Quick update, right? :D I know!! I was so happy. I can't wait to get started on the next chapter. It's gonna be great! This one is pretty okay, but its kinda short, so forgive me on that. The next one will be longer. I can't wait to start the sequel!. :D This is going to be great.

Thanks for the reviews, guys. I really appreciate it. And if I haven't gotten around to answering them, I will soon, I promise.

Until next time, enjoy!

Calling You

Chapter 3

When Tails awoke the next morning, he expected a message to be left on his answering machine from Sonic, or at least a missed phone call. But when he walked into the living room, there was no blinking red light on his answering machine telling him of a missed call. And suddenly, there was an empty feeling inside Tails's chest, as if his own selfishness had jerked his heart out. He walked into the living room, plopping down on the sofa.

He looked toward the phone, reaching out to pick it up, but hesitated, his hand near inches from it. He sighed as he picked it up, slowly dialing Sonic's number into it. Then, just as his finger reached for the ON button, he sighed again, shaking his head and throwing the phone back on the table. It skidded across the surface and then crashed to the floor. Tails wrapped his arms around his torso, closing his eyes.

He knew it was his fault. Somewhere inside of his mind, he knew he was wrong, knew he was being irrational. But the time spent with Sonic had caused some of the hedgehogs stubbornness to rub off, and he wasn't ready to admit it. He believed that, somehow, he had a right to be angry, to have exploded like he did.

But truthfully, he didn't. And his mind kept trying to tell him that.

Tails sighed, taking one last long look at the phone before standing and walking into the workshop. For the rest of the day, Tails kept listening for the phone to ring. And it never did.

xxx

Several times over the next couple weeks, Tails would come so close to calling Sonic, to tell him he was wrong. But each time he reached for the phone, he would change his mind and continue on with his day. And Sonic never called him either. The pain was digging a hole into his heart, and until he could summon the guts to call Sonic and admit he was a jerk, the hole would continue growing.

But Sonic never called. And Tails never tried to either.

It was nearly a month later when Tails couldn't take it anymore. He picked up the phone before he could change his mind, and dialed the seven familar numbers, numbers he knew almost as well as he knew his name. When the phone rung the first time, Tails changed his mind, but refused to hang up. The phone rang twice more, and then the machine clicked on.

What could he say? What was he supposed to say? His mouth hung open, but no words came out. For several seconds, he simply stood there, phone in hand, mouth gaping. And then, he quickly hang up, leaving not a word on the blue blurs answering machine.

And suddenly he was back at square one.

xxx

Sonic heard the phone ringing, and heard the machine pick up, and it took everything in him to not answer that call. Instead, he waited by the answering machine, holding the counter, as he listened to Tails breathing on the other end before a click a few seconds into the message. The phone cut off, and Sonic closed his eyes.

He reached for the phone, his green eyes sliding open to look at the object. He dialed the seven numbers, and his finger headed for the TALK button. But he stopped himself. Groaning in anger, Sonic took the phone and threw it across the room. The phone smacked the wall and fell to the ground, the battery flying through the air. The blue hedgehog rubbed his head, fighting a migraine.

Amy was asleep on the opposite side of the house, and he hoped his outburst hadn't awoken her. She was getting bigger by the day, and it wasn't much longer before she was due. The thought still scared him, but excited him all the same. But when Tails completely exploded on him, the hedgehog lost some of that excitement when he realized his best friend wouldn't be around to share his happiness.

Sonic growled beneath his breath, quickly stalking into the kitchen. For the past month, he had fought the urge to call Tails, to tell him their argument was stupid. But his stubborn pride wouldn't let him. Tails had no reason to be jealous. After all, Sonic needed him. His spirits fell.

What was he supposed to do when the baby was here? Who would he lean on for support? The idea of holding a baby still looked ridiculous to him, but he knew it had to happen now. He might as well get used to it. But when he saw his family so many years in the future, he saw himself, his child, Amy...and Tails. What would he do if Tails were no longer in that equation? He may lose his mind.

The pain was eating away at his chest, and he couldn't stand it. Sonic walked into the living room, glancing at the phone a moment, with a pause, before walking toward it and replacing the battery pack. He held it in his hands, and it felt heavy to him. He thought about calling again...

Sonic sighed, placing the phone on the counter.

xxx

Another few months past, and Tails fell into a daily routine. He would wake up around the same time, eat breakfast, shower, tinker awhile, and watch T.V.. Of course, part of most of these were spent staring at the phone. A phone which hadn't rung for several months.

Sometimes Tails would imagine how Amy looked, and how pregnant she would be at that point. He would smile at the thought before continuing what he was doing.

The pain of losing Sonic was still throbbing, and the hole continued to get deeper. Without having Sonic to talk to, Tails was lonely. Terribly lonely. The feeling would eat at him when he would realize how silent the house was. He tried to make noises, drop things, hum to himself, anything to break it. But just because the silence was broken, the loneliness wasn't. Tails missed Sonic, no doubt about it.

One night, near the fourth month without contact with Sonic, Tails had a very strange dream...

He was walking down a long, white hallway, alone. Doors kept passing by, with no numbers. Just plan white doors down the plan white hallway. Then suddenly, he turned into one of the doors, this one opened, and when he stepped inside, he met Sonic's smiling face. The blue hedgehog was standing in the white washed room alone, a bundle of covers in his arms, and he was beaming.

"Come look, Tails!" he had said, almost silently, his voice echoing in the empty room. Without moving, Tails was suddenly in front of Sonic, and the bundle of covers was no longer in the hedgehogs arms. Tails looked down in his own arms and met the bright green eyes of a tiny dark blue hedgehog. He was speechless as he stared down at the bundle in the covers.

"That's your Uncle Tails," he heard Sonic whisper nearby. The tiny hedgehog made no noise, simply stared at Tails with intelligent green eyes. Green eyes so familar... "Isn't it amazing, Tails? My baby...my baby..." When Tails was finally able to look up, Sonic was gone, and Tails was alone in the white washed room.

And, in his arms, the baby began to cry.

Tails awoke with a start at the ringing sound in his ears. Groaning in frustration, the dream barely brushing his mind, Tails groped for the ringing phone with his eyes shut, not fully realizing it was ringing until he fumbled for the TALK button and spoke into it.

"Eh...hello?" he mumbled, still asleep.

"Tails!"

The hysterical, panicked voice of Sonic reached toward the nearly unconscious Tails through the phone, and immediately Tails was awake. Sonic was breathing heavily through the phone, and the kitsune could imagine his green eyes wide with whatever emotion was plaguing him.

"Sonic?" he said in confusion.

"Tails...Oh, God..." Sonic huffed loudly, and for a minute, Tails wondered if he were crying. "I-I'm at the hospital...Amy...she...I-I don't know what happened....Something went w-wrong..."

"Sonic, I'm on my way!' Tails half-shouted into the phone, already halfway out the door. Sonic made a single noise, something between a confirmation and a sob, and Tails hung up, racing as fast as he could to the hospital. His heart was throbbing wildly in his throat, and he felt as if he had been smacked in the face.

All thoughts of his previous battle were forgotten. Right now Sonic needed him. Amy needed him.

His family needed him.

End of Chapter