MY STORY. IT LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVES! Hi guys. I got stumped on how to start this chapter for the longest time and was only able to write a lil bit out before I got swamped by life and school and completely lost my thoughts for how I was gonna write this out. Yesterday I happened to get a response to a review on a story I'd read and one of my favorite Sonic authors wanted to collab with me. I explained to her that I was stuck and she offered to jump on a google doc with me and finish the next chapter. She did most of Amy's parts and a good bit of Silver's part near the end of the chapter. I really hope you guys enjoy this update. And please go give wwwfanfictionnet/u/2058267/ IslandoftheMidnightSun some love! I'm very grateful for her help and couldn't have done this without her. Now ONWARD! Remember to R&R and if you have any ideas for the next chapter feel free to message me ^w^
"From there I kept advancing making progress on my own. Shadow kept up to date through conversations on the phone." -Silver T. Hedgehog
After a delicious lunch, of which Silver spent more time watching Sonic scarf it down rather than eating his own, Silver was content to wander back into the living room for a little TV. He was excited to get down to the next episode of Grimm, right up until he tripped over the precious "Memory Reminder" still on the floor. Sonic, having heard the crash of Silver's fall, came rushing into the living room.
"Silver, what happened? Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just tripped over Binder."
"Whoops, I guess I was so excited for chilidogs I forgot to move it off the floor. Sorry Silv."
By this point, Silver had already picked up Binder and opened to the page with the piece of paper Sonic had left in it.
"It's alright." The ivory hedgehog cast a quick glance at the photo album then pointed at a picture.
"Is this the photo you wanted to look at next?"
The photo was of them at the entrance to a museum. Sonic stood in front of the door with his classic trademark thumbs up pose, and Silver stood just behind him with his body turn slightly to the right but his head turned to back to the left. The funny thing about it was that Silver was staring none too subtly at Sonic with an adoring gaze in his eyes. Shadow had teased him endlessly about it but the memory was too precious for Silver to dash so the picture had been kept.
"Yeah, I wanted to know how you actually felt about the trip since Amy bugged us the whole way there, " Sonic came to sit by Silver as he spoke.
Silver leaned back against the couch, staring upward as he slipped into another pose of reminiscence.
Today was the day. Today he was another step closer to his dreams. Sure this wasn't exactly a real date but he was going somewhere with Sonic today so Silver had reason to rejoice. The Museum of Natural Chaos was opening that warm spring day and it'd be interesting to see what information would be awaiting them on the subject. The best part about it was Sonic had invited Silver to come see it with him. Naturally Silver's response was riddled with panic. The moderate freckling of blushing and stuttering certainly didn't help and he couldn't be anymore embarrassed about it. But the invitation held true and he was on his way to meet up with the blue hero in Twinkle Park before walking to the MNC.
Silver stepped into the park checking his digital watch. He was five minutes passed their agreed upon time. Usually Silver would be extremely punctual, especially for the love his life. But this morning he went to extra lengths to tame his quills and no one could fault him for wanting to look good. He felt along his painstakingly smoothed down quills as he looked around nervously for his hero. Upon failing to find the speedster he assumed that Sonic had taken a run around the park while he waited for his (hopefully soon to be more than) friend. Silver smiled in a small amount of satisfaction as he watched a blue blur heading in his direction and realized he'd guessed right.
"Silver!" There came the shout in the ivory hedgehog's direction as the speedster slowed to a stop in front of him. "Hey man, what took you so-oh!" Sonic stopped to take in Silver's smoothed down quills.
"You didn't have to go and gel your quills up. I like em' just fine the way they are. Though I have to admit you did a really good job. I almost did think you could bend those back so straight."
"Thanks. I just...wanted to look good today." A blush accompanied Silver's shy response. He was surprised to be met with boyish laughter.
"You look good every day Silv. Anywho you wanna get some ice cream before we go? I passed a vendor while I was running."
Fighting down a blush in response to the compliment Silver smiled brightly and replied, "Sure! Could we just take a walk? It's a lovely day and I'd hate to waste all the effort I put into my quills."
"Sure thing buddy. It's back this way." Sonic set off down the sidewalk a little further into the park.
They walked together for awhile enjoying the sunshine and clean air. Silver stopped once to admire a cute little pair of squirrels and didn't notice the way Sonic smiled at the expression on his face. They continued down the path and they were about halfway there when Sonic broke their comfortable silence to ask what flavor of ice cream Silver would like.
"Hmm...Well to be honest I haven't eaten a whole lot of ice cream in my time here. Vanilla is pretty great and I'm not a hater of chocolate. Other than that I don't really know."
"Well they have this really interesting flavor of lemon sherbert. Wanna try some?"
Silver pondered it for a moment before replying, "Yeah, I think I'd like that."
The vendor came into sight and Sonic turned to give Silver a bright grin before running just a lil bit ahead of him to join the line. Silver took the opportunity to hide his smile at Sonic's antics before taking a spot by the hero's side. They smiled at the little girl in front of them who was happy to get her ice cream before it was their turn.
"Well hello there. What would you two fine young hogs like?" The friendly round man running the booth gave them a smile.
Silver's anxiety kicked in but in typical hero fashion Sonic saved him the embarrassment of opening his mouth. "Two lemon sherberts, please. It'll be my friend's first time trying the flavor." Sonic jerked a thumb in Silver's direction.
"Sure thing boys." The vendor was quick about getting them both a decently sized cone.
Sonic watched Silver with eager eyes hoping he'd like the flavor as much as he did. Blushing under his gaze Silver took a hesitant lick of his ice cream. Sonic had the pleasure of seeing his eyes widen in amazement. "It's sour but yummy. I like it a lot."
"Ho ho ho, I'm glad you like it my boy. You two take those free of charge. Have a nice day now!"
"Really? Thanks so much mister!" Silver's eager response combined with his brilliant smile could brighten anyone's day. Sonic wasn't going to say that out loud though so he grinned, thanked the vendor and turned with his companion to walk to a nearby bench.
Taking a few deep licks of his sherbert as they walked, Silver didn't realize the hero tense beside him. A shock of pink stood further down the park trail, marring the beautiful scenery. Amy skipped down the trail her eyes bright until she met Silver's gaze. The preteen girl gave Silver a barely concealed scowl as she bounced up to the cobalt hero and enveloped him in a bone crushing hug. Sputtering, Sonic grimaced with a nervous smile when Amy made a show of nuzzling against him. Sending a dark look Silver's way Amy grinned.
"Sonic! You never told me you would be at Twinkle Park. I understand though…" Amy fluttered her eyelashes giving the albino a smirk as she rested her head on Sonic's chest.
" You probably didn't want to draw too much attention being with someone like Silver."
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Silver gave her a half insulted half confused look.
Completely ignoring him, Amy looked up and noticed the ice cream that Sonic was trying to keep from melting on her. Turning, she saw the ice cream in Silver's palm.
"Sonic, you never took me out for ice cream before! I've known you longer than Silver has!"
Gently removing her from his arms Sonic took a moment to compose himself and lick up a few stray drops of his ice cream before it melted onto his hand. He looked over and noticed Silver angrily licking at his ice cream to keep from saying something mean. This upset him more than he thought it should have but he didn't know why. Turning back to the pink hedgehog and violently resisting his urge to say that he had no reason to tell her anything he said, "We weren't really supposed to be at the park today Ames. We were gonna go check out the new museum. The ice cream was an afterthought cuz Silver got here a lil late." He cast a glance at Silver and they both shared a look of regret because he'd just spilled their plans to her.
'For the world's fastest moving hedgehog you'd think my brain would be able to move fast enough to figure out ways to placate a brat without screwing the day up for myself. So much for a nice quiet day Sonic.' The blue hero's inner voice had to stop berating him at the sound of Amy's voice.
Huffing, Amy crossed her arms and fixed Sonic with an intense look. "I forgive you Sonic," The pink nuisance stated and stood beside them with obviously no intention of leaving.
Silver took this as an opportunity to quit stuffing ice cream in his face and speak up.
"Well if that's all we're gonna go ahead and go do what we originally planned. I guess we'll see you later." He made a show of grabbing Sonic's arm and attempted to pull him along.
"Did you hear something?" Grabbing Sonic's hand the pink hedgehog began to attempt to drag the now nervous hero down the opposite trail. Sonic fumbled with his ice cream, almost spilling some on Silver's side as he was jerked. Looking over at Silver's face he could already see how close the ivory was to exploding. Deciding he'd had enough the blue hero pulled himself free of both of them fixing a stern expression on his face.
"Look Amy. I don't think Silver or I have done much to warrant such a bad attitude and you're being really rude. I did make plans with him today and he's right in saying that we should go do what we planned to. You're welcome to join us but please stop jerking me around. The guy was nice enough to give us this ice cream for free and I'd hate to drop it." He punctuated the end of his statement with a pointed lick to his ice cream. Silver, placated by Sonic's mature way of handling the situation, resumed putting ice cream into his mouth.
"I am your girlfriend Sonic, and here I find you only spending time with Silver." Reluctantly Amy let go of Sonic's arm.
Sonic knew he ought to have corrected that statement but it would result in hours of arguing and running that they did not have time for. They should've left the park two minutes ago if they wanted to get a decent head start to the museum before it opened. "What's wrong with me spending time with him? He's a good friend. He's shy and from an entirely different time. He's had a hard time adjusting it's good for me to spend time with him and let him adjust. As I said you are welcome to join us but I'm going to keep my word and go with him. That's all Amy." He began walking towards the park's exit with the ivory hedgehog in tow. They made it a point to finish their ice cream before anything else happened.
Amy caught up to the two male hedgehogs before her and moved to be as close to Sonic as possible.
Pulling the map out of his quills Sonic opened it up. "I wanted us to meet at the park cuz from what I can make of the map the route from here to the museum should be the easiest to follow. We have to cross the street and turn right in two blocks."
Silver listened attentively and nodded as his hero spoke. Peeking at the map he noted how confusing it looked. If he had to guess he'd say they probably gotten one that was printed close to the ink running out.
"Geez who wrote this map. It's like they couldn't find a flat surface and went nuts with the sharpie." Amy leaned over Sonic's shoulder obnoxiously.
Silver being incredibly salty about the way she'd treated him at the park and forcing herself along for this date took the opportunity to make a quip, "Well Amy if your chest was available I'm sure they would've used it. But what are you gonna do?"
Sonic violently bit his tongue to keep from laughing and quietly admired Silver's bravery to say something like that.
Royally ticked off by this Amy shot back, "Oh that's RICH coming from a guy whose quills usually look like marijuana! Sonic are you going to let him talk to me like that!"
Clearing his throat of any remaining laughter Sonic calmly replied, "Well you were pretty mean to him back at the park so you had that coming. Now if you two are done bickering can we find the museum please?"
Silver was of course more than happy to appease Sonic so he made some suggestions about the confusing bit of map. Amy however wasn't going to drop the fight so easily so rather than name calling she resorted to arguing with him about directions.
'Ugh...this is gonna be a long walk." Sonic resigned himself to his fate in his mind.
After an hour of bickering, backtracking, and failed attempts at calming the tension they arrived at the MNC. Sonic was very happy to see a familiar hedgehog waiting outside the entrance and used his appearance to escape the bickering of the two beside him.
"Hey Shads! You here for the opening too?" Sonic waved on his way over to the ebony hedgehog.
"Well my entire life is based off of Chaos. I wouldn't wanna miss this," Shadow stated this matter of factly. "I see you and Silver came together." The black hedgehog lowered his voice considerably for his next choice of words. "Did Amy force herself along?"
Sonic shook his head in frustration and replied, his own voice equally low, "You know it. That girl is more stubborn than Knuckles when he doesn't wanna admit he's wrong. Her ability to find me is more accurate than any tracking device Tails could make. I can't win."
"Hm. The two of them don't look like they plan to stop bickering."
"Do you think you could do something about that Shads? I tried the whole way here."
"Oi! You two stop bickering and get over here. I wanna take some pictures before we go in."
Many pictures were taken. Shadow was in a few of them. Amy forced her way into most of them. Shadow somehow convinced her to stand aside for a few pics of Sonic and Shadow and a few pics of Sonic and Silver.
"That was when he managed to get the picture in Binder. I need to find the rest of those pictures."
Silver paused his recollection for a moment as he thought about all the pictures that had been taken.
"Yeah I just wish he hadn't wandered off when he did to take pics around the museum. Amy might've left you alone then. I still can't believe she said that to you." Both hedgehogs frowned at the recollection of what had happened next.
Entering the museum together the four hedgehogs looked around. Despite the museum being small the exhibits and replicas were pretty accurate. Knuckles kept most of the sacred stuff to himself but science made up for the most of the workings of the information and a few detailed images of the Master Emerald stood in a little center exhibit.
"Guys I gotta hit the bathroom. I'll be back in a bit." Sonic made a beeline for the nearest restroom as he said this leaving the others to continue looking around.
"Huh they even got information on the Master Emerald. I'm gonna go take some pictures. I'll be back." Shadow began drifting amongst the different exhibits. He took particular interest in an exhibit that explained the different colors of the emeralds and what they represented.
This left Silver and Amy awkwardly standing together. Silver, uninterested in another fight moved away from her and began to look around the museum. Amy did this for a little while as well. The quiet was relaxing and Silver took the time to view the information in each exhibit. He stopped in front of a rather uninteresting one and took some time to think about everything that had gone right today. As he was building up his confidence and reassuring himself that he'd somehow salvage the day, Amy chose this moment to reappear.
"I think it's time we had a little chat you and I."
Silver did not like the tone in her voice and uninterested in fighting anymore than they had today he tried to cut the conversation early, "I don't see what we could have to talk about. Look I'm sorry for the comment about your tits. That was rude of me but you haven't been very nice to me either so it made us even. Let's stop here okay? I don't think Sonic likes it very much that we're at each other's throats and I don't like to disappoint him."
"That's exactly what I wanted to talk to you about. Disappointing Sonic I mean. Don't you think what you're doing is wrong?"
This caught Silver off guard. "What do you mean?"
"Don't play dumb Silver. I see the way you look at him and how you're always blushing. These excuses and little outings? You're just trying to get him to see you in a way that he shouldn't. You should stop before you ruin things between you or hurt him."
SIlver wasn't happy about this conversation but he was going to defend himself. "Look I don't really know or care how you found out but you don't own Sonic. He's a great guy and deserves to be happy with whoever he wants and you seem to be unable to take the hint that he doesn't want you. I might not exactly be in the best position for the running but at least he doesn't avoid me because I'm considerate of his feelings. You can't make me stop liking him and you can't make him like you."
Amy completely dropped the concerned friend act here. "Ha! He doesn't like me? He's always been a little romantically shy is all. What makes you think he'd be happy with a freak like you anyway? I don't know how things were back in your time but guys liking guys is unnatural. Blaze should've taught you that but you had to go and get her killed. You're pathetic! You freak out over a little bit of fire and he has to run into it to save lives! And why should I let you anywhere near my Sonic knowing that? You might do the same to him or worse give him aids you sick freak!" She punctuated the end of her sentence by jabbing him hard in the chest with her finger.
Silver had heard enough. Slapping her hand away he didn't even bother responding. He took off out the doors of the museum. What Amy failed to realize is that Sonic had been approaching behind them having come back from the bathroom. He hadn't heard what was said but had seen Silver start to cry and run off.
"Amy what happened? What did you say to Silver?"
"Oh Sonic! I am so glad you are back. Silver is out of control." Amy gestured to the direction that Silver had fled and crossed her arms whilst tilting her nose in the air.
"As soon as you left he insulted me, and he had the nerve to say that you don't love me!" Shifting her weight, the pink hedgehog met the eyes of the speedster sternly.
"I just had to set him straight."
Sonic had had enough. First the park then all the bickering and now she'd made him cry. He'd never seen her so rude and would not tolerate it. "Silver never attacks unless he's attacked. Considering the way you've been acting all day I wouldn't be surprised if you said something to him first. And even then whatever you said to him made him cry Amy. Silver rarely cries unless it's about something really important to him. You've been extremely rude all day and nobody deserves that!" Sonic stared her down sternly daring her to try to justify her actions.
"Sonic, you know that I don't take insults from anyone. If he can't take the heat then he should get out." Amy snapped placing her hands on her hips .
"Saying that I don't love you isn't an insult Amy. That's him saying honestly what he thinks and as a decent friend he would tell you so you don't get hurt. You're so busy trying to fight with him you couldn't even realize that!" Sonic threw his hands up in frustration. "You know what Amy. Go home and figure yourself out. I can't be around you when you're in this testy mood. You've been like this all day and nobody needs this. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go find my friend." With that he shoved past her and stopped by the door attendant to ask if he'd seen which way Silver went. Then he took off hoping to find him before something went wrong.
Running at a more human pace so as not miss his friend Sonic ran for at least two blocks looking into allies before he saw a flash of white partially hidden by a cardboard box. As he approached he could make out the sound of muffled sobbing.
Curled up, Silver shook cradling his face in his arms. Hearing footsteps the ivory hedgehog looked up with watery eyes to see Sonic bending down to his level. Embarrassed at crying in front of the one he loved, Silver attempted wipe his face with his pale arms only to find that he couldn't hold back his tears.
"I'm sorry... Sonic." Silver sniffed apologizing for being unable to stop crying in front of the other.
" There's nothing to be sorry about Silv. Tell me what happened." The hero carefully rubbed circles on Silver's shoulders being mindful of his back quills. Calming down slightly Silver mumbled softly.
" She is right. It's my fault. I...I should have been stronger."
Confused emerald eyes surveyed the melancholic look in Silver's eyes before Sonic joined the other on the floor of the alley.
"Don't listen to Amy. Whatever she said was just to rile you up."
Silver turned away as fresh tears threatened to escape from him. Fearing that he had been insensitive to Silver's feelings Sonic struggled to comfort the young time traveler.
"It's okay, just tell me. Let it out." Sonic scooted closer and continued to expertly rub the skin beneath Silver's back quills reassuringly. Patiently he waited until Silver could find the words to express himself.
"Sonic.. Blaze would be alive today if I was stronger. She shouldn't have had to sacrifice herself."
He paused before speaking again the weight of his pain causing voice to break, "It's my fault."
A dark look crossed Sonic's face as he guessed exactly what Amy had implied. Clenching his left fist he continued to massage the other as a deep set scowl crossed his face.
"That's not true," Sonic stated sternly. It was rare for the speedster to be overcome with anger. Silver shivered at the tone and turned to see the dark expression on the face of his hero.
"Listen to me. Blaze sacrificed herself so you could make the future, the world a better place. She did what she could and you did your best. Don't blame yourself for the past. You have to carry on with your head held high. If you let the weight of the past crush you how can you see your bright future? You're doing what she wanted you to by living, by smiling, by being happy. Don't crush yourself with the guilt of her loss. She wouldn't want that for you. And how can you say you aren't strong? Didn't you fight together with me and Shadow just after losing her? The grief alone would've killed some people. Don't ever tell me you're not strong enough," Pausing, Sonic gently tilted Silver's chin, to look deep into those liquid amber eyes before stating the utmost truth, "You're one of the strongest people I know." Sonic spoke with such vigor and earnestness Silver could only cry harder in response. He threw himself into Sonic's arms emptying all his pain with his tears.
Hugging back Sonic felt the hot wet tears on his chest and held back his own tears as he squeezed Silver tightly. "That's it. Let it all out. Never forget that I'm here for you."
They sat like that for several minutes before Silver calmed down. Sonic wiped Silver's tears and offered him his hand as he stood. "Come on. Let's get back. Shadow's probably worried."
The walk back to the museum was a quiet one. Silver rubbed his eyes and Sonic would occasionally pat his back and give him comforting smiles to distract him from people's questioning gazes. Even when he turned to watch the path ahead of him Sonic would still look at Silver from the corner of his. Silver had been doing well after the incident at Dunkin but after today he couldn't let things go like this.
'He's suffering more than he let on. Well... He won't be alone anymore. I'll support him, always.'
Sonic cut those thoughts short as they stepped back into the museum and a very confused Shadow stepped up to them.
"What happened? I stepped away for a few minutes and when I turned back around Silver was gone and Amy was standing there pissed off. She marched out of here looking like somebody questioned her about her time of the month." Shadow stopped once he caught a look at Silver's face. "Silver?"
"We'll talk about it later," Sonic was quick to intervene, "Let's finish up the museum and go have fun. We could go get something to eat after this?"
Silver nodded gratefully. "Yeah I'd like that."
Shadow was confused but went along with it. "Okay. I haven't looked at the Master Emerald exhibit yet. You wanna go see that?" Shadow moved the subject along and in no time Silver was at ease. He spent the rest of their museum trip peppering Shadow and Sonic with little questions about the emeralds and the Master. It was an interesting and fun learning experience for them all.
"I'm really glad you made him change the subject by the way. Was able to keep my smile til I got home," Silver mumbled coming out of his reverie.
"Until you got home? You didn't cry all night did you?" Sonic's concern was genuine even though the incident was long past.
"Well I did feel really down for awhile until Shadow called me screaming about the brutal ways he wanted to murder Amy. Being friends with him you learn to appreciate dark humor."
"That was my fault. He called me later asking what happened."
"Faker you have 10 seconds to spill the beans about why Silver was crying or I will end you myself."
"Calm down Shadow. That wasn't my fault. It was Amy... Don't do anything stupid but while I was in the bathroom she decided it'd be okay to blame him for Blaze's death. Told him to stay away from me cuz she didn't want the same to happen to me."
The silence on the other end was terrifying.
"Shadow?"
"...I'll call you back."
"Shadow! Wait don't-!" The dial tone was loud in Sonic's ear. 'Shit.'
"Well it just proves he's a good friend." Silver giggled at Sonic's recollection of how he thought he might've gotten Amy killed.
"I can't believe you didn't tell me she called you a freak until way later." Sonic shot his lover an accusatory glance.
"Well naturally I didn't keep that to myself I told Shadow...I just thought it was too early for you to know how I felt."
"I will cut a hole in her back tie her to a post and watch her spine slowly rip out of her. How dare she!" Shadow's ranting had been well along those lines for the past hour.
"Calm down Shadow. It's over." Silver's sigh was heavy. "Besides that's way too public and messy to clean up."
"Well I did want to tell you that I'm proud of you for standing up to her. And for doing this without me making you. You're making progress."
"Thanks Shadow."
"Mushy stuff aside, I know several other ways to kill someone without leaving marks." Shadow offered. Silver merely shook his head fondly even though the other couldn't see him and hummed in response. As Shadow continued Silver's fears and pains were put to rest to the verbal tune of blood and spilled intestines. No matter how you looked at it Shadow was a really great friend.
"He really is a great friend," Sonic agreed nodding his head before moving on, "I recognize this next picture."
"Yes. That was after our first breakup. Shadow took a picture of me when I wasn't looking. Caught me all sad and messed up with tears in my eyes. Pretty sure he showed it to you to show you how much pain I was in and that's why you came and we resolved things." A sad but mostly thoughtful look crossed the ivory's face. With his personal growth in mind he reminisced once more.