Disclaimer :I don't own any of the characters in this fanfic.

Stop and Listen

The park at the lake was a popular place at this time of the day. Though most of it was due to the famous Sonic The Hedgehog running through the park as he had been doing everyday for as long as he could remember. The paparazzi were stationed outside the park, waiting to catch him on his way out of the park. But he zipped past them too fast for them to even see. He chuckled to himself, knowing that they would never catch him. He slowed down as he got around the corner but instantly picked up speed as soon as he saw who was waiting for him.

Amy Rose had gotten up extra early this morning, showered, and got ready. She knew that if she was going to catch Sonic on his way out of the park, she had to be there before he got out of the park. The day before she had been late and he had already left before she got there. She needed to make sure that didn't happen again. As she waited on the corner, the place where Sonic always slowed down, she thought about what she was going to say to him and practiced again. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a blue blur. "Sonic!" she called out to him before he could run away.

"Amy, I don't really have time for this. I'm going to go meet up with Tails in ten minutes!" He picked up speed and ran towards the Mystic Mountains.

"Sonic, please. You're the fastest thing alive! You can make it there in one minute. I'm not going to ask you to marry me or go on a date with me, I promise. I just need you to...to stop and listen for five minutes. Just five minutes. It's all I need."

Sonic stopped and turned around. This was Amy and, however annoying she could be, she was his friend. Besides, he was curious to what she would say. He sighed, knowing that this was probably not a good idea. Who knew what she had in mind? "Five minutes."

"Sonic," she started and looked up into his eyes. Bad idea. The speech that she had spent hours saying over and over in front of the mirror and had made endless changes to in order to get it perfect, flew out of her mind. His eyes were the deepest shade of green and she felt like she could get lost in them forever. But she didn't mind. Now, it was only them and nobody else. She could almost hear the wedding bells.

"Come on Amy, I don't have all day." He said, suddenly aware of Amy's eyes on him. He shifted uncomfortably.

Amy snapped out of her daydreams and realized that she had been staring at him. She started over, trying not to stutter. "Sonic, I...I...I j-just wanted t-to say tha-that I've been thinking really hard this past week about...about us. I just re-realized that you-you d-don't feel about me th-the same way I feel about you. "Amy took a deep breath and kept going." I accept the fact that all we will ever be is friends . Even though it will hurt me to see you with other girls later on in the future, I'll handle it. Because I...I really care about you Sonic and if all you want to be is friends, I'm okay with that. I'm not going to be annoying anymore I promise. We'll just be friends and you won't have to run every time you see me."

Sonic stared at her. He had not been expecting this. In fact, he had been expecting an invitation to some party or that she needed a favor but not this! So there he stood, gawking at Amy like an idiot. He finally remembered how to close his mouth. Good. Now he had to remember how to talk. "Amy..."he started, not sure of what to say. His hand subconsciously made its way to the back of his neck, a sign that he was nervous. He tried again, "Amy, I-I just can't b in a rela-relation-relationship," he forced the word out. "With Eggman and everything, you'd be his number one target and I don't want that for you because I really care for you too Amy." He took a deep breath and rushed through his next words. "I really like you ,more than a friend, but I'm just not ready for being tied down to a girl but maybe in the future, I don't know..."He drifted off, realizing what he had just done. He had confessed his feelings and given Amy hope all in one sentence. This was not good. He waited for the bone-crushing hug that was sure to happen and braced himself. But it didn't happen. He stared at Amy. She stared back.

Amy was aware of the blank look on her face, but she couldn't believe what Sonic had just told her. She didn't understand what Sonic had been saying at some parts for he had been talking too fast for her to comprehend, but she had gotten a few words and pieced those together to understand what he said. "Is this true? Everything that you just told me? Or are you just telling me this because you feel sorry for me?" She yelled at him, anger bubbling up inside of her.

Sonic sweat-dropped. He didn't want to make Amy mad. Nobody wanted to mess with an angry Amy. Just the thought of her mallet had him squirming. "No, no Amy," he told her. "It's not like that. I really do care about you." He was surprising himself. Here he was calmly confessing his feelings when his was known for being the type of guy that did NOT confess his feelings. Especially to Amy.

"Then why didn't you tell me before?"

"I was nervous and I didn't want Eggman to know and the paparazzi to know and for it to be front-cover news and everything and I didn't want you...doing just that." He answered referring to her bone-crushing hug that was squeezing the life out of him. He gasped for breath.

"Sorry"

"It's okay, just go for something a little less bone-crushing next time."

"I'll try." She loosened her hold on him and they stayed like that for a while, just holding each other. "Umm, Sonic?" She tapped his shoulder and pointed behind him. "About that making front-cover news..."

Sonic turned around to see the paparazzi ferociously snapping pictures of them. He sighed. "Ugh, they're starting to get on my nerves. Sooo..."He stared at his shoes, not sure of what to say. "This is awkward. "His hand moved to the back of his neck.

"Right, so we're friends?"

He smiled at her. "For now."

So what did you think of it? This is my first story so please don't flame. But constructive criticism is gladly accepted. Any grammar or spelling mistakes that you find, please tell me. Please check my page for upcoming stories so that you can read them and tell me what you think of them.