A quick shower. A good brushing. Clean teeth, flossed thoroughly and rinsed with a minty fresh mouthwash. Deodorant, shampoo, conditioner- the whole nine yards. He must've rinsed his face a dozen times to make sure it was as clean as he could manage. By all means, he was probably perfect. It's just those darn bangs, always sticking up. Then again, he was sure she liked them. His nerves rattled him as he checked his outfit. Some black loafers, a pair of black slacks, a nice dress shirt with a red tie. The only one he had that wasn't either nerdy or a bow tie.

Miles "Tails" Prower had a date. Well, not really a date. It was more of an outing between friends. Best friends. His best friend he was in love. It could be a date, but it wasn't. Even if it felt like a date, it wasn't a date. Sure, she said "it's a date!" but they both knew damn well that was just an expression. It wasn't a date. He eyed the cologne bottle he had set on his bathroom counter. The one he had impulse bought the night before. He'd never worn cologne before. He didn't know how to put it on. He didn't even know what cologne was, come to think of it. He just knew it smelled like flowers. It smelled like roses. Roses reminded him of her.

Thirty minutes later, he smelled like roses. No, more like he reeked of roses. All that work- ruined. All that meticulous care he'd put into himself ruined, because he had to try out cologne, on today of all days. He had to smell like roses. For his not-date. Because he wasn't going on a date. He was hanging out with a friend. His best friend. Because even though she called it a date, it was a figure of speech. He wasn't going on a date. He was hanging out with his best friend.

DING-DONG!

The chime echoed throughout his home. No time to fix it. He had to put up with smelling like roses. He had to smell like cheap, flowery cologne for his not-date. Because this wasn't a date, it was an outing between friends. And the woman at his front door wasn't his date, she was his best friend. His best friend he was in love with, but still just his friend. Best friend. That he was in love with. That was waiting outside so they could go on their date. That wasn't a date. Because it was an outing between friends.

It's not a date.

DING-DONG!

That's what rang out through the house as soon as she pushed the button. She must've spent an hour on her quills alone this morning, but the bangs wouldn't stay down no matter what. Didn't matter, she thought he liked them anyways. She liked his after all. They matched. Like a couple. A couple of best friends. That's what they were after all. The best friends.

Amy Rose looked down at her outfit. Was she… overdressed? Or maybe just dressed too well? It was a beautiful red dress that matched a pair of red boots. Like the outfit she used to wear all the time, but different. Fancier, in a subtle way. Still took her another hour to pick it out. It took yet another hour to make sure her make-up looked good. She'd been up since five in the morning, yet she didn't seem tired at all. She was going on a date, after all. She had to look her best.

Only it wasn't a date. Not really. More like an outing with a friend. Her best friend. Whom she loved. Not in a friend way, but in the way she had loved Sonic. But despite that, it wasn't a date. She'd called it that, but it was a figure of speech. It was an outing. Between friends. And outing between friends, where she smelled like expensive oranges. The last minute, impulse buy of fancy perfume bottle that smelled of oranges. Wasn't the first time she'd worn perfume, so it was faint enough, but still. She was wearing perfume to her not-date.

The doorknob rattled, snapping her attention back to the door instantly. It slowly swung open, accompanied by the overwhelming stench of roses- and the man that carried it. She held her breath, not wanting to be rude. Tails leaned his back against his door frame, crossing his arms. "'Sup?" he asked, trying to seem casual.

The tension was immediately broken by her laughter. "You're such a dork!" she cried out in between laughs.

Tails smiled nervously. "I try not to be. I think I'm pretty cool."

"Well you, are cool, but you're also a dork." She paused, debating internally whether or not to even acknowledge the overwhelming flowery stench, before figuring she should just get it out of the way. "Are you wearing… cologne, by chance?"

The color drained from his face. "Uh, yeah, I guess. I just, uh… saw it last night and wanted to try it."

"Nailed it," he thought.

Through the overwhelming roses, Tails picked up on another scent. Oranges.

"Are you… wearing perfume, by chance?" he said, mimicking the way she had asked him.

"Uh…"

"It's just, I can smell oranges and I haven't… got any of those… you know?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm wearing perfume. It's something I do when I'm going out sometimes. To feel nice."

"Oh! Well, you look nice today."

"Thanks! You look great yourself."

They stared at each other for a moment, unsure of what to say. Before long, they found each other staring into each other's eyes. An ocean of vibrant blue staring back at a pair of emerald green gemstones, the silence between them slowly growing more and more hard to ignore.

Amy was the first to snap back to reality. "So, uh, where are we going today?"

"Oh!" Tails replied, coming to his senses as he walked outside, locking the door behind him. "Well, you were always talking about Twinkle Park when we were kids, right? Sooo…" He pulled out two big papers from his pocket. "I ordered us a pair of all-day passes!"

"Y-you- No way!" Amy squealed. "Are you for real?! That's gotta be expensive!"

Tails shrugged. "It's no big deal. Besides, you need a break as much as I do! You e spent a good chunk of the past few months working hard for the charity launch, and I've been working on toasters people don't know how to clean out and planes owned by assholes."

"One of those planes was yours, you know."

"I stand by what I said."

Amy playfully punched him lightly in the arm. "Come on, you know you're a great guy."

"Well, you weren't there when I told off Shadow and Rouge for… existing, basically."

"We all have our moments," she shrugged. "Come on, let's go! I can't wait to get to Twinkle Park!"

Tails chuckled. "Alright, alright! I'll let you lead the way, since you're so eager!"

The two of them ran off towards the train station together, equally as excited and nervous to be in each other's company, and both reminding themselves of one simple fact in the back of their minds:

This isn't a date. It's an outing between friends. Best friends. The best friend they're in love with. But even though she called it a date, it was just a figure of speech. Because it's not a date. It's an outing between friends.

The line was long to get into Twinkle Park, given it was a bright summer day. Still, they had arrived early enough that they didn't have to wait longer than an hour to get to the main gates. When they finally got there, Tails greeted the man taking entrance tickets. "Hello, I got two all day passes online-"

"Are you Miles Prower?" the man asked, surprised.

"Uh…" Tails rubbed his neck nervously. "Yeah… and before you ask, yes that's Amy Rose."

"No kidding! You two are here on a date, right? Well why don't do the test to see if you get in for free!"

The kitsune's cheeks turned a bright red. "What? No, we're just hanging out! It's not a date! What test?!"

"Ah… I was afraid they'd do that," Amy sighed. "Part of why I always wanted to Sonic here back when we were kids is because they have a 'cute couples get in free' policy."

"That would've been nice to know, earlier." He turned his attention to the man at the gate. "Uh… look, I already bought the all day passes online, see? We don't need to take the test. I already paid."

"Don't worry!" The man said with a big grin, pulling out a contraption that looked like an old timey camera. "We have a policy that anyone who passes the couples' test will be compensated with tickets equal in value. In this case, you'll be given 1,000 prize tickets per pass, as the all-day pass is our most expensive pass."

Tails blinked. He turned to look at the girl beside him. "That's, umm… that's a lot of tickets, you know?"

Amy froze up, her heart starting to race a little. "Well… I suppose we could be the cutest couple of best friends?"

That sentence was like a gut punch and a warm hug at the exact same time to the ears of Miles Prower. On one hand, the fact she was willing to call them a couple in any way put him on cloud nine. On the other hand, the clarification that they were, in fact, just friends and nothing more stung more than he thought it would. Still, he didn't let the bit of main show on his face, instead putting on a grin for his bestie. "Sure, that sounds good to me!" he said with a laugh.

"Well then," the man gate said as he ushered the two of them to the side others can go forward. "Let's get you two to the photo-op and see if you qualify!"

"There's a whole photo-op section?" Tails asked, confused.

"They've really changed this place up since I last visited," Amy noted.

The man fiddled around with the camera-like device as he led them away to a separate gate. This gate has a small fence blocking off entrance to it, as well as a blue screen backdrop wall near some equipment. "Alright," the man said with a smile, "just stand on those big circles in front of the screen there while I get the equipment set up." He turned and set the camera-like device on a tripod stand and continued to fiddle with it little more.

"I know it's probably some kind of PTSD speaking," Tails mumbled to Amy, "but this feels like an old Eggman trap we were supposed to fall for like, 10 years ago."

"Oh, so I'm not crazy for feeling that way," Amy quietly agreed.

Despite their nerves, they both stood on the designated spots.

"Come on you two!" the man said cheerfully. "Get in closer! You're barely in frame!" After a bit of prodding from the man, the two eventually ended up in a side hug, arms draped over the other's shoulders, pulling each other closer, their faces almost touching. They couldn't help but blush at the current predicament. "Alrighty, make a cute face and… say cheese!"

FLASH!

The light and sound from the camera, although quick, was enough to temporarily disorient them, barely noticing as the man plugged the machine into some equipment and waited for a photo print. After a minute or so, he held up a paper and studied it. "Well, I'll be!" he chuckled. "Looks like you two are getting in for free!"

Tails blushed. "Really?"

Amy's expression matched his. "I never thought we'd actually pull it off to be honest."

The man walked up to them with the paper and handed it over. "Here you go, a little souvenir!"

Curious, they looked over the page. It was in full color, and was clearly put in a template of some kind. Their photo was in the middle of a giant heart with a red border to it, the paper around it blue. Pink, bubble-like letter font read "Super-Duper Cute!" at the bottom of the page. In their photo, the background was pink and dotted with red hearts. In the photo itself, Amy fiddled with her quills while smiling and Tails had both his eyes closed, held up a peace sign and had a massive, stupid, toothy grin. Both were slightly blushing. The only part of the piece of paper that wasn't obnoxiously cutesy was the corporate "Twinkle Park" logo tucked in the very bottom right corner.

Amy and Tails were frozen solid. Neither wanted to look at the other, worried they'd be called out for the face becoming so red. They couldn't deny it- they did make a cute couple. Not even a cute couple of besties, a cute actual couple. Tails slowly and neatly folded the paper before putting it in his pocket.

"Why the peace sign?" Amy asked, not fully back to her senses.

"Because I don't flip off the camera anymore," Tails mumbled.

Being reminded of that photo was all it took for Amy to relax as she immediately burst out in laughter. "You only did that once though!" she squealed between laughs.

Tails smirked. "See, that's where you're wrong. I only shared one photo of me doing that publicly. I got a whole selfie horde of me doing that and I hope you never find it."

"Oh, now I have to find it. That's a whole lot of teasing potential I'm missing out on here."

Their conversation was interrupted by two plastic cards being shoved in their face. They were white, with the twinkle park logo in black. "Here are your ticket cards!" the man beamed. "1,000 tickets loaded on each, just as promised. Enjoy your stay at Twinkle Park!"

"Ah, right! Thanks!" Amy replied quickly, grabbing them from his hand. She wrapped her arm around Tails' arm and pulled him off towards the Park gates.

"Yeah, thanks again!" Tails added as he allowed himself to be dragged way, turning towards the gate so he could keep up.

"Good luck, Mr. Prower," the man said softly. For some reason, his voice was… different. Deeper, almost. More monotone in its cadence. "I hope you get the courage to tell her."

Tails' blood ran cold. He looked over his shoulder, not daring to stop walking as they passed through the gate. The backdrop, the camera, the equipment- all of it was gone, like it never existed. The man was still there, and a soft smile rested on his lips. Only now did Miles realize his eyes were baggy and tired-looking, and that his hair was long and blonde, extending past his shoulders. The face rang a bell in his head. He'd seen it not too long ago. He blinked, and just like that, they were gone, just like everything else around them. Unsure if what he saw was even real, Miles turned his attention back to the gate.

Tails took a big bite into the cotton candy in his hand. He stood on the sidelines as Amy prepared to compete in yet another, large ticket payout strength test machine. This one? The classic "hit the base with a hammer so the metal thing shoots up and dings the bell" thing. You know the one. He went in for another bite as she cracked her knuckles and picked up the heavy, foam-padded hammer. Several people watched alongside him, no doubt wanting to see if the girl legendary for wielding a giant hammer was as strong as everyone said she was. With one quick strike, she swung the hammer down on the target. Immediately, the metal bit shot up and struck the bell, denting the metal and getting stuck. "Shoot, I was holding back so much, too," Amy muttered as she realized she'd damaged the machine.

Tails looked back at the other machines they'd used. An arm wrestling machine had the arm ripped off. A punching bag strength tester had a hole straight through it. A soccer goal machine had several deflated soccer balls next to a giant hole in the back wall of it.

"I think we should give the strength and athletics based games a rest," Tails suggested.

"But they give out the most tickets!"

"We already have 20,342 tickets across both cards, do we really need more?"

"The grand prize is 100,000 tickets!"

"What even is the grand prize?"

"I have no idea!"

The kitsune shook his head and smiled. "Come on, I wanna try a ride or something! It's not all about the tickets, ya know."

"Alright, fine. What have you got in mind?" She huffed in defeat as she grabbed her card from the now busted machine and walked off with him. "So what, did you have in mind then?"

"Hmm… I was thinking a rollercoaster might be nice. Ooo, or the space ride where you go in giant shuttle! Maybe the Gravitron would be fun, too… Oh, of course we gotta go on the bumper cars, that's a no-brainer! Then maybe we could go through the haunted hou- HEY!" He quickly yanked his cotton candy away from the sneaky hedgehog that had just taken a bite out of it. "Get your own!"

"But you know how much I love cotton candy!"

"I asked if you wanted some earlier and you said no! You can't just eat mine because you changed your mind!"

"I can't even have a little bite?"

"You just did!"

"No I didn't."

Tails pulled the cotton candy closer to her and pointed at a fresh bite mark. "Yes, you did! Look, it's right- OH COME ON!" He pushed her head away from his food as she took a sudden, giant bite out of it once more.

Amy giggled with joy. "I can't believe you fell for that!"

"You sneaky little devil! Fine, I'll share it with you. But you owe me!"

"Fine by me, I won!"

The next two hours was nothing but rides. Screaming on the rollercoaster, slamming into people on the bumper cars together and eventually turning on themselves, almost throwing up after spinning around on the Gravitron for so long. The highlight for Tails was when Amy clutched his chest after getting jumpscared by a skeleton in the Haunted House. Her highlight was him hugging her while he screamed minutes later when a zombie actor jumped out behind a fake wall at him. Now, the two of them sat on a bench next to a vending machine, catching their breath from all the excitement and grabbing a bite to eat. "So…" Amy said as she watched Tails take a bite out of a greasy cheese pizza slice. "Any other rides you wanna go on? We've been on a couple now. I wouldn't mind going on the bumper cars again!"

Tails covered his mouth as shoved the food in his mouth to the side. "Well…" he mumbled as he swelled his bite. "If we went on the bumper cars again, I feel like you would target me specifically."

"And what makes you think I'd do that?"

"Because that's what you did in the last bit of time we had! We knocked everyone else to the side together, then you pushed me into a corner and kept ramming me into it, you traitor!"

"Come on, that was funny! And I helped you most of the match, ya know."

"Exactly, that's why I called you a traitor. Traitor."

Amy giggled and ruffled his hair a bit. "You know it's all fun and games. If it were a real fight, I'd have your back for sure."

"Yeah, yeah."

Amy got up from the bench, stretching her arms a bit, before turning to her not-date. "I'm gonna head to the restroom, alright?"

Tails gave a thumbs up. "Gotcha, I'll be here."

As she walked off, Tails felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Pulling it out, he saw a new message from Sonic.

"How's the date going, little bro? :P" it read.

Suddenly blushing, Tails furiously typed back, "Not a date."

"So you don't have a massive crush on our mutual friend who happens to be my biggest fan?"

"Why would you think I have a crush on Amy?"

"Come on, Tails. do you think I'm stupid? You already told me there's a girl you like, and she's the only girl you talk to on a regular basis." After a minute, another message came through. "…Also Knuckles totally told me last night LMAO"

"That little-" Tails muttered, before typing out a response. "Of course he did. :|"

"IN HIS DEFENSE- It was a slip-up. He called your guys' get-together tonight a date, and I was like, 'Oh, they're dating?' and he was like 'NAH WHY WOUKD YOU THINK THAT?!' so I pretty much made him tell me after that XD"

The Kitsune groaned. "Of course that's what happened. Also, *Would."

"Like you've never made a typo."

"At least I correct them. Did you message me just to tease me or did you want something?"

"I just wanted to see how you were on what is obviously a date. At least, Knuckles said it was obvious, I got no clue XD I just wanted to see if you've followed your heart and told her yet, little bro."

"No, I haven't told her. Not yet at least."

"You should. Like, tonight. Tonight is a good night to tell her how you feel, Tails."

"We'll see. I gotta go, talk to you later Sonic."

"TTYL, little bro! Best of luck to ya!"

"Who are you texting?"

The voice of his not-date threw him into a small panic as he locked his phone. "Ah, just Sonic," he said sheepishly, putting his phone in his pocket.

Amy's face soured. "You ok? He's not giving you trouble is he?"

"N-no! Nothing like that!" Looking around for an excuse to avoid the conversation, his eyes settled on a giant wheel in front of him. "Hey, you know what we haven't gone on yet? The Ferris wheel!"

"The… Ferris wheel?" She blinked with confusion as she watched him pick up their stuff from the bench.

"Yeah, come on!" He grabbed her by the hand. "It'll be fun!"

With a big grin on his face, Tails dragged Amy by the hand to the Ferris wheel, unaware of the blush on her face. He didn't even let go as they waited in line, paid for the ride and got in their car on the wheel itself. The whole time, Amy was quiet, staring at her hand in his, her head full of ideas and images of what could- but was incredibly unlikely to- happen the second they sat in that car. Him turning to her, confessing his love, kissing her, asking her out… the ideas just kept coming, running in her head, leaving her thoroughly flustered. She barely even noticed they had gotten in the car and sat down until he finally let go of her hand. As they began to ascend, she stared in front of her for a moment, still dazed by what had just happened. "Tails?" she asked finally.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Did you drag me to the Ferris wheel just to avoid a conversation?"

Tails slowly turned to her, then turned just as slowly to look forward again. "…No. Because that would probably be weird."

The pink hedgehog chuckled a bit. "Miles, you're such a strange, silly man, you know that?"

"Yeah, sorry…"

"No, I meant that as a compliment! But really, what's bothering you?"

"It's just… well, I really don't know how to tell this girl how I feel about her. It's bothering me, is all."

"Aww, come here, you."

Amy leaned in and gave him a side hug, smiling through the pain that came with the knowledge he had eyes for another woman. Sure, it could be her- but so soon after finally accepting her and Sonic won't be a thing, she didn't wanna get her hopes up. The best thing she could do right now was help him, even if it hurt her. "Any girl would be lucky to have you in their life, Miles," she said, her words coming from the heart. "I'm sure you'll find the words to do it eventually."

"Yeah, but… I don't know what to say to her."

"Tell her what you like about her. What makes you love her so much."

"Like what?"

"You're a smart guy, Miles. Think of something. Just tell me some stuff, right now. Small things."

Tails blushed as he put his hand to his chin. "W-well… I love her smile. I love her embrace when she hugs me. I love her bubbly personality. I love she's always there for me. I… I guess I just love her."

Amy smiled sadly. "She sounds like a nice girl. I hope you get to tell her how you feel."

The smile on his lips was no happier than hers. "Me too, Amy."

The two of them stared at the lowering sun in the sky, not quite sunset yet, but getting there.

The walk through Station Square Park was a detour Amy hadn't expected, but she couldn't say no to Tails when he said he wanted to stop by and see it on his way home. She carried a few bags of random junk from the prize exchange. The only thing she really wanted was the bootlegged (but still surprisingly high quality) plushie of her two-tailed friend, but upon realizing who they were, they gave both of them a set of plushies of Sonic, Knuckles, Tails and herself for free as a "please don't sue us" bribe, not that they would have anyways. The rest of what she got with her tickets? Stickers, an air fryer that cost 10,000 tickets, and a few keychain toys she'd probably give out at the next company meeting to those she knew would find them cute. Tails hadn't gotten much, insisting she use his tickets since he didn't have a lot anyways, but she still convinced him to use some to get a few Twinkle Park souvenirs. He'd noticed she seemed down since the Ferris wheel and tried to cheer her up by playing with his own plushie of her. She'd laughed, but didn't feel much better. Maybe that was why he was still carrying it rather than putting it away in his bags.

When they reached the park, the sun had finally began to set. An orange glow filled the sky as they sat at the edge of the water fountain and soaked in the view. The quiet, cool air was a stark contrast to the bustling and loud Twinkle Park. "Did you have fun?" Tails asked, giving her a half smile.

Turning to him with a grin, she said, "Of course I did! Today was awesome. I really hope we can do this again sometime."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it, I had a blast as well."

The silence that followed was almost painful. Ready to call it a night, Amy picked up her bags and let out an exhale. "Well, I guess I should head home before it gets too dark, huh?"

Tails looked up at her frozen. "Y-yeah… me too, I guess…" he replied. "It was good seeing you. Always love hanging out with you, Amy."

"I love hanging out with you too, Tails. Let's meet up again soon, ok?"

"Ok, sounds great. See… see ya around."

"Yeah… see ya around."

As Amy started to walk off, Tails picked up his bags and began to head in the other direction. He missed his chance. Again. Why? Because he was a coward. He couldn't just tell her- could he? Could he really just blurt all of that emotion in him out at her all at once? Just like that. He took a deep breath, and dropped his bags at his side. This was enough to catch her attention.

"Something wrong, Tails?"

This was it… now or never, right? But could he do it? Could he tell her how he feels?

"…Tails? Are… are you ok?"

Of course he could.

"You know what?" Tails said, his voice shaky. "Everyone… everyone in my life has told me to do the same thing. Sonic, Knuckles, you, Eric, hell, even Eggman! So that's it! I'm finally going to do it! Because if I don't do it right now… I'll never get the guts to do it again!"

"Tails, what are you…?"

The kitsune turned around, pointing at the hedgehog before him. "Amy Rose… I really, really like you! A lot!"

Amy froze in place, dropping her bags and clutching her heart. "W-what?"

"You heard me, Amy!" He shut his eyes real tight and held up his fists, as if he were clutching his feelings so they couldn't run off. "I like you! I like your smile! I like your hugs! I like your laugh! I like your bubbly personality! I like the way you always keep a positive attitude when things get sad! I- I love the way you style your hair! I love that you're super girly but still amazingly strong! I love that you're always there for me! I love that you're always there for your friends in general! I love your fashion sense! I love your strong devotion to justice! I love how you can be intimidating at times! I admire your work ethic! I admire your devotion to love! I admire how well you can handle being let down! I admire your ability to make others smile! I love seeing you happy! I love seeing you in love, even if it's not with me! I love that you're always willing to learn! I love, love, love everything about you, Amy Rose!" He opened his eyes as he caught his breath. Amy stayed silent, processing everything she'd just heard.

But Tails wasn't done. He shut his eyes and continued. "I love the way you dress! I love the way you walk! I love the way you talk! I love that you designed an outfit for me you knew I'd actually wear! I love that you cared for me when I passed out in front of you! I love that you made me breakfast the next day! I love that you helped me become friends with Cream again! I love that you took me to a nice Italian restaurant! I love that you don't mind that I only like cheese on my pizza! I love that you have a genuine interest in my planes! I love that you helped me make sure Knuckles was ok! I love that you let me stay at your place that one time! I love that you like looking at the stars with me! I love when you run your hands through my bangs to calm me down! I love that giggle you do when I do it back! I love that you enjoy rom-coms as much as I do! I love that you're my best friend! I love that you know when I can't sleep and text me about it! I love it when you call me sweet! I love seeing you beat up bad guys! I love that you took a day off work just to take care of me! I love that you helped me get over my first break-up! I-I-I…" He hunched over, his hands resting on his knees as he caught his breath again. "I… I… I love everything about you, Amy. I think you're one of the best people I've ever met. I want to spend more time with you. I… I want to be there for you the way you've been there for me." His eyes met hers as he stood up straight once again. "Look, what I'm trying to say is… I really, really like you Amy. No… no, so much more than that! I love you Amy Rose. I love you so much more than just as a friend. You… you understand what I mean, right?"

Amy was frozen solid. Had she heard all of that right? Was this even real, or was it just a fantasy? She blinked, and he was still there. It was real, and she couldn't believe it. She had no idea how to process it, so she stayed silent. As her silence grew longer, it became clear he was getting the wrong idea about it.

"I… I'm sorry Amy," he said quickly. "I… I'll leave you be." Turning on his heel, he began to ran off, only to be stopped dead in his tracks by a strong grip around his wrist.

"That's not fair, Tails," Amy said softly, tightening her grip softly.

The kitsune gulped, frozen in fear. He was ready to get what he thought was coming to him.

"You don't get to just tell me all that, make me feel so loved and special, and then act like it was all some mistake! That's not fair at all!"

He blinked. That was not the reaction he had expected.

"At least let me respond before you run off, you coward!"

Tails paused, not daring to look at her. He turned his head a little and nodded.

"Miles… you're an amazing guy. You're sweet, you're funny, you're there for me when I need you. That night when we looked at the stars, I… I realized that I love you, the way I used to love Sonic. I didn't say anything because I didn't want to work myself up again, but…" She wiped away a few tears with her free hand. "I just want you to know, everything you just said… it's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. I… I love you too, Miles. I love you a lot." A giggle escaped her lips. "I love you the way you love me."

Without a moment's hesitation, Miles Prower turned around and grabbed the back of Amy Rose's head, shutting his eyes and pressing his lips against hers. Completely caught off guard, her eyes widened, before she let go of his wrist and wrapped her arms around him, kissing him back. The two of them shared in a passionate kiss, allowing each other to fully understand their feelings for each other. When they finally broke for air, both blushing furiously, they stared into each other's eyes lovingly. Tails looked to the fountain beside them. "Remember when you taught me how to make a wish in the fountain?" he asked softly. "…Can I say what it was when it comes true, or do I have to keep it secret forever?"

Amy looked at him, then the fountain, then softly giggled. "I think I can take a good guess as to what it is."

He brushed her quills with his hands a little. "Do you wanna come stay at my place for the night?"

She blushed harder, giving him a quizzical look.

"Not- not in that way," he clarified. "Just… I wanna cuddle up on the couch and watch movies or something. I don't wanna say goodnight just yet."

She smiled. "I'd love that- almost as much as I love you."

"I love you too, dear. Let's go."

With that, they picked up their bags and walked, arm in arm, to that quiet little house with a plane hangar in Mystic Ruins.

Author's Note: This was going to end at the Ferris wheel... until I realized that no, it's time. I really hope you all enjoyed this chapter and seeing Tails finally confess. The next few chapters will be epilogues setting up the sequel story. Yes, this will be getting a sequel. I have 3 more sequels planned. I can't thank you all enough. Thank you tremendously for the support. Come say hi to me in my public Discord server, the invite code is "GNrNjjju77" if you want to join. IF that doesn't work, an updated link may be in the bio on my main page. Thank you all very much, and I'll see you all later.