As always then- please: read, review and enjoy
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There are two signs that your life is slowly becoming that roller coaster chaos that's involved with actually semi-giving a damn about another person. One, you realize that you've just betrayed your vow never to trust another human being or animal- no matter the circumstances. Two, you realize you've done that over a echidna who was at the moment wearing a floppy purple hat.
Needless to say, this sort of realization tends to irritate some. As for me, it downright pissed me off. Here I was noticing that Mr. Hot Head had something hidden under that rock-hard mask he wears, and it left me feeling nothing but furious that here he's seen just about every scar on my body and I can't even see anything past his mask.
Now before you even say it- yah, I know life isn't fair…but in this case, I felt I deserved at least a little compensation for all the shit I'd been through. Was it so strange for me to want to know a little more about the man he hid inside?
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Chapter 12: A Number to Remember
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Knuckles turned grumpily, as if the fact he was wearing a young girl's purple hat was absolutely the worst thing.
"Does Miss Rouge want a pretty hat too?" Cream's voice broke through Rouge's thoughts.
"Huh?" She blinked, looking down to the young bunny girl who was currently looking up at her with an innocent and expectant gaze.
"Well I don't know- I think you already gave Knuckles the best one here…" Rouge replied with a smirk.
Scurrying back over to the pile of hats, boas and other accessories, Cream emerged with her hands full of goodies.
"Here! Pick!" She said, thrusting her armful of goods towards Rouge.
Blinking the white-haired bat girl looked about to the other friends, then back to Cream before lifting a small red hat with a large white feather from the pile.
"Is this one…okay?"
She felt somewhat awkward, not used to having anyone fussing over her and her choices like this before.
"Oooh yah, that one's very pretty! Put it on, put it on!"
Seeing Vanilla giving her an encouraging nod and Knuckles gathering up a basket of other toys in the background, Rouge finally gave into the bunny girl's cheerful nature.
Slowly moving as to not aggravate her side, she perched the small hat on her head, "Like this I suppose?"
Cream just smiled, then moving in a flash only capable by someone with her amount of energy, she made her way over to Knuckles and tugged on his pants leg.
"Isn't she pretty, Knuckles?"
Reaching up and ridding himself of the purple hat he wore, he looked from Rouge to Cream and back.
"The hat is a little eccentric."
Opening her mouth to ask again, Cream fell quiet as Vanilla stepped over, "Come on now Cream, we'd best be going."
Rouge's eyes blinked for a moment before they creased into a thoughtful gaze.
"Wait a second…is he saying that without the hat…"
"Rouge."
His calm yet firm voice caused her to start.
"What?" She asked back.
"We're going," He said simply, reaching up and removing the hat from her head.
Glaring, she looked away from him as she quietly followed.
Dropping the red hat in the basket with the other items Cream was getting, Knuckles went to stand quietly by the doorway while the others waited in line.
Not sure whether to stay with Vanilla or go stand with him, Rouge hesitated before walking over to where he stood.
After a moment in silence, she attempted to start a conversation, "Is she always that…hyper?"
"Always," He replied simply.
Curious as to how far she could go, she continued, "She seems to really like you a lot."
"I guess she does."
"It's nice that she has someone like you to look out for her. Everyone needs someone like that," Rouge said, softly adding the last part almost in spoken thought.
Knuckles raised an eyebrow, catching the strange tone to Rouge's voice.
Silence hung in the air until he finally spoke, "They're done. Let's go."
Frowning, and wondering why she expected anymore out of him, the white-haired bat girl sighed and followed him as the rest of the friends emerged from the store, bags in hand.
"We should be getting Rouge back home. She still needs her rest. Knuckles, you make sure she gets a proper lunch and dinner, and you'll probably need to help her change her bandages before she goes to sleep."
Eyes narrowing, he looked up to Vanilla, "So I have to baby-sit her?"
"Hey. I never said you had to do anything." Rouge protested.
Vanilla stepped between the two before any more arguments could occur.
"No. Knuckles, you are to take care of her since she is in need of someone to assist her. Rouge, I am by no means undermining your strength, but I would hate to see you injure yourself further by straining yourself."
Taking that for what it was, Rouge, quieted, "It's not like I wanted this to happen to me…" She muttered.
On making their way out the mall door towards the parking lot, Rouge let her eyes wander across the cars and people coming and going.
That's when she froze.
"No. No…not him…no…"
Noticing that Rouge had stopped walking, Knuckles turned back to where she stood petrified in shock. Quickly glancing to the man her eyes fell onto, he knew who it must be.
Ignoring his friend's odd stares, he pushed Rouge back against the wall outside the mall, and hastily whispered.
"Don't move!"
Glancing out of his peripheral vision, he realized there was only one way to completely hide Rouge's identity from the bald man.
Leaning down, he shielded her face on one side by bracing his arm against the wall there. Then, right as the man turned to look at them, Knuckles moved his face in- planning to stop a few centimeters from her face.
He hadn't planned on Rouge moving her head forward at that moment. Or his lips meeting hers.
Eggman narrowed his eyes on the red-furred man, irritated that he couldn't get a good view of the woman that was with him.
Shaking his mind of the possibility, the manipulative man casually made his way inside the mall.
"There's no way that caller was one of the Sonic Heroes. It couldn't have been Rouge…" He reasoned, beginning to scan the mall for his runaway employee.
Back outside, Knuckles withdrew on hearing the mall doors swinging closed. A deep frown instantly settling onto his features.
Rouge, on the other hand, just blinked; still in shock not only from her boss showing up but also from the accidental kiss that had just occurred.
"Well Knuckles, I didn't know you had it in you," Vector remarked heading over towards them.
"You misunderstand, Vector!" He retorted loudly.
"Then would you care to explain that rather spontaneous sign of affection?"
Before Knuckles could, Rouge's voice cut in.
"…Why…he's looking for me…." She allowed herself to slink down against the wall, not paying heed to the way her hand drifted to her lips.
"Her boss?" Vector questioned.
Knuckles gave a slight nod in the affirmative.
Vanilla had already made her way over to where Rouge sat on the ground, "It's okay. He's gone now. He's gone…Are you going to be all right, Rouge?"
Her vacant expression slowly registering the figure above her she nodded slightly.
Nearby Knuckles' gaze was locked on the spot he'd laid eyes on Eggman.
"So that's the man who did this to her. Quite the coward if he resorts to such means!"
"Knuckles…" Rouge's voice pulled him from his thoughts, and he turned to regard her.
Standing as Vanilla held out a hand for support, Rouge found her footing and walked over to where Knuckles stood.
Eyes narrowing on him, she leveled a harsh glare, "Was that really necessary? What was that for anyway?"
Looking off to the side, he angrily remarked, " I take no blame for those that cannot follow simple instructions!"
"What!" She asked, still shaky yet furious about the sudden kiss as well.
"I told you not to move. You moved!"
"Oh go to hell you goddamn…"
"We'd best go!" Knuckles growled, turning to leave.
"Hey! I'm talking to you….you…"
"Would you rather he found you!"
At that she halted her tongue and hung her head, "No."
Without a word more, Knuckles began to walk towards the friends' cars.
Cream watched from nearby as Vanilla walked besides Rouge, gently bracing her as she walked.
Inside her mind, Rouge's emotions were jumbled and thoughts were nothing but a blur of information and confusion.
Knuckles, despite his desire to appear otherwise, wasn't fairing much better.
"How can a mere touching of lips be so… troublesome," He thought, unsure whether that pertained to Rouge's anger over it or to his own confusion.
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The car ride back to Knuckles' residency was in complete silence aside from Cream's questions to Knuckles now and then about her dress-up clothes and her upcoming birthday.
Rouge only vaguely listened, her mind shaken by seeing Eggman again and her heart shaken by the unintentional kiss with the echidna she kept swearing she could care less about.
It seemed like mere seconds to her before she heard Knuckles' usual tone of voice saying her name.
"Rouge."
Looking up, she finally registered that they were back at his home.
"Oh…"
Vanilla handed over the packages to Knuckles, "Now make sure all her clothing gets hung up properly. It wasn't cheap, you know."
Nodding in reply, he turned to follow Rouge inside when his friend stopped him.
"Knuckles."
He quirked an eyebrow and waited for the question.
"It is okay to open up your heart now and then. Remember that man."
Eyes narrowing at what he knew those words meant, he silently went inside.
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Making his way through the house, he found Rouge lying down on his bed- her arms wrapped securely around one of the pillows.
"So that was your boss," He said simply, sitting down beside her.
" I'm not in the mood for this," Her muffled voice came from behind the pillow.
Standing he went to the dresser and lifted up the photograph before returning to where he sat beside her.
"Here."
"What?"
He handed the photo over to her.
"Why are you giving this to me?"
"Look closely."
Looking back at the picture, she noticed one thing she hadn't before. Knuckles' face had two light scars on his cheek.
"Your face…but…"
"Everyone's life isn't perfect."
"He…"
"Insulting my stepmother was not an option."
"So he hit you."
"Once. It was enough."
Handing the frame back to him, Rouge let her eyes wander to the sheets on the bed.
"I see."
"Why are you telling me this? Are you…trying to make me understand something? Trying to let me know that even though your Father cares now that you…you can understand my pain? What?" Her mind raced.
"But my scars are gone now," He said quietly as he got up.
She looked after him, "Why are you telling me this?"
He sat the frame down, "Because you need to hear it."
"Is this…are you opening up to me…Knuckles?"
"Perhaps a shower would be necessary before lunch. I'll be downstairs."
With that, he turned to leave.
Gathering herself up, Rouge walked towards the bathroom.
"It might…cool my nerves…" She reasoned, her hand once again drifting to her lips, "Damn bastard. Why the hell did he have to kiss me?"
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Downstairs, Knuckles frowned on assessing what remained of food in his refrigerator. About to head for his cabinets to check their contents, the light rapping of a knock on the door caught his ears.
Frowning, he made his way towards the door and paused to look out.
At who it was his eyes narrowed.
"And with Rouge in such a pleasant mood as it is!" He remarked, opening the latches.
"What do you want?" He questioned, leveling a glare at the two figures.
Before either of them could speak though, their attention was diverted elsewhere.
At the top of the staircase stood Rouge- wrapped in nothing but a towel.
"Knuckles, I need another towel for my hair…"
One of the uninvited guests just smirked, "I see you have some unusual company."
"Secretary!" Knuckles clarified.
The two figures just smiled, expecting such an avoidant answer from him.
"And just when I was of the assumption that this day couldn't get anymore irritating," The red-furred echidna frowned looking between the two and Rouge, "It seems the fates are against me."
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Preview for next Chapter :
There are many things that Knuckles was not in the mood to deal with. The two people currently on his doorstep topping that list. His thoughts on a certain unexpected kiss though, coming in a close second.
