'Where the hell have you been, Sonic?!' Knuckles snapped.
'Yeah! Did you find the property or not?' Shadow exclaimed.
'I told you I should have gone!' Rouge added.
'Chill out guys! Look, I'll admit, I got a little side track and went for a run-'
'That doesn't surprise me.' Tails cut Sonic off with a giggle.
'Well I came across a pretty cool clearing, lots of nice flowers. Cream would have loved it.' Sonic shrugged.
'Did you pick any flowers, Sonic?' Cosmo asked.
'I picked one, a nice rose. But I gave it to-'
'Ok let's cut the flower crap, did you find the place or not?' Shadow cut Sonic off.
Little did the duo know that Amy was listening intently to the fact that Sonic had said he had given it to someone. Who had he given it to? Was it a girl? Of course it was a girl. But who? Amy's brain was running so fast it was beginning to give her a headache, until Sonic's voice finally brought her back into the conversation.
'I ran into a girl I once met from around these parts, Vanessa.' Sonic smiled.
A girl!
'She wants us to come to her place for a meal and she has offered for us to stay inside her barn for the night before we move out again tomorrow. So I gave her the rose to say thank you, she seemed to like it.' Sonic smiled.
He gave the rose to her!
'That's awful nice of you, Sonic.' Cosmo praised him.
'Yeah he's a real gentleman now let's get going, shall we?' Rouge rushed them.
The team finally got moving, deciding to walk. Tails drove Cream in the X-Tornado to the property that he tracked in the GPS while the others simply followed Sonic on foot. The boys got to talking and joking as they do while Rouge and Cosmo struck up a conversation whilst Amy simply tagged along beside them.
'Alright, Amy, what's wrong?' Rouge asked mid-sentence.
'Huh?' Amy snapped out of her trance.
'Why so quiet?'
'You look down, Amy?' Cosmo added.
'I'm not?' Amy lied, her arms folded and her nose in the air. Rouge and Cosmo exchanged looks before moving to either side of the pink hedgehog.
'Spill the beans, Hun.'
'Nothing's wrong, Rouge. Drop it.' Amy huffed.
'I love you, Amy, but you know she won't give up until you say something.' Cosmo said nervously.
'She's right!' Rouge giggled proudly before Amy rolled her eyes.
'Who's this Vanessa chick we're going to see anyway? And how does she know Sonic?' Amy asked in an angry tone.
'That's what you're worried about?' Cosmo asked, astonished.
'Honey, he's met the girl once! Which he didn't have a choice because he was saving the poor girl?' Rouge said, surprised and trying to reassure her friend.
'He gave her a rose! I'm the one he should be giving a rose!' Amy exclaimed.
Her last word echoed a little too loudly, causing the boys to turn around and stare at the three girls who stood up straight and tried not to act suspicious. They arched their eyebrows, exchanged looks then turned back around and kept talking. The girls let out a sigh of relief before Rouge punched Amy in the arm.
'Keep it down, Amy!' Rouge snapped.
'Come on, Amy. He was just being nice. It was just a thank you gesture for letting us stay and having dinner with her.' Cosmo said with a reassuring smile.
'Oh, I guess you're right.' Amy shrugged with a smile, simply to get the girls off her back.
Only a minute later, the gang arrived out the front of the small cottage home where they met Tails. He told them that Vanessa had taken Cream inside to stay in the spare bed, she was still sound asleep. The two-tailed kitsune had landed the Tornado on the other side of the barn and was just waiting for them to get there.
'Well, let's get inside!' Sonic exclaimed.
'Agreed. I'm starving!' Knuckles added.
Tails opened the door and led them inside before shouting out to Vanessa to let her know the others were there. They walked into the living room where she stood, looking much different to when Sonic had seen her earlier. Earlier, she looked normal, nothing different to a farm girl. Which wasn't out of the ordinary considering where she lived. However, now she fashion a beautiful white satin dress. It wasn't too dress, just plain and simple with a white cardigan over the top. She also wore a little make up that brought out her beautiful, light blue eyes. Amy could swear she saw Sonic's jaw fall agape a little, making Rouge and Cosmo very nervous.
'Hi there, everyone! Please come in, make yourselves comfortable!' Vanessa said politely as she gestured to the dining table in the next room.
'Thank you, Miss.' Cosmo bowed her head a little.
'Oh please, not so formal. I am Vanessa, you must be Cosmo?' She guessed as she shook the seedrian's hand.
'I am. Uh, how do you know my name?' Cosmo shook her hand nervously.
'Oh! Tails told me. He's very fond of you!' Vanessa whispered the last part, causing Cosmo to blush before she sat down.
'You must be… Rouge?' Vanessa asked as she held out her hand.
'I am.' Rouge took her hand and shook it politely.
'How are you? I'm Vanessa.'
'So I hear, I'm well thank you. Nice place you got hear. Nice dress, by the way!' Rouge complimented her before sitting down.
Amy couldn't help but be slightly pissed off at the fact that Rouge and Cosmo, two of her best friends, were being so nice to the girl trying to weasel in on Sonic. Although, I guess it was hard not to be nice to her. She was so lovely, and stunning.
'Excuse me?' Vanessa asked.
'Huh? Oh, hello!' Amy snapped out of her daydream.
'You must be Amy Rose, am I right?' Vanessa shook her hand before pulling her into a hug.
'Uh, yes. I am.' Amy hugged her back, confused at her bold gesture.
'You're a pretty little thing.'
'Thank you.'
'You're a good friend of Sonic's, right?'
'I guess you could say that.'
'Hmph.' Vanessa giggled before walking off to the table and taking her seat.
Amy suddenly became very sure of this feline's intentions. Not just because of the snide laugh, but also because she had taken a seat right next to the blue hedgehog before crossing her legs, allowing her dress to ride up a little.
Vanessa had served up a lovely meal full of fish, vegetables and a side of fruit, she even took up a big bowl of fruit for Cream in case she woke up. Which, of course, everyone thought was so lovely. Amy would have done that herself if the cat hadn't beat her to it, so she just rolled her eyes to herself, why was she being so nice to all of us? It was Sonic she wanted. Even though she needed to stay away!
'So tell me, when did you guys leave?' Vanessa asked as she put a strawberry in her mouth.
'We left around nine o'clock this morning.' Rouge answered.
'Right, so how long did you guys travel for before stopping?'
'About six hours I think our buddy Tails said.' Sonic smiled as he looked to Tails for reassurance, which Tails smiled back.
'Wow! So you guys must be… really, exhausted.' Vanessa said slowly.
As she did so, Sonic felt something slide up and down his shin. He was confused at first and brushed it off, until he worked out what it was… Vanessa's foot. He jumped a little in his seat, starling Cosmo who was sitting next to him. She gave him a funny look but he pretended he didn't see it.
'I'm sure we'll be fine after a good night's rest.' Amy said, aiming a glare in Vanessa's direction.
'Yes, I think you all need a good night's sleep.' Vanessa said with a smile as she rest her head on one hand and the other hand appeared to be on her lap, when really it was on Sonic's.
The sweat was literally forming so fast on Sonic's forehead that he could have been close to having a waterfall drizzle down the sides of his temples. He began running her hands along his thighs, which Cosmo saw. She looked at her blue friend in her peripheral vision as Vanessa conversed with Rouge and Shadow. Sonic looked back and looked back, practically begging for help.
'Oh! Silly me, I dropped my napkin.' Cosmo said thickly.
'Don't worry, Cosmo. I'll get it for you!' Sonic replied, just as fake before he got out of his seat and retrieved the napkin.
Everyone, except Vanessa and especially Amy, looked at Como and Sonic strangely before returning to their conversations. Sonic excused himself to use the bathroom while Vanessa began clearing plates. When Sonic returned from the bathroom he literally bumped into the yellow feline in the kitchen.
'Oh, uh, hi there, Vanessa.' He said nervously.
'Hello, Sonic.' Vanessa smiled.
'So, uh, I think we're all going to get going now. It's been a long day and-'
'Have I made you uncomfortable?' She cut him off, startling him.
'What? Uh, no, not at all. Why would you-'
'Because,' she cut him off again and took a few steps closer to him, 'I can try and make you feel more comfortable?'
'Okie doke, we will be going now. We have to get going real early in the morning so we'll just come in to get Cream and be off. See you 'round!' Sonic said nervously before dashing back to the living room.
He stopped to find his team, casually conversing as they usually would before turning to look at him. He must have looked like a nervous wreck, because they all gave him a worried look before standing up.
'Sonic, buddy, you ok?' Tails asked.
'Yep, fine. Let's go. I'm beat.' He said quickly as Vanessa walked in behind him.
'Sonic, you sure you're ok? Because-'
'Trust me, Ames. I'm fine, let's get going, yeah?' Sonic said as he jogged up to the pink hedgehog and picked her up in a hug before pecking her on the cheek.
Everyone, including Amy, tried their hardest to hide their surprise. Unfortunately, for Vanessa, she couldn't hide her anger. She gave Amy nothing short of a death glare before looking back to Sonic and the others with a cheery smile.
'Thanks for your hospitality, Vanessa. Goodnight!' Sonic said as he practically pushed everyone out the door.
He pushed everyone all the way over to the door of the barn before Tails opened the door and allowed everyone to walk in before them. He looked over his shoulder to his brotherly figure, who still fashioned the most nervous look he'd ever seen, before walking inside himself.
'Alright, Faker, what the hell was all that about?' Shadow asked, unable to hide his smirk.
'Yeah, I've never seen you that nervous?' Knuckles added.
'Why did we have to rush off? Vanessa was so nice? Plus she had a real sense of style about her.' Rouge said with a smile.
Sonic gave Cosmo a nervous look, knowing she knew why he was so nervous and in a panic. He looked at her, hoping she would be the one to explain, but she bravely gave him a look as if to say no-way-you're-telling-them. He let out a sigh before scratching the back of his quills.
'Ok, ok. Vanessa put the moves on me!' Sonic exclaimed.
Everyone went silent, so silent you could hear a pin drop. Tails, Shadow and Knuckles exchanged a blank look before burst into a fit of laughter. Sonic looked at them in surprise before trying to persuade them he was telling the truth. Cosmo and Rouge immediately looked at Amy to see her reaction, which came as a surprise to them. She was… smiling?
'He's not lying! I saw it!' Cosmo backed up the blue blur.
'Wait, what?' Tails immediately stopped laughing.
'They're full of it.' Shadow chuckled.
'They're not.' Amy piped up, causing everyone to stare at her.
'Well, think about it? Why else do you think he came up and hugged me before kissing me on the cheek? Did you not see the death stare she gave me after that? I don't think she'll be bothering him again anytime soon.' Amy said with a fake smile before walking out of the barn and closing the door behind her.
'Oh… well, that saves any of us asking the next question.' Knuckles said.
'Well, I had to do something?' Sonic shrugged.
'You know it means something to her though, Blue.' Rouge stated firmly.
'She seemed to take it pretty well?'
'You're kidding right?'
'Come on, guys. Let's just go to sleep.' Shadow said as he turned around and through himself on a bail of hey.
Everyone turned around and set off in their own directions before getting comfortable and quickly falling asleep. After Amy had cooled off, and knew everyone was asleep, she came back into the barn and wet to sleep herself. She would have preferred to check on Cream, but there was a good chance Vanessa would attack her!