°•|Chapter X|•°
The rest of your adventure here was left to history itself.
You didn't know how or when, but at this point, you presumed the last bits of your consciousness had slipt off your fingers entirely. The last thing you saw, was the blurry outline of Sonic, the feeling of warmth still present on your hand before your eyelids fell over your eyes.
You tried to stay conscious even after that. But your efforts proved to be futile, as your mind finally drifted away to sleep.
It felt like a lifetime had passed when your sense of touch awoke. Your whole body felt awake, gone from its slumber as your other senses sharpened. Your mind felt flushed, as if it released one of its own yawns, and in an instant it buzzed with activity. Confusion spread everywhere, like liquid being spilled from a cup.
You were lying down, but not in the backseats of Tom's Toyota, this felt much more different than a car seat. It was more soft, especially around your head. Your hands grabbled your surroundings, but all they brought back was the texture of whatever you were now lying on top of.
A loud ruckus sent a jolt of surprise throughout your body, making you flinch and your eyes zap open. Having let out a gasp to further accompany your return to the lively world, the sound of scattering feet along with a jingle of a little keychain made their way towards you. Before you had time to turn your head over to check out what it was, a warm, pink tongue began to lick your face.
Groaning, you tried tilting your head to the side, but that did not change anything for your kiss attacker. Finally, you caught a glimpse of them, and your heart pumped faster. "Ozzy?" You said.
Sure enough, it was the ol' dog himself in all of his golden furry glory. Ozzy stared at you with his big brown eyes, his tail wagging in hearing his name. You propped yourself up onto your elbows, before sitting up. You rubbed your forehead as you received a headache from trying to remember what happened before you blacked out.
Before you had time to acknowledge your surroundings, a glass cup appeared close to your face. "Here," said a sweet, little voice. You turned your head to your right, and sitting on the extended part of the seat of what appeared to be a sofa with a wide chaise, was a young girl you've only seen in pictures.
"JoJo?" You said in disbelief. JoJo gave you a big smile, before bringing the cup with what appeared to be filled with water closer to your hands. "You're probably thirsty from your long trip here."
Your gaze drifted from her down towards the cup. It was true, you've been running around for a while without any thing to keep you hydrated. In fact, the last thing that made it's way through your digestive system was the breakfast you had back at the Wachowski's home.
You lifted the cup up to your lips, the cold liquid making it's way into your mouth and down your warm, dry throat. Before, your whole mouth and esophagus felt like a scorpion's nest. Unpleasant, but you were glad it had not stuck around for another minute. You lowered the glass cup down, thanking JoJo before the real question came to your mind. "Where are the others?" You asked.
JoJo regarded you for a second before her face glowed up in comprehension. "Oh! You mean that blue alien thingy? They're in the kitchen," she said, before adding quickly, "which reminds me, I have to go get something quick."
She then proceeded to get up from the sofa, and ran out of the room. You stared at the direction she ran too, before getting up from the sofa yourself. You smiled down at Ozzy, who began to follow you out of the room. Glass cup in hand, your ears picked up a familiar voice speaking. A couple, actually, but this was one you were drawn to. Heart fluttering, you made your way to the kitchen, finding one blue hedgehog. He stood there on the kitchen table, without his shoes on, all whilst staring at a set of double oak doors.
When his voice ceased to emit from his mouth, he sat down on the table with his feet dangling off the edge. He hasn't noticed you yet, but you decided to get his attention by hitting the table [lightly, so as to not break it] with the bottom of the glass cup. He jumped slightly at hearing the sound of the glass clinking before whisking his head over to the source. Your heart felt all bubbly and warm at seeing his face light up with glee. The next time you opened your eyes from the process of blinking, he was gone.
A ring of blue circled you, slapping your body with the coldness of the air, accompanied by joyful laughter. "[Y/N]!" He said, stopping right in front of you, ending the circle of [life] blue. "I'm so happy you're okay! You really made me think you were long gone!"
Smiling sheepishly, you knelt down to his height only to get engulfed in a quick hug. "I'm glad you're okay, too," you said before guiding him back to the table in the centre of the room. You rubbed your forehead as the second wave of your headache strolled in. "So...where's Tom and Maddie?" You asked, as the hedgehog, now sitting back on the table in his original place, watched you in slight concern. "They're in there," he answered, pointing his index finger towards the wooden doors behind you. "They said they had to talk or something. Told me to wait here."
You nodded before pulling out a chair and sat in front of the hedgehog. You figured whatever they had to speak about must have been important, and being the person who's used to that from your own parents, you decided waltzing in there in front of them was a terrible decision, especially with an awkward aftermath.
"So... Care to fill me in on what happened during mustache man's attack?" You asked.
"Hmm....let's see.... Not including the part where I skate across the road on these discs - amazingly, might I add -, destroying not one, but three bots, and the roof of Tom's car getting lasered off by a small, flying round drone. Cute, but deadly. Cut out the part when I get knocked out by the same drone self-destructing and I'll say, you haven't missed that much."
Your eyes widened a bit. "You got knocked out by the drone self-destructing?" You said, checking him over for any injury that your eyes had failed to see. He let out a chuckle at your behavior. "Don't worry, [Y/N]. I'm alright. It's you I'm worried about."
You opened your mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Sonic studied you, perhaps trying to read your emotions. "[Y/N]?" You snapped out of your state and said, "I'm fine."
Before quickly adding, "darn, Tom's Toyota got busted up top? Probably sucks so bad for him." Relief washed over you as the hedgehog seemed to have not noticed you changing the subject. "Yeah. My only hope is that he has car insurance..."
You gave him a smile, before hiding your hand that was injured back at the Pistol pit behind you. "So! Should I get a reward?" He asked playfully. You cocked your head to the side, not getting his gist, "a reward?" You repeated. "Yup! Every hero gets rewarded for their heroic deeds, right?" He said, now beginning to kick his legs gently back and forth.
You shrugged slightly, deciding to play along with his game. "Ah, that reward. Mhm, sure..."
You got up from your chair a bit, just enough so that you two were face to face, before leaning in. Upon coming into contact with his cheek with your lips, you heard a faint sound that reminded you of a bucket full of chopsticks bashing into each other. Accompanied by what appeared to be a small squeak. When you pulled back, a burst of giggles escaped from your mouth. The once cocky hedgehog didn't look so confident now.
The quills protruding from the back of his head stuck up in a messy pattern. His eyes were wide in shock as a rosy pink dusted his muzzle. He broke out of his state when he heard your giggling, crossing his arms before looking away, pouting; his blush only getting darker in embarrassment. "What's wrong? I thought you said you wanted a 'reward'," you managed to say, before a short laugh began to tug at your throat.
All the hedgehog did was roll his eyes before facing you. "Yeah, but I didn't expect you to do that."
He puffed out his cheeks more when you seemed to not be taking him seriously, covering your mouth before looking away from him; thinking that that would decrease the size of your sudden humour bubble. You snapped out of it when the sudden sound of footsteps echoed across the room. You turned your head towards the kitchen's entrance, only to see JoJk walk in, her hands plastered behind her back whilst a little smile formed on her face.
She stopped right next to you, in front of Sonic, before pulling back her arms in front of her, revealing what she was hiding. "So you won't hurt your feet anymore," she said, presenting a pair of red Puma shoes, a single white stripe adorning the both of them. Sonic looked at the small but sweet gift. "Really?"
JoJo nodded, holding them a bit closer towards him as his hands reached out to take them. "No one has ever given me a gift before...," he said softly, staring at the shoes now sitting in the palm of his hands, "I gotta check this off my bucket list."
He glanced at JoJo with his big green eyes, before placing the shoes next to him on the table, putting one of them on the respective foot before doing the same with the other. He checked them out for a bit, before really putting them to the test. He got up from his seating position, now standing up on the table before doing a little dance, letting loose a little laugh, spinning around before standing in a superhero pose. "Looking good!" He said cheerfully, earning a giggle from JoJo.
A smile formed on your face as he turned to look at you. "Whadda'ya think, [Y/N]?" He asked, before doing another dance. Chuckling at his actions, you got up from your seat before pushing it under the table. "I think they're awesome, blue devil."
He smiled back at you, his emerald eyes sparing a glance at your [E/C] ones. "Wanna meet Ozzy?" The sweet voice of JoJo said through the comfortable silence. "Oh, yes! I wanna make sure he knows who's the real best animal friend around here!" Sonic replied, jumping off the table before following JoJo back to the living room that you first woke up in. Speaking of Ozzy, wasn't the dog following you earlier?
You, confused, decided to head back to the living room with them. Apparently, the dog had been doing a bit of exploring around the house, despite the fact he was in here longer than you were. Perhaps Rachel had a few restrictions with the animal. Nonetheless, he sat there happily lolling his tongue out of his mouth, panting, as the blue hedgehog standing in front of him eyed him judgingly. "So," the hedgehog finally said as you sat on the carpet watching them. "You're supposed to be Tom's best friend that he won't shut up about?"
Ozzy did nothing in response except for his continuous panting, his big brown eyes staring at the blue hedgehog curiously. Sonic shook his head, making the quills protruding from his head gently sway. "Well I don't see the appeal."
This time, instead of staying seated in his position, the dog got up and towards Sonic, initiating kiss attack mode. Earning a few disgusted yet cheerful responses from the hedgehog, as he hid behind you in a last resort to escape the dog's affection. Ozzy then tried to get to him by climbing over your shoulders, making you laugh as the hedgehog stuck his tongue out at him from over your waist. In the end, you ended up lying on the floor on your back as Ozzy's weight overpowered you.
Despite your attempts at resistance, Ozzy gave you the affection treatment instead. "Yes! Lick her not me, Ozzy! Lick!" Sonic said, before bursting into a fit of laughter as you grabbed one of his ankles to stop him from running away. "Get him Ozzy!" You managed to say through the joy that escaped your mouth. The dog obliged and proceeded to give Sonic kisses. He did not manage to give him much, however, as the hedgehog managed to escape your grasps and ran over to JoJo.
"Protect me!" He said as JoJo giggled. Before any of you could do anything else, Tom entered the room, ending your reign of short lived fun.
"Hey guys, time to head out," he said, a grin plastered on his face soon after as if he could sense the positive energy in the room. "Okay! Bye JoJo!" Sonic said hugging JoJo for a second before speeding out of the room. You ruffled Ozzy's fur as his sad brown eyes gazed into yours at the sudden mention of having to leave. "Don't worry Ozzy, we'll be back soon," you said, smiling softly as you ruffled his fur a bit before standing up. "Hey, Tom! Have you seen Maddie?"
Tom patted your shoulder as you walked with him out of the room, soon after you gave your farewells to JoJo. "She's probably outside. Why'd you ask?"
You stiffened uncomfortably. "Well.... I-I...-"
Tom intercepted you. "Ah, your.... Injury. Well, go see if she could do anything about it before we leave, alright?"
You nodded, frowning a bit at hearing the concern in his voice. "Will do," you replied, as you hurried out through the front door. Tom's Toyota sat outside behind what you presumed to be Rachel's car, and oh boy, was it as busted as Sonic had claimed. Speaking of the hedgehog, he ran around across the road, the blurry blue outline he left behind always came back to Rachel's car.
There one of the doors of the car were left open, revealing Maddie as she placed what appeared to be a duffel bag in the backseats. "Maddie!" You said happily as she turned around at the mention of her name. She smiled as you ran up to her, engulfing you in a tight hug. "[N/N]! How's my girl doing?" She said as she pulled away, leaving her hands on your shoulders. "I'm good so far....," you said before adding, "hey, um...Maddie. Can you....help me?" You asked as you rebalanced your weight on both of your legs. Maddie raised an eyebrow. "Sure sweetie. What is it that you need my help for?"
You glanced around nervously, making sure Sonic wasn't peeping his head in, before showing Maddie your injured hand. She glanced at the rolls of toilet paper served as a bandage wrapped around your hand with wide eyes before up at you. Reluctantly, she unwrapped the homemade bandage, releasing a soft gasp at seeing your wound. The cut that stretched from the bottom of your middle finger to the middle of your palm was now an angry red. You had no idea how bad it was, but judging from the look on Maddie's face it was probably pretty bad.
"Gosh, what happened [Y/N]..?" She asked, as she examined your wound. You held onto the toilet paper bandage, smiling nervously. "I may have had trouble with broken pieces of glass?"
Maddie sighed and shook her head, before dragging you back into the house. She took you into the kitchen, telling you to wait there until she came back with her medical kit. Meanwhile, you dumped the toilet paper bandage in the bin, before sitting down on top of the kitchen table. Soon, she came back holding her big red medical kit, placing it on the table next to you before unzipping it. "Alright, this is just going to hurt a bit," she said, before wiping the perimeter of your wound with alcohol wipes, followed by your hisses of pain.
"You're lucky you haven't left it untreated for another day, [Y/N]. There are small signs of infection already..."
You whinced as she applied another dab of the wipes. "I'm sorry Madison..."
"Don't be sorry, yet," she replied, eyeing the scratches caused by the wood chips yesterday on your legs. You rubbed the nape of your neck sheepishly, as Sonic's cheerful voice reverberated in the house. "[Y/N]! Maddie! Where are you?"
You yelped as he suddenly appeared next to you on the table. "What's up?" He said smiling, before it faded away completely at seeing your injury. "Are you okay? Of course you're not okay! What happened??"
He said in worry, as he overwhelmed you by asking numerous questions at the same time as checking you over for any other injuries. "SONIC!" you yelled, catching his attention as he stopped to look at you. You sighed, "I'm fine, okay? Just a small cut."
"You call that small? [Y/N]! Why didn't you tell me? We could've done something about it--!"
"Which I already have."
The hedgehog pouted before crossing his arms, sitting cross legged on the table. "Still! I... I would've done something..."
Your face felt warm, as you gave him a soft smile. Your heart beated faster as you recognized that he cared about you. You've never had anyone tell you something as sweet as that, whether unknowingly or not, and you were not ashamed to say that you cared about him too. But the feeling you received from that wasn't a normal one that you'd often feel on a daily bases. You felt perplexed at the moment, your mind having trouble comprehending your heart's message to it.
What was this feeling?