FicWad

Disclaimer: The characters used are not mine but are copyright of Sega and SonicTeam.

Author's Notes: Here is the follow up chapter. I have a feeling this will be one of the chapters you will either hate how I did it, or love how I did it. Something big happens...

This story is still completely AU (alternate universe.) I've changed many things.

Please read and review. :D
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Hidden


Chapter Two: Fake


I just lie there, staring at the ceiling, thinking back on the predicament I got myself in. The sun has been up for hours and I'm angry I've seen it so long because it means I haven't slept much at all, considering I remember finally falling asleep last night when the sun began to poke itself through my window.

It takes me at least another hour to get out of bed.

When I eventually do though, I feel like a robot. I don't even think about what I am doing while I am doing them. Before I realize it, I've had a shower, dressed in my usual t-shirt over a long-sleeved shirt, jeans on, my teeth brushed, my quills down, and the whole time...I thought about him.

I thought this only type of sappy heartache was on those bad soap operas that Amy watches. It is really beginning to annoy me how pathetic I am being about this. I must have slept at the most, two hours last night, and tears randomly keep filling up at the thought of times I spent with him.

Now, I have to go pick up my "shit" while he is out because he doesn't want to see me.

I feel them welling in my eyes again but I keep my chin up to keep them in my tear ducts. After all, I am seeing Amy today and I can't cry in front of her or else I'd have to spit out what's wrong, or think up some dumb excuse like my dog died.

I don't even have a dog.

I sigh at that excuse as I make my way into the kitchen. I am a bad liar, I admit it, I'm the worst at making up stories, and to think...I've kept my affair quiet for so long. But it's an easy secret to keep, and when I say those words in my head a sly grin slips on my face.

A gesture he always would use.

But if you think about it, it is about %90 easier to hide sleeping with a male then a female if you are in fact a male yourself. Amy found Shadow's cologne in my car before. She asked about it and I told her the truth, that Shadow left it in there. If she had found another female's perfume bottle, she'd leave me in a heartbeat...

And then probably come back a week later. Amy is so infatuated with me, she puts up with the worst. I am not the easiest person to deal with, as most people put it. Some of my faults are, as told to me by others: "I am egotistical and unaware of others feelings." I don't quite understand when people call me a selfish asshole because a lot of times they can call me so kind and good-hearted. People just don't know what the hell they are talking about, so I don't usually listen anyway.

I glance at the clock just before I stick my head in my refrigerator to find something to eat before I head over to his apartment, '2:30.' My eyes widen in a bit of surprise, it really took me awhile to drag myself out of that bed.

I figure I might as well go pick up Amy now before she starts calling me. I forget about the food, grab my coat, my keys already inside, and I walk out my door.




After waiting for her to finish getting ready for about fifteen minutes, she finally walks out to my car, her pink, combed quills, bouncing as she walks in her heels. Her brown, plaid green skirt flowing as she swung her hips to my car. She smiles widely at me as she lets herself in. She leans over and I hug her back, just like I usually do. It's more to touch her then anything else really. As soon as she opens her mouth that's when I stop paying attention.

I really can be an asshole.

I shake my head at that thought as I start my car again to go head down to his apartment.

He's fifteen minutes away, and it is 3:04. Maybe he said 3:00 for a reason? Maybe he is there, and wants to talk about things instead of having me just pick up my "shit." Hopefully...maybe...probably not.

She's talking, going on about her usual things, clothes, friends, gossip...things I don't care to hear about. Amy is the most social girl I've met in my lifetime, and if I just let her speak, and then come in with the occasional "oh really?" "yeah" or "wow," I can keep her talking for over an hour. No joke.

The only thing I really say to her with interest is that we are going to Shadow's because "I left my other sweatshirt there last week" and she thinks nothing of it.

Ten more minutes and I'll be in his apartment. I know that nothing good can come from this visit, and this just may be the last time I am in there, but I'll get to smell him, feel his presence in some way, and I'll get to relive the many memories we've had in there...for one last time.

Those last three words make me sick to my stomach to think about.

Only five minutes away and my throat is dry, my insides are doing gymnastics, and my brain is twisting every wrong way possible. I feel so immensely nervous I swear I must've swallowed butterflies only moments ago.

I don't even notice the few tears that run down my cheeks.

"Sonikku?" She asks me very concerned, "what is wrong?" It sounds as if she is almost in a state of shock. I don't think I've ever cried in front of her before. Hell, I forgot I could cry until last night.

I jerk my head in her direction, the car swerving along with me and her hands reaching out for the dashboard in the process.

She asks again, although this time it is more of a statement with worriment as the undertone, "Tell me what's wrong."

With her asking me a second time, I think of what I should tell her, practically panicking, and this only forces the tears to slip out more in numbers.

I feel so weak.

My eyebrows cringe and my lips quivers as her eyes burn into me. I feel like she is reading my soul, my mind, like she is going to blurt out "I know you love him, admit it, you cheater!"

We're only a block away from his house and the sooner I get out of this car the better before I breakdown, lean my head on the wheel, and cry, putting Niagara Falls to shame. I should just tell her. It's over with him now, isn't it? Why should I keep it from her any longer?

I feel her hand on the back of my neck and it sends a shiver down my spine, through my blood stream and I could swear for a moment I felt my blood stop flowing.

I sniffle once, maybe twice, and I pull into a parking spot quickly, not caring if I'm even in it straight. I turn off the car, and attempt to practically jump out my door, into oncoming traffic for all I care, just to get out of this car, away from her questions, her looks, her touch, just her.

But she stops me. Her concerned hand grabs hold of my arm, and I know what she is going to say, what she is going to repeat. I close my eyes, my head already facing towards the left driver's side window so she cannot see my tears. This is it. After three years of our relationship, I will tell her that out of those three, I never loved her, and for two, I've been deeply in love with a man.

It even sounds weird when I run those words through my head, this is just like one of those cheesy chic shows that I hate so much, it's even more pathetic that this is my life.

Funny how things turn out.

"Sonic...look at me."

I sigh, here we go. My head turn to hers almost automatically, my opening eyes connecting with hers, and for a moment, I feel like I could just hug her and forget about everything...but only for a moment.

"What is wrong?"

"I..." Only three more words, only three more and I can be in the arms of the one I really love. I'll go upstairs, and wait for him to get home and tell him he is my only one, that no one will ever come between us.

But...I can't. I cannot get past that first word. I can't say it. I know that this situation fits the complete description of an asshole, but I can't do this to her. I can't tell her 'I don't love you.' I feel too bad, especially after her eyes sparkle into mine with just complete innocence and a pure nature.

I feel so low.

"You...what?" She asks me, eager to hear my explanation and seemingly scared at the same time.

I have to think, fast. I feel like I am dangling above a shark tank and if I don't think of something quick, the rope holding me above the water will break, and I will either drown or be a main course.

I feel like I am drowning already.

"I..."

And for a brief moment, the dog idea popped back into my head, and before realizing again just how bad it is, I blurt it out.

"...lost my dog. He...died."

She cocked her head back, giving me that sort of look that says 'What the hell are you talking about?'

"But you don't have a dog."

She may be annoying, but not stupid.

"Yes...I do." I am the worst liar on the face of this planet, and the only thing helping me out here is that I sound so sad when I say this.

Think quick stupid, save yourself. One of those sharks is nibbling at my ankle and if I don't do something, I'm bait.

"You see...my dog was at my mom's house." I ramble, hoping to some sort of God that it comes out convincing...and it makes some sense. "We got him when I was eleven. My mom called me and said he died this morning."

I think of Shadow again, trying to muster up some more tears to make this look even more convincing.

"I feel so horrible because I loved that dog, but I haven't seen him in about four years."

I'm beginning to climb up the rope, smiling evilly at the hungry sharks.

"I didn't get to say goodbye."

I see her lip slip out a bit, forming a slight pout, obvious that she bought it. My eyes widen from shock that she did, but she thinks it's because I am still upset.

"Oh, Sonikku, come here. I'm sorry." She pulls me into a hug, and I could just pass out in her arms right there, and for a moment, I think I am going to.

I pull away, and after five more minutes of her "comforting" me over my dead dog...I walk into his building.

I still can't believe that just happened.

But with that done and over with, I make my way up the stairs. I had the opportunity to take the elevator, but I figured I'd walk off whatever the hell just happened in that car, and to make this moment last as long as possible, considering, this just may be the last time I do this.

I'm at the second floor, and I see the long hallway I've walked down many times, even ran down, just to get to him quicker. I take my time now though, examining every inch of the hallway. The way the brown indoor-outdoor carpet turns up in some places, the way the paint is chipped on only the right side of the wall because they've never redone it yet like they had the left, the way the one light in front of apartment D7 would flicker every time I walked by it, and...

I freeze. I'm about five apartments down the hallway from his and I see the door open, then shut. A black hedgehog emerged from it, walking to the other end of the hallway to the elevator. I inch myself closer, quietly, although I want to scream for him, run towards him, anything...but all I do is stare dumbfounded, my feet barely shuffling along the carpet.

He's standing in front of the elevator, obviously waiting for it to arrive so he can leave. Maybe he waited for me? I check my watch, 3:34. Damn Amy, if I didn't have to go out of my way to pick her up I would've been here at exactly 3:00. I think he waited for me, he must have, and now he is leaving!

I run. I run so fast I think I am going to collide straight with the wall that ends this hallway.

When I get there, he's in the elevator and the door is shutting. Two halves of it are about to collide with each other and he looks up at me, our eyes connecting for that split second, and I know he sees the pink in mine, showing clearly that I was crying, and he knows why, because I can see it in his eyes.

But they're so cold and lifeless towards me.

I mouth without thinking 'I love you,' and the two halves close to make one, leaving me staring at my own reflection. I lean my head onto the cold steel doors, closing my eyes, thinking of how close I was yet how I was even further. I shouldn't even of shown myself, I feel pathetic now. He didn't even look like he cared.

My eyes pop wide open.

Amy.

Just great, I come to my ex-boyfriend's to pick up my stuff, and my current girlfriend, who is the reason for our break-up, is waiting outside for me.

I really can be an asshole.

I run into his apartment, ignoring whatever is on the floor, what is around me and I run for the window, just in time to see him walk out of the building. He notices the car, and he may not of noticed her if she didn't poke her damn head out and yell for him, followed by giving him a hug and striking up some conversation that he nor myself wanted him to be in at the moment. I peek again, he's trying to force a smile as she greets him but it only lasts a moment, and even two stories up, I can feel his frustration with me within him. I am so fucking stupid, why did I have to bring her?

I can't watch anymore and I fall on the maroon chair that sits by the window. I close my eyes and lean my head back, my arms sprawled out onto the arms of the chair, and my legs stretched straight ahead in front of me.

Did he really wait for me? If he did that means there must be some hope right? If he waited...that means he wanted to see me for something, whether it be good or bad, just the fact that he wanted to see me.

I open my eyes and lift my head up.

Maybe there really is hope.

I stand up smiling. Maybe he wants me back, maybe all will be back to normal again. Maybe he misses me even. He could have realized he made a big mistake.

Of course there is always that he may have just been running late, but I don't think about that because I feel light, and filled with a gleam of hope. I don't want to ruin that, considering the awful mood I've been in.

I almost feel like myself again.

I look around the room and I smile, this may not be my last visit after all. The white walls, the maroon couch, the television, his paintings...this place has felt like my home for the past two years. A place I really belonged to and loved being in.

I glance over at the door to see a bag sitting patiently beside the foot of it and my hope falters. It doesn't leave, but it falters. I walk over to it slowly and cautiously as if something may pop out and do anything to ruin the good mood I just slipped into. I pass the couch, the end table, the plant, the computer, and I stop at the door, peering down at this bag filled with my things...things he doesn't want anymore.

I bend down, letting my bent legs support my weight. The hope fades a little bit more as I open it and the first thing I see is a picture of us together. We're in his apartment, sitting together on that maroon couch, and I have a big smile on my face, which was usual for me apart from these past two days, and he had that look on his face. That look where he isn't quite smiling, but smirking, and you could just tell he was smiling on the inside.

I love that look.

That was the day we just sat in and took pictures. There must be over twenty he left for me in this bag.

Hope is non-existent.

I thumb through picture after picture smiling and then immediately frowning over and over again. I feel anger well up inside of me just like last night and I toss the pictures back in the bag as they scatter to the bottom of it across whatever else is in there.

I sit there for a moment, my head in my hands, my nerves bouncing like they were injected with some sort of drug and I just think about him. How could he do this if he really loved me, why I am not strong enough to admit that I am in love with a guy and break up with my girlfriend, and why I can't bring myself to do a damn thing about this?

"Sonic!"

I jerk my head towards the window at the sound of Amy's scream. Was Shadow stupid enough to do something drastic? I didn't think he'd go that far. There's one thing about not wanting me to be with her anymore, it's another to hurt her!

I throw my hand through the holders of the bag, run out the door of the apartment, slamming it shut and I run as fast as I can down the stairs. I practically jump through the doors to get outside and I halt. I don't see Shadow, and I don't see anyone but Amy. She's leaning up against my car with the brightest look of excitement I've ever seen on someone.

"Uh...Amy?"

"Oh Sonikku!" She yelled, lunging towards me and my immensely confused expression. "I will!"

I put the bag down next to me, and then take her shoulders gently with both of my hands so she can look at me. "What are you talking about?"

She tilts her head and shoves my shoulder playfully as if I should know exactly what she is talking about. "Don't play silly with me, I found it."

"Found what?"

"The engagement ring! It was in your glove compart-"

"What!" I practically yell at her, not meaning to as my eyes feel like they are going to roll out of my sockets, into the street, and get hit by one big ironic bus.

That white-gold band was not meant for her, but for Shadow, and I bought it on a whim. I was in one of my "everything-is-fine-and-romantic" moods and I bought it for him months ago. I never did give it to him or even tell him about it. I walked out of the mall and left it in the glove compartment, vowing myself stupid. But I didn't have the heart to take it back to the store.

I have the same one sitting in my bureau.

She looked confused, like that wasn't the tone she expected in my voice.

I can't very well tell her who it is really for, especially since it is already on her damn finger..."That's not an engagement ring, Amy." I said, trying to smile, and speaking softly to make up for my abrupt voice from earlier.

She smiled again, "Oh don't try to cover up for it just because I found it. I saw the same one in the mall the other day with the other engagement rings."

I just smiled awkwardly, not knowing what else to do. She has me cornered with no other place to go then to her. "Surprise?"

"Oh Sonic!" She leaped into my arms, and I even bought into this moment by spinning her around and giving her a kiss while I was really thinking...

I just dug myself in an even deeper hole.