A/n: Don't ask why I updated. I don't even know why. Happy Holidays. No copyright infringement intended.

Boys and Girl (Part 2)

Her skin was soft to the touch. He held his hands to her cheeks for they were as rose colored as her hair. She was stunning. He felt his breath caught in this throat as she closed her eyes and leaned in for a kiss. Her lips were delicate and tasted of cherries and cream. He had been waiting for the moment for long enough. She was his for the taking – finally.

"Finally!" He heard his coworkers call out. His eyes opened wide. He was daydreaming hard in the last minutes of the work day. The guys in the cubicles in front of his high fived each other and made hollering noises. It was finally the weekend. The whole floor was excited. His cubicle mate was a mauve haired man that patted him on the shoulder. When seeing him sigh.

"Hey Blackie – coming to happy hour tonight?" Espio asked. He was very handsome with narrow eyes and bronze skin like Shadow's. His tie was already loosened and the top button of his shirt already open. He wasted no time.

"No. I'm keeping it cool this weekend. Trying to stay low key." Shadow told him. He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed again. "I'm also going to stay here a while. I want to get some more work done."

"Aw, that is too bad. We're going to Casinopolis. They are having a really good special. I'll tell everyone you couldn't make it."

"Thanks Espio. Have a good weekend."

"Yeah you too. Don't work too hard." Espio patted Shadow on the shoulder again and followed other employees out the office. Shadow glanced out the window and saw the small crowds of people they hurried during the evening rush hour. Friday evenings seemed to have more people on the street than the rest of the week.

What did he care? He was going to stay inside and probably work until 9 or 10. If he stayed ahead of his work he wouldn't have to worry about falling behind if his supervisors had other tasks for him. Shadow turned away from the window and back to his desk. He began work again and was glad the office was very empty. He could focus more.

Amy exited the elevator and headed towards glass doors that lead to the firm where Shadow worked. She walked down a couple halls and saw the rows of empty cubicles. After a minute or so she saw a glow of a monitor in the far left by a window. She stood by the cubicle and began singing a small tune.

He works hard for the money.

So hard for it honey.

He works hard for the money

So I better treat him right.

"Is that your own cover of the song?" Shadow asked without turning away from the screen.

"Yes. Stop working. Come play with me." Amy smiled brightly. Shadow turned away from the monitor and could only blush to see her wearing a black polka dot dress with a blazer and heels. She clutched a small purse. Her hair draped over her shoulders and she wore a retro red lipstick that made him think of the highlights in his hair.

"Who are you trying to impress?" He asked. He averted her gaze. "Why are you here?"

"I asked Rouge where you worked. A bunch of us are hanging out tonight – to catch up. It has been a while." Amy walked over to Shadow's desk and leaned on it slightly. She crossed her silk legs and Shadow could feel his body's temperature rising.

"Wh – who's going?" He loosened his tie and cleared his throat. Something about a woman's legs.

Just something about a woman's legs…

"Hm…me, Silver and Blaze went to see family. Uhm…Tails. Knuckles. Rouge. Cream. You, if you agree to come with and Sonic." Shadow bit his lip when hearing Sonic's name. He looked at Amy and touched her hand.

"Are you okay going if he's going?" He asked her sincerely. She nodded.

"Yeah. He isn't so tactless as to talk about our issues with everyone around. It'll be cool." She patted his hand almost as if she was trying to comfort him. Shadow felt an ache in his chest. He knew that she was trying to be strong. Though it didn't seem like it, he could read them in her jaded eyes.

"I'll come. Okay?"

"Yay! It's at Knuckles' place. I don't know where that is so you're leading the way."

Rouge opened a bottle of Riesling and filled her glass to the top. She sniffed the wine's aroma and placed the glass to her lips, drinking it as if was blood and she was a bat of the night.

"Drink any faster and you'll be hammered." Knuckles took the glass from her and placed it on the kitchen counter.

His apartment was a decent size. He had two bedrooms off of the living and kitchen area. His long time roommate, Vector, was away on business, leaving the place to him and whomever he invited. Rouge had been spending nights with him since Vector's leave. The white haired woman grinned at her lover. "It's a good thing I had Lucy come over and shampoo those sofa cushions." Rouge wrapped her arms around Knuckles' neck and kissed his nose. "We've been so bad all week."

Knuckles cleared his throat and released her arms from around him. "Please behave. Okay?"

"What? It's not like I'm going to grab your junk in front of our friends." Rouge pouted.

"You have before." He stated simply.

"…I was drunk."

"That's why you don't need to drink before anyone else."

Tails stood outside with Cream holding boxes of pizza. Cream knocked the door and Rouge opened it with a smile.

"Hey guys." Cream said. Tails followed in and placed the pizza on the counter.

"You're the first ones to arrive. Wonderful. Cream I need you to help me set up the food and beverages in the kitchen." Rouge grabbed Cream and walked off quickly. Knuckles looked to Tails and scratched the back of his head.

"So Sonic is coming, right?" He asked.

"Yeah. He said he'd come later though. He had some stuff to do."

"Okay cool. And Silver?"

"He should be on his way. I talked to him a little more than an hour ago." Tails moved his golden locks from over his blue eyes. Cream blew him a kiss from the kitchen that he caught and rubbed into his cheek.

"So – you two official now? Not just flirting?" Knuckles walked over and faux punched Tails in the shoulder. Tails smiled and blushed a bit.

"We're not saying anything yet...she's still nervous about telling her mom." Tails lowered his head and avoided making eye contact.

"Well I support you. You guys are a good looking pair."

"Dude, don't say things like that to me. It's embarrassing…"

Amy excited the train station with Shadow. The two walked side by side for a while as Knuckles apartment was a fair distance from the subway. Amy occasionally stole looks from the corner of her eye. Shadow was quite handsome. Especially in the light of dusk. His crimson eyes seemingly had flickers of gold and his bronze skin glowed. His forearms were exposed as his rolled up the sleeves of his shirt. He loosened his tie and held a lit cigarette between his lips.

"Hey, let's stop at the liquor store. I want to buy some whiskey." He told her.

"Whiskey? Eew." She stuck her tongue out and winked her eye.

"I may need some if Sonic is going to be there." He told her.

"Why? It's not like you guys stop being friends…did you?"

"We didn't really talk after you left."

"Oh."

A block over, they entered a wine and spirits store. Shadow walked to the counter to ask for a particular brand, and Amy just walked through the isles. She looked at the different bottles. Upon seeing a certain brand of sparkling wine, she picked it up. It was her favorite. His favorite. Their favorite. Though it was only a bottle of white wine, it was one they drank many times together. They'd get a bottle and pop it open to celebrate. Only that brand. It was only bought to celebrate.

Except that one time.

"I didn't pass." He said. Sonic stood in the bathroom with his toothbrush in one hand, and his cellphone in the other. He looked at the screen, a blank expression on his face. Amy walked to the bathroom door and looked at him.

"What?"

"I didn't pass. The exam. To join the police force. I didn't pass." Sonic turned his head to her mechanically. His green eyes were void. Clear like the Caribbean sea. Vacant like his thoughts.

"Oh no. No. Sonic I'm sorry." Amy walked to him. She reached out to hug him, holding him, rubbing his back. Sonic stood there. He stared into nothingness. He had no words. "It's alright." She told him.

"It's not alright."

"You'll do better next time."

"There is no next time. I -"

"You will. You can. You're meant to be an officer. You have the biggest heart of anyone I know. This is just one bump in the road."

He pushed her away. Amy looked at him shocked. Why did he do that?

"Don't patronize me!"

"I'm not. I was really excited for you. I bought sparkling wine and made a special dinner - I wanted us to celebrate."

"You wanted me to fail!"

"How can you say that? I've been supportive! Since you started this whole process I've been supportive. And you can always retake the exam!"

"Since you started that band! Since you've spent time with everyone else, you've forgotten all about me!"

"Sonic, you're just misplacing your anger." Was she being condescending? She sounded like Shadow.

He stormed out the bathroom, his toothbrush on the ground. His phone left in the sink under the running water. The liquid distorting the notification sound it made.

"You're just doing all this, to make me feel bad." He stormed into the kitchen. He grabbed the food, throwing it into the garbage. He broke dishes in the sink. "You never believed in me. This - all this, just a pity party!"

"A pity party? I'd go out my way, miss work and band practice to make you a dinner saying 'I'm sooo sorry.' That's the kind og person you think I am?" Amy ran over to him, grabbing his arms to stop him from making a larger mess.

"I don't know! I don't know damn it! It just feels like I'm being mocked! Your band is working out! Shadow got into law school! Tails is getting his masters! Everything is going great for everyone but me!" Sonic grabbed the expensive bottle of sparkling white wine and smashed it into the counter.

Amy watched it like it was slow as the glass and the liquid exploded, shattered, and cut him. He stood three was his hand eyes filled with tears. His cheeks already stained by them. He stood there, lowering his head and covering his mouth with his bloodied hand. Amy's own eyes filled with tears. So many. Her cheek, cut from the flying glass.

"Everyone is going somewhere. I'm not anyone. I'm not going anywhere. I'm still a kid. You know?" He looked at her through his tears that blurred his vision. He wanted so badly to hold her. He wanted so much to apologize for his rage. He wanted even more to just keep her. For the rest of his life, keep her. "You're going to leave me, aren't you?"

Amy couldn't hold it in anymore. She took deep breaths and covered her mouth. She was trying to stop the tears. She fought them to the best of her ability; she was overwhelmed. "No. I'd never leave you. I love you. How can you keep thinking these things of me? How can you think I'm not on your side?"

"I don't know. I don't know." He reached out to touch her and she turned away. Soon after, she walked out the kitchen, grabbing her pocket book and phone. Amy slipped on her shoes and headed out the apartment. Sonic stood there. He didn't move.

She exited the elevator of the apartment building and saw Shadow in the lobby holding a 6 pack of beer and texting on his phone. They looked at each other, stared blankly at each other, read each other. As he looked at her, a light cut on her cheek, a little blood- tears falling from her eyes and the sniffling of her nose, he felt his heart fill with hurt for her. Amy sank to the floor. She lowered her head and cried.

Under the running water of the bathroom sink, Sonic's cellphone glowed with notifications for three text messages stating: "I'm coming over. I'm bringing beers. Congrats!" All of them from Shadow.

"Amy, you've been quite this whole time." He looked at her. They stood in front of Knuckles apartment and he could pick up that she was not in the right state of mind.

"I'm fine. I-I'm fine."

"We can leave."

"No. I want to hang out with everyone. It's okay." Amy gave Shadow a closed eye smile and he couldn't take the pain. He wanted to run away with her. Grab her and keep her from seeing Sonic again. Whatever was required to make her happy. He pulled her close to him.

"Let's go." Amy's hands pressed against Shadow's chest and her cheeks burned red. She looked into his stardust eyes and felt her heart sink to the bottom of her stomach. And then the door opened. Staring at the two of them with a white face was Sonic. He stood there, eyes wide.

Amy and Shadow turned and saw his face. The two stepped away from each other. Amy turned away to hide her blushing face and Shadow looked away. Sonic looked at them both and bit his bottom lip.

"Sonic, aren't you going to get more beer?" Tails walked over and peeked into the hallway. He smiled when seeing Amy, pushing Sonic aside to approach her. "Hey!" He said. Amy turned around with her cheeks flushed.

"Tails!" She said with a smile. The subject had to change quickly. She hugged Tails, giving him a tight squeeze. "You look good. You grew out your hair." She patted him on the shoulder and he smiled.

"Yeah. Cream likes it this way."

"So you two are going together now?"

"Well, sort of."

Shadow walked up to Sonic and stared into his eyes. "Stay away from her." He whispered. Shadow stepped past him and headed into the apartment. He was greeted by Rouge who exclaimed "I can't believe it worked! I knew Amy's pretty legs would lure you to me."

Sonic stood in the doorway, watching Amy laugh and chat with Tails. They headed to the door and walked past him into the apartment. He stopped Amy by grabbing her arm. "Can we talk?" He asked.

"Not now." She told him. "Not now." Amy released herself from his grasp and followed in.