Fooled To Love

An Old Friend

Naturally, everyone was surprised. Shadow buried his face in Knuckles's chest, ignoring the other's shocked gasps. Knuckles, who was shocked for a second, quickly wrapped his arms around the hedgehog tightly. Shadow felt comfort in those strong arms and he felt himself nuzzle the echidna comfortingly, wondering why he felt so loving and caring all of the sudden.

Sonic, still not being use to it, looked to the side with a deep sigh, but otherwise said nothing. As much as he believed he could trust Shadow, he still felt that there was something up. The others, none the wiser to Shadow's inner turmoil of feelings, watched as the two shared their hug.

Later on, Shadow found himself sandwiched in between Knuckles and Sonic, watching them play a pointless video game, but enjoying the utterly horrible trash talk the two were shouting as they played.

"I'll screwdriver you to the ground!" Sonic shouted as he spammed a button.

"Oh yeah, well I'll, uh," Knuckles stopped what he was doing for a moment, gathering his thoughts before continuing. "I'll hammer you down!"

In truth, playing "Tool Smashers" was an obvious open for tool based puns and what not, but the game lacked character over everything else. It was bland, and while there was a character choice, there wasn't anything special with them. At least, that's what Knuckles said.

Anyways, Shadow often found himself holding back groans or giggles because of the horrible, horrible puns. Knuckles seemed to try the hardest to get him to laugh, and when he finally succeeded, he was proud of himself. He was also proud of the two hedgehogs for seemingly putting their rivalry behind them.

And that was when a knock at the doorway (ya know, the place where the door SHOULD be) interrupted their good hearted moment. The three looked towards the noise, and Shadow's heart almost stopped.

"I'm looking for Shadow." A dark voice said as reptilian green eyes were set in a glare.

"What do you want with him?" Knuckles asked, being Shadow, who had suddenly stopped doing anything, close to him.

Sonic was more concerned with other things, though. "Dude, how can you talk without a mouth!?"

The newcomer locked eyes with the black and red hedgehog, who let put a wary stutter. "M-Mephiles...."

"You haven't been home all day. I thought you were being held hostage." The look alike crossed his arms.

"I'm sorry, I've been busy." Shadow said, regaining his composure.

"Yes, I can see that." The one named Mephiles glared at the echidna holding Shadow tightly in his arms.

"Shadow, who is that?" Knuckles asked. "And why is he glaring at me?"

"That's Mephiles...." Shadow sighed. "He is an old friend of mine...."

"He looks a lot like you...." Sonic mumbled.

Shadow sighed before getting out of Knuckles's arms and walking to the other. Mephiles gripped onto his arm instantly. "Say farewell because we are leaving."

"I'm not a child, and you aren't my mom." Shadow mumbled, but said goodbye to the two, who were more confused than anything.

When Knuckles saw the two leaving, he had to stop them. "Wait!"

Shadow turned around and was immediately wrapped up in the other's arms before feeling a gentle kiss on his forehead. He looked up to Knuckles, face tinted red as Knuckles said, "Good night."

"Good night to you as well." Shadow nodded awkwardly. He then paused, as if he wanted to do something before glancing at Mephiles and reaching up to peck the echidna's cheek. He then walked out, leaving his blushing 'boyfriend.' Mephiles followed behind, seemingly annoyed.

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"You're actually falling in love with him, aren't you?" Mephiles growled out to the other as they walked into a small shack on the other side of the beach.

Shadow crossed his arms, not saying anything.

"You are." He spat. "I thought you'd never betray me, Shadow."

"I'm not." Shadow said. "I'm not falling in love with him, and I'd never betray you."

Mephiles scoffed, looking away. "Maybe I should give the government a call...."

Shadow tensed up, shaking slightly. "No! I'm not betraying you! We're friends, right?"

"Yes, we are." The other said simply. Shadow had bad abandonment issues, and he knew that. "We've been friends since the war. I was the one to stick by you, Shadow. I was the one who never betrayed you. I saved your life when you stupidly stayed with Maria instead of fighting. I was created to be your friend, Shadow, so you wouldn't betray me, would you? You wouldn't go with the enemy, would you?"

"No, never! I swear it was just for the act!" Shadow said quickly. "Please don't be mad...."

"I'm not mad." Mephiles sighed. Shadow had REALLY bad separation issues after the war. It was a bad time: he lost all of his team, saw his best friend die right in front of him, and was going to be put in suspended animation, if it hadn't been for Mephiles.

He turned away, walking towards his room. "I'll be in my room. Call me if you need anything."

Shadow sighed as he sat on their couch, his thoughts battling each other. He couldn't actually love Knuckles, could he?

No, he'd never betray his friend. He was the only one that stayed, after all....

The hedgehog sighed as his thoughts went back to Knuckles, his face heating up as he thought about how protective the other was when Mephiles randomly appeared. He always seemed ready to protect him, and that's what bothered the hedgehog. How could his friend's enemy be so nice?

He remembered when he first met Sonic. Mephiles seemed okay with him being friends with the other, until they moved to Bygone Island. He didn't know what happened, but something clicked in the other. Mephiles suddenly swore that Sonic and his growing team had to be stopped, and Shadow trusted him so much that he followed along, being the one to go through with his friend's schemes. He was always told that they were the enemy after that, and he became Sonic's rival. Sonic went along with it, as if he knew all along that they were to be enemies. Shadow always wondered what the team did wrong, but he never questioned it.

Now, he was starting to.

Spending time with them, bonding with them, it made him wonder why they were suppose to be the enemy. Especially Knuckles....

Shadow curled up, not even noticing that he made it to his bed until he did so. He knew he was getting too attached to the other, and that was his fault. All that seemed to consume his mind is Knuckles, and it wasn't too hard to see why. Having someone so protective and kind around him and caring for him caused him to get attached. That wouldn't be good for when he'd eventually die and leave Shadow alone. That's why Mephiles was created. So Shadow wouldn't be alone.

But Mephiles doesn't make him feel the way Knuckles does.

He hated to admit it, but he felt more secure around Knuckles than Mephiles.

He sighed as he buried his head in his pillow, trying to dismiss his thoughts.

Maybe a day away from the other would do him good....

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[Lava]

Ah, yes, I remember the days when this wasn't suppose to be a deep story....

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Hope you all liked it!!