Title: Big Boy

Pairing: Knuckles x Amy / Knuxamy

Summary: There was something in the way he held her that made her feel safe. Maybe it was because he was so sturdy; maybe it was because he was so strong—or maybe it was because his arms seemed to envelop her entirely. Maybe she just liked being hugged by big boys.

A/N: Set in the Boom universe /superw00t!

If you like knuxamy, I'll probably be publishing more drabbles/stories on my tumblr rather than here! Also, I draw knuxamy on my tumblr too, so there's that haha. If you're interested, come on by! My account on tumblr is keypeycreates x)

Enjoy!

—

She remembered the first time she was ever held by him. They were still acquaintances back then, introduced only a couple of weeks ago by Sonic, their mutual friend. They had been children and like all children, they were prone to mischief and scraped knees; she was just more prone to misadventures than most were, being a bit too energetic and a bit too clumsy—never a good mix. In any case, she had been trying to climb a tree in order to pick the ripe peaches that had been growing on it when a branch had suddenly given way under her weight and she lost her footing. Squealing, she fell backwards, the world spinning in a blur and her just waiting, waiting, for that harsh impact to the ground—

But instead, there was an "Ooof!" and her fall had momentarily been stopped by strong arms, before the world tipped again and they both came crashing down onto solid earth. She had landed on something soft and fleshy and when she opened her eyes—they were slightly moist, wide with fear and surprise—she saw a red echidna nursing his head with one hand while the other hand was securely at her back.

"Ow. You have to be more careful! I can't believe you fell!"

Amy was too shocked to reply right away; her head was still reeling slightly from the fall. But when the boy stared at her, she snapped out of it and finally realised how close they were, how he practically held her in his arms, how—how she was sitting on his lap! Immediately, her face became aflame and she scooted back and away from him. "I-I didn't do it in purpose!" she retorted, the pitch of her voice high in embarrassment. "I didn't want to fall!"

The red echidna looked at her in slight confusion and stood up, dusting himself of the dirt. Amy stood up herself when the boy didn't offer his hand to help her. (Not like she would have wanted his help anyway, because ew—cooties.) Amy mimicked him and dusted her dress of the dust and grass; then she bashfully looked at him beneath black lashes and told him honestly, "Thank you for catching me."

The other shrugged and grinned a little before flexing his arm muscles. "It's fine! You're as light as a football to me!"

With a slight giggle, Amy couldn't help but realise how different they were. He wasn't that much taller than her, but he was broader; and perhaps it was because he was an echidna and she was a hedgehog, but Amy was fascinated with the way his muzzle was pointed and how his arms were much thicker than hers, or even Sonic's. He was also a bit… dim-witted, but he could be sweet sometimes. "Can you help me get those peaches then?" she asked. "Since you're bigger and probably a better climber!"

Knuckles looked to the side briefly, towards where Sonic and Tails were (they were digging a hole for some reason) and he looked as if he wanted to go join them, rather than help Amy pick peaches. "Uhh…" But then he must have noticed Amy's crestfallen look (what were the chances?) because he suddenly vigorously shook his head and started marching towards the tree. "Sure thing! And I'll make sure to teach it a lesson for being a stupid tree and dropping you!"

"T-There's no need for that…" Amy began to say, but Knuckles was already climbing up the trunk, using the spikes on his knuckles to his advantage, and Amy both winced in sympathy and smiled in appreciation as she watched the red echidna climb. As he reached the peaches and began to gather them all up in his arms, she was amazed by how much he was able to carry; he was practically cradling twenty peaches already! Then she suddenly remembered that only minutes ago, she had been the one being cradled in those arms, and she flushed. She banished the thought from her mind violently, because wow where did that even come from? (And also ew.)

That had been the first time she experienced being held by him, and it certainly hadn't been the last.

In fact, she had been caught by him under similar circumstances many times, time and time again—whether it was from her falling from a platform or being flung into the air by an enemy or even being frightened by a lightning storm, she was quite familiar with the feeling of large arms encircling her petite body and shielding her from harm. Perhaps that was why she began to associate being held by Knuckles with safety; when he held her, nothing was a threat to her anymore.

That was all well and good, and Amy appreciated the security he gave her—but when she started wanting to be held by him even without the presence of danger, she began to become aware of other things too.

Like how comfortable it was to be held by him; how she really liked the warmth that encircled her; how she could probably bury her face into the furs of his chest and disappear into a cocoon of warmth, but she didn't dare. Her face would burn sometimes when he was in her presence, because periodically she'd feel the impulse to just hug him. Especially when he had that dumb, clueless look on his face, and that happened quite a lot. It wasn't fair that he was both hunky and cute.

One day, when they were lounging at the beach and Amy was handing out watermelon juice for everyone, Knuckles's fingers briefly brushed over hers. Predictably, Amy's face tinted slightly and she looked away; she didn't see Knuckles glancing away either as he quietly thanked her for the drink. But that touch had sent a curiosity through Amy and she looked back again, staring at his hands. They were always wrapped with bandages; she was curious about why.

"Hey, Knuckles, give me your hand for a sec."

The red echidna turned to her, confused with her sudden request. "Huh?"

Amy sat down on the same lounge chair he was sitting on and grabbed his hand. "Why do you keep your hands wrapped like this all the time? Is it a style?" she inquired curiously.

Knuckles watched the hedgehog's antics with an eyeridge raised and replied slowly, "Naw. It's just something I've always done—I punch a lot of things for training and my knuckles always get bruised, so yeah." Then there was a slight pause. "Unless you think it's a style? Why? Do you think it's cool?"

"Kinda," she confessed, grinning and rolling her eyes slightly.

Knuckles grinned broadly in return and puffed out his chest. "Then it's definitely a style! My style! Knuckles Style!" But as Amy hummed and continued to play with his hand, he deflated slightly and a small blush began to appear on his muzzle. "W-What's up, Amy?"

The pink hedgehog was just fascinated with his hand, for some reason. She held it in both of hers, and then spread out his fingers. "Your hands are so much bigger than mine," she mumbled offhandedly. She let one of her hands drop and pushed her palm against his. "See? Why are your hands so big?"

There was a beat, and then Knuckles hesitantly curled his fingers between hers. "… Well, why are your hands so small?" he asked instead.

Amy jolted slightly at the sudden change in his voice—it was gruffer, lower, and it caused her heart to thump. She forced herself to focus on their intertwined hands and tried to ignore how Knuckles was staring at her steadily reddening face. Suddenly, there was a shout near the beach as Sticks demanded that Sonic get the volleyball (which had been tossed into the ocean), and Amy broke away.

"I-I'll go get the drinks to the others now," she said, still not looking at the red echidna, which was alright since Knuckles had looked away too and was awkwardly scratching the back of his head and sipping at the straw of his juice.

"Thanks for the drink," he said anyway just as Amy quickly retreated away from him, the pink hedgehog mumbling something like "Any time" beneath her breath that he barely managed to catch.

There were many more instances after where he would catch her and she'd find himself being held by him again. But this time, there was something different—or, at least, Amy became aware of something that was different. Whenever they fought Eggman and his robots, Amy would notice that Knuckles was nearly always by her side. While Sonic would often dash off and quickly make the first move, Knuckles would hang back with her to back her up. Whenever he had to catch her again or lift her up for a boost, his arms would always linger for a beat longer than they should; he would hold onto her for longer than was strictly necessary between platonic friends, and Amy would never complain.

One time, it got so bad to the point where, when the battle had already ended, she was still being carried in his arms like a princess when their friends re-grouped, and Sonic had given them a strange look that immediately brought their positions to attention, causing Knuckles and Amy to disentangle from each other like they were on fire. Their faces had certainly felt like they had been.

But that did not deter them; their friends' suspicions didn't wane their innocent desires in the least. Amy still wanted to be held by him—whether there was any danger or not—and, she suspected, Knuckles wanted to hold her too. Whenever she caught Knuckles staring at her, the dolt would turn red (at least, redder than he usually was) and scamper away, often stumbling over something or walking straight into a coconut tree. This gave Amy hope and she'd giggle, feeling like there were happy bubbles tickling her belly.

One day, she decided to finally stop denying herself and make a move—because she knew that she was the braver one of the two, and the idiot, while sweet, moved way too slowly.

Knuckles was lounging on the couch, looking bored out of his mind as he absently flicked through the channels of the television. Amy slowly walked towards him, as if not wanting to frighten him into running off (which wasn't exactly as silly as it sounded, since he seemed like he was avoiding her lately). When he finally noticed Amy's presence, there was a noticeable stiffening of his shoulders and he sat up slightly in caution. Amy smiled at him nervously, wondering if he was able to hear the hammering of her heart.

"H-Hi, Amy," Knuckles said, sitting up on the couch. "What's hanging—"

"Nothing," she said, feeling her resolve shaking with every movement that lessened the distance between them. "Just… Okay, this is going to sound really, really weird, and it's okay if you don't want to and I'd completely understand, but—but can I…"

Knuckles waited, frowning slightly. He was feeling a touch of concern. "What is it?"

Amy stopped in front of him and looked away. She rubbed her arm nervously and, glancing at amethyst eyes once before she lost her courage and turned away, she asked quietly, "… Can I hug you?"

The red echidna bolted to his feet in surprise, startling her, and he remained standing as they stared at each other in shock. "… Erm…"

Amy's face was beet-red and she stammered, "I-It's fine, that was a weird request—I'll just go—"

But then there was a hectic cry of "Wait!" and then an "Oof!" as the wind was knocked out of her. She suddenly found herself enveloped between two, thick arms, wrapped around her tiny body tightly. Her head was spinning as she was overwhelmed by how close he was, by his scent, by her face being buried into his collarbone, by the echidna's shaky breath in her ears. She found that him hugging her had caused her to stand on her tiptoes slightly and she automatically wrapped her own arms around him tight in order to maintain her balance. Luckily for her, even as she practically lost control of her weight distribution and was effectively just leaning on him, Knuckles was big and strong and held them both steady without probably even noticing her slacking off. Her face burned and she closed her eyes, her mind screaming at her incoherently and wondered whether there was anything going through the knuckle-head's brain too.

As the moments stretched on in an awkward hug where neither of them said a word and couldn't see each other's faces, Amy coughed slightly and mumbled into Knuckles's fur, "This is a bit uncomfortable." She was straining herself to hug him on her tiptoes, and he probably wasn't comfortable leaning down like this to hug her either.

Immediately, Knuckles pulled back and loosened his arms from around her, "O-Oh! Sorry—"

"Lie back down on the couch?"

Both their faces burned and they refused to look at each other in the eye. "… O-Okay," the echidna said, and slowly sat back down. Amy was delighted when he didn't let go of her as he did this, and instead he seemed to gently pull her down with him, tugging her by her waist. After some awkward shifting, Knuckles was sitting at the end of the couch and Amy was half-draped over him, her head resting comfortably on his shoulder. She sighed happily and curled into him, enjoying how his arms snugly fit around her and drew her closer to his chest. "That better?" he mumbled into her ear, his breath tickling her fur somewhat.

Amy giggled and nodded, wiggling closer. "Yes. Definitely."

She could literally feel Knuckles's smile as he grinned against her head, and she might have imagined it but she could have sworn that he just nuzzled her affectionately. He had the uncanny ability to make her crazy, she realised, because she suddenly turned her head up and gave him a quick kiss just under his muzzle before she hastily looked back down again and snuggled into his chest. From beneath her, she felt Knuckles stiffen at the kiss, but then he relaxed and held her tighter against him, giving her a return peck on her ear.

Amy felt warm. Happy and warm and safe. She closed her eyes and sighed, breathing in the scent of pine and wood and earth and allowing it to envelop her. She felt so tiny in his arms; she felt secure and small, and she found that she liked that feeling—because the one making her feel this way was Knuckles, and he'd only ever made her feel safe.

"Is it okay…" Knuckles suddenly began saying, gently pulling her away from a daydreaming state she hadn't been aware she'd fallen into, "if we, erm… do this more often?"

Amy laughed breathily. "You mean hug?"

Knuckles shifted nervously and nodded. "Y-Yeah."

With her heart pounding in her chest, she clarified, "You mean, is it okay if we hug each other whenever we want?"

"… Uh-huh."

"Even when neither of us is in danger?"

"Uh-huh."

"Even without asking for permission?"

This time, Amy felt Knuckles's chest vibrate slightly in a chuckle. "Yeah."

The sensation felt funny and she found that she liked it. She giggled and said, burying her face into his chest, "Okay."

She liked being hugged by big boys, she realised. More specifically, she liked being held by him.

And with the way he hugged her so tightly, so closely and so possessively, she figured that he liked holding her too.