Exposed to a Rose, Chapter 2

For once in his life, Sonic was stopped dead in his tracks. He couldn't move. One more motion of his hand, and the terror would commence.

Oh, why did he have to make that bet with Knuckles?

Standing in front of Amy's home was a very, very nervous hedgehog. All he had to do was simply knock on her door, and ask her out on a date. But no, it wasn't that easy for him.

She'd take it the wrong way.

She'd think it'd mean they were a couple.

She'd kill him if she knew the truth…

Of course, there wasn't anything really stopping him from simply going back home and pretending the whole ordeal had never happened. Knuckles had already gone back to the emerald's shrine; he wouldn't know. They had never actually told anyone of the deal, so no one would question it. It would be as if they had never made the bet. It'd be perfect.

But Sonic wouldn't do that – he couldn't do that. No matter how horrific the situation seemed, he never backed out on a promise. He at least had some pride left in his system, and there was no way was he going to chicken out on his side of the deal.

If only his side of the agreement was something different. Massaging Knuckles' stinky feet would have been better than this. Heck, he'd sooner run into a minefield than do this. At least then he could try to dodge the mines. Dodging Amy's hammer was a tad harder – she had legs. And she only got faster by each passing day.

Not to mention the fact that she always managed to find him. No matter where he hid, she always managed to know his location.
He decided that he had to stall for time. These were his last moments of freedom; the rest would consist of having Amy believe they're a couple, and being on the run from her hammer.

Sonic awkwardly rocked against the tips of his toes with his hands behind his back, looking around to take in his surroundings. Amy's house was painted a light yellow and there were clean, glass windows to the right and left of him with flowers on the outside windowsills. Under the frames were clusters of assorted flowers - mostly pink and blue. Well, no surprise there…

Sonic nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard a noise. Not just any noise – the noise of a doorknob; Amy's doorknob.
She was opening in the door.

Oh god.

Oh dear god.

Sonic hastily straightened himself up. He locked his arms to each side of his torso, and locked his knees as well. What he did to try to look more confident ended up making him look very unnatural and uneasy.

Holding his breath, Amy's door opened to reveal a pink hedgehog beaming with utter enthusiasm. Although she was standing in place, she wasn't still. She was bouncing a little, obviously excited to see her blue hero in front of her door. And she didn't even have to make him come this time!

"Sonic!" The girl chirped before him, only to proceed to latch herself around his neck firmly. He was taken aback, laughing nervously. He couldn't push her off - it'd be too weird to push her away and then ask her on a date. He was trapped.

The girl buried her face in his neck, giggling girlishly. She only tightened her grip, making Sonic all the more uncomfortable with the situation. Hugs weren't exactly up his alley. He slowly, and very awkwardly, laced his arms around her back – keeping his hands as far from her waist as he could. That would just make things even more difficult for him to do.

"H-Hey, Amy…" Sonic took in a deep gulp, "What's up?"

"Ooh, I was just in my kitchen wondering whether to bake cookies or not! I mean, I always feel weird making cookies when there's no one else to share them with or anything, you know? But I just wanted them ssoooo much! But then again they're not good for you… But then I saw you out my window! At first I didn't think it was you, but then I saw your cute little quills and just knew it was you!" Oh thank god, she finally stopped talkin—"What are you doing here? Aww! Did you get over your shyness already? Are you here to ask me on a date? Oh, Sonic!"

It was scary how right she was. Though, what she meant by shyness was different from what was actually going on, but he didn't dare correct her. But how on Mobius would he respond to that without leading her on more than he had to?

"Err…" Sonic squirmed a little inside of her arms, which only led to her tightening the grip. "I was just… wondering if…"

"Oh, Sonic! Of course I'll go out with you!" Amy chirped, once again bouncing against the tips of her feet. She was ecstatic, which only made Sonic feel worse about this whole situation.

"Uh… Okay! So…" Sonic had to pause at the feeling of his stomach turning. Anger, guilt, and fear flooded him; Angry that he had to make that stupid bet with Knuckles in the first place, guilty that he was leading her on like this only to have to crush it later, and fearful of his life afterwards. "Where to?"

Amy was flushed and her grin was only growing by the second. Sonic the Hedgehog had just asked her out on a date. Sonic the freaking hedgehog just asked her out! And she got to choose the destination! She felt her heart explode inside of her chest. She started shaking in excitement. This, of course, only broke Sonic's heart some more.

"Twinkle Park!" She nearly screamed in all of her excitement. "I hear cute couples get in free!"