|| _You're Not Alone_ || Sonadow one shot ||

_You're Not Alone_

PoV: Shadow

A blue flash of light caught my eye as I was walking back home after a mission. I twist myself around to see a familiar blue hedgehog dashing away into a forest of palm trees, his brown bandana waving like a miniature flag in the air. I decide to follow him, my curiosity taking over me. He never ran here, this I knew, and I was also thinking whether he'd be up for a duel or not. We haven't had one in a while, so I made my decision, skating towards him.

I eventually stop in some bushes near at a large cliffside, seeing Sonic sitting pretty much at the edge, staring off into the sunset. I grin, creeping up closer towards him. He flicks an ear, but doesn't notice, bringing up his legs closer to his chest. I stay low to the ground as I tip-toed behind him.

Once I was close enough, I whispered into his ear, "Boo." and he gasps before quickly jumping upward. Without thinking, he flings me away from him with his shoes at full force, making me grunt as I hit a tree.

Sonic's eyes grow wide with confusion as he recognized me, but they turn into a hard glare.

"What the frick, Shadow?!" He snarls, and I bare my teeth, standing up.

"Hey! Don't you use that tone on me." I snarl, and he just rolls his eyes, this time not playfully, sitting back down again.

"Go away." He mutters, getting into the same seated position as he was in before.

"Jeez." I mumble, and he pins his ears as I walked up to him. "Not in the mood?" I ask him, sitting down next to him with only about a foot's distance away from him.

He turns his head away from me. "No, not really." He says, sniffling once.

"What's up?" I ask him, and he flicks an ear in annoyance.

"Like you care." He mumbles sarcastically, though his voice could barely be heard.

"You're right- I don't." I say, watching the sunset.

"Then why are you still here?" He asks, looking at me angrily.

"'Cause you seem angrier than normal." I reply, and he looks at the ground. He doesn't reply, and I scoot closer to him, making him tense his muscles. "Faker, what's wrong?" I persist, and he growls, narrowing his eyes.

"Nothing. I'm fine." He says, standing up and walking away with his arms crossed.

I lower my eyelids grumpily, following after him. He jumps up into an oak tree, picking out a thick branch. He leans against the trunk of the tree, letting out a long sigh. I roll my eyes, Chaos controlling up to the same branch.

"I'm not going to ask you again. Leave." He snarls at me, but I ignore him and scoot over to him again.

"Tell me what's going on first." I snarl back at him, and he groans, covering his face in his arms.

"No." He says, and I was starting to get annoyed.

"You're being stubborn." I say, and he lowers his ears slightly.

"You're not helping, Shadow..." He mumbles, and I frown. If he's not calling me by my nickname then he's really upset.

"Tell me. Tell me. Tell me. Tell me. Tell me. Tell me." I repeat, wanting to annoy the truth out of him.

Sonic groans, pinning and covering his ears. I knew he wanted me to stop, but I kept going, not giving up.

"Okay, fine!" He finally says, but doesn't say anything. I got an answer, but wasn't expecting it. "Sike." He says, before hopping off the branch and dashing away.

I narrow my eyes. Don't forget I have the Chaos emerald! I warn him in my mind, Chaos controlling in front of him. He skids to a halt, but doesn't stop in time and bumps into my chest, taking a few steps back.

"Shadow, nothing happened. Just let me get back to Tails." He says, but I didn't believe that he was suddenly feeling better.

I lunge at him unexpectedly, pinning him to the ground. He gasps when the wind was knocked out of him, struggling beneath me. He stood no chance, however, and eventually gave up after a few moments.

I lean closer toward his ear. "Tell me." I say once more, and he growls, trying to wriggle himself free again.

"Why should I?" He asks, looking stressed.

"'Cause I'm curious." I reply, and he suddenly lunges at my hand, biting it.

"Ow! What the?" I exclaim as I pull away in both disgust and surprise, releasing him.

He stands up, panting as he took a few steps back. I narrow my eyes at him, infuriated. I walk up to him, towering above him. I raise a fist, and he flinches, ducking his head with his eyes closed. He looked like he felt bad, but I still came crashing down onto his cheek, making him fall on his rear.

He winces in pain, and holds the place I just punched him in. "Yeah, I deserved that." He whispers, half to himself.

My glare softened when I suddenly saw tears stream down his cheeks, and he stood up to walk away slowly, his ears lowered and his body looking weaker. I follow behind him again, watching him sit at the edge of the cliff again, looking into the now darkening sky.

Again, I sit next to him, this time closer. "Punch me all you want, but I'm still not going to tell you." He says, his voice muffled by his arms.

His body was shaking from crying, and I was sure that he needed somebody to comfort him now. Seeing that no one else was around, I wrap and arm around him, forcing him gently to lean against me. He seemed confused at first, I knew this because of his body language, but doesn't resist.

"I'm not going to punch you again." I reassure him, and he flicks an ear.

I opened my mouth to speak again, but he cut me off with, "I forgive you." and unburies his face from his arms, resting his cheek- the one that wasn't punched -against my chest.

Sonic's eyes were closed, his expression was calm, and his bandana flowed gracefully in the wind.

"What happened? Really." I ask him again.

"I heard Knuckles was talking about me behind my back." He replies, and I chuckle, making him look up at me in confusion. "What's so funny?" He asks.

"I don't know. I just don't think that's really something to cry over." I reply, and he looks at the ground with a shrug.

"You're right. I can overreact sometimes." He says, though I could hear some reluctance in the first line. "I just can't stop thinking about whether he was saying something bad about me or not." He adds, looking up at me again.

"Well, look at it this way: Maybe you're so cool to your friends that they want to talk about you... Even when you're not around." I say, and he huffs, smiling.

"Never thought of it that way." He says. "Thanks, Shad." He adds, hugging me.

As much as I hated hugging or getting hugged by someone, I couldn't suppress a smile tugging at the edges of my lips, and rest the side of my head onto his. "You're not alone, Sonic." I say, and he presses his forehead into my chest fur.

Never think you are...