Sorry about the late publishing, I was up till 2:00 working on it and just had to go to sleep. So this is the finished product!! Also, sorry about dissapearing (again), but I'm back!

Ages:
Julie-Su: 16
Knuckles: 16
Rouge: 16
Shadow: 17

Anyways... Enjoy!!
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Knuckles was lying down in the queen sized bed, his hands behind his head and he himself was looking up at the ceiling, unable to sleep, again. It's been like this for the past four days, he'd lay in this exact position and think, really about anything.

Topics would range from what he should do for his workout tomorrow to what flavor of pudding he enjoyed the most. "Vanilla? Chocolate? Tapioca?? Gah! I don't even like pudding!!!" !as what he thought of last night before falling asleep. Tonight he had company, his girlfriend Julie-Su, she was.

He turned his head slowly, and silently, to watch her sleep, her stomach slowly going up and down in time with her breathing. He brought one hand out to brush a stray dreadlock from her face, when her image was replaced by one of Rouge. Knuckles shook his head and the girl laying next to him was Julie-Su again, not white fur, but pink, with magenta coloring at the tips of her bangs.

"God damn it! Again? Why is Rouge popping up in my head lately?!" He brought his hand back under his head and looked up at the ceiling again, his thoughts returning to Rouge, becoming more and more sexual, yet a sweet sexual. "Gah! Stop it! I need to do something to get my mind off of her!"

He did his best to remove the comforter from him without moving it around on Julie-Su's side, and swung his legs to the floor. As he shifted his weight to a sitting position, almost getting off the bed, it creaked causing Julie to make a groaning noise. Knuckles froze, looking over his shoulder to look at her, but she soon returned back to a peaceful sleep and Knuckles breathed a sigh of relief.

"Whew! She always was a light sleeper!" He then got off the bed and tiptoed out of the room and into the kitchen, he flicked on the lamps light, it didn't give out much light, but enough so he could see where he was going. Knuckles opened up the fridge and pulled out a pitcher of water, and then a glass from one of the cupboards. While he poured himself the drink he stole a glance at his reflection in the window. He was wearing an A-Shirt and a pair of white and blue stripped boxers, no gloves; his usual nightly attire.

After he finished pouring the glass, he placed the pitcher back into the fridge and almost jumped when he heard the shrill ring of his cell phone.

Honey why you calling me so late?

He ran over to it and quickly pulled it out of the charger, trying to muffle the sound by covering it with his hands; he didn't want to wake Julie-Su. He looked at the time on the oven clock and it said 2:30, then he checked the name on his cell: Rouge. He flipped open the cell and brought it to his ear. "Hello?" he said, whispering.

It's kinda hard to talk right now.

"Kn-Knuckles?" he heard her say on the other line, it seemed rather distorted, like as if she had just finished crying.

"Rouge, what is it? Are you alright?" he said, concerned already. "No, no, I'm fine. I just couldn't sleep… I… I couldn't stop thinking about you." Rouge said, her voice regaining it's normal confidence.

Honey why are you crying? Is everything okay?

"Oh… umm…." He said whispering still, not knowing how to respond to such a statement. Rouge and Knuckles had broken up 8 months ago, rather harshly. "Same here." He admitted, his voice dropping to an even softer whisper. She seemed a bit caught of guard by this as well, but after a few minutes she asked "Why are you whispering?"

"Oh, umm, Julie's in the next room and she's a light sleeper" he said, while scratching the back of his head.

I gotta whisper 'cause I can't be too loud

"Oh… so, she's staying the night now? Is… Is she sleeping with you?" Rouge asked, a little hurt by the sound of it. "No, no. We didn't have sex Rouge. I was… lonely. So I asked her too come over." As memories filled his mind of the time he spent with Rouge he whispered softly "But… I wish I had asked you."

Well, my girl's in the next room
Sometimes I wish she was you
I guess we never really moved on

"Knuckles…" she said, giggling softly as she remembered their first time. "What are you laughing about?" Knuckles asked while leaning against the wall of the kitchen. "Ohh… just the beach…" she said sweetly.

It's really good to hear your voice saying my name
It sounds so sweet
Coming from the lips of an angel
Hearing those words it makes me weak

Knuckles could feel his face heating up; he was blushing furiously at that. He hadn't responded to her for a few minutes as memories of that day flooded his head. Her seductive smile, the warmth of her body against his, the soft kisses she gave on his lips. "Knuckles?" Rouge asked, afraid he had hung up. "I'm still here" he stated, a smile on his lips.

And I never wanna say goodbye
But girl you make it hard to be faithful
With the lips of an angel

"Umm… Rouge, what's today?" Knuckles asked, a slight nagging at the back of his mind was telling there was something important today. "The 18th." She stated, like as if she already knew it before hand. Then realization dawned on Knuckles; today was the, would be, anniversary of himself and Rouge. He chuckled, but not softly this time, the pieces were coming together: Why he was thinking of Rouge lately, why she was thinking of him… and why she called.

It's funny that you're calling me tonight
And, yes, I've dreamt of you too

"SHH!!!" she whisper-yelled "You're not the only one with company here!". Knuckles heard some coughing in the background and immediately recognized it as Shadow's. "Oh… yeah. I gotta stay quite for Julie as well." Knuckles said. "Does… does he know you're talking to me?" he asked.
And does he know you're talking to me
Will it start a fight?

"Nope. He hasn't the slightest idea, what about your end? That laugh was pretty loud." She asked, almost flippantly. "No… and I don't care right now if she does." Knuckles responded.

No I don't think she has a clue

She giggled at this, again. "Ooh Knuckles, your sounding a little careless." Knuckles blushed at this again, memories coming through of her saying those exact words, "Around you… I'm careless. I'm free." He responded.

Well my girl's in the next room
Sometimes I wish she was you
I guess we never really moved on
It's really good to hear your voice saying my name
It sounds so sweet
Coming from the lips of an angel
Hearing those words it makes me weak

"I… I miss you Knuckles" she said her voice cracking a little. "Shh…. Shh…" Knuckles said, trying to soothe her, a trick that always worked in the past. "I've missed you too Rouge. You're voice, you're attitude, the way you'd kissed me… it felt like heaven."

And I never wanna say goodbye
But girl you make it hard to be faithful
With the lips of an angel

"Knuckles… I… I want to be with you. I miss the way you'd hold me and how you'd give me those butterfly kisses on my stomach" she giggled at remembering that.

It's really good to hear your voice saying my name
It sounds so sweet
Coming from the lips of an angel
Hearing those words it makes me weak

"Why did we ever break up, Rouge?" Knuckles asked, forgetting about the whispering and spoke normally.

And I never wanna say goodbye
But girl you make it hard to be faithful
With the lips of an angel

"I… I don't know Knuckles. Time to move on, I guess? But now… it feels like a mistake, doesn't it?" Rouge responded, her voice barley audible. Knuckles remembered that as something she did if she regretted something, or if it was painful to talk about. "Yeah, it does."

And I never wanna say goodbye
But girl you make it hard to be faithful
With the lips of an angel

Knuckles then heard a door open at the other side of the hallway, he then whispered to Rouge "Crap! I'm sorry, but Julie's coming down the hall right now… I… I do miss you Rouge. We spent…. We spent many a long nights together. Should we try that again?"

Rouge was slow to respond "I… I think so. But things need to be kept a secret. We can't just end our current relationships, now can we? It'll be a… an affair."

As Julie was beginning to step into the light of the kitchen, Knuckles whispered "Ok… I have to go…" at an even smaller whisper now "I love you, Rouge the bat"

Honey why you calling me so late?

He hung up the phone quickly, and turned to Julie's sleepy, but quizzical stare. "Who was that?" she asked, a little suspicious of her boyfriend. "No one Julie. Let's…. let's just go to bed, ok?" Knuckles responded as he began walking down to his bedroom.

"Alright…" Julie responded, trailing after her lover, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she was just given the cold shoulder.

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Alright, thank you so much for being patient with me and my other stories, which I also suggest you read. Overall this took about four hours to do, so I hope you like it!!

Don't forget to review!!! Even if it's just to ask questions, or if it's just to say u liked it.
-Ember113