The day was finally here, Tails and Winter's first time together on stage would be tonight... But first the boys had to get through the day, a day of intense dance practice and vocal training at Burning Hearts...

"Ok... Let's go over it again" Winter says.

Winter goes behind Tails and positions him by moving his arms and feet. The fox has some trouble keeping his balance, but thanks to his tails he avoids falling on the floor.

"When we move on stage together at the end of this song, try and make a pose similar to this one" Winter says as he examines his form.

"Kay-" Tails says, as he wobbles, "Can I stop doing this, its hard for me to balance"

"Yes, you can take a break" Winter says, going around him so he could pick up his water bottle.

Tails smirks waiting for Winter to move into a position where he wouldn't see his grin and without any warning let's himself fall backwards. Winter's eyes go wide when he notices he's about to crack his skull open on the ground, he immediately rushes to catch him from behind. Tails' head hits him in the chest, Winter instinctively wraps his arms around his waist and looks down at him.

Tails giggles and gives him a playful lick on the face, Winter just sighs and gives him an unamused look, "You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

"Maybe~" Tails responds, putting his hands on top of Winter's.

Winter sighs and lets out a chuckle, "You're too much"

Tails touches noses with him and twists himself around so he can lay his head on Winter's chest, Winter rests his head on top of his... He can feel his heart tug as the two sat there on the floor together, embracing eachother in the warmth. Tails' meanwhile felt at ease, his heart beating loudly as he lays there in his crushes arms.

Maybe... Maybe I can actually kiss him this time...

Tails looks up at Winter, his blue eyes locked on his chest. Winter sees him looking up at him and gently pets his head.

"You did good today" Winter says, clearing his throat.

"Thank you, you uh... Were pretty great too" Tails responds, looking over at the door in the corner behind them, hoping nobody would come in while they had this delicate moment, "Hey uh... Can I uh... Have a uh-"

"Hm?" Winter goes, tilting his head to the side.

"...Can you... Kiss me?"

"Um okay, I can do tha-"

"Not on my face"

Winter gives him a little bit of side eye, "Then... Where?"

Tails opens his mouth but can't get the words to come out, he looks up at Winter and starts tearing up. Winter flinches not expecting him to start crying, so in an effort to help him feel better he hugs him tighter. Giving the fox a little smile as he messages his face.

"You couldn't say where huh?" Winter says.

"Sorry, I d-don't know what's wrong with me" Tails whimpers.

No! What is wrong with me, why did I start crying?!

"It happens. Just take a deep breath" Winter responds.

Tails takes his advice and starts taking deep breaths, while holding the wolf's hand. He quietly scolds himself, disappointed that he couldn't gather the courage to finally kiss him, but at the same time, it looked like progress... Maybe he'd have enough confidence by Valentine's Day, at least he hoped he did anyway.

Winter's phone starts ringing so the wolf sets Tails down gently on the floor and goes to get it, when he sees who's calling him he grunts nervously. Tails, noticing how uncomfortable he was stands up and walks towards him.

Winter answers the phone and puts it to his ear, "Hello... Father?"

Tails jumps when he hears Winter mention his dad, Winter clears his throat as he listens to his father speak...

"Everything's been running smoothly for the most part" Winter responds, he looks at Tails who's smiling at him, the fox rubs his face on Winter's making the wolf chuckle a little, "No sorry, I have a guest"

Winter kneels down and plants a gentle kiss on his forehead, "A friend. Someone who I've wanted to get close to for a while"

Winter rubs Tails' head and then walks off, but the fox still wants more attention from him so he follows him around.

"What?!... No!... I have a... Busy schedule today!-"

Winter gets cut off, Tails can hear his father grow frustrated with him, and likewise Winter frustrated with him too.

"-No! I don't want you to send Stewart to pick me up because I'm not going, I have a restaurant to run and a guest I'm catering to right now. I don't have time to be driven several miles out of town! Also you know I prefer traveling by train and bus-"

Winter grips his phone tighter, his temper is starting to flare, Tails takes his hand and brings it to his chest. Winter smiles and pulls him close, then his eyes go back to his phone.

"-Yeah and what if I don't want to come and see you?... I have... Oh Gaia, you're not listening. Again" Winter growls.

Winter rubs his hand on his head while his small two tailed friend tries to keep him calm.

"Look, I have a long night tonight and I still need to-"

The wolf looks down at Tails who's big sparkling blue eyes meet his, his big fluffy tails wagging gently. Winter blushes a little and kisses him on the forehead before resuming his conversation.

"-I'm in the middle of dance practice and my guest is watching me. If you want to summon me to the estate do so when I have the time, this is not up for debate. Tell mum I said hello, goodbye"

Tails can hear the other voice on the phone shouting furiously no doubt telling him to stay on the phone, but Winter hangs up on him anyway. The wolf kneels down and gives Tails a squeeze that makes the fox yelp in surprise, his tails wag faster, heart roaring like a jet engine, face pink as a watermelon.

"Thanks foxy. I needed that"

"H-Huh, oh uh um... D-Don't mention it"

Winter laughs a little, watching him blush always made him grin same with him being flustered or embarrassed... It just seemed to be when he was the most adorable.

He seperates fro him and holds his hands on his shoulders, "Ready to get back to it?"

Tails smiles at him and nods, "Whenever you are"

---

Day turns to night, and soon it's time for the show to begin. The turnout for that night's event was surprisingly huge, Alex even noticed several new face in the crowd. Everyone was excited to see Winter and Marina sing together... Or so they believe it's Winter and Marina. Backstage Winter and Tails drink some water and get into their outfits for the show, Tails feels warm inside as he checks himself out in the mirror, he looked so stylish wearing the smaller version of the blazer winter wore.

His eyes sparkle as he looks over at Winter who's going over technical stuff with Alex, what he sees are little hearts dancing around Winter, as the wolf jokes around with Alex... His eyes were perfect, his teeth clean, his English accent made him feel a certain kind of way, he was smart, kind, patient, willing to go out of his comfort zone to make him smile.

He couldn't wait until after the show was over to just take him back to his home and cuddle up in his lap under a blanket, the thought of doing that makes his tails wag. He blushes and moans, playing around with his hands as he imagines what he'd do if he finally told Winter his feelings.

The fox boy realises he's more into it than he thought when he feels a familiar sensation down in between his legs, he yelps and sure enough there was a rather unfortunate surprise. He spends the next few minutes trying to keep the thoughts of Winter out of his head, but it's hard especially when he has competition from a lady nonetheless.

He wouldn't have to worry about his thoughts making his hormones act up any longer though, because a situation was arising...

"What?!" Winter shouts, audibly surprised.

"Y-Yeah" Alex goes, hand behind his head, avoiding eye contact.

Winter's eye twitches and he runs his hands through his hair, "Didn't I tell you guys when she shows up you tell her the lounge is at capacity?!"

"W-We did sir-" One of the security guards responds, "She didn't care"

"What's wrong?" Tails asks.

Winter looks down at Tails and sighs, "Marina is here"

"What?!" Tails shouts, already beginning to remember how much of a train wreck the other night was.

"If you want to sit the performance out it's fine. I'll just have to have another stern talking to with her again" Winter says, his face scrunching up in frustration.

What?... He wants me to sit down?!... No! I came here to to sing with you dummy! I'm not gonna let some crazy rival scare me! I refuse!... I won't sit down... I REFUSE!

"No!" Tails shouts.

Winter jumps a little, not expecting him to reply the way he did. Alex too is surprised by Tails' outburst almost dropping his clipboard on the floor. The fox grabs Winter's hands and beams Winter a serious look.

"I spent days practicing with you, working with you, laughing with you, planning with you!... I'm not going to let her scare me! I can't let her scare me! I know your worried about my safety, but I can defend myself... And I came here to sing songs in Korean with my favourite wolf in the world... You!" Tails says.

Winter sighs and nods, "Yeah... You're right"

Tails pulls him in for a hug, "Trust me, I'll be okay. And if I end up not being okay, I know you'll be there for me"

Winter laughs a little, "Yeah. I will be there"

Tails steps back from him and takes a deep breath, Winter starts to remember another reason he wanted to be friends with him... He was pretty much unphased, cool and collected even when someone as imposing as Marina was around.

"My god, when are you two gonna start dating? You've got the chemistry and the pizzazz so just do it" Alex says, holding back laughter.

Both the wolf and fox's faces turn red and they beam embarrassed glares at him, "We're not dating!" They both shout.

Alex turns around, still trying to suppress his laughter. Winter starts punching him in the shoulder and Tails turns away to cover his face.

"You fucking dick! I don't like him like that! I'm just his friend! What is wrong with you?!" Winter shouts as he continues to smack on him.

"Hahahahahaha! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Mercy! PFFFFFFFF, hahahaha Mercy!" Alex goes, still laughing as he speaks, amused by Winter's reaction.

Tails tries his best yet again to suppress the romantic thoughts of Winter trying to flood his brain, mess around with his hormones. He had to... Unless he wanted the whole audience to see his hard on.

"You ready Tails?"

Tails looks up at Winter, moaning quietly as his eyes lock with Winters. He manages a smile and nods. Winter pets his head gently and starts walking to the lift, Tails takes a dee breath, soothing his nervous aching heart.

You can fight big scary robots Miles! If you can do that, then you can sing with your crush!

The fox follows him onto the stage and looks up at Winter.

"Let's crush this!" Winter says, putting out his fist.

"Yeah!" Tails goes, fist bumping him back.

Upstairs the crowd cheers as the lights finally begin to dim, Winter and Tails take their positions on stage under the darkness sitting criss cross from each other. Tails looks into Winter's eyes and gulps, his gaze diverting to the ground as soon as he realised he was staring again.

"H-How long before the curtain goes up?" Tails asks, his heart beating like an elephant stamping in the floor rapidly.

"About 10 seconds, why do you as-"

Tails jumps on top of Winter and plants a passionate kiss on his cheek, arms wrapped around the wolf's waist. Winter taken back flinches, his heartbeat fluttering powerfully for a second, he blushes heavily and clears his throat as Tails backs off him and sits back down in the same position he was in previously.

"W-Was that a good luck kiss" The wolf asks, scratching the back of his head.

Tails nods sheepishly, and giggles quietly to himself.

Ahhhhhh I needed that...

"O-Okay, thanks-" Winter responds, smiling nervously.

Why won't my heartbeat slow?! I can't cock this show up! Not with Marina in the crowd! Why did you have to do that you silly fox!... Hopefully I can relax as the show goes on...

The curtain finally starts to go up, the crowd cheers, the two start off by waving to the crowd while they finish cheering then they turn to each other. Marina looks on quietly shaking with rage. The two laugh and play patty cake with eachother, two tequila glasses in between them.

APT - Rosé and Bruno Mars

"Chaeyoung-iga joahaneun
Random game
Random game
Game start!"

The two jump up holding mics and shot glasses, toothy smiles on their faces as the audience looks on with aw and surprise, a lot of people couldn't believe their eyes.

"Apateu, apateu
Apateu, apateu
Apateu, apateu
Uh, uh-huh, uh-huh
Apateu, apateu
Apateu, apateu
Apateu, apateu
Uh, uh-huh, uh-huh"

Winter starts off singing the first verse, winking at Tails as the fox moves his body to to the music with Winter.

"Kissy face, kissy face
Sent to your phone, but
I'm tryna kiss your lips for real (Uh-huh, uh-huh)"

Winter briefly puts his finger under Tails' chin, the fox laughs and blushes slightly.

"Red hearts, red hearts
That's what I'm on, yeah
Come give me somethin' I can feel, oh-oh, oh"

Tails sings next, jumping right up next to Winter as the two still danced enjoying each other.

"Don't you want me like I want you, baby?
Don't you need me like I need you now?
Sleep tomorrow, but tonight, go crazy
All you gotta do is just meet me at the

Apateu, apateu
Apateu, apateu
Apateu, apatеu
Uh, uh-huh, uh-uh
Apateu, apateu
Apateu, apateu
Apateu, apatеu
Uh, uh-huh, uh-huh"

Tails still smiling and dancing around excitedly sings the second verse, winking playfully at Winter. Holographic orange hearts fill the room as the fox gives an excited "Woohoo!" before singing his verse.

"It's whatever (Whatever), it's whatever (Whatever)
It's whatever (Whatever) you like (Woo)
Turn this apateu into a club (Uh-huh, uh-huh)
I'm talkin' drink, dance, smoke, freak, party all night (Come on)
Geonbae, geonbae, girl, what's up? Oh-oh, oh-"

The fox snatches a bottle of soju from a table and tosses it to Winter. The audience cheers excitedly, though Marina wasn't on stage it was clear they enjoyed Tails' standing in for her, his energy seemingly empowering everyone.

The two share the mic as the sing the pre-chorus together...

"Don't you want me like I want you, baby?
Don't you need me like I need you now?
Sleep tomorrow, but tonight, go crazy
All you gotta do is just meet me at the

Apateu, apateu
Apateu, apateu
Apateu, apateu
Uh, uh-huh, uh-huh
Apateu, apateu
Apateu, apateu
Apateu, apateu"

The two face eachother and smirk before continuing onto the bridge of the song.

"Hey, so now you know the game
Are you ready?
'Cause I'm comin' to get ya, get ya, get ya!
Hold on, hold on
I'm on my way
Yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah, yeah
I'm on my way
Hold on, hold on
I'm on my way
Yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah, yeah
I'm on my way

Don't you want me like I want you, baby?
Don't you need me like I need you now?
Sleep tomorrow, but tonight, go crazy
All you gotta do is just meet me at the

Apateu, apateu
Apateu, apateu
Apateu, apateu
Just meet me at the (Uh, uh-huh, uh-huh)
Apateu, apateu
Apateu, apateu
Apateu, apateu
Just meet me at the (Uh, uh-huh, uh-huh)
Apateu, apateu
Apateu, apateu
Apateu, apateu
Just meet me at the (Uh, uh-huh, uh-huh)
Apateu, apateu
Apateu, apateu
Apateu, apateu
Uh, uh-huh, uh-huh"

When the song closes the two hold the bottle up high together and the audience goes wild, the two look at eachother panting from exhaustion.

"Getting the hand of it?" Winter asks Tails.

Tails giggles and nods excitedly, "I could do this every day if I wanted to"

"Pfft, weirdo" Winter teases.

"Hahahaha" Tails laughs, as the two lower the bottle back down.

The two wave to the crowd, everyone seemed to adore their performance together... Everyone except Marina, her pink eyes set ablaze by the sight of Tails on the stage with Winter. It was supposed to be her on that stage with him, not that annoying fox.

Her expression softens into a heartbroken frown, her mind tracing back to the aftermath of her encounter with Tails...

~~

After Winter had told Tails to leave, Winter turned to face her, and boy was he not happy with her, the wolf removes his mask revealing his rage filled eyes, when Marina sees how furious he's made him, her heart freezes with fear.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Winter says, his rage hard to suppress.

"Do you understand how frustrating this is for me?" Marina says, squeezing her fist.

"You're the one who's frustrated?! You shot at my friend! I get you don't like him but that doesn't mean you try to fucking kill him! Do you know what would have happened to you if people found out you murdered him? Because he's not just some regular fox, I'm sure you definitely didn't remember that when you attacked him!" Winter shouts.

"...We've been friends since we were children! You met him just recently and now you're treating him like you've known him your whole life! I remember when we used to sneak into the pantry back at the academy together! I remember when you and Summer used to fight over who gets to hang out with me! I even remember working together with you to satisfy our teachers!... What you're doing to me, it hurts! Neoneun nae ma-eum-eul apeuge hae" Marina shouts, tears welling in her eyes.

Winter squeezes his fist and looks away from her, "I didn't forget about any of that Marina, and I enjoyed our childhood as much as you did... But you can't let your jealousy take hold of you to the point where your using what the academy taught us to try and assassinate people who don't need to die"

"I just want to go back to those days, the days before you had this fascination with that dumb fox" Marina goes, her tears flowing down her face

Winter sighs, "Truth be told Marina, I don't want to do this forever... This whole assassins for hire bullshit. I want to do other things, like starting a business, finding a wife, having children-"

"And what if I want to be your wife?!"

When Winter hears that he looks her directly in her rage filled eyes. The wolf blinks for a second, wondering if he heard that right, "What"

"I said... What if I want to be your wife"

Winter crosses his arms, looking at her as if she'd truly just lost her mind, "I'm going to be honest with you. If I want a wife or any kind of romantic partner, I don't want it to be someone as unstable as you"

When Marina hears that she gasps and she collapses to the ground, it was as if her heart had been hit with a sledgehammer, shattered like glass. She drops her weapon on the ground as Winter's cold eyes burn into her.

"You can also forget your spot on Fridays show too, maybe that will help you think before you act. If you act out of line again, I won't hesitate to tell the board about your behaviour, show some fucking self control"

Winter puts his mask on and starts walking, when he hears Marina sobbing he turns around briefly and looks at her, sitting there crying her eyes out, he turns back around and disappears into the shadows.

~~

Marina swore it, she'd do anything to win Winter love, his acknowledgement... She may have been deterred the first time. But she wasn't going to be a second.

I'll see to it your out of the picture permanently... Homewrecker...

---

When the show ended, Tails and Winter decided to walk to the eastern waterfront together, humming APT together as they held hands.

"Haha, my feet still hurt" Tails says, wishing he bought more comfortable shoes.

"Hmm, I thought you said you could do this every day" Winter teases, smirking at him.

"Ugh! Shut up!" Tails claps back.

Winter laughs and pets him on the head, "You did even better during the third song, I'm impressed"

"Thanks! I tried to do everything you taught me during rehearsal... Speaking of, do you have any feedback?" Tails asks

"Not much to say, you nailed pretty much everything" Winter responds, a finger on his chin in thought, "Everyone seemed to love the energy you bought to the stage by the way, you took me by surprise during the opening act with that bottle"

"O-Oh yeah, that wasn't supposed to be a part of the performance, heh heh" Tails responds, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment, "Say Winter, why do you sing these old songs?"

"Huh? Oh, my mum hooked me on them" Winter responds, "Can't get them out of my head" Winter responds.

"Ohhhh"

"Yeah"

The two are about to cross the street, the waterfront in sight as they wait patiently for the light to change, when the pedestrian signal turns white they start walking.

However Winter notices a limousine coming, and it's not slowing down, he pulls Tails out of the speeding cars way narrowly avoiding disaster, unintentionally pressing the fox against him, Winter clearly frazzled and angry with the drivers recklessness snarls. Tails meanwhile, blushes heavily, his face felt like a volcano, red and hot.

His reaction speed is amazing... And he smells even better than usual... Mmf...

The limo comes to a stop not far from them

"Hey dickhead! Look at the traffic signals before you barrel through an intersection!" The wolf shouts.

The car door opens and out steps a basset hound wearing a hat and a fancy suit, when Winter sees the dog step out of the driver's seat and onto the street, his face softens slightly.

"Stewart?!"

Tails looks up at Winter, remembering the conversation the wolf had with his father and the driver's name mentioned in said conversation.

"Good evening Master Winter, your father has sent me to fetch you" Stewart says.

Winter sighs, "Tell father, if he wants to talk to me he knows where I live"

The dog walks up to the the rear of the vehicle and opens the door, "I'm sorry Master, but your father requested I drive you to the manor. I was told that if you don't comply I was to use physical force"

"I don't like being in cars Stewart, if I'm going there I'm taking the train" Winter responds, starting to grow annoyed.

"Master, please do not be difficult, you know how your father gets when you don't follow directions" Stewart responds.

Winter growls annoyed with Stweart and his father now for ruining the good night him and Tails were going to have together.

"Fine, I'll come... But I do, he's coming with me" Winter responds.

Tails looks up at him surprised to hear he wanted his company even when he was going to somewhere as private as his parents home.

Stweart sighs, "Very well, please get in we don't have all night"

Winter sighs and looks down at the fox "Sorry"

Tails puts his hands on his shoulder, "It's okay, I think it's nice that I get to meet your parents"

"Haha yeah" Winter says, chuckle nervously.

"Come on! Let's not keep him waiting!" Tails says, taking the wolf's hand and smiling a big happy smile.