Crashed CHAPTER 8

"So am I forgiven? For last night?" Knuckles reached across the table and gave my hand a squeeze, avoiding touching my food.

"I' not sure. You gonna hand me that breadstick?" I gestured at the bowl that was unfairly on his side of the table.

He smiled and pushed the bowl towards me. "Now?"

I nodded, smiling as I bit into the breadstick. The ones they served at this place were amazing.

Knuckles had brought me to the fanciest restaurant around here, which still wasn't much. The closest five-star was about a two-hour drive away, and we were definitely not up for it.

Even so, it wasn't cheap. I still went simple with my order and got some spaghetti, but I it sure is some fancy-pants spaghetti. Knuckles got some crazy thing that I can't pronounce, but I'm sure it has some chicken in it.

The echidna spent the whole ride apologizing to me. He had brought me flowers and actually tried to not smell like onions for once.

"You look very good tonight." Knuckles leaned on his hand, gazing at me. "I like your dress."

I glanced down at the dark purple dress I was wearing. It was long enough to touch the floor, and had a slit on the left side that may reach up just a little too close to my underwear. "Thank you."

"When we're done do you wanna move over to the bar?" His purple eyes glanced towards the bar in the middle of the restaurant.

"Oh, so it's gonna be one of those nights, huh?"

Knuckles' face grew red (well, more than his usual color,) "W-well you don't have to go if you don't want to. I just thought it'd be fun to have a drink with you."

"Knuckles! I didn't mean it that way. I meant I just wasn't expecting to get drunk with you tonight." I stood, grabbing his hand and pulling him with me. "I'm full, let's go."

My smile eased him a bit. "Alright."

My mind started to race. Was this really a good idea?

"Rouge?" Knuckles tapped my shoulder after I totally ignored whatever the bartender told me.

"Yeah?" I blinked.

"What do you want?"

"Oh! I'm so sorry." I stared up at the menu with all the drinks written on it and went for the cheapest one I saw.

"Rouge, you don't have to be all careful. I wouldn't have invited you here tonight if I couldn't afford it." The echidna grabbed my hand and stared me in the eyes. "Please get what you want."

I felt my palms get sweaty. For some reason the thought of trying any kind of expensive alcohol felt extremely weird. I just felt out of place here. "I've never been able to try anything here. I don't know what I like."

Knuckles turned his head to look at the bartender, who already looked impatient. "What do you recommend?"

Her impatient expression seemed to lighten. "There's something here I really like, if you'd like to try. I'll bring some out, don't worry about paying for this one."

"Whoa. Did you just cast a spell on her or something?" I watched as the lady made whatever she was about to give me.

"Just my manly charm." Knuckles joked, flipping one of his dreads over his shoulder for dramatic effect.

I giggled and rolled my eyes.

"Alrighty, here you go miss. Let me know what you think." I heard a hint of an attitude, which lightened immediately when she asked Knuckles what he wanted.

"Whiskey Sour?" He told her, and she nodded in response.

"That sounded awfully simple." I pointed out, stirring the drink sitting in front of me with my straw.

"What can I say, I'm a simple man." He smiled and shrugged.

The bartender gently set Knuckles' drink in front of him, and again told him not to worry about paying for it. I decided to ignore the weirdness emanating off her while me and Knuckles clinked our glasses.

And whatever I just tasted was the best thing to ever touch my tongue.

"Knuckles! Oh my god this is amazing!" I practically squealed. I kept drinking it, not even caring about getting drunk at this point.

"Oh really?" Knuckles took a sip when I offered my straw. He licked his lips and smiled at me. "That is good. I'll take a note of what it's made out of."

And we continued drinking—we sat for hours talking and laughing. I was honestly having a lot of fun.

And I think I'm really into this guy.

"Rouge, uh," His hand was on my thigh. "Would you wanna maybe… come back to my place?"

"Yes." I didn't even think.

We got in the car, and it was the stupidest idea. We were both drunk off our asses. I'm surprised no one called the cops.

He drove okay, I mean we didn't die. We didn't crash. I was so drunk I wasn't even scared.

But I saw him. I swear I saw him when we pulled out of the parking lot.

The alcohol lets me forget his red eyes.

"We made it." Knuckles laughed, a nervous, very glad we didn't die laugh. He moved over to my door and helped me out. One of the straps on my dress slipped off my shoulder, and the wind exposed my underwear, but I still didn't care.

And now we're in his house. He has a nice house.

I laughed for some reason, like the fact that he lived somewhere other than his pizza place was a foreign concept. He laughed along with me.

We fell on his couch, and his hand was already sliding into the slit of my dress.

I encouraged it. In this exact moment, I felt like I wanted it.

I pushed him off. "I'm not a 'bang on the couch' kind of girl." I whispered.

He nodded, chuckled, and we made our way to his room.

His bed was very comfortable, I almost wanted to sleep right there. But I couldn't. I obviously woke whatever beast was hiding under his fur.

He furiously kissed me. His hands were all over me, and mine were all over him.

But there was a problem, because once he was inside of me, it wasn't him anymore. It wasn't Knuckles.

I looked up into the red eyes I drank to forget.

"I knew you wanted this. You wanted me." His lips were on my neck.

I want you, I do

Only problem is, you're not really the one looming over me.

I closed my eyes, trying to ignore the familiar guilty feeling that clenched my stomach. The one I always got when I came into contact with this echidna. But what's his name? How do I forget his name?

I was with him all night and—

"Shadow—" I whispered. Almost there.

I said the wrong name. I said the wrong name.

The echidna didn't hear me. He kept going.

And when we were done, he didn't mention it. I know he didn't hear me.

"So, um… did you like it…?" Knuckles stared at me. His eyes were wide.

What was wrong with me? How did I forget his name in such an intense moment…

"It was amazing." I lied. The guilty feeling was there. The whole time it was there.

He hugged me. And he fell asleep.

I waited until I heard his snoring to push myself out of his arms.

His bathroom was pretty nice, white tiles and black counter tops. Big bathtub.

I sat in the bathtub and ran the water.

Why do I rely on the bath to wash away my problems?

I let myself cry. I've never felt like this after intercourse with a man, ever. Even if I didn't particularly enjoy it, I never felt this bad. This guilty and disgusting.

It's all Shadow's fault. All of it.

I'm gonna ruin this potential relationship. And it's all his fault.

"Shadow, I hate you. So much."

"Can you at least tell me why?" And there he was. Appearing again, out of nowhere. "And here we are again with the bathtub."

"What…are y-you doing h-here?" I was angry, but I didn't even think to cover myself up. At this point, I don't care.

"In the throes of passion you guys left the door wide open. You should thank me for coming to shut it for you. You could've been robbed or something."

"Shadow, I-I'm not in the fucking m-mood for you to come here and be s-s-sarcastic with me. How the hell… how did you even know w-where I was?" My voice was so loud I was afraid to wake Knuckles.

"Did you forget? You like to appear in my dreams often. I knew you were here. I saw it."

He saw I was here. "What all d-did you see!?"

"Well," Shadow came and sat next to the tub. "What I saw I didn't particularly enjoy. But you know, you can't control what you dream about."

"Shadow!? What. Did. You. See." I stared at his crimson eyes as if I were willing them to melt.

"Well, I thought it was kinda cute how you whispered my name."

"SHADOW!" I splashed water on him. "I can't believe you—"

"Hey! I told you I can't control it. Just like you can't control yours." He poked his finger in the water, swirling it around. "Why do you always have the water so hot?"

I didn't know what else to say. I tilted my head back, and I cried again. I kept crying.

And I felt his arms around me.

Shadow's fully-clothed body was in the water, right next to me.

"Rouge I… I didn't want to make you cry." He lifted me up and placed my limp body in his lap. "You know I hate it when you cry."

"This is the first time… the first time I ever felt guilty… guilty after sex." I didn't move. "Shadow I… I saw you."

"What do you mean?"

"When I-I was with Knuckles I… I saw you above me…" I raised my eyebrows at him, hoping he'd catch the drift.

He pulled away to look at my face. "So what you're saying is, you had sex with me basically? Just now?"

I sighed.

Shadow pulled me closer and whispered: "Sometimes I dream of it being a reality. Us, together."

I was a bit frustrated that his breath in my ear was turning me on. I'm supposed to be mad at him, and in bed with Knuckles right now. I ignored what he said. "Dreams aren't reality."

"Explain to me why I'm sitting here with you then?"

"You shouldn't be."

The hedgehog moved away from me, getting out of the tub and letting himself drip all over the floor. He removed his shirt. "I guess I'll leave. But at least come lock the door behind me."

I felt horrible. Not because of Knuckles, but because of how my sadness was already gone. Every negative thing I was thinking about was gone. He made is disappear without even trying.

Shadow was like a drug to me, but I kept denying myself the fix.

I needed him.

I hated him, but I needed him.

"O-okay." I stubbornly stood, missing the feeling of the hot water as soon as it wasn't surrounding me anymore.

"No towel?" I eyed me as I stepped past the towel rack, towards him.

"I know you've seen it… In your dreams." I pressed myself against him. The shakiness wasn't in my voice anymore. "Can you tell me what happens? What do you see?"

"Well, sometimes it feels like it's actually happening. And other times it'll be in the future, it seems." He didn't move, didn't even touch me while I stood against him. "The last one went something like this—"

Those crimson eyes bore into mine as his hands snaked down my thighs. I was pushed against the counter, then lifted so I sat on the edge of it. We never broke eye contact as he pressed himself between my legs.

He did what I could only describe as a half-body roll against me, very, very slowly. I let out a shaky breath, but this shakiness was all brand-new. It felt… amazing.

He was trying to tease me, but I couldn't bring myself to move.

I wanted to roll with him, but then I'd encourage him.

His fingers dug into my outer thighs as he pulled me as close as possible, and I moaned.

I held my breath and bit my lip. Shit.

I couldn't escape my ecstasy as his lower body kept rolling. He kept staring at me, examining every expression I made. Shadow pressed harder, and moved even slower.

I grabbed his belt loops. I wanted him closer, but he couldn't get closer.

Shadow's hand was in my hair, his mouth was close. Oh so close.

His tongue flicked my bottom lip, and I didn't notice my mouth was pretty much wide open until he did it.

I moved closer. I wanted to kiss him. I needed to kiss him.

But he backed away when I came closer. He was smiling. "Yeah, something like that."

As much as he meant to tease me, I knew it was hard on him to not go any further based on how he was breathing. Shadow laced his hands behind his head, and I watched as drops of water traveled over his abs.

I quickly crossed my legs. "I didn't ask you to show me."

That sly smile stretched across his face again as he came back to me and uncrossed my legs. "Would you like me to give an oral presentation?" His hand was sliding up my thigh, dangerously close.

"N-no, no Shadow." This teasing, I couldn't stand another minute of it. He had to leave.

"I'll go. Just next time, you should probably let me keep my dreams to myself." Shadow turned to leave, but I stopped him.

"You should clean up the mess you made." I looked down at the huge puddle of water on the floor. I didn't know what else to say.

Those eyes, they were staring into mine again.

And now he was against me, and he kept lazily staring as he swiped a towel from the rack. He proceeded to rest the towel over his hand, and place it between my legs.

"Th-that's not what I meant—"

"Rouge," he whispered in a breathy voice, "you said clean up my mess. I made this mess, didn't I?"

His hand was an inch away from my skin. "I intend to clean it up, just as you asked."

And he dropped the towel to the tile.

"Why… Shadow? Why do you do that to me…" I shook my head and yanked another towel from the rack, quickly covering myself as I watched him wipe up the floor.

"It's cute how flustered you get."

"Cute!?"

"Yes, cute. And sexy. But, I'm not about to put any of my body parts inside you while you're under the influence of alcohol." He let out a small laugh. "How many times am I gonna have to wipe water off a bathroom floor?"

"It's only been twice."

"Might as well become a maid. I think I'm good at it." He stood and handed me the now soaked towel. "Might wanna put this in the dryer. Unless you're up for making up a story for lover-boy in the other room."

"Just get out, Shadow."

I had no more patience.

I needed more of him, and he knew it. He's using it to play with me.

He huffed and turned around. "You know, you can always tell me to stop."

I didn't say anything back. I knew telling him no was an option.

But why couldn't the word ever come out of my mouth?