"Sonic, you need to stop eating those! They're not good for you!" The bubblegum hedgehog said as she watched her boyfriend shovel chili dogs into his mouth. He didn't pay her any attention as he grabbed his favorite food one by one and tossed them into the black hole in his face, practically swallowing them whole. He cleaned off half the plate before pausing to lick his fingers and look over at Amy. He couldn't help the smile that crept onto his lips when he saw her red face and puffed-up cheeks. "Ames, would you relax? I've been eating these my whole life, and nothing bad has happened!"

"But they're not healthy! Plus with how you're eating them, you could choke!"

Sonic just waved her off. "I'll be fine."

Amy sighed and crossed her arms, admitting defeat. "Fine...but you reap what you sow."

"Whatever." Sonic picked up another chili dog. It was piled high with jalopeños and onions, just like the others he had already consumed. No doubt the toppings were hot enough to set fire to the blue blur's tongue, but he didn't care. The spicier, the better. That's what he always said. As soon as he bit into it though, his eyes widened, and he yelled out as he held onto the side of his face. "OW!"

Amy nearly jumped out of her fur when he yelled. "Sonic, what's wrong?!"

"I-I dunno...it's probably nothing..." He slowly moved his hand away and started chewing, though he winced from pain with every movement of his jaw.

Amy frowned as she watched him. "...open your mouth."

The blue blur gave her a weird look. "What?" He asked, his mouth still full of food.

"Just open your mouth. I want to check something."

"...okay..." He didn't know what she was getting at, but he did as she said after swallowing his food. The pink hedgehog peeked inside, only to cover her mouth in an attempt to hold back the vomit that had come up her throat. "Sonic...? When was the last time you went to a dentist...?"

He closed his mouth and looked at her, a clueless expression on his face. "What's a dentist?"

Amy's eyes widened. "You don't-! Nevermind. You need to go to one. Now."

Sonic just rolled his eyes. "I dunno what a pen tick is, but I'm not going to it." He took another bite of the chili dog in his hand, only to wince and spit it out from the pain in his teeth. "Y'know, I'm not that hungry anymore..."

Amy sighed, shaking her head. She pushed her chair back from the table and stood up, kissing his cheek before going to the door. "I'll see you tomorrow. Don't eat too many chili dogs!"

"I won't, mother!" Sonic said sarcastically, earning a giggle from his girlfriend. She went out the door, closing it behind her.

Amy walked down the dirt and gravel path with a slight skip in her step, a plastic container of her homemade chocolate chip cookies in her hands. She had made them just for Sonic, hoping he was feeling better from yesterday. Somehow she doubted it with how bad his teeth looked...it was amazing how perfect they appeared whenever he flashed his trademark grin.

She finally arrived at the small home Sonic and Tails shared. She heard a faint buzzing sound on the other side of the door, figuring the twin-tailed kitsune was working on yet another machine in his workshop. She knocked on the door, and a moment later Sonic answered it. But something was wrong.

"Hi Sonic! I made you some-" The pink hedgehog stopped when she got a good look at her boyfriend. His bright smile that usually appeared on his face whenever he saw her was nowhere to be seen. The right side of his face was a bit swollen, as if he were sporting a lopsided grin, but Amy knew that wasn't what was happening. A bandage was tightly wrapped around his head, going under his chin and up behind his pointy ears before coming back down the other side of his face.

The blue hedgehog gave a small wave. "Hey Amy…" His voice was a bit muffled from the bandage partially squishing it.

Amy stared at his face in shock, her jade eyes as wide as saucers. "...Sonic, what happened…?"

He just shrugged."Dunno. I woke up like this. My mouth's been killing me since yesterday though…"

Amy set the container of cookies down just inside the door and reached up, cupping his right cheek in her hand and rubbing over it with her thumb. Sonic winced slightly from her touch, though he tried to play it off as just a blink. The bubblegum hedgehog could see through his little act though. "Sonic, you need to go see a dentist about this. He could probably fix it."

Sonic just rolled his eyes with a slight groan. "Amy, would you give it up? There's no way I'm-" He was cut off when Amy's lips suddenly met his in a kiss. His mind went blank as he forgot what he was saying, and he instinctively wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer, as he kissed her back.

Amy smiled a bit in the kiss, her plan already working. Ever so slowly, she inched backwards out of the house, pulling Sonic along with her. The blue blur pulled away a little to look down at her. "Ames, what are you doing…?"

A smirk came across her face. "Taking you to the dentist." She took one of his hands in both of her and started dragging down the dirt path into town. His eyes widened, and he tried pulling out of her grasp, but it was way stronger than him. "AMY, I DON'T WANT TO GO TO THE DENTIST!"

"You have to! It's for your own good!"

~~~~~

Sonic sat in the soft yet hard chair in the waiting room, bored to all ends. Why had he let Amy drag him here? He could've easily ran away as soon as she let go of his hand. Sure, that would have led to a beat down with her hammer, but he would've taken that any day that sitting here in misery.

The waiting room looked like any would. A few chairs and a couch lined the walls of the room, partially blocking the windows that reached about halfway to the ceiling. A swinging door and a single desk sat to one side, where an orange cat sat typing away at the computer in front of her while blowing bright pink bubbles with the gum in her mouth. A couple of tables sat out in the middle of room. One contained stacks of magazines and small books, while the other had various toys scattered across it. Annoying country music played softly from hidden speakers. Nobody touched either at the moment since the room was empty apart from Sonic, Amy, and a female dog with a younger pup next to her.

Sonic slouched even further into the chair, his head almost in the seat. He had a pout on his face, but it was hardly noticeable with his swollen cheek. He was thinking of ways to escape without anybody noticing when he felt a sharp pain on his arm. He held back a yelp as he looked to the side, seeing Amy pulling her hand away from his arm where she had pinched him. "What was that for?!" he whisper-yelled.

"All that's going to happen is that the doctor will take a look at your teeth and fix them up for you. What is so bad about that?" she asked softly.

"The fact that this guy I don't know will be poking around in my mouth. I'd rather let Shadow fix my teeth instead of a stranger!"

"Oh, quit being a whiny hog! It won't even take that long!"

Sonic huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "If you say so…"

Just then, the door next to the desk opened, and a lavender hedgehog in a lab coat came out into the waiting room, a clipboard in hand. "Sonic the Hedgehog?" she called, her voice smooth yet loud enough to be heard.

The blue blur's eyes widened, and he sank even lower into his chair, his ears folding back. Amy sighed, and she leaned over into Sonic's seat and kissed his ear before whispering, "It'll be fine. I'll be out here waiting for you."

He didn't move at first, but he eventually nodded, slowly getting to his feet and walking towards the other hedgehog. He glanced back as he went through the door, smiling a bit at seeing his girlfriend give him a thumbs up and a wink like he did for her. The wooden door soon shut, separating the two lovers from each other's sight.

Amy heaved a sigh as she sank back into her chair. She hoped Sonic would be okay back there without her. He tended to go a little stir crazy whenever he was going through something he really didn't want to do. It kind of surprised the pink hedgie that he hasn't freaked out in the few months that they had been dating.

She stared out the window in silence, just thinking about what could be happening on the other side of that door. She hadn't heard any screams or large crashes, so she could only assume that everything was alright. She watched the fluffy clouds in the sky drift by, and listened to the birds chirping in the tree just on the other side of the glass. The peace soon led the bubblegum hedgehog to fall asleep in the soft seat, her head resting in her hand as she snored softly.

Amy didn't know how long she slept. She didn't notice anything around her either.

She didn't notice the two dogs in the waiting room across from her get called into the back room.

She didn't notice the annoying country music finally get shut off by the receptionist.

And she didn't notice the blur of blue zip past her and out the door, leaving her all alone to her sweet dreams of her prince charming.

Hours later, not long after the sun had finally set that evening, she finally woke up to a hand shaking her shoulder. She let out a moan as she sat up groggily, looking up and seeing the blurry form of the receptionist. "Hey, hun, you gotta wake up. We're closing up for the night," she said around the thick wad of gum in her mouth. She had an accent to her voice, but Amy couldn't quite pinpoint what kind.

"Sorry, ma'am…" Amy stood up from her seat and rubbed her eyes before looking around, noticing she was all alone besides the receptionist. "...did you see a blue hedgehog leave here…?"

The cat nodded. "Almost two hours ago. The fella seemed to be in a rush, too."

"Okay...thank you. Have a good night!" Amy dashed out the door before she heard a reply. She all the way back to Sonic and Tails' house. She banged on the door once she got there, but when it swung open a moment later, instead of seeing the usual face of the blue hero, his two-sided sidekick stood in his place. "Hi Amy!" he greeted cheerily behind the motor oil that dotted the yellow and white fur on his face.

"Hi Tails…!" Amy huffed, her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath from the running. "Is...Sonic here…?"

"Um...I think so…" He opened the door wider so she could come in. "He think he's in his room."

"Thanks Tails..!" She hurried in past him and up the stairs two at a time until she got to a closed door with the name 'Sonic' painted on it in blue paint. Her hand wrapped around the knob and gave it a turn, only to find that it was locked. She frowned, never having found his door locked before. Her hand moved up to knock on the wood door. "Sonic? Can I come in?"

There was no reply, only a faint rustling noise. A moment later, a loud chime came from her phone in her dress pocket. She pulled it out and looked at the screen, seeing a text from Sonic himself. She unlocked the screen, seeing the simple statement from her boyfriend.

"No"

The pink hedgehog sighed before typing her reply.

"Why not? U left me at the dentist's. Did smthng happen?"

"...sort of…"

"What? Plz tell me."

"...promise not to laugh…?"

"Of course, silly. I wont laugh."

As soon as Amy sent the last message, she heard a soft click come from the knob. She grabbed it and turned, slowly pushing the door open. All of the lights in the room were off, and the curtains were pulled over the windows, preventing any light from seeping in. Amy walked through the room slowly, her hands stretched out in front of her as she felt her way to the nightstand beside the bed. Her fingers brushed against the switch on the lamp, and she flicked it on, the golden glow illuminating the room.

"Okay Sonic, what's going on?" She turned toward the bed, only to see a lump under the covers instead of the blue blur. She frowned, grabbing onto the edge of the blanket. "Sonic, this isn't the time for games." She started to pull the blanket, but before it could come off his head, a pair of gloved hands sprang out and pulled it back down.

"NO! YOU CAN'T SEE!" Sonic yelled. His voice sounded...different. As if something was clogging up his mouth. Amy froze, her grip loosening on the blanket. "...what's wrong with your voice?"

Instead of answering, he just slouched a little under the blanket. "You were right about me needing to go to the dentist..."

Amy sat on the edge of the bed next to him. "What do you mean...?"

"The doc said the chili dogs have been messing up my teeth...I never noticed until yesterday, but it's gotten really bad...and..."

"And what?" Amy pressed. "You can tell me."

"..." Sonic pulled at the blanket, revealing his head...and the new set of head gear strapped to it. The straps looped through his quills and up under his chin, connecting back to his mouth, where braces-like metal linked to his back teeth. His eyes stayed glued to his hands in his lap, too afraid to look up.

Amy stared at him for a long minute, her eyes wide, before a smile crept onto her lips. It got wider before it turned into a giggle, and she quickly covered her mouth to try and mask it.

Sonic's eyes shot up when he heard her giggle, his emerald eyes curved into a glare. "You said you wouldn't laugh!" Spit flew from his mouth as he spoke.

"I'm not laughing at you, silly!" she said between her giggles. "I'm laughing because you're actually embarrassed by this!"

Sonic's glare faded into a confused look. "...what?"

"Sonic, there's nothing wrong with you wearing head gear."

"Yes, there is." He looked back at his lap again. "Everybody sees me as the super cool Sonic the Hedgehog. If anybody saw me in this thing, I'd be done for."

Amy shook her head, her laughter dying down. "You and your ego…" She crawled across the bed closer to Sonic, cupping his cheeks in her hands as she lifted his face to meet her eyes. "Sonic, no one needs to know about this."

"...they don't?"

"Nope. You can still go out and be the super cool Sonic the Hedgehog."

"But what about this thing?" he asked, pointing at his headgear. "I can't go out and let people see me with this on!"

"You won't. You where it at night only."

Sonic stared at Amy, his emerald orbs wide before his eyes widened and he grabbed her in a tight hug, almost as tight as the ones she gives him all the time. "YES! MY REPUTATION IS SAVED!" he yelled, spraying spit everywhere thanks to the headgear.

Amy giggled as she hugged him back. "There's the Sonic I know and love!"