7 - Foreign Feelings - 7

Empire City

GUN HQ

Afternoon, 4:00 PM

Nope, that's it, he couldn't take it anymore. He spent two whole hours thinking about this even after Sonic left the damn Burger Shop. He couldn't think about work, he couldn't think about anything and it was driving him insane. He needed help, and the only person he could come to about this was her. She barged in his apartment all the time, so now it was his turn.

A white female bat sipped her grape smoothie with boredom as she pressed her gloved finger on the keyboard button every few seconds. She stared at the computer monitor with boredom, disappointed but not surprised at her futile attempts to look into something. She was trying to look up any other information they had on the Jackal Squad in the GUN archives, but she was coming up dry. She wasn't going to get what she was looking for out of this. Oh well. Maybe she could go try to-

The door to her office slammed open. "Rouge!"

"AHH!" She screamed and nearly fell out of her computer chair. She spilled the smoothie out of the bottle a little, and it was currently dripping all over her hand and down her arm. With a slow brewing rage growing within her, she slammed the bottle on her desk and whipped her head at her untimely visitor. "Mr. Sunshine," She used that nickname with great venom. "Do you have any idea how hard it is for me to get a drink like this from Red?" Red, referring to Knuckles. "The grapes from Angel Island are plentiful and help decrease your weight and clear your skin. But you know how stingy he is with his island's precious resources. Now I'm going to have to grovel and beg him to make me another for lunch next week. I was savoring this! If this was on the market, you'd owe me at least a thousand bucks!"

Shadow simply stared at her apathetically. "Would it help if I paid you back that amount in cash out of my next paycheck?"

The bat's anger abruptly dissipated and she almost instantly smiled in return. "Oh that's no problem, sure. No harm done."

His tolerance for this woman waned sometimes. "Look, I need to ask you something. Something personal."

She raised a brow while grabbing a tissue from the tissue box sitting on the side of her desk. She pulled out a few while wiping off her hands and the bottle. "Now of all times, handsome? We're on the clock, you know."

"This is distracting me, that's why I need to talk to you." Shadow walked in front of her to show that he was completely serious. "I want it to stop and you're the only person I know who can explain it to me."

She saw his face, and saw how mentally troubled he was. His eyes were shaking, his body was rattled and he acted as if he saw a ghost fly right through him. Almost nothing could get Shadow like this. This was serious indeed, so she couldn't blow him off. She placed down the bottle and stood up out of her seat. "Alright, hun. Calm down, and take a seat. Relax for a moment." She advised, watching him reluctantly sit in her chair and hunch over while placing a hand on his head. Oh boy, that wasn't good. He was really upset about something. She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Now what's going on? You never act like this."

He made a draining sigh. He gripped his hand against his forehead, his ring now reattached to his wrist from earlier. He already had someone from the engineer department take the device out of it under the guise of an...Unforeseen malfunction. "If you tell anyone-"

"I won't, I promise."

"..." He closed his eyes and braced for whatever embarrassing reaction she'd have. It was shameful that he was talking about this, he couldn't look weak like this. "...I've been in closer contact with Sonic, lately. He's been giving me vital information for the case and I just met up with him some hours ago. I visited him at his home in Green Hills last week, too." Here it comes. "Ever since the party, every time I'm around him, my body acts weird. My chest gets hot, it gets harder to breathe, my mind goes blank, and I start sweating. I got checked out by a doctor in the infirmary before I came to your office, but they couldn't find anything wrong. But something is wrong, and there's something wrong with me." He looked up at her hopelessly. "Rouge, what is happening?"

He saw her eyes shrink like peas, and she slowly brought a hand up to her mouth. "Oh my God." She whispered. Then, she made a big smile and brought both hands up to her cheeks. "Oh my God...!" She squealed, her teal colored irises sparkling. "This is glorious. I can't believe this, holy shit."

"What?" Shadow didn't like the sound of that. "What's wrong with me? Did he get me sick?" He watched her bust out laughing while holding her stomach. "This isn't funny!" He growled.

"If I didn't hear it myself, I would have never believed it. Ohh my, my my..." She placed her hands on her hips and smiled at Shadow. "Oh Shadow, I'm not laughing at you. I'm laughing at the situation because, well, I never thought I'd see the day. Wow," She looked towards the side. "That explains everything. That explains why you always turned down my advances when we lived together."

He squinted his eyes at her. "What are you talking about?"

"Shadow," Rouge got down on one knee and grasped his hand softly. "You have a crush, honey."

A crush? Wasn't that something grade schoolers got? "The hell are you saying? Children get those."

"Anybody at any age can develop a crush sweetheart, don't get it twisted." She corrected him nicely. "A crush means you're forming feelings for someone, romantic feelings."

Romance? Oh hell no, absolutely not. Not for that idiot. "Rouge, I am not crushing on that hedgehog."

"So you say, but you're showing symptoms." She stood up and leaned against her desk, crossing her arms under her breasts. "Look, I know people have their preferences, but I don't care—I am the hottest woman in this country. You have no idea how many men and women have thrown themselves at me over the years. So," She proudly claimed. "Anybody who has the privilege of living with me is bound to want a piece. But when I lived with you," She placed a finger under her chin with a grin. "I tried hitting on you a bunch of times. You either were too oblivious or didn't care. When I tried to make a more forward pass at you during mating season-"

Yes, Shadow remembered that. Rouge had just come out of the shower, and she had a towel on but it was very loose. She tried touching him on his thigh, but he didn't like it. "I rejected you. I told you I was uncomfortable."

"Right, and imagine my shock that someone actually rejected me. Me!" She was still a little salty about it, even now. "Ugh...The shame I felt that day was second to none. But, I had to respect your word. I couldn't hurt you like that. You've been through enough of people using you and I wasn't about to do it myself. So, I let it be and never attempted to come onto you ever again." While she was a huge pain in the ass and an even bigger flirt, Shadow liked that she never pushed herself onto him again. She never wanted to hurt him, she just wanted to shoot her shot and she failed. The thing is though, he didn't even see it like that. He just didn't like the touching, he had no idea she wanted him that way.

"I didn't know that's what you were after specifically, and I didn't realize at the time that it was mating season." He shrugged. "I just didn't like being touched. Not like that."

"Oh Chaos, and that explains it too." She snapped her fingers. "You're an ace, of course you are. Probably demi...Ugh, how did I not see that? It was so obvious! I feel like a complete asshole, a totally insensitive asshole..." She berated herself with a shameful frown.

"A what?"

"Nothing...And I know I've already apologized to you before about that, but I truly am sorry for putting you in that position, sweetie. No hard feelings." She pressed a friendly peck on his forehead before thinking aloud, leaving a faint smudge of lipstick on his fur. "About Sonic," She continued. "Has he ever...You know, touched you? Not in that way, mind you. I mean in a platonic way."

"He hugged me before he left today. And last week he touched my arm because he wanted to know about the device in my limiter ring."

"And did you feel all of those symptoms like you described when he did those things?"

He nodded. "Yes, is that related?"

He saw Rouge make another mischievous giggle before clearing her throat. "Yes honey, people only act like that around the person they're crushing on. So every time you feel like that around Big Blue, it's because you feel things for him. Romantic things...and maybe," She gave him a suggestive look. "Other things, too. It is almost mating season, after all. Your feelings probably spurred on because of that, too. It happens."

He immediately protested against that. "But I don't-"

"Then you tell me why you feel nervous around him all the time." She challenged with a smirk.

Damn it, he couldn't explain that. "I...I don't know!" He hugged himself. "I don't understand any of this, that's why I came to you. I didn't think I could...Feel that way about anyone." He finally said, causing Rouge's smirk to disappear. "Rouge, I'm not made to feel anything. I always thought that this was another reason why I was abnormal compared to other Mobians. I was biologically engineered to mimic the appearance and DNA of Mobians, but I am not one myself." He looked down at his hands. "I can't even experience mating season like the rest of you do, so I always thought I was never made to reproduce. At the very least, I figured it never came across Gerald's mind when creating me. I'm half alien and half…a science experiment. I was meant to be a weapon and a cure for a horrible disease, nothing else. I don't understand mating season, and I can't comprehend affection on a physical or mental level besides basic hugs. I don't get romance, and I don't understand intimate emotions like love."

Rouge silently concluded that Shadow probably didn't quite understand sexual attraction either, which was why he turned her down without truly realizing what he was rejecting. He didn't even take into account that she liked him that way for a moment in time and wanted sexual intimacy, he just didn't like the physical aspect of it and saw it as nothing but. Now that he was the one with a crush, he was starting to finally understand what it felt like to want someone, and he was having a difficult time in grasping it.

"But whenever I'm around Sonic, I..." Red formed on his cheeks. "I like being touched by him and being near him. And I...Want him to do more, and I want to see him more often even when he's annoying me. He's making me feel things that I biologically shouldn't be able to feel, and I like it. I hate that I like it, but I can't control it." He looked at her for more answers, his voice evidently distressed. "But if I was never made to be able to feel these things, why am I feeling them at all?"

To her, this was adorable, but this was also very sad. Shadow was so used to violence, death and killing, and so used to people telling him he was a living tool that he eventually started to see himself as nothing but that. She hated that for him. She made a silent exhale and closed her eyes. "Hun, didn't you love Maria? Wasn't she like a sister to you?"

"..." He didn't answer her back.

"Shadow, if you could feel familiar love for her, why can't you feel romantic love for someone else?"

"Well I...I-I..." He still couldn't answer her.

"Stop me if I'm wrong, but Gerald didn't want some emotionless blob of bio-alien mass unnerving his granddaughter—He wanted someone who could make her feel comfortable while she was being healed." She gave him a gentle, understanding smile. "He wanted you to live and have companions. If he truly wanted you to be emotionless, why didn't he just make you into a genderless robot?"

Shadow lowered his head. "...I see your point."

"If you like Sonic, you shouldn't be ashamed of that, love."

"But why now?" He insisted. "I've known that moron for almost a decade, why am I feeling something now?"

"Because you finally took the time to get to know him a little, hun." Her grin grew larger. "I liked Knucklehead because I already had a little crush on him after the Ark, but then I started to hang around him more often on my own. He still didn't trust me at first, which was a smart decision on his part, but he still intrigued me. I didn't realize until I was asking him out on a date, that I had fallen for him." She made a more passionate expression, smiling dreamily as she thought about their first date. "It was a total disaster because of how dense he is, but I loved every moment anyway because I just loved him. It didn't matter if the date was ruined, I just needed him near me, close to me on another level." She placed her hands on her heart shaped plated chest. "A few more dates after that and we were all over each other. Now we're steady and we've been going strong ever since. Of course," Her smile became sheepish. "He's still an idiot, and his stubbornness gets on my last nerve. But I don't mind that because I love his negative traits, too."

She even liked his negative side? Was that what being in love was about? Loving every part of your partner no matter what it was, good or bad?

She decided to level with him, and lay it all out to him. "Yes, Big Blue is annoying, arrogant, cocky, much more foul mouthed with age, hard headed and almost more stubborn than Red. He's made a lot of mistakes, and even fox boy has admitted that he isn't the best role model sometimes. He's flawed, very much so." She reached down to touch Shadow's hand. "But that's okay, because we all are." She caressed his palm. "Not just you."

"But," Shadow made a worried expression. "I don't understand it. I'm..."

"You're scared." She knew he couldn't admit it outright. He didn't have to. "Love is scary, especially if it's your first time feeling this way. Sometimes love fails slowly, and dies after a long, grueling process. Sometimes your feelings aren't reciprocated and you ruin a lifelong friendship, something I feared I did with you." He could feel the guilt in her voice when saying that. "And love can hurt too, it can hurt really bad. It can hurt so bad that it feels like your heart is ripping out of your chest, or like the sky is falling on you." Rouge tightened her grip on his hand. "But I swear to you, it is so, so worth it. The beauty of it, the raw but innocent affection, and the passionate lust that comes with it, it is bliss. All the ups and downs, that's what makes love worth it. The fight and the challenge of it all, the feeling of finally conquering and embracing what you strived so hard to fight for to be yours-!" She didn't even realize how long she was rambling, so she paused for a moment. "...It's just...It's," The bat looked him in the eyes. "It's faulty perfection. I think that's the best way to describe it."

That oxymoron struck something within him. Perfect imperfection? Did such a thing truly exist? "If what you're saying is true, and I...Have a crush on faker, then what do I do? How do I make this stop?"

"Honestly?" She knew he wasn't going to like this. "Tell him."

Okay, no. "No." His voice was such an offensive deadpan that she nearly had a knee-jerk reaction to strangle him. "And for the record, I'm not scared of anything."

"Chaos-Shadow, hear me out." She eased carefully. "I know it's hard. It's extremely difficult, frankly. Pinky struggled with her crush on Big Blue for years, but after a while it became obvious and Sonic just didn't pick up what she was throwing down. That is, until she yelled it from the top of her lungs with a giant hammer." Rouge chuckled at the memory of that girl demanding for the hero to marry her. "She was young of course, but it didn't hurt any less. However, after she finally just came out and said it and it finally got through Sonic's head, she was fine. She slowly matured, and became more subtle with her advances. Now I don't know what happened exactly, but after a while she completely got over it." She frowned at this, as she was personally unsure of the story behind this. "Her and Sonic never dated, so I don't know if he rejected her or if she got over her crush on her own...Point is, she got through it because she finally got it out instead of letting it fester in her heart. If you conceal your feelings, you push yourself to a dangerous breaking point." She reassured him. "Tell him, then let it ride. If he accepts your feelings, great. If he doesn't, it's not the end of the world."

Shadow thought for a moment. "But," He made a concerned expression. "What if he does reject me? What if it doesn't go away after he rejects me?"

"I can't lie to you, it'll be hard. Very, very hard. You may even make your relationship awkward, maybe even ruin the friendship." She saw his face fall into downcast. "Hold on," She stopped him before he could second guess himself. "If this was anyone else, I'd agree and say you have every right to be worried. But Sonic isn't like that. You see how he was with Amy, he still loves her in his own way and they're still the best of friends. He won't push you away. If that happens, give it a little time. You'll be okay, he'll still like you. As for lingering feelings," She made a solemn grimace. "Again, that's hard. Everybody reacts to rejection differently. Sometimes it dies out on its own, but other times, it never does. It's something you'll be forced to live with."

He sat with this information, let it mend deep within his psyche.

He's been through hell before, he's experienced terrible mental and emotional damage.

If this fails, he could handle it.

He'd have to.

He rubbed his knuckles together before taking a deep breath, and releasing a calmer exhale. "...Okay." He said cautiously. "I think," He stood up out of the chair. "I'm going to wait on this. Speaking with you helped, so I don't think I'll be getting distracted anytime soon. I'm not going to tell him, not yet. I need time. Maybe if he was younger like when we first met, this would have been easier. He was a lot more naive and easier to talk to."

"Err," Rouge cringed. "You would've been a fifty-something year old dating a fifteen year old, sweetie."

Oh yeah. Gross. "Okay scratch that, that's disgusting."

"Amen to that one, that's why I waited awhile before I started coming onto Red. He was only sixteen and I was eighteen. It was a little weird."

That's true, she was older than most of Sonic's friends. "I keep forgetting you're not as old as you act-"

"-What the hell did you just say?"

"Sonic's too cunning, I hate to admit." Shadow observed, ignoring her glower. "He'll figure out that I have a crush on him eventually, if he didn't already. But the way he acts, the way he speaks, he's too," He tried to find the right word to describe him. "Coy. He's a huge flirt and plays too many mind games."

Rouge scoffed at that. "And you play 'em right back." She encouraged with a sneer. "Mind games are Romance 101, hun. You gotta get good at the game and play it well. Because if you do," She winked optimistically. "He'll be the one acting nervous and shy around you for a change. You might have him eating out of the palms of your hands." She could tell he was enjoying the sound of that, as he gave her a very amused look. "Women are masters at it, including moi. If you need any advice, just give me a text. Big Blue needs a little taste of humble pie."

"I'll hold you to that."

"You know I got you boo, Team Shadow for life."

They both made a fist, and softly pounded the other's with confident smiles.

Station Square, City Hall District

Rose Bud Flowers & Readings

Afternoon, 4:30 PM

One, three, five, seven...Not bad for today. She felt more confident closing up shop early. The pink furred hedgehog closed her register after taking out the bills and rings. She laid them out carefully before placing them in her red satchel. Once she clipped the buckles up tightly, she placed its now heavier weight onto the counter. She walked from around it while pulling out her phone and checking over her messages. As she did so, she saw a few of her employees wish her good night and waving goodbye while exiting the building. She smiled and waved back, wishing them safe travels on their way home. It may not have been late nor dark out during this time of year, but no one could be too careful. After that little bomb scare last week, the city required all venues to close up a n hour or two earlier for scrutinized curfew. She was sure someone would try and shut the city down instead, but the incident was wrapped up so quickly that it was barely worth anyone's time thanks to Team Dark. Everyone still had to be on guard, though.

Her long pink quills were styled in a way where the ends were slightly curled, and she was sure one of them straightened out after all the moving she did today. Some of her bangs were uncurled, too. She'd have to put tighter rollers on those before she went to bed. Her red off-shoulder, puffed sleeved suspender dress was stained with water and pollen. She'd have to put that in the wash tonight. She looked down at her knee-high, wedged red boots, and saw that a lot of dirt and grime was on the fabric. She'd have to throw that in to clean, too. Damn, so were her white gloves and ring bracelets, now stained in green chlorophyll. That'd be a chore she wasn't looking forward to. She sighed and looked back at the screen of her phone. She saw pictures of the party from last week, Tails had recently sent them over to her. Her light pink painted lips smiled at this, and she made sure to save them to her device. She'd print them out later. She suddenly heard the door open, the bells above it chiming to indicate a last minute customer arrived.

"Sorry, we're closing-" She looked up, and immediately brightened up. "Sonic...!"

The blue hedgehog made a shaka sign with his hand. "Yo Ames."

She put her phone in one of her dress pockets and ran up to him with a big hug. She pressed her face into his strong chest and she felt him embrace her back just as tightly. When she felt him lift her up and swing her around, she giggled. "Ooohh I missed you so much." She broke the embrace and pouted as she held onto him. "We barely talked at the party and we haven't hung out in forever!" They both secretly knew why, and it wasn't because of her old crush on him. It was because of something else, but they wouldn't bring it up. They knew better.

He put her down and gave her a nice head pat, noting that she was much shorter than him now. "Yeah, I know. Been super busy lately, everyone has." He saw her bag on the counter from the corner of his eye, and saw how much it was bulging. "Daaaaamn Ames. You rankin' in the bread, huh? It's like that?"

She flipped her hair over her shoulder. "But of course. Would you expect anything less from the best botanist slash tarot reader in Station Square?"

"You right, you right." He gave her a much deserved bro fist. "Get that bag, girl."

"Heehee," She blushed at his praise. "I wish you came earlier, everybody left and I'm dead tired. I could have given you a discount."

He shook his head. "Oh no no, I didn't need any flowers or a reading. I was gonna walk you home, but I wanted to ask you something on the way there." He walked over to the counter and picked up her bag for her, but when he went to move, he nearly dropped it. This thing weighed a ton, how much money did she make in a single day? "Geez, Ames! What, did you rob a bank before you closed up shop?"

She laughed and obliged his request. "Sure, I don't mind. Summer marriages are hot right now, so I get a bunch of bouquet orders around this time of year. Thank you, by the way."

"Don't thank me yet until I lug this thing to your house without passing out first."

After she locked up the store from the outside, they went on their way to her home. They kept on the sidewalk and safely away from the road, with Sonic standing closest to the street on the pavement if God forbid someone lost control and crashed their car. He also kept an eye out in case any creeps decided to make a bad mistake, as he was in the mood to punch someone in the gut today. Amy was going to say something to him first, but she saw that he had an agitated expression on his face. She frowned, Sonic wasn't an angry guy. It was rare for him to look mad at anything. Well, at least that's what she used to think. Ever since three years ago...No, she couldn't think about that right now. She let them walk for a while before coming out and asking. "Everything okay?" She asked softly.

He nodded easily. "I'm good, maybe a little mentally drained." He sighed. "Tails and I keep fighting and it's really pissing me off, but I don't wanna hurt his feelings."

"Still?" She sucked her teeth. "I wonder what's gotten into him..."

"He really doesn't like that I'm acting more like a parent than his friend. I can dig it, but he's not getting that I'm acting like this for a reason." He made a stiff scowl. "Eggman's makin' a comeback, and nobody knows when he's gonna strike. I gotta be ready for that, but so does he."

She furrowed her brows. "Eggman's alive?"

"Oh yeah, he ain't goin' no where. The only thing that's gonna take his ass out is me or himself, and I called dibs a long time ago." He looked to the far distance, specifically to the south. "I know exactly where he is but I don't know what he's up to, so I'm keeping my distance for now until I get a better read on the situation." He looked back at the road before them so he could keep their surroundings in his sights. "Be careful, Amy. If you see something, tell me or Team Dark." He instructed firmly without looking at her.

She nodded. "Yeah, of course. But," She tilted her head. "That's not why you're upset, is it? I'm sure none of that's helping of course, but that's not what's bothering you right now."

He hated that women's intuition that Rouge talked about. It was a damn good detector of secrets and deception. "Yeah, you're right...It's what I wanted to ask you about, actually."

"Sure, what is it?"

"Okay so," His tone became a little more playful, but also a little embarrassed. "You know I'm bi."

"Right..." She trailed off, egging him to get to his point.

"And you're my bestie so you know not to tell, right?"

"Of course!"

"Aight," Sonic took in a deep breath before exhaling slowly. "...I think I like Shadow. Like, like."

The pink hedgehog immediately marched in front of him with her arms outstretched. "Hold it right there." She declared. She then grabbed at her own suspenders in shock. "What!?"

The hero tried not to snort at her reaction. "Is it really that shocking?"

"Yes! I mean, well...uh," She scratched her head and tapped her foot. She then eyed Sonic up and down, who just put his hand on his hip and watched her concentrate with an amused expression. Let's see, besides Knuckles who was already in a relationship, Shadow was the only person Sonic deemed as a proper rival. He helped him transform into Super Shadow, attempted to save him from dying when he fell from the Ark onto Mobius, begrudgingly gave his ring to Rouge when they thought he died, but after that...They just butted heads and argued a lot, fighting and sparring with each other to win a disagreement. They kinda stopped doing that after a while, only butting heads when they were in a mood, but were cordial enough to work together. Soon they showed respect to each other and how they did things, and let the other live however he wished. If one of them needed the other's help, they'd reluctantly ask but they always worked well together when they were on the same team. At first, Amy would have never called them friends, not by a long shot. But then the party happened, and everyone got to see a side of Shadow they never thought was there. He was nice, and fun. Sonic was having a grand time talking to him and gassing him up the whole night.

In that moment, they genuinely did seem like friends.

And if that was possible, then...

"Yeah, it's shocking but," She went back to Sonic's side and continued to walk with him. "After seeing how Shadow actually is at the party, I can see why anyone would fall for him. He's a really nice guy once you get to know him. If I'm not mistaken, Rouge had a crush on him when they first met because she was the first person he cared about after getting released from that capsule."

"Yeah," Sonic replied before making a toothy grin. "You think they banged?"

"Sonic!" She slapped his arm.

"No, really, really! She totes wanted to diddle him, I know it wasn't just me. Oof," He made a lopsided frown. "That'd be bad for Knux, though."

She nudged him again with a scolding tone. "Will you hush? That's none of your business." She placed her hands in her pockets as they moved. "You say you like him, huh? Crush?"

"Ugh," Sonic pouted. "I think so. I've never had one before so I'm trying to figure it out."

"Never had one before?" She asked in a puzzled manner. "But I've seen you date tons of people. You never had a crush on any of them?"

He chuckled at her naivety. "Ames, I sleep around." Her flushed face in reaction to him saying that, made him snicker a little harder. "I don't date for real—I do a couple meet ups to get to a first-name basis, and then we get busy. That's all I've ever done, so I never really liked anybody like that before." He made a culpable sigh. "Damn, 'guess that makes me a shitty person, huh? I'm basically sloppy seconds."

She shook her head. "No, no." She disagreed vehemently. "And I'm not just saying this because you're my friend. You're a beautiful, kind and sweet person who has needs too, Sonic. Being a hero can't be fun all the time."

His face looked tired after hearing that. "It sure as hell isn't. Not right now, anyway."

"Yeah, so nobody can blame you for releasing some steam in your own..." Her face became entirely red, and she could tell he was loving this. "...Um, private way. And it's your business, nobody else's. They don't have a right to judge you. As long as nobody gets hurt, people should be able to do whatever they want. Including um," She stammered again. "What you do."

He made a suggestive smile. "Fuck around?"

She punched him in the arm harder this time, making him wince with a laugh. "Language! As for this crush, do you get nervous around him? Butterflies in your stomach, dry lips, staring too long, at a loss for words?"

He blinked at how eerily accurate that was. "...You're an expert, huh?"

She gave him a very displeased look for obvious reasons. "Uh, duh. Yeah I am, dummy."

"Sorry, my bad."

"At least that's how I felt when I had a crush on you. It's different for everybody." She placed her hands back in her dress pockets and looked up at the sky, seeing that the sun was bleeding into different colors of purples and pinks. "But if you're feeling that like that every time you see him, then yeah, you've got a crush alright."

He nodded with a defeated expression. "Yeah, I figured as much..."

"So what's the problem?"

"What's the-Bruh," Sonic gawked at her. "Amy, you just said it yourself. You know what it's like, it's not that easy. Also, elephant in the room—we're two dudes." He stressed that last word very harshly. "I don't even know if he swings that way. What do I look like comin' onto him like, 'Hey Shads. Wanna date? No? You like girls? Dang dude. Okay, see ya later. Oh you never wanna talk to me again? Cool.' Like, no." He brought his hand up to his face to pinch the bridge of his nose with great stress. "God, this is stupid."

The pink hedgehog absolutely wouldn't stand for that. "Sonic, no it's not. This is your feelings we're talking about and they're important." She grabbed hold of his arm and made him look at her. "Look, I know it's hard. Trust me, I do. But you can't hold that in like I did, it's gonna kill you on the inside and you're gonna lash out and be a total jerk to him. If you wanna be careful and know his preference first, talk it out of him carefully. Don't make it obvious, just make him say it in a round about way. You guys are friends now so he won't mind telling you, I'm sure. Or," She shrugged after she thought about it a little. "Ask Rouge. She'd tell you, you got her number." Huh, she was right. Rouge was a little imp, she'd tell Sonic no problem if she understood the situation. "Once she tells you, you'll know whether or not to let it go, or pursue it."

Sonic shook his head. "I dunno," He said with a rarely unconfident tone. "I mean, I can't lie and say Shadow doesn't feel something for me..."

Her ears perked up instantly. "You think Shadow has a crush on you, too?"

"It's a big maybe at best, and a down right horrible misunderstanding at worst. He visited me at my house the other day," He saw her immediately hop up and down next to him, she was way too excited about this. "We talked, and long story short, we kinda...Had a moment. He had this cool gadget in one of his rings so I grabbed his arm to look at it, but I got way too close. I didn't notice until it was too late. I apologized but..."

"Buuuut?"

"He said he didn't mind at all." He cracked a smile at her hopeful gasp. "Then we met up earlier today 'cause he needed info on Baldy McNosehair. I hugged him before I left and, well," He smirked a little. "I flirted with him a little bit, just so I could see where his head was at."

"And then what? What happened?"

"Oh, nothing really. He was too stunned to do anything about it."

She pumped her fists with steam blowing from her nostrils. "Oh Sonic, come on, he totally feels the same way! Only someone who felt the same way would be stunned from that!"

"Ah ah," He held up a finger to stop her in her tracks. "That don't mean anything." He corrected her, and felt bad when he saw her deflated smile. "You gotta remember Amy, he's someone who doesn't get emotions the same way we do. Put yourself in his shoes: He witnessed straight, brutal hell over and over, thought the only way to live was to be a walking-talking nuke, then was forced to understand how normal life works at the drop of a dime. The only person in this world he ever loved in any degree was that poor girl who died up on the Ark. He just made friends with people other than Rouge after eight whole years of hiding from everyone in plain sight, and she had to force him to go to that party. We argued and fought with each other for years up until now. I'd be shocked if my rival went ahead and hugged me out of nowhere, too." Sonic was sympathetic to his peculiar situation, but that's what made this so hard. "He might not even be catching on to my signals. He might just be reacting, not actually thinking about what I'm trying to do. You know how that is," He pointed to himself as a gesture. "I was oblivious too, and I didn't catch any of the hints you were giving when we were younger until you literally hit me with it."

She still felt bad about that phase in her life, too. She grimaced. "I...Guess you're right." It wasn't even a thing about boys being dumb like with Sonic, Shadow had a legit reason to be oblivious. He just wasn't used to that kind of treatment from someone other than Rouge.

"I just gotta play it by ear," He stopped walking as they made it to their destination, and he casually twirled her bag in his hand with the strap. "I'll definitely give Rouge a text. I know she'll figure out what's going on when I do, but I'd rather ask her then try to pull it out of Shadow himself. Things might go left if I approach him head on, and she'll keep it a secret if I tell her to. I'll update you on what happens moving forward." He handed over her belongings and prepared to leave. "Sorry about dropping this on you outta no where, but I couldn't tell Tails. I don't want him in my business. He's too young and way too moody right now. And you know I can't go to Knuckles, he's still trying to figure out how he got with Rouge in the first place."

She chuckled a little at that. "Heh, yeah. Still," She slung the bag's strap over her shoulder. "I wish you luck, and I hope to Chaos it goes well. I'll have to do a reading for you guys, I'm curious about the outcome. Would you mind if I told you?"

"Knock yourself out." He turned around while holding up a hand to wave goodbye. "'Later, Amy. And thanks."

"Bye!" She called as he disappeared in a blue streak. She frowned and clutched her hand on her bag. She had this strange, bad feeling. On one hand, she would love it if the two got together. But on the other hand, she had this awful sense of pressure or dread. Like something bad would happen if they did. No, she shouldn't think like that. She needed to be supportive, Sonic needed her now more than ever and she couldn't fail him.

Maybe a reading would guide both her and them on the right path.

7 - END - 7