A/N: (by now, the room is overly smoky) Well, time to roll another joint. It's the only way I can bring myself to write a mostly romance fic. Hey, Shadow! Throw me the bag otherwise I'll screw up this fic!
Shadow: Silence, inferior human. Only I am worthy of hitting this indo. (Takes hit) *hack, cough, hack, cough*
Author: (clucks tongue) And you call yourself the Ultimate Life Form? You choked off a tiny hit! (Snatches joint and lighter) I'll teach you how to hit it. (Lights joint, takes a big hit) *hack, hack, hack* Yeah, that's good shit *cough, cough*. On with this before I blow my high!
Ages:
Sonic: 21
Amy: 19
Knuckles: 21
Tails: 13
Miami, Florida U.S.A. Amy's apartment. February 11, 2003. 3:34 P.M. EDT.
Half an hour later, and Sonic was still lying on the sofa, sort of looking comatose. Why him? It could have been anyone else's apartment on that floor, but why his? Another thing, why will it have to take three days to repair the damage? That'll mean three days of his displacement at Amy's, to say nothing about Valentine's Day being, you guessed it, three days away.
That also meant Amy would most likely know when he's not here, since she'd have the only key, and he'd have to sleep here for the next three nights, making disappearing by Valentine's Day rather challenging. He'd better get well acquainted with the couch, or the 'dog house' as he refers to it.
Still not moving, he looked around the room. "Too much pink." He murmured. Aside from the white ceiling, the walls were pink, not the original color. He asked her jokingly about that some time ago, and she replied laughing. "Hey! If it were up to you, we'd still be seeing raw drywall!" Also, the sofa and couch were a matching peach color. He's probably the only thing in this place that throws off the color scheme.
Still not moving, he heard Amy on the cordless phone, coming out of her bedroom, and into the living room. He couldn't help but eavesdrop on Amy's half of the conversation.
"Oh, that's alright! Kristen and I always hit it off together." Amy just remembered Sonic's predicament. "But, space is a little limited here. I have a friend over here who's place caught on fire, and I'm letting him stay over here until the repairs are done."
Kristen? Sonic wondered, zoning out for a bit. He had a feeling this would be no good for him. He had met her before, when Sonic had to borrow some batteries from Amy a while back, but still didn't know much about her other than the fact that she was around Tails' age, and also a fox. Sonic also knew that she had a crush on Tails. Poor guy, Sonic thought. I feel his pain.
"Oh, she has a sleeping bag? Oh, that's cool! She can spend the night, then! Sonic shouldn't mind."
Sonic bolted upright. I know she isn't… He was about to go off, but kept his tongue in check. After all, Amy didn't have to let him stay here.
"So, when will you guys get here? … Okay, I'll see you in an hour! … Alright. … Bye!" Amy hung up the phone, and then turned around to Sonic, smiling sweetly. "Okay, ready?"
"Spill it."
"You remember Tanya, right? Well, she's going away on a business trip for three days, and she's leaving her younger sister here for me to watch over."
"You mean, for us to take care of." Sonic corrected. Why is everything taking place in three days, he marveled.
She grinned. "Well, yeah."
"Outstanding." He muttered sarcastically. "Now she'll be begging me to bring Tails over here."
Amy giggled. "Oh, come on! She isn't that bad once you get to know her, I promise."
He rolled his eyes. "I guess I'll have to take your word for it. Anyways, she'll be here in an hour, right?" Amy nodded. "Mind if I borrow your book bag? I wanna get some stuff at 'The Strip that'll make this a bit more bearable."
She shrugged, emptying her backpack and handing it to him. "Fine. Go ahead. I'll leave the door unlocked, so just come in."
"Fine. See you in a blink." With that, he was out the door, down the steps, and down the street.
Key Largo, Florida. 'The Strip'. 3:47 P.M. EDT.
Tails and Knuckles were taking the temporary loss of their apartment a little easier, mainly because they had a high-end computer, and Tails just happened to have his copy of Command & Conquer: Generals on him, which Knuckles was currently playing in the office. Tails meanwhile, had taken to working on his almost finished Hurricane, his new air superiority fighter (A/N: for more information, read Sonic's Black Op, or Operation Blackbeard, Chapter 3). So, they'd have plenty to do for three days.
Sonic slowed to a light jog (for him, anyways) when he hit the tarmac of the runway. Not only did he want to pick up some stuff, he wanted to vent. He went into the lone hangar, and spotted Tails on his workstation, his back to him, probably calibrating the fly-by-wire system. Silently, he stalked up to Tails, stopping just behind him and waited, wanting to stare the living daylights out of him when he turned around.
Knuckles emerged from the hangar's office. "Oh, man! This game's a beast! Tails, you should—" He stopped when he saw Sonic. "Heh, 'sup, Sonic!"
Sonic? Tails turned around, and fell out of his chair in surprise when he saw Sonic's scowling face. Sonic stomped towards him, with Tails crab walking backwards. "Whassup, Sonic?! 'Sup, fools! How the hell are you gonna sell me out like that?! You know damn well that Valentine's Day is three days away! How the hell –"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Knuckles held his hands out in protest. "Hang on a second. I had no idea that Valentine's Day was that close! You're talking to a guy that just recently moved to the States."
Sonic stopped his advance and looked at Tails for his excuse. The fox just smiled meekly. "I'm too young to be thinking about that!"
The hedgehog was barely able to keep calm. "But still, you knew that V-14 Day is fast approaching! You could have volunteered to stay with Amy!"
Tails stood up, shrugging. "I just thought it'd be a good time to really get to work on the Hurricane. My bad. You wanna switch?" He asked.
Sonic shook his head. "Nah, forget it. Amy'll probably get mad at me."
Knuckles smirked. "Oh, so you do have some feelings for her!"
Sonic couldn't argue against that. Deep down, he knew it was true, but he just ran from them, at least until he was able to settle down. Instead, he threw his hands up. "Oh, shut the hell up! So what if I do!? It's the principle of the whole thing!" With that, he walked into the lounge.
Tails and Knuckles took note of the pink backpack Sonic was carrying, and sniggered to themselves. "Y'know, Sonic. With that pink book bag, you look kinda odd." When Sonic flipped them the bird from over his shoulder, they laughed harder.
Sonic had packed an extra set of work clothes, the X-Box, the Gamecube, along with all the games into the book bag. He was about to stalk out when an idea hit him. Oh, payback will be something. Sonic smiled evilly at Tails. "Oh, by the way, Tails. Your girlfriend, Kristen, is spending the night at Amy's for three days."
The fox blushed. "Sh-sh-she's not my girlfriend! I-I-I have a-a-absolutely no feelings for her!" He stuttered.
Sonic smirked. "Oh, really? Why are you red in the face?"
Finding nothing to comeback with, Tails just folded his arms across his chest, fuming. "Just shut up!"
Sonic laughed to himself. "Just remember something: payback's a mutha." With that, he ran out of the hangar, and back to Amy's, leaving Tails to ponder the threat.
Amy's apartment. 4:29 P.M. EDT.
Sonic and Amy had gotten the X-Box going, and had just started a game of Halo—Slayers mode. For Sonic, nothing was more stress relieving than blowing someone up with a rocket launcher, and he needed to blow off some steam. The fact that he was playing Amy was somewhat satisfying, seeing that some of his stress came from thinking of her, and he secretly enjoyed blowing her character up thirty feet in the air with a rocket.
A knock on the door made them pause their game. Sonic groaned inwardly. He had just gotten Amy in the sights of his rocket launcher. "I'll get it." He mumbled, and went to the door, with Amy close behind. He opened it to reveal Kristen with her older sister, Tanya.
"Hey, girl!" Amy and Tanya cheerily exclaimed, hugging each other. Kristen, a red fox with a hairstyle not unlike Amy's except a little longer, a T-shirt and jeans walked in.
Sonic just stood there. You'd never see two males doing this, he thought.
"So, where're you headed this time?" Amy asked.
Tanya sighed. "To Orlando. I have to go to an employee seminar." She shrugged. "Anyways, once again, thanks for having her over."
Amy waved it off. "Hey, I told you it's no big deal! Just drive safe."
"Okay, see you in three days! Bye, Sonic!" With that, she went down the hall, toward the elevator.
Sonic shrugged a minute before closing the door. He didn't know Tanya that much. What he did know was that she and her sister were orphaned not long ago, and she was forced to support herself and Kristen on her own, as well as get herself through college.
"Well, now the Rose Motel has no vacancies," Amy announced with a shrug.
"Hiya, Sonic!" Kristen exclaimed, smiling. "Is Tails here?"
An evil thought crept into Sonic's mind. Payback? On second thought, let fate handle it. "Naw, he's somewhere else." Though, now that he thought about it, if Tails did volunteer to stay here, he'd be the one to suffer the most. And he didn't think the fox would take it too well. He guessed it was all for the better. "So, what now?" He asked, leaning against the door.
Amy shrugged. "Kris, how much homework do you have?" She asked.
"None, I did it all before I got here." The girl answered.
Amy thought for a moment, and then looked at Sonic. She just remembered that he doesn't have any clothes now. "I know! Why don't we go shopping?"
Sonic blinked. "Another supply run?! Why? You just went this morning!"
Amy smiled. "This isn't for me, silly. It's for you! I'll just take back the stuff I bought earlier."
"Huh?"
"I guess you didn't figure that all of your clothes got burned in the fire, huh?"
Oh, yeah, Sonic remembered. The only articles of clothing that were confirmed survivors were the stuff he had on: a pair of cargo shorts, a Triple H T-shirt, the pair of boxers he had on, and his shoes. Still, he didn't want to go clothes shopping. "Well… I'll just wash these over and over again." He argued, gesturing to his gear. "Besides, I don't wanna have you spend—"
"But, I want to." Amy emphasized every word, holding his hands and looking up at him. She made sure her emerald green eyes met his, and she knew he wouldn't hold out for long. "Please?" She cajoled, giving him her sweetest smile.
Dammit, why can't I ever say no to this girl?! Sonic mentally screamed. Closing his eyes, he breathed. "Fine." The girls celebrated. "But," Sonic started. "One hour, no more. And, I'll pick out my own draws, thank you very much." Somehow, he didn't think they'd respect the hour time cap. A thought just hit him. "Hey, I know! There's a military surplus down the stree—"
"You actually think I'll let you dress like a drill sergeant?" Amy asked, opening the door. "C'mon, guys! Back to Aventura!" Dragging the reluctant blue hedgehog along, she went out the door, with Kristen not far behind.
North Miami Beach, Florida. Aventura Mall, JC Penny's. 8:46 P.M. EDT.
Sometimes, Sonic hated it when he was right.
Sure, he had gotten his gear quick enough; two pair of pants, equal pair of shorts, some T-shirts, and four pair of white boxer shorts. But, soon as they passed the women's department, curiosity got a hold of the girls. Curiosity turned to trips to the fitting rooms, and those sometimes changed to purchasing. The blue hedgehog could swear that the two girls could have been twins if they were the same species. He had written off trying to persuade them to check out. He couldn't even hold his own weight in an argument against just Amy, let alone outnumbered. Electronics Boutique had closed hours ago, meaning he'd have no way to relieve the ennui (A/N: betcha that's a new word, huh? Anybody got a thesaurus? ^_^) of waiting.
Finally, after three and a half hours, they were on their way to the checkout lanes. Kristen pushed the cart, with Amy not far behind her, and Sonic at the rear, silently sulking to himself with arms folded over his chest. He sighed. "Y'know, I said one hour. Just one! How the—" he found the sense to watch his language. He knew that in some parts of the country, he could get arrested for cursing in front of women and children. He didn't think that was the case in Florida, but just in case… "How the heck did that hour turn into three?!" He carped. "My feet hurt, my knees are stiff, and my back's killing me!"
Amy smiled sheepishly, stopping to let Sonic catch up with her, and she rubbed his back sympathetically. "Aww, poor baby. Our bad. Didn't mean for it to happen." An urge to tease him struck her, and she grinned playfully. "Hey, there's some cute stuff—"
"Ain't gonna happen!" With that, Sonic sprang forward, grabbing the cart from Kristen, and made a run for the registers, leaving Amy and Kristen to giggle to themselves.
Miami, Florida U.S.A. Amy's apartment. 10:02 P.M. EDT.
After making a detour at Rally's, the gang finally got in. Sonic collapsed on the couch in a heap. "Oh, my neck! My back! My neck and my back!" He whined. "Next time, remind me to tell y'all to wait in the car."
"Oh, you'll be alright!" Amy said, rolling her eyes. "Oi, I gotta work early tomorrow. Not to mention, take Kristen to school early."
Sonic raised an eyebrow. "Really? What time do you go in?" He asked.
"9:30. Why?"
"Can you make sure I'm up by eight? I go in at nine."
She smiled warmly. "Sure." She was about to go into the back room, but Sonic called out for her.
"Hey, Ames?"
She turned her head. "Yeah?"
"Thanks… for everything."
Amy smiled both inwardly and outwardly. She had never heard him say thanks to anyone before, let alone her. Mostly, the situations were the other way around, with Sonic being the helper. "Y'know, you should let people help you more often." She stated softly, moving to grab his hands to pull him up so that she could look up at him. "Not just in the big things, but in everyday matters."
Sonic shrugged. "I guess."
They just stood there for a few seconds, before Amy embraced him in a soft, brief hug. "G'night."
"Night." Sonic mumbled, making Amy giggle. He'd never say "Good morning" or "Good night". After they broke the hug, Amy went into the back room to where Kristen was, probably to do a nighttime pedicure or something like that.
Sonic collapsed on the couch again. When he woke up tomorrow morning, he'd have 48 hours to make himself scarce.
Author: (Smoking with Shadow) Man that was some good indo!
Shadow: (Sounding high as hell) Yeah, man! That was indo fit for the Ultimate Life Form.
Author: Roll another joint!
(A chainsaw goes through the door, and makes a man-sized hole in it. Sonic steps in the room holding the revving chainsaw)
Sonic: YOU!
Author: Oh, hell! (Tries to run, but is high as hell)
Sonic: Get that guy! (Sees Shadow) And get his supplier, too!
(A bunch of guys in suits grab me and Shadow)
Sonic: (evilly) Alright, no more bud, and no more romance! I'm staying single, dammit! To make sure of that, you guys are going too…
Author: (paling) No! Don't say it!
Sonic: Rehab!
Author and Shadow: NOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You know the drill. Leave your comments in review form, and I'll see if me and Shadow can escape from rehab soon. We're in full swing here! Peace!