Time Heals All Things

Chapter Twenty-Three: Baby Shower Blues..

  Everyone who was invited for Rouge's baby shower came to Angel Island for the event and was dressed up in either casual suits or nice dresses. The gleeful heavy pregnant female bat soon found herself surrounded by baby gifts while wearing a flattering floaty pink dress and neat white heels.. However Sonic was not quite enjoying the party as much as he had hoped he would. He found himself in the company of Knuckles and Tails which wasn't really a problem as they were his best friends but his mood was soured by his envy over the fact that that they could openly be affectionate with their partners and nobody would care.

  At this precise moment he was sitting alone necking the last of his beer and picking off the label glumly. He was wearing the navy suit that Shadow had gifted him but this time he was wearing a newly bought pale yellow shirt underneath that his boyfriend had helped him pick out. He had already witnessed Knuckles tenderly nuzzle his wife while Tails and Cream got to canoodle playfully together. Unfortunately he and Shadow were still in hiding from most of the world so he was unable to be as open and affectionate with his boyfriend as he wanted to be. There were also some of Shadow's G.U.N colleagues here too which meant that his boyfriend had not spent any time with him at all during the baby shower. Sonic's green eyes glanced in Shadow's direction to see him sitting talking with a pretty young blonde woman he didn't know dressed in a hot red dress. His eyes narrowed enviously as the two of them were laughing affectionately together obviously sharing a joke. His teeth ground together back and forth wishing he was the one that Shadow was sat with so close with tonight. His fists clenched painfully tight, straining the knuckles of his gloves when this unknown blonde woman suddenly hugged Shadow warmly making his boyfriend smile tenderly as he embraced her back.

"Hey, everything ok Sonic?" Tails' soft voice drifted through him with concern as the younger fox sat next to him, his light blue suit and green shirt were slightly askew and buttoned up incorrectly. His white muzzle was scattered with sticky peach kisses from Cream's mango glitter delight lip gloss. The blue hedgehog immediately turned away, loosening his fingers from their tight clench and feeling the tingle of his blood flow surging through his fingers.

"Yeh, I'm fine li'l bud.." Sonic exhaled deeply before getting himself another beer bottle. "Just need another drink." He then opened the bottle top and took a large gulp.

"You sure.." Tails added with an unsure look. "You haven't really been yourself tonight. Your more melancholy that usual, you didn't even laugh when Vector and Espio were hazing Knuckles earlier about becoming a dad."

"It wasn't that funny.." Sonic responded in a monotonous voice looking unimpressed by his self-adopted little brother's reasoning.

"What? It was totally funny! Even Knuckles laughed when Vector said he had never looked older than he did now.." Tails chuckled before his smile dropped as his best friend and idle only took another swig of beer in response. The twin-tailed fox looked unsurely at him for a moment before trying again, "This is about your boyfriend over there, isn't it?" His sky blue eyes turned to see Shadow and the blonde woman next to him now talking to Amy, Rouge and Topaz.

"Hmh.." The forty year old hedgehog grunted but his green eyes glanced back at his boyfriend and his lips twisted into a grimace.

"If you want to be with him, just go over there." Tails said gently patting his shoulder.

"It's not that simple. I want to be with him as his boyfriend not just his friend or housemate." Sonic sighed heavily leaning his head in one fist looking despondent into his beer.

"Oh. So you want to come out as a couple." Tails said in surprise, his eyes widening. Sonic's deep level of devotion to Shadow always amazed him. The middle-aged blue hedgehog was completely in love, maybe for the first time in his life. He spoke about Shadow so much that the two tailed golden fox had learnt a lot about the true self of Shadow, enough to allow Sonic his silent blessing to date him.