It was the taste of mint that finally roused Sonic from his deep slumber. As soon as his eyes opened he flinched and groaned, pulling his ears back. His head was pounding from a hangover that was the punishment for drinking so late into the night. Sonic pulled himself out of bed and made his way to the bathroom, flicking on the light he massaged his temples as he glared at his reflection in the mirror.
Was it a dream? Sonic thought as he splashed warm water on his face. The blue hedgehog spent a good thirty minutes in the shower, before re-entering his bedroom for a clean pair of gloves and socks.
Once he was properly freshened up, Sonic bolted out the front door and down the cobblestone path that connected the few homes in the otherwise empty green countryside.
I really hope it was, but that taste… His headache was already subsiding, so he was able to more clearly focus on the memories of the night before. Attending a party that Rouge had planned at her bar, drinking and dancing stupidly into the early hours of the evening, warm lips pitted against his in a passionate make out session.
Sonic huffed as he skidded to a stop in front of a cute cottage, the little sign in front reading "Amy Rose" identical to the signs that sat in the yards of all of his friends' homes. He didn't even get to knock before the door swung open and his vision was suddenly filled with pink.
"Sonic! Good morning, I'm glad you weren't too hungover to come!" Amy released Sonic from the crushed hug and pulled him into her house by the hand. "I made pancakes, and eggs, and coffee and-" She inhaled deeply, then spun around and gestured to a batch of muffins on the table. "-And muffins!"
Sonic gave her the most genuine smile he could muster, his stomach rumbling as he was eager to taste something other than mint. "Thank you, Amy, you always go so far and beyond when making food. You didn't have to, though."
Amy blushed, still smiling, she and Sonic sat down and started to eat their pancakes. After a moment of silence the girl finally asked, "So what's wrong?"
Sonic repressed the urge to sigh, he looked his girlfriend in the eyes and responded, "What makes you think somethings wrong?" Of course she could tell that he was uncomfortable, Amy was an expert at reading people's emotions.
"Sonic, please, did something bad happen at the party?" Concern dripped from her tone like droplets of rain from the sky.
Ultimately, Sonic decided not to say anything. "I don't wanna talk about it right now, maybe later." He finished his pancakes and eyed the black coffee, his foot starting to tap nervously under the table.
"Hmm, okay," Amy gave the boy a nod, taking a sip of her own drink. "You don't have to drink it, I know you don't like coffee."
"T-Thanks…"
"And, you may go," She giggled melodically. "Go run, cutie. We can hang out with the others this afternoon."
"Thanks Amy, I l-love you!" He jumped up and sprinted out of the house, utterly eager to confirm whether or not what he thought happened had actually happened.
That confirmation could only come from one source, a big house painted red that sat atop a hill overlooking the ocean. It was the farthest house from the city, and it belonged to Sonic's best friend, Tails the fox.
Sonic did not even bother to try and knock, rather he dashed through the open garage door and came to a screeching halt in the middle of the room. "Tails?" Sonic called, looking around.
"In here!" Tails answered from the kitchen, which was connected to the garage via an open wooden door. Seconds later the orange furred fox stepped out of the kitchen and greeted Sonic with a bright smile. "Good morning Sonic, how are you feeling?"
"Tails," Sonic looked at the ground nervously, clenching his teeth. "Tails, I have a question."
Suddenly the fox looked nervous. "About what?"
Taking a deep breath, Sonic finally managed to look his friend in the eye. "At the party last night, did we, uh…" Sonic's question died on his lips as Tails nodded with drooping ears.
"Yeah, Sonic, we kissed."
"I don't think 'kiss' properly describes it, we had a full on make out session, with tongue and everything!" Sonic threw his arms up in the air dramatically, he didn't quite sound mad, but he was definitely upset and confused.
"I'm sorry," Tails wrung one of his namesakes in his hands nervously, his big blue eyes sparkling in the sunlight. "We were drunk, had too much to drink, we were left alone…"
Sonic sighed, he walked up to the fox and placed both of his hands on Tails' shoulders, looking him in the eyes. "Tails, this is bad, what am I supposed to tell Amy?"
"You haven't told her yet?" Tails asked.
"No, of course not!" Sonic winced. "I wasn't even sure it had actually happened, that's why I can here to ask you!"
"Well you have your answer now, and I think you should make a decision quickly before it comes back to bite you."
"Huh?"
Tails crossed his arms. "Don't you remember the conversation we had? The thing that led up to us kissing?"
Sonic did remember, though the exact words they'd shared were unclear. But now that the fox mentioned it, Sonic remembered the gist of their talk.
…"I love you Sonic! I always have, ever since the first year that we met!" Tails cried.
"So that's why you've been so distant lately, but why didn't you say anything?" Sonic had tried his best to comfort his companion, but the poor fox was completely inconsolable.
Sonic had never seen Tails cry like this before…
"Sonic?"
The voice snapped Sonic out of his thoughts, he looked back up at Tails, who wore an expression of concern on his cute face.
"Sorry," Sonic said. "This is really tough, dude, I still don't understand why you didn't just tell me."
"I couldn't have, back when we were teenagers we were so caught up in saving the world every week and being harassed by the paparazzi, and not to mention how clingy Amy was to you! I couldn't have gotten a word in, the media would've eaten that shit up like free candy-" He pointed at his ears and went cross-eyed. "Oh! Sonic the hedgehog is gay and is having a secret affair with his little brother, Tails the fox? What will Amy think!?"
Sonic laughed at the dumb impression, he wiped a tear away and smiled warmly at his friend. "Okay, I get your point, but you still could've told me after we moved here, seeing as how the paparazzi has kinda lost interest in me these past few years."
Tails frowned, looking to the side as he rubbed his arm. "I also wasn't sure how you specifically would react, I mean, you've always surrounded yourself with girls and I am kind've your adopted brother…"
"Those were fangirls, Tails, and honestly? I call everyone bro, I have never thought of you like an actual brother, but more so we're super close in that way." Sonic blushed. "And, well, I feel the same way about you. I have since we were teens."
"Wait, really?" Tails perked up when he heard that.
"Yeahhh, though unfortunately you decided to wait until after I was dating Amy to confess your feelings for me…" Sonic rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "When I heard that you felt the same way, I couldn't help myself but to hold you, to kiss you. It didn't help that we were both ungodly levels of smashed and I couldn't think of a smarter way to comfort you in the moment."
"Huh… So, what's it gonna be then? Are you gonna tell Amy, so that we can be together? Or are we just gonna forget about this whole thing and continue on as normal…"
"It wouldn't be right to keep Amy in the dark about this, even if I was pretty fucked up, I still cheated on her with my best friend."
Tails winced. "Oh… Right, yeah that's a huge problem. We made a very big mistake."
"Let's tell her together, okay? This afternoon."
"During the get together? In front of ALL of our friends?"
"I'm gonna be real with you, Tails, I only got with Amy because the constant media presence in my life made me feel like that's what I was supposed to do. I would actually rather be with you, and if we're gonna come out together, then we might as well do it in front of all of our friends."
"But what if they don't accept us?" Tails asked, his voice shaky and soft.
"Then we'll just have to run away together, and travel the world fighting bad guys and stuff!" Sonic pulled Tails into a big hug. "But, uh, bud, let me break up with Amy first, Sonic the hedgehog is no cheater!"
Tails really wanted to correct him on that, but he decided against it.
