—I think Knux can't take it anymore —Sonic commented, "trying" to hold back a laugh, even though he was doing a lousy job.
In response, the echidna muttered something under his breath before letting out a loud snort, which was what ended up sending Sonic into a fit of laughter that knocked him to the ground. Amy, who was standing next to the sofa that Knuckles had dropped over to sleep on, rolled her eyes. Beside her, Tails was pursing his lips to keep from joining his brother in the fit of laughter.
—I must admit that I'm impressed —Rouge said with one hand on her waist and vaguely pointing at Knuckles with the other hand— He's still asleep even with Blue's yowling over there. How come I've never managed to steal the master emerald from him?
— Hey! —Sonic exclaimed, only slightly offended.
— I guess the fatigue really built up once he relaxed —Tails pointed out, squatting down and taking Knuckles's arm by the wrist and then raising it and letting it fall with a plaf— These last few weeks have been… demanding, to say the least.
They all nodded in unison with a tired sigh. They had just managed to get the danger of the week, perhaps of the month, under control; and as Tails had said, the whole debacle had been exhausting. "But if anyone can make things better, it's Amy..." Sonic thought, although it didn't seem like the right moment to comment on it out loud.
—We better take Red back to his island or else, when he wakes up and sees that he left his precious emerald alone he's going to go mental —Rouge said with a giggle, gently removing one of Knuckles' spikes from his face— I'll keep an eye out~
Sonic and Amy glanced at each other, secretly wondering if she meant the emerald or the guardian.
— I'll give you a ride. I should go to sleep too, I'm exhausted —Tails said stretching with a yawn and then walking to the exit hall of Amy's house, where he had left the keys to the tornado.
Once he took the keys both he and Rouge and Sonic turned to look at Amy in silence.
- What? —she asked, crossing her arms defensively. Sonic just smiled knowingly, holding back a chuckle.
—You're the only one strong enough to carry Sleeping Beauty —Rouge said with a smile. Amy looked at her for a second, she didn't see a trace of malice, even though her smile was as mischievous as ever.
Amy glanced at Tails, who just shrugged before nodding. Nothing to deny there. Amy slumped her shoulders with a sigh.
—Okay, then —she said in a defeatist tone, going to the sofa. She deftly hooked one arm under Knuckles's knees and the other behind his back. With a huff, more for show than anything else, she lifted him up in one swift, graceful motion. Once she held him in her arms she adjusted him a bit letting his head rest on her shoulder.
The scene was really something, Knuckles was at least a head taller than Amy and he was rather corpulent, so seeing a short and thin girl carry him as if he were a baby without any problem was amusing.
— Does he even weigh anything to you? —Sonic asked with an amused smile on his face.
Amy glanced at Knuckles for a second, then at Sonic, then she gave a nonchalant shrug.
—Nah, it's like carrying a couple of grapes —Amy replied with a confident smile and a nod— While I help them load him onto the plane, do you think you could give me a hand cleaning up?
Amy pointed to her living room, where there were still packets of chips, a coffee bag Shadow had left behind before he left, and the pair of microphones left behind from their karaoke night.
— Yessir —Sonic said in a mocking tone, giving a military salute that made Amy giggle.
Tails left the house first with the keys in hand, as soon as he had cleared the porch his tails twirled and he flew over to his plane, ready to launch it. Rouge, for his part, stayed behind to hold the door open for Amy, who came out with Knuckles in her arms. The plane ignited with a twist of the blades, and Rouge hovered to the tail, ready to help Amy up. With a graceful leap, Amy climbed onto the body of the plane and, with Rouge's help, she deposited Knuckles in the passenger seat.
—Are you sure you won't need help when you get to the island? —Amy asked placing a hand on Knuckles's head one last time.
—You leave the rest to us, honey —Rouge assured him with a smile— It's easier to get him off the plane between the two of us than to get him up.
—We're talking about flying him down between the two of us right? —Tails asked with a nervous chuckle— Carefully?
Rouge kept her usual smile without answering, which made Tails swallow hard, but he didn't ask any more questions. Amy shook her head before hopping off the plane. She waved at them and stood outside to watch the plane take off and get lost in the cloudy night sky.
Knowing Sonic, Amy was not surprised at all that when she entered her house, everything had been cleaned up in record time.
The coffee bag had been wired shut and placed in the kitchen, the sofas had been returned to their places, and a garbage bag rested by the door, waiting to be carried outside. The fairy lights that Rouge had provided were still hanging, but Amy figured she could return them later. The only thing that was left was the small platform that had been placed in the center of the room as a stage, courtesy of Tails, where Sonic was now waiting flipping through the catalog of songs in the karaoke.
—I suppose the platform will stay here until Tails comes for it tomorrow —Amy commented, dropping into the sofa with a huff— I think it would be difficult for you to carry it alone.
Sonic glanced over his shoulder with a smile.
— It would be the most prudent thing —Sonic sat on the platform with his legs dangling and rested his chin on one of his hands— I must say, Miss Rose, this idea of yours was a complete success. I've never seen Shadow have so much fun. Or have fun, period.
Amy giggled and tossed her hair behind her shoulder in a dramatic gesture.
— You ever doubted me?
—I mean...a little...
— Hey! —Amy exclaimed puffing out her cheeks and throwing a cushion at his face that Sonic caught on the fly between laughs— Hmph!
Her indignation did not last long, because soon enough she was laughing along with him. If she was being completely honest she too had her doubts earlier in the day when the idea had popped into her head.
— A karaoke night? —Sonic asked unconvinced, rearranging the bag of dirt that Amy had placed in his arms.
— Yep! Tonight! —Amy replied, pressing the fresh soil in her garden over the seed she had just planted— I've been thinking…these last few weeks have been…chaotic, if you will, so it occurred to me that this would be a good idea.
Sonic placed the sack of dirt on the ground before plopping himself down and sitting cross-legged. He put a hand to his chin, thinking.
—A distraction huh...? —he murmured. He had to admit they were in dire need of a distraction, there was no question. Every time he entered Tails's workshop without warning, the fox would jump out of his place in a panic, asking if there was an emergency. In general, everyone was a little on edge— You know what? It's a good idea. What's more, it's a great idea, Ames! I can get everyone together in seconds, Tails can help with a scenario, and I could even ask Rouge to help with some decorations and drag Shadow out of his burrow.
At this point, Sonic was already on his feet and is basically vibrating in anticipation.
—You could at least pretend you don't like it and that you do it for me —Amy said with a giggle.— I thought it would be nice to vent our frustrations by singing.
—That's where you're wrong, Amy —Sonic smiled— They're gonna vent their frustrations by yelling.
Amy thought he was overreacting.
—I honestly didn't think Tails had the lungs for that, —Amy commented with a chuckle and put her hands over her eyes, remembering how the young fox had gotten a little excited during a duet song with Sonic.
—Tails is full of surprises, but I must say that it was Shadow who really freaked me out —Sonic exclaimed, leaning back— And to think I almost had to drag him here!"
Amy chuckled before leaning forward.
—Is your throat okay? —she asked pointing to her own neck.
—Hmm? Of course, why the question —Sonic asked innocently.
Amy raised an eyebrow.
—Are we going to pretend like you didn't give the concert of a lifetime several times? You almost gave Tails a heart attack.
Sonic snorted, standing up and walking back to the karaoke console.
—I'll be fine, nothing a lemon tea with honey won't fix, besides... —Sonic took one of the microphones in his hand and tossed it into the air a couple of times before looking over his shoulder at Amy with a mischievous smile— Didn't you have fun, Ames?
A blush warmed Amy's cheeks and the girl looked away, fleetingly remembering her turn with the microphone.
Karaoke night had been her idea but she had been hoping to avoid singing herself, so when everyone had had their turn she had felt too embarrassed to try until Sonic offered to sing with her as he had done with Tails. And once already at the moment, she had felt so natural, so comfortable. Without realizing she was singing entire sections by herself. After that the rest was easy, taking a solo song here and there, or doing some silly duet with Rouge.
—That's not the point —Amy said with a clearing of her throat.
—Aha. —Sonic rolled his eyes, looking back at the screen. A good chunk of the newly played songs was courtesy of the group's Swifties; Amy and Shadow had teamed up to sing together as many as they could once the nerves were gone, he particularly remembered one that Amy had chosen, simple and calm. At times the lyrics felt kind of intended to him: Wanna hang out? Yeah, sounds like fun…
Sonic kept scrolling through the songs on the screen, he really wasn't sure if he was looking for something in particular, but he wanted to distract himself. Now that they were alone the atmosphere had fallen on him like a pile of bricks and he was starting to get anxious. He might as well have retired just like the others, but Tails had locked up the workshop and Sonic was horrible with waiting.
That and he really didn't want to leave.
Although they had been followed by the torrent of emergencies over the last few weeks, he hadn't really interacted with Amy as much as he'd liked. As soon as the crisis of the day was over, the girl was so exhausted that she would go home immediately. For that reason, that morning when he had seen her walk by with a bag of dirt in front of the tree where he was taking a nap, he had not hesitated to offer his help for any project that had occurred to her.
Sonic stopped at a song that caught his attention and skimmed the lyrics quickly, a knot in his stomach forming.
Oh, there she goes again
Every morning it's the same
You walk by my house
I wanna call out your name
Without much thought, Sonic chose the song and the music began to play.
Amy looked up, confused. "Does he still want to continue singing?", she thought. The choice was something, so to speak, considering that all night Sonic had chosen particularly strong songs energy-wise. Still, she had no complaints, after that night she was convinced that Sonic had a beautiful voice, and it wasn't just her biases when it came to him.
Amy closed her eyes, resting her chin on one hand, listening to the first verses of the song. Sonic kept his eyes glued to the screen, more out of embarrassment than the need to read the lyrics, however, from time to time he glanced at Amy out of the corner of his eye. She hadn't changed anything in particular for the occasion other than cleaning up the dirt she was covered in that morning, wearing her usual red dress, yet he couldn't help but think that she looked…beautiful, really. He probably would have thought the same thing even if she was still smeared with dirt from her garden.
I wanna tell you how beautiful you are from where I'm standing
You got me thinking what we could be 'cause
I keep craving, craving, you don't know it but it's true
Can't get my mouth to say the words they wanna say to you
Sonic swallowed between verses. He felt that his cheeks were burning and surely his ears must be just as red. He clasped the microphone in his hands, taking a breath before continuing, turning to face Amy.
This is typical of love
Can't wait anymore, I won't wait
I need to tell you how I feel when I see us together forever
Amy opened her eyes, discovering Sonic looking at her. Her cheeks were painted red. She suddenly didn't feel like Sonic was just playing around anymore, he had intention in his voice. Amy was suddenly all too aware of the lyrics. Their gazes met, causing Amy to feel a lump in her throat. Although Sonic looked at her in surprise for a second, soon his gaze softened into a smile. He beckoned Amy over with one hand.
With a giggle and rolling her eyes, Amy got up from the couch and walked over to the makeshift stage, honestly expecting that Sonic would pull her up ready to prompt her to choose a song for herself, but he didn't do that. Instead Sonic leaned in to meet her eyes, stealing her breath away.
In my dreams, you're with me
We'll be everything youwant us to be
And from there, who knows?
Amy noticed the change in the lyrics and her heart sped up. She put a hand to her chest in an attempt to make it stop, but she was completely mesmerized.
Sonic found the gesture incredibly adorable. He reached out a hand to brush Amy's cheek and she without thinking leaned into his touch. Sonic dropped to one knee to be level with her, bringing his face closer little by little. Soon, more than singing he was whispering in her ear.
—Maybe this will be the night that we kiss for the first time—he whispered although neither believed that he was referring to the lyrics of the song. Amy swallowed, unable to look away from him, causing Sonic to smile as if asking— Or is that just me and my imagination?
Amy watched him with wide eyes for a second, speechless. Actually, she didn't say anything for so long that Sonic's confident demeanor was beginning to falter, showing how nervous he really was. He glanced from side to side before turning back to her and raising his eyebrows in a questioning manner.
Finally, Amy burst into a laugh that rang like chimes in the hedgehog's ears, dissipating his nervousness little by little and stealing a huge smile and a laugh that came out of his chest, finally freed from all the stress and fatigue of the previous weeks. Without warning from her, Amy wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him to her, planting a kiss on his lips and taking him by surprise.
Sonic stumbled a bit but soon found himself enjoying it. As Amy pulled away from him for air Sonic cupped her face in his hands and looked at her one last time before kissing her again.