TrueBlue killed you

"SONIC!"

"You're going to burst my eardrums Ames."

"WHY DO YOU KEEP KILLING ME? IT'S NOT AN ACCIDENT NOW!"

Sonic laughed through the headset.

"IT'S NOT FUNNY!"

"It's hilarious. How did you think I kept killing you by accident? Don't you know by now that my aim is A1 baby?"

Amy groaned of frustration.

"But why do you have to kill me when you know that I'm still learning how to play?"

He continued laughing.

"You wouldn't even let me win for once."

"Not today."

Amy rolled her eyes. She could just imagine Sonic's smirk as he said that.

For the past few months where being home was difficult, being at school was difficult and being around her friends was difficult, Sonic was her escape.

This is what they did as the school year was coming to an end. Homework and projects were becoming less and everyone had more free time at their disposal.

Amy would go home as fast as she could. She no longer tried to hang out with anyone else. She would go online and play on her own until she saw "TrueBlue" sign on not much later.

They would play on the gaming console that Amy bought not too long ago for majority of the afternoon until Amy had to leave to have dinner.

Dinner time was painful and something she dreaded every single day. It used to be family time and she used to enjoy it.

Now dinner time was either Amy and her mom, Amy and her dad, or just Amy in her room.

For weeks straight, it was just Amy. Her mom would call her down to get whatever she made and she would come down the stairs to find an empty kitchen.

She would get her food and take it back to her room. It wasn't like anyone noticed anyway so she didn't get in trouble as long as she washed up.

When she went back to her room, she would talk to Sonic on her social network account.

Sonic Dinner for one?

Amy Yeah, as usual.

Sonic I'll probably go out and get something down the street in a little bit.

Amy All this time you never told me what your favorite meal is.

Sonic lol.

Amy lol, hmm.

Sonic don't say "lol, hmm"

Amy you said "lol" first.

Sonic I can do that.

Amy oh please

Sonic :-*

Amy was then startled by the vibrations of her phone on her desk.

Incoming Call

Cream

That was a bit strange. She hadn't gotten phone calls from anyone recently except from Sonic and the potheads.

Sure the last two called when they were most likely high, but for some reason their calls cheered her up so they were always welcomed.

Even if they just called to say "Princess!", it was their strange way of keeping up with the pink hedgehog. They weren't that bad at all.

So what was Cream calling for? Not that Amy really minded, but it had to be for something in particular.

Days ago…

"So what's the plan for this summer ladies? Road trip? Beach? Fly out to the tropics?"

Blaze looked at Rouge with a stone cold expression.

"Rouge, how are we affording to fly to the tropics?"

"I don't know how YOU are, but I can ice queen."

Rouge flipped her hair.

"Looks like it'll just be you then.", Blaze laughed.

Rogue mimicked her laughter.

"You're wrong. I have my boyfriend."

Knuckles was simply minding his business. He was sitting on the bench outside school eating a sandwich when he heard the news from his girlfriend and cleared his throat.

He gave his girlfriend a look that said it all.

"Don't even look at me like that! Don't act like this is a surprise Knuckie! It's me and you against the world and these are the things that we have to do!"

Blaze and Silver snickered while Cream and Tails sighed.

Planning was always difficult within a group of friends. There were always the ones who kept fooling around, the ones who had patience, and the ones who had none.

"How about we plan a small trip to the mountainside? The resort there isn't too bad or expensive."

As Cream suggested the resort, she started to look it up on her phone. Someone had to be productive.

"Cream, do you know why it isn't expensive? Because it's filled with ugly, fake pine scented cabins and a pool full of you don't even want to know what!"

Rouge took out her compact of powder and started to dab it on her face as she spoke.

"Look princess, it's all we can afford right now. And I think it'll be fun with all of us.", Blaze rolled her eyes.

Rouge sighed and then looked at her boyfriend.

He was dumbfounded.

"What?", he asked.

"And what do you think?"

Knuckles knew this was a trick question. His answer could dictate how well the rest of the week went between him and his girlfriend.

He took a moment to think.

"It's whatever you want to do.", he finally answered.

When Rouge didn't start yelling and she actually smiled, Knuckles inwardly sighed of relief.

He truly was happy if she was happy. He was willing to do whatever just to make her smile.

"So Silver? What about you?"

Silver was playing an app on his phone the whole time.

"Huh?", he finally looked up.

"Do you want to go to the stinking cabins?"

"Yeah sure."

Rouge snarled and then turned her vicious attention to Blaze who was sticking her tongue out at her.

She slowly looked at Tails who started to become uncomfortable.

"Tails?"

Cream showed him a picture of the resort on her phone.

Tails' eyes widened.

"That looks nice! They renovated it?"

Cream shook her head.

"They renovated it?", Rouge repeated.

Rouge went over to Cream's side of the bench to look at the pictures.

There were cabins alright, but they didn't look anything like before! Everything looked brand new.

In addition to the indoor and outdoor pool, which was also refurbished, there was a hot spring and spa.

New games were added to the arcade and the lake got a shipment of new paddle and rowing boats.

"Hmm. Maybe this isn't such a bad idea after all."

You could practically see the hearts in Rouge's eyes at the thought of a new hot spring and spa.

"So it's a plan?", Cream asked.

"Knuckles we need to go shopping then! We can actually go to two different malls just to be on the safe side. Cream and Blaze, you guys can come too! Bring Silver and Tails if they want to go. We can make a whole day out of it and I can drive because-"

"What about Amy?"

Cream spoke softly and timidly.

"Oh."

Rouge instantly seemed to deflate.

"Why don't you tell her about it Cream? I don't think she'll really want to come anyway.", Blaze offered.

"Right? That's why I completely forgot. She probably has something planned already with Sonic.", Rouge rolled her eyes.

"And I thought Shadow and those idiots were her friends. I still can't get over how she chose to go with them instead of going to class with me. From that moment on, I was done trying with her."

Blaze's tone was as cold as ever.

"Who knows at this point? She's getting around for sure. But speaking of the devil, we should invite him too."

Rouge's tone, however, could care less.

"Who? Shadow? Why do you constantly include him Rouge?"

Cream looked up from searching in her phone because she was genuinely curious about the answer to that question. She also wondered why Shadow was always included if he and Rouge barely seemed to speak anymore. Shadow rarely contributed to the group anyway unless it involved Amy.

While everyone else was distracted with their phones, it was only Cream who noticed a nervous twitch from the confident white bat.

"Oh come on Blaze, we were besties once upon a time and I know how much he needs to be included somewhere."

No one else seemed to protest that answer but Cream couldn't help but wonder why the same couldn't be said for Amy.

"So then what about Sonic?", Blaze asked.

"He's not really with us…", Rouge trailed off.

"I think if Amy mentions him coming, he should come. He's chill and no one has a problem with him. If Shadow can come then so can he."

Everyone was surprised when Tails spoke up.

"Do you guys have a problem? Silver? Knuckles?", he continued.

"Nah. He never bothered me. I never really got the chance to get to know him anyway so I can't say anything.", Silver responded.

"Agreed." , Knuckles nodded.

"Ok, but what about him and Shadow?", Blaze mentioned.

"Honestly, I feel better about Sonic than I do about Shadow and we've known Shadow longer."

Silver spoke as he was still playing an app on his phone.

Blaze snatched the phone from her boyfriend.

"But they're never on the best terms. They've avoided each other the whole school year ever since the gym fight that they had.", she told him.

"I say let them fight. It's kind of hot don't you think?", Rouge whispered to Blaze.

Blaze laughed.

"I'm tired of talking about this. We're going to the resort, Cream will tell Amy, Amy will bring Sonic, and Sonic and Shadow will have to get along. That's that! Can we just go to the diner now?"

Rouge got up and started walking away.

Everyone slowly followed her.

Tails and Cream were the last ones to trail behind.

"They're not inviting Amy…", Cream whispered.

Tails sighed.

"Hopefully this trip can bring everyone together again."

Tails pulled his girlfriend close to his side and kissed her on her cheek.

"I hope so."

"Hello?"

"Hey Amy! We missed you today after school. Lately no one can find you."

Nobody missed her. Maybe Cream did, but at the end of the day she followed the rest of the group. Amy did miss her too though.

"Yeah, lately I just want to get home and take care of my chores so I have the night to myself."

Lie. She wanted to get home to talk to Sonic.

"I understand. But this wouldn't have to do with a…Oh I don't know, maybe a blue hedgehog?"

All Amy could do was blink. There was an instant smile on her face that even she wasn't aware of.

"What makes you say that?"

"Oh come on Amy. You two are like peanut butter and jelly."

"Oh yeah? Who's peanut butter and who's jelly?"

"Hmm….well I'd say you're peanut butter and he's jelly. You're sweet but a little tough to get through. You need jelly to loosen up."

There was a brief silence.

On Amy's end, she kept raking her fingers through her quills and not forming any words.

Cream was just silently amused.

"That's hilarious."

Cream actually laughed. So that was her friend's response after all that time?

"I'm pretty funny huh? Anyway, I called to see if you had any plans… you know with school ending in a few days and all."

Amy paused.

So that was the reason…

Sure she knew that school was pretty much over and she was excited to actually get a break from everything the year had brought on.

She drifted away from her friends to the point where she didn't even hang out with them anymore. On top of that, she didn't even care. But that was what she wanted everyone to think.

Ever since that day…

"What about Amy guys?"

Everyone looked at Cream. She had spoken so suddenly.

"Yeah, we'll send an invite to her. Though, I don't see the point. She never talks in it anyway."

Rouge tried to wave Cream off.

"No, I mean we haven't seen her. Did anyone try to text her?", Cream spoke again.

"Well I told you guys she decided to go with the rejects so I left her alone. It's obvious she doesn't want to hang with us.", Blaze shrugged.

"I'm still shocked that she decided to skip like that. Good girl gone bad!"

Rouge and Blaze laughed.

"Next thing you know, she'll be smoking weed with them and flunking out in school."

"I'm nobody's mama so I won't tell her what to do."

"Neither will I! That's why I let her decide on her own who she wanted to go with."

"Hope she had fun inhaling second hand smoke."

Rouge and Blaze laughed again.

She never felt the same about her friends ever since then.

What had changed? When did Blaze and Rouge star t talking about her behind her back?

They weren't the two girls she met in middle school anymore, and she slowly came to terms with that over the months.

Cream, however, didn't quite change and she appreciated that. She was always her closest friend.

"So…any plans?"

"Oh! Umm…not really. Why?"

"Well everyone is planning to go to the mountainside resort in the next two weeks for the weekend. Do you want to come?"

Amy didn't even need to ask the question, "Who is everyone?"

It was all too clear.

She already inferred that they told Cream to invite her because Cream probably brought her up when everyone failed to.

The automatic, innate answer was "No."

But then…

"We were thinking that Sonic should come along too."

"Really?"

Amy couldn't even stop the words from coming out of her mouth. She instantly covered her mouth. She had only meant to keep it as a thought.

Cream laughed.

"Yeah. I mean, if you're so close to him then there has to be something great about him. The Amy I know doesn't open up to just anyone. I'm sure he'll fit right in."

It was silent.

"Amy? Are you there?"

Were they for real? There was no way.

"Cream, everyone is ok with that?"

"Yeah. We all know that you guys spend a lot of time together. If he's a friend of yours then he's a friend of mine."

There was a moment of thoughtful silence.

"Well, I'll ask him about it."

"So that's a yes?"

"It's a perhaps."

"Same thing! Just let me know asap ok?"

"Yeah, sure."

"I'm serious Amy. Please let me know. To be honest, I want us all to hang out like old times."

"Me too…"

This time there was a brief, understanding silence.

"I think it'll all work out. Let me know soon ok Ames?"

Amy instantly brightened.

That nickname alone…

"Ha ha, go turn yourself blue too while you're at it."

Cream giggled.

"Later!"

"Bye."

Sonic So I have an idea…

Amy Ok…

Sonic Not gonna inquire about it?

Amy What idea Sonic?

Sonic , wanna go somewhere?

Amy It's 11:45pm on a Friday. Please tell me how that's going to work.

Sonic When was the last time your parents checked on you after 10:30pm?

Amy Hmm

Sonic Exactly

Amy Ok, so where do you have in mind?

Sonic It's a surprise. Just meet me at the nearest bus stop.

Amy Sonic this is crazy…

Sonic What's the worst that's gonna happen? If you get in trouble, I'll take full responsibility for it.

Amy How can you take full responsibility when I have to sneak in alone?

Sonic I'll sneak in with you, and sneak back out

Amy You're lucky my mom is familiar with you….

Sonic Ha! I'll be there in 30 mins tops

Amy scrambled to get herself together.

It was warmer outside, even at night, so Amy put on a close fitting black t-shirt, a white zip-up hoodie, and black leggings. She didn't have too much time and she needed some extra time for her maneuvers to sneak out.

Luckily, she left her black sneakers in her room. That meant less time making noise downstairs.

She decided to leave her quills the way they were instead of fixing them in the bathroom. She curled them in the morning for school and now they were limp and wavy.

Everything about what she was going to do was risky but it was so thrilling at the same time.

Maybe it was a date?

But where could they go so late at night?

Amy decided that her best exit was through the backyard. The hardest part of her departure was clearing the stairs and the living room.

Once she made it to the kitchen, no one would hear her slip through the screen door and hop the fence.

Her cell phone suddenly buzzed hard against her computer desk.

Sonic Start leaving now babe

Oh how Amy just wanted to hold her phone and stare at that text while she rolled around gleefully in her bed, but she had to move fast.

She sat on her floor right beside her door to feel and hear any footsteps. She stayed there for a good 3 minutes, breathing heavier than she realized. If she stayed any longer in suspense, her nerves would have stopped her from continuing.

She had to make her moves NOW.

She turned her doorknob in slow motion. Her heart pounded harder with every second. The slow motion of her movements was killing her but it had to be done that way.

She had already left a pile of clothes under her covers just in case someone checked her room. She was 99% sure neither her mom nor dad would actually step in the room and touch the illusion.

It took about another three minutes for Amy to successfully crawl to the stairs, which tended to be creaky.

The suspense of getting caught drove her to move down the stairs quicker than she would have moved if she was calmer. She moved on her tip toes, making sure to put her weight on the handrail that she held on to. If she only let her weight down on her toes, it was over.

When she cleared the stairs she dashed to the kitchen.

To hell with slow motion!

She continued out the backdoor and quickly jumped the fence, which she definitely hurt herself in the process.

She still ran like a track star to the bus stop.

It wasn't until she caught her breath that she realized that she hit her shin on the top of the fence. Now that the adrenaline was gone, she felt it and it hurt more than she thought it would.

She checked her phone.

12:13 AM

Just as Amy looked up from her phone…

"Night, Ames."

Sonic was parked across the street.

Amy quickly crossed over and got in the passenger seat.

"Goodnight."

She fastened her seatbelt.

"No kiss?"

Amy immediately felt hot on her neck.

"W-What?"

Yep, playing stupid was the way to go.

Sonic just smirked.

Amy couldn't bring herself to look at him as yet but she could smell him. It had become so familiar to her.

She could guess he was wearing black though. He couldn't get away from that color.

The car started to move and that was when Amy wanted to see if her guess was right.

She quickly shifted her eyes to Sonic's profile.

She didn't quite notice it before but he let his quills grow longer and he left them more unruly tonight.

If only he knew how appealing he looked like that. She wished she could leave her quills and still look so good.

He wore a black hoodie with black zipper jogger sweats.

It was a sin for Sonic to be as attractive as he was.

Girls at school definitely pined for him.

His appearance had a sense of ruggedness yet his smile was golden.

He was the best of both worlds.

But he was always around one girl so no one ever made a move.

"Glad you got out without any issues. However, I noticed your limp on the way over to the car. What's up with that?"

Though Amy rolled her eyes, her cheeks were red and hot from embarrassment.

"Why do you have to notice everything?"

Sonic smirked again.

"You hurt yourself climbing a fence or something huh?"

Amy flared like a bull.

"Stop it."

Sonic snorted back his laughter.

"It's not even funny."

"You're right baby."

His sudden switches always took her by surprise.

He reached down and started to massage her shin.

Apparently he also wouldn't tell her where he was taking her, so she sighed.

He continued massaging her swollen leg while he drove.

Normally, Amy would have said something to mask her bashfulness but it was actually helping the pain.

It was also more of a silent ride than usual.

It started off familiar and relieving.

The window was slightly wound down. The combination of the cool breeze lightly riveting through Amy's quills and Sonic's physical therapy was about to lull her to sleep right there in the passenger's seat.

That WOULD have been the case.

The demarcation between comfort and discomfort had become loudly obvious after about twenty minutes.

There was a sudden urge to wind up the window because of the frigid chill in the air.

They were driving towards a very quiet area. There wasn't much around besides a few streetlights and corner stores. Amy could tell no one really lived around where they were going.

Was it even a date at all?

"You seem tense."

Amy turned her attention from the roads out the window, to Sonic.

"Where are we going?"

"Are you upset?"

"Can you just answer my question?"

Sonic sighed.

"It's a surprise."

"Am I going to like it?"

There was a sense of animosity in Amy's tone that Sonic easily picked up on.

"I'm sure you won't be bored."

The uneasy feeling that had stewed within Amy with each mile of the journey reached its peak when the car finally stopped.

There were barely any streetlights, and the paths were worn out and old. The gates were spiky, black, and gothic looking. The vines that spiraled around them only completed the haunted look.

Amy slowly stepped out of the car and shut the door. She awkwardly fixed her hoodie and ran her fingers through her quills.

Her eyes met emerald ones.

Wordlessly she watched as he picked the lock on the gate with a bobby pin. She never questioned why and how he had gotten one.

He held out his hand.

She stared at it, completely hesitant.

"Trust me Ames."

It was as easy as that.

Amy took Sonic's hand. He led her inside.

Her body followed the blue hedgehog anywhere he was taking her. She wasn't stupid enough to do anything rash. All she had right now in this situation was him.

They all settled in an area where there were stone benches for them to sit on and they were situated in a circle near a dried fountain with stone angels. It looked anything but angelic at night.

Amy sat down.

"You're wondering why I brought you here and I completely understand. I just wanted to share this place with you. Sometimes I come here when I need some time away from the mess of the life we're living."

He could see that she was still uneasy.

"If you think about life and death, you'll find that they're two polar opposites. But upon further inspection, are they really?"

Amy met his eyes.

"You have people on a day to day basis who live but aren't truly living. They take their beating heart for granted. Their time is limited and they know it, yet they don't take advantage of it. They spend their days clouded in negativity and complaints when tomorrow wouldn't be guaranteed. People grow old and then when faced with the sure result of death, they have regrets about the way they chose to live their life. There are some people who even want to end their opportunity to feel the warmth of a functioning body. So is there truly a difference between life and death when those who are given life, live like they want to die? When those who are alive, want their body to act as though it were dead?"

She rolled up her sleeve. A scar was still there. She knew it was wrong.

"Calm down? DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME SHIT ABOUT HOW TO HANDLE THIS JOSEPH! Maybe if you didn't spend the whole friggin night drinking to yourself to sleep she wouldn't have gotten away with this so easily."

"You're talking about me? WHOSE THE ONE WHO LOCKS THEMSELVES IN THE ROOM FOR HOURS AT A TIME? AND YOU BLAME ME?"

"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO LET HER GO OUT ON A WALK! YOU WERE PROBABLY TOO DRUNK TO USE YOUR COMMON SENSE!"

Things had gotten worse between her parents and Sonic knew all about it. Her dad was barely home anymore but when he was, he and her mom always got into an argument. It came to a point that Amy never knew if she preferred it when they were separated or together.

Yeah it hurt when her dad was gone but it also hurt when he was there and all she heard was the sound of elevated voices.

That was what usually set her off.

She had grown to react to it like an alarm.

Why was she able to hear everything from her room?

She could never control the way her heartbeat or the onset of weakness.

There was one day when it was too much to bear.

It was the day Amy wished she was dead. It was the day she was determined to make it happen.

But yet here she was, sitting in a cemetery with someone who had so easily pulled at her emotions and enticed such a feeling of guilt.

If he only saw what she had done to herself…

She did not open her mouth ever since they arrived but she understood.

Sonic scooted closer and put an arm around her.

Sitting in the heart of a cemetery with Sonic really made Amy reflect on her life.

Had she taken her life for granted?

She had become depressed at times, especially with what was going on at home. To her, living wasn't worth it if she had to continue with the same situations and emotions on a day to day basis.

She was living with the intent to die. Would she have regrets if she was faced with death? Is that what she truly wanted?

Before she knew it, the tears rolled down from her tired eyes.

Of course the moment she even thought to hide, he was there holding her still.

"Look at me.", he said.

She wouldn't. So he held her close.

"I'll be there for you, in every way that I can be. Please count on me Amy Rose."

She finally looked into his eyes.

Who was this guy?

He was so handsome on the outside. He was kind. He was wise beyond his years. But he was still such a mystery.

He came into her life with a whirlwind of events. Nothing could negate the simmered feeling that there was something majorly unknown about the impeccable blue hedgehog but it didn't matter as much to a girl in love.

She was speechless.

"Let's take a walk."

They both spent the next thirty minutes walking around the cemetery.

The cobblestone path was strangely calming, way more than before.

With all the tombstones passed, Amy felt more of an appreciation for what it meant to be alive.

She found her resolve tonight. She had to thank him.

She had to thank the one who came into her life unexpectedly.

She had to thank the one who came at just the right time.

"I understand now why you brought me here Sonic."

Immediately Sonic picked up on how weird she was suddenly behaving.

Amy purposely stopped.

She held his large hands in hers.

She would continue on no matter what…as long as he was right there with her.

She needed Sonic in her life.

The quickness of her action was so feathery and light, that his lips felt hypersensitive.

For the first time that night, Amy didn't shy away. His eyes captured her.

There were not many times when she had the confidence to stare at him so straightly, but this time she saw something there… something more.

He was…intoxicating.

She was…intoxicating.

There were not many times when he had a chance to stare at her so straightly, but this time he saw something there…something different.

For the first time that night, Amy didn't shy away. Her eyes captured him.

The last thing either could remember was the hues of green that were so different under the glow of the night

He pulled her in.

She didn't shy away.

He closed the gap between them.

She didn't shy away.

She allowed the caress of their lips once again.

She was experienced in no way, but it didn't matter.

All that did was that she had never felt this way before. She wanted the moment to last forever.

The instinct to wrap her arms around his neck was natural.

The instinct to follow his lead was there.

But his instincts were different.

He was aware of what the temptation would do to him, especially because it was her.

He had to fight his instincts but he did it flawlessly.

…At least it would appear that way to her.

So this was the direction that they were heading huh?

History would indefinitely repeat itself again huh?

It couldn't be helped.

He had let his guard down once before, which was the ultimate mistake on his part.

It would NOT happen again.

It DEFINITELY would NOT happen again.

The ONLY reason he had not acted as yet was because of her.

But the time to act was now.

He could clearly see the lust in him.

He could clearly see the growing lack of control.

He could clearly see the glow of red fighting its way through scarce eyes.

Of course years of practiced control made it look nonexistent to someone like Rose.

But he couldn't hide it from someone one of kind.

He could have his moment now. He would only allow it this last time for her sake.

But he REFUSED to lose. He refused to lose AGAIN.

Rose was his.

Author's Note: Sorry is not the word! It's been almost two years since I've updated!

Long story short, life hit me like a ton of bricks and I had to focus on other aspects of my life. However, I can promise that throughout all this time I worked through this chapter. There were times when I didn't have the drive to finish this chapter and times when I did. I didn't want to force this through and have it result in something I wasn't proud of (hence the super long update).

Though it's been a while I really worked hard on this particular chapter. I'm pretty sure there are edits to make (I've looked and worked with this chapter on and off for over a year) but please bear with me :).

I want to give special thanks to those who have messaged, reviewed, favorited, and followed me and my stories over this long period of hiatus. You guys definitely helped inspire me to fulfill my promise to never leave a story unfinished (BlazeofVenus and Chaotic Reflections you guys are the best :])

Moving forward, I hope future updates are shorter and I hope those who are still following enjoyed this chapter.