I left Blaze and walked quickly across the green to where Shadow wandered by himself.
"Shadow?" I slowed as I got closer. He stopped and turned.
"What?" he looked at me. I blushed and stopped next to him.
"Do you mind if I walk with you?" I asked. He shrugged and continued walking. I moved to walk beside him and fidgeted nervously.
"Something on your mind Rose?" he asked abruptly. I jumped a little at him speaking and blushes again.
"Not really..."
"I know about what happened at the race," he stared straight ahead.
"What do you mean?"
"When you almost swerved into the wall. You blacked out didn't you? You remembered Monaco," Shadow glanced at me. I avoided his eyes.
"I don't know what you mean," I bit my lip.
"You don't have to fake it for my sake. What happened last time was...traumatizing," Shadow shrugged.
"Everyone keeps saying that but they don't know! All anyone keeps asking me is if I'm ok but what if I'm not ok?" my voices raised as I stopped and covered my face to hide the tears. I felt a strong hand grasp my shoulder gently.
"Amy, you don't have to pretend that you're ok," Shadow said quietly.
"I do though! If I don't, I'll just be a bother for everyone else," I sobbed into my hands. I felt Shadow grasp one of my hands, pulling it away from my face. "What are you doing?"
"Come with me," he pulled me through the park, tears still streaming freely down my face. Finally, he pulled me into a dark grove, empty as far as I could see. He released my hand and I turned away from him so he wouldn't see me cry.
"Amy," he said. I didn't reply. "Amy," he said again.
"What?"
"You don't have to hide from me," he gently turned me to face him again. I flushed, knowing that he was seeing me at my most vulnerable. I refused to look at him, but, to my surprise, he didn't try to force me to look at him. Instead, he just pulled me into his arms. I started a little in surprise, but he just held me. My tears soaked into his jacket, but he didn't say anything, just kept his arms around me and laid his cheek on the top of my head.
After several minutes, I calmed down, the tears stopping completely. He didn't let me go however, just continued to hold me.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" I whispered.
"Maybe because I care," Shadow murmured. I blinked.
"About me?" I pulled away to look at him.
"Is that so hard to believe?" he raised an eyebrow. I was surprised at my own answer.
"No. No it isn't," I looked up at him. "I think people misunderstand you a lot."
"Why's that?"
"Because most people has always thought of you as a cold, unfeeling person. But that's not true."
"Did you used to think that?" Shadow's hands rested on my waist and I blushed a little.
"Maybe a little. But I know I was very wrong," I admitted.
"What changed your mind?" he asked.
"When you stood up against Sonic for me. When you told me not to worry about what he said because what he said didn't matter," I replied. He fell silent. He didn't say anything else, just pulled me closer again. For some reason, being there in his arms felt right. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the moment.
