The flight back home in the Tornado IV would normally be a fast one thanks to the top of the line jet engine thrusters added to this latest model, but Tails decided to take the long way home, flying slowly. He took off from the G.U.N. headquarters and rather than fly over Green Hill went over Station Square. He hated flying through the city, mainly because of how much of a headache it was. The countless skyscrapers near the middle of the city made it a pain to traverse. On top of that, ever since they had built an airport there, he'd had to open and maintain contact with their air traffic control the entire time he was flying in the city. This was a city law that had been passed pretty much to single him out, since the mayor at the time was afraid that an- at the time- child flying planes in the city could be bad optics for the city now that they had business in the aviation industry.

As the plane reached the outer limits of the city, he turned on his communications radio and set it to the air traffic tower's frequency. "This is Tornado IV to Station Square Air Traffic Control," he said over his microphone. "Requesting permission to fly over Station Square. Just passing through on the way home, over." After a few moments of dead air, the radio crackled to life and with the accompanying low static hum, a voice said, "This is Air Traffic Control to Tornado IV, permission granted. Good to see you, Miles. I'll transfer you to Eric's station."

Tails' eyes widened, "Hey, hey wait don't-!" He couldn't get another word in before the connection briefly cut out before picking up again.

"MY MAN, MILES!" a voice shouted over the radio. "How've you been, man? You ain't flown here in a while! If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were avoiding me!"

Tails sighed. Right, the *other* reason he didn't fly over Station Square- the annoying fanboy stuck in a para-social relationship with him that they always transferred him to. "Actually, Eric," he said, trying to mask his frustration. "I was avoiding you."

The man on the radio burst out into laughter. "Ah Miles, you're so funny man! You always put a smile on my face!" The voice on the radio laughed some more. "So what's up man, whatcha doing here?"

Tails sighed and decided to humor the conversation. "Just got back from the G.U.N. HQ., heading back home now. Felt like taking the scenic route I guess."

"Ah, nice, nice. You still keeping tabs on that Eggman guy? What's he up to these days? I mean you know, aside from living in a quarantined box miles below the surface."

Tails shrugged, despite knowing Eric couldn't see him. "He's just reading I guess. He keeps a lot of newspapers clippings of articles he likes. He hasn't gotten rusty at Chess either."

"Ah, yeah, guess there's not much to do down there, huh? Kinda crazy he hasn't escaped yet. I keep thinking he's gonna come back, but I guess he's just out of commission for good, huh? …Oops! Hold on!" A soft knocking came over the radio, prompting Tails to roll his eyes. "Did the mic pick that up? My desk is wooden, so I knocked on it. I don't wanna jinx the whole world!" He laughed again, hard.

Tails sighed. "Yeah, well, I think he's depressed or something now. I doubt he's gonna come back."

"Ah I see, guess I'd be depressed too if I were living like he is," Eric said. "Hey, by the way, uh… you know… uh… can I tell you something, Miles? Something exciting?"

Tails scratched his head. "Uh, sure? I guess?"

"Awesome! Ok, so you remember that girl I was dating right? Jackie?"

"Uh… vaguely?"

"Well, I took her down to Twinkle Park the other night, cuz you know, couples get in free and all that. Plus it's like, super fun and she loves it there. Anyways we had a lot of fun, and so we got on the Ferris wheel at sunset, right?"

"Yeah?" Tails said, partially paying attention as he maneuvered between a set of skyscrapers.

"Yeah," Eric continued. "Well, when we reached the top, I told her how much she means to me and how much I love her, and how she's so beautiful and…" Eric sighed lovingly. "Well, I got on my knee and popped the question, and she said yes! I'm getting married in a few months!"

Tails was taken aback, unsure of what to say. "Oh, really? Uh, that's cool. Good for you man, hope the wedding goes well."

"Thanks Miles, that means a lot coming from you! Hey if you want, you can come to the wedding! I know you're a busy guy so, I'm not going to ask you to come to be my best man or anything, although that would be awesome if you could make it and also be my best man, like… you know, that would be pretty epic."

Tails shook head, but couldn't help but smile at the man's enthusiasm. "I'm gonna pass on being best man. We've never even properly met, I don't even know what you look like."

"O-Oh well, we did meet once, but it was so long ago and super quick, so I wouldn't expect you to remember something like that." Eric laughed again, only softer this time. Tails could tell he was kinda hurt by the fact he didn't recognize him, but was doing his best not to show it. This was part of why he didn't like talking to Eric- he always felt bad when he didn't remember every single interaction they might've potentially had at one point. *"Sonic, how the hell do you deal with this on a daily basis?"* he thought to himself.

Tails spoke up once again. "Well, regardless, I don't know you all that well. Not enough to be a best man at your wedding, at least. But, hey, maybe if I got some free time I'll attend your wedding. Just send me the invite through, uhh… my business email, I guess. It's on my website-"

"YES!" Eric yelled into the mic. "OH, THANK YOU SO MUCH, MR. PROWER, THIS MEANS SO MUCH TO ME! I'LL SEND YOU THE INVITE AS SOON AS WE GOT EVERYTHING READY I PROMISE YOU! WOO-HOO!"

*"Oh God, I have to attend the wedding now,"* Tails thought to himself. *"No way I'm gonna live with myself if I break this man's heart on his wedding day by being a no-show."* He chuckled nervously to himself. "Sounds good, Eric. I'm reaching the city perimeter now, so I'm going to ask you switch me back to the main control crew."

"Yes sir, anything for you Miles! You're the best!" Eric said enthusiastically, before switching back to the man from earlier.

"This is Station Square Air Traffic Control to Tornado IV, we'd like to confirm your departure from the city limits, over," the man on the radio said.

"This is Tornado IV to Station Square, exiting city limits and entering Mystic Ruins, over."

"Roger that. Have a good night, Miles."

"Same to you Station Square, over and out."

Tails shut off the radio and leaned back in his seat, relaxing. He pondered the conversation that had just taken place for a few minutes. "Shit," he said finally. "I'm gonna have to get a tux and clear my schedule and everything, ugh…" He sat in silence as he approached his hillside home. He reading the landing gear and began to descend down to the runway. Once touching down, he steered the plane into the hanger after opening it remotely, before shutting down the plane and hopping out.

He stretched his body after touching solid ground, letting out a yawn. He walked over to the door back into the house, pulling out his keys and pressing a button to shut the hanger on the way in. He walked past the kitchen and sat down on the couch in his living room. "What a day," he groaned. He sat on the couch in silence, giving himself a moment of rest. All of a sudden, he heard footsteps hammering down his stairs really quickly.

"Hey Tails," a voice from his left said. "I was wondering when you'd be ba-"

Tails screamed, prompting the other person to scream back at him. Tails jumped out of his seat and got into a fighting stance, facing the person. "Who the hell are you?!" he screamed. "And why are you in my house?!"

"Bro, chill, chill!" the man yelled. "It's just me, man! It's just me!"

Tails blinked a few times before his brain finally registered the spiked gloves and red dreadlocks. "Knuckles?" he asked, confusion on his face as he lowered his guard.

Knuckles put his hand on his hip and frowned. "No, it's Omega," he said sarcastically. "Yeah it's Knuckles, who do you think it is?!"

Tails sighed and facepalmed. "Ugh, sorry Knux, I forgot you were staying here this weekend. It's been a long day."

Knuckles scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah, well, I kinda snuck up on you back there, my bad."

Tails shook his head. "It's all good man, just been a busy and stressful day is all." He glanced at the counter, noticing a pile of thin, square-shaped boxes. He looked back at Knuckles and said, "You ordered pizza? I thought you were doing that intense training diet thing."

Knuckles shrugged. "I figured I'd treat ya to something as thanks for letting me crash here away from Rouge."

Tails smiled. "Aww, thanks man. You didn't have to do that." Tails scratched the back of his head. "Uh… you never did tell me what's going on between you two. Wanna talk about it? You're one of my best friends, so I'm here for you if you need me."

Knuckles smiled half-heatedly. "Yeah, sure man. Probably best to get it all off my chest." He gestured over to the pizza boxes. "Why don't we talk about over dinner, huh? I was waiting for you to get back so I haven't eaten anything. I'm starving, bro!" He patted his stomach for emphasis.

Tails giggled. "Ah yeah, sorry. I took the scenic route home. Come on, let's eat."

Tails grabbed the boxes off the counter and walked over to the table as Knuckles sat himself down. He knew Rouge and Knuckles' relationship had been on the decline for a while, but he had no idea what was going on. He didn't even know what had caused Knuckles to come stay over at his home for the past two days. Whatever it was though, he had a feeling it would inevitably lead to him talking about his own failed relationship.

He just hoped Amy didn't get brought up.

Author's Note: Thanks to WhosAnonymous for the review on the last chapter, seeing someone motivated for more of the store motivated me to bust my ass all day getting chapter two out. Hope you all enjoy, remember to Read & Review. Thanks for reading.