Amy sat on the couch, one leg over the other, arms crossed as she glared right at Sonic- who was sitting across from her, seemingly unbothered. His silent and casual demeanour only fueled her frustration, making her grip her arms tighter.

She texted Rouge, demanding that she come here to explain the situation to her and why she wasn't informed about it beforehand.

Sonic the Hedgehog… Her bodyguard…

She would've found it almost laughable… If she hadn't already slept with him last night!

Amy wanted to knock herself out and perhaps never wake up again. How could she be so stupid? She knew trying to fit in and spend the night out was a recipe for disaster, and yet, she was dumb enough not to listen to herself and here she was now, reaping the consequences of her actions. The one time she didn't care about her image had to be the one time she suddenly reunited with him, in the most gruelling and awkward predicament ever.

Chaos… What have you gotten yourself into, Amy? This is all your fault because you were too curious!

She should've stayed home.

Security wasn't an issue with her fashion agency. Rouge made sure all the girls were surrounded by great personnel whenever they were out in public and that included bodyguards for press appearances and other things.

Amy just didn't understand why she needed a personal bodyguard. Did that just mean Sonic was going to be with her most of the day? Following and hovering around her as she did her daily tasks?

She didn't like the sound of that.

Sonic cleared his throat. "So, uh. Are you just gonna sit there and glare at me all day?"

Her glare at him grew even harder.

"Are you kidding me?" She snapped. "How can you be so calm about this? Do you not see the problem here?"

Sonic shrugged, leaning back into the couch with an ease that Amy found infuriating. "What problem? You needed a bodyguard, and now you have one."

Amy gritted her teeth. Was he serious right now?

"You! You're the problem! It's not like you're some random guy who was assigned to be my bodyguard. You're... You're you! And I wasn't told about any of this!"

Taking a deep breath after her rant, Amy tried not to let the flush on her face get the best of her. She didn't want to give him any more of a reason to comment on her fluster and how uncomfortable she was.

Just a few hours ago, their bodies were practically sticking to one another!

She shut her eyes, trying to forget that image of him on top of her and tried to replace it with a mental image of her hammer making contact with his handsome face. Yeah. That helped. Until she realised she'd called him 'handsome' …and the anger rose inside her body again.

"I didn't think my appearance would bother you this much," Sonic said, making her look up at him just in time to see his small grin, "I thought you'd be happy at this little reunion, at least."

Well, you thought wrong. Amy huffed before retorting, "Since when were you so cocky?"

"Since when were you so hot-headed?"

"I am not hot-headed!" She argued back at him but only further proved his point when she was met with his bemused look.

The front door rang and before Amy could even blink, Sonic had already gotten up and went over to it. As she got up, she watched him as he looked through the security footage she had set up on the desk.

"Already on the job, huh?" Amy remarked almost mockingly.

"Can never be too careful," Sonic said and opened the door.

Rouge stepped inside, her heels clicking against the floor, her eyes darting from Sonic to Amy. "Well, well. Looks like you two have already made yourselves comfortable with each other."

She shot her a sharp look and then pointed at Sonic. "Explain."

"Explain what, exactly?" Rouge walked towards her couch and sat down, "I think it's pretty obvious. I've hired him to protect you."

"Protect me from what?" Amy exasperated and then shot her a nervous look, "Is… Is someone after me?"

"No, not yet anyway. But considering your recent rise in fame, it's only a matter of time before some obsessed fan or paparazzi crosses the line. Better to be prepared."

The pink hedgehog held back a little. Rouge had a point, she wasn't going to deny that. She has had some instances where that was the case, but it wasn't near enough to resort to this situation.

"But…" Amy snuck a glance at Sonic before looking back at her agent, "But does it have to be him?"

"I don't see the issue," Rouge said and tilted her head to smile between the two, "Sonic's from one of the best security agencies in the city, so he knows what he's doing. It's not like we chose him from the middle of nowhere," The bat suddenly eyed her carefully, "Why? Has something happened between the two of you that I should know about?"

She felt her face burn at the implication in Rouge's question like she'd been caught red-handed. As much as Amy liked having Rouge as her agent and manager, she could be a little too nosey at times, and that meant it wasn't too hard for her to find out about anything going on in Amy's personal life. She wouldn't use anything against her, of course, but sometimes the bat just knew without anyone telling her anything. She was ridiculously intuitive and right now, Amy felt like a deer caught in the headlights.

"N-Nothing happened," Amy stammered, her voice betraying her calm facade. "We... We just... had a little misunderstanding, that's all."

She thought she heard Sonic snorting quietly behind her, but decided to ignore it. Damn him!

Rouge flickered her gaze between the both of them again, to which both hedgehogs remained silent. She didn't seem to buy her response but she shook her head. "Uh-huh. Well, whatever happened, it's in the past now. Sonic's here to do a job, and I expect both of you to act professionally from here on out. Are we clear?"

"But-"

"Are we clear?" Rouge repeated, her voice firmer.

She stared at Rouge for a little while longer before finally relenting with a resigned nod. "...Yes, we're clear."

"Perfect!" Rouge clapped her hands and decided to make herself comfortable, "You mind making me a cup of coffee, dear? You calling me up this early made me miss my breakfast."

Amy had to fight the urge to roll her eyes but did what was asked anyway. She didn't have the chance to eat either, and she suspected that Sonic didn't too.

She set a tray down the coffee table with the coffee and some food. Rouge took her drink without complaints and Amy handed Sonic his one.

He seemed surprised by her sudden hospitality. "Uh-"

"Just take it," she said, glancing off to the side, "It's not poisoned if that's what you're worried about."

Sonic raised an eye but accepted the coffee with a small nod. "Thanks," he said, taking a sip. "Appreciate it."

Amy sat down and listened to Rouge as she explained her schedule for the next week.

"On Monday, you've got a photo shoot in the morning, followed by a fitting session in the afternoon," Rouge continued, flipping through her planner. "And don't forget the charity gala in the evening. High-profile event, lots of press."

She kept nodding along to what Rouge was saying, but she was only half-listening. She kept stealing glances at Sonic, who seemed to be completely engrossed in his coffee and whatever Rouge was saying. It was maddening how he could appear so unfazed, so casual about this whole situation, while she was on the verge of losing her mind!

Sonic caught her looking for a second and she quickly looked away, semi-hiding her face from him as she sipped on her coffee.

"Amy, are you listening?" Rouge's voice snapped her back to reality.

"Uh, yeah, sorry. Photoshoot, fitting session, charity gala, on Monday," Amy repeated mechanically.

Rouge gave her a sceptical look but didn't press further. "Good. And Sonic will be with you for all of that, so make sure you're on your best behaviour."

She bit back a retort and simply nodded as Rouge went on about the other days. It sounded like she was going to be babysat and that didn't sit right with her, but Amy forced herself to choke it up and not cause another scene.

"Now, about the charity gala. It's going to be a big event, and you'll need to look your best. I've arranged for a designer dress, and Sonic will be accompanying you for security."

"Of course he will," Amy muttered under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," she sighed, "I understand."

"Excellent!" Rouge said, closing her planner with a satisfied snap. "Now, if there are no more complaints, I'm gonna head back into my office."

"On a Saturday?"

"Of course, darling. There's always work to be done, especially when managing stars like you."

Amy shook her head, insisting, "Do you need me to do anything to take the load off?"

"That's sweet of you, Amy, but I've got it covered. Just focus on your schedule and try to get along with Sonic. That's enough for me."

"Right," Amy said, trying to sound more engaged. "Thanks, Rouge."

Rouge glanced between Amy and Sonic once more. "I'll leave you both to get acquainted. I have a meeting to attend later." She stood up, smoothing her dress, and gave them both a final, knowing smile. "Play nice, you two."

After Rouge left, the room fell into a heavy silence. Amy stared at the floor, trying to collect her thoughts.

"Okay," she started, lifting her head to meet Sonic's eyes as she stood up. "Ground rules. We need them."

Sonic put his coffee down. "What do you have in mind?"

"Rule one," Amy began, holding up a finger, "Keep your distance unless absolutely necessary. I don't need you hovering around me all the time."

"Fair enough."

"Rule two. Communication. If something changes or if there's an issue, we talk about it. No secrets."

"Agreed. Anything else?"

Amy felt her cheeks heat up at the next thing, "And no talking about… last night. Ever."

Sonic grinned at her. "Wasn't planning on it."

"Wipe that grin off your face!"

Sonic's grin only widened. "Sorry, Ames, but you're making it hard not to smile."

Amy blinked at him.

Ames?

"Th-That's…" She cursed at herself for having her cheeks become even warmer than before and snapped, "That's Miss Rose to you!"

"Of course."

His blatant responses only agitated her further and she had to bite down her tongue to prevent herself from saying a few words. She couldn't believe she was letting him get under her skin like this!

Amy took a deep breath before she got ahead of herself.

Calm, Amy. Calm.

"Alright," Amy sighed before nodding, "I guess that's it."

"No problem," Sonic stood up and headed towards the door, "I'm gonna go around the complex to familiarise myself with the area. Let me know if you need anything."

"I don't even have your number."

He blinked at her. "Oh, right." He got out his phone and then called her.

Amy looked down at her phone, seeing the incoming call from him.

"Now you do," he told her, giving her that annoying smile again before leaving, "Be back in a few."

Biting her lip, she let out a frustrated groan and saved his number in her contacts. "Whatever," she muttered to herself before collapsing onto her coach. She stared up at the ceiling and then covered her face with her hands.

For a long time, she'd been alone for as long as she could remember. She only had acquaintances and colleagues and they never ended up being her friends because of her lack of trust in people, or, the more obvious, they just didn't like her. It was so simple living a life where she didn't have any sort of betrayal, neglect or heartbreak to worry about.

Now that was all disrupted because the one person who broke her heart came back into her life.

You both were five, Amy. There's no way he would've remembered you.

Still, it begged the question of whether or not Sonic was aware that she was being bullied throughout high school. Why else did he show up at random when those bullies threw her papers and books to the floor on their last day of school? Did he know? If so, why didn't he help her if he remembered she was the girl he rescued, as he claimed earlier?

Maybe that was why she was so angry with him.

She couldn't shake the memories of high school. The way the other kids had mocked her, tripping her in the hallways, scattering her books and laughing as she scrambled to pick them up. She'd been an easy target.

When Sonic had swooped in out of nowhere, helping her pick up the scattered papers on that last day, it felt like too little, too late.

And then eight years later, they meet again, in the most ridiculous and embarrassing circumstances.

She wondered what he thought of her now. Did he expect her to become a model? Did he even know that she was going to be his client before coming here? Is that why he was drinking so much last night because she was the one who was assigned to him?

Amy frowned at the thought of that and then quickly shook her head.

She didn't care what he thought of her. She didn't care what anyone thought of her. She couldn't afford to waste time dwelling on unwanted opinions! She was a model, for Chaos's sake! She already had enough critiques from the modelling world as is, so she definitely wasn't going to dwell on what Sonic might think. No!

She. Didn't. Care.

"Miss Rose?"

Amy yelped, quickly standing up and got into a fighting stance.

"Whoa, hey! It's just me!" Sonic stood in the doorway, his hands raised.

"Don't do that!" She stood normally and glared at him, "At least make some sort of noise before you sneak up on me!"

"My bad," he said and sent her a sheepish look, "I just got done scoping the area."

She blinked. "Already? That was quick."

Sonic shrugged. "Wasn't too bad. Complex is designed good, so there wasn't much to worry about."

Amy didn't say anything and just nodded as they fell into another awkward moment of silence.

…Until her stomach let out a loud growl.

Her face flushed with embarrassment as she quickly crossed her arms over her abdomen.

Sonic just smiled at her. "You should eat."

"No kidding," Amy bristled at him and then stared back at the food on the coffee table. The toast and the rest of her drink had already gotten cold and stale. For a moment, she pondered and then made her mind up. Walking over to the coffee table, she grabbed her keys and gestured for him to follow. "C'mon, let's go."

"Go where?"

"There's a cafe just down the street. We can go eat something there."

"Wait!"

Amy turned around. "What?"

"Are you…" Sonic scratched the back of his head, a single bead of sweat dripping down the side of his face, "Are you going dressed like that?"

She looked down and realised she still had her towel wrapped around her body.

Mortified, she let out a squeak as a rush of red flooded against her cheeks. "O-Of course not!"

Without looking at him, Amy made a beeline to her room.