Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog and friends. They belong to Sega. However, Megan the Hedgehog does belong to me.

Chapter 3

"Trying to forget really doesn't work. In fact, it's pretty much the same as remembering. But I tried to forget anyway, and to ignore the fact that I was remembering you all the same." -Rebecca Stead

Dusk was just starting to fall. The orange rays of the setting sun streamed in through the lightly tinted windows and bathed the bar with light. The disco ball above the dance floor caught some of the rays and reflected them around the inside of the building. A panda was in the corner at the DJ booth setting up his equipment. One of the many rays reflected around the building from the disco ball landed in Sonic's eye, who was sitting at the bar.

"Shit, that's bright!" he said as he closed his left eye and moved his head to the right, out of the disco ball's reflective glare.

"I told you not to sit there," Shadow smirked at Sonic as he continued to wipe down the bar to get ready for the night.

"I do what I want Shadow. Always have, always will." Sonic said smugly and smirked right back at him. "Speaking of which, I think another shot of Fireball would be splendid." He eyed the bottle behind Shadow's cleaning form.

"Not unless you pay up for that bottle of Jack you drank last week, faker." Shadow put both his hands on the bar and stared at Sonic with one eyebrow raised, a expectant expression on his face.

"But Rouge usually lets me drink for free!" Sonic whined at him.

A loud screeching sound came from the speakers as the panda DJ did a sound check. Both hedgehogs' ears went back to shield them from the sound. Sonic was annoyed; Shadow glared at the panda. The panda mouthed the word sorry at them as he continued to set up his equipment.

"Which is exactly what she shouldn't do. We've spent more on alcohol than all of our other expenses combined. She really needs to stop giving friends free drinks," Shadow paused. "And to stop freeing out so many tables," he finished, shaking his head.

"Oh, alright." Sonic sighed and threw 50 rings onto the bar counter. "It's not like they're doing me any good in my pocket anyways" he said turning his head towards the front entrance to watch the sun slowly disappear and the faint moon begin to rise in its place. His face was blank but his mind was thinking.

"Thinking about Rose again?" Shadow questioned.

Sonic turned his head back towards Shadow. The red and black hedgehog that so closely resembled the blue hero stood waiting. No emotion on his face, like always. Shadow was one with few words, and when he did speak, it was straight to the point. "Yeah" he answered. What was the use in lying? Since Amy's out of the blue call to Tails 3 years ago, no contact had been made again. He was still worried sick about her. Although he had pushed that moment to the back of his mind, it had continued to nag at him through the years.

"I'm positive that she's fine," Shadow told Sonic as he poured him a shot of Fireball and set it down in front of him.

"What makes you say that?"

"She's dealt with your ass all these years" Shadow said with a hmph and gave a small smile. "If that doesn't make her a force to be reckoned with then I don't know what will."

Sonic's trademark grin spread across his face. "You've got a point there" he agreed. A techno mixed song came on low through the surround sound speakers and filled the club. He looked down at the shot of Fireball and then looked back up a Shadow. "Hey, um, how many years is college anyway?"

"Depends on the degree. Since Amy's been gone for almost four years, I would assume she's aiming for a bachelor's degree" Shadow replied, finishing up some last touches. Rouge's night club/bar, Gems & Gents, was about to open it's doors for business.

"Oh." Sonic said. He downed the Fireball shot. This was getting ridiculous though. If Amy didn't contact them soon, he decided, he was going to go look for her. Fuck his self made vow. He loved her and he wanted to be with her. He was just sorry it had taken him this long. Sonic knew he had promised her time but his selfishness was surfacing again. If he had to beg on his knees to get her back he would. Anything, to get her back on into his arms again.

"You ready to go, Shadow?" a booming voice stated from over by the front door, interrupting Sonic's thoughts. The music became louder.

"Yeah. Go ahead and open the doors, Knuckles."

"Alright, just checking." The red echidna opened the front door and began to ID the customers. People started to stream in, filling the booths on all sides of the dance floor, taking up space on the bar, and beginning to dance to the light electro music that filled the air.

"So, where is Rouge tonight anyway?" Sonic asked over the growing combination of music and voices. "It's not like her to be away from her club on the weekends." It was true. From the moment Rouge opened the doors at Gems & Gents she was always at her club. She was always making the customers happy, improving the decor, upgrading the service. She'd been gone for a while, now that Sonic actually thought about it.

"She's away on a mission with G.U.N." Shadow said while mixing up a margarita for a brown cat with white tipped ears. "She asked Knuckles and I to keep a lock down on things." To be honest, Rouge had always declined G.U.N.'s missions in the past, less the really big missions that could bring her the cash she wanted. Her sudden acceptance had taken even Shadow by surprise. He was sure there was more to it, but that was Rouge's business, not his. If she wanted to tell him about it she would. Other than that, he wouldn't ask.

"Oh" was all that Sonic replied. He threw 150 rings up onto the bar counter. "I want ten shots. Five Crown, three Jack, two Fireball, please."

Shadow took the rings and poured Sonic his shots. He watched as Sonic downed them all, one at a time, without even making a face. Shadow knew what Sonic was doing. He was drinking to forget. To forget reality, to forget time. Time. Huh. Rose had been gone for longer that even he thought was possible. And she hadn't even left any clues. He gave her props for that. She had been able to track down Sonic for years and yet when it came to track her down, she was invisible. He understood that it must be tearing Sonic apart on the inside. Even an idiot could see that Sonic had feelings for the girl. If and when she ever got back, hopefully he'd get the balls to finally tell her. "Hey, bartender!" a voice called. It was back to work for Shadow.

The alcohol burned going down his throat, but Sonic didn't care. Getting drunk was one of the only ways he could forget Amy and be with her at the same time. "Jack and coke!" he yelled at Shadow above the pulsing music and put another 50 rings on the counter. Within seconds his drink was in front of him. This had become a ritual of his over the past few months. Sonic knew how much to drink til he reached his limit, and just what to drink after to push him perfectly over the edge into that blissful drunkenness. In that state, his mind shut down and all energy focusing on Amy got a rest because shortly after, he would always pass out and she would come to him in his dreams.

He created dream Amy from his memories. She would always be smiling that smile that made his heart jump. Her round, jade eyes would meet his. Her shoulder length pink quills would sway when she moved. That signature red dress... those teasing lips of hers...The way her chest moved up and down when she breathed... Dream Amy knew that he loved her. He had said it to her a million times and more. If only dream Amy were the real Amy. Then Sonic's life would be complete. But, alas, all that he had now were his memories of her and his regret of not telling her his feelings sooner. The only right thing he had done was not break his vow to himself. He hadn't searched for her, not once. He hoped that by not breaking that vow he would somehow deserve Amy. He might never live up to the high expectations she held of him, but at least he would be a little more deserving of her.

God, he missed her. Missed her so much it hurt. Loved her so much it hurt. If only... No, he shook his head and took a big swig of his drink. What's past is past and he needed to look to the future now. A future that included Amy. A future that he would do anything to make come true. A future that-

"Excuse me." His thoughts were interrupted by a purple hedgehog with long quills and dark blue eyes. She was wearing a black crop top that exposed her stomach and a very short hot pink mini skirt. "Is anyone sitting here?" she asked above the music, motioning to the chair beside him.

"No." Sonic replied.

"Mind if I sit here?" She looked at him with a smile.

"No."

She hopped up into the chair on Sonic's right and signaled to Shadow. "Bartender! Hey!" Shadow glanced over. "I'll have a Sweet Monroe please, and blue boy here will have one too," she said motioning with her head and thumb toward Sonic. She threw 30 rings onto the counter.

"So," she started, "you come here often?" She hoped he did. He was a fine specimen of a man.

Sonic turned and looked at her. She was young. She couldn't have been older than 21, maybe 22. 'Amy would be 22 now,' he thought sadly. "Sometimes. Only for the bar though, dancing isn't really my thing" he answered.

"I can teach you." She winked at him. Oh, could she teach him. She was wanted to touch him, to feel his body against hers. He was sexy. "My name's Megan. And you are?" She held out her hand to shake his.

Sonic looked down at her hand and then back up at her. He took her waiting hand and shook it. "Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog," he said as Shadow placed the two drinks in front of them and grabbed the 30 rings. He shot Sonic a look before returning to the other customers.

"So, what exactly is this?" Sonic looked down at the drink now in front of him. It was a pink concoction with one lime wedge and one lemon wedge on the rim of the glass. "Did you buy me a girly drink?" he asked her, incredulous.

Megan laughed. "If you want to call it that. This drink gets you fucked up." 'I want to get you fucked up and then we can have some fun', she thought. She smiled at him and then continued, "It tastes like there's no alcohol in it but it's actually really potent." She took a long sip.

Sonic raised the glass to his lips and drank. Hmm, it was quite delicious. He could faintly taste cranberry and something else sweet with just the right amount of sour mixed in. "Now," he looked over at Megan, "Do you come here often?"

"Sometimes." She mimicked his answer, her blue eyes playful. "I come here mostly to dance, alcohol's not really my thing" she said with a big smile on her face. She was flirting with him. "They always have great music here. This DJ is my favorite."

"What? That guy?" Sonic pointed his thumb over his shoulder towards the panda behind the sound booth. "I think he kinda sucks."

"You're funny," she laughed at him. It was now or never. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

Without thinking Sonic replied, "I haven't asked her yet, but I hope she says yes."

"Oh, where is she?"

"At college. I'm waiting til she gets home to ask her."

"Well that's thoughtful of you," Megan said. 'Perfect for me though,' she thought. "You must really like her to wait til she's done with college to ask her."

"I love her. And I know she'd do the same for me," Sonic said, a ghost of a smile on his lips. He knew for a fact that she would do the same for him. Another reason to add to the list of reasons of why he loved her.

"Hmmm..." Megan took another sip from her drink. "So she's not here in town then, is she?"

"No, she went to an out of town college."

"Well you know what I say?" Megan said and peered at Sonic with a mischievous look on her face. "I say what she doesn't know won't hurt her."

"What?" Sonic looked at Megan, surprised and confused.

"What do you say about you and I renting an upstairs room? Or we can get out of here and head to my apartment?" 'I want to fuck you,' she thought. She kept seeing images of him and her in her mind and she wanted it. Wanted it bad. She was hot, he was damn sexy and it would be fun. Megan leaned closer to Sonic and put her left hand on his thigh.

"No way!" He said, shock on his face. While Sonic was focused on getting Megan's hand off his thigh, Megan slipped a little round, white pill into Sonic's drink before placing that hand on his chest and grabbing at the open edge of his button down shirt. Sonic, distracted by Megan's physical advances, didn't notice she had drugged his drink. But Shadow did. He headed down the bar to where Sonic and the girl were seated.

"Come on!" She whined at him. "You are so hot and super sexy. I'm up for some fun. Let's make some magic happen. I'm sure this girl you like won't mind sharing." The hand on his thigh moved up to his inner thigh and continued moving towards Sonic's crotch as she leaned into him.

"No way, I don't think so!" Sonic leaned back away from her and grabbed the hand heading for his nether-region before it could get there. He removed her other hand that was clutching at his shirt and stood up, swaying. All those shots were finally getting to him. Megan started to protest but Sonic cut her off. "She would absolutely mind sharing me and I sure as hell don't want to be shared. I'm hers, not yours, got it?" He looked at Megan, disgusted. "I've got to go," he said. He went to grab his drink for one last chug but felt a hand land on his wrist. He looked up to see Shadow taking the drink from him.

Shadow's ruby red eyes were flashing. "I don't like coward's in my bar," he said tightly, narrowing his eyes at Megan. Anger and disgust were prominent on his face. "Especially the ones who feel the need to drug others because they're too much of a pussy to accept rejection. Now get out."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Megan snipped at him, anger and surprise on her face. She didn't think anyone had seen.

Sonic just stood in front of his chair, watching the encounter. 'Did she drug my drink?' he thought. The alcohol was getting to him full force now. He could feel himself about to go over his limit.

"KNUCKLES!" Shadow shouted. Knuckles and a big, brown bulldog hurried over.

"What's the problem here?" Knuckles asked, glancing between Sonic's alcoholic confused expression, Megan's scared face, and Shadow's palpable rage.

"She slipped a dissolvable pill into Sonic's drink. She was trying to drug him." Shadow's voice was dripping with revulsion.

"I would never!" Megan refuted, moving a hand up to her neck in shock. She was trying to make herself look innocent and it wasn't fooling anyone.

Knuckles said something to the brown bulldog who nodded his head in response and turned away, heading back in the direction they had just come from. "I'm sorry ma'am, but you need to leave now." Knuckles grabbed Megan's arm and lead her away from the bar.

"NO!" she screamed. "You're wrong. I didn't do anything! Let me go!" She struggled to get out of Knuckles grip, but he was too strong. This was not how she had wanted her night to end.

"And I never want to see you back at this bar. You hear me? We don't tolerate shit like that!" Knuckles pushed her out of the club and then shut the door.

Megan said a litany of swear words. She knew that he would say no, that's the only reason she did it. Most men came on to her advances. She wasn't used to a no, but she was prepared for it. She didn't care that he had a girlfriend, or would have one, she reminded herself. She wanted Sonic the Hedgehog, and she would get him one way or another, girlfriend or not.

"Thanks, Shadow" Sonic said as his body slightly swayed from side to side. The alcohol had done it's job beautifully; he was past his limit. He was still a little pissed that he hadn't seen the situation coming to that, but he was sure as hell thankful that Shadow had been there. If Megan had gotten her way and they had sex... Sonic shuddered. He didn't even want to think about it. Amy was the only woman he'd ever want to have sex with. Amy... he'd never thought of her in a sexual way until now. These four years on him had been difficult, but now thinking about having sex with Amy just brought them to a whole new level.

"Don't mention it," Shadow replied as he poured the contaminated drink down the sink and put the glass in the washing bin. "I'm just glad that I saw and stopped you from taking a drink." He looked toward the front door Knuckles was coming back in from and then back at Sonic. He didn't look so good. His eyes were glazed and his body looked like it might collapse on the floor. Shadow motioned over Knuckles. "We should give him a room tonight. He's not looking so good," he said to Knuckles.

"Yeah, I'll take care of it," Knuckles said and moved over to Sonic. "Alright buddy," he said while grabbing Sonic's right wrist with his right hand and slinging his arm around his neck, making sure to keep a hold of Sonic's wrist. Knuckles put his other arm around Sonic's waist. "Let's get you up to a room."

Everything was fuzzy. "A.. room? I.. have a room... in my apartment." It was getting difficult to speak. Heck it was difficult to even think straight. Sonic let Knuckles lead him up to the second floor. The way Rouge saw things was that if you were attracted enough to someone, or maybe you were just in the moment, you had sex. So she constructed the upstairs into eight rooms all for the purpose of being rented out to customers for sex. Why should they pay a cab when they could pay her? There was no awkward morning after, no walk of shame. They did their business and then went back downstairs to the club to have a good time. It was all about the experience. When situations like this happened though, such as Sonic being drunk to nearly the point of blacking out, the rooms were also used to stop extremely intoxicated individuals from driving home. It kept them safe, the people on the road safe, and they were looked after by her staff. She was a reasonable person, so those who were too drunk to drive were not charged to stay the night. They had already given her enough other their money to get them that drunk in the first place.

Knuckles led Sonic into the first bedroom on the left. It was too early in the night for anyone to rent out the rooms yet. "Here ya go, Sonic. Easy now." Knuckles laid Sonic down on the bed. Sonic turned over to his side and sighed. The bed felt nice.

"Thanks Knuckles. You're.. a pal," Sonic said in his drunken slur.

"Yeah, well, if you need me just holler." And with that Knuckles shut the door and went back downstairs to the club.

Sonic wasn't feeling all too well. His stomach was protesting the alcohol he had drank. Sonic crawled off the bed and stumbled his way to the bathroom and dropped to his knees in front of the toilet. He lifted up the seat. He missed Amy. Why hadn't she come back to him yet? Why had he taken this stupid vow to not got after her? Why hadn't he told her that he loved her sooner? Had he just not been ready to admit it? Was he afraid to admit it, to know what would happen if he did? He was a coward. He was selfish. And now she was gone and he didn't know if she was coming back.

Sonic felt tears trailing down his face. When had he started crying? He loved Amy. He missed Amy. He missed the way she would look over at him and smile. He missed the way she would laugh at all of his stupid jokes; the way her eyes lit up when she laughed. He missed the sound of her laugh. He missed when he would take a nap and she would be next to him, doing nothing but just being there. He missed the way she bit her bottom lip when she was nervous or thinking. He missed how she was always up for a challenge. He missed how she clasped her fingers together and looked down when she was embarrassed. He missed how she would always say she loved him, not caring what he thought; she just wanted him to know. He missed Amy so much, he violently emptied the contents of his stomach into the toilet. He missed Amy so much, he flushed it all away.

Sonic passed out on the bathroom tile.