The stars shone bright in the clear night sky. Another long day for Miles Prower of fixing up machines. He'd made a good chunk of progress on his backlog. Pretty soon he'd have to start advertising that he was ready to take orders again. At the rate he was going, however, he was bound to get burnt out. Not that he really cared at the moment.

His thoughts were interrupted by the soft crunching of grass nearby. Turning his head in the direction of the noise, he saw a familiar pink hedgehog climbing up the side of the hill. A soft look of surprise stretched across his face as she reached the top and looked down at him with a smile. "Can I join you?" She asked. Tails nodded and returned to gazing at the night sky as she lay down next to him.

"How'd you know I was up here?" he asked her.

"Well, I remembered you telling me you liked to look at the stars here, so I wanted to see it for myself," she replied in a casual manner, as if she hadn't impulsively driven straight to the train station and headed to Mystic Ruins right after she got off work. As if she hadn't knocked on his front door furiously until his temporary roommate responded instead of him. As if she hadn't shaken him and demanded to know where the kitsune was without elaborating as to why she needed to see him so late at night.

"I see," Tails replied simply.

The two of them stared at the sky for a few minutes, unsure of what to say to each other. A sense of awkwardness lingered in the air, both of them a little uncomfortable but not enough for it to be a problem. "The stars are beautiful from here," Amy said at last.

"Yeah…" Tails replied absentmindedly. "Not as beautiful as you are," he thought.

The pink hedgehog grabbed his wrist lightly. "Is… it ok if I ask you something?"

A blush formed on his cheeks. "Yeah, anything."

Amy closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. "Do you ever feel like you've wasted your entire life?"

Tails blinked. "Ok, believe it or not, this is the second time someone has asked me that this month."

She paused. "Really?"

"Yeah, but that's not important right now. Why do you ask that?"

"Well, it's just… I've spent half my life chasing after Sonic, haven't I? Since even before you and I met."

"Yeah, I guess so. You've always had a thing for him. What's your point?"

She paused for a moment, waiting for the words to come to her. Instead, all that came were tears.

Tails looked at her, confused and concerned. He sat up, placing his hand on her shoulder. "H-hey, what's wrong, Amy?" he asked. She didn't respond, instead she sat up and embraced him, crying on his shoulder. Although taken aback at first, he quickly regained his composure and hugged her back, rubbing his hand across her back.

"I'm such an idiot, Tails," she muttered.

"You're not an idiot, Amy," the kitsune replied softly. "What happened?"

"I… Sonic…"

"Of course it's about him," Tails thought. "When is it anything else?"

"What about Sonic?" he asked, masking his frustration.

"He doesn't love me," she muttered.

Tails winced. That was a new one. "O-of course he does, Amy," he reassured.

She pulled back and looked him in the eyes, tears still rushing down her face. "Only as a friend. Nothing more. He'll never love me like that, Tails. Never."

The kitsune frowned. "How can you be so sure?"

"Because he doesn't love anyone like that, Tails. He came out to me the other night as… aroace."

"Aroace?"

"Aromantic asexual."

"Well that explains a lot," Tails thought. "I want to say I'm surprised, but I'm not in the slightest. He's always had an aversion to that stuff, after all…"

"You knew, didn't you?" Amy asked him. He hadn't meant to stay silent for so long, but that reveal had caught him a little off-guard.

"No, I didn't," he reassured her. "Although… I can't really say I'm too surprised."

"I see…" She looked down somberly. "I must be a real idiot for not realizing then. It took me completely by surprise."

Tails embraced her again. "Quit calling yourself an idiot," he whispered. "You're one of the smartest people I know. He didn't figure that out until recently, so how could you have known? Don't beat yourself up over this."

Amy stared straight ahead, not saying anything. She was coming to the realization that, once again, she had run to him just to cry over Sonic. It made her feel awful. "Why?" She muttered, burying her head into his shoulder. "Why do you always put up with me? Ever since we were kids, I've always just come crying to you over Sonic. Doesn't it annoy you? Don't you hate me?"

Tails paused, giving himself a moment to think. "I don't put up with you," he said at last. "I care for you, like friends do. You're a wonderful person, Amy Rose. I don't hate you at all. If I could, I wouldn't change a thing about you."

She looked up at him. "Why?"

He smiled down at her. "Because you're perfect just the way you are."

She was at a loss for words. All she could do was stare into those big, blue eyes. Although his face was only half illuminated by the moon, she could still make out that warm, tender smile. "He really is cute, isn't he?" she thought to herself, blushing a little bit. He frowned a little, putting his hand to her forehead.

"You're not getting a fever, are you?" he asked, with concern in his voice. "Your face is turning red."

"I-I'm fine!" she said quickly. "Can I ask you something a little… weird?"

His brow furrowed with confusion. "Uh… sure?"

"Do you think I'm cute?"

The words escaped her lips before she even realized what she was saying. She watched his eyes widen and a deep crimson form on his cheeks. "I-I mean," she spoke quickly, embarrassed by what she had said, "like… if you think I'm cute, maybe other guys will too… you know?"

He breathed a sigh of relief, though the blush on his face didn't go away. "Well…" he replied, averting her eyes, "to be honest with you, I…" He wanted so desperately to tell her. Oh, how he wished he could tell her. But the words wouldn't come out. They weren't there. They just wouldn't form. "Yeah," he said at last. "You're a pretty cute girl. But like, isn't that obvious?"

Her heart skipped a beat. "He thinks I'm cute?" she thought. "Obvious? What does that mean? Huh?" Her head was spinning.

"Thank you," was all she could muster to say.

A sudden awkwardness fell over the two of them. Both of them were completely unsure of what to say to each other. They let go of each other and looked up at the sky again. "The stars are pretty, aren't they?" Tails said finally. "But not nearly as pretty as you," he added in his head.

Amy nodded softly. "Sorry for… all that," she murmured.

"No need to apologize. You'd tell me not to apologize if I were crying over Cream."

She thought for a moment. "I guess so."

"There's plenty of guys out there, Amy. It might be a while, but I'm sure you'll find someone new."

"Maybe… but none of them will be my hero, you know?"

A spike of jealousy pulsed throughout the kitsune. "Hero?" he thought. "Right, like I haven't saved your life a couple times either, huh?" He exhaled deeply to get it all out of his system. "Yeah, I guess so," he replied at last.

Amy looked down. "Sorry…"

"No need to apologize."

Once again, silence. They sat there for a few minutes, before Amy stood up. "I… should probably go." She made her way to go back down the hill, but was stopped by a sudden, firm grip on her wrist.

She looked over her shoulder, locking eyes with Tails, who held onto her wrist. A weird mixture of fear, courage and nervousness rested in his eyes. "W-wait, Amy," he stuttered.

Amy tilted her head to the side, confused. "Tails?" she asked. "What's wrong?"

He took a deep breath. "Amy, I… I uh… I… I-I-I uh, umm, errr…"

A single thought crossed his mind. "I can't do this." And that thought repeated, over and over.

Tails looked away from and sigh of defeat. "I… I want to look at the stars with you some more." He let go of her arm and looked solemnly at the ground.

He perked up a little bit at the feeling of fingers running through his bangs. "If you're that insisting on it," Amy whispered in his ear, "then I'll stay a little longer." She sat next to him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Thank you," Tail muttered.

"Don't mention it."

Tails lie down and Amy rested her head on his chest. "Oh Miles," he thought, "what are you doing to yourself." Absentmindedly, he began running his fingers through Amy's bangs.

Amy smiled softly as he ran his fingers through her bangs. It didn't seem to have the same calming effect it had it on him, but it still felt nice. She couldn't help but wonder what Tails really wanted to say. It was obvious he didn't really say what he wanted to, but given how late it was, she didn't want to push it. So lost in thought she was that she didn't even realize his hand had stopped moving. She looked up at him, confused.

Tails had fallen asleep. In the middle of the grass. Just how tired was he? She shook her head and smiled. "I should probably take you home, huh?" she whispered. Standing up, she carried him in her arms and began to walk back down the hill. This was the third time in the past month she'd seen him asleep, and, for some reason, she again couldn't help but think he looked cute when he slept.

"He thinks I'm cute." That thought made her smile. A boy had never really called her cute before. Not outside of weird comment sections online, at least. It felt nice. Tails was nice. Nice and smart. And cute. And handsome. He always made her feel better. He was always there for her. He understood her like now one else did. He's got his quirks, sure, but he's still a wonderful guy to be around. If only he had been the one to save her life on Little Planet all those years ago…

Amy let out a small sigh. This can't be happening right now. So soon? After the biggest heartbreak of her life happened just two days ago? She shook her head. She couldn't help how she felt. She couldn't change who she was.

"Amy Rose, you love sick hedgehog," she thought. "Don't you dare say a thing to him. You know it won't end well for you."

Author's note: I guess this is the shortest chapter? This is how envisioned it, so oh well. Hope you guys enjoyed regardless. To make up for it, the next chapter will be the finale of Chaotix Collab. Remember to read and review, thank you for reading.