Hello there! This long-awaited update has been written though all assortments of weather: storms, humidity, gales - the lot! But which is better: the scorch of summer or the chills of conflict? Something to think about during this chapter.
Thank you very much to: TheMidnightShadow , Chrissie the hedgehog, AgentDolly/MeadowHasCome, animelover5641, Silvaze4evrand1 , PoeticLover1996, SonAmy Otaku, GuestKori, guess who, AgentDolly, The High School Hero, MoonlightStories, musicalocelot , shadamy1fan, Steve993 , Ashuradahedgehog, Eli Swafford, KumarKitty24, ToxicWolf1132, , Blackmage23, and Sonamylover6822! You guys are so amazing and I am SO grateful for your support! We've just reached over 400 reviews and I can't thank you enough for making this story come to life :D :3
Replies:
TheMidnightShadow - Truer words have never been spoken! But we won't have to wait for much longer; The Doctor lands in a few days! ;D
Chrissie the hedgehog - I'm glad you enjoyed it and I know - I want them to get back together too!
MeadowHasCome (AgentDolly) - Your review was absolutely lovely and I smiled so much whilst reading it :3 Thank you very much for your compliments and insights into the story! I don't know how to express my appreciation - words will not suffice! XD As for 'knowing what boys are feeling', well, life sure would be a lot easier! ;D Kidding, but that is a really nice thing to hear because it's naturally easier for me to write in Amy's POV, as I am female, so it's good to know that I am able to channel a male's character into my writing :D And as for me making this story amazing...you are too kind! ;3 Oh, and thank you for being understanding about my loooooong breaks. But what is this real life you speak of? ;) P.S. Sonic Couple Battles is awesome ;)
animelover5641 - And it's been a long time again! *sigh* I must admit, I had writers block for this chapter but thankfully that has gone for now! ;D Ahh, the almost kiss! I loved that ;3 DAMMIT MANIC! Well, the summer is here in a few days so HOPEFULLY there will be more frequent updates! And thank you so much! :D
Silvaze4evrand1 - Fair enough - I think I agree with that statement ;D Oooh, you're onto something! But I shall say nothing to keep the surprise! ;D Ah, I like that insult to Fiona! XD Perhaps we shall see more into Fiona's intentions in the next few chapters... ;)
PoeticLover1996 - That's a very sensible solution to this - it's a shame that they didn't follow your advice! :) Thank you very much and love ya too! ;) Oh, and I shall read and review on Don't Think They Know, Simple and Clean and XO as soon as I can! Sorry that I haven't had the time so far! But I haven't forgotten about them! :3
SonAmy Otaku - Ah, I know what you mean! I shall leave a 'Last time on: So, this is love?' at the end of the replies for you ;) Well, "I wish it could be Christmas every day" so, that last chapter allowed it to be Christmas again ;D Oh, I was considering doing that, with Sonic and Amy, but decided against it after a while. Perhaps I shall do that in the edit of Mobian Mean Girls (check my profile for a longer explanation ;D)
GuestKori - Ahhhhhh, I missed out on the cookie-month-clause! Okay, I'll try for the next chapter! :D I DO ANYTHING FOR DEM COOKIES! ;3 Don't worry - I don't intend to give up on this! :) Yep, I think Shadow would win, in my opinion ;D Ooh, that's definitely true! Ah, it's nice that you two became such great friends! :3 Ahaha, love ya too, Boo ;) P.S. thank you for your second round of support! Much appreciated! :D
guess who - I'll try and see if I can interject a little bit more Shadamy ;) Thank you and I'll try my best! ;D
AgentDolly - Thank you very much and no worries! :D
The High School Hero - Heya, FFN BFF! I know, I know, it's too long! And I've seen that SCB has a new update - I'll read and review as soon as I can! :D Ah, good to know that their reason for not getting back together is logical :) Ahh! Good plan! :D Awh, I missed writing beside you too :') Well, since I've only got a few days until the summer, hopefully, both of us should be able to continuously write alongside each other :3 Ha ha ;D Peace out, buddy!
MoonlightStories - Ah, very true :D I think I agree with you :3
musicalocelot - That's very true and don't be sorry! Being blunt isn't a bad thing and I think you have a valid opinion about this! :3 Thank you! Ha ha, #StayAwesome too!
shadamy1fan - Thank you very much! Ha ha, awh, poor Manic! ;) He couldn't have known! ;3 Same, I'm sad that they're apart too :/ Ah, that's a good point :D
Steve993 - Ah, thank you! :) True - I was missing the banter that the group have and now that things are a little bit less tense, hopefully we'll see more of that in the next few chapters ;)
Ashuradahedgehog - Why did you regret it? I thought you brought up some really interesting points and I loved your extensive analysis of the whole situation! :D Ah, fair enough - I think Fiona definitely did have a hand in escalating all of this :/ Oh, and thank you for that information! I'm really looking forward to the next series of Doctor Who! :3
Eli Swafford - Ha ha, not usually, but I have been writing the Author's notes late at night ;) Thank you very much! Ah, interesting! :)
KumarKitty24 - Thank you very much! I'm really glad that Silver and Blaze are back together - I didn't like making Blaze be angry with him :/ And I also think that's very true :) Thank you very much :3
ToxicWolf1132 - I think that's a good person to be - things would be a lot better without stupid fights ;) That 'making out part' did make me laugh though ;) Ah haha, no, Mean Girls hasn't been around that long! XD
Jun Yamai Xavior - I think that's a very good summary of what's been happening! :D Although your opinion may change when you find out what happened between Sonic and Fiona... :)
Blackmage23 - I really did want to make them fight, that would be awesome ;) And that's quite alright! :D I hope things are easier now :3 Thank you and that's a shame :( But I wish you good luck with the new project! :D
Sonamylover6822 - Not at all! Nope, this story is still going strong - it just takes me a ridiculous amount of time to update, sometimes ;3 I had writers' block during this update which is why it took a long time but the next chapter should be quicker!
End of replies
SONG RECOMMENDATION: Paralyzer by Finger Eleven
Enjoy! T.C xxx
Chapter 24 - Thin Ice
(...Amy's P.O.V...)
Three days later, Cream texted and claimed that she really wanted to go out for dinner with Blaze and I. My reply was speedy, having refined myself to the house and spent zero hours of being sociable, recently. Sketchbooks had been my friends, but I was really longing for some company that would actually speak to me.
We arranged to meet in the restaurant that we'd been to for years - it had become something of a tradition. I really wanted to bag the booth right in the west corner; we usually sat there, if it was free.
Blaze arrived before me, standing outside with a thin jacket against the cold. I greeted her with a warm smile and a shiver, "You're insane. You must be freezing. How much of an icicle are you, right now?"
"A very cold icicle," She grinned, gesturing in the window, "Shall we go in?"
We did. The place was rather quiet; a few elderly couples and a small number of families were the only customers, at this time. Our favourite booth was free - I slid into the very corner, where I could see the entire restaurant, as Blaze sat opposite.
"So, any ideas why Cream wanted to talk to us?" Blaze asked, not bothering to dance around the subject. I gave her a surprised frown, wondering what she meant.
"How'd you know she wants to talk to us about something? I thought we were just meeting up?"
Blaze lowered her head, "So did I. But I've got a funny feeling that something is bothering her and she wants our advice,"
That didn't sound good. A cold shiver settled in my bones, as I twirled my necklace piece between my fingers. I really didn't need anything else to fuck up now. I needed to focus on my studies, but I couldn't just switch my phone off and ignore everyone.
"Do you think it has something to do with Tails and Cosmo?" I pondered aloud, smiling as the waiter delivered the drinks that we had ordered. Blaze munched on the complementary dish of spicy nuts.
"Most likely. I mean, she likes him. She's probably going to be jealous of Cosmo. It would be weird if she wasn't,"
I grimaced, "You noticed, huh?"
"Everyone noticed. She isn't very subtle about it. You just have to look into her eyes and you can see that she's crazy about Tails,"
I nodded: that was very true, "I don't think she's really crushed on anyone, before now. But I have no idea how to help her. I don't know if I should do anything - it's a lose-lose situation. Cosmo likes Tails. Cream likes Tails. I can't choose between them. I thought that, if Cosmo's plan worked, it might give Tails the chance to do something - I thought fate would sort it out,"
"There isn't a correct answer for this. Both of them deserve Tails; Tails deserves either of them. There is no good guy or bad guy. Neither party is bad nor good. I don't think getting involved is the right choice," Blaze winced, picking at the bowl, "Too bad I didn't work that out before all this happened,"
"It's no one's fault. It was done with the best intentions," I reasoned.
"I guess. I just wish that we could all be more open and more honest,"
"Okay then. Let's be honest: why did you really break up with Silver?"
She blinked, blankly, "Sorry?"
"You never told me. I don't want to pry, but you just said you wanted people to be honest. I still don't understand it; you just seemed to snap. What happened?"
She was quiet for a moment and I wondered if I'd overstepped the boundary, but she shook her head and answered, "I took Sonic's story about his previous relationship too seriously. You know how he told me about it - although, he failed to mention that his ex was Fiona Fox - I started to ponder over it. I didn't know if I should tell you or not. I then started worrying if something similar was going to happen to me and Silver and...well, when he said that I didn't trust him..."
Ah. So she feared that the same thing would happen to her. Still, I knew for a fact that Silver didn't have some random ex hiding in the shadows, "Don't be silly. These are two completely different situations; you can't compare them. Don't think about my relationship, focus on your own. Only you can change what happens with your love life,"
"I know, I'm not trying to palm it onto you. It's just...I've never dealt with anything like this before. I don't know what to do and, I guess, I kind of followed your relationship as an example. I'm sorry,"
I waved it away with my hand, "Don't be. I think everyone does that, in a way. Just don't let your actions be guided by another person's experience. It's not going to be the same for you as it was for me. Remember that,"
"I will," She picked out a menu, flicking through it, absentmindedly, "All we need to do now, is come up with some advice for Cream,"
"Right. Slight problem: we don't have any,"
"I'm open to suggestions,"
My head shot up at the sound of footsteps approaching our table. Cream appeared, with a glowing grin on her face. A denim jacket hung loosely on her small shoulders, but she shrugged out of it and dumped it on the back of a chair at our table. I admired her lovely orange and white dress, with black tights, as she giggled, "Hi girls! Sorry that I'm late! I was cooking with Cheese and, well, the mess took longer to clear up than I imagined!"
I grinned at the mention of her pet Chao, "No problem. Here, have a seat!"
"Thanks," She eagerly sat down, rubbing her arms as she adjusted to the warmth, "So, has anything interesting happened to you two?"
"If you count endless days in my room, with a pencil in my hand, as interesting then yeah, sure," I replied with a snort, earning a grin from Blaze and a weak smile from Cream.
"Same here. I mean, Christmas Eve was the most dramatic day in my entire holiday," Blaze suddenly curled her neck in the rabbit's direction, curiously looking like the Cheshire Cat without the grin, in that moment, "What about you, Cream? Is there something important that you wish to tell us?"
She pouted, breathing out a heavy sigh, "No, not really. I didn't get to speak to Tails about my feelings, not with all the commotion. Gosh, this is horrible! I hate waiting! I really want to speak to him!"
"Well, I mean, he's got a lot on his mind. You know, he's pretty upset about Fiona, for whatever reason," I tried to keep a hint of malice from creeping into my voice. Blaze gave me a significant look, "Just give him time,"
"I know, but...well, it's Cosmo," Cream suddenly became quiet, as if she felt guilty for bringing this up. I wondered what she was getting at; surely she didn't think that Cosmo's jealousy was surprising?
Blaze frowned, "What about her?"
"I mean, she hasn't said anything but that's the point. She hasn't spoken to me in weeks. I don't know what I've done to upset her; I think it's hurting Tails, too,"
"Uh, Cream," I softened my tone, scooting closer to her, "You know how Cosmo feels about Tails,"
The rabbit blinked. Oh no, "W-what? But, what about Shadow?"
"We need to come clean," Blaze told me, not giving me the chance to protest. Then again, if I'd had time to think about it, would I have protested? "Cream, Shadow and Cosmo are not dating. She planned it to make Tails jealous. You, unfairly, got caught up in it. But Cosmo didn't intend to hurt you,"
Her bottom lip quivered and I felt a pile of rocks crash on top of my heart, "T-they're not!? But, how do you know?"
Blaze sighed, "She told us the plan. We...we encouraged her,"
"But...I don't..." Cream shook her head, sending her ears flying in several directions, before she looked up at me, "Amy, why didn't you tell me?"
I knew that I'd really fucked up recently: Cream was one of many victims of my stupid decisions. I'd been trying to fix things, with Blaze and Silver being examples of that, but I still had things to sort out. I opened my mouth and closed it, before admitting, "I wanted to, but how could I?"
"There is no logic in pointing blame at people," Blaze said, making me thankful for her calm manner, "What's done is done. The plan was created before we knew that you liked Tails. We were wrong for keeping secrets and I can't tell you how guilty we've felt. I don't expect forgiveness,"
Cream sniffed, but her eyes remained dry. Instead, she nibbled her lip and muttered, "I need to think,"
I downed my drink, suddenly feeling incredibly thirsty. Liquid sloshed down my throat and yet there was still a dry taste in my mouth. The other two watched me, silently, and a subconscious blush appeared in response.
"...I understand why Cosmo hates me now," Cream mumbled.
"She does not hate you," I place a hand on her arm and she stared back at me, "That, I'm sure of. Sure, she's annoyed that she's got competition - but it's nothing personal to you. At all,"
Cream nodded, but didn't seem completely convinced, "I guess so,"
I brushed a loose quill out of my eyes, before exclaiming, "You know what, love sucks,"
"I didn't expect you to be saying that," Cream's face softened with a sad smile.
"You know, you guys have to come over and we'll watch cheesy chick flicks," The cat blushed as we looked at her, "Like the good old days,"
"I'm up for that. I'd like to relive the past, for a night,"
"Yes, that's true,"
When the waiter reappeared, it dawned on me that none of us had even glanced at the menu.
(...Sonic's P.O.V...)
I strummed on my guitar, thoughtfully, sending ominous twangs of notes into the air.
"Okay, what the hell is up with you?"
I glanced in the direction of my bedroom door and rolled my eyes at the pink hedgehog, before telling her to go away.
"Nice, bro. Now I'm definitely staying," She sat down on my bed and barged me over. I glared at her but said nothing and moved the guitar over, "You've been like this for days. I'm worried,"
"You're worried?" I raised an eyebrow, before weakly smirking, "Well, don't. I'm fine. Just thinking,"
Her tone turned soft, "About what?"
"Stuff,"
"What stuff?"
"We're not playing this game," I told her, with a victorious smirk.
"Okay. Let's play a different game," Sonia tossed her hair over her shoulder and gave me a long stare, "Twenty Questions?"
I groaned, audibly, "No, I'm not going t-"
"My question, why are you being all maudlin and gloomy?"
"I'm not! My question - why do you have to be so nosy!?"
Sonia huffed and pouted, defensively folding her arms and tucking her chin into her chest. Her spiky fringe fell into her eyes and she seemed to be thinking about something: I wasn't sure if I wanted to know what it was. Manic was far easier to talk to, "Sonic, let's be clear about one thing. If you were less stubborn, I wouldn't have to be nosy. And I'm only looking out for you,"
"I know that," I relented, "This is just something that takes time,"
"AH HA! So there is something bothering you!"
"That was low,"
"Even for me?"
"Especially for you,"
"Well," She smugly sat back, examining her nails in an irritating way, "You need clever tactics to delve into the mind of your little brother. Now, you don't have to explain, you can give a one-word answer, but tell me: are you in any trouble?"
"N-no! What do you take me for?"
"Not getting into fights? Or gangs?"
"Sis, please..."
"Peer pressure?"
"Oh, c'mon! Yeah, Cosmo has been pressuring me to take drugs. I have no idea how to get out of this mess,"
Sonia giggled and I cracked a smile, "Cosmo? The one with the green hair, right? Okay, I get your point, smart-ass. But be serious, if there's anything bothering you, anything at all...you can talk to me about it, okay?"
"Alright," I appreciated her support but this was something that I could and needed to handle by myself.
"Hey, since when do you two give each other pep talks?" Manic loomed in the door way, with his head phones on, twirling his drum sticks in a rhythm that, I assumed, matched the song he was listening to, "I'm hurt. You're leaving me out of sibling-motivational-talks. Remind me to throw away the birthday present that I bought you, Sonia,"
"Ooh, Manic, keep talking about this present of mine. Any hints as to what it is?" The magenta hedgehog winked at both of us, giving Manic a begging pout.
He grinned, "Not a chance,"
"Awh, you're no fun," Sonia clambered off my bed and stood, appearing to be leaving, when she suddenly paused and looked at me, "Sonic...is everything okay with Amy?"
"Yeah, why?" I'd said that far too quickly.
"...you don't sound sure,"
"Get off the poor guy's back, sis," Manic shook his head, wearing a knowing smirk, "They were ready to make out and everythin' when I last saw 'em,"
"Yes, thank you, Manic," I rolled my eyes, but a blush appeared anyway. I had been wanting to kiss her; she had leaned in too. I felt confused about all of it - if she felt the same as I did (she hadn't pushed me away; that was a pretty good sign), why couldn't we just move past this?
Well, the answer to that was obvious. Because she was mad at me. Rightly so.
At least she still had feelings for me.
"That's good," I stuck my tongue out at Sonia's comment, "Well, why don't you go out with her and some of your friends? You've been holed up in here for ages, save for your daily run,"
"...I dunno. We haven't got long left – I wanna spend some time with you guys..."
They both shared a look, before turning back to me. Great. Sonia frowned, "Okay, what else are you lying about? You hate us invading your personal space. We barely all hang out,"
"Yeah, at least come up with something believable," The green hedgehog slid his headphones off his ears, interestedly.
I got to my feet, "Listen, nothing's wrong. I'm fine – don't worry. Focus on your own lives, eh? Now, I'm gonna head out and grab dinner. Whaddya want?"
"...pizza, I guess," Manic shrugged, seemingly on another thought process, thinking about his stomach.
Sonia didn't seem certain, as she wavered for a moment, but relented, "Hmm. I suppose...I don't really mind. Something with chicken,"
"Okay, thanks for that informative description," I slipped past them, heading down the stairs, about to grab Mum's order, when Sonia called back out to me.
"Sonic!"
I paused.
"You can tell us anything, you know that, right?"
(...Amy's P.O.V...)
When I was a kid, I got rather confused by the concept of wishes. I thought that they actually had to come true - safe to say, I was rather disappointed when I realized how they really worked. Since then, I'd never had much faith in them; but perhaps someone pitied me and tried to make my desires a reality.
The service that night was unbelievably slow and I got stuck waiting at the bar for ages. A woman with the most annoying laugh stood within earshot, to my displeasure, and the constant cheers from a bachelor's table was also irritating. I slumped on a bar stool, tiredly waiting.
"Listen, if you could get that done as quickly as possible? I'm in a bit of a rush..." The voice trailed off and my head shot up, turning to the right. I might have sworn under my breath.
Sonic was standing in the take-out queue, impatiently tapping his foot against the floor and rolling his eyes. I lingered until he looked over and I hid under my hair. My hands clutched the hem of my dress. I looked again and met his gaze. We both smiled and remained like that for longer than we should have.
He didn't make an attempt to come over, so I pushed my chair out and approached. Normally, I would have felt embarrassed to make the first move, but the opportunity was perfect - and I think, when a person has had so many wasted opportunities, they snap and think "to hell with it."
"Hi, Amy," He greeted, but I really wanted to hear him call me 'Ames', "Didn't expect to see you here,"
I gestured towards my table, "I came out with Cream and Blaze. There were some things that we needed to discuss,"
"Right. Were you really all just talking about me?" He grinned, raising his voice in a 'feminine' tone, "Oh, he's so gorgeous!"
My grin was instant and I couldn't help but laugh, "So not. Private girl talk,"
He saluted me, with a firm nod, "Yes, ma'am,"
We chuckled nervously, together. Something felt off but I chose to ignore it. No, I was going to make this work. Why couldn't we be friends, despite what was going on? This didn't have to be awkward - only if we chose to make it awkward. I wasn't going to throw away my friendship with Sonic over this.
"How come you're here then?" I asked, "At the take out section?"
"Just grabbing dinner for the family. Sonia can't get enough of the spicy chicken here,"
"Makes sense," I laughed, "It is pretty good,"
"Yep," He popped the 'p' and rolled back and forth on his heels, "Nice dress, by the way,"
"Thank yo-" I was possibly going to say something else, when a guy from the bachelors table knocked into me, on his way to the bar. I rolled my eyes at his slur of 'sorry, hot stuff'. When he eventually went away, I blinked at Sonic's glower, before asking what was wrong.
"Nothin'," He was still glaring at the guy's back, "He was a jerk,"
"A drunken one," I muttered, tiredly, as I handed over my money to the waitress who finally decided to show up.
Sonic growled in his throat, "He was still hitting on you,"
"It's not against the law, Sonic. He's allowed to - or do you have a problem with guys hi..." I trailed off. Guys hitting on me. Jealous. So he... "Does it bother you?"
"What? 'Course not!" He snorted, "We can see who we like. I mean, you're not bothered by girls talking to me, right?"
"Oh, so you've been browsing?" My eyebrow rose again, as did my voice.
His pride cooled off again, "Uh, well, when you say browsing..."
"Mm hmm?" I tried to keep a straight face, but we both started giggling. We both knew that neither of us were 'browsing', as I'd dorkishly put it, and we would be considerably less calm if either of us had started dating again.
"Well, uh, how was everyone after what happened at Rouge's?" He asked, referring to the tense game of Scrabble that we had decided to play, upon mine and Sonic's return. I really wanted to thank whatever bright spark came up with that idea - watching Knuckles and Shadow compete over a triple-word-score was tense.
"They're fine. Although, everyone's still convinced that Silver was levitating and reading from a dictionary, at the end of the room," I grinned, "That would explain how he knew the word chutzpah,"
"I can't believe that's a real word," Sonic laughed, his eyes sparkling, but he suddenly became serious again, "Listen, Amy, when we get back to Uni, and the exams are over, how'd you feel about meeting up with me and Tails? The poor guy's not moving on - I figured seeing other people would do him some good. You could ask Cream, as well,"
I was surprised by his sudden confidence and I couldn't help but ask, "What sparked this idea?"
"Somethin' that Sonia said," He waved it away, "Well, how about it?"
"I'm up for it," I intended to smile, calmly and stylishly, but instead ended up grinning like a goofball, "B-but, I'd have to check with Cream, of course. You know how things are,"
"Awesome! I, uh, mean, sure - cool, of course," He smiled to himself, dreamily, "Hey, remember when we took that trip to Spagonia? That was an awesome day,"
I blushed in pleasure. It truly had been fun. Kissing Sonic by the fountain had also been fun..."Y-yeah. It really was. Maybe this trip will be just as fun,"
"I hope so," Sonic's order was placed on the counter, distracting him, momentarily, "Listen, I better head off. The sibs will moan at me if I'm late, having super speed and all. Catch ya later, Ames!"
"See you later!" I called after him, as he rushed off, wearing another misty smile all because he uttered that one word: Ames.
(...)
"I think I should write a book about this," Blaze casually suggested, as she reclined further back into the sofa-bed. She'd set up two mattresses for Cream and I to sleep on, for the night, at her place, "There's certainly enough drama to document,"
Cream shook her ears out of the way, "What, a book about you and Silver?"
"Uh, no, actually, it'd be about all of us. But I'd choose a different narrative. Talk about been there done that,"
"Rouge is a good choice," I said with a smile. Rouge certainly wouldn't mind having a novel about her.
"Hmm, seductive temptress isn't my style. No, I was thinking that maybe I'd write about you, Amy,"
"Me?"
"Yeah, why not? Our time at school had a bucket-load of romance, friendship and confrontation! That's exactly what's needed to spice up a story. For example, take how you met Sonic. How you fell for him the moment you saw him, felt your heart swoop as you gazed into his grass green eyes," Blaze smirked and started jotting down notes.
I grinned in response, "Actually, I thought his eyes were like emeralds, not grass,"
"And this is why I refer to the girl at the center of it all! Now, how did you feel when you first joined Mobius High?"
"You're really going with this, huh?" I laughed at her excitement. She had always been obsessed with books: it figured that she'd have a penchant for writing, "Okay, I felt extremely self-conscious and pretty lonesome. Like an outsider, even though everything I'd read seemed to rave on about starting somewhere new,"
"Okay, so, you're in the canteen, you see Sally, you get foodized...Sonic is in front of you, offering his hand. What are you thinking?"
"As if I could forget..." I was surprised that she knew the story so well.
"I like remembering how we met each other," Cream smiled at a suppressed memory, "When Silver first met Sonic, it was the strangest thing. He suddenly started calling Sonic - 'Iblis Trigger'. The two of them actually nearly started fighting!"
"Silver never explained why. I'll have to ask him," Blaze chuckled, "Still, hate to admit it, but it was kind of funny. Anyway, back to the original question: how did you feel when you first met Sonic?"
"That I really wanted a friend, and I was so glad that this boy was kind enough to help me, when I most needed it," A tingly feeling spread through my chest.
Blaze looked surprised, "You weren't thinking about how much you liked him?"
"I had been humiliated in front the entire school. Weirdly, how cute Sonic looked wasn't the first thing on my mind," It was probably the fourth thing. Maybe third.
"But you did think he was cute?" Cream clutched her hands together, as her voice rose.
"He had a certain...allure,"
"And does he still have this...allure?" Blaze's question was loaded.
"Possibly,"
"Then this is silly!" Cream exclaimed, "You shouldn't let past mistakes stop you from being happy!"
"Are you still trying to set me up with Sonic again?" Their silence confirmed my suspicions, "Look, I appreciate how you're looking out for me and that you're trying to help, but I know what I'm doing. And I've actually spoken to Sonic about this - at Rouge's Christmas Eve party. When we were outside. Don't look like that - nothing happened. Except that I made a fool of myself, by slipping over,"
Cream gasped, "Did you hurt yourself!?"
"No..."
"Cause Sonic caught her," Blaze interjected with triumph. I gave her a questioning look and she fessed up, "Silver and I may have glanced out of the window. It was romantic, Amy. He caught you! Don't say he doesn't care,"
"Can we not make this about me and Sonic, please? C'mon, let's just watch the movie," I persuaded, grabbing the remote and pointing it at the TV, "Save the romance for the film,"
"Your choice," Blaze settled down next to Cream and I, before muttering, "But it's unwise to throw away Cupid's arrow,"
(...)
I glanced up at the couch and felt a small wave of relief at Blaze's closed eyes and soft snores.
"Cream?" I whispered, "Are you asleep?"
I thought she wasn't going to say anything and that she, too, had entered the land of dreams, when I heard a sniff and a muffled voice reply with 'no'. I didn't know if she had been crying, or was about to, but that didn't matter. I picked up my sheets and went to the mini fridge, in the corner. As I collected the items required and returned, Cream looked up, taking the spoon from my outstretched hand. She frowned as I sat down beside her and arranged my sheets.
"What's this?" She asked, waving the spoon about.
I balanced my own spoon on my right leg, with the ice cream pot on my left. Cookies 'n' Cream, of course.
"Look, I'm not stranger to this or to heartbreak and I know for a fact that ice cream helps. God, I've watched enough films to know that," I grinned in the dark.
She giggled, thickly, as I ripped off the lid and offered it to her. Much more delicately, she scooped some out and looked less flushed as she licked the spoon. I did the same, with my taste buds cheering for a midnight snack.
We didn't say anything for a while, just sitting next to each other and scooping ice cream after ice cream, until Cream eventually leant her head against my shoulder.
She'd spent the night being strong, wearing a brave face. Her facade had finally cracked.
I sighed, "Creamy..."
"I don't want to cause a rift between Cosmo and I. She liked him first. It's only fair that I give Tails up,"
I was astounded by her maturity, "Cream...Blaze and I didn't tell you about this so that you would back down. We only wanted you to know what was going on. You don't know that Tails doesn't like you in that way..."
"This is the right thing to do. It's only a boy, right?" Her voice quivered, so she covered it up with a laugh, "I don't want a love rival,"
"You're being incredibly level-headed about this. I wouldn't be anywhere near as forgiving," I muttered the last part, knowing that I could get rather jealous.
"He'll still be my friend," She looked at me with a burning intensity in her eyes, "There's no way I'm giving that up,"
"You won't have to," I reassured her, "I'm proud of you, Cream. So proud. You're going to find someone just as sweet as you, living happily ever after, together,"
She laughed, but covered her mouth when she remembered that Blaze was still sleeping, "I hope so,"
"I know so. And whilst you're doing that, I'm going to tell Cosmo to give up this 'plan'. I think it's time that we were all truthful with each other,"
"Agreed. Especially you and Sonic,"
I cocked my head to one side. The chink in my armour... "He's the one keeping secrets and telling everyone but me,"
"Well...you haven't really told him how you feel. You've been pretty distant - I imagine he's confused about it. You two need to talk,"
"Mm, I guess. Speaking of which – I saw Sonic, at the restaurant,"
Cream's eyes widened, "You did?! You didn't say!"
"Yeah, well, I was a little embarrassed," I grinned, bashfully.
"You say you're not talking to him – but everywhere we go, you just happen to bump into him and strike up conversation," She raised an eyebrow, "It's fate, Amy,"
I rolled my eyes before continuing, "Anyway, we spoke and he actually asked if you and I wanted to meet up. With him and Tails,"
"Tails," She bleated, and I wasn't surprised by the reaction, "Right,"
"I think we should go. You don't want things to freeze over with him. I should know – not talking and avoiding him is the worst thing you can do. Sonic said he seems pretty down; you can go along and cheer him up. You guys are old friends; remember that,"
"You're right," She said it so casually, dipping her spoon into the ice cream tub and daintily eating. My expression remained surprised, and when she finally looked at me, Cream weakly smiled, "You should tell Sonic that we've said yes. It's time for all of us to start putting the past behind us,"
Without warning, I pulled her into a hug and squeezed tightly, "Since when did you get so freaking wise?"
She giggled and wrapped her arms over my shoulders, "...um, I'm not sure. 'Wise' might be pushing it,"
"...you need to learn to take compliments," I smiled, with a sniff, as we clung to each other. I knew that she needed comforting, even though she'd made her choice about Tails - but it occurred to me that I'd needed someone to comfort me, for a long time.
A/N - Hmm, I wonder what title Blaze has in mind for her novel? Perhaps, Mobian Mean Girls...?
^.^
(Next chapter should be quicker!)