Hey there readers! I wrote this chapter really quickly because I had ideas flowing in and out of my head incessantly for these last couple of days. I actually switched u what my original idea was for this but I ended up liking this version better so I stuck with it! Please remember to leave a review at the bottom of the page so I know how you are liking the story so far; I appreciate every one of my readers!

Without further ado, here is chapter seven, please enjoy :D

Chapter Seven: Telling Me

"So you gonna tell me what's going on with you?"

"Y-yeah, about that..."

"Come on, man. Just spit it out already!"

"Uh- W-well this is gonna hard for you to hear b-but it's not exactly bad news."

"What is it, damn it! Stop beating around the bush, you've been acting weird for the last week, are you gonna tell me or not?"

I looked up from the table and stared Knuckles straight in the eyes. What I was about to tell him was probably going to be both the best and worst news he's heard since Tikal's disappearance. I'd called to meet up with him because I couldn't possibly go another day carrying this around with me knowing that his entire family has been suffering incessantly, pondering whether or not they'd ever see their tiny relative ever again.

"It all has to do with this girl named Amy."

"Really? Girl troubles? That's what this is about? Geez Sonic, you made me think it was something a little more serious."

"No it's not that and it IS serious Knuckles! Just let me finish."

"Last Tuesday, I was asked to deliver some paperwork for my boss to this small town a ways from Mobius. I'd forgotten about it all day and it was urgent so I went later that evening. The guy thought that it was nice of me to have come all that way for some silly paperwork so he invited me to stay for some coffee and I wanted to be polite so I stayed. By the time I left, it was around 10:30 P.M. and it had started to pour outside. I wanted to get home as fast as possible so I was speeding a little-"

"You didn't hit anyone did you?!"

"What, no... not exactly. Like I said it was rainy and dark and I seemed to be the only one on the road for miles. Anyway, while I was going down the road, I saw something in the distance fall onto the road from the forest's edge. I-I thought it was a tree branch or something 'cause the wind had picked up pretty heavily; but it wasn't. I slowed down to a normal speed but then had to slam on the breaks when I realized it was a person! A girl. I was able to stop the car just in time but she fainted; probably from fright. I swear she came out of nowhere!"

"Shit man! What did you do?"

"I jumped out of the car and picked her up and brought her to the hospital. I waited there the entire day until they told me I could see her. When I finally spoke with her, she told me her name was Amy and that she'd been kidnapped and kept locked away with this man and a few other girls in this cabin in the middle of nowhere. She said she'd been there for 10 years and she's only sixteen. That's like her whole life..."

My head had begun to spin a little as the memories came coursing through my mind like a rampant train. I ran a hand through my blue quills trying to calm myself down a bit; noticing that my hand was shaking slightly.

"...Wow... That's- that's some heavy shit, dude. So what happened to this girl, did they find her parents?"

"Oh it gets even better, she's got no father and her mother suffered so much after her abduction that she went crazy. She's in the asylum up north from here."

"Is she still in the hospital?"

"No, she was discharged on Wednesday morning. I didn't want her to have to go through what me and my siblings went through so I... I'm letting her stay with me Sonia."

"She's at your place? Why? You're not responsible for her."

"I know that but, it still feels like since I found her, I should do something. I mean this girl's been through so much around and I didn't want to just pawn her off to the system."

"That's actually really good of you. So what did your work say?"

"I called and said I had a personal emergency and I haven't been back yet. I'm supposed to go back tomorrow actually. I took the week off after I found her so I could visit her because I didn't want to just leave her alone at the hospital and then I told them that I needed a little more time when she started staying with us. Now all we need to do is have this meeting with a social worker and then everything will be settled."

"I don't know what to say."

"I'm not completely finished though."

Here it comes. I have to tell him about Tikal. I have to do it right now!

"Knuckles this has to do with you. It's about-"

*Buzz. Buzz.*

My phone started vibrating in my pocket so I took it out. It was Fiona and it was 7:10 P.M.

Shit! Our date, I completely forgot!

"U-um, hello? Hey Fiona! I-I was just about to call you; yeah I'm stuck in traffic, I'll be there in a bit!"

"Oh alright, I thought you forgot or something!"

"Me? Forget? Never. I'll see you soon, okay?"

"Okay, Blue. See you there."

Phew... That was close.

"Hey Knuckles, it turns out I gotta run, but we'll talk soon. See ya."

"Hey, Sonic; we're not done here! What does this have to do with me?!"

"Sorry!"

xXx

I felt bad for ditching Knuckles out of the blue like that and even worse for once again avoiding the opportunity to tell him about Tikal. To be honest, I was scared of how he would react; would he be mad at me for not telling him sooner or would he understand how hard it was to come forth with it? I had to put it all at the back of my mind while I went on my date with Fiona.

"So how is Amy doing?"

"She's doing good. Adjusting, all that stuff. I was going to ask you, when can she take off the brace on her ankle?"

"Not too long; maybe a couple more days. Is she experiencing pain?"

"She's handling it. Anyway, why don't we talk about something else? What have you been up to?"

"Work takes up most of my time. Have you gone back to work yet?"

"I'm going back tomorrow; that should be fun trying to explain this all to my boss..."

"Haha, good luck on that."

"Oh well here's the place."

I'd taken Fiona to a nice restaurant that I'd been to a few times, all the while knowing there would not be a crowd. Since I'd forgotten our plans entirely, I obviously hadn't made reservations. I'd gone home to change into something a little nicer so I was now wearing a pair of black jeans and a clean white shirt. I got out of the car and opened the passenger's door for Fiona. I hadn't noticed earlier but she looked absolutely stunning in the short black dress she was wearing underneath her tight leather jacket. It hugged her body in all the right places without coming off as too provocative. It surely struck me since I was so used to seeing her in her lab coat. I couldn't help but stare a bit as her silver heels clicked on the pavement when she stepped out of the car, her fluffy, red and white tail swooshing past me sensually.

"Wow..."

"What was that?"

"N-nothing! Just- wow you look amazing."

"Hehe, thank you. You don't look too bad yourself there, blue."

"We should head inside, it's pretty cold out here."

"Alright."

She grabbed my and led me inside the restaurant. We found a seat pretty quickly and had a great time chatting over details of our life and basically getting to know each other more. It was almost 9:00 by the time we finished.

"We better get going if you still wanna catch a movie. Most of them start at nine and it's already 8:45."

"I can think of something better we can do instead of going to see a movie."

Fiona gave a mischievous smile and stood up from her seat. I had just enough time to pay the bill and leave a tip before she practically dragged me out of there. She pulled me through the exit ran to the car. I quickly followed after her and opened the door for her but instead of getting in she put her arms around my neck and leaned in towards me. I realized what she was doing and caught her in a lip lock, tasting the hint of cherry from her lip gloss and the wine on her breath. I held her by the waist and pulled her close to my chest, deepening the kiss. She tugged on my quills with one hand leaving the other to travel to my chest. She brought it up to my face and I could feel the warmth radiating from her palm in the cold of night. I placed my own hand over hers and she pulled away for a moment.

"That was-"

"Amazing?"

She finished my sentence for me as took hold of both my hands. Heat was surging through both our bodies, passion coursing through our veins.

"Do you want to continue this at my place?"

That same smile appeared again with one of her eyebrows lifted, and who was I to deny her offer. Next thing I knew, I was speeding down the highway back to her apartment where we had picked up right where we left off.

xXx

I woke with a start to a beeping alarm clock. I was momentarily confused, not remembering where I spent the night. It was very early and I hadn't gotten much sleep. I looked over to my left to see a red fox lying beside with only a thin sheet covering her naked form. I could make out the outline of her tremendous body underneath it, shifting in her spot as she began to stir. Her alarm clock was still going off and eventually she reached out her arm and smacked it off. I sat up and looked over at her.

"Good morning, sunshine."

"Uh, sorry about my alarm. You can go back to sleep if you want but I have to get to the hospital."

"No its fine. I'm already awake and I have to get home and take a shower; I've got work later too."

She sat up groggily and ran a hand through her brown hair. It still looked perfect even after last night. It was just messy enough to form a little bob hairstyle. Her icy blue eyes sparkled in the rays of the sun just as daylight broke the horizon. She looked at me for a moment before coming towards me and trapping me in a kiss that didn't last long enough.

"I'd really like to stay but I have to get ready for work."

Fiona stepped out of bed and revealed her naked bottom as she walked towards her bathroom. On her way there, she bent down and then tossed me my boxers while giggling. She then closed the bathroom door slowly, leaving me alone in her bed. I started to collect my things and get dressed while I heard the distant sound of running water from her shower. I found my phone on her nightstand and decided to see if I had any missed calls.

What! 5 missed calls! Who the hell could that be?

I searched through them and saw that Sonia had called twice last night along with Knuckles who had called me repeatedly throughout the night. I put my shoes and jacket on and ran out of the building to my car. I had to get home quick before Sonia got really angry. It took me 15 minutes to pull into the parking lot of my building and 3 to try and come up with a more reasonable story than the truth.

"Where the hell were you! Do you know how worried I was when you didn't answer your phone?"

"Cool it Sis, I'm a twenty year old man, you gotta stop treating me like I'm still a kid!"

"You are just a kid to me! A real man would let his sibling know where he is overnight and answer his goddamn phone once in a while!"

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry. I was with a friend very late and decided to spend the night so I wouldn't wake you or Amy by coming in the door at an odd hour."

Please work, please work, please work!

"Oh please! I can the cheap perfume on you from a mile away! And don't you ever try and lie to my face again, Sonic the Hedgehog!"

Damn it, nothing gets past her!

"Hey, she's a doctor and it was a very special evening that we carried over to this morning."

"Oh whatever! Just get in the shower and scrub that overpowering scent off of you before you smell up the whole apartment. You can't go back to work smelling like that."

"You really are too much, you know that?"

"Just go already."

I knew she only argued with me out of concern but it was as irritating as it was when we were younger. However, our spats are nothing compared to the fights her and Manic get into. They could go on for hours without finding a solution. I'm just glad Amy wasn't up to witness it. What kind of people would she think we are if she thought we fought all the time?

I walked over to the bathroom and locked the door behind me. I crawled into the shower and turned on the water to a very high temperature. The water blazed down my body as it ran down in fiery streams. It reminded me of the heat that Fiona and I had created last night. It had been a while since I'd been with a girl I felt a real connection with. She was perfect when I thought of her; intelligent, funny, beautiful, sexy and I couldn't possibly forget passionate! I definitely wanted to see her again. She stayed in my thoughts for a very long time and made me forget completely about my stress with Knuckles. I stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel off the wall. I dried myself off and shook the droplets out of my messy quills then headed to my bedroom. I got dressed for work in a nice shirt and tie and a pair of dark blue jeans. Then I heard Sonia call me from the kitchen.

"What is it?"

"Don't be surprised if you come home and find Amy gone. I'm getting home at three today and I'm taking her shopping."

"Do you really think that's what she needs?"

"Sonic, I'm taking her because she doesn't have any clothes you moron. I also want her to get used to being around large crowds. She's going to have to deal with it at some point so I thought it's better to just get these little things over with. By the way, did you call back that Acorn woman? She called again last night. Of course, I could've told you this over the phone but you never pick up!"

"Yeah, I'll get on that too. Chill out Ms. Bossy Pants."

"Huh, I'm leaving; I don't want to deal with you anymore."

"Byyye Siiiis!"

I sang the last part out just to annoy her. I liked the idea of Amy integrating back into real life. What I didn't like was me integrating back into work. I sat around for the next couple of hours drinking my coffee and reading last week's newspaper which we still had at my kitchen table. As I was flipping the page, I happened to stumble upon the obituaries. Skimming through the names, I noticed the picture of a younger woman, maybe in her mid-forties. That wasn't the usual age of this section so I decided to read a little bit about her. I instantly froze upon reading the name of the woman. I had no reaction and it felt as though time had stilled. I was uncertain for a moment but then recalled my recognition of the name. It struck me so hard; I said it aloud, almost as a whisper.

"Cherish Rose."

I kept reading on in my head.

CHERISH ROSE February, 19th 1969 – March, 15th 2013

With great sadness, we announce the passing of grieving widow and suffering mother to missing daughter, Amelia Rose, long-time friend of Dr. Grace Carrie and special -care client to Dr. Gregory Johnson. May she rest in peace.

I had absolutely no words left in my mind. My face must have been white as a ghost, all color and hope drained from my expression. After a good period of time spent processing what I had just read, the only thing that was coursing through my brain was,

How am I going to tell Amy? How can I ever tell her? No, this isn't fair for me to have to break this news to her and this sure as hell isn't fair for her! She never even got to see her. 3 days for fuck's sake! Three days before she was found! No. No, no, NO! I can't tell her, I just can't do it. I can't do that to her. Oh God, what am I gonna do!

I closed the newspaper and folded it up as small as it would go. I sat it in the same spot for around ten minutes absorbing the shock before I got up and threw the paper in the recycling bin. It was almost time for me to go to work so I walked over to the door, put my shoes and my nicer work jacket on and left. I wouldn't have been able to face Amy that morning; to look her in the eye and tell her that she no longer had any biological family... This was all getting to be too much for me. As I got in my car and drove to downtown Mobius, a million thoughts must've run through my head. I took the long way to get work to buy me some time to clear my head a little. When I pulled into my reserved intern spot in the underground parking lot, I nervously kept glancing at my phone expecting the devil to call me for keeping all these secrets. There was not much else I could do standing in one spot next to my car so I shakily made my way to the elevator that would lead up to my boss's office. I impatiently stood there fidgeting my fingers as the elevator made its way past several floors until it arrived at the 7th floor where one of my co-workers got in. The ding noise that sounded from it startled me and I jumped a bit.

"Hey! You're back, great to see ya. So where'd you go all that time, you haven't been back for almost two whole weeks?"

"U-um, just stuff came up. Look Brad, this really isn't a good time so I'd actually prefer to ride up in silence."

"Oh I see, scared you're gonna get canned for missing out on one of the biggest deals of the season, ha!"

"W-what? What deal? What are you talking about, Brad?"

"Oh, good Ol' Tim got all the staff workin' for some big shot company. I tell you now, you of all people would like to have been there, he still hasn't picked the person to lead the team on this project so you'll have to do some major ass kissing if you want a shot at it."

"Thanks for the heads up. *Ding* Well have a nice day Brad."

"You too buddy!"

God that man is annoying as but he sure did give me some leverage on what I'm gonna tell my boss Tim the cocky bastard Hedgehog, one of the highest paying employers in the business! I AM gonna have to do some serious ass kissing if I want that position. If I get that job, I have the opportunity to get a permanent position at this place!

I tried to focus more on work thoughts rather than remember what I read that morning. It seemed to be working for a while but as I passed by multiple cubicles of people reading their own newspapers, I couldn't help but be reminded of it. I pushed the thoughts away and continued towards my boss's office. I knocked on the hard wooden door and sucked in a sharp breath of anxiety.

"Come in."

"Hey Tim, I'm back."

"Oh, welcome back Sonic. I trust you dealt with your personal issues and won't be missing any more work from now on."

"No it's all dealt with. So Tim, I was wondering if the position for the new-"

"The project manager of the Station Square deal? Yes it is still open. Were you hoping I was considering you for the job?"

"W-well I was sort of hoping that I could still maybe perhaps be in the running for it..."

I started rambling on, looking down and twirling my thumbs while Tim got up from his seat at his desk and slowly came around to the other side to lean against the front of it. As I was waiting for an answer, he slid out his phone as if this conversation was the least important thing in the world to him. I was genuinely feeling like I was about to get fired for taking so many days off on such short notice. I shifted my footing hoping he would say anything at this point.

"You know Sonic, you missed work for the last week and half with no explanation, not that it was necessary but it still doesn't reflect good on you. You missed the meeting with the CEO of the company and now you want me to expect to keep you in the running for the position of the project manager on an assignment that begins next week? Well I have to tell you that the competition for the job is done with and that I've already chosen the person who will take on this role."

My expression depleted and my entire composure had whisked away by the words my boss had just released. This was a one in a million chance for an intern to get the position because if you didn't royally mess it up, you basically had a secure placement at the company.

"...Th-that's alright, I wasn't expecting you to choose an intern in the first place. I'll just get back to work now but, may I just ask who got it?"

"I chose the person this morning actually. Right when you walked through the door. The truth is I was disappointed that the best person for the job had to miss the most important opportunity you could receive at this company and I had already decided who the job would go to. I need the best team for this project Sonic and you are the best. I was just waiting to see if you would catch it on time. Do you accept this role?"

I froze in spot. I had never expected for him to just hand it to me as soon as I got there. I didn't even like advertising that much but I sure as hell was good at it. I stuttered to find my words but they came out all jumbled.

"Th-thank you, Tim! Oh my God, really? Me? I got the project manager job? N-no kissing your ass or begging for the position or anything? Man, I thought you were gonna fire me!"

"Sonic I'm a reasonable man and I know talent when I see it. I know you'll do well and you deserve the job so I am offering you a big chance here."

I was so happy about it I hugged him suddenly making him tense up for a moment.

"Sonic, this is not very professional of you."

"Sorry Tim, I'm just, I'm just ecstatic! I'll head back to my desk right away though."

"Yes do that please. And Sonic?"

"Yeah Tim?"

"Don't make me look like a fool, okay."

"I won't sir, you won't be disappointed."

With that, I head out to my desk and worked for the next three hours straight until it was 1:00 and time for my lunch break. I only went to get a coffee in the staff's lounge because I didn't have much of an appetite after my excitement over my new project and also over what I had read that morning. The words had imprinted in my head somehow and kept forcing their way to the front of my mind. I was seriously struggling to find the words I would use to explain it to Amy.

Listen Amy, what I'm about to say next... it's going to be tough to here-

Amy, I have to tell you something and it's not exactly good news-

There's something I need to tell you, Amy. It's about your mom- your mother... I'm really sorry-

Ugh this is so hard! Well at least I have the rest of the day to think this through. I should call Sonia and let her know, maybe she can think of something.

I dialed the number to Sonia's work and let it ring until she picked up, which took a while.

"Sonic? What is it, I'm working."

"Um Sonia, I read something this morning that is rally really bad."

"I didn't pick up the newspaper this morning, so whatever you read was old news anyways."

"It was in the obituaries so it doesn't matter how old it is!"

"What? What were you looking at that section for? And who's dead Sonic?"

"...Amy's mother..."

"..."

"S-Sonia? You still there?"

"Oh my God, how are we gonna tell her... huh? Did you think of that before you told me?"

"Of course I did; that's why I called you! I don't know what to do. Do you?"

"I'll figure something out but I'm not telling her at the mall. Today is supposed to make her feel happy and a part of something, not spring it on her that her only family left is dead! Look Sonic, I have to get back to work but I'll call you later when I'm with her."

"Alright then, bye."

I hung up my phone and turned away from the window I was looking out to see my boss standing behind me.

"You alright?"

"Yup. I'm totally fine. Everything's just fine."

xXx

After work, I didn't go straight home. I decided to give Knuckles a call since he'd left me about 5 messages saying that he was going to track me down if I didn't pick up soon. He was desperate to know what I'd tried to tell him the day before now that I'd mentioned it concerned him. I was waiting at The Sapphire when I saw the red Jaguar pull into the parking lot. I'd ordered myself a beer and was about half way through by the time he got there.

"Hey man. You ready to tell me what the fuck is going on?"

"Yeah. Look, you know the girl I mentioned last time, Amy?"

"Yeah the girl who was held captive for ten years, I'm still finding it hard to believe that they wouldn't find her even after all those years."

"Well I also mentioned that there were other girls there with her, other kidnapped girls?"

"Yeah, dude where are you getting at with this? You're not saying what I think you are; no that can't be... it's just not possible..."

"Knuckles, I showed Amy a picture of Tikal and she said she was one of the girls there. I wanted to tell you earlier but- it just never seemed like the right time, something always came up or I got nervous of how you'd react, I mean it's not exactly good news-"

"But it's news! Sonic you kept this from me... for two weeks you knew where my niece was when even her own mother hasn't known where she's been for the last THREE FUCKING YEARS! I can't believe you'd hold this back! You should have told me the minute you found out about it! I don't understand why you, my best friend, would do something like this to me!"

"First off, I haven't even known for two weeks, I found out a couple of days ago and I didn't tell you because I was scared! Do you know how hard it is to deliver news like that to someone? That their relative is being held prisoner and has been for the last three years by some creep in the woods! And don't even get into this Knuckles, 'cause I have a LOT of shit to deal with right now and I definitely do not need more crap from you."

"Crap? Is that what you refer to my anger about this as! I've got shit to deal with too Sonic, starting with telling my sister and her husband of the whereabouts of their daughter which is both great and terrible news because at least we know she's alive."

"Well I have to tell Amy that her mother's dead! Does that count as shit to you, huh?"

"W-what? How do you know her mother's dead?"

"I read it in the paper this morning. Her face is right there in the obituaries. Died two days before Amy was found."

"I-I... didn't know. That poor girl..."

"I know... She's got no one now."

"She's got you. And that means that if you felt that obligation to her before, you sure as hell better have meant it cause you're all she's got."

"..."

I'm all she's got? I'm all she's got.

I hadn't realized earlier but I was practically in tears over the entire mess of a situation. The alcohol might have also had something to do with it but all it did was make what I've been holding inside rise to the surface. I stood up to leave when Knuckles tried to bump fists with me but instead I just reached over and hugged him.

"Hey, don't get all gay on me now dude!"

I knew he was only joking because he and I both knew we needed it. I left my half drank beer on the table and walked out. I got into my car and drove home. It was around six o'clock when I got home. I walked up the stairs, entered my apartment and looked over to see Sonia holding Amy at the kitchen table where they were both crying their eyes out. Sonia looked at me with sorry expression and I could see Amy's pain reflected in her eyes. I stared at Amy from where I was standing at the door behind her and kept remembering what Knuckles had told me.

I'm all she's got.

So... That was intense in the end. Sonic finally telling Knuckles about Tikal and finding out that AMY'S MOTHER IS DEAD! What?! Luck just isn't on Amy's side in her life. Hopefully things will get better soon but the only way for you to find that out is to keep on reading, so please stick around! More to come soon :)

-Dark Rose