"Do you even have a house?"

"Of course I have a house. I just don't... use it often," Sonic said, scratching the back of his head.

Amy didn't look entirely convinced. Hands on her hips, she said, "Show me."

"...Why?"

"Oh don't give me that, I want to see. Pretty please?"

It wasn't fair when she batted her eyelashes like that.

"You haven't been hanging out around Rouge again, have you?" Sonic said, squinting at her, suspicious.

Amy raised an eyebrow at him. She then placed a hand over her mouth to stiffen a giggle and shook her head. "No. Her recommendations are a lot more... bold than I'm comfortable with."

When she refused to elaborate further, Sonic rolled eyes, sighing in defeat. "Fine. I'll show you my house. Don't get too excited, okay? Not like it's anything special."

Amy slinked closer, wrapping her arms around his. "If it has anything to do with you, I'm sure it's charming in its own way."

There she went again. Amy Rose was a good friend, but in a lot of ways, she was also the ultimate fangirl, knowing exactly what to say to boost his ego.

The corner of his mouth quirked up into that signature half-smile he was known for as she pulled away from her embrace. At first, Amy's features fell as disappointment washed through her, but she then let out an, "Eep!" when she suddenly found herself being lifted up by the blue blur.

"Well, we haven't got all day," Sonic said, taking a couple of steps forward. In terms of half thought out explanation for having a cute girl in his arms, being time conscious was decidedly pretty lame.

Not that the pink hedgehog seemed to mind. In fact, even taking the soft blush into account, Amy Rose looked rather content with her current situation as she nestled further into the embrace and held him comfortably around his neck.

"You do know I can keep up with you better than anyone else, right?" All that chasing him around had to be good for something. "You don't /need/ to carry me around..."

Sonic smirked. "I know."

#

Like many of their trips together, this one did not take that long. He wasn't the fastest thing alive for nothing, but he'd be lying if he said he wasn't taking the longer route to delay the inevitable.

He set her down on her feet and took a step back, gesturing towards his home, which honestly was more like a glorified shack.

Amy peered at the building, curious as she stepped inside. "Did you build this yourself?"

Sonic went in after her, already feeling a growing sense of apprehension. When he said it wasn't much, he truly meant it. Four walls and a roof. Sure, it was structurally sound, but there was just one massive room with various areas sectioned off as if to give the illusion of a home.

The busiest of these was where he slept. A blue sleeping bag on the floor next to an extra pair of red shoes and a radio, which surprisingly still got a signal all the way out in the country like this. Strewn about were all pieces of garbage Sonic hadn't bothered to pick up.

Amy stopped in the middle of the giant space, arms held behind back, looking about with the keen eye of an inspector giving their yearly review. She gave a small nod then turned back to him.

"You live like this?"

Well, that stung a lot more than he thought it would.

Sonic tried laughing it off. "Yeah. I mean. I don't come here often. Probably should have cleaned up, but I wasn't exactly expecting company, you know..." He shrugged.

The concern didn't leave Amy's features as she took his hands into her own, meeting him eye to eye. "If this relationship is going to work, I'm going to need you to step it up. I have standards to keep, Sonic."

Sonic deadpanned. "We. Aren't. Dating," he reminded her for the umpteenth time.

"Yet," she retorted, wagging a finger at him. "And in any case, as your friend and future wife, I cannot allow my darling Sonikku to continue living in such squander."

Sonic felt his eye twitch. There she went again. He didn't have to bring her here, but like most things, it wasn't exactly like he thought about the full implications of having Amy Rose in his house.

As the winds picked up, Sonic raced around the shack, picking up what he could and tossing them into a garbage bag, which was stationed outside for the sake of it being out of eyesight. Everything else was tidied up to the best of his ability. Overall, the space looked a lot nicer in the two minutes it took him to pick up.

"Better?" Sonic crossed his arms over his chest, feeling rather proud of himself.

"It's still a shack," Amy said, hands on her hips. "If you think I'm going to live in a shack when we get married, you've got another thing coming, mister!"

Well, that was Amy Rose for you. She was able to raise him up and pull him down just as easily, while also managing to say the most insane things with a keen sense of logic to rival even Eggman.

"I mean, I guess I could stand to spruce up the place. And who said you were moving in here? Last time I checked, you had a perfectly fine house already!"

"You're right, it makes more sense for you to move in with me."

"That's not what I meant..."

Honestly, this girl could take a conversation about economics and somehow construe that into a reason why the two of them should get married. Actually, hadn't she done exactly that last week when they were hanging out with Tails?

"Look, Ames. I appreciate the concern, but can we just drop this? You wanted to know if I have a home and now you do. Now, if it's not to your tastes, that's fine. Let's just go hang out somewhere else, okay?"

"No."

"What do you mean no!?"

"I mean, no. I haven't wanted to be inside your home all this time just because you decide to suddenly be shy about it. Now." She sat down next to a small table on the other side of the room with a vase and no flowers stationed on top. "Sit."

Sonic opened his mouth to say something witty, but sadly nothing came as he grumbled under his breath and went to do as he was told, taking a spot across from her with his legs folded beneath him.

Amy smiled pleasantly. "Good boy." With a flick of her wrist, a thermos appeared in her left hand, the cap of which she unscrewed to pour the hot liquid into two small cups that appeared in her right.

"How do you even do that?"

"Do what?"

"Make stuff appear out of nowhere."

"Magic," Amy said, wiggling her fingers.

Sonic rolled his eyes.

"I honestly have no idea," Amy laughed. "Maybe it's something like Chaos Control? Though I don't have an emerald on me..."

Sonic shrugged, taking the cup she offered him. "And what's this?"

"A new recipe. Try it."

The warmth reached him before the flavors dance along his tongue. From across the rim of the cup, Amy watched him with an eager expression, waiting for his reaction. Sonic paused a moment for dramatic effect then said, "Could use more salt."

"Hey!"

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" He took another sip. Suddenly, the idea of having Amy in his house to cook all kinds of meals for him didn't sound like the worst idea ever. "Not bad. Actually, I am half tempted to say it's amazing. Whatever it is."

"Brócoli soup." More objects had appeared on the table now, including a set of napkins and utensils. "Bread?"

With a nod, Sonic took the offered piece before dipping it into the soup a few times. "Thanks."

"I'm guessing you don't have a stove hidden around here?" Amy asked as he rummaged through a bag she suddenly had at her side.

"I have a hot plate?"

"Do you know how to use it?"

"Uh..."

"Do you have anything to power it?"

Sonic scratched his cheek. "I had a generator, but it kinda died on me a while ago."

"Good thing for you that I came prepared." Amy then took everything off the small table and set out a cloth to cover the entire surface before setting everything back with Sonic's help. Once that was done, she handed him one of two plastic-wrapped sandwiches. "No chilly dogs this time."

Despite their meal having already started, Sonic couldn't help but feel his mouth water as the scent of the combined cheese, meats, and veggies reached his nose upon pulling the wrapping off the sandwich. "...Surprisingly, I think I am cool with that."

There was a small sound of glass meeting wood as a small salt shaker was set in front of him. Amy's smile could only be called feline as she said, "In case it needs salt."

#

After that, Sonic didn't say much of anything in terms of criticism towards the meal, not even as a joke. The salt was left untouched and by the end, he was left with a full belly. Usually, the blue blur was always busy, often preferring to live in the moment rather than making plans or even following through with any plans he made beforehand. He did his best, but being as fast as he was didn't always translate to him being able to remember everything.

"Am I off the hook now?" he asked, draping the blue blanket more comfortably around their shoulders.

"Hmm. I suppose. Who'd have thought I'd have to go to so much trouble just to feed you," she said, resting her head on his shoulder.

It felt strange because he didn't remember agreeing to have her over so she could cook for him, but he must have if she was making such a big deal of it. That was the thing with Amy, some things she would brush off without a care in the world, others she insisted upon while brandishing a hammer.

If he had invited her over, it was probably done without any real thought. Still…

Night had fallen while the two were eating, a light summer breeze wafting in and out of the small shack without a door. Sonic and Amy sat with a battery-powered lamp in front of them acting as a makeshift fireplace with no heat coming off it. Not that Amy appeared to mind as she not only had a blanket ready but this also provided an excuse for her to be close to him.

"You know, I should probably take you home before it gets freezing," Sonic said, though he didn't make any move to rise.

"In a minute."

"Ames…"

"In a minute, I said," Amy yawned softly, shutting her eyes.

Somehow he got the feeling she meant more than a minute.

And that's what it turned out to be as soon Sonic found himself listening to the soft sounds of Amy sleeping against him. Looking at her now, you wouldn't think she could be as intense as she was towards him. She calmed down substantially over the years, but every now and then…

Sonic smiled down at her and just sat there, unable to fall asleep as he was too aware of her presence next to him. Eventually, he'd wake her up and take her back home. For now… For now, he could give her this.

For now, he didn't need to go off running.

For now.