Not The Same (Sonadow)

34

*Shadow's POV *
"Happy birthday, buddy." I heard Sonic say to his best friend as I stood by the backdoor with Rouge.

"You've been looking at him all day. Did something happen?" Rouge asked me as I snapped back and looked at her. I proceeded to look down at my plate and kept eating.

"No. Nothing." I knew I could talk to Rouge, but I felt like I needed to talk to Sonic first.

Figure out what was going on between us. What if something did happen and we ended up hating each other again? We were going to be stuck with each other for the rest of our lives, maybe it was best not to get involved with each other. But still, I couldn't help it.

This stupid hedgehog had me. And all I wanted to do was help him get better. I wanted to see him smile again and be cheerful like he used to. I would do anything to help him, help him get out of his depression and help him heal from the trauma. 

"Shadow. You're staring at him again." Rouge snapped her fingers in front of my face. I snapped out of it, just in time to see Sonic had noticed. "Oh, here he comes~" She smirked, making me look at her. Did she know?

"Hey." Sonic said as he reached us. "I am going home already, want to walk with me?"

"Sure." I said as I put my plate down on the table. Sonic said goodbye to his friends and then walked towards the door.

I took in a deep breath and tensed up when Rouge gave me a thumbs up with a wink. That Damn bat.

I ignored her and walked with Sonic. It was already night, so it was nice and fresh while we walked. We remained silent for half the trip, neither of us able to think of what to say.

"So." He broke the silence as we kept looking where we was going. "I thought I was going to have to start another fight to tell you how I felt. I'm glad I didn't have to."

I wasn't sure how to answer that. My mind was racing, and I remained speechless. How was I supposed to answer this? Thankfully, he kept talking, but I didn't like what he asked next.

"Do you regret telling me how you feel?"

Shit. I have to answer now.

"No." I said as we both kept walking, making our way to his house. Some civilians past us, some still bumping into him on purpose, making me pull him to my side.

What did he do to me? Why am I suddenly acting without thinking? This wasn't me.

We kept walking in silence again for a few more minutes until he broke the silence again. He wasn't the type to keep his mouth shut.

"So what does this mean?" He asked, making me stop in my tracks. Sonic stopped a few feet away from me and turned to face me. I didn't know what to say.

What DOES this mean?

"I'm scared." He said, and I finally looked up at him. He had his ears dropped, and he messed with his gloves. "We are going to be stuck with each other, literally forever. What if things don't work out?"

"So you're already assuming we will give this a shot?" I raised a brow, he tensed up immediately. "I want to." I confessed. "But I don't know how this works, hedgehog. I'm barely even getting used to being friends with everyone, and now we would jump to a relationship?"

"Is that your way of asking me out?" He nervously smiled.

"Shut up." I rolled my eyes and kept walking. "I'm not -"

"I want to as well." He blurted out. "But I'm still scared, and I know you are too. So why don't we make a promise?"

I looked at him confused. "A promise?" We reached his house, both standing in front of the other as he reached for my hand and held it. I pulled my hand away out of instinct but quickly realized what I did and held his hand again.

"I am very thankful for everything you've done for me, Shadz. I don't know where I would be right now if you hadn't helped me. I don't want to lose you or pur new friendship, but I really want to see where this goes with us." He squeezed my hand. "Whatever happens, we should promise that we will not lose our friendship. We will not hurt each other, and we will not go back to hating each other. Even if we break up at some point, we should promise to come back to each other eventually and be happy for each other."

I looked down at our hands, my heart beating rapidly at all of this. I couldn't help but think of Maria at this moment. She wanted me to be happy, to save the world and everyone here. Would she have approved of this? Would she be proud?

I looked up at Sonic and looked him in the eyes. He was smiling, and this time, it was genuine. I nodded at him, squeezing his hand as well.

"Promise." We both said at the same time.

Sonic was about to tell me something again when Metal opened the door and looked at us. He tilted his head at seeing us hold hands, then finally spoke.

"About time." Those two simple words made me want to rip him apart. I clenched my fist and glared at Metal, who shrugged at me and walked back inside.

"I need to go home. I work in the morning." I told Sonic when I saw he was about to drag me in.

"Right. Sorry." He let go of my hand, my hand suddenly feeling cold and empty, aching for his touch again. "When can I see you again?" Now that I had a reason to leave work, I would be leaving early all the time.

"Tomorrow." I answered a bit too fast as I mentally cursed at myself.

Sonic simply laughed softly and nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow then, Shadz." He poked my muzzle, then walked inside his home and closed the door, leaving me speechless again.

*Rouge's POV *
"What's wrong, Hun? What happened last night?" I asked Shadow once I saw him walk into his office and put his head down on the desk. He covered his head with his hands, looking almost embarrassed or shy?

I wasn't sure, but it was out of character for Shadow.

"I think I'm dating Sonic." He blurted out in a mumble.

"What?!" I slammed the door closed as I ran to him and sat beside him on the desk. "Tell!"