Fooled To Love

Bonding Time

Shadow cried himself to sleep, and it made Knuckles regret bringing up Maria in the first place. The hedgehog seemed so sad just as the mention of her name...

Knuckles held the hedgehog close, not daring to let him go. He felt utterly stupid for making Shadow cry.

The echidna sighed sadly as he laid back, the hedgehog still in his arms. Shadow just stayed in his peaceful state, but one could still see the tear streaks on his cheeks. Knuckles frowned and held Shadow closer.

"Hey Knuckles!? You here!?" A voice shouted, making Knuckles jump. Sonic walked in, along with Tails, as Knuckles gently rocked the now waking hedgehog back to sleep. Shadow slowly calmed down and snuggled into Knuckles' chest, fast asleep.

Knuckles looked at his two friends and whispered. "Please be quiet. I don't want to wake him."

Sonic just rolled his eyes, but Tails smiled and nodded, whispering, "Sorry..."

Knuckles nodded and whispered, "It's fine. What are you two doing here?"

"We wanted to see if you were still coming to the camping trip tomorrow." Sonic said, not caring for how loud his voice is.

Knuckles sent a small glare towards Sonic before looking at Shadow and nodding. "I should be able to go. I'll see you two then..."

They both nodded and left. Shadow snuggled closer to the echidna, causing him to smile. He held the hedgehog closer and laid down, eventually falling asleep.

________Knuxadow_______

Shadow's eyes opened slowly, and he looked around before meeting Knuckles' tired eyes.

"Hey there, sleepyhead." Knuckles smiled before he sneezed. Then, that sneeze lead into a coughing fit.

Shadow's eyes widened slightly before he rubbed Knuckles' back. The echidna stopped and looked at Shadow.

Shadow gently laid his hand against the echidna's forehead. "You're burning up..."

"I'll be fine."

"You obviously aren't."

Knuckles just smiled gently and cupped his hand to Shadow's cheek. "It's just a small cold..."

"Hey Knuckles!" A voice came from the entrance of the cave. Sonic. "You ready for our camping trip!?"

Sonic and Tails walked in to see Knuckles and Shadow on the couch, Knuckles looking considerably paler than usual. Shadow's ears went back from the sudden guests.

"I'm, uh, kinda sick..." Knuckles said before coughing again. He looked at Shadow and an idea came up in his head. "But Shadow could go with you!"

"What!?" Both Shadow and Sonic shouted.

"Yeah!" Knuckles smiled weakly. "This could give you two time to bond!" He then started coughing again.

Shadow started to rub his back comfortingly, but his mind was frozen. "A-Are you sure you wouldn't rather me stay with you...?"

The echidna smiled softly. "I'll be fine. Sticks can take care of me."

"You can't be serious, Knuckles." Sonic just stood there, sort of dumbfounded. He couldn't believe the turn of events that have happened. "I mean, if Shadow and I went on a camping trip, one of us wouldn't make it out alive."

"Tails will be there to stop that from happening, right Tails?" The young fox was caught a bit off guard by the echidna's statement, but nodded. Knuckles smiled and continued, "This will be a great chance for you two to really get to know each other."