When Sonic woke up the next morning, he immediately noticed three things. The first thing he noticed was that he wasn't at home. It took his brain a moment to realise where he was, and the thought made him blush when he realised that he had stayed the night sharing a bed with Tails in a hotel. Even during the past couple of weeks, or their multitude of sleepovers from years past, the two of them had never shared a bed. A room, maybe, but never a bed. He blushed even redder when he remembered that they had removed their shoes, socks and gloves before going to bed, meaning they were nude. Of course, he knew that nothing had happened, but he couldn't stop his mind wondering what could have happened.
Secondly, he noticed he couldn't move. After looking he down he spotted Tails resting atop his chest, still sound asleep. With the morning light filtering in through the blinds, it made Sonic wonder how he'd never noticed how cute his foxy friend was before! He so desperately wanted to run his hand through Tails' fluffy namesakes, but they were just out of reach.
Finally, his attention returned to what had roused him from his slumber. His communicator was going crazy. He realised he had told Amy that he was only going for a run, so she was probably wondering where on Mobius he was. Of course, because of Tails' current sleeping position, he couldn't even hope to reach it in order to respond.
He had to wake him up.
Gently, he reached up to grab Tails' shoulders.
"Miles? Miles, we need to get up." The fox murmured annoyedly.
"Miles. Come on, wake up." The fox stirred again, aided by Sonic softly shaking his shoulders. One eye flickered open before closing again. Sonic sighed.
He gently leant forward and planted a tender kiss on the fox's forehead.
That made him wake up instantly.
"S-Sonic? Wha—" He instantly stopped, blushing profusely. Sonic figured that the same thoughts that ran through his own head earlier were now traversing the mind of his favourite kitsune. He chuckled softly as a blush returned to his own face, though not as intense.
"G'morning, sleepyhead."
"M-Morning, Sonic." Tails let out a slight chuckle of his own, now that the shock of waking up on top of Sonic, naked, in a hotel room had worn off. "Sleep well?"
"Like a log. How about you?"
"I slept fine." A slight smirk appeared on his face. "You make a good pillow!" Sonic mock-gasped.
"Miles, I'm honoured! Although, one day, you and those tails of yours are gonna have to return the favour!"
The two shared a well-needed chuckle, before the mood became sombre again.
"Sonic… We can't do this. What if the other's react the same way as Vanilla?"
"Then we find out who our true friends are. As I said, I don't care about my reputation, and I've always worked well on my own, or with only you by my side. If I have to lose all of my other friends to be with you, then so be it."
"Thank you, Sonic, but I'm not sure if I am ready to risk that loss. You were the first real friends I ever made."
"Then how about we start by telling our closest friends first and working our way out? We already know that Amy supports us, and I'm pretty sure Cream's on our side too, despite what her mother thinks. I'm sure that everyone else will support it, too."
"We could have said that about Vanilla, too."
"Yes, but we forget how much older she is than the rest of us. She likely grew up with that homophobic belief, and it'll probably take her even longer to completely grow out of it. The only others who would have that excuse would be Shadow, and I doubt he really cares enough about his own love life to give a crap about ours, and Eggman, and do we really care what he thinks?"
Tails hesitated for a moment, before answering.
"I suppose not. But, I'm still scared. I don't want anyone to start treating us differently because we're together, even Eggman. I don't want him to try to turn our relationship into a weakness that he can exploit."
"Then we won't let him. Miles, even before we were together, I still would have done anything in my power to keep you safe. Remember Space Colony Ark?"
Of course he remembered. Tails remembered Eggman trapping Sonic in a capsule with a fake Chaos Emerald. He remembered Sonic leaving him in charge, basically confirming that he didn't think he'd be coming back, just before said capsule was ejected into space. He remembered watching as the capsule exploded, supposedly taking Sonic with it.
For a few minutes that day, Tails the Fox had thought Sonic was dead. It was the saddest he had ever felt. It was one of the only times he had ever had to stand toe-to-toe, mech-to-mech, against the mad tyrant alone. It was certainly not an experience he was in much of a hurry to ever repeat.
Sonic continued, reaching over to grab Tails' hand in his own. "It doesn't matter if we're dating or not, I'd still die to protect you, or any of my friends. Our relationship doesn't change that. It just means that I care for you so much more than anyone else, and, if I'm being honest, that was always the case anyway!"
Tails looked at him, a deep blush forming on his face, before averting his gaze again.
"How do you do it, Sonic?"
Sonic responded with a "Hm?"
"How do you not let what others think of you bother you?"
"Years of practice! When I was younger, before we had ever met, I wasn't quite as confident as the hedgehog you see before you! And, let's just say that you weren't the only one who was bullied."
Tails turned his head so quickly, he thought he might have given himself whiplash.
"What, did you honestly think that nobody would pick on the bright blue hedgehog who could run fast? Your two tails are pretty normal in comparison! But, over time, I learned to ignore it, and when I stopped reacting to their harsh words, the bullies had no reason to keep going. And then, when Eggman made his first appearance, I took it upon myself to stand against him, and in doing so, I basically revealed myself to the world. When I had no more reason to hide, I knew that there would be so many different opinions about me from so many different people that it didn't really matter what anyone thought of me, as long as I liked myself!"
Tails went silent again as he pondered everything Sonic had said. He was right, of course. It didn't actually matter what the others thought of him, or the relationship, as long as they were happy. But, even though his brain accepted that, his heart was still hurting from Vanilla's reaction, and he wasn't sure which one he should listen to.
Although, he realised, there would always be a difference of opinion between his head and his heart, so he decided to go with his gut instead, and his gut told him the same thing it always did: Trust Sonic on this one.
"Ok. You're right, we can't keep this a secret forever. But, can we just start with a few friends?"
"Sure. We don't have to reveal it to everyone immediately. Who did you have in mind?"
"Probably Knuckles, Rouge and Shadow, and maybe a few others, like Blaze or Silver if we can get a hold of them."
"Sounds fair. I assume we'd have Amy there as well?"
"Yeah."
There was another brief moment of silence before Tails mentioned the elephant, or more specifically the rabbit, in the room.
"I don't know about Cream, though. I mean, I know she already knows, but I don't want her to think we're avoiding her just because of how her mother thinks."
"Then we should include her. If she wants to be involved or not, that'll be entirely up to her."
They both smiled at that thought, before Sonic continued.
"So, how are we gonna do the reveal? Just send them all a text, go door-to-door, or what?"
"I don't know. Maybe we could all meet somewhere, so we could tell them all at once, in person."
"Fair enough. I'll find a way to get in touch with Rouge, then. If anyone knows the best places to meet, it'll be her. She's probably broken into a few decent venues. I think Amy has her number."
As if by magic, they were suddenly interrupted by another beep from Sonic's communicator.
"Speak of the devil." At long last, Sonic managed to answer it, finally bringing Amy's angered face into view on the small screen.
"WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG?! I'VE BEEN TRYING TO CALL YOU FOR OVER AN HOUR!"
Sonic cringed.
"Sorry, Ames. We… overslept?"
"Where are you? You just told me you were going for a run when you left yesterday. I've been worried all nigh— Wait. Did you say 'we'?"
"Yeah. I found him."
There was a sigh of relief from the other end.
"That's great, Sonic. Is he with you now?"
"Sitting right beside me, yeah." To prove his point, Sonic reached his arm around the fox's shoulders, promptly tugging him sideways to get him in frame as well.
"Tails, it's good to see you. Are you ok?"
"Still not one hundred percent, but I'm getting there, thanks to Sonic."
"That's good. Do you think you'll be coming back?" Sonic turned to watch Tails with interest. He, of course, wanted to know that answer as well. Judging from the expression of Tails' face, however, it wasn't going to be the answer either of the hedgehogs wanted.
"I… don't know. I don't think I'd be able to handle it. At least not yet. And I don't want to antagonise Vanilla any more than she seems to think I already have." As he said it, the poor fox shrunk into himself a little, wrapping his namesakes around his torso, showing how broken he truly was. A couple of tears even threatened to escape.
He almost missed Amy's sudden gasp, but it was the sound of growling that brought his attention back to the room, and he instantly noticed the hedgehog beside him.
The hedgehog that was now considerably darker.
Amy's voice from the communicator sounded panicked.
"Sonic, you need to calm down!"
But Sonic didn't calm down this time.
"No, Amy. I can't just let this slide. We had a good thing going, and we trusted her enough to tell her about it. And what did she do with that trust? She just threw it away, like it meant nothing to her! I almost lost Tails because of her!"
Tails knew he'd need to do something before the hedgehog did something he'd regret. So, similarly to how Sonic had woken him earlier, the fox leaned over, resting his hand over Sonic's, and kissed him square on the lips. It wasn't a long kiss by any means, nor was it a passionate one, but it certainly had the desired effect, as Sonic's fur once again returned to its glorious sapphire shade. After they broke apart, leaving two stunned hedgehogs behind, Tails spoke up.
"That's the key word, Sonic: 'almost'. I may have reacted a bit too extremely at first, but we have been through way too much together for you to lose me now, just because of one bad friend." He leaned in again for another peck, but before their lips connected once again, he added:
"I love you, Sonic the Hedgehog, and that's not changing any time soon." Sonic didn't have time to respond before Tails closed the gap. This kiss was a little more than the simple peck he had initially planned for, but he didn't really care. Neither did Sonic, apparently. They only broke apart when Amy's clearing throat reminded them that she was still watching.
"Well, I'm glad to see that my favourite couple are still an item, but you still haven't answered my first question, Sonic; where are you?"
"We're in the Grand Acorn Hotel in the city. Tails had apparently just booked a room for himself when I got here, and I guess we got a bit comfortable, so I stayed the night. Sorry for not letting you know."
"Wait, you two shared a hotel room? You two didn't… you know…" The blush on her face told them exactly what she was implying, and they were instantly just as red as their shoes.
That they weren't currently wearing. Along with everything else.
"NO! Of course we didn't! Honestly, all we did was talk."
If Amy's eyebrow had gone any higher, it would have gotten altitude sickness.
"Ok, fine, some cuddling was involved, and we made out, but that's it!"
Amy's satisfied smirk was as relieving as it was irritating.
"Ok, ok, fine. I believe you. Anyway, Sonic, when do you think you'll be coming back?" Sonic paused for a moment. His eyes landed on Tails for a second before he answered.
"I'm not." That caught the other two off guard.
"Huh?! What do you mean 'you're not'?"
"I'm not gonna come back, Ames. Not to live, anyway. Not until Miles is ready to do the same."
"No, Sonic." This was Tails. "I don't want you to put your life on hold for me. Just go home, and I'll return when I'm ready."
"Tails, in all the five years you've known me, ninety percent of the time would be spent on adventures away from home anyway! That's all this is: another adventure. I'd rather spend my time with you, than waiting for you. So, until you're ready to go back there, then you're stuck with me." He paused for a second. "Well, I mean, you'd be stuck with me when we get home, too, so let's just call this a headstart!" He laughed, and the sound was certainly appreciated. He turned his attention back to Amy. "Don't worry, Amy. I'll be back some time in the afternoon to pick up my stuff, and I'd be happy to swing by every so often to chat, so you'll still be seeing plenty of me too! And, you'd be welcome to visit us as well, you know!"
"Well, ok. If you're sure, then I won't stop you. Just be ready, in case Eggman decides to attack here in your absence. Now, I need to go soon. Things to do, you know the drill."
"Alright, Ames. Although, before you go, could you try to get me Rouge's number or contact her yourself. Miles and I have some things we'd like to discuss with her."
But, that'll have to wait until the next chapter! Once again, sorry for taking so long! Netflix can be quite distracting! I tried to make the chapter a little longer this time to make up for it again. As always, I won't make any promises about when the next chapter will be, but I'll try to make it soon! Although, I'm also planning to get started with another story soon, which may slow down updates even further, but we'll see.
Anyway, I think the next chapter will be the closer for ACT II, so we'll be getting some exciting developments to bring us over to ACT III (I hope!). So, I'll see you then. Ciao for now!
OnTheSpectrum