Hi everyone! It's great to be back writing for FanFiction and DeviantArt again. Sorry for the long hiatus, I've been very busy, but I've been trying to get back on here for a while now. I have some things planned for the future, so stay tuned!

This story was requested by Samantha27. Please enjoy and review! I appreciate your comments!

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The Date

Chapter 1

"Let's get this over with," I tell myself hopelessly. I force my feet to walk up the small and narrow dirt path that leads to Amy's house, kicking the dirt and tiny rocks along the way. Man, at the rate I'm going you'd think there was lead or something in my sneakers. Trust me, walking this slow usually drives me insane, but considering what I'm walking toward, going slow isn't such a bad idea.

I eventually make it to Amy's door, and I can't help but cringe. I'm not looking forward to this. I'm really not looking forward to this. I had told Amy that, to make up for all the times I abandoned those dates she always plans for the two of us, I would take her out on an actual date. I figured it would be the best way to apologize to her since, even though I always had good reason to cut her dates short (you know, when Eggman starts tearing up the city, stuff like that) and she knows that I would never intentionally abandon her, she gets really upset – and angry, let's not forget – when I leave her hanging. So I knew this would be the only way to make it up to her. Of course, she absolutely loved the idea, which is more than I can say for myself. I'm really just doing this for her sake… and to get rid of the guilt I feel every time I ruin her dates. She really knows how to send a hedgehog on a guilt trip.

"C'mon Sonic, the door ain't gonna knock on itself," I sigh, and I shakily give a few knocks on her door. Barely seconds later I hear her bubbly and cheery voice call out through the door, "I'll be right there, Sonic!" I can tell just by those few words that she's really excited for this date. This is gonna be a longday.

I give another hopeless sigh and cross my arms as I wait for Amy to come out. Like I said, I really don't wanna be here. There are so many other things I'd rather be doing right about now, but instead I'm forced to go on a make-up date so Amy won't be mad because I missed her actual dates. I don't know what it is but… dates just aren't my thing. Sitting around eating dinner together… holding hands… talking about our feelings… it just isn't me. Maybe I'm not the romantic type… I'm not sure, but I'm not looking forward to our date tonight. But, if it'll make Amy happy (and remove the guilt that's crushing my heart) I'm willing to make the sacrifice. Since it's just a little date I didn't think I needed to get all fancy and everything, so I'm just in my fur, quills smoothed back and such. Eh, I think I look pretty good all things considered.

Amy still hasn't come out, and I start tapping my foot on the ground. I'll admit, I'm a pretty impatient guy. I really just wanna get this date over with as soon as possible. What could she be doing in there?! It's just a date! It's nothing to go crazy over! Well, at least to me it isn't…

Finally her door opens and what it reveals nearly blinds me. The first thing I see is glitter – bright blue, shining, glowing, blinding glitter that sparkles when the sun hits it. The second thing I see is Amy. She's wearing a royal blue (wonder where she got the idea to wear blue) dress with glittering sequins on the top and ruffles on the skirt, with plain black pumps. Her hair is different than how she usually wears it: it's pinned up with a few strands hanging loose and her bangs are free of her red headband. She even has on a little makeup.

The only thing I can think about is how beautiful she looks. I've never seen her look so beautiful before, it's unbelievable! She laughs a little and I realize I must be staring at her, so I try my best to compose myself. "Amy… you look nice…" I say stupidly, rubbing the back of my head awkwardly.

She gives another laugh in that bubbly voice of hers. Her voice is always so bubbly and sweet; I swear sometimes I think it's made of actual sugar. She says softly, "Thank you, Sonic. I figured since this is our first actual date I should dress my best!" She looks me up and down. "I see you decided to dress casually," she giggles again, and I feel blood rush to my cheeks. After seeing how fancy she dressed and how un-fancy I dressed, I feel embarrassed to say the least. My hands try to cover my body as if being naked is a sin, despite the fact that I usually don't wear clothes anyway. "Sorry, I… I didn't think… I mean…" I try to say, acting even more stupid than before. I'm pretty bad at this dating thing, aren't I?

But she shakes her head at me. "It's okay, Sonic. I don't mind. You ready to go?"

I'm ready to get this over with, I think to myself, but I tell her, "Sure, let's go," as she closes and locks her door behind her. She grabs my hand and I literally have to fight the urge to pull my hand away. It feels awkward, and weird, but since it is a date I let her hold my hand as we walk down the path. I have a feeling I'm gonna be doing a lot more than hand-holding before the night is over…

XXXXX

"You know Sonic, I'm really glad you decided to take me out," Amy says sweetly.

"Sure thing, Amy," I say emotionlessly.

"I've been looking forward to this date all week!" she nearly screams in excitement.

"Me too," I lie, hoping she can't tell I'm lying.

We walk down the road, still hand in hand, to a little restaurant not far from Amy's house where we decided to get dinner. If it isn't already apparent, Amy's as cheerful and happy as ever, while I'm secretly praying to Chaos for this day to be over.

"This is going to be great, Sonic! Just the two of us! No distractions!"

"Uh huh," I barely manage to say, only half-paying attention to her. I think she notices my disinterest because she stops talking and silence starts to settle in as we walk. Wow, way to make your date feel bad, Sonic, and you've only been dating for five minutes! Since I feel like a total jerk now, I try my best to make her feel better. "I really like your… dress, Amy," I tell her, which is the truth. I really like how she looks. Not only does she look incredibly pretty, but she looks so mature, too. It's a really cute look for her, I have to admit. "Aww, thanks Sonic. I thought you would like it."

Thankfully we make it to the restaurant before anymore awkwardness can settle in and I quickly grab a table outside on the patio. When the waiter finally comes I don't hesitate to order and I urge Amy to order just as fast. I'm ready to get this date started and finished!

Unfortunately as we wait for our food we're faced with some more awkward silence. I take a sip of my water.

"This is a nice place, isn't it Sonic?" Amy asks me, looking around the patio.

"Yep," I say, taking another sip.

"I heard the food is really good here, too," she says.

"Yep," I say, taking another sip.

"It's such a nice day out, huh?" she asks.

"Yep," I say, taking another sip, but my glass is empty. "Man, where's that waiter? We've been waiting forever!"

"Sonic, we've only been waiting for two minutes."

"They're really slow here!"

"Well, the slower they are, the better the food tastes. Besides, why do you want the food to come so quickly?"

The real reason I want the food to come quickly is because I want to move this date along as fast as possible. But since I can't tell her that, I try to think up a reason. "Because I'm starving!"

"You just ate a basket-full of bread and two glasses of water!" she says, gesturing toward the empty basket and empty glass on the table.

I cross my arms. "Yeah, well it didn't fill me up!" To tell the truth, I am pretty stuffed. But Amy doesn't need to know that.

The food finally comes (finally!) and even though I'm already pretty full I manage to finish my plate in just a few minutes. I look up at Amy to see how far along she is: she's barely halfway through her gigantic plate of food. "Wow, Sonic, you eat just as fast as you run!" she says, slowly taking a small bite of her food and slowly chewing it.

Like I said, this is going to be a long, long day.

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By the time Amy FINALLY finishes her meal I'm about ready to jump out a window. She didn't even finish all of it! She took almost an hour to eat less than half of her dinner! Ugh! She puts the rest in a bag and we head out into the early evening. The sun is just about to set so the sky is a pretty purple-pink color. A cool summer breeze brushes against our fur. It's a really beautiful night. I wish I wasn't spending it stuck on this date, though.

"Well, that was some good food, wasn't it Amy?" I say, trying my best to not make it sound like I'm ending our date.

"Yeah, it was. I'm stuffed. Ooh, let's get some ice cream!" She grabs my hand and practically drags me toward a nearby ice cream shop. Good, I think to myself, ice cream is nice and quick. We're moving this nightmare of a date right along.

We both choose vanilla ice cream cones (go figure) and not unlike my dinner I don't hesitate to eat it up. In my mad rush to finish the frozen dairy treat my mouth and face become full of ice cream, and Amy starts to laugh at me. But before I can lick it off Amy leans in and licks it off for me, giggling. "Amy, that's gross!" I tell her, wiping my face off. To be honest, I kinda liked it, but I'm not gonna let her know that. "Oh, Sonic, I'm just playing around!" she giggles, taking another lick of her ice cream.

Oh, so she wants to play around, huh? Well, I can play around, too! I might as well have some fun on this date, right? She takes another lick and I slowly place my hand under her cone without her noticing, and I bump the cone up so her ice cream hits her in the face. "Sonic!" she yells, wiping the ice cream off her mouth and chin. I reach in to try and lick it off of her but she stops me. "What are you doing?!" she asks angrily, but laughing.

"I'm just playing around," I say as innocently as possible.

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After a lot more licking and shoving of ice cream cones in each other's faces, we finish our dessert and head out into the evening. The sun has almost set and a dark red sky is being erased by a dark-grey night sky. Still such a beautiful night.

Okay, so we had dinner. Check. We had dessert. Check. We even managed to have a little fun, which I wasn't expecting. Check. I think this was a pretty decent date, don't you?

"So, Amy…" I begin, all too ready to end this date.

"Oh, Sonic, look! They're playing music in the park! And dancing, too! Oh, let's go dance!" Again, before I can respond she grabs me and pulls me into the park, which is filled with music and dancing. I guess this date isn't over yet…

Don't get me wrong, I love dancing, if that dancing is breakdancing. But slow dancing with another person? Not my forte. But since I'm dragged into the middle of the park before I have the chance to protest, I suppose a little dancing can't hurt. And then the date can be over with.

"C'mon Sonic, don't you know how to dance?!" Amy asks, trying to place my hands in the correct spots on her body. "Not exactly," I answer, which is the truth. When my hands are finally in the right places (and man does it feel awkward) she starts moving back and forth. I do likewise, but I end up stepping on her.

"No, don't move like that! Move like this!" She tries to show me how to dance but my dancing just looks like bizarre wobbling back and forth. "Keep your hands where I put them!" she says, correcting my hands over and over again.

"Amy, this isn't working out. I suck at slow dancing," I tell her hopelessly.

"You just need to get the hang of it!" I step on her some more, on accident of course.

After a lot more wobbling and failure we decide to call it quits. I couldn't be happier since now this date can finally end. And it's about time, too!

XXXXX

Let's see: I apologized to Amy, took her out on a date so she wouldn't be mad at me, we had a good time, all is forgiven, I don't feel guilty anymore, she's happy, I'm happy, everything's golden! We start walking toward her house and I can't help but have a bounce in my step as we walk down the road. We're still holding hands, and soon I notice that Amy has slowed her pace, to the point where I'm almost dragging her behind me in order to keep up with my much faster stride. We're almost to her house when Amy stops completely, still holding my hand, forcing me to stop, too.

"Amy, what's wrong?" I ask, slowly edging her to walk but to no avail. She looks at me with deep concern painted in her eyes, looking like she's about to cry. Uh oh. Did I do something wrong?

She tightens her grip on my hand. "You know, Sonic, I'm really glad you took me out on this date…" she says softly and carefully, as if each word is made of glass that she's trying not to break. I give her a quizzical look.

"Well sure, Amy. I took you out on this date because I felt bad for deserting you so many times. I wanted to make you feel better." And I think I achieved that, didn't I? She feels better, doesn't she? Doesn't she? … Does she?

She sighs to herself, and I can't help but feel responsible for that sad sigh. "Yeah, I know. You only did this to make up for all those other dates."

"So, what's the matter?" I see water start to form in her eyes, but it could just be the light of the moon making her eyes glisten. At least, I hope it's the moon, and not…

"Well, I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry, Sonic," she tells me sadly, looking down at the ground.

That catches me off guard. "Sorry? Why are you sorry, Amy? You didn't do anything wrong." Aside from the water and concern there's also pain in her eyes, which sends a knife straight through me. She looks as if she was just broken in half. What just happened? Why is she so upset all of the sudden?

"I'm sorry that I forced you to go on a date with me. I know deep down you don't really want to be here…"

Wow. If that didn't just send a dozen more knives through my heart… and I think that because it's the truth it hurts that much more. It's true I didn't really wanna go on this date, but I didn't want to hurt Amy in the process. I didn't think I was hurting her! But I did hurt her. She's hurt worse than when I abandoned her on all those other dates. I didn't mean to make her feel that way…

"I'm sorry if I made you feel obligated to take me out, Sonic," she says quietly, and a tear falls off her cheek. That single tear sends so many waves of pain through me that it's a miracle I'm still standing. Knowing that I'm the cause of that tear makes me feel like a heartless, selfish, and most of all stupid jerk. "I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable…"

"No, Amy!" I almost scream at her, angry with myself that I made her think all of this and feel this way. "Don't apologize! You didn't force me to do anything! I took you out because I wanted to make you happy. I'm sorry that I made you think I didn't want to be here."

"But you didn't want to be here, did you?"

"Well… I'd be lying if I said I was looking forward to this date," I tell her, the statement practically dripping in honesty. She looks away from me and cries some more, and I grab her arm and pull her closer to me slightly. "But I'd also be lying if I said I didn't care about you. I never meant to hurt you, Amy. I swear! I didn't really think much of this date at all! It was just a way to make you feel better."

"Is that all this was to you, Sonic? Just an apology?"

"I…" I try my best to answer but I can't, because she already answered for me. This date was just an apology. A big, forced, rushed, careless apology. To me. But to Amy it was much more than that. And by the number of tears that fall from her face, this date must have meant something much, much, much bigger than just an apology.

Seeing Amy this way nearly kills me. I can tell this isn't her usual "woe is me" crying and pouting. I didn't just run away from her date this time; I completely damaged it. I never meant to hurt her, not in the slightest. I wrap my arms around her crying form and hug her tightly, trying desperately to show all my care and concern in that one little hug. Thankfully, she hugs me back.

"I'm so sorry, Amy. This date was supposed to be special, for the both of us. Not just some make-up date. But instead of making it special I just made it into some messed up atrocity of a date. I'm sorry I ruined everything for you."

She wipes some tears from her face and I help her wipe the rest. "It's okay, Sonic. And it's not only your fault. It's mine, too. I guess all those dates I planned in the past were pretty stupid, anyway. How can you not feel obligated when I made you feel so guilty for leaving me all those times? I'm sorry."

"It's alright." We hug again, letting go all of the remorse and mistakes and sadness we're both feeling through the simple, comforting touch. I feel a cold breeze blow through my quills, making me realize how late it's gotten. How long have we been talking?! The moon is high in the pitch black sky, and the air is cold and bitter. But even though it's late, and even though this "date" (if we can even call it that anymore) is over, I don't want to leave Amy. I don't know why, but I don't want to leave her. I want to stay here with her. I feel that if I leave her I might hurt her again. And after seeing how she just fell apart due to my own stupidity and carelessness, I couldn't bare to see her break for a second time.

Since everything's closed because it's so late there's not much else we can do besides going to Amy's house, but I want to stay in this beautiful, cold darkness with her. I don't know why, but I do, and I think she does too, since she's still clinging to me. And since I'm the one who ruined this date for her, I know that it's my responsibility to make it up to her. And this time, what we do won't just be an apology. It'll actually mean something. I'll make sure it does.

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Feel free to review, unless you want to read Chapter 2 and then review the whole story. Either way, thanks for reading, and enjoy Chapter 2! :)