Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ The Babbysitter Affair ❯ Spiked Tea and Memories ( Chapter 6 )

The Babysitter Affair

Chapter 6

 

-

 

“What were you thinking!” Shadow growled, turning off the walkie-talkie with a quick movement of his wrist.

Awestruck, Rouge blinked, then adverted her gaze away from him. “…I didn't know Knuckles was there too…”

“Neither did I! But now Sonic and Amy probably know that you're with me!”

Hearing this, Rouge scoffed. “It's not like we're committing a crime here, Shadow!”

`Maybe not yet…' Shadow thought without realizing.

Rouge shrugged and ran her fingers through her short tresses. “Anyway, why are you so caught up in what those two think?”

“...I've been living with them for a while now…”

Rouge's eyes went wide. “…Sonic is living with Amy…and you're living under the same roof as Sonic…?”

Half-smiling at her tone of voice, Shadow nodded. “Yeah, I am.”

“Oh, Shadow…!” Rouge laughed while stepping closer to him. Shadow's face suddenly became warm as he watched Rouge raise a hand and place it to his forehead. “Are you sick!?” she continued, moving her hand lightly to his cheek, then to his neck.

Thoroughly embarrassed, Shadow stepped out of her embrace and quickly turned his back to her. “Could you…not do that…?” he uttered softly.

Rouge giggled at him. “Still the same shy Shadow…”

Slightly bothered by that comment, on cue, he turned away from her.

Rouge's eyes gradually widened as she sought him—thoughts of her crossing the line. Well it had been 4 years after all! How much has he changed, she wondered. Starting to feel guilty, she prepared herself to apologize. Until she saw him nervously scratch the back of his head.

She smirked. `He's embarrassed allright…'

Feeling comfort reclaiming her once more, Rouge stepped closer to him and tapped him on the shoulder. “Hey come on, don't be like that. If I made you made I'm sorry…”

Softly Shadow spoke up. “You didn't make me mad Rouge…”

Giggling, she walked in front of him and leaned her body downwards, looking up at him.

Feeling his cheeks warm up for the second time that day, Shadow adverted his eyes away from her.

And Rouge could appreciate that angle generously.

But since they did meet by chance, there was also the possibility of him racing out of her life a second time, and she couldn't allow that…

Composing her posture, Rouge smiled to Shadow and stepped over to the other side of him so that her back was towards the van.

“Shadow…”

Hearing his name called so sweetly by her, Shadow casually turned around. “…Hmmm?”

Feeling her eagerness, Shadow suddenly found himself at a loss for words.

He wanted to stay close to her, to always be able to keep in touch with her…but how? Shadow `s eyes drifted towards the van behind her. Realizing he was looking past her, Rouge followed his eyes to the van. As soon as she looked, Akai ducked and laid flat on the seat.

“D'yah think she saw me?” he asked his brother, who glanced in the rear view mirror and saw his mother cross her arms.

“Yup.”

“Aww crud!”

“Awwww mommy said that's a bad worrrd!”

“Nooo don't tell mommy I said crud!”

“AWWW you said it AGAIN!!”

“Noo don't tell herrrr! I won't share my candy with you if you do!”

“Okay I won't tell!”

Akai grinned. Such a young and tender age and already, he was learning about bribery…

 

“What are those boys upto now…”

Looking down, Shadow scoffed. “They look just like their…”

“…Don't…” Rouge interrupted, holding up a hand to stop him. “Please…don't go there. I've been thinking about that enough for today. I don't need to be reminded of it again…”

Shadow's brows raised high on his head when he heard this. “What's the matter, trouble in paradise?”

Rouge threw him a hurtful look.

He didn't mean to say that, it just---slipped out!

“I-I'm sorry Rouge, I must have been thinking out loud…”

“…Yeah…” she agreed sternly, nodding her head and narrowing her eyes. “Listen, Shadow, we need to talk… Knuckles and I have…been on thin ice lately in our marriage and…well…” she forced a small smile and stepped closer to Shadow. “…You're my best friend and the only one I can really talk to…so…could you hear me out sometime…? Please?”

Shadow felt his face warm up from the little act she was putting on. He knew she was telling the truth, but, it was the way she did it that got him to blush.

“Well, I'm glad you can still consider me to be your best friend.”

“Yeah…” Rouge nodded with a comforting smile that reassured him. “So am I…”

There was a small silence between them. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence…but there was tension in the air…

“Listen um…Shadow...” Rouge began, nervously twisting a finger through her ivory locks.

“Yes Rouge…?”

Blushing lightly from the tone in his voice, Rouge smiled faintly and adverted her eyes for a moment. “Watch the boys for a minute, would you? I'm going back in the store to get them some snacks.”

Bewildered, Shadow watched her blankly as she jogged out of his field of vision and into the shop.

--

 

Back in Sonic's house, Amy and Knuckles were both seated on one of the sofas in the living room.

Surprisingly those two could stay under the same room as the other, let alone sit side by side.

After hours of much shouting, Sonic had Knuckles hold Amy down while he poured a cup of warm tea down her throat.

Nearly choking, she blanked out for a few seconds, then woke back up.

She was still a little delirious, but not as much as she was earlier. Gradually, she had begun to calm down. And Sonic, who took advantage of that moment, went back into the kitchen and got her some more “tea”.

Gently holding the tea cup in both her hands with one hand under it and the other around the handle, Amy sighed.

Gazing into the balmy liquid, she wondered what else was in it. She had begun to feel a bit sleepy.

Too tired to argue with it, Amy let it slide and continued to stare into space.

Silently, Knuckles eyed her. It was almost hard to believe this was the same girl who was violently kicking him to let her go.

Now she was calm, and collected even.

His lids lowered in thought.

Just what did Sonic put in that tea anyway…?

Shaking his head, he figured he'd just worry about that later. Sliding closer to her on the sofa, Knuckles draped a comforting arm around her shoulders.

She hardly made a move.

Not knowing if she was ignoring him or if being non-responsive was her way of coping, Knuckles rubbed her shoulder and tried to smile.

“So…are you ready to talk to me now instead of screaming curses like a sailor…?”

Slowly, Amy nodded, still not looking at him.

Figuring that was better than nothing, Knuckles continued. “Allright. …So…” he trailed off, not knowing how to begin.

Luckily Amy beat him to it.

“…You're still leaving me …aren't you?”

Silence. He hadn't expected that to come up so soon.

“I suppose I had that coming…” he sighed, then removed his hand from her. “But first… I want to know about this…” he stated, pulling the pink band form his pocket.

Lazily gazing over to it, Amy's expression winced in slight surprise, and her eyes slowly traveled upto his. “…Where did you get that…?”

“Huh? Don't play games with me, Amy. There's no one else on this block who could get close enough to me to put this in my dreads but you. Now, I want to know when and why you put this in my hair…”

She blinked, staring at him with almost no emotion in her eyes. “…Why…”

“Why?! Because Rouge fu#kin' found it that's why! She's accusing me of cheating on her because of it! That's WHY” he emphasized.

Not sharing in his emotion, Amy blinked at him again then ruefully looked away.

She almost appeared lost.

Lowly, she spoke. “…Knuckles…you already know I really wanted you to stay with me…that night you came to my room and we talked…going on about everything and nothing at the same time. We talked for hours… I…I just knew you never had that with Rouge.” She sighed. “You probably just wanted to screw her senseless whenever you got home…”

Knuckles broke out in cold sweat at this. He couldn't say she was wrong about that, but he couldn't say he ever really kept anything from her either.

He could clearly see that he was someone very special to her and she didn't know what or how to think of him, exactly. She didn't care that he had a wife and she cared even less that it was Rouge.

He actually couldn't blame her with that one. She knew about him and Rouge getting too close too soon. Right after they explored treasure hunting together, it wasn't long before they started exploring each other.

Maybe that was more than what they both could have handled then?

Maybe. But he didn't know.

Sighing, he glanced to Amy once more and then to the cup she held.

If he didn't know any better, he'd say her hands were shaking…

Trailing his eyes back upto her, he was almost shocked to see her with a dead-pan expression but with tears budding the corner of her eye.

“Amy…”

“Why…why are you leaving…why do you have to go… We never…settled things between the two of us… “

Knuckles raised an eyebrow.

“The two of us? What?” he spoke aloud without realizing. “Amy…there is no `two of us'. There never was!”

Her body flinched at his words.

Saying nothing for a moment, Amy peered down into her cup, then turned to Knuckles with weary and puffy eyes.

Parting her lips slowly, she carefully chose her words.

“Let's just say, you made a mistake and leave it at that.”

Knuckles winced and before he could say a word, Amy's body had begun to sway and she fell on him, dropping the cup of tea from her hands.

It hit the carpet with a soft -tink-- and some of its contents splashed along Knuckles' shoes.

“Damn, I just had these re-waxed!” he mumbled to himself.

Returning his attention to Amy, Knuckles slipped his arms around her and laid her across his lap.

His eyes narrowed as they consumed her shape and he quickly removed any wandering thoughts from his mind.

Amy was just his friend. But she did make a good point. He did tell her more than he told Rouge.

Why? Because he knew Rouge wouldn't be as understanding as Amy was. If he came to Rouge about an unsettling situation, she would laugh at him and tell him to deal with it like a man, or to toughen up. She would make jokes, and while she meant well, he hardly ever took them that way.

He shuddered as Rouge's words about him giving their marriage one more good push downhill rang into his mind.

She probably hated him now.

And deep down, a part of him welcomed that.

As he continued to ponder about this, Sonic casually strolled into the room and nearly dropped the tray of sandwiches he was carrying.

And from the flabbergasted look on his face, Knuckles knew he had even more explaining to do.

“I know I know. We need to talk.” He remarked to the astonished hedgehog, who still had his mouth hung in a gape.

Knuckles half-smiled. “You can close your mouth now, you know. I'm sure you don't want to get hedgehog saliva all over your carpet...” Then he remembered something. “Oh yeah, and when Amy fell, she dropped her cup on the floor. Sonic…just what the heck did you put in there!?”

Hearing this, the azure hedgehog grinned and zipped into the kitchen. When he came back, Knuckles' eyes went wide as Sonic held up two bottles of whiskey and one bottle of rum.

Knuckles' pupils minimized to dots. “Wh-WHAT the HELL, Sonic!!” he forced himself to shout in a hushed voice so he wouldn't disturb Amy. He wasn't doing a very good job. The aggravation was *very* clear in his voice. “Don't you know this girl is underage to be drinking!?”

Sonic smirked faintly then shrugged. “Of course I know. It wasn't enough to drown her in it, just enough to calm her down.”

“And KNOCK her out!” Knuckles added through clenched teeth. “Just look at her! She's only what, fu#king 16!?!”

“Shh, calm down Knuckles! Do you want to wake her up?” Sonic retaliated, heading back to the kitchen to put the bottles away.

Returning to the room, Sonic glanced at the fuming Knuckles then shook his head. It was obvious he really cared for Amy. Maybe he cared a bit too much. Inwardly, Sonic whistled. If only Amy could see herself now being draped across Knuckles' lap like that.

She probably would have latched on him like there was no tomorrow.

Thinking about this got Sonic to frown a little. He remembered when Amy used to hug and cling onto him at every given opportunity.

Where did the time go? How could she have such a quick change of heart so fast?

Then he shrugged it off. A lot could happen in a few years. Knuckles and Rouge were already married with children after all.

Wait a minute—Rouge!

He had forgotten about her! Why was she in the same area as Shadow?

Sonic didn't know, but he was determined to find out. He knew that she and Shadow used to be close and he was more than sure that Knuckles knew.

He hoped that Knuckles had forgotten about hearing Rouge's name earlier.

Sonic inwardly sighed. Shadow was going to have to pay him back big time for saving his butt again!

Breaking the silence, Sonic cleared his throat. “Anyway, let's get this situation between you and Amy straightened out as much as we can. I want to know why she's been so happy, then so aggravated just as fast.”

Eyeing Sonic warily, Knuckles nodded and gestured for him to head over. “Fine. I hope you've gone to the bathroom already because this is going to be a pret-ty long story…”

Smiling, Sonic zipped over to the sofa and plopped down with his legs crossed. “Welp, I'm waitin! Oh, should I get some popcorn first?”

 

-

 

“So…Shadow… Where were you headed earlier?” Rouge asked, glancing to the hedgehog in question as she made a turn.

Letting the bumps and jostles that the road supplied pass first, Shadow gazed to her and shrugged. “Nowhere really…”

“Uh-huh…”

“Sonic and Amy wanted me to try out some walkie-talkies that Amy wanted to sell and well…I was testing my distance.”

“Uh huh, I see.”

Hearing her bland and limited responses, Shadow frowned. “…Do you talk to Knuckles this way too…?”

The van stopped abruptly.

In the backseat, Akai and Amethyst exchanged bewildered stares as they ate.

Not saying a word for a few seconds as she gathered what he just said, Rouge turned to Shadow with flickering eyes.

“What…did you say…?”

Knowing he crossed the line, but accidentally, Shadow quickly apologized. “Sorry Rouge. I'm sorry. It's just…been a while since I've really had the chance to…actually hold a conversation of interest.”

Silence.

Did he mean that or was he being sarcastic. Rouge wanted to know. Impatiently, she tapped her slender fingers on the steering wheel.

“That's funny, I don't believe you mean that.”

Surprised, Shadow opened his mouth to respond, but Rouge rolled her eyes away from him and continued to keep her focus on the road.

Silence. It didn't take a genius to tell Shadow that he had offended her.

Even the children knew!

Eagerly, they anticipated who would speak next and looked expectantly between the two adults sitting in front of them.

And Shadow was the first to end the uncomfortable silence.

He sighed and let his eyes drift over the passing colors and landscapes they drove past. “…Sorry Rouge. I didn't mean to offend you…”

“I know…” she exhaled, keeping her attention on the road.

“It's just…we haven't talked in so long and…we're almost talking as if we just met the other…Wait…actually…”

“Well, technically we did, Shadow.” Rouge spoke softly.

Taking the words right out of his mouth, Shadow smiled lightly and closed his eyes. “…Even so, we still have known each other longer than that. For years. And anyway...” he began, opening his eyes and stealing a smirking glance at her. “I doubt that you would ever give a complete stranger you cared nothing about a lift back to your place to talk.”

Rouge blushed intensely as her foot pedaled the brake.

“Ahh mommy!” Amethyst whined.

“Watch the road, mommy!” Akai chimed in.

Rouge blinked and immediately glanced to them through the rear view mirror. “S-sorry you two! Now you know why I tell you to make sure you're wearing a seatbelt!”

“Yeah, even though Akai can slip out of his!” Amethyst tattled, which got a gasping protest from his brother.

“You stitch!!” Akai retaliated.

“Uh, that's `snitch', Akai” Rouge corrected with a smile.

Seeing them behave so playfully, both Shadow and Rouge chuckled to themselves. And in the comfort of the moment, their eyes met and this time, there wasn't any holding back. Shadow smiled genuinely to Rouge and she returned the same to him.

Enjoying their little moment, Shadow reluctantly had to remind her to keep her eyes on the road.

“I-I know what to do!” she flustered.

Shadow couldn't help but laugh as they cruised down the highway.

 

It wasn't much longer before Rouge had made it to her extravagantly sized house.

“Here we are…” she noted softly.

“Hmm” Shadow responded as he examined the downtrodden expression on her face.

Just what exactly happened here?

“Rouge… is something the—“

“I'll tell you when we get inside, allright?”

Shadow shrugged, then nodded. He couldn't argue with that. “Allright…”

“Good…” she agreed, a flicker of a faint smile across her lips.

Eyeing her intently for a moment, Shadow suddenly got the sinking feeling that whatever she had to say was truly heart-breaking.

 

-Mel