Bolt of Blue

Cowritten by TinyShinyy and Cozy Shadow

STH © SEGA

Full Summary: Waitress by night and babysitter by day, Amy Rose did what she had to in order to pay off her student loans. She had her work cut out for her, but it didn't become any easier when she's suddenly torn between her old lover and a new flame. Wanting to let go of the past and move on, she still can't find herself letting go of the life she once lived. However, she comes to realize that with loving two people brings heartbreak for more than just her.

Chapter One

Forward

The sound of glass meeting hard tile flooring rattled throughout the dining establishment. One that Amy had just started at a few months ago. A job she'd very much like to keep. She glanced down and sighed at the remnants of broken glass, leftover carbonara and halfway eaten breadsticks.

Just her lucky day.

Just when she thought she would never see him again, there he was. The blue bolt himself, Sonic the Hedgehog.

When she looked up again, her eyes met his emerald ones, and she could see a hint of sorrow hidden in its depths before he turned his attention back on his date. A wave of emotions washed over her.

Why'd he look at her like that? She should've been the one sitting across from him. Only, it wasn't her that was sitting at that table, smiling and laughing as they ate their pasta, but another female.

A squirrel? No. Chipmunk. A pretty one at that. Either way, her emotions got the best of her as soon as she caught sight of them on her way back to the kitchen after cleaning off a table.

They weren't even in the area she was supposed to be covering, thanking Chaos that one of the other servers had taken them instead. She couldn't bear to face Sonic. Not after so long. After all those years. Ten years to be exact. All of high school, then throughout college and a little after that.

The pain was still too fresh to bear.

She sighed as she finished wiping up the mess she'd made. If anything, I'm the mess. She huffed as she gathered the broken glass and pasta into a dustpan, careful to not cut herself. She smiled when one of her coworkers approached her and offered to help.

"Did you need any help, Miss Amy?" the young bright-eyed hare asked her as he brought over a bag to put the glass in. He was still in college and would have reminded her of Cream if his fur wasn't gray.

Oh, how she missed her college days. Especially with Sonic. She frowned and shook her head furiously as if that was going to get him out of her head. He was literally twenty feet away in the same restaurant. Already with another woman at that!

"Thanks, Ash. Can you just open that bag for me, please," Amy stood with the dustpan in hand, waiting for him to hold open the bag for her to dump the contents in.

Ash carefully held the bag open for Amy as she emptied the contents inside. "You really should be careful, Miss Amy. You didn't get hurt, did you?" he asked with concern before tying up the bag. His large brown eyes were filled with worry, leaving Amy to smile at how kind he was.

"I'm good, Ash. I promise. I'm going to go clean myself up. Thanks for helping, though," she said gratefully. She watched as he nodded reluctantly and went to toss the bag in the dumpster out back.

She needed to get it together for Chaos' sake. Who was she kidding, she still had pictures of them in her apartment! It had been months since they last spoke, let alone smiled together as they did in all those photos taken over the years.

He had obviously moved on, so why couldn't she?

Oh, right. She had clung to some form of hope that one day they would get back together. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Of course, that wouldn't happen. Not with what she just witnessed. At least, she prayed that wasn't the case.

Frustrated, Amy excused herself from her duties and took a trip to the bathroom. Stupid fancy restaurant. And the food here was amazing too. She couldn't even remember the last time Sonic brought her to a restaurant as nice as this.

Cursing under her breath, she furiously splashed her face with water and looked into the mirror before grabbing a towel to wipe her face dry. This restaurant even had cloth towels that had the restaurant name stitched into them. "Francis Italiano's," it read, in gold lettering. There was a small leaf next to the name that had the green, white, and red of Italy's flag to add that extra effect.

Mobians and humans alike lived on Earth together, peacefully, and many Mobians fell in love with Italian pastas and the like, including her. Which reminded her, she should get something to eat before she went home. She hadn't had the time to go grocery shopping yet, so getting some alfredo to go seemed like the best idea. She'd have to try to stay out of his line of sight as much as possible. She knew she looked like a mess still, but at least she looked a bit more presentable to head back to work.

Besides the carbonara sauce on her shirt of course.

Amy leaned back on her couch after she finished her dinner, frustrated that the stains in her work shirt were too stubborn to come out. Even after throwing it in the washing machine and scrubbing it with her hands. Her apartment was modest for what she could pay for it. Although it came with a washer and dryer, she made a mental note to get more bleach.

Amy stood up from her couch, turning the tv off before placing the remote control in a bowl on the coffee table directly in front of it. On the way to the kitchen with her dishes, she walked past the small bookshelf that had a few books, and more recent mystery novels that she'd become addicted to. She did her best to ignore the picture frames of her and Sonic as she walked by. Passing by the wooden cupboards and small dining table in her kitchen, Amy finally reached the sink. And as she poured the dish soap and began to scrub, she thought back to when she saw Sonic in the restaurant.

As long as they were together, Amy believed they could get through everything. But of course, nothing was ever just peachy.

Things were great in the beginning. They had just gotten together during their freshman year of high school. She could still remember how shocked she was when he asked her of all people to go to the dance, especially when there were so many amazingly beautiful girls besides her to choose from. But he loved her for her, as she did for him all the way through college. The one thing she didn't wish had stayed was his ego. It was not only fueled by how great he was at running, but his charm and good looks had always placed him on a pedestal higher than many of their peers. And she had to admit, she did feed into it a few times to help him feel better about himself. After drying the dishes, Amy placed them in their correct places in the kitchen before going off to her room for the night.

No relationship was ever perfect. it just felt like hers was at the time. At least not until his ego would bring her down more than she expected. How his words cut through her like knives whenever they argued. And they only got worse once they had bills to pay and student loans due. Hell, she was still struggling to pay them off now, even with two jobs. She knew she would never be enough for him, but she had always tried to be. She still wanted to be.

Frustrated, she took down her quills from the ponytail that held them, placing it on her dresser. The uniform which peeled off her body was thrown carelessly to the floor. Pink quills and coils that fell to her shoulder framed around her face effortlessly as she stared at herself in the large mirror she had in her room. She was always told that she was beautiful. Her body was proportional, and it curved at just the right angles as she examined herself. But why do I feel like I'm not, though?

Amy had always had her insecurities, but they had gotten worse over the years of being with Sonic. Always hidden behind his glorious shadow. She wanted to shine on her own, but when she finally got it, she very much wanted to stay hidden. Just like how it went earlier that day.

She turned to look at the warm, tempting confines of her bed and considered burrowing under the plush white comforter she had there.

But she wanted to shine on her own. Without him. She just needed to figure out the when and how, because she was sure as hell tired of sulking about like she had been. She had better things to worry about, and pouting under her amazing comforter wasn't going to help.

With a huff, Amy decided to treat herself to a long-deserved drink.

She tossed on a pair of jeans and a green t-shirt. Keeping it simple, yet cute at the same time. Grabbing her wallet and purse, she then headed to the local bar.

Not without placing the photo of her and Sonic happily cheesing in a photo face down on her dresser of course. She'd deal with the other photos later.

Tonight, she'd treat herself.

The local bar was a little livelier than she'd expected, especially on a Thursday night. As she sipped on her cocktail at the "Brass Tap Bar", she observed the other bar-goers who were either there after a long day of work, wallowing in self-pity, or throwing darts and playing pool with their buddies.

The bar was a decent size. Booths lined the wall opposite of the bar, and the room opened to the large area where they kept the pool tables and darts. There were about four pool tables, and all four were taken up if you accounted for the drunk couple making out on one of them.

"Get a room, losers!" Amy heard a wolf yell at them from another pool table. They were getting a tad frisky over there. She huffed and averted her eyes to where people were throwing darts.

She remembered when she and Sonic used to mess around. No, no. Stop it, Amy! She came here to take her mind off him, not think about him even more. She sighed in frustration and missed the bartender raising an eyebrow in curiosity behind her.

At that moment, there was a man who was drunk beyond measure but was astonishingly good at throwing darts. He had beat every challenger so far, even the wolf, and Amy watched on in amazement as she finished her drink from the safety of the bar.

Just then, the bartender, a red vixen, placed a whiskey in front of her, the clacking of the glass against the wooden bar causing Amy to turn around.

"Oh, sorry. I actually didn't order this," Amy stated as she motioned between the drink and her.

"Relax, darlin'. It's from that handsome fella over there," the vixen motioned to a dark hedgehog about three seats down from them as her fluffy tail swished behind her. Amy's eyes followed where the vixen pointed, and what she saw was a sight to see.

Handsome fella indeed. Amy's eyes landed on a hedgehog who she hadn't even noticed was there before, his fur black as night with red stripes to accent. The dark jeans and leather jacket combo fit him well, and Amy realized she was staring too long when his red eyes, a pool of rubies, met hers.

Oh, shit! He caught me!

He gave her a slight smirk and raised his glass to her before taking a sip. Amy just flushed in embarrassment before raising her glass in thanks. She smiled a little before she looked away and took a sip.

She grimaced slightly at how strong the whiskey was, but there was a hint of honey that seemed to take some of the edge off. Just what she needed. That sip turned into a few more, and she realized she was halfway done with her drink when someone sat right next to her.

She turned to the right slightly and blinked. It was that same hedgehog from before, yet he was much closer, and Amy couldn't ignore the cinnamon spice cologne that rolled off him as she met his eyes.

Before she could even muster a word, he was already speaking, "You look like you need it more than me." His voice was velvety smooth as he smirked at her, and Amy could do nothing but flush again under his gaze.

"You'd be right," Amy found herself saying. It felt good to let go for once. She watched as he took another sip of his drink, leaning closer to her as his leg brushed against hers.

"Want to spill all your woes and sorrows on me then?" He was clearly more intoxicated than she was, yet she couldn't help being charmed.

"How long do you have?"

He raised his glass and clinked it with hers. "All night."

"If you're brave enough to say goodbye, life will reward you with a new hello." -Paulo Coelho