When the Past Comes to Haunt You...

5:30 PM, Northwest Point, West Side Island. Sonic and I sat on one of my many sofas, reading a book, and enjoying each other's company. It was supposed to be a relaxing day, but that soon proved false. It was growing dark outside, and it was quite chilly. That didn't affect us, though, as we were inside my large house.
"Hey, Tails? Can you get us some snacks? I'm starved!" Sonic asked.
Tails was my nickname. Ever since I met Sonic, he insisted on calling me that, due to my rare genetic disorder, giving me the curse of two tails. At first, I hated the name and hated the sound of it. But over time, I'd grown to appreciate it, and see that Sonic was trying to make me feel as if I was no different from anyone else. Nowadays, I think the name's kinda cute.
I looked at him, unamused.
"Fine, but you'd better not touch my books with cheesy fingers!"
I stood up and stretched my muscles. It had been a few hours since I'd gotten off the couch. Walking to the kitchen, I passed by a large floor-to-ceiling window facing the west side of my house. From there, I could see a beautiful sunset. The orange, red, and yellow colors were splayed out over the rippling waves of the sea. I opened a cabinet to access my snack stash. There were varieties of chips, candy bars, boxes upon boxes of microwave popcorn, and much more. I grabbed a handful of random items and went back to the couch.
"Here you are, your highness. Anything else I could do for you?" I asked mockingly.
"Nah, that's fine. Whaddya say we watch some good ole TV, huh? I'm sure there's some good movies on..." he said.
Without skipping a beat, he grabbed the TV remote and pressed the power button. The screen flashed with a white line momentarily, and the screen lit up.
"Umm, be my guest. I'm sure we can find something." I said.
"What? You don't feel comfortable with me touching your stuff? I get the whole 'introvert' thing, but c'mon! I'm your best friend! Been that way for a long time now! You're not getting rid of me that easily!" he said. He had a furrowed brow and his mouth was twisted into a frown.
"No no! It's not that! It's just that...it's happening again..." I said. The emotion in my voice was gone.
My gaze grew dull and distant, and my arms hung limp.
"Tails. Tails, buddy, look at me! Don't go into that place!" Sonic shouted. He grabbed me by the waist and began to shake me.
I was having flashbacks to a very violent time in my life. My teen years. I had been shot at, stabbed, sliced open, and nearly hung. Just for being different from everyone else. They didn't want such a...such a mistake...to be sharing the world with them.
"Please don't go there! It's not good for you or me! Snap out of it!"
Those horrible memories kept playing back in my mind, over and over again. Sonic carefully lifted me off the ground and deposited me onto the couch. My body laid still, and very stiff. He kept shaking me, but my body wouldn't respond.
"Come on. I don't need this happening to me right now. Can you even hear me?" he asked.
I could barely hear him, but the grating noise of the voices of the past were much louder. I saw his lips moving, his eyes pleading for me to return, but I couldn't. For the time being, I was trapped.
"I know this has happened before, but it's never been this bad. I'm not sure if you'll even come back from this. I need you with me, Antarius. You're my best friend, and I don't know how I would go on without you. I care about you so much, one could even say that I loved you." Sonic pleaded.
That had been the first time in a long time, excluding serious conversations and the occasional argument, that he had used my real name. I could tell that he was dead serious.
Tears began to drip down his face, and wet the fur on his muzzle. They rolled down the side of his face and fell onto me. He carefully climbed over my still body and placed his face in the crook of my neck. Wrapping his arms around me, I could feel the warmth of his body, and the fast beating of his heart.
Abruptly, my mind escaped the wretched clutches of the past, and I returned to my normal self. My vision faded back in, and my hearing was fully restored.
"Sonic? What're you doing?" I asked, heaving myself to a sitting up position.
He lifted his head and gasped.
"Tails! Are you alright? Oh Chaos, you gave me a good scare!"
I nodded.
"Yes, I'm alright, but did you mean everything that you said about me?"
A red tint appeared over his muzzle, and he diverted his eyes.
"You heard all of that? Well, yeah, I did mean it. I had nobody to tell it to, and I wouldn't dare tell you in person. I guess I took my chance. Don't be mad at me." he said.
"Why would I be mad? I'm happy that you care about me so much. Thank you for all your support, Sonic!"
I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him for what seemed like hours.
"It's about time you finally admitted it."
Sonic and I slept on that very couch for the rest of the night, knowing that our friendship had just reached new heights.