My Emerald: A movie!Knuckles x reader story

~Chapter 15~

My eyes immediately bolted open, and I listened carefully to the pattern of the footsteps. They were heavy and slow, unlike a person, so it easily couldn't be either of the Wachowskis. But then I realised exactly who it was, watching as he sat next to me.

It was Knuckles. Of course it was.

He sat close to me, staying silent as we both looked into the fire. His breathing was heavy, I could see how it shifted the fire in front of us every time he sighed out.

"Hey, are you alright?" I finally whispered, looking at him from the corner of my eye.

"I... am not fine, Y/n." Knuckles responded.

This was the first time I'd ever heard of him being not fine, or even vulnerable. I turned to him.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Well... yes."

Knuckles scooted closer and grabbed one half of my blanket, pulling it over his shoulders so that we were sharing it. A heavy blush returned to my face, though neither of us could tell due to the heavy heat of the fire.

"Y/n, I had a talk with Tom." Knuckles began to mutter, "And he suggested the idea that I may be in 'love'. Do you know what that means?"

My heart skips a beat. He was in love... so my suspicions were right after all...

"Well, if you're in love, it means that you really like something or someone... for example, you would say you love grapes because you really enjoy them."

Knuckles nodded simply, avoiding my gaze.

"What should I do, then, if I am 'in love'?"

"...It depends on what you love, really..."

I looked at Knuckles, and he finally looked back at me. He seemed deep in thought, like his thoughts were beginning to plague him. I waited patiently for him to speak again.

"I have seen something that the Wachowskis do sometimes. They would press their mouths together for a short while before pulling away, but it would always be when Tom was leaving the house... is that something people do to people they love?"

I could feel my entire face burn red at his question.

"Well..." I began, looking away nervously, "It is. When people really like each other, they do that to show their affection. It's called a kiss."

Knuckles nodded again, looking right at me. Yet again it seemed he was deep in thought, but before he could speak again, we both heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

This startled Knuckles, and so he quickly stood up, letting the blanket fall off him as he got up and walked back to where he came from. I sighed heavily at this, feeling defeated. I was so close to getting a bigger insight into Knuckles' feelings, but at least I have some progress to work with.