Sticks clung to Knuckles almost protectively, though one might say that she was using him as a shield too as she glared at all the people in the huge party that was being thrown. Really, whose idea was this anyway? The place was loud, deceivingly colorful, and far too much stimuli for a paranoid badger like herself.

"You're going to be fine, Sticks," Knuckles said to her. "It's just a party!"

Sticks held on tighter. "I don't trust 'em!" Her anxiety was at least mildly understandable this time, as she probably didn't know most of the people there. Not only that, but with all the talking that was going on, she couldn't figure out what anyone was saying.

"Don't worry, it's safe," Knuckles tried to assure her. "Let's see if we can find our friends!"

Sticks nodded, climbing up onto Knuckles' shoulders and looking around for Amy, Sonic, or Tails.

"Spot any of 'em?"

"Hmmm..." Knuckles looked around. "I dunno, do you?"

"Nu-uh," Sticks replied. "With all these 'disclow lights' around, I can't tell blue from pink!" she complained.

Knuckles looked around again, then pointed. "There! I see 'em!"

Sticks lit up. "Ah, me too!" She leapt off of Knuckles' shoulders, unintentionally bounding off of a few people's heads to get to the three.

"There you are!" she exclaimed, extending her hands outwards to show her excitement.

"About time you guys showed up!" Knuckles said with a grin.

"Yeah, yeah," Sonic said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Maybe you guys are just way too early!"

Amy nudged Sonic playfully, then looked at Knuckles. "Are you and Sticks having fun?"

Being reminded of the party, Sticks quickly clung back to Knuckles and looked around warily.

"Well, Sticks isn't," Knuckles replied.

"Y-yeah, I can tell," Amy said. "Sorry I asked."

"Maybe she just has to get into the spirit!" Tails exclaimed. "She can't stay a recluse forever!"

Sticks stuck her tongue out at the fox, then flinched as music started playing, probably even louder than the people talking. Shaking, the badger quickly tried to run past Knuckles in an attempt to escape. "I'm getting outta here!" she yelled in a panic.

Knuckles quickly grabbed her and held her back.

"Whoa there! Calm down; it's just music!"

Sticks screeched at all of the sounds echoing throughout her ears. "Nrrgh, lemme go!" she cried out, squirming in an attempt to get free. "I'M NOT STAYIN' HERE ONE SECOND LONGER!"

"Sticks, just settle down for a moment!" Knuckles had to yell for her to hear him over all the noise.

"Rrragh, never!" Sticks yelled back, squirming further. "I'm gonna go crazy if I stick around any longer!"

She pulled out her boomerang and threw it out randomly, simply not knowing what else to do. It smashed into the machine playing the music, cutting it off abruptly and catching everyone's attention, though Sticks and Knuckles were still far too invested in their little 'wrestling match' to notice.

"Please, just calm down, Sweets!" Knuckles yelled.

Then, he realized that everyone else had gone quiet. His face flushed in embarrassment as he realized that everyone had heard him use his affectionate nickname for Sticks.

"I, uh, think I'll be going now!" he said nervously as he started heading toward the exit.

Sticks had frozen as Knuckles spoke her pet name. She flushed too, but quickly tried to hide her face.

"...'Sweets'?" Amy said, grabbing Knuckles' hand to prevent him from leaving. She paused, then placed a hand to her cheek. "Aww, that's so cute!" she exclaimed. "Is it because she bakes you sweets all the time?"

"Why would you have a name like that for her?" Tails inquired. "Using someone's regular name is pretty much the norm unless... you two are an item...?" It was more of a statement, but it came out as a question, the fox looking fairly surprised. "The only other time I've heard something like that is when Sonic calls Amy 'Ames'—OUCH!" Tails was quickly silenced by a sharp jab to the arm from Sonic.

"Y-yeah, well, I, um..." Knuckles stammered. He was too nervous and embarrassed to speak. "I, uh..."

Sticks paused for a moment longer, then stared out at all the people who were now gazing at her and Knuckles. Seeing how embarrassed Knuckles was, she placed her hands on her hips and glared at the crowd. "Well, so what? Huh? You got somethin' to say about it, huh!?" she asked. Immediately, everyone looked away, remaining silent. Sticks huffed, then gently took Knuckles' hand, muttering a "we're leaving" before starting to head out with him.

"Ah, wait!" Amy called out, walking up to them. She smiled softly. "Congratulations."

"Th-thanks," Knuckles said shyly.

I can't believe I did that... he thought. Now the entire village probably knows!

Sticks left the house with Knuckles, then let go of his hand and turned to him. "Well, are you alright?" she asked. Though she tried to be strong, there was a light blush on her cheeks and she still seemed flustered.

Knuckles sighed. "I'm really sorry for slipping up back there," he said, looking down at his shoes.

Sticks shook her head. "There's nothin' to worry about!" she assured. Her expression turned playful. "If anyone says anything, I'll clobber 'em!"

Knuckles smiled. "Thanks, Sticks. So...what do we do now?"

Sticks crossed her arms, gazing at him as if the answer was obvious. "Anything that isn't partying!"

"Anything?" Knuckles asked, both slyly and bashfully. "Maybe like... a kiss?"

Shoot, why did I say that? I just can't seem to keep my mouth shut today...

Sticks blushed further at the suddenness of the question, but shrugged anyway. "That'll work!"

She reached up to him, either gesturing for him to come closer or gesturing for him to pick her up.

Knuckles went over and picked her up. He gently kissed her on the lips, his eyes slowly closing as he sank into the kiss.

Sticks kissed him back; she still didn't quite have the hang of kissing, but then again, neither did Knuckles.

Though, a sudden clapping sound caused her to quickly break away from the kiss. Sonic, Tails, and Amy stood a few meters behind them, clapping away from seeing the two be so affectionate with each other.

Knuckles looked behind him at his friends. His face flushed once again.

"Uh... h-how long were you standing there?"

"Long enough," Amy chimed, acting like she had a camera in her hands and was 'snapping a picture of the two'.

"You could've just told us any time, you know," Tails said. "It's not like your relationship's a big issue."

"I-I know," Knuckles replied. "I guess we were just too shy to say anything."

"That's alright," Sonic assured. "But it wasn't like we'd never figure it out ourselves if ya kept quiet."

"Well, I guess everyone knows now," Knuckles said sheepishly.

Sticks lightly nudged Knuckles to reassure him, then pulled him in for a spontaneous kiss.

"A-augh..." Sonic nearly felt his gag reflex kicking in, not expecting it this time. "You guys aren't gonna do that all the time now that we know, are ya?"

Knuckles would've smirked if he could. He returned the kiss, trying to keep it going for a while just to mess with Sonic.

Sonic made another disgusted sound. Amy however, playfully nudged him. "Aww, c'mon, Sonic. It's sweet! You'll be doing that too whenever you get a girl of your own!" she teased.

Sonic's ears shot up, and a small blush came to his cheeks. "...I'm out." He quickly sped off, leaving Knuckles and Sticks to kiss as much as they wanted to.