Chapter 26: Heads or Tails
Amy couldn't help but keep bouncing her leg. The two made their way to her vacant dinner table, sitting across one another to keep each other on eye level, but even with that, Amy tried to look away from him. Even as she held her gaze onto him, she couldn't help but become extremely nervous over what this conversation could entail. Attempting to access the situation, she couldn't help but land herself to the same thought over and over: Sonic being here was, indeed, a surprise. An inch of her also couldn't help but entertain her curiosity, especially since he's never behaved like this before within the duration of her knowing him. She stopped jiggling her leg, adjusting herself to sit upright, and cleared her throat. She placed both hands on top of the table, folded into each other, "Okay, so… Talk."
Sonic sighed, leaning back on his seat and stared down at the table. He shifted back forwards.
"I just didn't want you finding out this way because… all of this is just so embarrassing."
"You're embarrassed? How can you be embarrassed when I'm the one that was being taken advantage of? By both of you?"
Sonic shrunk in his seat, his shoulders hunched over his body tightly before he released, looking back up at her.
"Yeah, you… have a good point. But please believe me when I say I didn't mean any harm, I just… I just wanted a reason to get this out there."
"Why? What was the point of any of this? What is your end goal? Why have you been 'training' me? For what?" Amy's lips started to tremble. The more she said, the more she wanted to ask.
"Look… it happened like this, alright?" he began, looking down at the table again. "It started out with my parents. I was telling you the truth about that. My parents have been threatening to cut me off if I didn't settle down and get married. My inheritance was tied to me getting hitched, so I started to think about a way to get someone to play along with my little charade, but the problem is that it couldn't just be anyone… I tried."
Amy looked at him puzzlingly.
"... Meaning, I tried. I had at least five different actors to try to attempt to play out that relationship, but it just didn't work. I didn't have the right chemistry with them, and every time we were together, it was too obvious that neither of us knew each other, so then I was stumped. Until I thought of you."
She was slightly taken aback. "Me?"
"Yeah. I called up Rouge because I knew that you were keeping in touch, but I didn't inquire with you at all. I honestly just wanted to know if you were single, but when I found out that you were dating that fucking fa– er, Shadow, and that's when a wrench was kind of thrown into my plan."
"But… Why me? Why didn't you ask someone else, why…"
"Honestly… It's because I'm comfortable with you, Ames… Yeah, I should've said something to you, and I bet if I did explain the whole plan with you, you would've been in on it, because I know how you are, but… I was just embarrassed of looking like such a fuck-up. Like I don't have my life together and… your opinion of me is something that means to world to me, and I didn't want to be more of a fuck-up than I already am to you."
Amy was speechless. She didn't know what to think.
Sonic went ahead on.
"So coincidentally enough, I was out one night, thinking about a second game plan, until I ran into Shadow one night at a bar. He was out with some of his coworkers, and he seemed pretty sloshed, so I thought of talking to him and checking up on him to see if he was alright. I mean, normally I wouldn't care, but I can be a bit of a humanitarian too, y'know?"
Amy rolled her eyes, but she stayed quiet.
"Anyway… I sat over to him and asked him how he was doing, since I really haven't seen him in God knows how long. He was jabbering about how he hates his job, how he wants to go to school, but he couldn't make it far where he was at. Then he started talking about you and about how you wanted to really go to school to support you and get you out of those apartments, so then that's when I started thinking…
"I couldn't ask you if you could go along with it with me, so that's when I proposed the idea to him. I told him all about what I wanted to do, and I asked him if he could break up with you for a while during the time I had you help me. And in exchange, I would help him with getting him through school, no questions asked, and it got him thinking. Of course, I was drinking a bit myself, and I didn't take myself too seriously until the next day, I felt like shit because of it. But when I saw his face change the moment I mentioned that I could take care of all that for him, he wouldn't stop talking about how much that would help not just him, but you too."
Amy felt tears stinging her eyes. "If that was the case… Why didn't you just tell me? What was stopping you from just letting me in on the plan and not having me go through that emotional rollercoaster? Because by the end of the day, that was all still real to me. It still happened to me…"
Sonic winced. "... I was going to but then… I saw you that night. I sent you that letter after Shadow started everything with the intention of letting you know, but then I saw you and… everything went out the window. I didn't do it for him anymore, I didn't give a damn about him anymore. I didn't want it to just be a 'plan' anymore, I wanted it to be for real."
Amy's face flushed red. "You're not serious. You're just trying to trick me again."
"I'm not, Amy. I'm being so honest with you right now– I was trying to keep it all in with the hopes that you would just forget about that joker, but when I saw him trying to weasel his way back here… I got nervous that I was going to lose you."
Amy pressed her lips together tightly. She didn't know what to do or what to make of any of this information.
"Time was running out, and I couldn't let one more second go to waste, so that's when I did away with the plan and just hoped everything would work out."
"It didn't seem that way to me… What about Sally? Whenever you talked about her, it seemed like you were still hung up on her–"
"That was a long time ago, Amy! You asked me about her, and I only answered your questions. You can't pin that kind of thing as pining. She and I are good friends, but we honestly haven't even spoken to each other in years."
"I… I just don't believe you."
"What do I have to do to make you believe me?"
Sonic rose from his seat aggressively, making Amy jump.
"The moment I saw you again, my heart started up and I thought, 'I'm fucked. This is not going to end well for me. It might not even go anywhere if she saw me'. But then you started talking to me, and I just began to remember all the memories we had together."
I have to keep my cool. I have to keep my composure. He's just telling me what he wants me to hear. None of this is real, thought Amy. Her hands began to tremble, looking away from him once more. "I-I still can't forgive you for putting me through that. If you really cared, you still would've found a way to tell me. This isn't something I can justify, I just can't," protested Amy.
"Amy, you can't tell me you don't feel some type of way for me. Are you saying that you didn't feel anything between you and me during all of this? During all of our petty battles and stupid arguments, we still found a way to build a bridge together and I don't want to destroy that bridge. Not ever again."
Amy closed her eyes, pressing them shut. I can't do this. "Okay, you made your point. I need you to go. I can't see you anymore. You can't just proclaim all of this and expect everything to be okay–"
Sonic made his way from across the table and lifted her from her seat, wrapping his arms around her body. Her eyes shot open in shock; to her surprise, she could hear his heart beating quietly, but noticeably. He was nervous, and she could tell based on the amount of beats it had been making. Her tears finally made their way down her cheeks, her will wearing down as she finally gave up her confidence and embraced Sonic back. "I'm sorry for putting you through this, Amy. It started out selfish, and I know that the whole thing was a bad idea, but I was desperate. I just wanted an easy solution and sought you out for that very reason, but… ever since I've been living with you, something has been changing. And I just couldn't lie to myself anymore. Please believe me when I tell you that I was going to tell you. I just… didn't know how to do it…"
Amy breathed in his cologne; this scent was once something she detested, but now, she just couldn't deny it anymore. She was tired of denying and lying to herself that something was there. It was as though their time together was a compensation for the way earlier times were for them, and she had enjoyed every moment with him,
Amy pulled away for a moment from Sonic, looking into his eyes. Just a moment ago, she was determined to never see him again, but hearing his heartfelt dialogue made her feel a certain way. He looked back at her, but even as he leaned close, she gestured him to stop, her fingers pressed on his lips.
"We can't. Because as much as I appreciate your honesty now, it still doesn't undo what you did and said to me. You still treated me like shit, and I get why you did that, but… we have to start over. I just need you to be honest with me and let's just… go from there."
Sonic smirked, letting out a sigh of relief. "Honestly: that sounds like a good idea. I'm not expecting anything out of any of this from you, I hope you know. I just… want you to make the decision that makes you happy. Even if it upsets me."
She seriously couldn't believe all this that was coming out of him. She never thought that she would even hear any apology come from Sonic the Hedgehog's mouth, but here they are.
Between conversations, her phone rang from her purse again; as it sat on the top of the table where she once sat, she glanced at it worriedly. "I guess… it would be fair to hear him out, too," she said as she pulled away from Sonic.
"Look, I know that I technically stole away your whole relationship to satisfy my own needs, so if you're planning on getting back together with him… Just know that he really did mean it when he said that he was doing it for you," he said.
Amy blushed and looked down to her feet. She didn't know what to do. Just last night, she was determined to cut everyone off and move away from it all, but… honestly, hearing this side opened a different door for her. She didn't find comfort with the thought of being with either Sonic or Shadow, but rather the fact that she now knew the truth about what had been going on. Why she was sent that letter, why Shadow had broken up with her, why everything was happening so quickly: it was because Sonic was on a time crunch, and he was preparing for when his parents came by.
"So… there's really nothing else?" she asked, tweaking her eyebrows. Sonic grabbed both her shoulders, leaning his forehead against hers. "I promise you… that's it."
And with that, Amy smiled. She felt as though it's been forever since she's felt like smiling before.
"So… Besides the real stuff, I'm still willing to help you."
Sonic's ears perked up, "Seriously!?"
"Yeah… ONLY if you stop with the servant stuff. There was no reason for you to bring any of that up, I would've literally wanted to help you because you asked. Despite everything that's happened."
Sonic chuckled nervously, "Hehe… I just thought you wouldn't be able to help me, so I was hoping for some kind of leverage. That's why when you lost your heel, it was the perfect opportunity. I took it, thinking that it was the perfect opportunity, but… that wasn't fair to you at all."
"Okay, now that you've explained everything though… Tell me now: when are your parents expected to be here?"
Sonic began to sweat, his eyes darted away from her, "Actually… They're coming in a few hours."
-End of Chapter 26-
