Chapter 6: Love?

The beautiful sunset decorated the sky with a pastel wonder, sharing its glow with the calm ocean waves. A light breeze played with Rouge's lemon yellow sundress as she walked barefoot across the soft sand, with her lover at her side. She stopped and took in the peaceful landscape that was now their home. She sighed deeply as the vibrant colors lulled her into complete relaxation. "This is so beautiful..."

She squealed in surprise as she was lifted off her feet and locked into his loving embrace. "It's like--" she started before staring into his jade eyes. His grip on her loosened as he gazed into her aqua pearls of sight. When her feet landed on the ground, she began to see new feeling in him.

He stood tall with the dim sunlight giving him a slight glow to his gray figure. He wore an unbuttoned short-sleeved navy blue shirt, which showed off his glistening arm and chest muscles. His khaki shorts were cut off just below the knee, making his strong calves more noticeable. A pair of sunglasses rested in front of his large bat ears. His warm smile seemed to brighten the aura around him. Moments later, she had her arms around him with her cheek to his chest. "Swift..." she called quietly.

"Yes, love?" he answered sweetly.

"I just realized that I made the right choice." she sighed dreamily, half- closing her eyes.

"I know baby, I know." he whispered.

"I could stay here forever." she continued as she saw faint stars appearing in the horizon.

"As long as you're with me, I'll do the same. I love you." he confessed.

She looked up at him with awe. "I love you too." As soon as she responded, she felt a familiar feeling rush over her, causing her to close her eyes. When her eyes shied away from the sunset, she could almost see Knuckles telling her the same thing. The sudden image caused her to jump in Swift's arms.

He looked at her questioningly. "Something wrong?"

She opened her eyes, identifying his concern. "No, I was just...imagining all the ways you make me feel..." she answered while helplessly looking into his eyes again.

"You don't need to imagine anymore. I'm the only one in your life now." he said before parting his lips and meeting hers.

She gave a small moan as he pulled himself closer to her body. Before she could react to his advances, he let go quickly. "Hold on." he said before walking to the nearest palm tree, picking up a white blanket. He shook the sand off of it before placing it on the ground again.

It wasn't long before Rouge was lifted off her feet again, but this time he placed her on the soft blanket while he kneeled beside her and kissed her again. She giggled at his actions. "Here?" she asked.

"Unless you're not comfortable." he replied smoothly.

"I'm not complaining." she confirmed before kissing him. She gently pulled at his shirt until it fell from his broad shoulders, then began to massage his bare back. He groaned at her touch as his hands went up her dress, helping her remove it from her body. He gave her a sly look when he saw that she was wearing nothing underneath. He kissed her in spots that he knew drove her wild. Her breaths became more shallow as she felt his hardness against her and freed his inner desire as she pulled his shorts to below his knees. He kicked them away with one leg and straddled her with both.

Her mind let loose with the sudden emotion and passion of their actions, causing her to moan and scream in pure pleasure. She could feel his lips on her neck as she suddenly screamed, "Oh, Knuckles..."

---
Knuckles stood on Angel Island looking into the waterfall, one of the things him and Rouge enjoyed doing together.

Without thinking, he asked, "Isn't this great, baby?"

When he heard no reply, he looked to his side. When he didn't see her, he felt the sudden chill of her words.

"I'm--I'm in love with someone else..."

For the first time in his life, his hands felt icy cold. When he tried to move, stiff frozen legs carried him almost nowhere. Soon enough, he was shivering all over. He felt as if he would die if he didn't find any warmth soon. He closed his eyes and tried not to panic.

After taking a few deep breaths, he opened his eyes to see a sapphire gleam around him. He didn't know what it was, but it was warm and comforting. "Thank you..." he sighed with relaxation as he embraced it...

(A/N: For those who don't get it, the "sapphire gleam" represents Sky's sexy eyes. Trust me, I couldn't help the symbolism!)

---

"You're welcome." he heard a voice reply.

"Huh?" He opened his eyes and saw Sky. "Wait, what are you doing here?" he asked before realizing that he was in an uncomfortable situation on top of him. "What am I doing here?" Some of the panic he felt in his dream returned when he put a hand to his throbbing head. "And why do I have such a terrible headache?" He didn't receive a reply after he rolled off of Sky. The last thing he could remember last night was drinking...

He looked to Sky with alarm. "Hey, you're not helping! Aren't you gonna tell me what the hell I'm doing here?" he yelled with frustration.

"Hey, relax. It'll all come back if you let it." Sky advised calmly.

Knux's voice relaxed as he took a deep breath. "Okay, I'm sorry." he apologized. "I don't get drunk a lot. I just hope I didn't do anything stupid." he explained.

"Yeah, I understand." Sky agreed. He just hoped that their short moments together weren't Knux's idea of stupid.

Knux groaned at the pain in his head. "My head hurts too much to recall." Knux complained. "Could you please tell me what happened last night?"

"Uh, sure." Sky replied hesitantly. He began to gain that same nervous feeling he had the previous night outside the restaurant. "You came over and told me that Rouge left you." he began. He saw Knux nod sadly at the memory. "You told me that you could never love again, but I argued with your assumption. You also complimented on how good of a friend I was." he finished, hoping that Knux would believe that that was the whole story.

"Yeah, that's sweet and all, but you kind of left out the part about how I ended up falling asleep while straddling you." Knux said anxiously. He could see the silent panic in Sky's eyes as he remained silent. He sighed impatiently. "I can tell you're one if those really bad liars, so you might as well tell the truth. Just tell me what happened." Knux demanded. "I promise I won't get mad."

"Okay." Sky sighed in surrender. "I'll tell you. You mentioned the kiss we had last night and how I couldn't control myself..." he started.

"Yeah..." Knux followed while nodding.

"You kissed me..." Sky finally said before looking him in the eyes.

"And?" Knux asked impatiently.

Sky knew he couldn't explain the physical contact between them. It was impossible to put that kind of romance into words. "And nothing else happened. You just kissed and fell asleep on top of me." he concluded.

Knux eyes him curiously. "Are you sure?"

"Positive." Sky replied while putting on his best fake smile.

"Okay, I believe you." Knux said with a smile. "I'm glad I can trust you. People like you are so hard to find."

"I'm just doing my best." Sky assured him.

"So tell me, how good was I?" Knux asked with a smirk.

Sky giggled and looked away as he felt his cheeks flush. "Please, don't ask me that."

"Come on." Knux teased. "You can tell me."

Sky thought for a few seconds. "I'll answer your question if you'll answer mine."

Knux looked surprised for a few seconds, but agreed to the terms. "Okay. Since I asked first, you have to answer. Was I good?"

Sky sighed dreamily. "Too good to be true."

"I thought so." Knux commented. "Okay, ask away."

Sky had so much to ask him, but he had to think of a question that would give him all the answers he needed. After a few seconds, he had it all figured out. "Okay, here it goes: Do you have any feelings for me at all?"

Knux had an unreadable look on his face when he processed that question. Before he could say anything, all the memories of last night came back to him. When he arrived at the party with Rouge, Sky wanting to talk to him, the kiss that had him spellbound for a few minutes...He had never felt something so powerful in his life. It surprised him, but not as much as what happened a few hours later...

Though he was still heartbroken from Rouge, he couldn't figure out how he could just forget everything when he was with Sky. He wouldn't call himself gay, but he was still confused. "What do you want from me, Sky?" he asked.

Sky placed a hand on Knux's cheek as he answered, "I want you to be honest, love..."

His words slowly echoed throughout his mind as he contemplated his answer...

---

Rouge woke to the sound of the ocean. She was surprised to see that Swift wasn't by her side as she sat up. He didn't seem to mind too much that she screamed Knux's name instead of his. She decided to find a way to comfort him when she saw him with just his shorts on several feel away near the low ocean tide. Before walking up to him, she wrapped the blanket around her to hide her heavenly body. As she sat beside him, he didn't say a word. He didn't react when she rested her head on his bare shoulder. She sat up, tired of the silence. "I said I was sorry. I thought you said you didn't mind."

"I don't." he said with a huff.

"Well, what's wrong then? Is it the typical masculine jealousy?" she joked with a smile.

"You were talking in your sleep about him..." he replied softly with hurt.

"Well, I've done that before, right?" Rouge asked while shaking the thought of last night off. He shook his head in reply. "I'm sorry, I thought you didn't care..." she apologized.

"That was before I realized that I cared for you. This isn't just a joke to you, is it?" he asked while avoiding her eyes.

"No, of course not! You know I love you." she assured him.

"That may be true, but you still love him. Am I right?" He didn't get a reply, so he sighed and got up. "I rest my case." he concluded as he walked away.

She followed and caught up with him. "I picked you, didn't I?"

He stopped and faced her. "As much as I want to stay with you, I can't stand the thought of you loving him anymore, whether it's physically or mentally."

"I broke his heart, Swift. I can't go back." she admitted.

"So you want me to ignore the fact that I'm second to him, even when I'm closer to you? I don't think I can do that anymore, Rouge. I want you to be happy, even if it means going back to him." he explained sadly.

"I'm so sorry for hurting you, Swift." she apologized.

"I'm gonna miss our beautiful nights together." he sighed.

"They may not be over." she assured him while tracing his chest with her fingers.

He took her hands and kissed them gently. "I think they are. Go claim your love. I wish you luck."

She pulled him into a tight embrace. "Thank you so much...for everything..." she said as tears ran down her face.

"I'll always be here for you. If it doesn't work out, give me a call. I'll be waiting." He gave her a quick kiss on the forehead before he let go of her.

---

Sky looked away from Knux as he figured out how he would take the rejection. He guessed he could give him advice on how to get Rouge back. He pulled his knees up to his chest and patiently waited for his answer.

It felt like hours until Knux finally broke the silence. "I'll tell you what, let's test the waters first." Sky looked at him questioningly as he explained. "I want you to relax and don't hold back, give it your all. If I feel something, you'll know."

"And if you don't?" Sky wondered.

"I'll leave...forever..." Knux answered.