SonAdow - Romance in Highschool?

Sonic: A Special Relationship

"DAD!!!!!" I gasp in mortification, gaping at my father. "Why would you say that?!"

"What? Can't I comment on the obvious?" Dad asks, looking a bit surprised at my panicked reaction. I make a strange, hissing gasp, feeling as if my father's actions are somehow strangling me.

"No, but did you have to say that?! Do you have any idea how awkward this is?! Shadow and I have only know each other for a week! We've only talked at school! You can hardly call us an item yet!"

"...'yet'?" My dad asks, raising an eyebrow at me. "So, there is--"

"DAD!" I cut him off, grabbing his shoulders and shaking to make him stop talking. An ominous feeling pervades the air around me, and I nervously look back at Shadow to see his thoughts on my father's comment. What my eyes find on my crush's face trap my heart between terror and exhilaration; the hard red staining Shadow's cheeks and his widened eyes suggest aghast mortification, but the pink tinge on his ears and face, along with his folded down ears, tells me Shadow is personally embarrassed by the comment. Is it really possible? Could he like me, too? Our eyes lock, and, to my surprise, Shadow immediately yanks his gaze away, turning to the side. I glare pointedly at my father before pointing at the door, and my dad gets the message. He exits the room quietly, realizing he overestimated how much of a relationship Shadow and I have. Turning back to my crush, I try desperately to salvage our friendship before it's too late.

"Shadow, I'm sorry. He didn't mean--"

"Do you like me?" Shadow interrupts, stopping my words in their tracks. "As in, like-like me?" Shadow's sudden question catches me off guard, and I flush, remaining silent with nervous fear he won't return my feelings. Shadow looks at me, hands clasped tightly on his stomach with his shoulders hunched, somehow trapping my gaze with his despite my averted eyes and his turned position. I see in his eyes the same apprehension I know I can find in mine, the worried feeling that things won't work out well. "Well?"

"I--I mean, well--I wouldn't really say--i-it's hard to explain," I fumble, not knowing how to say what I want to. Yes. Just say yes. "I mean, I like you, certainly, but I--that is, you--I--" Shadow continues to looks at me, and I feel like I've been given the most terrible power in the world; it seems that what I say here will either soothe those shaking crimson eyes or shatter them, like I hold Shadow's fragile soul in my hand and a sledgehammer in the other. Say yes! That's all you have to say! It's not hard! I open my mouth, but the words won't come out of my throat. I feel like I have a physical impediment, somehow not able to make my vocal cords vibrate. Shadow's eyes widen, and a shiver runs down his spine. Don't let him think you don't care for him! Say the damn word, Sonic!

"Y-Yes!" I exclaim shakily, a tear rolling from my eyes from the effort it took to say that one, stupid syllable. Suddenly, I can't control my body, and when I crush Shadow in the most tight hug I've ever given, I could swear I wasn't the one who moved my feet. "Chaos, Shadow, I've liked you ever since we first met. I-I know you might not feel the same way, but I want you to know that I do like you. No, I love you. I don't know how, or why, but I've fallen in love with you somehow, someway. You mean so much to me, even if all you want to be is friends! Please don't let my feelings get in the way of our friendship, I beg of you. I just--I like you so much, and to see you so worried like this, it--"

"Sonic?" I stop my emotional rambling, feeling speechless as Shadow looks at me. His eyes are only a centimeter from mine, his breath rolling over my face. "I like you, too. Don't worry."

"Y-You like me?" I ask, feeling as if I've died and gone to heaven. "You do? Really? You really do?" I continue my questions, feeling as if one confirmation isn't enough. Shadow's nose touches mine as he leans slightly closer to me.