Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Why did this have to happen? Sonic groaned in his thoughts as he took a quick glance at Jet at the passenger’s seat, currently texting on his phone.

If it were any other day, then either he would drive alone after track practice or drive with his adoptive brother, Silver, back home. Today, however, he’d end up not only coming home from track practice an hour early but end up taking Jet home. Today also happened to rain out of the blue during track practice despite no signs of any gray clouds earlier the whole day, though Jet figured that out when he muttered, “Hope you don’t get wet after school” to Sonic during their History class.

Curse Jet and his ability to read all wind currents with perfect accuracy.

Speaking of Jet, the only reason why he’s in Sonic’s car in the first place is that everyone else he knew such as Wave, Storm, and his parents are currently busy. And both of them knew that riding an Extreme Gear in this type of weather, even with the proper safety gear (goggles, Gear Band, etc.), is still risky.

Even Sonic wouldn’t want his rival to get soaked and possibly get sick.

“Don’t you have anything else other than Crush 40?!”

Oh, god. Every time when someone is in Sonic’s car, they start complaining about Sonic’s choice of music, especially if it involves his favorite band, Crush 40. Really, the only ones who never complained were Sally, Sonic’s ex-girlfriend, and Cream—bless her kind soul.

“Why? Got something against them?” Sonic asked as he stopped at a red traffic light.

“No, they’re alright,” Jet commented, “But I just wish you would play something else for a change.”

“It’s my car, so I get to play whatever-"

“Nah,” Jet ignored Sonic as he pressed the radio button and the hard-rock song was quickly replaced with a slow-paced country song.

“...Now playing ‘Old Flame’ by Alabama on 100.1 FM,” the radio DJ announced as the song played.

“Hey!” Sonic exclaimed as he tried to press the CD button on the car stereo, but Jet slapped Sonic’s hand away from the stereo. “Ow, what the hell?! You actually like this crap?”

“It’s not that bad of a song. My tatay actually plays this in his office from time to time,” Jet answered, putting his phone in his backpack.

Sonic stuck his tongue out in response.

“Why the bitter response, Ryan?” Jet asked. 

Why can’t Jet just refer to him by ‘Sonic’ like almost everyone else—even Wave and Storm does so. At least he isn’t using Sonic’s full name out of spite: Ryan Maurice Griffith.

“I just don’t like this song,” Sonic answered.

“How come? Reminds you of Sally?”

Sonic sighed deeply. The two broke up at the beginning of the school year in friendly terms, though most of the school refuses to believe that he and Sally ended their relationship nicely. Oh no. Someone started a rumor that Sally slapped Sonic in the face when they broke up and said rumor spiraled out of control before first period started. Thankfully, the rumor died the next day due to a scandal involving a teacher and a student, but still, Sonic hated that people would believe a dumb lie over the truth. Guess everyone loves a dramatic story over one with facts.

“Not even close,” Sonic answered to the green-haired teen. “And before you start saying anything about Sally and me, we’re still good friends and nothing stupid happened when we broke up.”

“Whoa, I didn’t even mention anything that relates to the break-up,” Jet yelled at Sonic. “Good God, Ryan.”

Sonic sharply glared his green eyes towards Jet. “Sounds like you were alluding to it.”

“Just because I mentioned Sally during that conversation about ‘Old Flame’?!”

“Yeah, and all because you didn’t want to listen to Crush 40 in the first place!” Sonic snapped at Jet, slamming his fist onto the wheel and the car honked briefly.

“Oh, so it’s my taste in music that’s pissing you off? Wow. Just,” Jet laughed for a moment before saying, “Stupid. So stupid.”

“Well, you’re-”

HONK! HONK!

Sonic jumped a bit from the loud car honks behind him. A couple more followed before someone shouted, “Hey, lovebirds! Move it why don’t you!”

Sonic took a quick glance at the traffic light to see it turned green!

How long was it green?! Damn! Sonic cursed in his thoughts as he started to drive again. In the span of that minute long argument, how did Sonic not notice that the light was green?! Who knows…

For most of the drive, Sonic decided to turn the volume down, to the point that the song on the radio was barely heard. At this point, it was either Crush 40 (which would annoy Jet), whatever’s playing on the radio (both of them don’t know what’s on), or just mostly riding in silence.

And the (mostly) silent drive? Two minutes in. It. Was. Agonizing. Sonic can’t understand why people like Shadow or Espio can drive like this!

Thankfully, Jet broke it with him apologizing, “I’m sorry that I made you angry, Sonic.”

It’s rare for Jet to use ‘Sonic’ instead of ‘Ryan’. Noticing this, Sonic replied, “It’s alright. I’m sorry as well for snapping at you. And starting the argument because of my taste in music. Kind of a dumb thing to argue about, huh.”

“It is,” Jet agreed as he turned the volume up a bit. Thankfully, the current song isn’t too bad, so Sonic decided to let it play in the background. “So, I’m just wondering, why don’t you like ‘Old Flame’? If you want to answer or not, that’s fine by me.”

“No, you’ll get your answer.” Sonic sighed a bit before he answered, “It’s associated with a bad memory from Kindergarten and I’ll leave it at that.”

“Oh. You’d wish you forget that moment?”

I already have, Sonic wanted to reply to Jet, but decided not to at the last minute. He instead laughed for a bit and said, “I sometimes do wish I can forget it.”

“Don’t we all,” Jet added as Sonic turned up the volume as the song that’s currently playing. “Hey, isn’t that-”

“Shut up, it’s my guilty pleasure!” Sonic exclaimed as he mouthed the words to ‘All of the Lights’.

“I don’t believe you. But this song ain’t too bad, I’ll give you that.”

For the rest of the ride, Sonic and Jet mouthed or sing to the songs that were on the radio, giving some snarky remarks about how they can recite to a song one deemed cheesy. And before Sonic dropped Jet home, Jet allowed Sonic to play Crush 40’s cover of ‘Un-gravitify’ since both of them knew the lyrics by heart.

Guess the car ride went well for the most part. Now if only Sonic stops getting a mild headache everytime he hears ‘Old Flame’, everything will be good.

Chapter Text

Jet knows he shouldn’t be snickering. Especially at Sonic, especially at his house AND especially when they have to complete a book analysis on We Have Always Lived in the Castle for English that’s due in a week.

But he couldn’t help himself when Sonic is wearing glasses! And this isn’t the first time that Jet has seen Sonic with glasses nor did he learned about that fact just today. Jet accidentally found out last year when he was getting Sonic new Ex-Gear Goggles for his 15th birthday since the goggles have the same lens as his prescription glasses, minus the color of the lens of course. And when he learned about Sonic wearing glasses, Jet thought that Sonic would look stupid in them. But in reality…

“Okay, Jet. Cut it out,” Sonic grumbled, flinging a mechanical pencil across the coffee table towards Jet, who ducked at the last second.

Uh-oh. Busted!

“It’s not every day I get to see you in glasses,” Jet commented as he pointed towards Sonic’s black glasses with square frames. “You should wear them more often.”

“Haha, very funny, Jet.”

“H-hey! I really mean it, Ryan! You actually look good in them,” Jet complimented Sonic as he picked up the mechanical pencil from the floor.

And it makes your green eyes look even cooler. Jet definitely left that part out, no matter how much we wanted to say it. He couldn’t find a better way to say it without sounding like he’s-

Wait, what?! N-no way was that flirting. Right?

“They slip off when I run, so it’s not good for a speedster like me,” Sonic said as he pushed his glasses up. “But I do agree that they look nice on me.”

“So even you admit that you look fine in glasses. Now, how come-”

“‘I don’t wear them as much?’ is what you want to ask me?” Sonic completed Jet’s question. “Let’s just say that my parents insisted that I try some contact lens that they got while they were at work. They said these contacts will give me high-quality vision and are easy to clean and put on. Had them since middle school.”

“Those contacts are that good? Damn.”

“Unfortunately, it’s only available in Europe, so I have to wait at least tomorrow to get new ones.

“I bet they’re expensive, but that’s no problem for you,” Jet said after hearing about Sonic’s contacts.

Jet sometimes forgets that Sonic is super well off compared to everyone else that he knows; even Wave and her parents are a mechanic and a magazine editor (plus a freelance designer). The most obvious is that Sonic’s house is much modern looking; a boxy exterior made with steel and some red wood accents, large windows on the front where the windows have an option to blacken via remote control—a feature which Jet admits is cool and wishes to have. And the inside of the house: So. Spacious. Even the guest bathroom is pretty huge than most houses. Plus, Sonic’s car is the latest model of the Lancer series, which includes a cool stereo system and a feature where he can start the car as long as he’s 200ft from the car.

And now learning that Sonic gets his contact lens from Europe, there’s always this nagging question that’s roaming in Jet’s mind:

“For god’s sake, Ryan. What do your parents do for a living?”

Sonic quickly threw a journal towards Jet and it hit him in the forehead. Jet rubbed his forehead and was about to throw it back, but decided against it knowing it would just lead nothing but more trouble.

“Didn’t I already told you before? NEVER ask about my parents job,” Sonic sharply glared Jet.

Oops. Jet forgot that asking about Sonic’s parent’s careers is the quickest way to trigger Sonic’s nerves. He learned that the hard way last year when he mocked Sonic that his parents might be ‘bodyguards’. Or high class ones to be specific.

He never understood why other than that Sonic might not get along with his parents. But Jet brushed that aside since he doesn’t believe it. Sonic’s very popular with everyone thanks to his upbeat, relaxed, and heroic attitude; even those outside of school and Green Hills. It’s difficult to find someone who truly doesn’t get along with Sonic or despise him. Even Jet, while not getting along with Sonic half of the time, finds Sonic as a decent person who matches his skill at EX-Gear riding.

“Sorry,” Jet apologized to Sonic, sliding the journal on the coffee table. “It’s just that you’re living the life most people would die for and, well…”

“No, I understand,” Sonic said as he got up from the floor. “My parents prefer if their careers would remain a secret to everyone. Been like that since I was young.”

“Really? You couldn’t brag to everyone about the cool, high paying jobs your parents had?”

He can remember the countless times he mentioned that his dad is a police detective—and how much cooler he is than the ones showed on TV dramas.

As Sonic sprinted towards the kitchen to grab two red Powerade and back to the living room in less than five seconds (the blessings of super speed), Sonic answered, “Pretty much. The only family member I can ‘brag’ is Aunt Aleena.”

“The one who I thought was your mom?” Jet wondered.

“Yeah, though I wish she was my mom at times,” Sonic admitted before tossing the Powerade to Jet. “Catch.”

He caught the flying drink no problem and open the lid. Before he took a drink, he asked, “How come?”

“She’s always there in every important event in my life and spoils me once in a moon. She even gave me these glasses as a birthday gift.”

“Good looking ones to be exact,” Jet pointed out. “I want you to wear them to school one day and see how many people compliment you. Hell, I wanna see Amy’s reaction to you with glasses!”

“Well, almost everyone hasn’t seen me in glasses, except for Tails, Shadow, and Silver,” Sonic said, chugging half of his red Powerade. “But I’ll see about doing that one day.”

“You better before we graduate. Got it?”

“Okay. It’s a promise.”

“Good. Cause these glasses make you look sexy, no joke!”

Oh, god. Jet should have worded it differently. The one time he didn’t, Sonic is now giving him a huge smirk on his face. He took off his glasses and placed them onto Jet’s face.

“I don’t know. They look a lot better on you,” Sonic teased Jet as he pulled a small mirror from under the coffee table.

“Are you sure about that?” Jet wondered. To be fair, he doesn’t look too bad with them, but dear lord, he’s starting to get a headache after a minute. How bad is Sonic’s vision anyway?

“Hell yeah, I’m sure,” Sonic replied as he finally took his glasses back from Jet (thank god). “And one more thing, you think I’m sexy with or without the glasses? Just wondering.”

“Uh… W-well,” Jet, blushing red, stuttered before saying, “Damn it! I-I guess you look fine either way. I was trying to find another word for, well, that-”

“Ah, so you admit that I’m sexy, huh? There’s nothing wrong with that, Jet. I mean, there are moments where I think you’re handsome.”

Him. Handsome?! Jet knew he looked decent and his striking features were his long green hair often pulled into a high ponytail and brown skin; most people point out the latter. Or his toned legs considering the years of soccer and EX-Gear riding.

“R-really?” Jet wanted to be sure if Sonic wasn’t joking.

Sonic nodded and said, “Guess that’s enough teasing on our looks for one day.”

“Right. Gotta get back on our report on this hellish book,” Jet said as he opened his copy of We Have Always Lived in the Castle.

One day, Jet won’t stutter or blush like an idiot whenever he makes a compliment about Sonic (and vise versa). And maybe say:

Gustong gusto kita.

Only in English and in private.

Chapter Text

Jet wondered how in the hell he got dragged into a dumb party on a Friday night—mainly filled with members from the various of sports teams of Emerald High School. Especially members from the track and soccer team; his varsity team to be exact.

Oh, yeah. It’s all coming back together for Jet. Most of his team begged Jet to attend this party since he’s the main reason that the soccer team, The Golden Warriors, were going to the state tourney in April. All he did was prevent the opposing team from scoring a goal three seconds before the game was over—overtime at soccer can get brutal. Then again, his teammates, plus Wave and Storm (mainly the latter), bragged about it for a few days, so something good came out of it—for a while. Oh, and the small dinner party at his house was also great too.

But now? Jet would rather be home than whatever the hell’s going on at this party. He only came not because of his soccer team, but because Storm asked him.

“We’ll only be here for an hour and then we can go to 85C Bakery afterward. I heard they’re having a sale on their matcha buns this week!”

An hour, my ass! Jet cursed in his thoughts. He and Storm arrived at the house of someone from the football team (Or was it the basketball team? He doesn’t know at this point) at 6 PM and it’s currently 8 PM! The last he saw Storm, he went outside with someone so he can teach them Slapjack. God forbid if they play with Storm—a table won’t make it out without any cracks.

Well, at least Storm isn’t drinking or doing, to put it lightly in Jet’s words, ‘naughty’ stuff in the house. At least a third of the guests were either smoking, drinking alcohol (beer, tequila, cocktail mix, etc), or doing something stupid, such as dancing on the table or throwing plastic cups randomly, due to being high/drunk.

Meanwhile, Jet is plopped on the couch (surprisingly clean and cozy) and checking some text messages from his phone; mainly from his dad. Even then, they’re short (even in Tagalog) reads, so maybe he can just pop his headphones on and just-

“Jet, is that you?!”

Never mind. He took a quick glance and saw Sonic, holding a bowl of tortilla chips and guacamole, sitting next to him. God, Sonic’s the last person Jet wants to see at this moment. Especially considering what happened this week.

“Ryan? Didn’t expect to see you at this dumb party,” Jet commented as he swiped a chip from Sonic’s bowl.

“Same here. The track team wanted me to come over, even though I wanted to stay home with Silver,” Sonic explained.

“While still wearing that dumb t-shirt?” Jet poked fun at Sonic’s red t-shirt with the slogan ‘2 Fast 2 Furious’. Honestly, Jet wonders how many stupid slogan shirts/hoodies Sonic owns at this point. Almost every time he sees his blue-haired rival, Sonic is usually wearing a shirt with a cheesy saying (most of them puns).

“Hey, at least it’s cozy and goes with this jacket,” Sonic retaliated, pointing to his brown bomber jacket. “Pushing my wardrobe aside, how’d you get into this-”

“Storm made me,” Jet quickly answered before Sonic can finish his question. “He promised we stay here for an hour and it’s been clearly more than an hour at this point! Probably busy playing Slapjack with drunken idiots.”

“Oh, that explains the small crowd on the patio earlier. Thought there was an arm-wrestling match going on.”

Jet did overhear a few people earlier about wanting to play Slapjack outside, snickering at the fact that Storm is gonna destroy them.

“Anyway, minus what’s going on outside, this party is kind of,” Sonic paused for a bit as Jet snatched the bowl of chips (and guacamole) from him. Sonic didn’t mind it as he continued, “I don’t wanna say complete garbage since there are some good food and the music isn’t too bad, but honestly, the party is kinda boring otherwise.”

“It is,” Jet agreed, noting that other than some drunken idiots, it’s a pretty chill party. “Don’t know why my team wants me to come to this party in the first place. Other than for bragging rights.”

Until YOU ruined it, Jet wanted to add, but decided against it even if he wanted to.

“Same with my track team! All they talk about is my records on the last track meet and nothing else. They don’t even want to brag about their own achievements on that meet for god’s sake.”

“Yeah, that must really suck,” Jet sarcastically said as he ate the chips from the bowl.

This.

Jet hated this.

For some godly reason, Jet’s soccer match and Sonic’s track meet had to happen on the same day and they just happen to break some new records for Emerald High. The Golden Warriors are going to the State Tourney for the first time in ten years thanks to Jet, while Sonic broke three records on the track meet.

Three.

Three records that haven’t been broken since the school was founded in 1991.

And almost everyone at school praised Sonic’s achievements MORE and hounded over Sonic for that week. Hardly anyone did the same to Jet. Sure, a few students and teachers did praise him, but after the first day: NONE. Sonic kept getting compliments while Jet got NOTHING and it sickens him.

Jet wanted to rant to Sonic about this, or even slap him, but decided to pent his rage up and unleash it in private—AKA, his room. So far, it’s surprisingly working well…

At least, until now…

“It kinda does, in all honesty, “Sonic admitted, leaning back. “The attention was nice and all, but it got annoying when they just about me and ignore your achievements.”

Huh?

“Wait, you serious, Ryan?” Jet wondered. He thought Sonic was joking for a second.

“Yep,” Sonic said. “The Golden Warrior’s first soccer State Tourney in the past ten years deserves as much attention as my records. I wanted to say ‘congrats’ to you all week but never got the chance to. Better late than never, right?”

“Yeah. Guess that also applies to your records, but you said you got sick of hearing it, so…?”

“I’ll let it slide for you. As much as you stealing my bowl,” Sonic said, snatching the bowl back from Jet.

“H-hey!”

“I didn’t mind you eating the chips. But the guac, no. Stuffs actually good.”

“Then why did you get the tortilla chips in the first place anyway?”

“That’s what goes with it, but these chips are super salty as hell. Who decided that these chips were good anyway?” Sonic questioned as he flung one towards Jet, who caught it without any trouble.

“ Bata ,” Jet insulted Sonic, laughing a bit.

“I’m not!” Sonic fired back. This is one of the few Filipino words that Sonic can understand and the few one’s Jet can say in confidence. At least in public. “But anyway, I was thinking about leaving this party with Knux and stopping by at Whataburger. If you want, do you and Storm wanna come?”

Jet thought about it for a few moments before replying with, “Well, Storm and I were going to 85C Bakery after-”

“Wait, what’s 85C Bakery?”

“You never heard of it?!”

Sonic shrugged his shoulder as he just ate the guacamole with a plastic spoon (which made Jet snicker a bit). “Is it good?”

“Hell yeah, it is! They have killer choco buns and their brioche is the best! Their iced coffee isn’t too bad, but their milk tea is super good,” Jet gushed as he almost fell off the couch. “Whoa, kinda got carried away.”

“I can see why. But yeah, maybe Knux and I can join you and Storm instead. That alright?”

“Just as long as you pay for your own stuff. Got it?”

Sonic nodded before he got off from the sofa, “Yeah. I Gotta get Knux and once Storm is done, we can go. Sound cool?”

“Yea, can’t wait to get out of this snore-fest of a party!” Jet exclaimed, stretching his arms.

“Alright! Last time I saw Knux was upstairs…”

Sonic’s voice faded as he went up the stairs while Jet jumped off the couch and make his way from the living room to the backyard. Unfortunately for him, the kitchen was a bit crowded and a girl accidentally shoved him (and apologized, thankfully) towards the fridge. He muttered “Ow” and rubbed the back of his head, hoping to ease the pain a bit.

Once his back head pain was gone (for the most part), Jet decided to get a quick drink of punch since he’s kind of thirsty. Plus, Storm did say that the punch isn’t laced with any alcohol due to the amounts of beer packs and jello shots everywhere at this party. Well, the punch bowl is mostly full, so it seems all good. He scooped the red plastic cup on the bowl and took a quick sip of his red punch that has some starfruit (someone here has good taste) and was about to go to the patio until…

“OOF!”

He bumped into the last person he wanted to see at this party: Sadam ‘Scourge’ Hartell.

“The hell’s wrong with ya, ya dumb chicken?!”

God, how much Jet wants to punch this asshole for insulting him. He really hates it when people call him ‘chicken’.

...On second thought, maybe he doesn’t want to punch Scourge. The obvious red-pink stain from the punch on his white shirt speaks for itself.

“Hey, Knux! Where are ya?” Sonic yelled as he maneuvered through a crowd of people just standing on the stairway. Was there not enough room upstairs?

Thankfully for Sonic, his search is short-lived when he spotted Knuckles playing foosball with someone from the football team. And based on the exciting yelling from Knuckles, it appears he won.

“Yo, Sonic!” Knuckles greeted his friend. “You up for a round of foosball?”

“Nah, I’m good,” Sonic declined Knuckles’ offer. “I’m about ready to leave.”

“Really? We got here like an hour ago.”

“Yeah, and I’m pretty bored. Nothing interesting going around other than-” 

Sonic’s sentence was cut short when Bernie, otherwise known as ‘Big’, ran up towards him and frantically asking him, “Have you seen Froggy anywhere?”

Oh, god. Big is, to put it nicely in Sonic’s words, notable for having a pet frog named Froggy that gets away from Big frequently, often landing in the most unusual places and coming out unscathed. Every. Single. Time.

“Uh… no I haven’t,” Sonic answered to Big. “Is there one place you haven’t checked?”

“Oh, that reminds me! I haven’t checked the punch bowl! Thanks!”

“That’s not what I was referring to, but-” Sonic can only sigh when he spotted Big running down the stairs and apologizing to the party guests for accidentally bumping them. “I hope they’re fine after this.”

“Big or Froggy?” Knuckles asked as he slipped onto his green military jacket.

“Both at this point,” Sonic replied. “Anyway, I bumped into Jet at this party earlier and was planning on going with him and Storm to someplace called 85C Bakery.”

“Really?” Knuckles surprisingly exclaimed.

“Look, I know you and Storm don’t exactly get along well, but I just-”

“Guys, there’s a fight going down!” someone yelled from downstairs.

Can I not get interrupted in the next five minutes? Sonic groaned in his thoughts.

Almost everyone dashed down the stairs to see the commotion going on downstairs, almost knocking Sonic to the floor. He decided to go down as well, alongside Knuckles, and he wasn’t halfway down the stairs when he witnessed Jet getting thrown against the front door.

“Holy shit!” a guy exclaimed in horror, dropping his can of beer.

“Is he bleeding?” a girl asked.

Sonic quickly went to Jet’s side and checked the back of Jet’s head to see if there’s any blood. Luckily, there’s none, but Sonic gasped when he saw Jet’s right eye blackened, his lower lip and both cheeks bleeding.

“Jet, Jet,” Sonic attempted to call him by shaking him a bit. He didn’t move or say anything. “Angelo!”

Nothing.

“Oh, god,” Sonic muttered as he checked Jet’s wrist for any signs of a pulse. It’s there, but pretty weak, concerning him.

“Griffth.”

Son of a bitch. It’s Scourge: the last person he wanted to see at this party. What Sonic noticed about Scourge, besides the obvious red stain on his white shirt, were the bloodstains on his hands. It didn’t take Sonic long to put two and two together to figure out how Jet got those horrible injuries.

“I never expected to see you at this party,” Scourge said, tossing his leather jacket aside, landing on a chair.

“Same,” Sonic growled at Scourge.

“Oh, are you worried about the chicken, Griffith?”

Sonic clenched his hands tightly, glaring at his track teammate, and warned him, “Don’t call Jet a chicken.”

“What? Griffith, you hate this dumb, foreign chicken. Why in the hell are you…”

Scourge’s voice faded from Sonic as he took a quick at Jet, who’s currently breathing, but they’re weak and is muttering something in Tagalog. He might not understand what Jet’s saying, but based on the groaning, it’s not good. Knowing he must act fast, Sonic gestured Knuckles to his side and asked him:

“Knux, can you carry Jet and find Storm?”

“Uh, sure,” Knuckles agreed as he effortlessly carried Jet over his shoulders. Before leaving, he asked, “Sonic, are you going to-?”

“I’ll be fine. Just go,” Sonic ordered Knuckles. He witnessed Knuckles making his way to the patio and once he sees his friend out of sight, Sonic rolled his jacket sleeves and slowly made his way towards his bright-green haired teammate—no, wait, enemy would make more sense in this scenario.

“Hey, Griffith. Whatcha gonna do? Shove me like a middle schooler?” Scourge taunted Sonic.

No response from Sonic.

“Hey! Answer me you motherf-”

Sonic punched Scourge in the cheek before grabbing his right wrist and quickly twisting it, causing Scourge to curse in pain. Everyone in the crowd either reacted with excitement, encouraging Sonic by yelling “Kick his ass!”, or horrified as they often see Sonic as a chill and easygoing person, rarely losing his cool. But at this point, it’s thrown out of the window.

All Sonic wanted is to see Scourge in pain. Lots.

Sonic grabbed Scourge by his shirt, lifting him up before Sonic quickly kneeing him on the crotch and flinging him to the table, knocking over bottles of beer and tequila.

Despite the brutal beating, Scourge is somehow still standing, albeit, barely as he’s holding onto a chair handle to keep himself steady.

“You bastard!” Scourge yelled at Sonic as he spat out some blood. After taking a few breaths, Scourge lifted a chair, screamed as he charged towards Sonic.

Right as Scourge attempted to slam the chair at Sonic, he quickly sidestepped at the last second and Scourge slammed hard on the floor and let go of the chair he was holding. Sonic grabbed the chair and slowly made his way towards Scourge, who’s clearly struggling to get back up, let alone speak without coughing roughly.

Sonic took one last look at Scourge, smiling and glaring at him, before he lifted up the chair and ready to slam it towards Scourge.

Or it would have if Knuckles didn’t intervene at the last second by knocking the chair out of Sonic’s hands. The chair ended up breaking the front windows as they heard the glass shattering and a couple of people screaming.

“Knux, what the hell?!” Sonic snapped at Knuckles.

“Look, I know Scourge is an ass and all, but beating him close to death isn’t going to solve anything,” Knuckles explained to Sonic and pointed to the crowd, all having mixed reactions from the fight. Mainly shocked, some covering their mouths, whispering to others, Sonic can swear he heard someone crying during the fight, but didn’t notice until Knuckles stopped him.

Sonic sighed deeply, noticing that Knuckles isn’t carrying Jet. He asked, “So, where’s-”

“Storm got him,” Knuckles quickly replied as he’s pulling his car keys from his pocket. “We’re gonna stop by Jet’s place. They have a first-aid kit at their place that can fix up his injuries. Alright?”

Sonic saw Storm carrying Jet over his shoulders, repeatedly saying, “It’ll be alright,” while sobbing.

Before Sonic can answer, he saw Scourge getting up from the floor with the help of two members from the track team. And clearly, they’re not in a good mood what with their sharp glares towards Sonic.

“Hey, Griffith? The hell was that for?!” one of the track members, known as Rough, angrily asked Sonic.

“Yeah! Scourge is our mate! An asshole, sure, but he’s one of our best members,” another one, Tumble, said. “Don’t forget that he’s part of the 4x100 relay where we broke that record last week.”

“That doesn’t excuse the fact he beat up Jet,” Sonic added, growing annoyed by the member’s reasons. “And for god’s sake, please stop bragging about the track meet. It’s getting on my nerves.”

“Hey!” Tumble yelled in annoyance.

“You mean that dumb chicken that outed us back at the 7th-”

Sonic grabbed an empty beer bottle, smashed it near the edge of the table, and pointed the broken beer bottle towards his track mates.

“Look,” Sonic started, “That was all in the past. From what I remember, Jet outed you three, not me, all because you guys bribed the coach into staying quiet about your seedy actions. And if you guys don’t forget about the past, then,” Sonic laughed for a bit before bringing the bottle closer to his teammates, only for Sonic to just casually drop the bottle in front of them, “You’re the real chickens.”

“Bull,” both of his trackmates quietly replied.

Rough, spitting close to Sonic’s face, warned him, “Alright, Griffith. Don’t make me kick you out of our house.”

Oh, yeah. Sonic forgot this was Rough’s and Tumble’s house in the first place. He can never imagine how these two end up living in a decent home despite their shady behavior.

“No need to. I’ll gladly withdraw myself from this dumb party.” Sonic walked away from the crowd, making his way to the front door and ignoring the many whispers that were aimed at him.

“Griffith, wait til Coach Eagleston hears about what you did!” Scourge shouted, trying to run towards Sonic, but his two teammates prevented him by holding down his arms and legs. “You’re ass will be off this team!”

Sonic can only reply by flipping Scourge off before leaving the house and hearing almost everyone chanting “OWNED!”.

On his way to Knuckles’ car, he’s greeted by Big, waving and happily announcing, “I found Froggy by the porch! He’s okay!”

Sonic took a quick look to see the remains of the windows and saw no signs of blood. How that frog didn’t take any damage is beyond Sonic, but regardless, at least no one got hurt.

“Glad he is,” Sonic said as he patted the top of the frog’s head.

“Are you leaving already?”

“Yeah. Getting tired, anyway. It was nice seeing you, Big. I’ll see you and Froggy at school,” Sonic happily said as he finally entered Knuckles’ car. Storm is at the back with Jet lying close to his lap.

“Ready to go?” Knuckles asked his friend.

Sonic nodded and with that, they drove away from the party. Thank god it’s over. Now the hard part is explaining what happened to Jet’s parents, but surely they’ll understand.

“...Sonic,” Jet mumbled. Sonic turned around to see that Jet is sleeping, not looking at anyone.

“He’s been talking in his sleep for a while,” Storm explained as he stroked Jet’s hair. “I can’t believe I wasn’t there to help him.”

“Don’t worry. I made sure Scourge got what he deserved,” Sonic reassured Storm. “Believe me.”

“Sonic… Mahal... ki… Ugh…”

Even after Jet’s wounds were taken care of by his mother, Sonic decided to stay at his house to make sure Jet is alright. He wasn’t in the best condition during the party and the car ride. Plus, there’s no way he’s taking him to the ER and leaving Jet’s family with a hefty medical bill because he was beaten up by Scourge.

Currently, Sonic is in Jet’s room where he’s sitting on a gray bean bag chair, which was surprisingly cozy, texting Silver that he’s going to be home late and assuring him that Jet will be fine. After sending his messages, Sonic just leaned back on the chair and listened to some music to pass the time. As he’s humming to a song he recently liked, he went back to the car ride that happened an hour ago and thought about what Jet said. He tried asking Storm about what Jet said since he’s Filipino like Jet, but he didn’t give an answer to Sonic.

Hmm… From what Sonic can hear from Jet: Mahal ki… 

Does that mean something? Sonic wondered in his thoughts.

However, it got interrupted when he heard Jet groaning and slowly getting up from his bed.

“Oh, thank god you’re up!” Sonic happily exclaimed as he paused his music.

“Huh? Ryan, what the hell are you doing in my room?!” Jet asked, ready to throw a pillow at him.

“Well, long story short, you got beaten up by Scourge, I kicked his ass, and Knuckles, Storm, and I drove to your place so your parents can treat your injuries,” Sonic quickly recapped the events for Jet. “Oh, and I flipped off Scourge before leaving.”

Jet laughed loudly for a moment, banging on his sheets before finally responding to Sonic, “Are you serious?”

Sonic nodded his head in response.

“No way!” Jet laughed a bit more and cleared his throat. “But wait, how come?”

“That asshole hurt you and called you a chicken, which I know you hate,” Sonic started explaining to Jet, “He even said I despised you, but that’s not true. Don’t know where he gets his info from.”

“Probably from last year. Even then, nothing too horrible, other than… Well, you know.”

“I’m aware and I regret that day ever since.”

And the rest of Green Hills as well, Sonic added in his mind.

“Still, salamat, Sonic,” Jet smiled to Sonic.

“No problem.” Thank god he at least knew what that meant. 

Oh, speaking of Tagalog!

“Hey, Jet. Can I ask you something real quick?” Sonic requested as he got up from the bean bag chair.

“Yeah. What is it?” Jet wondered, taking a sip from his glass of water.

“So, while you were kind of conscious at the car, I heard you say something in Tagalog that’s referring to me.”

Jet almost spat his water out in response.

“Uh… You okay?” Sonic asked in concern.

“I’m cool,” Jet said, coughing a bit before clearing his throat. “Anyway, what did I say? Nothing stupid, I assume.”

“Well, from what I got, you said ‘Mahal ki…’ and then you kept on sleeping for the rest of the car ride.”

“I-I said that?! OH, god no…” Jet nervously muttered. “ Punyeta… ”

“Jet?”

“Okay, Sonic. Guess I should tell you.” Jet took a deep breath before saying, “I was saying Mahal kita , which means that I-”

KNOCK KNOCK!

“ Anak! Are you awake?”

“Uh, yes tay, ” Jet said as the door opened, revealing Jet’s father is carrying bread buns wrapped in plastic. “Are those matcha choco buns?”

“After dropping you off here, Storm went to 85C Bakery and bought five of them, just for you,” his father explained, giving a green bun to Jet. He handed a pink-red bun to Sonic, “Here you go. Strawberry since the other flavors might be a bit much for you.”

Jet snickered at his father’s comment, only to stop once his father gave him a quick glance at him.

“Anyway, thanks for taking my son home,” his father said to Sonic.

“It’s no problem Mr. Hawkins,” Sonic replied, opening the wrapper of the bread bun.

“Didn’t I told you to call me Blake?”

He kind of forgot to be honest.

“Sorry,” Sonic said as he finally got the bun out of the wrapper.

“Anyway, do you need a ride home, Sonic? It’s pretty cold and dark at this hour.”

“Nah. I’m the fastest thing alive. I can get home no problem.”

“Nonsense. Unless you have night vision.”

Curses. Sonic didn’t want to be driven home by Blake. Sure, he’s using his personal car rather than his police car, but it’s making Sonic shiver. No, not because it’s cold in the car—in fact, it’s pretty warm considering it's 30 degrees Fahrenheit. But because he’s alone with an adult in a car. He doesn’t mind it if his Aunt Aleena is here, but anyone else, Sonic gets a bit nervous. Of course, he doesn’t show it and tries to play cool.

“So, how’s the party?” Blake attempted to start a conversation.

Okay, part of Sonic’s cool is starting to go down!

“Kinda boring,” Sonic replied. “I was only there because of my track team. And even then, they just brag about me breaking three records.”

“Wow, that’s impressive. Angelo told me all about it, though not in a good light,” Blake said as they’re waiting at the stoplight.

Huh. That’s new to Sonic.

“What you mean by that?” Sonic wondered as he ate his sweet bun. Those things aren’t too bad.

“He ranted that everyone paid more attention to you than him despite both of you putting in the same effort and achieving incredible feats for the school,” Blake explained. “He even cried and barely slept one night.”

“What? He seemed pretty cool about it. I didn’t know about that.”

Guess the two weren’t that different when they break their cocky yet upbeat personas in private. But Sonic couldn’t have guessed that Jet is the type to break down in private when he feels like he’s nothing.

“I did tell him I was sick of the constant bragging my track team did. I bring it up every now and then, but I don’t think the records were a big deal to me,” Sonic continued his conversation with Blake. “But I can see why it frustrates Jet so much.”

Blake nodded his head as he drove when the lights turned green. “He almost wanted to slap you at one point, but I told him it’s a terrible idea.”

“Maybe pinching my nose would have been a good compromise,” Sonic suggested.

“Hmm, probably.”

“Uh, Blake, can I ask you something?”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

“Okay. Jet said ‘Mahal-’ ”

“ Mahal kita, is that it?” Blake finished Sonic’s question, with the latter nodding his head. “Did he say it to you?”

“He said my name when saying it. What does it mean?”

Blake chuckled a bit before coming up with an answer, “I’d rather let Angelo explain that to you whenever he has the chance to say it again.”

“You don’t know?!”

“Of course I do know. But let me just say that it’s usually reserved for someone they care for.”

Care for? Jet cares for Sonic?

Well, this night is something. Willing withdrawing from a party after beating up Scourge is one thing. Learning that Jet cares for Sonic as much as Sonic can confidently say Jet is a good friend/rival?! Damn.

Also, sweet bread buns are super good and wishes he tried them earlier in his life.

Chapter Text

Ah, it’s been a while since Sonic walked into Emerald Pitstop; Green Hill’s most popular convenience store and gas station. Usually, Fridays are the busiest days due to the amount of high schoolers and university students coming here for snacks, slushies, and cold beer (only if they’re of legal age). This Friday night, however, due to Emerald University’s basketball team, The Emerald Stingers, are playing in Austin for the NCAA’s playoffs, the Emerald Pitstop is much quieter than usual. Sure, there’s a few customers here, but it’s mainly a small group of middle schoolers and an elderly couple who’s making small talk with the gas station attendant.

Sonic is kind of glad that he decided to come here during the Pitstop’s rare quiet Fridays. Especially after what happened this afternoon with…

We’ll talk about your future during dinner tomorrow. Dress nicely this time, Ryan.

‘My future’? Yeah right. More like ‘your future for me’. Sonic sighed as he casually scanned the chips aisle. The chips he wanted, salt & vinegar waffle chips, weren’t available, so he snatched a bag of Lays salt & vinegar Poppables since he actually likes them (thanks to Shadow of all people). Plus, neither Tails or Silver loves salt & vinegar chips, he’ll have the whole bag to himself, which he REALLY needs tonight!

Plus a slushie, despite the cold weather. Then again, he ate a gallon of vanilla chocolate chip ice cream on a 25 degrees Fahrenheit weather yesterday, so Sonic has no excuse as to why he can enjoy a Cherry-Cola slushie on a cold, rainy Friday night. He can also rent a movie here since there’s a Redbox station at the entrance-

“Ryan? What are you doing here?”

Sonic spotted Jet with a paper coffee cup (sealed), a bag of beef jerky and a wrapped BLT sandwich.

“Oh, hey there, Jet,” Sonic greeted him. “Just here for some stuff for movie night. You?”

“Getting some food before going back home,” Jet answered. “Came here at a good time honestly. Haven’t been here since September.”

“Same, though I’ve visited here two weeks ago for a slushie.”

“In winter? Really, Ryan?!” Jet snickered, pointing to the windows where it’s drizzling.

“Let me live my life! I need something stupid cold to numb the pain,” Sonic exclaimed as he left the chips aisle and to the slushie corner, grabbing a large cup. He didn’t expect Jet to follow him and grab some sugar packets since the slushie machine and coffee/tea machine are close.

“Need some for my tea,” Jet said as he tore three sugar packets.

“Thought that was coffee you had there.”

Jet stuck his tongue before adding, “Even if you put sugar and creamer, it still tastes like ass. I don’t understand how people like this crap.”

“Eh. You’ll get used to it eventually the more times you try it. That’s how I tolerate coffee, but I personally still like tea,” Sonic said as he poured himself half a cup of cherry slushie and a half cup of blue raspberry slushie onto his large cup.

“Ryan, I know you wanted to numb your pain and all but,” Jet pointed to Sonic’s slushie mix with a disgusted look on his face before asking, “Are you trying to kill yourself with… Whatever the hell that concoction is supposed to be?!”

“No, and mixing these two makes it taste better!” Sonic attempted to reason with Jet as he grabbed the lid and putting in the red straw. “Honestly, having either flavor alone tastes rather bleh. At least to me.”

“Yeah, sure. I wonder if your-” Jet immediately paused once he realized he’s bringing up something that makes Sonic lose his cool.

“They don’t and I hope they never will,” Sonic answered Jet’s incomplete question. “They’d kill me if they saw me drink this crap.”

“Can’t imagine why.”

Sonic laughed at Jet’s comment as he’s making his way to the checkout corner, with Jet following suit. Most likely since he’s got what he needed.

The line was short, with only a truck driver and two young middle school boys in front of them, but it’s taking a while as the two boys were trying (and failing) to buy a six pack of beer with a fake ID. The truck driver could only sigh and facepalm in witnessing this embarrassing scene, while Sonic and Jet snickered, trying hard to not drop their items as they’re covering their mouths.

“How long do you think it’s going to take ‘til those brats give up?” Jet pondered to Sonic as they witnessed the boys yelling at the stoic faced attendant.

“A minute,” Sonic guessed.

The truck driver with the red cap turned around, surprising both Sonic and Jet, joined in on the fun and answered, “Five seconds. Just wait.”

True to the driver’s word, the attendant simply stored the beer back behind the counter before pointing the young boys to the door. They tried to reason with him, but quickly bolted out of the store when they saw the attendant dial 911 on his phone. Once the boys were gone, he put the phone away in his pocket and gestured the truck driver to purchase his items.

“Told you,” the driver said in confidence. He took note of Sonic’s slushie and commented, “Plannin’ on giving yourself a brain freeze there, son? Wonder if your parents are okay with that,” before going to the checkout counter.

Sonic could only sigh in annoyance about the driver’s comment and hearing Jet snicker a little before he stopped once Sonic took a quick glance at him.

“You think the guy at the register will comment about my drink?” Sonic asked Jet.

“Probably not,” Jet quickly answered. “Compared to those brats trying to get beer, he’ll think that your drink is normal.”

Who wouldn’t mix two different flavors of slushies if given the chance?

“I guess.” Sonic’s phone vibrated in his pockets of his brown bomber jacket and pulled it out with his free hand. It was a text message from Silver and honestly, he wished he’d never read it.

Sonic, our parents are coming over in an hour! They arrived earlier than we thought!

“Ah, shit,” Sonic cursed as he slid his phone into his pockets. “I thought they’re arriving tomorrow morning.”

“What is it? Something came up?”

“My parents,” Sonic replied to Jet. “They’re coming home from work for the first time this year.”

“This year?! Where the hell they’ve been? Australia to escape the cold?” Jet guessed.

“Paris. But that’s not important,” Sonic attempted to change the topic quickly so it won’t devolve into what his parents do for a living. “Can you let Silver stay at your place for the night? Please?”

“Uh… Sure…?” Jet awkwardly accepted Sonic’s last minute request. “But why now? Especially since your parents got home?”

Oh, god. Sonic doesn’t know how he can explain it without giving too much information away. One wrong word and Jet will start getting suspicious about him.

“Well, it’s kinda complicated,” Sonic started his explanation. “See, they want to discuss about my future…”

He almost wanted to gag just saying those last words.

“However, since Silver started school a year ago and is still developing his own personal interests, they thought that planning for Silver’s future after high school should wait until junior or senior year. Whichever comes first,” Sonic concluded his explanation without giving anything too major.

Jet was about to answer until the gas attendant gestured the two to come over since the truck driver exited the store.

“Pay for my stuff and tatay and I will come get Silver,” Jet offered a deal to Sonic.

“50/50,” Sonic said as they went to the front to pay their stuff.

Once they paid for their items, Jet asked Sonic, “Hey, did you get here by foot?”

“Duh. Why…?” As they walked out of the store, he noticed that Blake’s waving at him and Jet, along with yelling something in Tagalog. “Oh, god.”

And considering it’s pretty late and with the cold rain, there’s no way Blake is taking ‘no’ for an answer. Of all the days he visited the Emerald Pitstop, why did it have to be today?! All Sonic wanted was some chips and a slushie to temporarily forget his personal problems… And said problems came crashing in t-minus sixty minutes and counting!

“Hey, Sonic! Hurry up and get inside!”

Sometimes, Sonic wonders if God secretly wants him to suffer. Well if that’s the case, he hopes that God doesn’t make Jet’s life a living hell.

Chapter Text

This didn’t feel right to Jet. There’s no one at the beach where he spent his early childhood. Sure, he sees the white and red bangka boat in the sand, right down to the words ‘BR Forever’ painted on the right side of the boat, and his old jar filled with a mixture of seashells and bottle caps he found in the sand. But Jet hasn’t seen anyone passing by, no annoying seagulls flying past him, the waters were too calm as there weren’t any waves crashing (both small and large), the sun’s too bright as if its rays can blind him any minute, and he couldn’t feel any cool breeze at all.

What’s even weirder is that Jet’s hair is down and he’s in his pajamas—a yellow t-shirt with a deer that has a slogan ‘Fear the deer!’ and black flannel pajama pants. He doesn’t remember how he got here in the first place. All he remembers is waking up in the middle of the beach with sand in his long hair, calling out in hopes that he can find anyone.

So far, none. He searched for what feels like hours and the sun hasn’t set nor is the sky changing color. If Jet couldn’t feel any wind in the beach for hours, then that can only mean one thing…

“Who’s screwing with my mind?!” Jet demanded, stomping his bare feet at the sand. Normally, he would feel a slight burning pain from the hot sand, but even then, nothing. To confirm, he stomped his feet a few more times to see if he can even feel pain. No red anywhere. “Alright, stop messing around! Show yourself!”

“Jet?”

As if on cue, he turned around to see Wave, Storm, Bean, and his parents behind him, smiling. Oh, thank god he’s not alone. Relieved, he ran towards his father, but before he can give him a hug, his father vanished in an instant.

“ Tatay? ” Jet can only mutter as he backed up slowly towards his mother. “ ‘Nay, what’s going-” The moment he grabbed her hand, she vanished, a smile still on her face. “N-no… No… There’s no way…”

Jet hurriedly dashed to Bean, but he vanished before Jet can scream his name. Fearing the worst, he ran to his friends and yelled, “Guys! Come on, let’s-”, but right as he was about to grab either Wave or Storm’s hands, the two of them vanished at the last millisecond. Not too shortly after, he tripped and fell face down on the sand.

While getting up, he quietly sobbed to himself, “Don’t leave me alone.”

As he finally got up and spat out some sand from his mouth, Jet felt an intense torrent of wind, but it didn’t feel natural. Almost feels like someone is controlling it. As if to go along with the supernatural strong winds, the waves were crashing harshly and thunder clouds quickly covered the sun and skies.

“WHAT THE HELL’S GOING ON HERE?!” Jet furiously screamed as he struggled to walk in the harsh, unnatural weather. “WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME?!”

He expected a loud voice to answer his questions or someone to appear in front of him. Fortunately, the latter happened when he spotted someone with… Blue hair? Wait a moment… Jet took a double take to make sure his vision isn’t screwing with him; yeah, he did see someone with short, spiky blue hair, calling to him. And that voice…

“R-Ryan?!”

He couldn’t believe it. This situation is getting weirder and creepier every second, what with everyone vanishing the moment he gets too close and the unnatural weather at his childhood home, but for once, he’s relieved to see Sonic; especially since he’s running towards Jet and looking relaxed despite the grim surroundings.

“Ryan, what are you doing here?” Jet asked Sonic.

“No time for small talk, Jet,” Sonic quickly replied as he grabbed Jet’s hand. “We’ve got to get the hell out of here.”

Jet complied with no problem as the two ran. While running, Jet asked, “You know what’s causing everything to go wrong?”

“Of course. It’s linked to you. ”

“What?”

Realizing what Sonic said, Jet immediately pulled away from Sonic’s hands and backed away from him. His eyes grew wide in horror when he saw an aura of red cubes surrounding Sonic and he transformed into an exact replica of his father.

“Everything was going well and everyone was happy here…” Whatever that figure was, ‘it’ sounded like his father, down to the slight accent whenever he spoke English. But it just sounded so toxic.

Soon, ‘it’ transformed into his mom, right to her olive green hair and scar on her left cheek. “Until you showed up into our lives. You just had to make our lives a living hell, anak. ”

Then ‘it’ morphed into Bean. “I wish I didn’t have a poor excuse of a kuya! ”

Wave. “Honestly, your skills S-U-C-K, suck ass. And I don’t mean just EX-Gear.”

Storm. “Don’t you dare talk to me. Ever.”

Even Silver. “You’re an awful friend. Just do us a favor and die.”

No. This isn’t happening. They’re all illusions, even if they look and sound like the people Jet knows and cares for. So then, why? Why do their words stab him painfully in his heart?!

“Stop it…” he begged as he felt tears coming from his eyes. “Just stop…”

The vile voices masquerading as his family and friends ignored his pleas and laughed at him, continuing to mock him as ‘it’ swapped appearance and voice every five seconds. Eventually, ‘it’ stopped and settled as Sonic, only he wore a vile smile and his eyes were each a different color; his left eye golden-yellow while his right is blue.

“Aw, and I was having so much fun. Don’t ruin it for me,” ‘Sonic’ teased Jet as he grabbed Jet by the shirt with his right hand, lifting him up. God, even if Jet knows that ‘it’ wasn’t Sonic, just hearing his voice almost feels like it is him, minus the eyes. “Besides, nobody wants you around. Even the pathetic mosquitoes don’t want to bite you. Isn’t that sad?”

“Shut up, you faker,” Jet snarled at ‘Sonic’, kicking at his chest, but to no avail. He swore he heard ‘Sonic’ chuckled during that feeble escape attempt.

“Faker? Is that the best you can come up with? I’m sure even Cream can pull off a better insult than that, but she’s too much of a sweetheart to say anything mean-spirited.”

“Let me-”

“Go? Oh, I don’t think so,” ‘Sonic’ ignored Jet’s pleas as his free hand morphed into a red curved razor, inching towards to Jet’s neck. “Now shut up and die slowly.”

“Like hell,” Jet viciously growled at ‘Sonic’, grabbing onto the razor hand and attempting to push it away from him. At first, Jet was successful in pushing the razor away from him and was about to find a way to slash ‘Sonic’ with it, but at the last millisecond, his efforts were deemed useless as ‘Sonic’ kicked Jet in the groin, screaming in agony as ‘Sonic’ released Jet and watched him plop into the sand.

“Nice try, Jet, but it wasn’t enough,” ‘Sonic’ taunted Jet as his razor hand is now pointing towards Jet’s neck. “Just face the facts. Your friends, family, and everyone else around you wants you dead. And they want you to suffer alone and eventually…”

Jet…?

Huh? Who’s there?

Jet didn’t have time to wonder about the voice as his vision turned black the moment the razor was about to slice through his neck.

“...You’ll die alone. A fate you truly deserve.”

Jet? Hey, Jet! JET! ANGELO QUEZON HAWKINS!

“WAKE UP!”

Jet bolted awake from the living room couch and his first instinct was to hit Sonic in the head with a pillow and scream to him, “What the hell, Ryan? Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

“No,” Sonic said as he rubbed the back of his head. The two spotted Silver coming down the stairs and said to him, “Don’t worry, Silver. He’s awake.”

“Really? Oh, thank god! I was getting worried due to the time,” Silver responded as he made his way to the kitchen.

Huh? Oh, yeah. Jet was at Sonic and Silver’s place since the latter needed help preparing for his math exam, only for Jet to spend the night when it suddenly rained at the last minute. He slept on the couch since Sonic didn’t want Jet to sleep in either his or Silver’s room AND especially his parent’s room. The last one he can understand, but didn’t know why he couldn’t sleep in either Griffith’s room.

Whatever, that’s the least of his worries. He needed some breakfast before he can go home. He went to the kitchen where the electric kettle is already filled with hot water (thank god), so he grabbed the nearest mug he found at the cupboard, found a black tea bag and placed it on the red mug, and poured the water onto the mug. As he was grabbing some sugar packs, he noticed Silver following him, with a concerned look on his face.

“What is it Silver?” Jet asked Silver as he poured the sugar onto his tea.

“Well, Sonic and I heard you yelling in your sleep,” Silver started as Jet stirred his tea.

Shit, Jet cursed in his thoughts. Was he really yelling in his sleep?! Considering what he dreamt, it’s a possibility, but still, he knows what Silver might bring up.

“Did you had a nightmare?”

Yep, that’s the one.

“Yeah. Let’s just say…”

“You’ll die alone. A fate you truly deserve.”

Just remembering those words is hurting Jet’s head. The last thing he needed this morning is a headache.

“I’d rather forget it.” Jet answered to Silver. “Especially since it involves your brother.”

“Really now? I would like to hear it.” Sonic popped into the conversation, holding a cup of coffee. God, he never understood why people love this crap anyway.

“Ryan, no way.”

“Aw, come on. We were worried about you when you screamed,” Sonic said, taking a sip of his coffee. “At least tell us a little about your dream.”

Sighing, Jet explained to Sonic and Silver, “Let’s just say you were trying to kill me in my childhood home.”

Sonic nearly spat out his coffee when he heard this while Silver gasped, covering his mouth.

“I know, shocker,” Jet commented to their reactions. “Anyway, the weird thing was the Sonic in my dream wasn’t Sonic.”

“What do ya mean?” Sonic wondered.

“Your eyes were different colors; one yellow and one blue. And you morphed into my family and friends, even matched their voices. Every time you did, you had an aura of red cubes surrounding you. And your hand morphed into a red razor that… Well…”

“You’ll die alone…”

“I think we get the idea, Jet,” Sonic acknowledged as he finished his cup of coffee (how he does it is a mystery). “But, damn! That really must have been one hell of a nightmare.”

“It is.” Jet sighed in relief. He really didn’t want to reveal the rest of his nightmare, especially that last part before the nightmare ended at the last millisecond. “God, it’s the worst nightmare I had in my life. And I never want something like that ever again.”

“Well, if it does happen, you can always talk to me or Sonic about them. I often get very strange nightmares at least once a week,” Silver offered to Jet, patting him in the back.

“Yeah, I’ll do that. Not too sure if I can trust Sonic listening to my-”

“Yes, I can!” Sonic exclaimed. “Starting with your next nightmare, it’ll be between us. Cross my heart.”

“If you say so, Ryan.” Jet chortled as he finally took a sip of his tea. Not as sweet since he couldn’t find any honey, but at least it’s sweet enough to numb the pain from his nightmare.

RING! RING!

“Yeah, Shads? What up?”

“How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that ridiculous nickname?”

“Plenty. But enough about that. I have an update about ‘he who should not be named’.”

“You know you can say his name if Silver isn’t around.”

Silver left earlier to go with Jet to the library for the whole afternoon, but still…

“I’m aware. It’s a precaution just in case-”

“Someone is listening to us. I know.”

“Anyway, I know we haven’t seen ‘him’ in over three years, but I have a nagging feeling that he might be here.”

“As in you saw him?”

“Uh… no? It’s kinda difficult to explain. ‘He’ appeared in Jet’s dreams last night-”

“What?”

“I know, it’s insane. All he told me that ‘I’ was trying to kill him and that ‘I’ had different eye colors.”

“Yellow and blue, I assume?”

“Exactly. If that doesn’t scream ‘him’, Jet mentioned that ‘he’ morphed into his family and friends, all with an aura of red cubes.”

“No… That’s impossible! Did Hawkins met ‘him’ or found traces of the-”

“I DON’T FUCKING KNOW, SHADOW!” Sonic furiously snapped as he almost broke his pen that he was messing with during the call. “I… I don’t know…”

“Well, for now, Rouge and I will keep an eye out for anything suspicious, even if it’s minor. You just continue being your normal self. Alright?”

Sonic didn’t say anything to Shadow for a few seconds until he replied, “Yeah. And sorry for cursing at you, Shads.”

“It’s fine. Can happen to anyone.”

“I know. I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Okay. Maybe take a walk later. It’ll help up calm you down. Goodbye, Sonic.”

The call ended and Sonic plopped down onto his bed and screamed loudly. He didn’t want to believe it, but Jet’s already suffering because of him. All for a mistake three years ago where he was a millisecond too late. And he’s paying for it in the worst way.

Jet, I promise I’ll make everything up for you.

Chapter Text

The wait is killing him. Scratch that.

It was killing everyone around the race track; even those at the snack area were screaming and were this close to throwing handfuls of popcorn at the race officials.

It’s been over a half-hour since Team Heroes (Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles) and Team Babylon (Jet, Wave, and Storm) finished their closest race by far and they’re currently waiting for the results. By now, the officials were watching the replay of each member crossing the finish line and all they gathered is that Knuckles and Storm were the last ones to cross it, finishing at the exact time: 4:26.01. Before them, Tails and Wave managed to tie as well: 4:23.90. 

Sonic’s and Jet’s times? 

That’s a tough one. And why it’s taking a half-hour for the EX-Gear officials to either call for a tie-breaker race or name a winner. Both Sonic and Jet were close when they crossed the finish line that the majority of the audience thought they finished at the same time. However, one of the officials had a nagging feeling that the winner was decided by the last millisecond, which the rest agreed and have to watch the last seconds frame by frame.

OVER SEVENTY-ONE TIMES! ...At least according to Tails two minutes ago. At the rate it’s taking for the officials to make a decision, Sonic could’ve been running Astra Park for the fourth time.

But no. He, along with Tails, Knuckles, and all of Team Babylon are just sitting at a bench that’s close to the park stage. Storm fell asleep with his head is resting on his gray hoodie, Knuckles is just staring at the clouds in the sky while listening to music, while Tails and Wave doing minor maintenance to their respective team’s boards. Only Sonic and Jet weren’t doing anything to keep themselves occupied—unless tapping their feet quickly counts as an activity.

“This is getting stupid,” Jet groaned, finally breaking the silence. “Are all of the officials somehow blind or something?!”

“Picky would be better fitting considering they’ve been arguing about our frames multiple times,” Sonic added as he stopped tapping his feet. “If they don’t conclude in the next, let’s say ten minutes, then I don’t mind doing a tie-breaker with you.”

Jet took a few glances at Sonic before lightly slapping him on the cheek, saying “Are you serious?”

“I’m not joking,” Sonic confirmed, getting off the bench and stretching his arms. “And before you ask, yes. I’m well aware of the grand prize.”

Rolex watches. Or rather Rolex EX-Bands that are rewarded to the racers in the finals. Runner-ups get silver while first place receives gold. Normally, the prize would be a trophy alongside a scholarship of any college ($1000 for 2nd, $2000 for 1st). But to make up for the EX-Races tournament getting canceled last year due to participants getting rejected online for no reason or withdrew at the last minute, the committee decided to award an Ex-Band crafted by Rolex that isn’t available anywhere but the tournament, alongside the scholarship award. The announcement of the grand prizes was enough to have over thirty-two teams sign up—twice as two years ago.

“Well, if doing an official rematch is fine with you, then I’ll gladly snatch that gold away from you,” Jet said with a smirk. “That is if they can’t make up their minds.”

“Cool. Then we have a deal.” Sonic reached his hand towards Jet’s and the two shook hands in agreement with their short exchange. After that, Sonic looked at the audience stands and saw someone throwing a megaphone towards one of the committee members. He chortled a bit, adding, “Kinda sucks to be the committee at this time, huh.”

Everyone, at least those awake or aware, answered, “Yep!”

“Still, we get some kick-ass bands either way,” Wave commented as she finished maintenance on her team’s boards. “Mine is kinda getting a little dull after five years.”

“I heard that they’re supposed to last for life if you take good care of them,” Tails added. “Plus, I heard that these bands are guaranteed to protect your whole body from any major injury, even if you’re not riding an EX-Gear!”

“And these babies aren’t supposed to be out until next year. Even then, rumor has it that they’re starting at a heavy price…”

After a minute of listening to Tails’ and Wave’s discussion, both Sonic and Jet lost track when their mechanics start going to the technical aspects of the Rolex EX-Band. All they need to know is that it protects the rider from getting any injury (minor and major) and that’s it.

Snickering, Jet nudged Sonic’s shoulder and whispered to him, “Wanna ditch with me for a while?”

“I guess. Beats listening to techno talk for the next few minutes and… Well…” Sonic pointed to Knuckles starting to doze off and Storm still sleeping.

Sonic started to walk away from the park stage area, with Jet following him. They headed in the direction of the fountain since it’s far away from both the EX-Race tourney and park stage. Sonic didn’t need to be away from all of it, even it’s for a few minutes.

Unsurprisingly, there weren’t that many people at the fountain except for an elderly couple enjoying ice cream together. Perfect. Sonic sat at the edge of the fountain, with Jet sitting next to him, snickering.

“Don’t think about it,” Sonic warned Jet, knowing what the Filipino might do.

“Oh, come on, Ryan. Even I wouldn’t stoop that low,” Jet happily commented as he let his hair down. “You know, this weather feels great, even though it’s November. Perfect for riding our Gear.”

“Texas weather, man. Gotta enjoy that seventy-degree weather while it lasts,” Sonic agrees with Jet as he felt a cool breeze through his hair. “So Jet, let’s say if my team won. I was wondering if I can, I don’t know, swap our prizes?”

Jet burst out laughing, almost falling to the fountain. “R-really, Ryan? Gold not good enough for you?”

“No! I have plenty of gold jewelry at home, thank you very much!”

“As much as I want that gold Rolex, I’d rather have it if I won it fair and square,” Jet admitted as he looked at his EX-Band; parts of the silver scratched off and the jade in the middle losing its luster. “Besides, it’s not every day I get a Rolex anything. The silver one alone might be worth more than my room and closet combined!”

“Probably might pay off someone’s bills with that thing,” Sonic added as he laughed. “But back to that offer with swapping Bands, I understand. Surprised you didn’t want to steal it.”

“I stole one thing that’s much more useful and if my memory serves correctly, your house has at least seven-”

“Fourteen.”

“You’re kidding me?!” Jet wondered, with Sonic nodding his head. “Okay then, fourteen of these god-tier first-aid kits. And your parents haven’t figured that out yet.”

And Sonic hopes they NEVER do.

“Speaking of which, are they-”

“No.” Sonic bluntly answered. “They have business in Ireland this month.”

“Damnnn, that’s gotta suck,” Jet said as he pulled his phone from his sports jacket. “Couldn’t even take a day off to watch you race? Or watch it on livestream?”

Sonic shook his head. “Silver came for support, alongside Aleena and my cousins. At least that’s something.”

“Yeah. Did any of them bring an air horn by any chance?”

“Oh no. Why? Did someone in your family bring one? Let me guess, was it-”

“My ‘nay of all people brought it, but she at least had the decency to blow it once instead of going crazy,” Jet said as he snickered.

Sonic’s choice was Bean since he’s notorious for causing trouble and pulling pranks daily. He wouldn’t expect Jet’s mom of all people to pull a stunt like that! From what Sonic knows of her, she appears strict yet generous.

Sonic couldn’t help but join in Jet’s snickering for a little while as his phone started to vibrate from his red jacket. His jaw dropped when he saw that he had over TWENTY missed text messages from his friends. He noticed that Jet did the same as he’s covering his mouth with his hand.

He checked the messages from Tails first and couldn’t believe what he just read:

“WE WON BY ONE MILLISECOND!”

No. Way. To be sure, he checked the other messages, and lo and behold, they all confirm that Sonic barely won 1st place!

Normally, he would scream and jump with joy, but couldn’t since he’s too close to the fountain. And that he’s with Jet who probably learned the news about he lost by a half-frame.

Sonic placed his hand on Jet’s shoulder, hoping he’s not saddened by the news, and asked, “Are you okay, Jet?”

He was silent for a while before putting his phone away and answered to Sonic, “Congrats, Sonic. Next year, I’m sure I’ll kick your ass!”

Sonic hoped that Jet wasn’t faking it, though his eyes not turning red is a good sign that he’s not visually disappointed.

Smiling, Sonic got off from the edge of the fountain and yelled, “RACE YA TO THE PARK STAGE!” before sprinting off and Jet running after him not too long.

Sonic hopes that next year, there won’t be any hassles with the EX-Race tournament.

Chapter Text

Why? Why did Jet agree to this?

No, wait a minute. Why did he and Sonic agree to be sitting inside a closet for ten minutes at a party?! Technically, not a closet but more so a storage room due to the abundance of board games and children's books on the shelves. But dear lord, this storage room is the size of a small walk-in closet!

Jet was invited to an end of the school year party by Silver, and the party is taking place at Rouge’s house. And Rouge’s house is equally, if not slightly, big as Sonic’s house! During the party, Jet was dragged into a game that combines Spin the Bottle and Seven Minutes in Heaven. Or rather, Ten Minutes of Nice Talk since Silver is participating (and unaware of suggestive stuff). And everyone in the circle agreed to NOT inform Silver the actual rules of Seven Minutes in Heaven. NEVER.

This version of Spin the Bottle and discount Seven Minutes in Heaven involves whoever the bottle points to must either choose to do a dare by the host (in this case, Rouge) or go to the storage room for ten minutes with whoever the bottle points. He’ll admit, there were some hilarious dares that he saw such as Shadow drinking a bottle of BOTH hot sauce and sriracha and wasn’t bothered by the intense spiciness, Knuckles putting make-up on Amy for a minute and she chased Knuckles for giving her a bad eyeshadow application (too much black on her eyes), and Espio landing a bullseye on darts while blindfolded.

However, when it came to Jet, his dare was drinking a mug of coffee in under a minute. Black. Coffee. He immediately refused the dare and insisted on going to the storage room. Of all people, it was Sonic. When the choices were drink something he hates or spend time in a room with Sonic, it’s pretty obvious what Jet would be more willing to do.

But for some goddamn reason, ten minutes is feeling like an eternity to both of them! Neither of the two has said anything since they’ve been here and they haven’t heard Shadow call out how much time they have left. Well, Jet’s thankful it’s not Rouge that’s close to the door since, due to her excellent hearing, will know exactly what’s going on in the closet. That and Rouge had left her house to get more food from the Emerald Pitstop.

Sonic ended up breaking the awkward silence with a chortle as he got up and attempted to reach for the shelf that has the board/card games.

“You think Rouge won’t mind if we play Uno here?” Sonic asked as he dug through the shelf.

“There’s no set-up for Uno compared to everything else in here, so fine,” Jet agreed with Sonic’s suggestion. “Unless you wanna read books or play Connect 4.”

“Nah. Oh hey, I found it!” Sonic pulled the box for Uno, but when he opened it, he stuck his tongue and stated, “Aw, crap. It’s empty…”

“For real? That sucks,” Jet groaned as he leaned back towards the wall. “Anything else in there that we can play for ten minutes?”

“Uh, nothing good unless you want to play Jenga.”

“Pass.”

He never liked that game anyway.

“Well then,” Sonic started as he slumped down next to Jet. “What do we do to pass time? You know, besides talking.”

“Nap?” Jet joked as he stretched his arms and let out a yawn. “I don’t about you, but I’m starting to get a bit sleepy.”

“No sleeping allowed,” Shadow informed outside.

Damn it.

“So if napping isn’t an option, none of the games aren’t good for a short time, and the books are boring, guess we can talk about our summer plans,” Sonic suggested as he leaned back against the wall.

“Nothing special going on until mid-July where I’m going to the Philippines with my family for a month. Until then, I’m just practicing my EX-Gear skills so I can beat you at the EX-Games in November.”

Jet took a glance at Sonic’s left wrist and noticed that he’s wearing the gold Rolex EX-Band that he won at the EX-Games last year. Based on how the watch is still shiny and the caseback sticker is still on the back, it looks like Sonic is wearing it for the first time or he didn’t bother removing the sticker before wearing it. Probably the former.

“You just had to wear your prize, didn’t you.” Jet pointed to Sonic’s EX-Band.

“What about you?” Sonic wondered as he pointed to Jet’s old EX-Band. “Come on, you of all people would want to flaut off that exclusive Band at a party where almost everyone we know is here.”

“H-hey! I wore it a few times! Mainly at family gatherings… I still use my old Band for everything else.”

Or rather his father’s old EX-Band from twenty years ago. Jet received it from his dad when he entered middle school and the Band itself actually managed to hold up very well. Sure, the Band isn’t that shiny compared to the last years and there are a few points of the Band that are scratched, but he likes wearing this Band on a daily basis, even if he’s not riding his Gear. Plus, the Rolex Band felt pretty heavy on his wrist compared to the one he’s wearing.

“Really? Never thought of you showing it off in private,” Sonic commented. “Really expected that you want to at least show it off once like at a party or even at school.”

“So that someone might snatch it from me? I don’t think so,” Jet replied. “Anyway, you haven’t told me your summer plans. Let me guess, you’re gonna just hang out with your friend and practice track indoors. Is that right?”

Sonic sighed before he answered, “Are you a mind reader or something? Cause you got most of it right.”

For real? Jet exclaimed in his thoughts.

“The only thing you missed, and it’s fair that you didn’t get this one, is that Silver and I are gonna join Aunt Aleena and my cousins to their beach house at Corpus early July,” Sonic finished his sentence.

“Your parents aren’t coming with-”

“Nope.” Sonic answered before sighing deeply. “Haven’t had a proper summer vacation with them since I was like ten.”

What? Jet learned a year ago that Sonic’s parents are rarely home due to work around the world, and he kind of expected that Sonic’s parents would at least take their son somewhere cool for the summer to make up for loss time. But hearing this?!

“Seriously? You’re not exaggerating all of this, right?” Jet wondered.

Sonic shook his head as he replied, “Kinda sucks, but at least Aleena isn’t taking me to an aquarium. They freak me out and give me a massive migraine.”

“But the beach doesn’t?”

“The water isn’t that deep, but I prefer it over a pool. Plus, I like taking walks in there. It’s surprisingly peaceful.”

“If that’s the case, you should go to the Philippines one day.”

Sonic chuckles before adding, “Aw, you don’t want to take me there?”

“Please! Maybe after we graduate if I beat you at the next EX-Games,” Jet offered, lightly punching Sonic on the shoulder. “Otherwise, just take Silver, your aunt, and cousins there if your parents don’t feel like it.”

“Wait. You serious about that?”

Jet stopped for a moment to think if he actually went through with it. He goes to the Philippines every summer with his family, and it’s not uncommon he brings Wave’s and Storm’s families along (depending on their schedule). So if he does discuss it with his parents, most likely they’ll say ‘yes’; especially his dad considering he has a nagging feeling about Sonic’s parents.

“I’ll bring it up to my parents eventually,” Jet answered to Sonic.

“Alright,” Sonic said as he placed his hands behind his head.

After their short two-minute conversation about their summer plans, Jet and Sonic spent at least two minutes sitting in silence, with it occasionally broke with Sonic whistling parts of a Crush 40 song (of course) and Jet tapping his fingers on the wooden floor. Jet took a quick glance at Sonic’s left hand that free and slowly inched his right hand towards it. Thankfully, Sonic didn’t notice and Jet was close to touching Sonic’s fingertips.

Unfortunately, Sonic caught on to what Jet was doing and placed his hand on top of Jet’s.

“Were you trying to steal my Rolex?” Sonic wondered with a big smirk that made Jet stick his tongue in disgust.

“N-no! I just, well…” Oh, god. Jet really didn’t know how he should respond without making it sound stupid. “I just want to hold your hand.”

“Any reason for it?”

“Uh…? I-I felt like it!” Jet hastily replied. “B-besides, the first thing everyone will ask if we did anything ‘naughty’,” Jet motioned airquotes on the last word, “Like if we kissed or held hands for most of it. Cause there’s no way in hell they’ll believe we attempted to play Uno or talked about our summer plans. I can guarantee you!”

Sonic let out a chortle as he said, “I guess that’s true. I can bear holding hands with you for um…”

“You have five minutes left if you were wondering,” Shadow reminded both Sonic and Jet. “Don’t worry, Rouge isn’t here yet if you’re worried that she might eavesdrop on you both.”

Good. He didn’t want Rouge probing into what he and Sonic did at the storage room.

“Thanks, Shads!” Sonic yelled, with Shadow grunting a quiet “Hmph.” in the background.

“Anyway, if you can bear the hand-holding, do you-”

No, no, no! Don’t you dare imply it you tanga! Jet warned himself.

“Handle a kiss from you? Is that what you wanted to say?” Sonic guessed.

Damn it!

“Uh… Kinda…” Jet nervously laughed as his cheeks flushed red. “M-maybe if it’s on the cheek or even the hand.”

“What about-”

“No way, Ryan!” Jet cut him off, knowing exactly what Sonic will say.

“Oh, that’s fine.” Sonic paused for a moment before continuing the conversation with, “Just out of curiosity, you kissed someone other than your family?”

Oh. Crap. Jet’s grip on Sonic’s hand grew sharper upon hearing it.

“It’s none of your business, Ryan!” Jet harshly answered Sonic. “Are you gonna brag about the many times you and Sally kissed before you two decided to be just friends?”

“What? No! Where’d you get that idea? Don’t tell me, is it from Scourge or even your ‘mates from the soccer team?” Sonic asked with a hint of anger. He’s really trying to keep his cool here.

“No reason... I’m kinda, well, a bit jealous that you had your first kiss before everyone we know.”

“That all?”

His grip loosened a bit. “Nah. I just kinda expected to have my…” Jet laughed a bit before continuing, “It sounds pretty stupid that I’m confessing it to you of all people.”

“Oh, no. It’s fine. Shadow hasn’t kissed anyone besides Maria on the cheek,” Sonic admitted before he heard banging on the door from Shadow. Clearly, he’s not happy on what he heard.

“Ryan, I’d like to talk with you after the two minutes are up,” Shadow demanded.

“Shit, that’s not good if he uses ‘Ryan’ instead of ‘Sonic’,” Sonic muttered.

Huh. Jet didn’t know that Shadow does something similar to when he’s referring to Sonic.

“Anyway, most people make a big deal of having their first kiss before a certain age or whatever. Aunt Aleena didn’t have hers until she was 24,” Sonic informed Jet.

“My parents were the same, honestly. Didn’t kiss until they were like, what was it, 22 or 23,” Jet added.

“Still, I can see why so many people, including you, wanted to get their first kiss before they leave high school.” Sonic then shortly added, “Well, if you’re pretty desperate to have one, why don’t I-”

“W-what?! Ryan, are you serious?!” Jet interrupted Sonic, covering his mouth with his free hand. “What if everyone, ESPECIALLY Amy, just happens to be near the door and when we get out, they’ll either be-”

Jet didn’t finish his sentence when Sonic pulled him close, their lips almost touching. Oh, god. Jet’s heart is racing faster than before, the cool storage room suddenly began to grow hotter despite the A/C turned on, and he can feel his Band slipping from his right wrist. He can swear that he heard Sonic whisper, “Our little secret. Don’t worry,” as their fingers are laced on their hands tightly.

Oh, god! Jet screamed internally.

“Jet, it’ll be fine,” Sonic reassured Jet, as if he read Jet’s thoughts.

“Y-you promise you won’t tell anyone. Even Silver or Tails,” Jet asked Sonic in a quiet voice. God, being this close to Sonic is making his hands sweat.

“Cross my heart and hope to die,” Sonic answered.

Without any hesitation, Sonic pressed his lips against Jet’s and at that moment, time slowed down. He couldn’t hear someone singing along to Whitney Houston’s “Dance with Somebody” with the voice of a screeching tiger, his heart racing faster in his life (equal to competing with Sonic), he kept his right hand on the floor and heard his silver Band clanging to the floor, Sonic’s free hand at the back of Jet’s head and softly strokes his green hair, and he closed his blue eyes to revel at this moment. Jet swore he heard Sonic’s Rolex clanging to the floor as well, but he didn’t know. Not when the dimly lit storage room faded away in his mind.

This moment will sneak up in his dreams for the next couple of days, maybe months. So what if his first kiss is in a storage room the size of a closet?! Maybe his dreams will replicate this exact moment; all in detail from Sonic’s brown flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up and unbuttoned with a white slogan t-shirt (because of course) with golden rings to Jet’s ponytail loosening as his hair tie nearly comes undone. Only they’re in Sonic’s bedroom or even Jet’s living room couch with no one around them.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

Oh, and Shadow wouldn’t be knocking and yelling “Ten minutes are up.” causing the two to quickly pull away from their kiss and back to reality. Once they did, Jet started to pant as he tried to quickly collect his thoughts on what just happened.

His first kiss. With his rival. Or friend at this point? He honestly doesn’t know at this point. But what he does know is that the kiss was soft; Sonic didn’t go any further and was comfortable the whole time and that it tasted like shea butter. Sure, Jet applied some lip balm earlier, but it was mango flavored (he blames Storm). So it’s safe to assume that it was Sonic; didn’t know he was into that.

“Give us a minute, Shads,” Sonic yelled as he got up from the floor.

“Thirty seconds and no more,” Shadow said.

Jet kinda had trouble getting up as his legs decided now it’s the best time to turn into jelly. Thankfully, Sonic offered his hand and pulled Jet off from the floor.

The two laughed for a little while until Sonic asked, “So, how was it?”

Jet struggled to come up with an answer until he replied, “Kinda surprising and not bad. Use less shea butter next time, will ya?”

“Oh, says the person with mango,” Sonic teased Jet. “But anyway, that kiss was actually okay.”

“Not lying?”

“Nope. And I mean it that this we’ll be between us. You can punch me if I somehow can’t keep it.”

“Ha! Sure thing!”

Shadow opened the door and Sonic and Jet exited the storage room quickly.

“Had fun holding hands for most of it?” Shadow asked, almost snickering.

“Y-yeah! It was fine. Gave him a quick prize before we left,” Sonic answered.

If prize meant a ‘kiss’.

Or a faux gold lip balm in a small container as Jet checked his pockets. Sonic must have snuck that in during their, ahem, ‘hand-holding’ session.

Well, Sonic hopes he doesn’t miss this lip balm cause it’s now Jet’s.