Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ Shake Me Down ❯ Chapter Seven ( Chapter 7 )

Chapter Seven

The clock chimed seven times, indicating it was 7:00PM; the party was in full swing at this point. Everyone was joking and laughing-all around having a good time-everyone that is, except for a red echidna, who was currently glaring at Shadow and Rouge who were on the opposite side of the room, while he sat leaning against the wall for support. They were having a chat on the love seat, his arm around her shoulders as she leaned into his embrace looking very relaxed. She smiled every once in awhile at something he said, but Knuckles couldn't help but notice her eyes continuously darting in his direction.

He narrowed his eyes as Rouge suddenly laughed at something the black hedgehog said.

If he makes her so happy then why is she messing with my head? And why the hell does she keep looking over here. She probably feels guilty that's all…

"Something bothering you Knuckles?"

Knuckles jumped, startled by the sudden intrusion of his space. He turned his head and looked towards the person who interrupted his thoughts. It was the pretty orange echidna Tikal. It was too bad that they had absolutely no attraction to each other beyond a brother and sister relationship. Knuckles was starting to think that maybe meeting someone else could help him get over Rouge, since nothing else seemed to be working.

Who am I kidding, I don't want anyone else.

He grunted and went back to watching the white bat out of the corner of his eye.

"Mind if I sit down?"

"I don't care."

Tikal sat down next to Knuckles, leaning back against the wall with her legs crossed in front of her. They sat in silence for a bit observing the party. Amy was dancing with Sonic, who may be the fastest creature on the planet, but was certainly competing for the worst dancer award. He had no grace in his movements and was flailing his arms all around while shuffling his feet in a spastic way. Amy seemed to be enjoying it though. Tails and Cream were dancing near them, but much more gracefully. Both couples looked very happy with one another however, love clearly displayed on their faces. Meanwhile, Silver and Blaze were near the food table, sampling the many different treats Amy had cooked up.

Tikal turned her head to observe Knuckles and followed his line of vision. He was watching Rouge and Shadow and did not look happy in the slightest.

"She likes you too you know," Tikal spoke, addressing the issue right away.

Knuckles immediately glared at Tikal. "I don't like the batgirl."

Tikal giggled, "Well, how did you know I was referring to her?"

Knuckles blushed, his glare losing some of its power. "I…um…never mind… damn you!" he growled, flustered. "So what if I like her? I blew my chance three years ago, all she wants to do now is use me, forget me and move on."

Tikal giggled once more, "If that was the case, then why is she constantly looking over here? She's really looking over here now that I'm sitting next to you, I think she's jealous."

"Why do you even care?"

Tikal stopped smiling. "I care because two people who I consider my friends are miserable because they keep lying to themselves."

"I'm not miserable, I'm a guardian. I couldn't have her even if I wanted to. It is my duty to protect the master emerald at all times. I cannot forsake my duty for a relationship…"

Tikal cut him off, "Whatever Knuckles, you do realize that there is technology out there these days that you can set up around the emerald to protect it at all times? I'm from four thousand years in the past and even I know that."

Knuckles considered this. It would be nice to be able to leave the island every once in awhile without worrying about the emerald. Maybe he could even get a house off of Angel Island so he'd have some place to stay when he visited. But… there was one more issue.

"Tikal, she's with Shadow now, even if I had that technology she would never be mine."

"So you're not even going to try? I didn't know you gave up that easily Knuckles, you're getting weak with your old age, Happy Birthday by the way."

"Thank you…but, I'm not weak! I just…" Knuckles looked back in Rouge's direction and immediately noticed she was looking at him. He looked back at Tikal. She had an, 'I told you so' expression on her face.

He sighed. "You're right. I'm terrified Tikal, for twenty-one years the emerald has been my duty, my life, I don't know anything else."

"Well, best start learning brother, you're not going to be around forever, who's going to take over the job when you're gone?"

Her words hit home. He was being weak and stupid. "Well, what about you Tikal, I don't see any man in your life." She blushed and unconsciously looked over at Shadow. Knuckles grinned, so she had her own agenda as well.

"He doesn't notice me."

"Well, looks like we both have to stop being weak and stupid." He slowly stood up and turned to walk towards the kitchen. Stopping mid-stride, he turned his head to look over his shoulder, "Thanks Tikal."

She smiled in confusion, "You're welcome I guess?"

He smiled, then disappeared into the kitchen.

Tikal said she thought of him as a brother, then why is she smiling at him like that? Why is he smiling back? Oh! I could just smack those stupid grins off of both their faces right now.

"Are you alright Rouge?" Shadow asked, voice full of concern.

Rouge smiled and looked up at Shadow, noting his frown. "I'm alright, just a little tipsy, you know how wine goes straight to my head."

Shadow chuckled, "Believe me I know, though I don't know why you're drinking it. Last time you had wine, you asked me to never let you drink it again, remember?"

Rouge giggled, remembering that night, though it was a bit hazy

Flashback three months prior:

"Shadow!" Rouge called out while kicking the front door to his apartment shut.

"I'm upstairs," he yelled from his room.

Rouge crossed the living room and attempted to make the trip up the stairs, stumbling with each step. When did the twelve steps multiply to fifty? And why was the straight staircase twisting and turning into a horrible spiraled monstrosity? She shook her head, attempting to clear her vision. However, all this did was cause the white bat to fall on her ass from dizziness.

Shadow, noticing how Rouge was taking forever to get to his room, decided to see what the hold up was. He heard a lot of grumbling, swearing and thumping coming from the staircase. As he headed down the hall, he heard her begin to talk to herself, loudly.

"Holy shit Rouge! One foot in front of the other, you can do it, come on girl!" She flapped her wings a few times to steady herself, but ended up overdoing it and hitting her head on the ceiling. Gravity immediately took ahold of her and she soon found herself in a crumpled heap on the floor, unable to move.

Shadow reached the top of the staircase just in time to see this, and was half-amused, half-concerned. He could tell right away that Rouge was drunk-not just drunk, but completely shit-faced. He wasn't sure what prompted her to reach this state of inebriation, but hoped nothing was seriously wrong.

Rouge, upon seeing Shadow emerge at the top of the stairs, started getting whiny.

"Shadooowww! Help me! Your stairs are going crazy and the floor is holding me downnnnn!"

"Alright Rouge, you stay there, I'll come get you," Shadow spoke calmly while descending the stairs. Upon reaching her, he crouched down to her level and looked her in the eyes, "I'm going to pick you up and bring you upstairs where you can sleep it off. Do you need a bucket?"

Rouge made a pssh sound, "No, I don't need a fucking bucket, I can hold my alcohol!"

Shadow verbally agreed with her, but decided he was going to get her a bucket anyways. In about thirty minutes she would be throwing up, he could tell. He'd been through this before.

Slowly, he picked her up, holding her bridal style as he ascended the stairs. When he reached his room, he laid her down on the bed, exited the room, and came back with a bucket. She didn't even notice as her eyes were closed, probably to try and stop the room from spinning. He smirked as he laid down next to her and began gently caressing her scalp, scratching lightly, trying to get her to relax. Ten minutes passed by and her breathing was starting to become rhythmic as if she was on the verge of sleep. Shadow continued scratching.

"Shadow why do you love me?" she slurred suddenly, almost making him jump, as he too was feeling relaxed.

He didn't even have to hesitate to think. "Because you're you Rouge. You're tough, beautiful, have a killer personality and most importantly, you accept me for what I am. I couldn't ask for anything more."

Rouge sighed in contentment while closing her eyes. "I don't deserve you Shadow," her words were even more slurred, both from being tired and from being drunk.

"Why did you drink so much tonight?"

Rouge mumbled something unintelligible.

"What was that?"

She cracked one eye open and looked up at his face, "I said I wanted to forget."

Shadow wrinkled his brow in confusion. "Forget what?"

"I wanted to forget…dumb…re…idna…so I could…be what…need." Her sentence was broken up in parts; he didn't understand what she was trying to say.

"Rouge?"

Suddenly both her eyes shot open as she bolted from his bed into the bathroom that was attached to his room. He heard her violently puking her guts out five seconds later. His eyes glanced towards the clock on his nightstand, realizing he was indeed correct in his earlier assumption; she did start hurling exactly thirty minutes after he brought her upstairs.

She continued to hurl for the rest of the night while Shadow tried to comfort her any way he could, whether it meant holding her hair back for her or rubbing her back in between dry heaves. Sometime between the fifth vomiting session and the eighth, she made Shadow swear that he would never let her get this drunk ever again. He got her a glass of water and told her he would try his hardest but knew he couldn't stop her from doing what she wanted. She told him to try harder, then passed out on his bathroom floor. As he carried her to his bed to sleep off the rest of the sickness, he remembered her drunken babble before she got sick. He badly wanted to write off what she said as drunken babble, but ultimately knew what she said was important, if only he heard the whole sentence….

End Flashback

He was so good to me that night…why can't my stupid heart move on and have Shadow be the one…why can't you choose who you love?

"As much as I loved taking care of you during your worship of the porcelain god, I think you should slow down for the night Rouge, go get a glass of water or something," Shadow spoke into her ear, bringing her back into the present.

"You're right, I'll be right back." Rouge slid off the couch and made her way across the room to the kitchen. She opened a cabinet and grabbed an empty glass. She then walked over to the sink and began to fill it. As she watched the water slowly rise in the glass, she couldn't help but notice her hands were shaky. So much had already happened in such a short time span and she was feeling incredibly guilty, confused and unsure. She shut the water off quickly, realizing the glass was about to overflow while she was lost in her thoughts. Shakily, she put the glass to her lips and downed half the water in a few gulps, surprising herself with how parched she was.

"Rouge?"

Startled, she almost dropped the glass into the sink, but steadied her hands at the last moment. She turned around and was met with violet eyes.

"Knuckles! You scared the shit out of me! That's twice tonight!" she spoke, a slight tremor to her voice as she tried to steady her breathing. Her heart was pounding from being startled, as well as from who startled her.

At least he had the decency to look sorry as his cheeks tinged a slight red.

"I was already in here when you walked in Rouge, It's not my fault you're blind as a bat...wait," he smirked.

She set the glass down on the counter and clenched her fists as she glared up directly into his eyes. "Argh! You! Are such a…such a…stinky echidna!" Rouge spat out the first insult that came to mind. She also wasn't very witty when she was drunk.

Knuckles shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Hey, finish your water, I want to talk to you after." He reached around her, picked up her glass, and handed it to her.

"Fine." She grabbed the glass out of his hand and chugged it down, slamming it back down onto the counter when she was finished.

"What do you want to talk about?"

Knuckles looked around the kitchen. Anyone could walk in at any moment. He squinted his eyes in thought as he scanned the area for a place to go. His eyes settled on the staircase across the hallway from the kitchen.

"Not here, too many ears. Follow me," he spoke quietly as he made his way upstairs, hoping she would follow but not forcing her to.

Rouge huffed, but quickly followed the red echidna, trying her hardest not to drool at the muscles in his back as he ascended the stairs. She especially tried hard to keep her eyes above his waist, but it was a hard thing to do when he was directly in front of her and moving quickly. She blushed and ran faster, hoping no one saw them slip away from the party. Neither of them noticed the pair of sapphire eyes that followed their every step.

When they reached the top of the stairs, he abruptly turned around and grabbed her hand, leading her into the upstairs bathroom. Once inside, he let go, shut the door behind him and leaned against it. Rouge propped herself up onto the bathroom counter, swinging her feet as they dangled over the edge.

"What do you want to talk about?" she asked.

Knuckles folded his arms and looked down at the floor as he answered with a question. "Why did you kiss me?"

She immediately stilled her movements, shocked that he was bold enough to actually ask her. Did he grow a pair during the past three years or something?

"Um, it was an accident sugar, don't worry about it," she gulped, not wanting to have this conversation right now.

He looked up from the floor was standing in front of her in the blink of an eye.

"You're lying. Try again."

"You smelled like Shadow?"

Knuckles knew she was trying to piss him off so he would drop it and leave her alone. However, after three years of beating himself up for being a fool, he wasn't in the mood to play games. If he was about to be straight with her about how he felt, she needed to know he was serious.

"This isn't a game Rouge, I'm serious." He leaned in closer to her, blazing violet locking with frightened blue.

"I…um…" she started to answer, but was suddenly overcome with anger as she stared into his handsome face. How dare he demand answers from her, she was the one who deserved answers!

"Never mind that Knuckles, how about you try to explain why you left me heartbroken that night three years ago after I confessed how I felt about you!" She couldn't help but raise her voice.

His eyes widened as he looked to the door, hoping no one heard her shrieking.

Sighing, he stepped back from her and began pacing. "You're right, I'm sorry. I shouldn't be demanding answers when I was an unfair piece of shit to you."

Rouge's mouth dropped open in shock. He was actually admitting he was in the wrong with something. Maybe those three years he was in isolation really did change him, and so far it seemed to be a change for the better.

Knuckles stopped pacing to look out the window, noticing how large the moon was in the sky, casting a silver glow on the empty backyard. It reminded him of the master emerald at night. The thought caused him to clench his fists in anger. Three years he spent all by himself, guarding that rock. All that time wasted feeling sorry for himself…

"I did what I had to do that night…because," he took a deep breath, "I was scared..."

She urged him to continue with her eyes as her jaw dropped even lower.

"Guarding the master emerald was all I knew, it is my destiny. I was to spend my life protecting it from harm."

Rouge interrupted, "I know this, you already told me, now how about a real answer?"

Knuckles continued on as if he didn't hear her comment. "…then I met you, five years ago. You wanted the master emerald because it is pretty and unobtainable. I hated you then, Rouge," he admitted, locking his eyes onto hers.

The air in the tiny bathroom suddenly felt suffocating.

"You, hated me?" she asked in shock.

He slowly nodded his head in affirmation. "I hated you, because you were free." Knuckles sat down on the edge of the bathtub before continuing to speak. "Each time you came for the emerald, you were free to leave the island, while I…had to sit there day after day, hour after hour, no end in sight."

Rouge interrupted, "You used to say that was your favorite thing to do in the world."

Knuckles nodded. "That used to be my favorite thing in the world, to lay in front of the emerald and dream, not a care in the world except for its safety. That all changed when Sonic forced me to the real world, and I was introduced to something called friendship, and betrayal, so gullible was I. Then, there came a time when we had to fight Eggman together on the same team! How absurd was that?"

Rouge chuckled and jumped down off the bathroom counter to sit next to Knuckles on the edge of the bathtub.

He raised his head to look at her, his dreads accidentally brushing her bare shoulder. She shivered.

"I'm glad it happened though, because I got to know more about you…we bickered and fought-were practically at each others throats! You were so unlike the others, it intrigued me."

Rouge nodded her head in agreement. They sat in silence side-by-side for a few moments, both with thoughts racing through their minds.

Knuckles suddenly broke the silence. "Remember that time on Tails plane where you told me 'there's a thin line between love and hate'? I yelled at you saying you made it thicker, but from that day, I couldn't get your words out of my head! I think that's when I started falling for you…no, I already had, that's just when I finally acknowledged it."

Rouge sharply looked up into his eyes.

"So three years ago today, I let you walk away because I was afraid. I'm sorry for hurting you, but I hurt me too. I've been such a fool Rouge," he hung his head, dreadlocks falling forward covering his face. "I love you Rouge, I always have, it's just taken me a while to admit it to myself."

Rouge's heart skipped a beat at his confession. It surprised her, filled a void inside her heart she didn't realize was so deep, and befuddled her all at once. She didn't know how to react to it, so in typical Rouge fashion, when confused and hurt she turned to the defensive. "You know how I felt about you Knuckles, but you didn't even give us a chance. I'm with Shadow now, and he's never hurt me."

Knuckles suddenly reached out and placed his hand on her shoulder. Her body unconsciously leaned towards his.

"Then tell me this, have you been able to forget and move on?"

Rouge crossed her arms and leaned away, not liking the lack of control she had over her own body.

"Oh, I've forgotten you! You mean nothing to me now."

"Then answer my first question, why did you kiss me?"

Rouge jumped up, almost stumbling backwards with the alcohol running through her blood. "I've missed you, alright! I have thought about you, and I still want you! But I'm not just going to leave Shadow, he loves me and he's been there for me when you weren't!"

Knuckles jumped up as well, his height causing him to look down at Rouge, "I wish I could have been there!" he yelled, eyes blazing.

She looked up at him, and poked him in the chest with her pointer finger, the fire in her eyes matching his own. "But. You. Weren't." she emphasized every word with a jab of her finger.

They glared at each other, three years of heartache, longing and repressed desire waiting to burst out of their skin at any moment. Knuckles eyes zeroed in on her pouty bottom lip and all rational thought flew out of his head. He acted on impulse before he could stop himself. He wrapped his arms around her, picked her up and set her on the bathroom counter, smashing his lips against hers. She kissed him back just as hard, wrapping her legs around his hips while her hands went through his dreadlocks to pull him in closer. He moaned as she once again bit his bottom lip, asking for access. This time he granted it without question, his tongue battling with hers.

Teeth gnashed, lips smashed together messily, chests heaved with each gasp for air, as they acted purely on passion, trying to get closer and closer to each other. Rouge left one hand tangled in his hair while the other one trailed down his chest, feeling the hot hard muscle underneath the bright red fur. Knuckles hooked his arms underneath her legs, helping her hold them up.

For the second time that day he found himself growing hard in her presence, her every move igniting all his nerve-endings on fire. He once again ground his hips into hers, unable to stop himself even if were to try. His body was way too worked up and he was acting purely on instinct and passion. From the way Rouge was moving her hips in tune with him, he could tell she was in the same state of mind as he was.

He broke the kiss, breathing heavily, and looked down at her. “Do you?” He panted out, staring into her eyes.

She nodded her head as he moaned and began to remove his gloves. His hands were just as red as the rest of his body, and the knuckles that were visible on the gloves were even sharper ungloved---very dangerous.

He quickly unbuttoned her leather pants, and they both helped in the removal of the tantalizingly tight second skin. Rouge lifted her hips while Knuckles pealed the black garment from her shapely figure. He flung it behind him, and cast his eyes upon Rouge's bare legs. They were tan and very toned, just as he remembered---gorgeous.

“You are so…” he couldn't finish his sentence as Rouge suddenly grabbed his throbbing member, smirking up at him as she ran her thumb over the leaking head. His eyes rolled up in the back of his head as he shuddered at the sensitivity and pleasure that just one touch caused.

“And you are so…” she teased, biting her bottom lip as she felt how hard he was in her hand, he was enormous! He opened his eyes and smirked down at her while running his hands up her legs slowly, causing her to shiver in pleasure, before resting his fingers on the strings of her thong. With a quick flick of his wrists, the thong snapped, it too thrown across the room. He looked at her, questioning her with his eyes if she truly wanted to continue. There was no turning back once they started.

She leaned up and kissed him, opening her mouth, their tongues swirling together, Rouge loving the taste of him---grapes and something she couldn't quite place, it tasted of wilderness, strength and was purely Knuckles---in other words, it was intoxicating for the white bat.

A loud peal of laughter from downstairs snapped both of them out of their hazy-eyed lust. Lips still locked, they both opened their eyes and looked at each other, suddenly remembering where they were.

Knuckles was the first to break the kiss.

Breathing heavily, he untangled himself from her and stepped back, with some difficulty. He observed her quickly. Her lips were swollen from how hard they were kissing. Her chest was flushed and her eyes were half-lidded, still enthralled by his touch. He absently thought he probably looked the same.

"Just think about what I said," he rasped out.

With that, he opened the bathroom door and left.

Rouge stayed, melting onto the bathroom counter, legs feeling like jelly; her chest heaving with each breath she took. With each passionate encounter, the fire between them grew. She wasn't so sure she could put it out anymore…

She didn't know what to do, but knew what she had to.