I Love, I Hate

Part Two:

Loathing

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"Why did you bring me here?"

"I thought looking at something besides your dark apartment would fix your mood."

"A stupid river?"

"Best I could think of, plus its close."

"Stupid…"

He didn't want to admit it, but the slowly flowing water of the river did help him to calm down. After his brief descent into rage his friend convinced him to leave his place for awhile, hoping that a walk might make him think more clearly. He thought his friend had a bar or strip club in mind and was slightly depressed, since it was the kind of thing he'd normally do on most occasions. He was hoping that his friend would take him to find another girl, if even for a one night stand, but tonight that would not be.

Nothing tonight but pointless talking.

GREAT.

He pushed himself from off of the small fence that separated the river bank from the picnic area and looked around the park. It was a little after one in the morning and the normally green setting of the park was shrouded in shadowy darkness, the only light coming from the lamps place along the walkway to guide late-night runners. There was no sound other than the wind rustling the leaves on trees and the low breathing of him and his friend. It was very different from the normally loud and energy filled environment it was during the day.

Considering what had happened, he much preferred it this way.

"What you thinking ugly?" His friend asked, reminding him of his presence.

"Nothing, dimwit……." He muttered back as he looked to the river again" Just about how much I can't stand her."

"Whatever," His friend replied as he wandered over to a nearby picnic table" you still kiss the freaking ground she walks on."

He looked at his friend with a glint of exasperation in his eye which quickly left as he sighed and followed him.

"You're saying it as if I DID kiss the freaking ground."

"You DID, cause she was the first girl you ever got serious with." His friend said as he sat on the table and pulled out a candy bar he must have taken from the apartment before they left.

He looked down at his feet as he thought to himself. It's true, she WAS the first girl to ever really fall for him, but what did it matter now? She was busy making time with his supposed friend, the freaking 'hero' of the city. He frowned at this prospect, knowing he couldn't really compete with a hero, so why even bother. Throwing these thoughts to the wind he sat on the table with his friend and looked back to the serene river.

"Quit reminding me of her. She's gone."

"Gone? She lives ten freaking minutes away from you!"

"That's not the point!" He shouted, tired of having thoughts of her rule his conscious" No more talking about her!"

"Fine………" His friend replied as he turned his back to him, opting to look into the large grove of trees as he ate his candy.

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What seemed to be hours past as he stared out at the river, not wanting anything to remind him of her or his 'friend' or their kiss. He simply wanted to be left alone to his thoughts, where he knew no conversation about what had happened would be started by some nosy fool. He counted his blessings that he only had his purple friend to deal with now, as right after he caught them just about everyone he knew was trying to talk to him about it. Unfortunately, everyone seemed to have a different take on it.

The big green fool had told him to take the traitor out back and lay into him, if he could catch him that is.

The little pest called him a punk for just staring at them and then storming out.

His best friend tried to give him some advice, even though the gliding freak had an even worse relationship with that orange echidna he drooled over.

Red didn't really know what to tell him, just saying he was thankful that he found someone for himself, though she seemed to be a bit of a whore in everyone's opinions.

The duck, bear and rat just plain out laughed at him, taking so much enjoyment out of his suffering.

The rabbit only told him she knew it was doomed from the start and the cat had the nerve to try to hook him up almost an hour after it happened.

The dark hedgehog didn't have much to say, just complaining that he was lucky enough to have his girl 'alive'.

The only person that gave him a decent response was the small rabbit who hugged him, even though she didn't know what was going on.

He was kind of surprised that his friend hadn't insulted or given him stupid advice and that he had decided to stay with him all night to help him figure it all out. He figured he had done it to just mock him over a longer period of time than the others but was shocked that he had been completely sincere the whole time.

There's a first for everything, he figured.

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"……Hey, man."

"Yeah?"

"Remember that time we fighting and you pulled out on of those big shurikens to try and throw at me?"

"I remember that………….I flung it right at your head and you caught it between your hands."

"Then I shouted something like 'Take this you ninja freak!' and threw it right back at you and you dodged."

"Yeah and it went right at Charmy and struck him in the head!"

"Thank god he wears that damn helmet!"

"Yeah."

The two sighed as the glanced around, their moods slightly elevated at the thought of the past exploits they enjoyed with their friends. The two both turned to look at the river, neither wanting to look at the other or think about any of the bad business going on. All that concerned them for a brief moment was the calming reflection of the moon.

"………So I take it that you're not as angry anymore."

"Yeah………..But I still can't stand her."

"We'll see man. We'll see."

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To Be Continued

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Yo. Kind of rambled in this chapter though I think it's still good. Just to let you know I'm purposely not stating who the main guy, his friend, the girl and the betrayer are. To be honest you can interpret them however you want though they are supposed to be specific characters. Their identities will become apparent by the end of it.