Chapter 1

"Yes, they are, and no, you can't have any."

Sonic frowned and crossed his arms, raising one eyebrow. "Why not?"

Amy stirred the cookie dough. "Because these cookies are for later, and if you have one taste, you're gonna eat the whole thing."

Sonic put on his puppy-dog face, bottom lip trembling and big, shiny eyes quivering. "Please?"

Amy's hands went to her hips. "I'll tell you what; you're behaving like a child!" She handed him the empty bowl and spoon for him to lick clean. Sonic squealed with delight and started in on it. Amy rolled her eyes at this usual behavior. Even though Sonic was 20 years old, he still found ways to make her laugh; even if it meant acting like the child he was inside.

And so, she stuck the lumpy Christmas cookies-to-be into the heated oven and set the timer for 10 minutes. As she did, she remembered just two days ago when she and Sonic became so close. He saved her from taking her life, and they were closer than ever. Amy realized that she loved him so much, it hurt. Everything was going perfectly, with Christmas just around the corner, no less.

Before she had a chance to turn around, she felt her sides being squeezed, causing her to squeal and jump five feet in the air. She spun around and found herself eye-to-eye with Sonic. He leaned into her lips quickly, cutting off what she was going to yell at him.

He tasted like cookie dough.

She playfully slapped him on the arm. "You're so childish!"

He smiled and took a grand bow. "Why, thank you, fair maiden." He held out his hand and she took it, very lady-like, giggling at their new joke. "Let us go to thar grand castle out yonder!" he announced.

Amy cocked her head, having no idea what he just said. "What?"

Without warning, he swept her up bridal-style and was out the door in less than two seconds.

Then he ran, faster than Amy had ever felt in her life. Her shoulder-length hair blew backwards, and she needed to squint her eyes from the wind and the tiny snowflakes jabbing her skin like little needles.

"SONIC!!" she hollered above the wind.

"Just go with the motion, Amy!" he shouted back. "Smooth as a rocking chair!"

Amy buried her face in his chest and held on tighter. But she started enjoying herself once she let up her grip and peeked out from his brown jacket. Sonic could hear her laughing and tilting her head back as he ran faster and faster.

When they finally stopped at Sonic's "place" and he set her down, Amy could barely keep her balance. She slipped once and landed safely in Sonic's outstretched arms. She looked up at him and grinned.

"That was the most fun I've had in a long time!"

He gave her his goofy grin. "See? It helps you collect your thoughts and forget your worries. Just run!"

He let her stand up on her own. But when he turned from her, an icy ball smacked him on the back of the head. He slowly turned around, making his face look really dark and scary. Amy giggled at his expression and threw another snowball at his shoulder. Then he sped off.

She started running after him. "Come on out, Sonic!" she taunted. "You can't be that scared!" It reminded her how she used to chase him when she was only twelve. He always ran from her. But this time was different. He actually wanted her to follow him.

She stopped to catch her breath and realized she lost him. Amy cautiously stepped through the snow, trying not to be heard. She avoided most crunchy snow and twigs. Bending down slowly, she scooped up a handful of snow and packed it hard through her mittens. She shivered, telling herself she was so dumb to wear mittens and no coat.

Suddenly, a waterfall of snow fell on top of her. It wasn't very thick, but it sprinkled lightly, covering her pink hair like a thin layer of sugar. . When she could see again, she looked up at Sonic laughing in the branches of the tree above her, shaking them. She laughed too, and threw her snowball at the blue hedgehog with precise aim, knocking him out of the tree.

She backed up when she threw it, and didn't see the hill below her. Amy's foot slipped, sending her other foot to suspend in the air a second, then, twisting halfway in midair, she fell face-first into the snow, rolling down the steep hill.

"AMY!!" Sonic jumped down after her, sliding on his feet at first, but catching himself and running straight down the hill. The pink hedgehog managed to roll onto her back, but couldn't call out to Sonic with her mouthful of snow. She wished now more than ever that she wore a coat, and maybe a hat. Snow seeped its way into her shirt, pants, and boots.

Sonic finally caught up to her and sprang on top of Amy. He fell on her with his arms keeping himself from crushing her, rolled onto his back with his arms around her and her on top of him, and put his hand under Amy's head pulling it close to his chest to protect her, all in one smooth motion, rolling the entire time.

They finally reached the bottom of the icy hill, Sonic on top of Amy. He still cradled her head to his coat.

"Are you alright?" he said, out of breath. Amy nodded hesitantly. Sonic reluctantly got up off of her and helped her up. She really felt fine, but she was so cold and wet, she felt she could barely move. Sonic noticed this, and stripped from his own coat and draped it over her shoulders. The pink hedgehog decided not to argue, but sniveled instead. Amy was just so grateful he was with her, or she would have been torn to pieces.

"It's a good thing you didn't slip over there," Sonic motioned with his head towards another side of the hill. It was twice as steep, and twice as icy. Sharp rocks embellished it, their razor edges glistening in the sunrays that peeked through the grey clouds. Below the hill was deeper than where they were, and a black forest rested below it. Amy shivered at the thought.

Amy was jolted out of her thoughts by a sharp yelp. Sonic had his eyes shut tight, and he was grasping his left wrist, bending over it.

"Sonic…!" she said worriedly. Amy made him loosen his grip on the white bandage to see red blood leaking from it. It was the same wound she thought would heal very nicely once she tended to it. She quickly unwrapped it and flinched at the black and red cut.

Amy let the tears run down. "Oh, Sonic, this is all my fault…if only I didn't…" she broke down in tears, letting them fall into the blood-stained snow. Sonic lifted her head sternly.

"Amy, chill." The way he gazed into her eyes made her stop crying. "This isn't your fault. I'm really fine. It was just hit on a rock or something."

"But it is…"

He looked at her, confused.

"I'm the one who did it to you," she whispered, refusing to meet his gaze.

Sonic's eyes widened as those words slipped from her mouth. He frowned and lifted her chin.

"We are over this, Amy Rose," he said defiantly. "Yes, you did it. But I let you. I let you cut me. If I didn't, you wouldn't be here right now. And I did it because I love you." The way he said it sounded like it was no big deal to fuss over, and that he had put it behind him a long time ago. He gave her a small smile. "I'm just glad you're okay."

Amy sniffled one last time before she smacked herself in the forehead. "I forgot! How could I? 'Duh' to me!" This time, it was Sonic's turn to act like she was crazy. But Amy just broke down laughing. "The cookies!!"

Sonic sucked in some air in a gasp. "Let us hope and pray that thine castle has not yet burned down, m'lady!"

Laughing, he scooped her up again and ran straight up the hill, into the woods, passing the creek, and out of the trees. Thankfully, Amy didn't smell any smoke, nor saw any rising from her roof. They hadn't been gone that long, maybe a little over fifteen minutes. As they approached the little cabin-style house, Amy made a mental note to rig up the lights this week. Maybe Sonic would do it for her.

Sonic still didn't set his girlfriend down, even when he kicked the door open and strolled into the house like he owned the place. But he almost dropped her when he noticed they weren't alone. Rouge, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, Cream, Cheese, the Chaotix Team, Silver, Blaze, and just about all their friends were sitting in her living room, lounging as if waiting for something to happen next. Tails was the first one who spotted them. He perked up his ears and pointed. "There they are!" Everyone perked up as well and held all eyes on the couple. Amy stared back, red faced. But Sonic enjoyed the attention.

"Hey, guys! What's up?" he set down Amy like nothing happened. "What are you all dong here?"

No one spoke for a full minute. They seemed to be in some kind of shock, but Sonic just held all of their gazes, oblivious at what was wrong. But Amy knew.

Rouge was the first to speak. "Amy!" she rushed over and gave her friend a hug, glaring at Sonic. He looked puzzled.

As Rouge was hugging her, she whispered, "I was so worried! You wouldn't return my calls for two days, and when I came to visit, you weren't home! I was so scared that you killed yourself or something!"

Amy had an amused expression on her face. She hugged her friend back. "Don't worry. I'm fine now. I was home, too. I was probably just too emotionally drained to get the door." Amy laughed a little at her joke, but Rouge just cocked her head.

"Huh? Why?"

Knuckles walked up to Sonic and looked at him suspiciously. "What did you do to her? Spill it."

"That's why we're here, really," explained Tails. "If Rouge wasn't here on time, your cookies would have been toast." He pointed to two trays of un-iced cookies. Amy sighed with relief and quickly lifted them from the tray with a spatula so they wouldn't stick. Tails continued. "We came to see how Amy was doing, and we haven't seen Sonic since Knuckles told us he took off after Amy two days ago." They all nodded.

"It's a long story, really," Sonic admitted, taking a seat on the couch.

Blaze shrugged. "So? The night's still young, and so are we."

The blue hedgehog looked over at Amy, and she nodded, giving him the go-ahead.

He sighed. "OK. Well, it all started when I came home about a week ago…"