Chapter Seven

The Date

That Evening Rouge stood in front of her full length mirror looking at the way she was dressed, she had changed out of her black trousers, and top with the pink and white heart-shaped chest plate and was wearing a long black evening gown.

It clung to her body lining every part of her perfect form, there was a split on the bottom that showed off her silky smooth tan legs, and the front was low showing her perfect ample cleavage. She then began to brush her white hair letting it sit on her slender smooth shoulders, she sure looked the belle of the ball yet she felt very strange inside.

She was happy that Knuckles was being nice to her, yet she felt like she was betraying Shadow, "Oh Shadow" she whispered "I hope you don't think I'm cheating on you, I'm only accepting Knuckle's kindness, he seemed caring, knowing I feel devastated at your loss" she sighed, as she did, she heard the doorbell ring. Rouge quickly checked herself, then snatched up her small glittery handbag then ran down the stairs to the front door.

When she reached the front door she opened it and there on the steps stood Knuckles, he was wearing a dark brown suit with a white shirt underneath and a red bow tie. He had even tidied his spines and must have put some shiner on them to make them look shiny.

"Hey Rouge" he said smiling, Rouge smiled back "you look nice Knuckles" she said, "thanks" said Knuckles "and you look gorgeous" "Rouge smiled again, "thanks" she said "so…shall we?" asked Knuckles, he held up his elbow so Rouge could take it. Rouge wrapped her hand around Knuckle's arm and they began to walk towards the town.

When they reached the restaurant, Rouge stared at the large glittering lights above the restaurant spelling out 'Moonlight Fountains' Knuckles lead Rouge in through the doors where a smartly dressed Racoon was standing.

"Table for two please under the name Echidna" said Knuckles, the raccoon nodded "right this way" he said, he lead Knuckles and Rouge to a table in the corner. Rouge looked around the restaurant, she really loved this place, even though it was expensive she did love it.

The restaurant had a large fountain with shining lights in it making it sparkle, there were also fountains against the walls, and the table's clothes were moonlight blue and white. She saw a couple of Mobians, a male Mole and his girlfriend a yellow canary throwing a coin in the water to make a wish.

Rouge sighed, then turned to where Knuckles had pulled her chair out for her, Rouge smiled in thanks and sat down, the raccoon then smiled and said "I will be over shortly to take your order" he said handing them some menus. Knuckles looked at Rouge, "I see why you like it here" Rouge nodded, Knuckles looked around the place and said "sure is unique, yet lovely"

Rouge nodded "that's way I love it so much" she said, she began to fiddle with the silver cutlery. Knuckles was just about to say something else when the raccoon appeared holding a notepad. "Can I get you some drinks?" he asked. "Yes please" said Knuckles "a pint of beer please" he said "and I'll just have a glass of water" said Rouge; she usually had wine when she went out, but being pregnant she decided to keep away from the booze.

"Of course" said the raccoon, "and you ready to order?" Knuckles looked at Rouge who said "I'll have the steak please? With potatoes and mixed vegetables?" the raccoon wrote it down on his pad, then looked at Knuckles "and I'll have the chicken with potatoes and mixed vegetables" he said. The raccoon then nodded and walked off.

Whilst they waited for their food, Knuckles looked at Rouge, "so Rouge" he said "it's been over a month since we defeated the Metarex…." Rouge nodded "yes" she said "it has been over a month, yet everything seems to have gone back to normal, everything seems like it was before"

"Except for Sonic though" said Knuckles as he rand his finger over the rim of his beer glass "the blue blur hasn't been himself at all since Chris was murdered by Eggman" Rouge sighed again as she thought of the funeral they had for the boy. "I just wish I had convinced Chris to start building right away" said Knuckles sadly, "if I had that Eggman wouldn't have lured him"

Rouge looked at Knuckles "don't blame yourself" she said "it's not your fault, Eggman doesn't give up, he's not the person who would, I know that doctor pretty well" Knuckles looked at Rouge and nodded, he knew the white bat knew Eggman well. "Poor Chris" knuckles continued, "I bet his family are still wondering if he'll ever come back, then they realise what happened to him"

Rouge shrugged then sipped her water, she still had Shadow on her mind, "do you ever wonder if Shadow may still be alive?" she asked Knuckles out of the blue. Knuckles's violet eyes widened "Erm…" he said "I dunno…" Rouge shook her head "you must think I'm stupid but, I miss him so much…I don't know why I said that…."

Knuckles opened his mouth to speak, but he didn't get a chance to say something when the Raccoon appeared holding two plate of food, "dinner is served" he said placing the two plates of food down on the place mats. Rouge nodded in thanks and began to slowly cut into her steak.

Knuckles then began to speak again, "I know you're thinking about Shadow and how much you miss him" he said "but you gotta remember…he was a hero…and a great one too…he gave his life to save us…." Rouge felt tears start to appear but she tried to hold them in as she heard Knuckles's words.

She placed some steak into her mouth, then chewed, the meat clogged in her mouth, her mouth had gone dry from her sadness, she took a sip of her water, but it didn't give her moisture to wash away the dryness. Knuckles noticed she was looking sad. "Rouge…?"

Rouge looked up at Knuckles, "I'm sorry…" she whispered "but he did mean a lot to me…even if we were allies….he saved my life many times, not just from the Metarex, but from other dangers…" she bit her lip as a single tear fell. Knuckles reached across and touched her hand across the table.

"Rouge" he said in a comforting voice, "it's ok….I understand" Rouge nodded at him silently in thanks as she wiped her tear, as Knuckles stroked her hand his beer glass suddenly tipped over and poured all over his trousers. Knuckles jumped up and swore loudly, as he did, a few people at their tables turned to look at him.

Rouge looked up surprised, "how did that happen?" she asked "I dunno" said Knuckles looking at the beer soaking through his brown trousers, "dammit!" he looked up at Rouge "be right back, I gotta clean this up" Rouge nodded and watched as he ran to the bathroom to dry his trousers. She then looked at the fallen glass and wondered how it had fallen.

Later that evening, Knuckles walked with Rouge back to her apartment, "I had lovely evening thanks Knuckles" said Rouge. Knuckles nodded as he stood at Rouge's door with her.

"You wanna come out again?" Knuckles asked as Rouge fumbled in her handbag to look for her house key, she found it and placed it in the lock. "I…" said Rouge "ok…sure why not?" "Cool" said Knuckles with a smile, his eyes wondering up and down Rouge's slender body admiring her curves.

"I'll take you to the park tomorrow, maybe lunch?" "Ok" said Rouge, "twelve suits me" she added. "Great" said Knuckles, he leaned towards Rouge to kiss her, but Rouge stopped him. "…s…sorry Knuckles…" she said blushing "I...I'm sorry...I don't feel...". Knuckles looked disappointed but he nodded "it's ok…" he said "I'm sorry too" Rouge smiled again as she opened the door "thanks again for a lovely evening" she said as she walked inside leaving Knuckles standing on the step.

Oh...Knuckles is pretty forward! And I wonder how the glass tipped over?

Let me know what you think!