Cream walks away.

Cream took a deep breath, her small fingers trembling as they rested on the doorknob. The weight of the moment pressed heavily on her chest, her instincts screaming at her to turn it, to find out what lay beyond that door. But the fear… the fear of what she might see, of what truth might be lurking behind that thin barrier, was too much. The possibilities that raced through her mind were too grim, too horrifying to confront. Her hand on the doorknob, her decision made—she couldn't do it. With a slow swallow, she let go.

Her hand fell to her side as she took a step back, her little heart hammering in her chest. She didn’t know what had happened—she couldn’t know. And maybe she didn’t want to.

As she turned to leave, the soft creak of the floorboards beneath her caused Vector’s voice to rumble from inside. "Is someone there?"

Cream's breath hitched in her throat. She hesitated for only a second before forcing herself to respond, her voice barely above a squeak. "Oh, just me, Mr. Vector!" She tried to sound normal, but the shake in her tone betrayed her. "I-I didn't realize you were in there! Sorry!" There was silence. For a moment, she thought he might say something else. That he might open the door, step out, catch her standing there, knowing what she had seen. She heard Vector moving around a bit more inside and she decided to run away before he could open the door.

With a nervous scamper, she hurried back down the stairs, her steps light and quick, as if running away from something she couldn’t explain. Downstairs, her mother continued humming in the kitchen, blissfully unaware of the nervous wreck her daughter had become. Cream **** a smile, pretending that everything was normal, pretending that the rose and chocolates weren’t still outside on the ground, pretending she hadn’t seen that faint trail of blood leading up the stairs.

...

Days turned into weeks, weeks into months. The fox boy had simply… vanished. No one knew where he went. Cream had her suspicions, but she never voiced them. How could she? She was afraid. Afraid of what she might hear, afraid of what might happen if she did.

And Vector knew it. She found herself often exchanging wary glances with him, whose large reptilian eyes sometimes met hers with a cold, calculating gaze. Cream could sense he knew of her suspicions. He never said anything, never gave her a reason to accuse him, but she could feel it—he knew she was suspicious. And she could tell, in the way he looked at her, that he liked knowing she wouldn't dare say a word.

Some time later, Vanilla and Vector were married. Cream bearing the rings for the tall couple. Her new stepfather placed a firm, heavy hand on her shoulder afterward, a silent reminder of his presence.

She never got closure on what happened to Tails. And she never would.

Because some things were better left unspoken.

(bad end)