Shadow of a Doubt

Emotional Cooldown

Shadow whipped the sliding door open to find a bunch of surprised, guilty faces. Sonic and Amy had been leaned over, pressing their ears against the door to eavesdrop while Tails and Blaze pulled on their arms, trying to get them to stop without making noise.

Shadow glared down at them, "Why am I not surprised." 

"Heeeeey, buddy. You're still too happy about Maria to beat up a brother, right?" Sonic backed away hands up.

"Think again."

Sonic gave a nervous laugh and stepped behind Silver.

Maria put a hand on Shadow's arm. He turned to her and Sonic looked on hopeful that she would prevent his immanent beating.

"Save it for practice. I want to see it happen."

"WHAT??? Mariaaaaaaa!"

She shrugged. "You deserve it and I want to watch."

Blaze stepped up and took Maria's hands. "How are you two doing? Have you straightened things out?"

"Yeah, we're good." Maria smiled, looking over at Shadow.

Silver and Tails gave each other a look and Silver showed him his crossed finders. Tails nodded. No one noticed as they were all looking at Maria and Shadow.

Amy pushed forward and put an arm over Maria's shoulder, giving a squeeze. "Can we go back to the fact that we are genetically related? How do you feel about being sisters?"

"Technically you'd be her mom genetically..." Tails pointed out.

Amy gave him a sharp glare. "But that would be weird."

"Sure, Amy! I'd love that." Maria put her arm around Amy's waist and returned the squeeze. 

"Sorry to be abrupt, but since Maria is up and okay, I'm gonna head out." Tails said stepping towards the door. "I have a meeting at 10:30 that I should be at."

"Oh wow! It's already past 10." Silver commented, checking the time.

Amy stepped away from Maria. "Then we'll see you later, Tails. For those sticking around, I think we could all use a relaxing drink. Tea? Coffee?" She looked around gauging interest. 

"I'd love some tea." Blaze answered.

"Me too." Silver agreed.

"I could go for a coffee." Shadow said.

"Then I'll put the kettle on and get a pot going," Amy nodded and headed towards the kitchen.

Before Amy could leave the room, Maria listed to the side a bit, grabbing Shadows arm before she could fall over. 

Shadow steadied her, asking, "Are you alright?" 

"Yeah, I think so. Just a little vertigo. I think there might be some drugs still kicking around my system." Maria closed her eyes to try and mediate the swaying feeling. 

"Maybe you should sit down." Blaze suggested.

Shadow gently guided Maria to the couch, as she continued to hold his arm. She gingerly sat down, seemingly unsure where the cushions were in relation to her body given the swaying of her vision.

"I'll grab you a water in the mean time, Maria." Amy stated, taking the initiative without bothering to ask if she wanted one.

"Thank you, Amy." Maria covered her eyes with a hand.

Tails headed out to a chorus of goodbyes and Silver joined Amy in the kitchen to help with the drinks. Shadow, Sonic, and Blaze took a seat in the living room with Maria. 

Silver entered the room again with the glass of water, "Amy and I were thinking that we could all use some time to decompress after yesterday. How about a movie day? We can pull out the sleepover mattress for the floor and some extra pillows and blankets..."

"Sounds good to me!" Sonic agreed.

"That sounds nice. I'll grab some blankets from the linen closet." Blaze got up, gave Silver's arm an affectionate squeeze, then headed upstairs.

"I can get the mattress!" Sonic sped away then reappeared with a foldable twin-sized pad and set it up at the foot of the couch. 

When Blaze returned with her arms full of blankets and pillows, Sonic helped her cover the mattress and couches with them. 

The group settled into their own cozy spots around the room. Amy and Silver brought everyone their requested hot drinks, setting the teapot and carafe on the coffee table along with a tin of cookies. 

Silver and Blaze curled up on the mattress next to Maria's legs where she sat at the end of the main couch. Shadow made himself at home in the armchair near to Maria. Sonic sat on the other end of the couch with Amy snuggled up to him from her spot between him and Maria. 

"Oh! I guess we should pick a movie to put in. Anyone have a suggestion?" Amy asked. "We have all the streaming services so I'm sure we can find almost anything." 

"Maria, do you have a favourite you'd like to watch?" Silver asked, looking up at her.

"Hmm, I don't know." She took a moment to think. "Would people be interested in watching Singing in the Rain?" 

"Ya know, I still haven't watched that. It's been on my list for a while, though, so I'm down." Silver replied, trying to reassure in response to Maria's obvious insecurity. 

So the six of them spent the day watching old movies, cuddled up in the living room. They didn't talk much, let alone about what had occurred over the past two days. Maria and Shadow were especially quiet throughout the day, only talking when asked simple questions. There was an unspoken understanding that they where emotionally exhausted and all of them could use this time of rest and relaxation. 

They ordered pizza for dinner and continued their marathon until the guys left around 10pm.

Shadow and Maria shared a slightly awkward hug goodbye with a simple exchange of goodnights while the others exchanged kisses with their partners.

Somehow despite the day's revelations, things seemed to feel almost back to normal. 

I guess when crazy shit happens to your group regularly enough it gets easier to readjust in the wake of such things.