No matter what happens...

If you are a sick homophobe or you don’t like shōnen-ai / yaoi, get lost and don’t flame, thank you.
The pairing in this story is Sonuckles, Sonic x Knuckles.

This is the first fanfiction I ever wrote: be gentle please. Also, I’m Italian, so I don’t know if my English is good enough… Read only if you have time to waste.
Okay, here we go…
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The air was cold. Everything around him seemed to be gray and bare. The sky was dark and stormy; the branches of the trees were slowly and sadly oscillating in the wind. He was there, standing in front of a lonely gravestone. On the cold granite, in gold letters, there was an epitaph: “Here lies Amy Rose, a lovely young girl who died for us all. Rest in peace”.

Sonic would never forgive himself for this. He couldn’t be able to save her, when all this happened, during that lethal battle against Eggman.
He didn’t love her as a girlfriend. Instead, he loved her as a younger sister, like he loved Tails, no mattered how annoying she was.
At her funeral, everybody were sad and full of grief. Sonic was desperate; until, maybe for the first time in his life, the well-known echidna named Knuckles hugged and comforted him.

After that day, Sonic started to think about that red and stubborn echidna; about how caring and tender he was towards him that day. He thought about those beautiful amethyst eyes and that strong and muscular body. He never noticed all those details until then.

*At the gravestone*

He was sad, but he wasn’t crying anymore. Those thoughts about Knuckles distracted him a little. Sonic was going to leave, until he heard some steps. He turned around, and saw the reason of his reflections: Knuckles the Echidna. He stared at him for a while, until Knuckles shyly greeted: “Hey”
Sonic returned: “Hey…”
“What are you doing?”
The gloomy hedgehog answered: “Oh, nothing; I was going to go home…”

There was a brief pause. Knuckles gathered all his courage and invented an excuse, then, he suggested: “I think it’s gonna rain. Since your house is quite distant from here, you could come to my house on Angel Island, and… er… maybe we can have a good talk…”
Suddenly, Sonic’s heart began to beat faster. He didn’t know if accept or run away. He never saw Knuckles so shy and familiar… He felt a light blush crossing his muzzle, and he tried to hide it. Sonic noticed that Knuckles was blushing too.
At last, he accepted, and followed his “close friend”.

Finally, they arrived at the guardian’s house. It wasn’t very big, but it was rather comfortable. Knuckles offered Sonic a mug of hot chocolate; then, they sat down in a quite small sofa, in front of a coffee table and a LCD TV. They were so close that their arms touched lightly. They both blushed red.
While Sonic was drinking the fluid beverage, he started to think again about his dead friend. Amy used to do hot chocolate for Sonic every winter… Grief and remorse were tormenting him again.

When Sonic finished his chocolate, a tear crossed his muzzle, and fell on the coffee table. Now, he was sobbing quietly. Knuckles noticed this sudden sadness, and he tried to comfort his friend: “Sonic, what’s wrong?”
Sonic wiped his muzzle and said: “It was all my fault… I wasn’t able to save her! She died because of me!”
Knuckles looked the crying hedgehog, and whispered: “Sonic, it’s not your fault. It was just a terrible accident”
Then, he gently caressed the younger’s cheek, and continued: “And remember: I will always be by your side, no matter what happens…”
Sonic was startled and speechless. In that instant, the time froze. His mind was full of thoughts; some of them were about Amy, but almost all of the others were about that handsome red echidna.

He looked those gorgeous eyes once again, and wrapped his arms around Knuckles’ neck, while he rested his head on the shoulder. The echidna was slowly caressing Sonic’s soft fur.
Suddenly, Knuckles closed his eyes, tilted his head to the left and approached the hedgehog’s lips, until they joined in a passionate kiss. Sonic closed his eyes too, and enjoyed the sweetest moments in his life.

After some minutes of ecstasy, the two broke apart. They were finally aware of their feelings for each other. While they hugged again, Knuckles whispered softly in Sonic’s ear: “I love you, Sonikku”
Then, with a warm smile on his face, Sonic returned: “I love you too, Nakkuruzu”.

And they fell asleep in each other arms.