NOTE/Disclaimer: This is an update of CuddlesxFlaky. It is in progress, only around halfway done. So please give me slack, I'm under a lot of pressure. Tails (c) SEGA, HTF and Giggles (c) Mondo Media.

Giggles remorsefully tossed the old picture of her and Cuddles into her trash can. She watched the thin wafer of happy memories through bleary eyes slip through her fingers and descend into nonexistance. Some part of her didn't feel ready to let Cuddles go, but most of her had agreed with the decision. It was like taking out a thorn that had too long been in her side. Cuddles made her feel neglected; the warm, comfy affection she dearly missed that Cuddles provided early in their relationship had gradually faded. Over time he was too distracted by trying to impress his friends, having fun out of several dangerous and awkward situations and making a fool out of himself. Giggles had long been disillusioned by a dream partner which she once thought was Cuddles; she would imagine him always by her side, always willing to listen to her woes whenever she felt down, and risk whatever it took in order to stay close to her. But all of it had melted away when she discovered what Cuddles really was; selfish, ignorant and uncaring.

Cuddles claimed that Giggles clung to him too much, but she couldn't really help it. She was truly alone in the world; sure she had a friend like Petunia who was always willing to spend time with her, but even hours of leisurely paradise with her closest friend couldn't replace the true love she desired from a male. Cuddles would forget about Giggles' birthday and their anniversary, he would make no-shows on important dates, making her worry that he was cheating or had simply left, only to find he was just spending his time doing something stupid like trying to beat Toothy at a videogame. [How could he replace his time with me?] she wondered. [I tried so hard to let him know how much I loved him... Why didn't he take the hint?] Giggles couldn't possibly fathom what Cuddles could find so much more important than being close to a girl who tried and worked so hard for him as she did. She concurred that Cuddles must merely be a shallow, careless person who believed it didn't matter how long he would place her behind all else.

Then, there was the fear of him being unfaithful. While trying to track him down after days of not having any contact, Giggles would often spot Cuddles running around places with Flaky. Giggles saw Flaky as a kind girl, but festered a deep hostility towards her for taking Cuddles away from her. At first, it was subtle; Cuddles would simply drag Flaky with him wherever he went, off to do some kind of blatant and immature activity. But Giggles sensed that Cuddles may have been trying to impress the porcupine, to woo her with his daring actions. She never found proof that there actually was any cheating for the time being, but by the time Giggles couldn't stop thinking about it every few minutes, she finally had too much and broke off her relationship with Cuddles. Just the other day she heard word that Cuddles and Flaky were missing and had come back together as a happy couple. It made her think that it had been happening all along, and Cuddles wouldn't hide it anymore since he no longer felt pressure from her.

Giggles wiped away a bubbly tear. It was almost like Cuddles wanted to hurt her on purpose for dumping him. Everything she heard pointed to it being coincidence, but Giggles knew how Cuddles was, always with underlying charisma for his hip nature and placing others under spellbound trances to follow him into what he saw as fun. Her head felt cold and heavy as the tears came faster, making her sniffle deeply while she tried to stop crying. Her heart was slamming against her chest, even if it wasn't going very fast. She tore out her sixty-fourth Kleenex tissue today and dabbed her cheeks and eyes. She wept softly, throwing away more things that she got from or because of Cuddles. [If only it could all just disappear... I wish I never met him... If I knew this was going to happen, I would've said no when he asked me out...] It was all so unfair. She knew that doing this was the right thing for herself, but it felt so wrong.

Four hours ago, Giggles heard the news about Cuddles and Flaky. She spent every single minute since then in sorrow, first bawling when she percieved that her suspicions of his infidelity being confirmed as true. She was more than ready to whip out the ice cream and turn on a soap opera marathon, but this affected her a lot more than when the Mole stood her up on a blind date some few years back. She was in denial, thinking the entire thing as just some terrible nightmare. She saw herself waking up to her alarm clock and getting a phone call from Cuddles asking if they wanted to go to the park. She imagined that they would be wholly happy together, just like old times, but none of this at all was to be. Giggles covered her eyes, slamming her elbows down onto her counter as she started heavily bawling again. Her futile fantasies washing down the drain were only hurting her further. She took a few minutes to recuperate, sniffling with the fur around her nose reddened as she swiped tissue after tissue, then gathered enough of herself to pick up the phone and call Petunia. The line rang for a long series of moments. [Come on... Please pick up...] Giggles sniffled as another tear slid from her eyelid down her cheek.

Meanwhile, Tails was riding his motorcycle into the city limits of Tree Town. As soon as he saw the sign, he sighed in relief, realizing that his long and laborous journey was almost over. The bag of his possessions slung over his shoulder was really starting to ache. He was moving from Station Square since Sonic and his other "friends" didn't appreciate him for who he was. Tails was constantly put down by Sonic and Knuckles for being younger and softer, having different interests than the rest of the gang. Countless times he'd saved them from lethal dangers, but even that didn't seem to matter. Tails couldn't even get a girlfriend since the older guys would always shove him into last place; the females of the city were always wooed by the testosterone and arrogance in Sonic or Knuckles. They could virtually get any girl that they wanted. It wasn't fair. [No more of that now... I'm going to start a new life here... A better one...] He revved up the engine and turned down an empty street, following the built-in navigation system on his cycle to the vacant house he purchased online. The vehicle roared underneath him, rushing him past the asphalt at fifty miles per hour with the wind whipping his fur back and a thrill pounding in his heart.

Thirteen minutes later, Tails arrived. It was a casual suburban neighborhood he had turned out moving into; houses here and there, with no sign of a neighborhood faction or crime watch, but somehow it felt friendly enough that it didn't need one. He punched in a code by his front door that he memorized, and the garage opened. After parking his motorcycle inside, he withdrew his brand new house key from his jeans pocket and went inside. It was just as it was advertised in the virtual tour he took on his computer a month ago. Now, after a long, slow eleven hours of cycle riding, there was peace and quiet; a well-earned break. Tails exhaled as he lay back and spread his arms across the couch. He stared at the ceiling as he waited for the ache of being stuck in the position he was while riding to fade. His back in particular had suffered a lot. Tails' serene blue eyes filled with a misty curiosity as he wondered what life was going to be like in a new town. He really didn't know anything about this place, but he heard it was very nice. There was the possibility that life here could be even worse than it was in Station Square. What would he do if things would never improve? Would he become a secluse? Would he go insane? Would he kill himself?

Tails sighed in lament as he imagined the chances of being unable to truly find happiness. He was really cold; spending so much time out on the road at day and night with the wind blowing towards him really got under his skin. He peeled off his leather jacket, approached the fireplace and turned it on. Even after sitting there for a few minutes, Tails wasn't refreshed. He sulked, slightly embittered at how exhausted he still felt, but nonetheless musted the effort to go into the master bedroom. There was a bathroom inside, with a nice, big, spacious shower. It was enough for him to comfortably be able to clean himself in, but it seemed like it was so big that it could be used by two people at once. Tails furrowed his eyebrow at the thought, bewildered at why he came up with such a thing, simultaneously undressing and starting up the shower, making sure the water was nice and warm for him. He exhaled sharply as soon as he felt the water against his body, almost immediately relaxed by its texture and warmth. He was slowly lulled into a peaceful comfort, cleaning himself leisurely, his eyes closed and heartbeat content. The feel of the misty heat sinking past his bristly fur and into his skin poured relaxation all over inside him.

For a few minutes, everything that was bothering him had disappeared completely. But it wasn't long before he thought about how his shower seemed to have a missing half again. What if, no matter how long he spent in Tree Town, there would never be a warm, pretty, affectionate girl next to him in this shower? Next to him in his bed? Even holding his hand at a park? A familiar chill of loneliness crept up Tails' spine, and he frowned, tears almost already coming to his eyes again. He had almost always been disillusioned by the idea of love. Girls had told him that he was nice and cute, only to flock to Sonic or Knuckles next almost immediately, since they took all the credit for whatever big and exciting thing was going on. It was a cruel joke. Love did not exist, and if it did, it didn't belong to him. He was living in a generation and society which depended heavily on sex appeal and stereotypes. Being a fox didn't matter unless you were a girl. Tails mournfully finished scrubbing the rest of his fur with a bar of soap, then immediately got out, dried off, and went inside his bed.

The sheets and blanket were very comfortable, warm and welcoming, but it wasn't alive. Not like a girl. It wasn't breathing, it had no heartbeat, it didn't wrap around him without his assistance, it wouldn't tell him it loved him. No matter how long he spent time with a girl, Tails thought, he would never have one how he wanted to. Because there were always showoff, alpha male, primal assholes like Sonic and Knuckles to steal them first. They were everywhere. Every girl he could possibly be interested in, he figured, had already established a past with some other guy who would throw out their left arm to keep them because they wanted to get lucky. [Is that what it's all about?] Tails wondered. [Do people really not care about anything but displays of amusement and sex?] he bitterly pondered the philosopy as his fingers curled tightly around the covers into fists. [Maybe I should just become a celibate... Get castrated, even... I'm bound to never find a girl that I will get close enough to...] before he could finish, Tails drifted off into sleep. He needed it dearly; he was tired out in every way possible. He'd spent not even an hour in Tree Town, and already the memory of forever standing in the shadow of Sonic had come back to haunt him.

Back at Giggles' home, the pink chipmunk had just finished crying on her sofa. She was trying hard to pull herself together for the sake of getting through the rest of the day. She called Petunia seventeen times only to recieve no answer; it was after all of this when she remembered that Petunia was going to be out camping for the weekend. It felt sorely unfair, but she didn't want to ruin her best friend's vacation, and decided to quit trying to contact her for today. Giggles was still overly hurt; she was desparate for something to distract herself with, anything to take her mind off of Cuddles. It was then she remembered that the sound of a motorcycle had grew louder and approached her house around ten minutes ago; the vacant house nextdoor had now been purchased. Giggles sniffled once again, deciding that a good remedy for her emotional scars would be to start baking a pie for her brand new neighbor. Even as she forced herself to ascend from lethargy and start taking out measuring cups, utensils and ingredients from her cupboard, her bleary mind was still bombarbed with a flurry of naive concerns, such as fretting over what flavor the neighbor would prefer and whether it'd seem trashy of her to offer her condolences so soon after they moved in.

After a few more minutes of heated fuss, Giggles finally settled on a lemon pie. She considered it as the sweetest and tastiest kind, not only the most laborous to make (in her opinion) and with scarce materials required to make it. As she fetched the correct amount of eggs from her fridge and concentrated on getting out all the yolk for the meringue, she wondered what her new neighbor was like. Would they be a guy or girl? Would they be nice? If not, were they dangerous? Giggles was almost done thinking about Cuddles, sniffling one last time and then becoming enmeshed with making the pie. She tried to think of everything else that made her happy, wanting to pour her heart out into making this pie, since being kind to someone else and making their day would in turn help her feel a lot better. She loved to make people smile and lift their spirits. It made her feel needed, wanted, cherished... A lot of how she wished Cuddles would have made her feel. Giggles hummed a merry tune, placing headstrong concentration on making this pastry perfect for the soul she would eventually befriend. She imagined a kindly person without a specific species or gender answering their door when she would ring the doorbell, thanking her for the pie with an ear-to-ear smile, and greeting her at her own door later to complement on how lovely it was.

Even though she was very tense inside, the foundation of the pie seemed to be going smoothly. Giggles sighed in relief as she found how easy it had become to just place everything that had been bothering her into something nicer. Every bit of whatever ingredient that had to be at a certain amount didn't even need her effort anymore; it just fell together naturally. Giggles felt very proud and impressed. The pie spoke out in every way; the shape was delicate and neat, the crust was as soft as a cookie and wore a delicious golden brown, the meringue looked thick and tasty, and the squashed up lemon submerged in it was bursting with flavor and had the texture of jelly. To Giggles, the universal characteristics of the pie said, "Hi. I was made just for you. Go ahead and enjoy me!". She smiled, eagerly awaiting her new neighbor's reaction once she would present it at their door. It truly looked beautiful. [As good as homemade can get,] Giggles concluded triumphantly. [I should change my name to Betty Crocker!] she joked to herself with a giggle as she waited for the pie to cool down, brought it outside to a beautiful, sunny day, and rang Tails' doorbell.

Tails was stirred awake by the sudden noise. He grumbled in gibberish while wiping his eyes and sloppily getting out of his bed, uncaring as to how it looked. He stumbled out of his room, yawning, wanting about forty more minutes of sleep. But he was prepared for the worst, figuring that the mystery visitor could just as well be a real estate developer who would want to interview him on whether or not he was impressed with his home. [I don't even have to answer this door,] he thought, [but what the hell. I just got here. Might as well get to know someone that's not from Station Square.] He threw on a dark blue robe and grabbed the handle of the door. As it swung open, the bright sunlight had briefly overwhelmed his eyes and complicated his focus, but what he saw after that immediately woke him up entirely and got his full attention. He was surprised to find that he was staring at a gorgeous, delicate pink chipmunk in a red dress, prim and slender, her face full of dazzling joy and feminine attractiveness. Giggles, too, was pleasantly surprised with what she saw; a lean, fit, tall, handsome fox, admittedly at least ten times cuter than Cuddles, with two graceful tails, a ladykiller face and a nice, not overdone figure. Both were speechless, hesitating on what to say for an unprecedented amount of time.

Finally, Giggles broke the silence. "Hi, n-neighbor..." she stammered sheepishly, trying her hardest not to blush. "I noticed you just moved in here, and wanted to make you feel welcome..." she handed the fresh pie to Tails. Her sweet, honey-like voice flowed into Tails' ears like a symphony.

"Oh... Thank you," Tails replied, feeling a little stupid for his lack of words as he accepted to pie into his hands, licking his lips as he stared down at it, but quickly returning his gaze to Giggles. Giggles repressed a swooning whimper, the charming voice of this dreamy stranger making her heart grow.

"... I'm Giggles," she added, sounding as friendly as she could. "I live right next door," Giggles confirmed with a brief gesture to the right, her house.

"Oh... Cool," Tails said in excitement and interest. He inhaled a whiff of the sweet pie, eager to eat some, but too enraptured in the majestic presence of this wonderful girl to get to that. "I'm Tails..." he tried to think of something to add on in order to pique this girl's interest. He really wanted to get to know her better, but had no idea where to start. "You know, I really appreciate this, it looks so good... Lemon pie is my favorite..." which he was pretty comfortable admitting, since it was the honest truth. He felt he was going a step in the right direction instead of some corny pickup line like what Sonic and Knuckles would do.

Giggles' smile widened. [Yes!!! I did something right!!!] The excitement of having taken a step in the right direction to heal herself encouraged Giggles to pry. Her heart vibrated timidly as she tried to get her next words out. "... You know, if you want, you can come over for dinner tonight, and you can eat another pie with me for dessert..." she smiled at him adorably, slightly leaning towards him and batting her eyelashes in an irresistible manner.

Tails felt his face grow warm, the patches of white on his cheeks dimmed with scarlet. He was almost sweating, struggling to undo the knot in his throat. He tried to stall Giggles for a moment by warmly grinning in return, expressing his acceptance, and managed to squeak "T-that would be wonderful... When do you want me over?" Tails struggled to hold his tails still, which had bolted straight outwards whenever he heard Giggles' voice, pumping them full of excitement to the point where he would normally wag them crazily.

Giggles stifled a quiet giggle when she noticed one of Tails' tails briefly tapping against his carpet. She then froze, trying to figure out what to say next; she had no idea what she was going to fix for dinner, or how long she would take to make it. She would hate to have given Tails a specific time to come over and then not be ready. The possible phrases she could utter to him quarrelled in her mind for another moment until she decided - "I'll come back and tell you when it'll be ready..." in that instant Giggles was very angry with herself, but she didn't show it. [What kind of a thing to say is that?!?] she scolded mentally. [He could have been planning to do something... For me to burst in at random in the middle of his day would be so rude...]

She feared that he would be gone for good now. This new, kind, handsome young fox had just moved in next door and met Giggles, and she was almost insulting him by making it seem that she assumed he would be ready to eat dinner whenever. But as much as she believed that she was making a fool of herself right now, she didn't want him to go. She almost begged him to come over for dinner. So far, he gave off the impression of a kind, sweet and thoughtful person, not to mention boyishly attractive, and Giggles was craving the companionship of a worthy male on any scale, even if it were simply a meal for just this night. Her thoughts frantically scrambled for the first idea of what to tell him that wouldn't sound like complete nonsense. "You can come over right now, if that's alright with you." [No, that's even stupider!!!] She feared here chances were done for, but kept maintaining herself, appearing bubbly and inviting to Tails.

Contrary to Giggles' thoughts, Tails felt the opposite. After so much time spent feeling that he would be permanently incel, here was a girl who wanted HIS company, no sooner than right after they've met. It almost didn't make any sense. There was no Sonic or Knuckles to steal her from him. Could his woeful longings have brought forth some mystical fortune from his presence in Tree Town? Or was this another cruel joke played unto him by love, a fantasized romance to never become anything? They were, after all, just strangers. Each part of himself that he was feeling at the moment swooned over Giggles, envisioning her soon starting to date him and care about him for who he was, but logically, that was impossible. Or so he thought. He would never know for sure until he took a chance, and if it didn't work out the way he wanted to, at least he would have acquainted himself with a neighbor and gotten free dinner.

"Sure, that sounds terrific," he answered delightfully as he forced his lips to smile wider. "Just, um, just let me put this away," Tails continued as he gestured to the pie, hurriedly scrambling to his own kitchen. He yanked open one of his counter droors and tore out a large piece of foil, frantically fitting it around the shape of the pie and it's container, instantaneously making a mental note to return the container to Giggles later.

[Yes!!!] Giggles shrieked blissfully in her mind. Tails hadn't been displeased at all with her decisions and behavior; he actually seemed very responsive, especially since he was making such a big rush over just going to eat dinner with her. They've only met just a minute ago, but it felt as if there was an instant connection; [Could he really feel the same way about me as I hope he does?] Giggles wondered as she patiently held her hands together, waiting for Tail to step into the sunlight and accompany her to her house.

A few clumsy, noisy moments later after getting his new house all locked up, Tails nearly dashed to the door, forgetting to even change out of his robe into something more decent. "Okay, I'm ready," he breathed quickly. Giggles giggled once more, finding trivial pleasure in Tails' silly eagerness.

"It's actually really nice of you to agree to come over... I've really been needing some company," she admitted, shyly veering her eyes aside for a moment. Tails grew hotter inside, his heart surrounded by a light, warm sensation as he rejoiced in the chipmunk's kindness.

"It's no problem, I always like making new friends," Tails answered cheerily.

Giggles offered him another friendly smile and started to lead him back to her own doorstep. Tails was mesmerized by Giggles' face; something about the creamy, carnation color of her fur blended with the nymph-like shape of her face, and those wonderful eyelashes and her gentle lips... He felt like he was wrapped around her finger. The past ideas he was experiencing a minute ago that only hinted at a possibility of getting closer to her blossomed into dreamy fantasies that he longed for. She seemed like the kind of girl who would look after his personality first, and not for talent and testosterone, like countless girls in Station Square.

He found his ears perking and tails bolting straight, licking his lips at the sight of Giggle's slender legs and petite feet sheathed in high heels swiftly moving along the earth, fluid and smooth as the wind. Her bouncing, full bosoms also got Tails almost rolling into a lusty craze. But he shook himself into full awareness, trying not to become hypnotized; he would never forgive himself if Giggles caught him ogling her. He wasn't a perverted kind of guy who used his manhood to think.

Giggles started to become very comfortable with suddenly taking anything to make for dinner. Tails was coming to her house willingly; his body language and facial expressions didn't hint any discomfort at all to her. She didn't know where he was coming from, either - [How long could he have been sitting on that motorcycle?] she wondered. Giggles suspected that Tails could just want free dinner since he was so exhausted, but she felt like it was something more. He didn't want to just become friends - somehow, he wanted to get to know more out of her. She couldn't quite understand it yet, but knew that she had nothing to be afraid of.