A/N: Here is another DCT chapter that focuses more on their school life. Thanks for all the positive feedback and to all people reading, it has been great. Keep those reviews coming, i love hearing what people have to say about the story.

Chapter 6:

Cruel School

Tails' mother knocked gently on the dark brown, wooden door to her son's room. No answer. She knocked again but still nobody called out in reply so she carefully pushed open the door, making sure not to make a loud creaking sound as it slowly swung open. She saw Tails fast asleep, sprawled on his bed. His arms and legs were spread out and she was surprised just how much of a double bed a small fox could take up. She smiled.

She slid across the floor, the soles of her feet dragging across the velvet carpet. She moved over to the shades that were drawn shut, shielding his room from the rays of the sunshine outside and flung them open. Tails hissed in annoyance as the harsh light of the sun streamed in from the window directly into his sensitive azure eyes, not dissimilar to the colour of the ocean.

The flurries of snow had subsided overnight and the dark cumulonimbus clouds parted like the red sea, allowing the sunlight passage to the ground below. The plants all swayed in the morning breeze in delight, greedily soaking up the morning sun. After days of blizzards and snow, every organism and creature in the small town was enjoying the sudden burst of sunshine.

"Tails get up, you're almost late for school," his mother said, trying to rouse him out of his deep slumber.

Tails glanced over at his alarm clock on his bedside table. 8:00am, it displayed.

'I have to meet Sonic in 10 minutes at the park!' his mind screamed and he jumped out of bed suddenly, grabbing his gloves, goggles and shoes that all lay, neatly folded at the foot of his bed. 'No time to shower this morning,' the fox thought, rushing out of the house and down the cemented street.

A few moments later he arrived at the park which was the two teenager's normal meeting place before they set off to school together. It was only about a ten minute walk to their school but they always met up beforehand at the park, every morning without fail so that neither would feel lonely during the trek. Only something was different this morning. Sonic wasn't there. It wasn't strange for the hedgehog to be late, he was rarely ever on time, but he normally would have texted an apology at exactly 10 past 8. This morning, no such text came.

'Does he not want to be seen in public with me anymore?' his mind immediately jumped to, assuming the worse, as always.

"Psssssst," a voice rang out. Tails looked around but couldn't see anybody.

"Over here," the voice whispered. Tails opened the gate cautiously and walked down the gravel path into the park. He tried to find the source of the voice when he noticed a shadowy figure, concealed by the blueberry bushes.

"Soni…" Tails began to ask when an arm shot out of the bushes and pulled the small fox in. He was sent crashing through the bushes and landed on the ground, face first. "Ouch!" Tails screamed in annoyance. "What was that for?"

Sonic helped his friend sit up and without saying anything, placed a single, short, passionate kiss on the kit's lips. "Feel better now?" he asked seductively.

"Much," Tails blushed, his muzzle flooding crimson. Maybe it was the kiss, or the concussion that the fox had just received but all the pain seemed to leave him instantly. "What do you want?" Tails asked finally.

"We need to talk," Sonic began.

"About what?"

"School, us. We can't act any differently at school. We don't want anybody getting suspicious." Tails looked back confused. He hadn't thought about it but maybe Sonic was right. Subconsciously, he would probably seem different to his friends who had known him for a long time. He didn't want anybody to catch on and ruin their love. He had finally got what he had been dreaming of for a long time and he didn't want anyone, especially Amy, to ruin it for him.

"And stop blushing all the time," Sonic added, annoyed. Tails didn't realize but his face had lit up like a light again, red as blood.

"S…Sorry Sonic, I don't mean to. I can't help it. I just love you so much." He muttered, looking up into Sonic's emerald eyes.

The eyes softened and he brought Tails closer, hugging him tightly and holding him, their faces barely apart so that only a feather could bridge the gap between their lips. Tails eagerly sniffed the hedgehog's fur, taking in his speedy friends scent. "I know, I'm sorry. Can you just try to at least avoid it? For me." Sonic added finally.

Tails nodded and opened his mouth, about to say something but was cut off by a familiar voice, calling from the gate at the other end of the park.

"Sonic, Tails! Are you guys in there?"

Sonic chanced a glance out of his bushes and noticed the tall, buff, red echidna standing at the gate, hand over his eyes as he scanned the park. They locked eyes and Knuckles called out again. "What are you doing in there?" he questioned.

"Tails and I are just grabbing some blueberries from the bush. His mum didn't pack him any lunch because he got up late so I decided to help him pick some," he yelled nonchalantly. Tails was surprised at how easily Sonic quickly came up with an excuse. It seemed so… believable. 'How can he lie so easily? Has he lied to me like that before? How much has he lied to me?' Tails mind began to think the worst again as questions battered at the entrance of his mind.

"Well hurry up, schools about to start. And can you pick me some strawberries? I'm famished," Knuckles added.

"It's a blueberry bush Knuckle-head," Sonic rang out.

"Yeah, blue BERRY. Straw BERRY. They are both berries so they will both be there," he replied.

Sonic and Tails both shook their heads and emerged from the bushes, carrying some blueberries cradled in their arms.

"They aren't strawberries!" Knuckles sighed sadly.

"Y…Yes, they are," Tails piped up, wanting to prove to Sonic that he can be trusted with tricking their friends to show that nothing seemed weird between the two.

"No, they are blue. And they call you the smart one, idiot," Knuckles scoffed. Sonic gripped his fists tightly, trying to not show how angry he was becoming from hearing his little prince being called an idiot by knuckles. Out of anybody, Knuckles was the one person who couldn't dish out insults. However, what he lacked in brains he certainly made up for in muscles.

"Y…Yeah, they are. They just look blue because… uh… they got cold. Yeah, cold… because… um… of the snow that fell. They are still strawberries." Tails replied. Sonic sniggered under his breath.

"That makes sense," Knuckles thanked, taking a handful and shoveling them into his mouth. "Let's go," he said through mouthfuls, small bits of half chewed blueberry shooting out of his mouth and staining the ground below his feet.

"Nice one, buddy," Sonic whispered as the two friends followed the echidna to school. Sonic was slightly annoyed that their alone time was cut short and they didn't get to talk more on the way to school but he couldn't show knuckles this. Anyway, he had all afternoon to hang out, alone, with Tails.

The brass bell that was situated atop the large, centre tower of the school rang out, signalling the beginning of school. It chimed out to the surrounding areas, sounding like the silver bells of Notre Dame. Tails sat on a bench in the quad next to Sonic. Standing in front of them, creating a small circle, was knuckles, Cream, Blaze, Silver and the new girl Tikal.

"Sonic! Did you miss me," a sharp, shrill voice pierced through the quad. All the teenagers looked around and saw a pretty, pink hedgehog sprinting into the quad.

'Here we go again,' tails thought, rolling his eyes as Amy sprinted into Sonic, wrapping her arms around him. 'Why can't she understand he doesn't like her that way!' he shouted at himself silently.

Sonic noticed the frustration on his furry friends face and mouthed the word 'sorry,' beaming a smile at Tails. Sonic struggled to break free of Amy's tight grip, using the bell as an excuse to be released and sped off to his first class. One by one, the teens all filed off to their different subjects and left Tails and Cream standing in the brick layered quadrangle.

"What happened to you the other day?" Cream queried curiously, turning her head to glance at Tails.

"N…Nothing," Tails said, staring up at the crystal sky, smiling to himself.

"Well whatever it was, you seem much happier now," she laughed. Tails nodded in agreement. "C'mon, let's go to class." She grabbed his hand and pulled him to their first class. This time, however, he didn't recoil. He already felt bad enough for hurting her the other day and didn't want to see his little rabbit friend cry again.

First period, Physics. Tails studied hard, his head stuck in his textbook as he listened, mesmerized by his teacher words. He always enjoyed Physics the most, especially because they were currently learning about flight. If it wasn't obvious to the school already, Tails wanted to be a pilot when he grew up but it was a dying profession due to the harsh boarder control rules and threat of war.

Second period, Maths. When Tails walked into his class, he saw rouge the bat smiling her welcoming, happy smile at him. Sonic yelled his hello's to his friend, patting the base of a chair next to him at the back of the room. In the middle of maths class, the students were doing some more trigonometry when Tails felt something slip into his hand. He tried to recoil but felt five, individual cylindrical objects clamp around his hand and wrap around each finger, weaving tightly. He suddenly realized that sonic had slipped his hand into Tails' under the desk.

'He shouldn't be doing this,' Tails thought, but he didn't want to let go. He glanced at Sonic who smiled innocently back at Tails, squeezing his hand to try to convince his friend that this was alright.

"Tails!" Rouge called out from the front of the room. The two boys shot up straight, the hair on the back of their necks standing on end as a twinge ran up their spines. Sonic immediately wrenched his hand out of the fox's and placed it on his knee, hoping nobody saw. 'This is it. All over,' Tails' mind raced, assuming the worst.

"Don't be shy. Write your answer on the board," Rouge motioned to the whiteboard in front of the class, holding a small, black marker out in front of her. Tails and Sonic sighed, relieved, as Tails walked up to the front and wrote out his answers.

"Very good!" Rouge exclaimed happily.

"Teachers pet," Shadow growled under his breath, staring daggers at Sonic.

"Shut it," Sonic hissed, defending his two tailed friend.

"Sonic, Shadow! No whispering. If you have something to say then say it to the whole class," Rouge snapped.

Shadow stood up and cleared his throat. "I was just saying how Tails is a massive nerd," he smirked. A roar of laughter amongst the students erupted. Everyone, even Amy, knuckles and Tikal were laughing at their fox friend. Everyone, that is, except Sonic.

Embarrassment smashed into Tails like a jet of cold water and he felt tears brimming behind his shimmering eyes. He slipped out of the room quickly, ignoring the concerned calls from rouge before he began crying in class and ran to the boy's bathroom.

Sonic raced after him, cursing at Shadow and his classmates for being so cruel. "You should all be ashamed of yourself." He yelled. All the girls immediately shut up, scared of Sonic's outbreak. He had always been suave and cool, never losing his temper but something snapped in the hedgehog upon seeing his love get teased and bullied in front of everyone.

"He needs to grow up. He doesn't even belong in this class," Shadow mocked, clearly not learning his lesson.

"Detention! Both of you," Rouge yelled, pointing at both Sonic and Shadow, not realizing that Sonic was trying to help the fox. Sonic shrugged the threat off and ran out of the class in search of Tails.

Blaze the violet cat glanced towards her boyfriend, silver. Her eyes darted between him and the door. "Tails is my good friend, please go check up on him," she pleaded, her eyes warm. Silver leant over, placing a small peck on her cheek and stood up.

"I'll go get them Miss," he sighed, walking out of the classroom. Rouge nodded her approval as he left.

"Tails! Tails," he called out, roaming through the empty halls, passing the sickeningly green coloured lockers, each clamped shut with silver and gold padlocks.

He heard the soft sobs of somebody from inside the toilet block. "Tails," Sonic sighed concerned for his friend. He pushed open the door and walked over to the one stall that was locked shut.

Knock, Knock, Knock

"Buddy, c'mon. Come out here." Sonic said, care floating on each word like a leaf down a stream.

"W…What did I d…do wrong, S…Sonic," he cried, gasping through chocking sobs. "W…Why d…does e…everyone hate m…me?"

"Open the door bud," Sonic replied softly, leaning his forehead gently on the cold, metallic door.

He heard a faint click and the force of the door against his head subsided a little as it swung open. Sonic's heart fell as he saw Tails sitting on the toilet, head in hands. Tears stained his fur.

Sonic carefully stepped into the small, enclosed cubical and closed the door, locking it behind him. Tails looked up and immediately began to calm down as Sonic wrapped his arms around the young kit and rested his chin on the fox's head, sharing his warmth.

"It's okay, I'm here for you now, my love," Sonic said, adopting a more soothing tone. Tails slowly began to calm down and his breathing regulated to a normal pace again.

"T…Thank you, S…Sonic," Tails thanked him, rubbing the last of the tears out of his eye with one hand, happy that Sonic truly cared so much for him.

"I'll always be here for you. Never forget that," he whispered into the fox's golden ears.

"I won't," Tails replied lovingly, leaning up to kiss his cobalt love, but moments before the couple's lips touched, they heard the sound of the bathroom door swing open and a familiar voice called out.

"Sonic, Tails? Are you both in here? Shadow is just a jerk, take no notice of him." Sonic leant down and peered under the stall, noticing the pale, white fur of Silver the hedgehog. He cursed profanities under his breath as Silver skulked through the bathroom, knocking on the stalls.

"I know you guys are in here. Tails, c'mon. Nobody thinks any less of you. Don't pay any attention to Shadow," Silver tried to help tails out. He was always seen as the father figure to their friend group. Always the pacifier, trying to control any situation and steer it away from impending violence that always was a result of any common argument that the black and blue hedgehogs often had. Their rivalries were notorious throughout the school and Silver seemed to be the only animal in the whole school that was able to sedate the two rivals once things began to get heated.

Sonic thought fast, sliding under to the adjacent bathroom stall and flushed the toilet once. He stretched his arms as he pushed the door open, whistling to himself.

"Oh, hey Silver. How's it hanging?"

"Where is Tails," Silver asked, concerned that Sonic had not gone to comfort their friend.

"Don't worry pal, it's all settled. Tails is fine and he already is heading back to class. Speaking of class," Sonic said, pretending to not notice the time and tapped his wrist. "We should get going before Rouge worries about us." He placed his arm around the white hedgehog's shoulder and hustled him out of the bathroom, winking at Tails who was peering out of the crack underneath the stall.

Tails whispered a silent thanks to his blue friend and hurried out of the bathroom after the coast was clear.

The rest of the day went by as normal. Teachers prattling on about nonsensical things, students gazing desperately out of the windows and all the students filing through the winding hallways between classes. Eventually the bell rang for lunch and all the students rushed into the cafeteria, trying to beat the crowd to the front of the line. It was pizza day after all.

Tails walked into the room, the sweet smell of freshly baked pizza tickling his nostrils tantalizingly. "Tails, over here," Knuckles waved Tails over to the table that their group always sat at each lunchtime.

Tails waddled over and sat down next to Blaze as she patted the metallic bench next to her, placing his ruby red plastic tray on the ground and took a large bite of his sandwich. She smiled at him, giving him a hug and whispered in his ear, "Hope you're okay. Shadow can be a real jerk sometimes." Tails nodded, thanking his feline friend.

"I thought you were having blueberries?" Knuckles asked, confused.

"Oh… yeah… You ate them all, remember." Tails replied sheepishly.

"Uhhh, did I? Must have," he laughed apologetically, not remembering that he only took a handful or two and shrugged it off.

"So…" Tails began, breaking the silence to the group. "Where is Sonic?"

All of them looked at him suddenly, staring at him. It seemed like he had something on his face. He picked up his hand and rubbed his muzzle ferociously, trying to remove the invisible stain. He hated it how they were all staring at him.

"Don't worry Tails, you have nothing on your face. We were just surprised that he didn't tell you that he got detention for defending you and fighting with Shadow," Blaze chimed in finally. Tails head immediately dropped in sadness. Any free time he had at school he wanted to spend with his love. It wasn't fair that he was being shackled down in the classroom when he should be hugging Tails.

"Or maybe the government kidnapped him and are performing experiments!" Sticks yelled, jumping out of the seat and running out of the cafeteria screaming. They all laughed, use to this weird behavior of the strange badger.

"Silver lining in every cloud," Amy perked up suddenly, noticing the disappointment on Tails' face. She was always the incredibly enthusiastic one. "Now we can plan his surprise party next weekend!"

"A surprise party for Sonic next weekend?" Knuckles repeated loudly so that the whole cafeteria heard. They all stared at him angrily.

"Not if you yell it to everyone," Amy scoured at him, knocking him on back of the head. He writhed in pain and rubbed his sore injury that she had given him.

"Now," Amy began again, pulling out some blank sheets of paper and multiple coloured pencils, sprawling them out on the table so that everybody could grab them. "Let's get to planning!"

A/N: This one was quite long compared to the others but I hope everyone likes longer chapters. Next chapter will be very long too so stay tuned. and don't forget to review and let me know what you think :D