Most women adore shopping- claim its fun and "a good stress relief."
Honestly, such women are nothing but poor diluted fools that try to pass off the long lines, the constant thought of "does this make me look fat?" and other hellish shopping traits as "fun."
Well, I knew better. Then again, when most of my time shopping was spent with my asshole boss looming, it was hard to even somewhat enjoy myself. What was so damn "fun" about trying on clothes anyway?
Fun or not though, that morning I found myself in tow with some unique, yet wealthy friends...and they were damn determined to have Knuckles and I at least remotely interested in each other by the end of the day. Well, sorry to burst their bubble, but there is no way in hell that's going to happen… at least, I thought so.
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Chapter 10: Tangled Up in Your Wires
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After pulling on the shirt and pants, Rouge looked down at herself.
"That will suit you quite well for the time being," Vanilla remarked, "But we'll get you plenty of nice things for your new job today."
"Um…well, I don't have much money…so…"
Pausing as she felt the other woman's hand on her shoulder, Rouge looked up to her.
"Don't you worry; it can be written off as a business expense. It's nothing to bother yourself with. You save your money for yourself."
Blinking, she glanced at her borrowed clothing, "I really hate having to rely on others."
"I know," Vanilla replied, "But someone needs to help you get your feet back on the ground. And you've already paid us back quite well."
"Excuse me?"
"Romantic or not, Knuckles been a bit more sociable ever since meeting you and I don't believe that it's a coincidence. I think all that he needed was an independent person like you in his life to give it a little more meaning."
Rouge frowned, "I'm not his babysitter."
Vanilla reached for the door, "No. But for someone like Knuckles, who's had everything he could want handed to him, seeing someone in your condition and your situation has opened his eyes a bit. No one's been able to do that since he met my daughter Cream."
"Cream?"
"You'll meet her in a moment," She replied with a smile.
The door slowly opened and Rouge stepped out, confusion quickly appearing on her face.
There on the bed sat Knuckles with a small brown/blonde-furred bunny girl sitting in his lap and rambling to him.
"That's little girl from the other day…so that was his friends I ran into. I knew I recognized his friends…but, this is…Cream?"
"So then I told Sonic that he was being silly, and he laughed at me and jokingly told me to get out of his room but I told him that Mom said it was okay so he just winked at me and said "okay!" and so I got to sit in there and look at all his neat stuff and then…." She trailed off as she heard the door open.
"Cream, don't bother him too much. He had a tiring night," Vanilla reprimanded lightly.
The small bunny girl smiled and jumped down out of the grumpy echidna's lap, "Ooooh? Is that because he slept with that pretty lady? I know that sometimes if you sleep with someone else you end up really tired and…."
"Cream!" Knuckles gasped, frown apparent on his face.
"Yes, Knuckles?"
"Don't listen to Sonic about what happens when you sleep with people."
"Okay!" She said cheerfully before skipping over to where Rouge stood.
"But she is really pretty. She's the lady I gave the flower when she looked sad."
Vanilla placed a gentle hand on Cream's shoulder as she knelt down to the girl's level, "Now Cream, let's be nice to Miss Rouge, all right? She's a bit tired from some things that happened yesterday and doesn't need you bothering her too much."
Nodding enthusiastically, she walked over to her, "Hi! I'm Cream."
She extended a hand and Rouge paused a moment before taking it.
"I'm Rouge."
Turning back towards Vanilla, the brown/blonde-furred bundle of energy asked, "So when Knuckles and Miss Rouge get married can I be the flower girl?"
The room fell silent as a loud gasp was heard from Knuckles' direction.
Rouge just blinked, "Um…"
"Now now Cream. Just calm down. Why don't you go downstairs and have Sonic get you a glass of orange juice?"
"Okay Mom!"
Once the girl was out the door and out of sight, Vanilla turned with a hesitant smile to Rouge, "You'll have to pardon her, she's been very close to Knuckles ever since he met her and she's been very eager to get a 'big sister' aside from Amy."
"…Amy?" Rouge asked, noticing Knuckles gathering up his clothing and going into the bathroom to change himself.
"Oh, she's Sonic's girlfriend. A very pleasant young girl…but with Sonic running around all the time, it'll be sometime before they're ready to be married."
"I see…" She replied slowly, "And since when was becoming Knuckles' wife part of my job description as his secretary?"
"Consider it a bonus if you can win him over," Vector spoke up from the doorway.
"I'd rather keep to minimum wage then," Rouge countered with a glare.
"Touche," The elder crocodile thought to himself, "I can see why Knuckles is perplexed so by her. She is indeed very interesting."
"You'll have to pardon our forward intentions. You happen to be the first female he's shown even a remote interest in," He said aloud.
"Oh, so you're forcing him on me so he doesn't turn out gay, right?"
"That doesn't seem to be his persuasion either. The secretary down in the juvenile books branch of his offices doesn't seem to be any more appealing to him than a female."
Rouge blanched, "What?"
"Someone. Openly homosexual man who currently works as a secretary for one of the others in my offices. Has made advances to which I dismissed!" Knuckles stated in slight irritation as he came out of the bathroom.
Before anyone else in the room could remark, another voice was heard from downstairs.
"Can we go yet? I want to get this shopping over with."
Vanilla shook her head, "That would be our friend, all right."
Knuckles just glared, "And why is he coming along against his will?"
"There's a dance at a school soon and Amy wanted him to help pick out her dress. At first he protested, but I told him it was sweet gesture so he has begrudgingly agreed only if I come along," The blonde/brown-furred bunny woman explained.
"Wuss," The elder echidna muttered under his breath.
Rouge smirked slightly, "So he is still somewhat human under that cold hotheaded exterior. Well now, this day might not be so boring after all…"
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Making their way downstairs, Rouge could overhear three distinct voices in the kitchen.
"So what kinda dress are you getting, Miss Amy?"
"Well that depends on what helps me pick out."
"Heh!"
Knuckles casually walked in towards his refrigerator, opened it, then turned and leveled a glare at his younger friend.
"Since when was it appropriate to come into my house and drink all my milk?"
"Since I'm thirsty and I felt it like," Sonic retorted playfully.
In a moment, Knuckles was face to face with Sonic. With a tinge of a smug smirk, he lifted up the half-full glass from the table.
"That's mine!"
"Last I checked this was my home!" He shot back, face and voice still grumpy.
"Oh yeah well…." Sonic stopped as Knuckles proceeded to drink down the rest of the glass, "Hey!"
"Come on boys. Let's try and get along at least for a little while," Vanilla interfered, walking between them and casually taking the empty glass from Knuckles.
"Heh. Fine with me…" Sonic began, only to be cut off.
"Sonic?"
"Yes, Vanilla?"
"We're going to drop you and Amy down at the dress department when we get there. I need to help Rouge pick out some suitable work clothes then I'll be down to help you out, all right?"
"Fine with me," He repeated with his trademark wink.
Rouge just stood in the doorway, amused smirk on her face.
"Can I go with Miss Rouge and Knuckles?" Cream questioned, looking up at Vanilla.
"Certainly Cream. I'm sure Rouge would love to have your help picking out some clothes," The bunny woman replied, giving her a good-natured smile.
"Knuckles. Vanilla shall attend to you and Rouge for now. Please allow her the use of your car to get you there," Vector stated firmly.
Knuckles nodded simply in reply.
"I'm riding with you, Vector?" Sonic questioned as he stood.
"I'll attend to you and Amy while Vanilla is assisting Rouge," He stated.
Everything at the household having been attended to, the friends divided itself amongst the two cars and proceeded to the local shopping establishment.
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Once there, Cream quickly ran about the department pointing out dresses and suits that she thought Rouge would like, and Vanilla helped narrow those choices down into more suitable ones.
Rouge stood back and looked around. It was a fancy department store, and she knew every shirt was at least forty dollars or more.
Not looking any more attentive, Knuckles stood quietly beside her waiting for this task to be dealt with so he could return to his usual daily routine.
Finally selecting some outfits, Vanilla ushered Rouge into the nearest fitting room and waited outside with Knuckles and Cream to assess each outfit's appearance on the white-furred bat girl.
After going through about seven different outfits, Rouge paused as the zipper on the dress she was trying on stuck.
Muttering curses under her breath, she spoke in the direction of the door, "Uh…Vanilla? Can you help me with something? The zipper on this one is stuck…"
Hearing the rattling doorknob, she reached back behind her and undid the lock.
"It's unlocked now."
Shutting her eyes for a brief moment in pain from the quick movement of her arm, she froze on feeling a firm hand on her shoulder.
"That hand is way too big for it to be Vanilla's…"
She closed her eyes tighter, her mind conjuring up nothing but the thought that Eggman could have found her.
"For someone who's always protesting that they can attend to things themselves. You are rather lacking in fulfilling those words."
"That voice…it's…" She opened her eyes, and looked up at the grumpy face of none other than Knuckles.
Releasing the breath she didn't even know she was holding, Rouge managed to get one word out, "You…."
Raising an eyebrow, he finished pulling up the zipper.
"Perhaps the zipper wouldn't get stuck if you choose something that wasn't as…" He averted his eyes, "skin-tight."
"I didn't pick it out," She growled, "And what are you doing in here anyway?"
"Vanilla had taken Cream to look at something. You needed help."
"And who said I wanted your help, pervert?"
Reaching out, he firmly took her chin in his hand, "You were afraid. Why?"
Jerking her face out of his grasp, she glared at the wall of the small changing room.
Turning, he opened the door and walked out, leaving her with a few words in his absence.
"There would never be any reason for me to treat you like that man did!"
Pausing as that sunk in, she was at a loss for words for a moment. Not knowing why, Rouge reached out and caught his wrist before the door swung closed.
Head hung down, she muttered under her breath.
"I know, Knuckles."
Slowly she let go and the door closed.
"Somehow…I know. You'll never hurt me."
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Preview for next Chapter:
To understand the reserved echidna who's life she's becoming a part of, Rouge turns to those around him with questions in hopes to get some answers to why he is who he is.
