Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this fic, SEGA does, I believe. :3
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Chapter Two // Wrath with a Cheerful Tone, Envy with a Persistent Feel.
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Strangely, the first thing Amy cursed at in the morning was the fact that the bed she occupied was placed underneath the only window in the room. The thin curtains that hung as a decoration for said window weren't enough to keep the strong sunlight from hitting her eyes, causing a rude awakening with the rose hedgehog. She didn't feel like suffocating herself with her pillow to coax herself into falling asleep again, so she sat up, finding that Shadow hadn't moved an inch since she saw him last night. Rolling her eyes and unwilling to think of the possibilities of how the male hedgehog could maintain that position without getting sore, she reached for the empty ice cream tub. At the same time, Amy took note that it was already 10:42 AM, unaware that in the process of forcefully bringing the container closer, her headband fell noiselessly to the floor underneath her bed.
The pink hedgehog padded as silently as she could across the room to exit it and travel to the kitchen, where she would whip up a 'thank you' brunch for those that dared to help her. After dumping the tub into the trash can and dropping the spoon in the sink, Amy pulled out the appropriate pans and utensils in order to start. As she set down the last pan on the stove, she inhaled deeply while patting both of her cheeks lightly. Pull yourself together, Amy! You're stronger than how you were acting last night. No one person is going to bring you down. And with her little pep talk, she began to crack a few eggs into a bowl as the start of a wonderfully delicious cheese omelet.
Rouge's sensitive hearing picked up on movement and familiar humming coming from the floor beneath her bedroom. If there was some commotion this early in the morning, it meant her best friend was already awake from being unable to sleep further. Amy was never able to stay still for too long anyhow. Untangling herself from her lover's steel embrace, the female bat sleepily made her way into the kitchen to see if her assumption was correct. Loud chopping alarmed the bat as soon as she stepped close enough to hear the distinct noises coming from the kitchen, so she cautiously poked her head in to see Amy hacking away at a wooden cutting board full of what looked like a pile of cut up fruit. The hedgehog halted in her vicious attack at what was to be a fruit salad before her to see who was at the doorway, finding her semi-frightened best friend. "Good morning, Rouge!"
"Christ, Amy! I thought someone was severing heads in here or something!"
The rose hedgehog could only grin toothily and nonchalantly unwedge the knife she was using from the wooden board that held the miniature pieces of fruit. "Sorry, just making a fruit salad that helped in taking out my anger. Teehee."
Rouge sighed and walked into the kitchen to get herself some bottled water. "I'm glad that you're starting to feel better, but I think you should take it up with a stress ball or something because I want my belongings to last, hm?"
"Right. Sorry again."
"It's alright," the female bat replied with a grin, sneaking a peek at what was in the remaining pans on the stove, "I'm guessing that you're almost done by the looks of it."
"Yeah, pretty much! Just have to throw these into a bowl, and I'll be done. You don't mind calling the two sleepyheads, right?"
"Not at all, hun. I'll be right back, considering Knuckles was complaining about going to sleep on an empty stomach last night." she giggled as she hurried off to fetch the other two occupants of the apartment.
Amy smiled as her best friend disappeared, transferring all the food from the pans and the cutting board to corresponding plates and bowls, and arranging them as nicely as she could on the dining table. So she wouldn't wear herself out later on by washing all the dishes at the same time, the pink hedgehog took the time waiting for the others to join her to wash the pans and utensils she used, suddenly freezing in place when she had a knife in hand. Should she even think of it? Would she even brave enough to follow through with it? Her imagination ran wild with outcomes if she dared to run the blade along the length of her arm. Would there be pain, or an adrenaline rush?
Before she could find the answers to her questions, Rouge returned with a heavy sigh, startling the hedgehog and leaving the blade to clatter against the metallic surface of the sink. Amy stood as inconspicuously as she could, fiddling with the edge of the frilly apron she wore so that her outfit wouldn't gain any stains from cooking. The female bat strolled over to one of the upper cupboards, sighing once more, "Ames, you don't mind if I bring the food to Knuckles, right?"
"Not at all, why?" she almost squeaked nervously, clasping her hands together as she walked over to the dining table to distract herself from her previous thoughts.
"He's too stubborn to get out of bed, so I might as well offer food to the Knucklehead as a way to apologize for not feeding him."
"Oh, um, okay."
"But Shadow got up, so he's probably on his way downstairs by now," the ebony hedgehog then made his entrance, instantly retrieving a mug from the same cupboard to fill it with newly brewed coffee, "Speak of the devil. Aren't you going to have some of the buffet that Amy made for us, Shadow?"
"No." he replied bluntly as he faced the coffee machine, taking one long sip of his drink.
"Hmph, have it your way, sourpuss." she sneered, then making her way to exit the kitchen, "Thanks for the food, Ames! I bet it'll be delicious as it smells, but if it makes me fat, you owe me money for the gym!" she chuckled, giving Shadow's back the bird and blowing Amy a kiss before she disappeared once more.
The pink hedgehog smiled to no one in particular as she helped herself to whatever she felt like eating on her plate. Shadow surprised her by planting himself in the chair across from where she sat, following her example by dumping small amounts on his own plate. They ate wordlessly, and, from this, Amy noticed that the male hedgehog had a healthy appetite because he even went for seconds. A bit of happiness bubbled within her. Someone other than her closest friends, excluding the blue blur, enjoyed the food she made through her hard work. Sonic never complied with going to her house every time she said she had a whole dinner planned out, and even though she didn't directly ask Shadow to eat, he ate on his own accord, though he said 'no' initially. If she had pondered on the thought further, she would probably burst into tears, making the relationship between the two hedgehogs even worse. Ever since she had overheard their conversation, Amy was quite aware that the ebony hedgehog hated seeing her like this.
Her appetite soon died along with the thoughts of her once blue hero and his actions and decisions, causing her to lower her utensils and place them off to the side. Shadow was almost done himself, so she decided on putting everything into containers that she could fit them in the refrigerator. Upon popping the last piece of bacon on his plate into his mouth, he abruptly stood up, stacking empty plates within reach and carrying them over to the sink. He paused when his gaze landed on the lone knife lying there, wondering why everything else was washed besides the blade. He wasn't stupid, but he was quick to come to conclusions, considering yesterday's events were fresh in his mind. Did she contemplate about it? Amy soon came up beside him to drop off her own pile of the ceramic plates in the sink, but was stopped by Shadow. "I'll wash."
Confusion swept the rose hedgehog's features as she locked stares with him. "N-No, it's okay! I don't mind- "
"I'll wash," he repeated with a more stern tone, easily taking the plates from her, "Just hand me whatever's dirty."
"Okay..." Amy replied uneasily, walking back to the table with hesitation.
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With Shadow on dish duty, the two found themselves on Rouge's couch in the living room in no time, resorting to watching some music channel on the flatscreen. Rouge and Knuckles had gone downstairs to open up Club Rouge, so they were practically gone for the rest of the day.
Amy was curled up at one end of the couch, knowing all too well that Shadow disliked people within his personal space. She wanted to thank the hedgehog for his offered help, but she didn't want to open her mouth, not if she was going to create further tension between them. Should I? Would he grow irritated? Sigh. There's only one way to find out...
"Shadow?" she called softly, her fingers increasingly fidgeting with one another. Why was she this nervous only around him? Did she fear breaking what little friendship they had together? Probably. He was one of the more respectable males she knew, and it made her feel a little bit special at times. More than Sonic had ever done.
"Hn?" he grunted.
"Thank you for earlier..." she said, taking a daring glance at him.
He didn't answer. Not even a grunt. Amy sighed inwardly and noticed that he increased the volume, the bass of the music currently playing causing a few of the objects by the television to shake and move centimeters from where they were originally placed. "Sh-Shadow, turn it down, please? Its hurting my ears, and Rouge's stuff might fall off the shelves!"
Desperate to save her best friend's belongings (and her hearing), she took hold of the remote which lay in between them, muting the volume entirely. "Didn't you hear me, Shad- ?"
"Oh, Sonic!"
Her grip tightened on the remote at the sound of a female's voice slicing through the silence of the room. "Wh...W-What was that?"
"The only reason why I turn up the volume when I watch television in the living room during club hours."
Amy's fingers were close to piercing through the hardened plastic, her tears threatening to escape.
"Same room, same whore. It's just fucking annoying really."
"How do you know its the same...person...?"
"Her pitch is distinguishable even when I blast the volume. Ugh, even though I don't imagine it, the noises they make are worthy of coaxing one to vomit."
She wasn't informed about this 'whore,' as Shadow called her, especially since Rouge didn't open up Club Rouge when it was one of those sleepover days. Maybe it was that person he was talking to at Twinkle Park? Amy was aware, however, that the floor beneath the female bat's apartment was simply a floor primarily consisting of bedrooms for those that couldn't feel like they could make it to the privacy of their own houses. On the verge of tears, she attempted to stand up, but was soon scooped up into a pair of familiar arms. Shadow turned off the television before they started for the guest room, where the sounds of lovemaking from below could not be heard.
"Vanity..." Amy whispered upon their entry to their 'bedroom.' The onyx hedgehog put her down gently onto the vanity table's matching chair, quick to retreat back to his own bed to plop down on it. Her hands clenched and relaxed as she repeated in her mind what she had heard just moments ago, knowing that the cerulean hedgehog was now certainly tainted. She felt bitter, or was it jealousy? Even so, she knew she was extremely angered by the thought, going to the extent of forcefully pulling the rose from its vase and roughly throwing it on the wooden surface before her. She glared maliciously at the flower, hoping it would grow darker at a faster pace. It would signify the death of her unrequited love for the male hedgehog, as corny as it seemed, but it was what she wanted, and no one was going to tell her otherwise.
Sighing as her devious thoughts eventually faded away, she curiously went through the vanity's drawers, coming across a familiar red diary with a golden lock. Her hand flew her to mouth in disbelief as she cautiously lifted the book within a more comfortable view. It was her old diary, the one she had thought she had lost years ago during her third 'Rouge sleepover.' Of course, it was easy to lose track of things when all you could think about was Sonic.
Amy chewed at her lip eagerly as she fished out her key chain from another drawer, instantly picking out the shortest key out of all of them. Her first entry was dated back to the age of eight, the same year she was saved by Sonic for the first time, also the same year her crush on the hedgehog began. She laughed to herself as she read it, considering her greeting in the first entry spelled out 'Dear Dairy.' The entry was written with a child-ish sense, making Amy both happy and sad, knowing she was once infatuated with the blue blur.
After skimming through a few of the entries, she then flipped through the prized book until she reached a blank page, an entry already forming within her thoughts. She tugged the pen that came with it free from its designated place in the diary, popping the cap off to scribble away pieces of her personal thoughts onto the awaiting page. Doodles and little phrases littered the margins that she didn't write in, most of them a bit morose for the normally bubbly pink hedgie. Content with her session of venting, she locked up the little book, placing it back in the drawer she had found it in.
A light snore coming from the direction of Shadow's blackened bed then caught her attention, causing her to turn so she could see if the hedgehog was really asleep. His position may have looked uncomfortable with his legs partially dangling off the side of the bed and him twisting his torso so that he could rest the side of his face on a pillow, but he had truly gone off to his dreamland. Was he that tired to go back to sleep in the afternoon? Amy then thought up the idea of correcting his placement and tucking him in as a way to repay him for what he had done the previous night. Rising herself from the chair, she crept over to his bed as quietly as she could, watching him to see if he could be woken up easily. When she didn't receive a reaction from him upon coming within centimeters of his bed, she went for his legs first, careful with swinging them over the height of the bed and laying them down in line with the rest of his body. Getting the blanket free from under the onyx hedgehog took a lot of effort from her, since he was heavier than he looked, but she somehow managed to cover him with his silky blanket.
The rose hedgehog admired her work from where she stood, giggling when she noticed Shadow looked angry even as he slept. His eyebrows were still in their knotted manner, so she ran the pads of her thumbs over his brow to coax them into relaxing for once. A couple of tries was all it took until his features softened, causing her curiosity to heighten. He looks kind of cute...
There was a slight hint of jasmine mingling with the air surrounding the male hedgehog, to which she considered he could've either gotten a hold of Rouge's scented soap, or because Rouge did the laundry. She liked it, however, since she was never in someone's personal space for this long to catch a whiff of their usual scent. The jasmine aroma grew stronger as Amy neared his sleeping form, though she stopped halfway from getting too close. Her dreamy smile was altered into that of a small frown, due to the thoughts that then flooded her mind. N-No, Amy, you can't do this to yourself again. Distract yourself, distract yourself...
Her hands instantly retracted to her body when she found her finger drawing closer to his lips from tracing the edges of his muzzle. It became difficult to swallow as she slowly backed away, feeling a small pang in her chest. He wouldn't even... Just because he shows that he cares a little more than Sonic, doesn't mean you should fall for him.
Biting her bottom lip, she was forced to take refuge in her temporary bed because of two hedgehogs that weren't aware of what they were doing to her emotional state. She found herself drifting off soon enough, resulting in her own light snore. Shadow, who completely faked his sleeping charade, sat up at the sound, knowing all too well that Amy herself was a heavy sleeper. His fingers lightly re-traced the path that she had created on his cheek as he threw his covers off of his body to saunter quietly to the vanity in search for the book he had watched Amy scrawl endlessly in. Rouge didn't have to know that he was merely trying to find ways to push Amy in the direction of finding happiness without the faker, so he did it sneakily around the female bat, but a tad more openly when they were left alone. Not caring the least bit that he was invading someone's privacy, he opened up the book with the only key that seemed to fit the lock, then taking a seat that she had previously sat in.
November 20th, 2001
Dear Charlie Ray, (Yes, I gave you a name now! I hope you like it. :] )
I'll fall in love with him, too. I just know it. Rouge is forcing him to be nice, and I'll end up
surrendering to my feelings once more. I don't want to take the risk of having my feelings
thrown in my face again. I may be judging every male as if they were all the same, but it
hurts. It truly does.
...Is it because I'm pink? Sigh. That's why I always hated anything and everything pink,
especially myself.
Is it masochistic of me to for myself to fix a buffet for my friends, knowing that they will
smile? They don't know that their happy attitudes only increase my pain because I can't
smile myself because of all this misery. Am I being too dramatic in describing how I
feel? Maybe simply overreacting with the heavy feeling my whole body is slowly succumb-
ing to? My body so sluggish and overcome by a nagging feeling that anyone could bat
away easily? Perhaps, but what I'm saying is true. I'm hurting, and, unlike everyone else,
I can't escape it. I'm not strong enough as some people believe.
My Charlie Ray, save me from myself when the time comes.
I don't want my friends to mirror this pain that I'm close to surrendering to.
You've been a good friend for listening to my banter (and past squealing, haha),
Amelia Rose.
The entry rendered the male hedgehog speechless. There was so much information he had to take in, despite the fact it was only a page of thoughts from the pink hedgehog. But only one thing was made crystal clear to him, and he already had his response in mind. Taking the pen, he advanced to the end of the book, printing his own reply on the last page before placing everything back to the way he found it.
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End Chapter Two.
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(Gaaah! I'm so sorry if this chapter doesn't really live up to the first!)
Even though I got two reviews for the first chapter, I still decided to move on with this story. :]
They were that encouraging. Thank you so much!
Ohh, please review! It'll come in handy if I'm feeling too down to go on! -dramatically falls to the floor-
Hehe. :3
Maschera di Miseria has signed off.