Spooky

Chapter 40

{Author's Note: As y'all've probably noticed, this book now has a cover! That's thanks to the amazing Shadow_Ultimate !! I know I already credited you in the updated description but I wanted to thank you again because that's just so cool of you, and I really like it a lot. Thank you so much!! }

-Scourge's POV-

The ride to the mall is completely uneventful. Knuckles' mom drops us off, says she'll be back before seven, and goes off to run some errands, leaving us at the entrance to the mall. We wave as she departs, and the moment she's gone, Sonic turns around and looks between the lot of us, cheerful as always, and he says, "So, where to first?".His letterman jacket is zipped up to account for the chill outside, but he, like me, still refuses to wear pants. I've layered my leather jacket over the shirt I slept in last night, so I'm pretty warm, and Knuckles is wearing a black tank top under a camouflage jacket, close to a windbreaker of sorts. Shadow's just in his usual hoodie, a tank top beneath it, but the hoodie is zipped up to hide it. He's actually wearing pants too, the red ripped ones that draw attention to his legs in a rather flattering way.

The echidna shrugs, looking uncertain. "Dunno..." His violet eyes skate over to us two a bit warily, clearly wanting us to weigh in.

"I've no preference or anything," I reply with a shrug. I'm probably going to go to Hot Topic to buy something nice for Shadow, maybe a necklace or whatever; he seems to like those. I mean, he's always wearing that half-heart necklace.

Instead of words, Shadow just shrugs too, and Sonic tips his head to one side, thinking. "Alright, we can just wander around for a bit, then." He says cheerfully, heading for the door. Knuckles walks beside him, so Shadow and I fall in step behind them. I look at the backs of their heads as we walk; they chatter between themselves, but I stay quiet (and I know Shadow won't talk), observing them. Sonic and Knuckles seem... pretty close. Very close. Not as close as Shadow and I, I don't think, but something halfway there, maybe. This morning when Sonic called me, he'd said Knuckles was snoozing on top of him, too, though I couldn't tell if that was a 'two bros taking a nap together' situation or a 'two boyfriends taking a nap together' situation. I'd have to ask, but it seems a little rude to do so in public—I mean, if they were, I'd be asking them to out themselves, really, and I know I wouldn't want that to happen to me, so there's no way I'd even consider doing it to them. Maybe sometime when Shadow and I are at my home, I'll ask Sonic in private about it. It'd probably be safer to talk about it there, at least.

We wander around the mall for a solid fifteen minutes before eventually deciding to split off. Shadow and Knuckles are left to go together to the opposite side of the mall across from them after Sonic insists on dragging me into a rather dark-looking clothing store alone. Knuckles wants to go into a rather tropical-looking store, and to my surprise, Shadow offers to go with him. It absolutely doesn't look like the sort of place he'd be caught dead in. Before I can ask why he could possibly want to go in, Sonic chirps, "Okay, great! Meet us by the li'l pretzel kiosk when you're done!" And then promptly my twin is dragging me by the arm and within moments the two disappear from my sight.

"What are you—?" I start to ask as Sonic lets go of my arm.

He turns to me with an are-you-serious? expression. "Dude, you said you gotta shop for Shadow, right?" He waves his arm to the dark store interior. "It's not Hot Topic, sure, but I figured that'd be too obvious."

Understanding dawns on me. "Oh... Right." I blink. It's surprising that he'd think of that, let alone that he'd drag me into here himself.