"  Knuckles complained.  "I thought I had to come get you.  Anyways, did you get it?!"  He asked eagerly.

      "Yeah, did you?"  Tails repeated.

      Sonic smirked and pulled out the bag stowed in the waistband of his cargo shorts, much to the happiness of the other two.  "Who's ya daddy?"  He pulled out the covers.  "Alright.  Tails, you wanted the Chinese box cover, right?"  When the fox nodded, he gave it to him, and a GLA cover to Knuckles.  "Alright then, let's close the curtains, lock the door, and load'em up!"  Already, thoughts of Amy were being suppressed by the thoughts of scud launchers, carpet bombings, tomahawk missiles, and nukes.  Oh, yeah.  Problem solved, Sonic thought.

      Tails just remembered something.  "Hey guys, I just remembered the food supply's low.  Maybe we should do a supply run before I start launching nukes on y'all."

      Sonic and Knuckles just rolled their eyes at the trash talk.  However, they did need to do a supply run.  According to Sonic, 'shopping' was only something women did.  Men did 'supply runs'.  Of course, it was just the terminology of the word.

      "Yeah, you're right, bro."  Sonic admitted.  "Well, let's knocked this out and get started."  With that, the three grabbed their wallets, and made their way to the nearest Kroger.

      Meanwhile, one floor up, the water continued to run…

            Amy's apartment.  Same time.

      Sometimes, college was more trouble than it was worth, Amy mused.

      Right now, she was studying for a medical test where she had to name, and locate every single artery, vein, and capillary in the heart.  She could understand having to know the arteries and veins, but the capillaries?  Nobody cared about capillaries!  If one gets clotted, no big deal!

      But right now, she didn't feel like studying; she had other things on her mind… like a certain blue hedgehog.  The fact that Valentine's Day was fast approaching didn't help her train of thought either.  Every year, it was the same:  right around this time, he'd disappear somewhere to avoid her, only to pop up a couple of days after Valentine's Day with a half-assed excuse as to why she couldn't find him.  Last year, he had holed himself up at 'The Strip' (an abandoned airstrip, renovated and run by Sonic and gang.  For more info, read Sonic's Black Op, or Operation Blackbeard, Chapter 2) and found an underground command bunker that nobody else knew of and decided to survey it.  When he came back, he said he forgot what day it was and apologized.  She didn't think he'd recognize her as more than just a good friend.

      But, this year should be different, she thought.  Around two weeks ago right before Operation Blackbeard, the two shared their first mutual kiss.  It had left Sonic unsure of his feelings for her, and definitely made him notice her a lot more, especially when he was on that dropship that he thought was going to be a steel, jet powered coffin for about ten people.  Since then, he's definitely opened up to her more, gotten more mature.  But, don't get the wrong idea; he still has all the base qualities that make him the Sonic the Hedgehog she knows, and she knew he wouldn't change for the world.  Maybe that's why she's spent several long years in pursuit of his affection.  Maybe that's why she shrugged off her friends' comments that it was hopeless.

      Maybe that's why she loves him.

      Sighing, Amy set the anatomy book down, and moved to look out the window, towards Sonic's building across the street.  Five stories down on the ground, she could see the trio emerge from the building, cardboard boxes in hands.  They were probably heading for Kroger's to do some shopping, or a 'supply run' as Sonic put it, Amy thought with a small smile.  She saw a good-sized puddle on the sidewalk, directly under Sonic's apartment form.  She frowned.  Why is a puddle there?  She looked up to the sky.  Surprisingly, there wasn't a cloud in sight.  Hmm…

            Meanwhile, in Sonic's apartment…

      In Sonic's room, his computer, left on, rested under a ventilation shaft.  Through the shaft, water began to pour down… right onto Sonic's loaded power strip…

            Five minutes later, at Amy's place…

      Was Amy seeing things?  She could've sworn she saw a flash of sparks coming from Sonic's bedroom.  Minutes later, that flash turned into… a fire?!   "What the heck?!  Whoa!  Gotta call 9-1-1!"

            Forty-five minutes later, on the ground…

      Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails had just gotten off the bus on the corner of their street.  What they saw down the street made them freeze.  About two fire engines, three squad cars, and a paramedical vehicle had gathered just outside their apartment building, effectively closing off the street to traffic… and a fire in their building… on their floor.

      "What the hell?!"  Sonic murmured before running towards the scene, with Tails and Knuckles not far behind.

      Outside, Amy caught a glimpse of Sonic running towards the scene, box of food in his arms.  "Sonic!  Over here!"  She yelled.

      Sonic and co. immediately changed course, stopping when they got to her.  Sonic was speechless.  "How the…What the… When the…" His face paled when he saw just where the fire hoses were aiming for:  his apartment.  Suddenly, he ran a check of all the stuff they had invested in inside the apartment, and almost fainted.  "No!  All my shit!  How could this happen?!"  He made to run in and salvage as much as possible, but Amy grabbed on to his waist.  "Leggo, Amy!"

      "Get a hold of yourself, Sonic!"  She reasoned.  "You can replace all that stuff!  There's no point in you risking your life foolishly!"

      Sonic did a double take.  Replace?  Yeah right.  "You think our insurance is gonna cover all the stuff that's gonna get destroyed?!"  Not to mention, at least three people will be homeless, and without clean clothes.  But then, his rational mind took over.  Someone had to be responsible.  Live today; beat the arsonist to an inch of their life tomorrow… or the day after… or how long it'll take to find them.  Reluctantly, Sonic stopped struggling, sighing heavily.  "Damn!  And we had just bought Generals, too."  He looked up to the sky.  "Why us, God?  Why?"

            1:38 P.M. EDT.

      By now, the blaze was extinguished.  A police officer approached Sonic and co.  "Mr. Hedgehog, Mr. Echidna, we have determined the cause of the fire.  Your neighbor upstairs was preparing to take a bath, when he apparently suffered a heart attack.  He then went into cardiac arrest, and died soon after, and everyone's none the wiser.  Meanwhile, the water from the bathroom seeped down into the ventilation shaft, and since what's left of your computer system lied directly underneath a vent, the water got into your power strip, made some sparks, and well, the rest is history."

      Sonic blinked.  Damn!  Now, there isn't even someone to vent his anger on.  And he wasn't the type to mutilate a corpse.  "Okay."  He said numbly.  For some odd reason, he noticed that Amy was still bound to his waist, and he gently pried her hands off of him.  "Well, now what?!  I guess we need to get an estimate on how long it'll take to repair the damage.  Amy, can we use your fridge?"  Sonic asked.  "We got some spoilable food here."

      Amy nodded.  "Oh, sure!  Come on."

            Amy's apartment.  3:00 P.M. EDT.

      Sonic was on Amy's phone, talking with his insurance agent about a time estimate on repairs, with Tails, Knuckles, and Amy with him in her small living room.  Suddenly, Sonic's eyes widened.  "Three days!?  You expect us to wait three days?!"  He fumed

      On the other end, his insurance agent, a woman replied.  "I'm afraid so, and that's even a favorable estimate.  The damage to the walls was extensive.  They'll have to knock the old ones down and put in new drywall."

      Sonic sighed.  "If so, these new walls better be able to withstand a nuclear explosion from point blank range!"  He rubbed his temples.

      The insurance agent ignored his ranting.  "Anyway, do you have a friend who'll let you stay with them?  I suggest "

      Sonic froze, the blood draining from his head.  This just gets better.  'The Strip' isn't exactly an ideal place to crash for an extended period of time.  "We'll be okay."  He sighed.

      The rest of the conversation went along uneventful until he hung up the phone a few seconds later.  With another sigh, Sonic addressed the group.  "Listen up.  As you no doubt figured out, it'll take three days to repair our place.  Now, until then, we have to find somewhere else to stay."  He made a quick glance at Amy, and she nodded in consent of his unspoken question.  "Alright, Amy volunteers to let us stay here, but space is a little limited here.  Meanwhile, we only have two cots at 'The Strip.'  Which means, two of us have to stay at 'The Strip.'"  He was hoping that either Tails, or Knuckles would volunteer to stay here.  It would make making himself scarce a lot easier.

      But, it seemed that fate wouldn't have it, and Tails and Knuckles immediately said "'Strip'".  Sonic was the odd man out.  He made a glance to the ceiling.  God, if this is Your sense of humor, it ain't funny.  He sighed in defeat.  "Fine.  Get outta here.  See you in three days."  With that, Tails and Knuckles exited the small apartment, leaving Sonic and Amy alone.

      The two hedgehogs just stared at each other for a few seconds, waiting for the first to say the first word.  For the umpteenth time, Sonic sighed, collapsing on the nearby sofa.  "This sucks!"

      Amy cocked her head, grabbing his hands to pull him off the sofa.  "Oh, c'mon, Sonic!  Cheer up!  It could've been a lot worse!"

      True, it could've been a lot worse.  But, why me?!  He wanted to scream out.

      She grinned.  "C'mon!  Staying with me for three days can't be all that bad, you have to admit.  Don't tell me you think I still have cooties?"  She teased, trying to at least get a small smile, giggling when she succeeded.

      Sonic rolled his eyes.  "No, it's just the principle of the thing.  Fifty apartments on that floor.  Why me?"

      Amy shrugged.  Maybe this'll keep him from running this year.  "I don't know.  But, they say things happen for a reason."  With that, she went into the back room, letting Sonic collapse back on the sofa.

      "Things happen for a reason?"  Sonic mumbled to himself.  This was some twisted form of divine intervention, he thought to himself.  "If this is divine intervention, I want another God."  He remarked jokingly.

A/N:  Man, this room's smoky.  Somebody open up a window!  *Hack, wheeze, cough*.  Please leave your comments in review form.  This story's about to shape up.  Peace!