Espio followed Manic and Knuckles to a familiar path. He looked around as if he knew the place but just couldn't remember.

'I swear I've been here.' he thought as he bit his bottom lip. 'But how is that possible?'

"Espy?" Manic asked, snapping the chameleon from his thoughts. "You okay?"

"Y-Yes, I think," Espio faked a smile.

Manic blinked at him for a while then nudged Knuckles, who had been talking until his boyfriend suddenly interrupted him.

"Hey!" the red echidna growled but soon noticed Espio's unsure eyes and Manic's concerned ones. "Uh, did I miss something?"

"Espy, what's up?" Manic began to ask again, more comfortable with his lover's support.

"Well," Espio sighed. "this path just feels…familiar…"

"It should," Knuckles chuckled with a grin. "We come here during emergencies, some missions and even special occasions like New Years or Christmas to celebrate,"

"You do?" Manic was taken back with wide eyes.

Espio gasped. 'Now I know why it seems so familiar! We're going to Sonic's place!'

After a few twists and turns, they end up at the doorstep of a cobalt blue house with an emerald green roof, a chocolate brown door, and crystal blue windows. Espio smiled at the familiar place while Manic rolled his eyes.

"Is this his house, Knux?" he asks in a sarcastic tone.

Knuckles chuckled. "Ha-ha. I know how obvious it is, Manny,"

"Too obvious," Manic held in a laugh.

They went up to the door and Knuckles knocked on it. They were greeted with silence so the red echidna tried again but was replied the same way as before.

'Why isn't Sonic answering?' Espio thought worriedly. 'I might not know him well but I DO know that he loves to answer the door and to greet friends. What happened?'

"Sonic…" Espio snapped from his thoughts and turned to his best friend, who had his phone out and was texting like crazy.

"Manic? Are you alright?"

"No," Manic shook his head and texted quicker. "Sonic should be active but he isn't even answering his cellphone,"

"Wait, you know him?"

Manic nodded. "Yeah, he's—"

The door suddenly creaked open, interrupting their conversation as they turned to the dark room.

"Sonic…?" Knuckles froze up but managed to step in. "Are you in here…?"

Manic and Espio gulped and stepped in after the echidna, who scanned the wall until he finally found the light switch. The room lit up and the three gasped to see everything topsy turvy.

"What the…" the chameleon was lost for words while his golden eyes were wider than saucers.

Manic's ears perked up, however, when he heard the sound of weeping. He rushed inside quickly, passing the other two, as his eyes went around the room. Finally, it rested on a familiar cobalt figure that was curled up under a table.

"Sonic?!"

X

The room was finally cleaned up and everything was right side-up again. Knuckles and Espio worked together to get the job done then they collapsed in exhaustion on a couch.

Sonic was curled up on another, all bundled up in Manic's arms as he cried his heart out on his older brother's chest. The older hedgie rubbed his younger brother's quills and hugged him close.

"Shh~" Manic soothed the smaller hedgehog. "Calm down, Nic…"

"I…I can't…" Sonic continued to cry, not willing to stop. "It hurts…too much…"

"What hurts, Sonic?" Knuckles asked, worried about his cobalt friend's condition.

Sonic ignored him and wept without another word. Manic knew what his brother was crying about and frowned.

'I've seen him depressed but I never knew it could go THIS far before…' the lime hedgehog thought.

"Sonic?" Espio went up to the hedgehogs. "Manic, what's the matter with him?"

Manic looked at his best friend and sighed. "He's feeling what you're feeling towards Vector but for him, it's for Shadow…"

The sound of his name made Sonic's ear twitch. The said cobalt hedgehog began to cry harder, clutching his brother more to let out his depression.

Espio, on the other hand, was taken back. He never told anyone about his feelings for Vector, let alone made it obvious…

Or did he?

"How…How did you know?" the chameleon asked.

"It was kinda obvious," Knuckles spoke for his boyfriend with a simple shrug. "You always want to be near Vector,"

Espio's scales turned pink in embarrassment. "O-Oh. I'm sorry, I tried not to make it obvious,"

"It's okay, Espy," Manic gave a weak smile. "At least you have a possibility to be with Vector since you're best friends and all…"

"No, I don't," Espio frowned and shook his head as his scales turned icy blue.

"W-What do you mean?" Sonic spoke up, peeking his head to the chameleon.

"Vector doesn't like me. He likes Vanilla. Besides, he feels like I don't trust him enough to tell him my past…"

Tears started to appear at the sides of Espio's eyes. He tried to blink and/or wipe them away but the three could clearly see that he was about to burst. Manic let go of his brother, who sat up and glanced at his chameleon friend with concern.

"Espio…" Sonic slowly walked towards him. "I never knew…"

"No one did," Espio sighed and fell to his knees. "I couldn't let anyone see how weak I am…"

"You're not weak if you could hold yourself together. Unlike me, a hedgehog with no possibility with his darker counterpart in any way possible…"

Sonic began to tear up too, his eyes misted with water as he gritted his teeth. Espio couldn't bare to see his friend go through something he's going through so he stood up and pulled the cobalt hedgehog into an embrace.

"Shh, it's alright," he whispered into the other's ears.

"You heard him, lil bro," Manic said as he stood up from the couch and patted Sonic's back. "Calm down,"

"Lil bro?" Espio turned to his best friend, perplexed. "You're related to Sonic the Hedgehog?"

Manic nodded. "Yep, I'm his older brother. Not equally popular but proud to be there for him, no matter what,"

Sonic smiled and pulled away from Espio then he turned to his brother and hugged him. Manic returned the embrace, ruffling his younger brother's quills playfully. The blue hedgie giggled in response.

"Manic!" he laughed.

"There's the younger brother I know!" Manic grinned. "Happy-go-lucky! As usual!"

Sonic sighed. "Well, not always but close enough,"

Knuckles looked over at his friends, deeply thinking on what to do to let out the tension. Suddenly, an idea came to his head. He took out his phone and called his ex/friend.

"Hello?"

"Oh, hey, Knuckles," a flirtatious female voice came from the other side. "What's up?"

"Mind if we head over to your club? There's A LOT of tension here that needs to cool down,"

"Sure thing, Hun. My club's open for anyone,"

"Thanks, Rouge. We'll be there,"

When he hung up, Knuckles noticed Manic had been listening and grew worried.

He knew for a fact that Manic NEVER drank. Nor did any of the royal siblings. They just never wanted to because they never want to know the tragic aftermath that may occur.

Fortunately, Manic seemed to consider.

He smiled and nodded at his boyfriend then stood up.

"Come on, guys," he said. "I have an idea to change the mood,"

"Really?" Espio folded his arms and raised an eyebrow. "How?"

"Let's go over to a famous club in the city; Club Rouge," Manic sent a wink to his lover, who grinned and winked back.

"Y-Yeah!" Knuckles agreed with a grin on his face. "Come on! A little music and company might change your moods tonight!"

Sonic smiled and nodded then they exited the house. As they walked, he gave a glance to Espio, who slowly walked behind them with his head low. The blue hedgehog sighed.

'I thought I was the only one with low possibility of finding someone to love. I guess Espio and I are at the same boat…'