>>544747961
>always being a jerk to her romantic
Knuckles actually cares for Rouge's well being by the end of the Sa2 and consoles her after saving her life. Sa2 was literally a tsundere plot for the Knuxouge ship (the only actual tsundere ship in the series). Them being jerks to one another calls back to this. Rouge can actually be her jewel hunting self when she's near knuckles, not only being a constant therapist when she's near shadow.

>>543336295
>>543336394
They constantly throw emotion back and forth towards each other, I didn't specify positive.
>Knuckles hasn't shown any sort of "positive" emotion towards Rouge since Sonic Adventure 2.
He does.