Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ The Babbysitter Affair ❯ Slight Inquiries ( Chapter 12 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Mel Meiko Mei Ling
Rouge and Knuckles finally talk a little. He actually gets a surprising change of heart and tells Rouge she can continue to relax while he takes the boys back to Sonic's place.

Non Anime: Sonic Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Drama / Romance | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 01.20.2008 | Pages: 4 | Words: 3.5K | Visits: 234 | Status: Work In Progress

The Babysitter Affair: Chapter 12
Frozen in place, Shadow became very silent and, only for an instant, lost the will to breathe.
The embodiment of his personal torment said nothing at first, but crossed his arms.
Burning violet met with racing ruby as they glared at each other. The tension was too thick, but moreso to Shadow than Knuckles.
“...Where is Rouge...?” Knuckles asked in a stern tone.
“...Obviously not here.”
Knuckles could tell Shadow wasn't too thrilled with seeing him, but he didn't care. In fact, he didn't even consider Shadow a threat, for what he thought was a good reason.
He just wanted to know what Shadow was doing in his house.
“Where are my boys?”
“...” Shadow paused for a moment, then changed his tone. “Waste of breath to answer. You can see for yourself.”
Knuckles blinked. Didn't he just give an answer anyway?
“Well, now that that's out of the way, get the fu#k out of my house!”
Shadow didn't have to think twice. After strongly flipping Knuckles off, he disappeared in a photon of crackled light.
Knuckles wasted no time after Shadow left to run downstairs and check on his sons.
Much to his surprise, and a little to his disappointment, they were fast asleep.
He at least wanted them to be awake to see their daddy home after the 2 days he hadn't been there.
It didn't even cross his mind that Shadow was the one who got them to goto sleep and again he didn't care.
He gave Akai and Amethyst both light kisses on their foreheads and proceeded to head back up the stairs.
Sighing, his mind relayed everything that had happened upto this point.
Rouge...where was she...? And the least important question he didn't bother to attempt to figure out was why Shadow was there.
From what he remembered, Shadow and Rouge had been best friends for years but for some reason he refused to show up at her wedding.
Hmmm...” Knuckles thought to himself. “What do you call a best friend who's been friends with a woman for years but never went out with her...? Hmmm...”
As his thoughts scattered, he began to lose interest and remembered to give Rouge a call since she wasn't at the house.
Reaching in his pocket, he pulled out his cell phone and started dialing.
--
A soft yawn drifted into the tropical air of Dry Lagoon.
Thoroughly relaxed, Rouge stretched while leaning up against a palm tree.
Covering her mouth to catch the remainder of her yawn, she crossed her legs and got comfortable.
Practically for the whole day she had been swimming, hunting and using the rich soil as fresh mud masks and packs for her skin.
It had been way too long since she last treated herself, she couldn't even remember it.
Yawning again, her liquidy eyes trailed over to her cell phone right next to her.
She thought of giving Shadow another call to see how the boys were, but quickly decided against it.
She had bothered him enough for one day.
Sure, she was worried if Knuckles ever came by the house and concerned for the boys. But she knew that wasn't the only reason she called so much.
It had been too long since she last felt so free, independent and in control of her own life.
And Shadow helped her get that freedom back.
Her thoughts reflected to the night before when she told Shadow that whenever she went looking for something, she found him.
“Hmm...” she mused thoughtfully. “Maybe it is a sign. But either way, I've got a brash husband to worry about.
And at that moment her cell rang. Absent-absentmindedly, she began to hum its tune, “Fly in the Freedom”. Expecting it to be Shadow, she quickly snatched it up, but when she recognized the number, her expression dropped.
'Should I even answer it?' she pondered. After the 2nd loop of the song, she finally pressed the answer button.
“...What do you want...” she nonchalantly asked.
“...To talk to you, obviously.” Knuckles answered thoughtfully. It was forced, but she could tell he was trying to make ends meet.
“... Oh really...”
“Yes, really. And from the way you greeted me so nicely, I'd take a guess and say you didn't get my message.”
“...Making something up again...?”
He paused and again she could tell he was trying to cope. Yeah, she was giving him a hard time on purpose, but to her, he deserved it.
“...No, Rouge I'm not making anything up. I'm home right now and the--”
“You're home?!”
“Uh yeah...Is there a problem with me being in my own house?”
'Oh no, did he see Shadow?' she wondered frantically, but played it cool.
“Last I checked, I've been paying the mortgage and the utilities, so I own the house. You just moved in.”
He sighed. “Do you always have to be so damn difficult? Look, I just wanted to know if you had gotten my message, yes or no?”
“What message?”
“...”
“...Hello...?”
“I'll take that as a no.”
“I see...” she trailed off as her eyes fleeted to different random locations. “...Are the boys okay?”
“Great. In fact they're asleep. Which REMINDS me. Did you know Shadow was here...?”
Rouge said nothing for a second. Instantly, she had the sudden discomfort of a guilty lump in her throat she couldn't quite swallow.
“... S-Shadow?”
“...You know, your best friend? Well, last I checked...4 years ago.”
“Hmmm”
“... Look, I don't care what he was doing here or why you wanted him here.”
“He offered to babysit the boys while I was out.” she stated quickly. She hoped to high heaven that she didn't accidentally rat Shadow out.
Luckily for her, Knuckles didn't take it that seriously.
“By the way, where are you?”
Not wanting to sound too suspicious, she said something they could both relate to.
“...The place your proposed to me...where we first...”
“... Had sex? Yeeaaah I remember that place. The weather was really hot there. It was great.”
“...”
“One of these days, you've gotta do that thing you did with the water ag--”
“Stop stop! You're going too far! I don't believe I've forgiven you yet!”
“...Oh, you will...!”
“... Changing the subject!  So what was it you had to tell me on your magically invisible message?”
“...You should know. You deleted it.”
“No I...” she trailed off. The sudden image of Shadow at the answering machine flashed into her mind.
That clever little sneak!
So he was the one who did that!
“Bill collectors, huh...” she muttered.
“What was that? Bill collectors? You thought I was a...nevermind I'll just fu#king tell you.”
Rouge listened as Knuckles took in a deep breath and exhaled.
“... What I said was, I didn't cheat on you.”
“Uh huh”
“I mean it, bat-girl. I did not cheat on you.”
“...How can I trust you...?”
“...Well, if you let me show you...”
“There's that tone in your voice again...” she mockingly sang lightly.
“Huh? Oh, the 'more fun for me and more babies for you' tone, right?”
“That's the one.”
“Mmmm, care for some company?”
Rouge said nothing as her thoughts overruled any statement she may have.
She was upset with Knuckles, but she did miss him. On the other hand, because of their argument, she was able to meet up with Shadow again and learn that he still considered her a best friend after 4 years of non-communication.
And when she had him in her life, she always felt like she could do anything.
Regardless of all that, it was still too soon for her to just let Knuckles run back into her arms.
The right thing to do would be to enjoy her last few hours of her vacation, say goodbye to Shadow and go back home. For her to go back home to her family.
Knuckles was right, she would eventually forgive him and she was leaning pretty close to it.
Rouge chose her words carefully.
“...Actually Knuckles, I want to be alone for just a few more hours, if that's okay with you...?”
“A few hours? ... You know what, stay there as long as you need to, Rouge.”
“...Wh- what did you say??!”
He chuckled. “What, is it illegal for me to tell my wife she can stay on her vacation a little while longer?”
“N-no, it's just...really nice...of you...”
“Now why did you have to say it like that? Don't tell me you have feelings for that hedgehog behind my back!”
A sudden chill rushed through her at that comment. She parted her lips to speak but no sudden sound came out. “... Wh-what...?!”
“Huh, what's that? Speechless, Rouge?”
“N-no! I-I just...!”
She nearly had to pull the phone away from her ear from the loud laughter she received.
“Hahaha! I was kidding! I know you're not sneaking around, Rouge. Besides, Shadow is 'harmless'. “
She blinked in confusion and raised a high eyebrow. “ 'Harmless' ?”
“Yeah, you know” he mused, then smacked his lips to sound feminine. “He'th jutht tho faaaabulous” he mocked with a fake lisp.
“KNUCKLES! Shadow is NOT gay!”
“Surrrre he's not! It's been years and he still hasn't gotten with anyone. Even SONIC has moved on! He's finally with Amy now.”
At this, Rouge raised the other brow. “... ...You're kidding me...”
“Nope! But anyway, I didn't mean for this call to be so long. I'll tell you what, you stay there as long as you like, and I'll just take the boys with me to Sonic's. Is that alright with you?”
What's this? Knuckles actually compromising? Voluntarily?? Get outta here!
As mystified as she was, Rouge wasn't going to turn this offer down.
With a short agreement and a lengthly goodbye, she closed the call.
Dropping the phone next to her on the grass, she leaned against the tree and sighed deeply.
And for a moment, she had no idea what to think. Not wanting to waste anymore time, she grabbed up a super long t-shirt to pull over her string bikini and dove into the clear waters.
--
If it's confusing, Knux said "He's just so fabulous" about Shadow.Â