Now, Amy didn't have anything against Rouge, but that didn't mean they were friends. Honestly, they only had each other's numbers because of professional courtesy. If the day ever came when Eggman was too big of a threat to handle alone, they'd need all the allies they could get. Still, when Sonic told her why they wanted to get in touch with the jewel-loving bat, she knew she'd just have to bite the bullet and get it over with.

The bat picked up on the fifth ring.

"Amy. What can I do for you? You don't often call me this early."

"Actually, Rouge, I don't need you. Sonic does. He asked me to call you to help him arrange something."

"And he didn't ask me himself because…?"

"I don't think he has access to your frequency."

"Fair enough. What does he need my help with exactly?"

"He wants to organise a small get-together for a few of his closest friends. He figured, with all the places you've broken into, you'd know some good venues."

"I mean, he's right, but the best venue I know isn't one I broke into. I do have a life outside of being a jewel thief, you know. There's a club I like to frequent in the middle of the city. I'm a pretty regular customer, so I'd be able to put in a good word for you guys. It does host plenty of private parties too, if that's what he'd prefer."

"I dunno, Rouge. From what I know of the situation, even a club like that might be a bit too public for what Sonic wants. Do you know anywhere we could meet where it'd just be us?"

"Not really in the big city, but I've found some decent spots for complete privacy in the forest just to the north. I think there's an abandoned clubhouse from an old summer camp up there. If you're exclusively looking for privacy, that'd be your best bet, but it's not very pretty. He'd probably need to fix it up if he wants to be somewhere stylish too. Unless, of course you wanna leave that to me."

"You are the most stylish person I know."

"Please, I'm the most stylish person anybody knows! I'll see what I can do. Feel free to share my frequency with blue boy. I'll let him know when I've worked my magic."

Amy sighed in relief.

"Thanks, Rouge. He'll be really happy to hear that."

"No problem. Sooo, what's the occasion, anyway? You've piqued this bat's curiosity."

"I'm not sure it's my place to say. I think Sonic would prefer to tell you himself."

"Ok, ok, I'll bite. I have a clear schedule today, so I'll fly over there and get started. Should be done by this evening. Ciao!" With that, the bat hung up, leaving Amy staring at her communicator. She rolled her eyes before continuing her walk.

After their call with Amy that morning, Sonic and Tails hadn't left their room. Instead, they had fired up the television to watch something and cuddle. They had settled on a cheesy rom-com, but they weren't really paying too much attention to it. The hotel manager had stopped by, to make sure they had everything they needed and that they had enjoyed their first night. Sonic was the one who brought up that they'd be extending their stay, and she was, of course, more than accommodating, telling them that they could stay there for as long as they needed to. Perks of being the world's greatest heroes, after all. However, things became a little more nerve-wracking after they declined her offer to be transferred to a room with two separate beds.

"Are you sure? We have many great rooms here which would be more than enough to accommodate you two more comfortably."

"We're sure. One bed is enough for us."

"I see. Well, I have to admit, I find that a little unusual. I've been a manager here for over a decade, and the only times I've seen multiple guests choose a room with only one bed are when there were no other options, or if they were a couple. And, since I've just mentioned that we do have other rooms available, that makes me think that there's something else going on here." The silence from her two patrons basically answered her question. And, unbeknownst to her, what she said next would be a massive relief to them both.

"Fair enough. In that case, I guess congratulations are in order?"

She couldn't help but laugh at their shocked expressions.

"Please, I run a hotel, not a church! We pride ourselves on our open-mindedness regarding the tastes of our patrons. I'm going to assume that that's why you guys needed the hotel room in the first place?"

Sonic nodded, and with permission from Tails, he filled her in on the events that had brought them here.

"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry. That should have never happened, to you or anybody. Are you ok?"

Again, the two heroes nodded.

"Well, as I said, we here at the Grand Acorn are very non-judgemental, so you've no need to worry about us kicking you out for this. Honestly, I'd be more willing to kick out a homophobe than a homosexual! But, be that as it may, I assume that you'd probably want this to be kept under wraps, right?"

"Yeah." This was Sonic. "At least for now."

"Say no more. While it's not part of the hotel policy, I personally pride myself on my ability to keep my mouth shut!" She laughed for a moment before her radio started beeping, letting her know that she was needed somewhere else.

"Alright guys, I guess that's my cue. If you need anything, just let us know."

"We will. And, thank you. For everything."

"Trust me, after everything you've done for me, and for everyone else, it's the least I can do."

Her radio beeped again, and she made her exit shortly after.

And the two heroes released the breaths that they hadn't realised they'd been holding.

A few minutes later, they were interrupted by another knock at the door. Sonic opened it to find Amy standing there.

"Hey. I asked the manager what room you guys were in, so I decided to swing by. How are you, Tails?"

"I'm ok. Still trying to get over what happened, though."

"I think we all are. Well, I've talked to Rouge. She says she knows a place in the forest which should be private enough for what you have planned. She wants me to pass on her details so you two can contact each other directly when you need to."

"Fair enough." After a quick text back and forth between the blue hedgehog and white bat, to verify the contact details were correct, Sonic continued. "Where is she now?"

"She's at the location. She tells me it used to be a summer camp or something, but it's apparently a little run-down, so she offered to fix it up, to make it at least presentable. She thinks it'll be done by this evening."

"That's great. Now, Miles, are you absolutely sure you wanna do this? We don't have to announce it tonight if you don't want to."

"No, I want to. I don't want to keep secrets from my friends, even secrets like this. And, if they're not all friends by the end of it, at least we'll know who our true friends are."

"Ok. If you're sure. How are we going to invite everyone?"

Amy suggested that they split the guest list between them. With Rouge already taken care of, Amy would also invite Cream and Blaze, Sonic could handle his fellow hedgehogs, Shadow and Silver, and that would leave Knuckles for Tails. Once that was sorted, it didn't take them long to send those messages out, telling their friends that they'd confirm the time and exact location later. It also didn't take long for their friends to get back to them, confirming that they'd be there. Cream had been a bit hesitant at first, being the only guest who already knew the situation. In her own words, she wasn't sure if she 'wanted to risk witnessing a repeat of what happened earlier', but Amy helped her push those fears aside, by promising that if she even senses animosity brewing among the other guests, she'd be right there with her hammer and a free trip home.

After that was all sorted, they all decided to just chill out together, watching TV together until they got the message from Rouge that the venue was ready. That message didn't take long, and before the sun had even reached the horizon, they were on their way to the forest. The mood was pensive, to say the least. These three friends, who would normally be cracking jokes at each other, were silent. As they were about to leave the city, their paths crossed with Shadow's, so they decided to walk together. Of course, the ebony hedgehog was his usual cranky self, so his addition to the party didn't really add that much to the conversation, other than a brief exchange of pleasantries. Silver and Blaze would have been travelling from the other direction, so they said they'd meet them at the destination, and Cream would have been travelling from behind them, so she'd probably be the last one to arrive, especially considering that she also needed to convince her mother. Even after the invitation, the group still weren't certain whether or not she'd be joining them. She had said she'd get back to them as soon as she could.

Things weren't going brilliantly for the young rabbit. She had told her mother that Amy had invited her for a sleepover in the city, but Vanilla shut that idea down, stating that her and Amy 'weren't on the best of terms right now'. An argument had ensued, causing the young rabbit to be grounded. That left Cream with only two options: text Amy and say that she couldn't make it, or sneak out. Now, Cream had always been a rather well-behaved child, but right now, she realised that she didn't care much for her mother's approval right now. So, instead, she texted Amy that she'd be there as soon as possible, before opening her window and taking to the skies, with Cheese tagging along close behind.

Rouge was just wrapping up a few last finishing touches as she saw the group of hedgehogs and a fox arriving at the clubhouse. The place didn't look too spectacular, but of course, it didn't need to. It just needed to look inhabitable. Rouge had mostly spent the time inspecting the place for smashed windows or busted doors, of which there were very few. Inside she had found a large communal space that she had cleaned up, along with gathering some valuables for herself. There were enough seats for everyone, including herself, and a big fireplace which she had already taken the liberty of lighting. Once she was satisfied, she went out to greet everyone, just as the fourth hedgehog arrived with a purple cat following close behind.

"Hey everyone! Right this way!"

"Hey, Rouge." This was Sonic. "Thanks for all this."

"No problem! As I said to Amy earlier, you've piqued this bat's curiosity, so whatever secret you're about to reveal, I wanna be a part of it!" For the first time in his life, Sonic was quite happy to be at the back of the group, as his face tinted a slight shade of pink.

"Oooh, it's that kind of announcement! How juicy! Who's the lucky lady?" Again, Sonic didn't respond, but he did start to visibly sweat. He didn't seem to catch the unusual emphasis Rouge put on that last word.

"Ok, ok, don't tell me. I'm sure I'll be finding out in a few minutes anyway!" Rouge decided to stop teasing him for now, before asking him one last question.

"Any word on Cream? She was invited, right?"

"Yeah. She messaged Amy earlier, saying she'd be here as soon as possible. Apparently, she had a bit of trouble getting away. Knuckles will be here shortly, too, but you know how long it takes to get from Angel Island."

"Sooner than you'd think, blue boy." The deep voice over his shoulder told him that the echidna had indeed arrived. "This better be important, Sonic. I've left the Master Emerald unguarded for this. I only agreed to this because I knew Rouge would be here, and not there!"

"Good to see you, too, Knuckie! You came all this way just to see me!"

"Yeah, so I can keep an eye on you."

"You're no fun. Anyway, everyone else is already inside. You can't miss 'em."

"Alright." He walked inside. Rouge turned back to Sonic.

"You should go inside too, Rouge. I wanna have a quick chat with Cream when she gets here."

"Ooookay? Whatever you say, Sonic." With that, she followed Knuckles inside, leaving Sonic alone with his thoughts.

It wasn't that long after, however, when the rabbit arrived as well.

"Hello, Mr. Sonic."

"Cream, I told you, you don't need to call me Mr. Sonic. Just Sonic is fine. Anyway, how are you?"

"I should be asking you that. I hate that you and Tails had to leave because of what happened."

"We chose to go, Cream. We both think it's best if we give your mother some space so she can cool off. But, we invited you along to show you that, whatever feelings we harbour towards your mother, that has not affected our opinion of you. We're still happy to call you our friend, even if we have to fly under your mother's radar for the time being!" Sonic opened his arms, inviting Cream in for a hug, which she gladly accepted, with Cheese joining in by landing on Sonic's head. The hedgehog chuckled, reaching up to pet the small blue Chao.

"You'd better look after her too, Cheese!" The small being nodded, before flying back to his spot just above Cream's shoulder. "Now, come along, you two. I'm sure everyone else is waiting for us."

When Sonic and Cream finally entered, all eyes turned to them. Cream's eyes zoned in immediately on Tails', and they shared a quick smile, although neither of them was able to make that smile reach their eyes. Sonic nudged the rabbit in the direction of the nearest chair before making his way to stand in front of the fireplace.

"Hey, everyone. You're probably wondering why we gathered you all here tonight. Well, to put as simply as possible, Tails and I have an announcement to share with you all." He beckoned for the fox to join him, and as Tails was walking towards him, Sonic quickly stole a glance over at Rouge. Her knowing grin was all too obvious.

"Some of you already know what we're gonna say, and I suspect at least one of you might have figured it out already, but we wanted to announce it this way because we felt it was better to say it in person rather than through our communicators." Sonic's eyes darted towards Cream, and she looked like she was ready to run. So, before she had the chance, Sonic decided to rip off the band-aid, once and for all. But first, he turned to Tails, grabbing his hand.

"Alright, Tails. You ready?"

Tails simply nodded in response, and so, Sonic turned back to address the group. "In that case, I've rambled long enough! Everyone, this is Miles 'Tails' Prower, and he is my boyfriend!"

Immediately, Rouge shouted in celebration. "I knew it!" The same could not be said about the rest of the group, however, as the silence that followed Rouge's exclamation was deafening. But, eventually, the sound of someone clapping echoed through the room. To everyone's surprise, it was Shadow.

"Congratulations, you two." With that, the floodgates opened, and everyone joined in, shouting their praises towards the newly announced couple as well.

"Yeah, congrats guys." This was Silver.

"I always thought you two had a great connection." Knuckles.

"How did you take it, Miss Rose?" Rouge.

"Please, I was the one who encouraged them to get together in the first place!"

"Wait, really? Do tell us more!"

And so, the rest of the evening was spent with Sonic and Tails explaining how the whole 'couple' thing happened, mixed in with a variety of fun stories from the others. However, despite the jovial atmosphere, Tails couldn't stop himself from tearing up.

"Hey, hey. What's wrong, Miles?"

"N-Nothing's wrong, Sonic. I'm just surprised is all. After how Vanilla reacted, I wasn't expecting everyone else to be so accepting."

"What did I tell you, Miles? They're our friends. They'd still love us all the same, no matter what our personal preferences happen to be!"

Of course, they weren't quite quiet enough to prevent the others from hearing this, so as soon as Sonic noticed that they had the attention of the room, he added: "Right, guys?"

They didn't respond with words. Instead, as if someone had just activated a magnet, the small crowd decided to glomp the couple, embracing the two of them in a massive group hug. Except for Shadow, of course.

"Thank you, everyone! You have no idea how much this means to us! Things didn't go well when we outed ourselves to Cream's mother yesterday, so it's nice to know that we still have you guys."

The group hug dissipated, and Sonic continued.

"Of course, we aren't quite ready to announce this to the public just yet, so keep this to yourselves for now." Everyone nodded, with Rouge adding a lip-zip motion. "Thank you all for understanding. Now, let's party!"

And, that's what they did. This small group of friends just spent the rest of the evening telling silly stories from their lives, making fun of each other and generally just messing around. Tails smiled to himself.

This went so much better than he had expected. He felt like he could handle anything else the world through at him.

Right?

I AM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG! I don't have any good excuse for the mini break, other than saying that Netflix and Xbox are both very distracting! I decided to compensate for the break by making this chapter quite a bit longer than its predecessors! I won't make any promises that I'll be back to a quicker schedule again, but I'll try.

Anyway, now that that's out of the way, I just wanna specify one detail before I get attacked by the Canon Police. I know that in the games, Silver is from the future, and Blaze lives in another dimension, but my version of this Sonic-verse has them all living in the same dimension at the same time, simply because I like them! I will, however be keeping this story with only the characters canon to the games, with some OC exceptions. That means no Sally, Bunnie, or Rotor this time.

Last but not least, I'm happy to say that we've reached the end of ACT II! I'll try to get ACT III started soon, but again, no promises as to when that'll be released. Keep an eye out, and I'm sure it'll be here soon! Ciao for now!

OnTheSpectrum