It was not a sudden epiphany or an instant realization that Sonic saw her simply as a close-friend. It was a slow denial leading into the loss of hope. His close touches and hang-out requests for only the two of them had to mean something, right?

But they didn't.

Sonic hung-out with the rest of the team on his own time. As did Amy. Moments that were held deep in her heart suddenly flashed before her eyes. She was a friend and teammate, nothing more in his eyes. He was always the hero, dedicating his life not to a specific person, but to everyone. Running with no intention of ever stopping, Sonic stop and settle down with anyone. And that included her. Realizing that he held no specificity in her regard, Amy stopped to think about where her priorities really lay.

And one day, Amy Rose simply stopped.

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Title: The Friendzone

World: Sonic Boom :)

Summary: Sonic's compassion and the not-dates they shared had to mean something, right? In which Amy Rose simply decides that there is no escape to the friendzone. Where two are hopelessly in love, one persistently trying to avoid the other's presence and the other is Sonic the Hedgehog.

Note: SOOO I know I have been missing for quite a while. But here I am! :) I've been wanting to write a new Naruto story but its been a little cray cray.

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Deciding to have a lazy day – of course if Dr. Eggman did not interrupt their plans – the two female members of Team Sonic decided to organize Sticks' home once again. This plan in itself irritated Sticks. While she loved the pink-hedgehog to death – of course not actual death, at least not until the robots took over the world – Amy was a constant in the Badger's presence for a whole two weeks. Typically, Amy would have dedicated a day to Sonic or at least something else. However, this was not the case and the hedgehog bothered her to no end.

Sticks, with all her crazy and naiveté, recognized a change in her pink-hedgehog best friend. "Something seems off." She proclaimed out-loud.

"Robot apocalypse?" Amy asked off-handedly, perusing through a magazine.

Deciding to test her theory, Sticks asked. "I wonder what the rest of team is doing today."

"Their plans are probably limited to chili dogs and volleyball." Amy joked.

"Want to join them?" Normally, Amy would jump instantly at the possibility of seeing Sonic. However, to Sticks' astonishment, the hedgehog thought carefully before denying her request.

"Let's hang-out just the two of us today. I'm not really in the mood to see them."

Sticks nodded slowly, something definitely was off. Not wanting to see the team? Or was it someone specific? Even though she was prone to be anxious and constantly created conspiracies, Sticks knew that Amy Rose was hiding something.

It was only reinforced later, when the two left to pick-up food. On the way to Meh Burger, of course Team Sonic was fully reunited at the popular burger joint. The three boys were already consuming their dinner when the two arrived. Amy's usual excitement was replaced with a quiet aloofness, and it was evident she wanted to leave. Detecting this in her friend, Sticks knew better than to stick around.

"Care to join us for dinner in this fine establishment?" Knuckles asked before taking another bite.

"It's not napkins this time." Tails joked as Knuckles glared at him.

"It's alright, you guys already started your dinner." Amy replied with a small, almost fake, smile, "Besides we already have plans after this." Trying not to expose her lie, Sticks simply nodded along.

"Are you sure? I feel like I haven't see you in a while, Ames." Sonic stated, the worry obviously laced with his tone.

"I'm sure." Not wanting to prolong the moment, Amy looked down at her watch and continued, "We might be late so we should actually get going right now." Grabbing the Badger's arm, the two were whisked away back in the direction to Sticks' home.

Amy's heartbeat was erratic and uncontrollable, and her shallow gasps did not go ignored by her friend. Soon their run came to slow walk, and Sticks could only glance between the hedgehog and the way home in the prolonged silence. Not wanting to pry until they had privacy, Sticks tried to think of a coherent, decisive way to question Amy. She came up with:

"You better explain what the hell happened back there!" Sticks exclaimed as she slammed her front door closed.

"I know," Amy dejectedly sighed, "You deserve that much, thanks for covering me by the way."

"You know I always will. Who else will defend you against the lie-detector robot?" Sticks smiled proudly with her hands on her hips.

Amy laughed slightly before a small grin adorned her face. Deciding that the truth will finally set her free, Amy stated, "I am in love with Sonic the Hedgehog."

Sticks' face transformed from smiling, to pure giddiness. "I knew." Amy only looked at her incredulously.

"Trust me, you are super obvious. Don't get me started on the picture of Sonic you have in your bag." Sticks winked, "Your purple hedgehogs will be beautiful!" She continued, thoughtfully thinking of adorable little nieces and nephews.

"Now before you get excited," Amy began, "I have decided to give up on Sonic."

As if Amy had broken-up with her, Sticks felt her own dreams shatter. "Why?!"

"Because he doesn't love me." Amy turned away, looking out the window, "He puts all of us on the same level of friendship. I am nothing special."

Sticks confusion was evident on her face, "We both know that's a lie." To which Amy simply lifted her eyebrows in a challenge. "If I get hurt in battle, that blue-Hedgehog doesn't do as much as bat an eyelash. But if you get hurt he'll drag a whole damn hospital just so you don't have to move."

"That's not true!" Amy yelled, "I used to think that too. But he exploded my whole damn couch and didn't even come back to check if I was okay." Sticks had nothing in retort, and simply sat down with her mouth open.

"Believe me, I have hoped for such a long time that Sonic would one day notice me. And he has, I'm an asset to his team and fighter alongside our hero." She ended this sentence with a sigh, looking down in defeat, "But that view is all he will ever think of me."

"I think you're wrong." Sticks replied knowingly.

"I want more than anything to believe you, but I know it's not true. He just doesn't feel the same way. And I've been in love alone for too long."

The two sat in silence before Sticks offered an awkward, but comforting hug to her best friend. "There are other hedgehogs out there." Amy laughed slightly, breaking behind her saddened appearance. "Is it the hair? The blue? Seriously I can find someone like that, but better."

Amy simply laughed more.

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That was the fourth encounter in the past two weeks that had Amy walking away from him. Usually, Sonic's pink-haired friend made an effort to hang-out at least every two days. However, every confrontation had Amy sputtering out some lame excuse. The first time seemed to be something natural, but this was only evidence that his close friend was avoiding him. But why?

"I wonder if Amy's okay." Sonic voiced out-loud to the others at the dinner table, "I haven't seen her in a while."

"What are you talking about? She was just here!" Knuckles replied between burgers.

"That doesn't count. She was barely here for a few minutes." Tails noted Sonic's disappointed tone, and knowingly sighed at his friends. Tails was not the smartest member of his team for no reason. And it was quiet palpable to the fox that both hedgehogs had deep-seeded affection for one another.

"The two seemed really busy tonight, who knows what they have got planned." Tails defended the girls.

"I haven't talked to Amy in two weeks." Sonic responded, to which Tails only tilted his head in confusion.

"There's no way that's true." Tails was dumbfounded, "It's Amy…" Sonic only shrugged his shoulders and retreated back to his thoughts as the conversation changed.

Obviously, Amy was upset at him personally. It was enough to make the person he spent the second most time with to avoid him. With new vigor, Sonic made it his goal to seek out and possibly apologize to the pink-haired hedgehog.

Unbeknownst to him, said hedgehog was planning the exact opposite.

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The banging only made Amy flip over, surely convinced that it would go away. Her resolve did not waver, even as the banging increased in tempo and sound. To her comfort, the banging came to a halt. Laying with her back to the bed, Amy let out a sigh in relief.

"Offly comfy there, huh?" A recognizable voice asked from his position at the window.

In a fit of surprise, Amy yelped and flipped to the other side of the bed. However, no reaction was too fast for the blue blur and he quickly saved her from dropping onto the floor.

Gathering her thoughts, Amy pushed him away and yelled, "How and why are you in my house?!"

"You should really close your windows Ames, people can sneak in when you don't want them to." Sonic explained, "Which is also why I'm here. Why don't you want me around?"

Amy quickly looked away and grabbed her blanket to cover herself. "I don't know what you're talking about." Sonic specifically did not like her posture, as if she was trying to shield herself from him.

A step closer made Amy take two steps back. "You know exactly why you're avoiding me. The only thing I don't know is why." Sonic replied, "Ames, I really care about you. Just know that you can talk about anything with me."

"Well this is the one time I can't." Amy stated.

"Alright, that's fair." Sonic looked down in an attempt to do puppy-dog eyes.

"Stop!" Amy yelled, "That's not fair." She teased before looking away.

The usually exuberant girl was now reserved, and Sonic could not stand it. "Get dressed, we're spending the day together."

"That kind of defeats the purpose of avoiding you." Amy lightly joked to further conceal her heart-break.

"Well now your time is up, and we're hanging-out." Knowing there was no point in arguing, Amy sighed dejectedly.

"Fine, but get out and let me change."

"How do I know you won't use that time to run away?"

"Is there any point in running away from the fastest hedgehog alive?"

"You're right." Sonic smiled before giving her the privacy she needed.

Once out of the room, Amy gave a shaky exhale. When she was finally able to accept Sonic's constant rejection, it was then that he sought her out. Unappreciative of the irony, Amy wondered if there was any excuses she could make right now that could get her out of the day.

Amy prayed that anything, even an Eggman attack, to stop the events of today transpiring. It was hard enough to mend her broken-heart, it was even worse when the object of such affections made his presence permanently known.