"Wake up," she said softly to the kitsune sleeping in the chair of the lounge. It was no use, he was out like a light. She sighed a little, a bit ashamed her meeting had gone on for so long. Way, way longer than it should've in fact. Amy couldn't help but find the sight of her friend sleeping in a chair snuggled up to a bunch of flowers to be a rather cute sight. Part of her didn't want to wake him up, but she knew that if she waited for him to wake up he'd be even more embarrassed than if she had just woken him.

Resting her hand on his shoulder and shaking him gently, she said to her sleeping friend, "Come on, wake up! The lobby is no place to fall asleep, silly!" After a bit of shaking, her twin-tailed fox friend finally began stirring awake. His eyes still closed, he frowned and turned away from her.

"I don't wanna go on a morning run, Sonic," he whined softly, still in a dazed state.

Amy huffed in frustration. Crossing her arms and looking down at Tails, she thought about what to do to get him to get up and out of the lounge. Out of frustration, she went to kick the chat he sat in, only to kick him right in the shins.

"GAH!" he yelped in pain, eyes shooting wide open as he jerked his knee up so he could rub the spot she had kicked. Amy's eyes widened from shock and she covered her mouth with her hands as she let out a loud gasp. "Why?" Tails groaned, not realizing who he was talking to.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Amy yelled quickly, flailing her arms around wildly in a state of panic. "I meant to kick the chair! I'm so sorry, Tails! Are you alright?" she bent down to check his leg.

"I'm fine, I'm fine! It's al-"

Tails froze the second he got a good look at who he was talking to. There she was, the girl of his dreams, not only wearing some shiny red lipstick, but formal office attire complete with heels and stockings. He blushed at the sight, which only grew redder as he caught a whiff of the perfume she was wearing. "Amy?" he asked, dumbfounded.

"Yeah, who else would it be?" she answered, a little confused. "I'm really sorry my meeting took so long. Everyone else has gone home for the most part, but we can still-"

"What?!" Tails said jumping out of his seat, catching her off guard. He looked over at the window, only to see it was dark out. "What time is it? How long have I been out?!"

Amy pulled out her phone and checked the time. "It's umm… 9:13."

The panicked fox clutched his head in worry. "9:13?! Oh man, talk about embarrassing…"

The pink hedgehog frowned at the sight of her panicked friend. Looking to quickly change the subject, she noticed the flowers still clutched in his hands. "Are those for me?" she asked, pointing to them.

"Huh?" Tails said, turning to face her. He looked down at the roses in his hand and blushed a little, embarrassed. "Uh… yeah, they are." He scratched the back of his head and looked away from her. "I just uh… I was walking past a flower shop and saw a bunch of roses and thought, 'oh Amy likes roses, I should get her some,' and so I just kinda got the ones I thought looked the best and uh-"

His ramblings were cut off by his pink friend snatching the flowers out of his hands and giving him a big hug. "You're such a sweetheart," she said, squeezing him a little tighter. "They look lovely."

Tails felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest. "Well, I wouldn't go that far…" he muttered shyly. "I was just doing something nice for a friend."

Amy let go of him, a smile on her face. "Don't seek yourself short, Miles." She grabbed his hand and led him to the elevators. "Come on, we still got work to do!"

Tails frowned. "Are you sure? Office hours are over, aren't they? I don't wanna keep you longer than you need to…"

"Oh, don't worry about that! I stay late all the time. Besides, it's not my fault those morons at the board took five whole hours to agree on something so simple." She grimaced a little, frustrated at the meeting she had suffered through.

"Well, if you insist," Tails muttered as he was dragged into an elevator.

The two stood in silence for a few moments, listening to the soft instrumentals of the elevator's music. "Huh," Tails thought to himself. "It's so weird being in an elevator that plays actual… well, elevator music." He chuckled to himself a little.

"What's so funny?" Amy asked.

"Oh, just the music of the elevator," Tails explained. "The one I use at G.U.N. HQ to visit Eggman is always playing some random song. Anything from pop to J-rock to heavy metal, you never know what it will play. I'm not used to the music in an elevator sounding so… normal."

Amy giggled. "That's so weird. You'd think they'd be more professional about that sort of thing, given how serious they all are."

The elevator stopped on the sixth floor and opened up. As Amy led Tails to her office, she continued the conversation. "How is that old nemesis of ours doing?" she asked, curious.

"Well, believe it or not," Tails responded cautiously, "I think he actually feels remorse for his actions."

"You're joking," Amy responded, a little surprised.

"Not in the slightest. Last time I was there, he was… well, he seemed off. He was complimenting me a lot, telling me he feels like he wasted his life, wished he could've taught me things…" He paused for a moment, of what else to say. "We did brush on something that happened seven years ago, but he didn't want to talk about it. Whatever it was, he's been softer and… I guess kinder since then."

Amy grabbed her keys and went to unlock her office. "Seven years ago?" she muttered, thinking aloud. "That would be three years after he was incarcerated, right?"

Tails nodded, even though she couldn't see him do it. "Yeah, that's right. The first three years I visited him, he was always going on and on about how he'll escape and make us all pay and that Sonic will rue the day he ever met him and all that garbage. Then one day, I came in and his mood had changed almost entirely. He seemed out of it and didn't wanna talk to me all that much. After that, he just got nicer. It's odd…"

"It really is odd," Amy added as she opened her door. "Well, enough about him. Let's get to work!" She gestured for him to come inside, and he obliged.

The inside of her office was pretty standard, though not without personality. The furniture was pink, and she had several potted flowers by the window. Her desk was a mess of business papers and various outfit scribbles. Photos of her and her friends lined the wall, and one could very easily miss the golden record for hit pop single "My Sweet Passion," by Amy Rose given the obscure part of the wall it was on. Miles Prower, however, had keen eyes. Pointing to the record, he turned to his friend, a stupid grin plastered on his face. "You know, you should really put that front and center," he teased as Amy closed the door behind her. "Not just anyone gets a best-selling single like that, you know."

Amy smiled sarcastically at the twin-tailed fox as she put her new roses in a flower vase. "Good idea!" she said in overly cheerful tone. She reached into the drawer of her desk, looking for something. "And while I'm at it, I can mount this on the wall right next to it!"

She held up a small photograph depicting a not at all unfamiliar sight to her kitsune friend. It was none other than Tails, standing in his bathroom and flipping off the camera, giving a smug look. He wore black eye shadow and mascara, and his bangs had been flattened into a comb-over he had been dyed black as well. Black lipstick covered his lips and around his neck was a spiked choker. The gloves her wore, while still white, were also spiked around the cuffs. What really tied the whole scene together was the black My Chemical Romance T-shirt he was wearing.

Upon setting his eyes on the photo, Tails' stupid grin faded and his eyes widened. He quickly turned his face back to the wall. "You know, on second thought," he said quickly, "I think it's perfect just the way it is. I really like how out-of-sight, out-of-mind the thing is. Really ties the whole room together."

Amy couldn't help but laugh at her friend's sudden drastic mood shift. "I'm just teasing you, silly!" the hedgehog said, punching him in the arm lightly. "Now come on! Let's get all the technical stuff out of the way."

The next half hour was full of Amy measuring almost every inch of Tails' body. His waist, his neck, his arms, his legs, his hands, his feet, his namesakes- all in the name of fashion. After that, she had him try on various coats lined with different materials. He zipped up the one he was hearing and stood in front of her for a few minutes. Soon enough, he began scratching at his arms and back. "Not this one!" Tails said, almost painfully. "This is really itchy… can I take it off now? Please?" he was practically begging her at this point. If she didn't know any better, she'd think he was about to drop to his knees and actually beg.

"Go ahead," she said with a smile. "I only want the right textures for you."

Not a moment sooner than she said that, he unzipped the jacket and threw it to the floor, his fur standing on end.

"Yeesh, what was that thing lined with?" he muttered, patting down the fur on his arms.

"Wool," Amy said simply. "I figured it might be good for staying warm in the cold skies while on a biplane, but…" She eyed Tails down with a bit of concern. "…I guess that texture is a no-go for you."

"Hey, at least your heart is in the right place!" Tails said, reaching for the next jacket to try on. He stood around in it for a bit. "This one isn't that bad, but it's a little… off."

Amy nodded as she crossed off something on the clipboard in her hand. "Try on another one, if none of them are any better we'll go with that one."

"Right," he replied, taking off the jacket and putting on a new one. They repeated this process a few more times before Tails finally landed one he enjoyed.

"Oh wow," he sighed joyfully, hugging himself with the latest jacket he had on. "This one is perfect! It's super soft and warm!"

Amy smiled at her friend's enthusiasm. "That's excellent! I think I finally have everything I need to get the prototypes in productions." She furiously scribbled something down on her clipboard. "I'll just need you to look over the designs again and give your approval. Don't be afraid to suggest any changes!"

"That's good to hear! Let's give them a look over."

The two spent a couple minutes at Amy's desk double checking her designs, with Amy making quick tweaks with a pen after hearing out his suggestions. It was mostly just small things, though he did have one major suggestion. "Boots?" Amy asked, puzzled. "But you don't really wear boots."

"True," Tails replied, scratching his head a little, "but the theme of this outfit is a classic pilot right? In that case, I think those old-school pilot boots might be a good addition."

"Hmm…" the pink hedgehog muttered as she looked over the designs again. After a while, she looked up at him approvingly. "I like it! I'll have to look into shoe manufacturers to help us out with this, but that shouldn't be too much of a hassle."

"Glad to be of use, in spite of my complete lack of fashion knowledge."

Before Amy could let out a reply, a long yawn escaped her lips. She checked her watch. The two of them had been at this for a while, it was already 10:43 PM. "I think it might be time to wrap this up for today," Tails said to her. "I'd prefer if only one of us fell asleep at the office today."

"Oh, alright," Amy replied with a laugh. "The trains don't run this late though… did you wanna crash at my place for the night?"

Tails paused, trying to think of something to say without stuttering. "As opposed to sleeping in the station all night?" was the sentence that eventually escaped his lips.

"Very funny," the hedgehog replied, ruffling his bangs a little. "Come on, we'll get some fast food on the way home. I don't know about you, but I haven't eaten anything for half the day."

Before he could reply, Tails' stomach let out a long growl. "Sounds like a good idea," he muttered, blushing from embarrassment. The pink hedgehog giggled to herself as she led them out to her car, locking up her office and the building behind her. Tails grabbed his phone out of his pocket and shot a text to Knuckles.

"Hey Knux, Amy was in a meeting that lasted way too long. Because of that, I'm only now getting done working on outfit stuff with her -.- The trains aren't running, so I'm gonna stay the night at her place. See you tomorrow"

After a minute or so, his phone buzzed. The message was, of course, from Knuckles.

"Bro you work fast. At least take her to dinner before going for the Homerun O_o"

Tails huffed, then quickly typed out a reply.

"It's not like that and you know it :( I still haven't even told her how I feel. Go to sleep ya big dummy"

As he got in the passenger seat of Amy's car, his phone buzzed with one last message.

"Just teasing bro :P Have a good night lol"

"Who are you talking to?" Amy asked as she started up the car.

"My idiot temporary roommate," Tails scoffed. "He's messing with me instead of going to bed."

Amy shook her head. "That's Knuckles for ya. Will he be ok by himself?"

"Yeah he's been just playing games and talking to people on the phone. He was calling Silver on my way out, I think."

"Silver? What's he been up to?"

Tails shrugged. "Didn't ask. Probably doing things too nerdy for me."

Amy glanced him with an eyebrow raised. "Too nerdy for you?"

Tails frowned. "Just because I like fixing up and creating machines doesn't mean I own every edition of Dungeons & Dragons and spend my time watch hours long video essays on movies no one has heard of."

"That's fair. Does Jack in the Box sound good?"

"Sure, they're a bit expensive though, I can cover my meal."

"Don't you dare!" Amy snapped at him. "I owe you for making you wait so long that you passed out in the lobby."

"But you paid for our meal last time!" the kitsune whined.

"And you bought me some nice flowers. I think we're even."

Tails crossed his arms and grumbled. The two of them went through the drive through, with Amy ordering a Sourdough Jack and Tails ordering a Late Night Snack Box. "One of these days, I'm paying for the food," Tails insisted on the drive to Amy's home.

"One day," the pink hedgehog muttered, one hand on the wheel and the other on her burger, "not today though." She chomped down on her burger, a mess of ketchup left behind on her face.

"You're really making a mess, you know," the kitsune said as he opened up one of the thin tacos from his box.

"It's too late in the night for me to care."

Tails frowned and picked up a napkin. "Hold still."

Tails reached over and wiped off her face. She groaned in protest, but didn't put up a fight. "There you go," Tails said with a smile, leaning back in his seat. His work was immediately ruined when the pink hedgehog took another large, messy bite. The kitsune sighed and shook his head. Amy smiled slyly to herself. The look didn't go unnoticed by her friend. "You did that on purpose!"

"Maybe," the hedgehog said slyly.

Tails glared at her for a moment before digging into his food again.

When they finally reached her home, it was almost midnight. After throwing away his trash, the two said goodnight to each other before going their separate ways. Tails lay down on her sofa, his head leaning against a pillow and a blanket over him. "To think, this is the second time I've slept on a couch this week," he thought. "And aside from that, these past two weeks I've spent way more time with Amy than I have in months. I wonder if she knows how I feel? Probably not. I still have no idea how to even tell her…" His thoughts drifted for a bit. "Come to think of it, I was a bit rude to Sonic yesterday wasn't I? Am I really getting jealous over him being nice to her? I know he doesn't like her back… right?"

Tails let out a sigh and rolled over. "I have to tell her before it's too late."

Before long, the kitsune finally drifted off to sleep on his friend's couch.

Author's Note: I had a whole lot of fun writing this, so much so I actually finished it all in one day. The next chapter is going to continue the Chaotix storyline. Hope you're all still reading, remember to read & review. Thank you all for reading!