Time Heals All Things

Chapter Thirty: Expected and the Unexpected

"So.. I've a bone to pick with you." Rouge drawled as she slid onto the guest bed beside the overnight bag her best friend and self adopted brother was meticulously packing. The black and red hedgehog looked up after he carefully placed the toiletries bag in the gap that he had created for it. The red zip bag was between the plastic bag of dirty laundry and the excess clean and paired socks and gloves that were neatly rolled and in a precise row.

"Pick away then." Shadow gave a half amused smirk at her before slipping both his and Sonic's sunglasses back into the side pocket before checking that his wallet and keys were still where he had deposited them.

"Is it true? Are you letting Sonic plan a birthday party for you?" The white female bat glared deeply with a put out pout, her hands on her large swollen hips. "You've never let me celebrate anything with you and I've known you longer than anyone!"

"It's not like that." The black hedgehog sighed heavily with a jaded roll of his brilliant scarlet red eyes.

"Then what? Explain it to me cause I am having a hard time understanding how he gets to do this for you now.." Rouge's teal eyes filled with emotion as she had tried so hard to be understanding of his desire for solitude over the years. He had not only been her Male of Honour on her wedding day but he had also walked her down the aisle and handed her away since both her parents had died when she was just a girl. Her father, a mob kingpin in his living days, had been gunned down in a turf war during Dr Eggman's early rise to power and her mother, a once popular and beautiful lounge singer in a gentleman's club, had raised her until the power hungry tyrant finally took her too leaving her completely alone to fend for herself on the streets. Life had toughened her and her trust in others had dwindled... at least it had, until she had met him. He always looked out for her, he didn't cheat and he always kept his word. He was the most honest being she had ever come across. Now the red and black hedgehog was the closest thing to family that she had and he had unwittingly helped her learn to trust others enough to realise a life with Knuckles had even been possible.

"I, well he..." Shadow broke off with a long exhale, his tough exterior melting away to reveal a cautiously hopeful face. "He makes me feel loved.."

  For a long moment Rouge blinked before her teal eyes welled up and a swell of happiness made her smile at him tenderly.

"Oh.. Shadow.." She cooed in a high delighted tone instantly wrapping her arms around him and ignoring the dark hedgehog's tense body as she held him close to her. "This is what I've always wanted for you.."

"It is?" Shadow murmured confused still tensed up in shock against her hug.

"Of course Handsome. I've only ever wanted to see you happy." Rouge replied pulling back still holding onto him with a small smile. "Although I never expected it to be Sonic that was surprising." She added musingly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Shadow blinked.

"Well, I didn't realise you even liked him although it explains why you allowed him to stay with you after his divorce." The pregnant female bat said as the black hedgehog zipped the overnight bag shut. "How long have you be harbouring feelings for him?" She tilted her head sideways intrigued.

"I'm not really sure to be honest.." The black and red hedgehog replied scratching the back of his quill unsurely. "I think that I have always been somewhat fascinated by our similarities since we first met that night in Station Square."

"That's the real reason why you didn't go to his wedding, isn't it? It hurt you to see him try and settle with Amy.." Rouge asked sympathetically remembering how Shadow had shredded the invite in fury the moment she had handed it to him then made sure that he was nowhere near the ceremony. The female bat had always suspected that he had been harbouring some kind of feelings for the blue hedgehog but at the time she had not realised just how profound they must have been. It wasn't until the two males started dating that the truth dawned on her.