"The postcard says wish you were. But I'd rather I was there, Holding on to the simple things before they disappear. That's what I meant.
But that was then, and this is now I'll make it up to you somehow"
-Rise Against; The Dirt Whispered
Sonic awoke to the sounds and vibrations of music thumping below him. What time was it? He turned his body over so that he was facing the bathroom door and saw the bed right beyond the threshold. He slowly crawled over to the bed. His body ached and his throat was buring, but his stomach felt better. He stuggled to hoist himself up onto the bed and finally made it onto the mattress. Too tired to do much else, he grabbed the edge of the duvet cover and pulled it over himself before being overcome by the numbness of sleep.
A loud banging on the bedroom door woke Sonic up from his slumber. "Uhhhhgggg," he groaned. "Go away!" He rolled over to the opposite side of the bed. The banging continued and a faint voice was heard. He raised his voice so the person knocking on the door could hear. "Oh alright! Give me a sec!" Sonic slowly got up from the bed and put a hand up to his pounding head. He was thirsty and starving. What a night. He couldn't believe that he had gotten hit on and almost date raped! Thank God for Shadow. He walked over to the door and opened it.
"Hi Sonic!" A tall, lanky cream colored rabbit looked up at him and smiled.
"Oh, hey Cream," Sonic said hoarsely. Wait, what was Cream doing here? No minors were allowed in at all. Sonic cleared his throat. "Hold on, what are doing at Gems & Gents? You're not of age."
Cream giggled at him. "It's one in the afternoon Sonic. They're not open for business right now. Knuckles let me in."
It was one in the afternoon? That would explain the light coming through the window down the hall, illuminating the upstairs corridor of rooms. Sonic's perception of time had been way off. No wonder he was so hungry. "Oh, uh." Sonic didn't know what to say.
But Cream did. "I'm taking you out to lunch. You have twenty minutes to shower and change. You look like a train wreak." She scrunched her face at him.
This took Sonic by surprise. Did he really look that bad? He peered down at himself and saw that his white button up was wrinkled, splattered with reminants of alcohol and puke. His jeans were only wrinkled with a minor spill of alcohol here and there, so they had fared better than his shirt but not by much. She was right, he did look like a train wreak. "But I have no clothes to change into," Sonic replied, still stunned that Cream was here and taking him to lunch no less. But he was also mildly insulted by her bluntness. What did she expect? It had been a difficult night for him. He gotten way too drunk; it wasn't even the good kind of drunk that he had perfected over the months. He had almost been drugged and then he had puked his guts out. And Amy... dream Amy hadn't visited him last night. Sonic frowned. He had been too focused on real Amy. He remembered hurling into the toliet bowl and realizing how desperate he was becoming. He would definitely be leaving to find her soon.
"Knuckles brought you some clothes last night. They're sitting on the dresser." She pointed to the black piece of furniture against the far wall. Sure enough, a pile of neatly folded clothes was resting on the edge.
Sonic looked from the clothes to Cream and then back to the clothes. "Alright" he sighed, defeated. "I'll be out in ten."
This was just too bizarre. Why was Cream here? Of all the people to show up knocking on his door after the night he had and it had to be Cream. At least she was going to feed him. He would probably go to Tails' workshop after this and grab a few things before setting out to find Amy. He was done waiting. He was going to break his vow today even though this meant that he wasn't as strong willed waiting for Amy as Amy had been, waiting for him. Even though this meant that his selfishness was getting the better of him, he didn't care anymore. He needed to find Amy and tell her everything. He needed to be with her. Was this why Amy had always told him that she loved him? Because she wanted to be with him but there was always a chance that he wouldn't come back? The shoe was on the other foot now and Sonic didn't like it one bit.
Freshly showered and dressed, Sonic felt a whole ton better. "So where are we going?" he asked Cream as they exited Gems & Gents and took a left onto the sidewalk.
"Big's Diner," she replied.
"The one with the greatest chilidog's EVER?" Sonic would have jumped up and down with joy if his head wasn't puslating with every beat of his heart. Hangovers suck.
"The one and only" Cream smiled at him. There was a reason that she had been the one to wake him up this morning. He was the last one out of all their friends to know. She wondered how she would break the news to him. More importantly, she wondered how he would react.
The pair walked up to a square, metalic silver building with the words 'Big's Diner' written in purple neon at the top. Sonic opened the door and they walked through. Big's Diner was small, but busy. The atmosphere was simple and friendly: metalic silver booths and tables with black metal chairs upholstered with purple leather. The tile on the ground was black, purple, and white. The kitchen was open, meaning you could see your food being cooked and that's what attrated so many people to the place. It was one of the most popular diners in all of Station Square. The food was good, the prices cheap, and the service was the best. Cream led Sonic over to a booth in the corner, took a seat on the purple leather bench and began to look over the place-mat menu. Sonic followed suit and sat across from her, already knowing what he was getting. A lion with streaks of red and blue in her mane came over to the table.
"Welcome to Big's Diner! My name is Leah. What can I get for you today?" She said and smiled a big smile at them.
"I will have the two eggs breakfast with wheat toast, over medium for the eggs, and orange juice please," Cream smiled up Leah as she placed her order.
Leah scribbled the order on her notepad and then turned to Sonic. "And for you?" she asked him.
"Five chilidog's please," Sonic answered with a huge grin on his face. "And a pitcher of water," he added.
"Alright," Lead said, writing down Sonic's order. She looked up and smiled at them. "We'll have those out to you in a jiffy." She walked over to the kitchen to place the order.
Sonic looked at Cream. "First of all, thank you for taking me out to brunch, Cream. I don't think I've been here in ages." He smiled at her.
"It's no problem, Sonic," Cream replied. "I heard what happened so I thought it was the least I could do." 'And I have to give you something,' she thought. How would she go about doing it though?
"Wait," Sonic looked at her, suspicious. "How did you hear about it so fast? It only happened last night."
"I went to your place first, but you weren't there. So then I went to Tails' workshop and he told me that you had gone to Gems & Gents the night before. So I went to Gems & Gents where Knuckles and Shadow were cleaning up from last night and getting ready for tonight. I asked them where you were and they said you hadn't had the greatest night. You were so drunk they decided to put you in one of the upstairs rooms." She gave him a scolding look. "They told me which one and that's how I found you."
"Makes sense. But why-"
"Alrighty!" Leah exclaimed. "Here's your two egg breakfast with over medium eggs, wheat toast and orange juice." She put the plate and a glass of orange juice down in front of Cream. "And here's your five chilidogs with a pitcher of water!" She set a platter full of chillidogs down in front of Sonic and the pitcher near the middle of the table. "Do you need anything else right now?" she asked, looking between the two.
"No, this is good. Thank you." Sonic smiled politely up at her.
"Okay, just let me know if you do!" Leah turned walked away from their table.
Sonic was starving. He stuffed one chillidog into his mouth and chewed a few times before swallowing. He followed suit with the second one before taking a huge gulp of water. Water had never tasted so good before. The drumming in his head was disappearing.
Cream was more mannered when it came to eating her food. Her mother had raised her to perfect etiquitte. While she sat there eating and watching Sonic scarf down his food, she thought of how to break the news to him. What way would be best? She could bring it up casually, or maybe just say it outright.
"So, Cream," Sonic said inbetween bites. "Why did you go throught all that trouble to find me today?"
Or he could just bring up the suject. Might as well just tell him now, she thought. "Because I have this for you." She put down her toast with an egg on it, wiped her mouth and hands on her napkin and then reached into her purse. She pulled out a white, sealed envelope and slid it across the table to Sonic.
Sonic looked at it, a million thoughts running through his mind. He looked up at Cream who was now staring at him, waiting. He took a couple napkins and wiped the chillidog remains off of his hands and face before picking up the envelope. He looked at Cream one last time with an unsure face before opening it. He pulled out the card that was inside. The front read 'You're Invited!' in pink, shiny letters outlined in black. He opened the card and his eyes widened while his mouth dropped open in shock. He felt his heart beat quicken and his breathing accelarate. The pounding in his head was coming back, but in a good way now. He looked back at Cream. "Are you serious? This isn't a joke, right? Please, tell me this isn't a joke," he asked her, disbelief in his voice and his eyes hopeful.
"No, Sonic. It's not a joke," Cream answered him. "It's the real deal." Well, he seemed to be taking it alright. Maybe she was wrong about him over reacting.
Sonic looked back down at the invitaiton. "Who else is-"
"You're the last one to get the invite," she answered his unfinshed question.
A goofy look spread across his face. Finally after all this time! He was excited and nervous. Butterflies were dancing in his stomach. He looked over at Cream and smiled a huge smile before quickly moving from his seat to sit next to her and crushed her with a hug. "THIS IS AWESOME!" he shouted. Every patron in the diner turned to look at them but Sonic was oblivious. Cream wasn't; her face turned red. "Thank you, Cream! Thank you so, so much!" His mind started working in over drive. "I've got to get a gift! It's only a couple days away!" He got up to leave and remembered where they were. "Don't worry about brunch, Cream, it's on me." He threw 50 rings onto the table, smiled a big grin and dashed out the door, leaving a stunned Cream behind.
What had she said about him not over reacting? That was a little dramatic, at least to her. He was just really excited, she presumed. So excited, in fact, that he had forgotten to take his invite with him. 'I'll just drop it off with Tails' she thought. 'Sonic's over there all the time anyways.' Cream took one last bit of her toast and egg before drinking the rest of her orange juice. Leah came over just then.
"All finished?" she asked.
"Yes ma'am. It was delicious, thank you."
Leah noticed the invite on the table and picked it up. "You're invited to Amy Rose's coming home party," she read. "Aw, that boy was sure excited about this invite, wasn't he?"
"You have no idea," Cream responded, smiling and shaking her head.
The waitress handed the invite back to Cream. "Do you need change?" she asked.
"No, that's for the food and you. Thank you again!" Cream said and headed out the door as the waitress started down at the 50 rings in awe.
Cream knew that Sonic was excited to see Amy. But, after four years of being gone, did Amy feel the same way?