Sonic smiled as he walked towards Tails' house. Usually he would be running as he loved to run and it would get him there much quicker. But on this occasion he decided to take it slow and admire the beauty of the setting sun. He had got a phone call earlier on from the fox inviting him to dinner that evening since they hadn't got anytime to just relax and have a friendly chat in ages. A few other friends were coming over too. As the blue hedgehog wondered about who was arriving at this party his thoughts were disturbed by a small house coming into view of the road. There was a large tree by the side of it with a scruffy looking tree house built around it. Tools of all sorts were seen spewed all over it as Sonic walked under it and a weird contraption sat on the deck. Yep this is definitely Tails' house he thought. He walked up to the house and tapped on the door with the red door knocker. Tails opened the door instantly as if he'd been waiting there the whole time. "Hi, Sonic! Long time no see!" Tails greeted him with a friendly hug. "Hey, buddy! Good to finally have a chance to hang out." Sonic chuckled. "So... who's coming along? Is anyone else here yet?" "No, Sonic. You got here first, as always. And I think there's quite a few coming. Let me see... Amy, Cream, Knuckles, Rouge and uh.. if he bothers to show up I invited Shadow!" Sonic's heart fluttered a little when he heard that Shadow was invited to the party. He hadn't spoken to him for ages now since he had been avoiding him for the last few weeks.
You see Sonic had had strange feelings for the dark, mysterious hedgehog for quite a while. And it killed him inside to have to be with him everyday without exposing his feelings to him. The blue hedgehog tried to shake these feelings away, telling himself that it wasn't true. He didn't have feelings for his rival. He was just being stupid. There was no way anything could happen between them. And even if he did if Sonic got anywhere near Shadow, he would have his face kicked in. But no matter what Sonic tried to do his heart would not stop pounding whenever the dark hedgehog even spoke to him. So he saw no other option but to stay away from him; there's no way of getting into trouble with Shadow if he stayed away, right? Sonic followed Tails to the dining room in hope that he wouldn't screw up in front of his secret crush.
Sonic looked anxiously at the clock, then to the door, then back to the clock again. Everyone else had arrived now except Shadow and he was worried. Even if he didn't want to mess up in front of him he still was excited about seeing Shadow again and hoped he was just late. Amy, who had obviously chosen one of the empty seats next to Sonic, saw that he looked down and asked him what was wrong. "Oh.. its nothing.. Just wondering when Shadow's gonna turn up" Sonic mumbled. Amy laughed "C'mon, Sonic. You know he hates these sorts of things. Hes probably not even coming at all! And why are you so concerned? You got me, haven't you?" Sonic sighed and managed a smile for Amy. "I guess.."
Finally, after half an hour of waiting, the black hedgehog silently entered the room. "Well, well, well! Look who decided to show up!" Rouge mocked, causing everyone to look in his direction, which he didn't like at all. He decided to ignore her comment and sat in the empty chair next to Sonic. Sonic secretly smiled, happy that he was sitting next to him. The room gradually buzzed back into conversation while Shadow stared down at his empty glass. Sonic couldn't help but gaze upon the hedgehog, he wished that there was some way of cheering the lonely hedgehog up, but Shadow was a hard person to please and Sonic saw no good in annoying him. Shadow's blood red eyes suddenly glanced up and met with Sonic's emerald green ones. Sonic quickly turned away and started to chat to Amy, cursing in his head about his mistake. Shadow knew that Sonic was eyeing him over and he didn't like it. Why he was looking at him, he had no idea.
After everyone had finished their meals people started to leave, first Knuckles, then Rouge, then Amy and Cream. Amy invited Sonic to walk with them too but he declined, wanting to savour this moment with Shadow. Finally the dark hedgehog murmured something about having to be somewhere and left. Sonic wondered about following him but thought better of it and talked to Tails for a few moments longer. Soon Sonic had thanked Tails for the lovely meal and had headed off home.
Sonic shivered. It was a cold, cloudless night and the dark sky was dotted with thousands of tiny stars. It reminded him of Shadow... Since it was such a nice night he decided to go sit on the nearby hill where he'd taken Amy on their first date. He hadn't wanted to take her but he couldn't find the courage to tell her no. But anyway the hill was a great place to just lie and watch the stars so that's where he was going. When he got there he was surprised to see a familiar face there. Shadow was sitting on the hill looking up at the stars, seeming mesmerized by the night sky. Sonic dithered for a second. Should he really go up there? Shadow wouldn't be very happy to see him. He took a deep breath and gained the strength to go talk to him. He slowly crept up the hill, not wanting to be heard, but Shadow had very good hearing and swiveled round to see the blue hedgehog. "What the hell are you doing here?" he growled. Sonic looked startled. "Uh- nothing! Just come to see if you're okay.. I could ask you the same thing. What are you doing here?" Shadow ignored him and started walking away. "No wait!!" Sonic yelled. "C- could I come with you?" Shadow frowned. "Don't you have anything else to do than annoy me?" "No actually. I just.... wanted to see if you wanted to hang out?" Shadow thought about it. Why wont he go away? What does he want from me? He sighed. "Fine. But I'm not happy about it." Sonic chuckled. "You never are!" The dark hedgehog gave him an annoyed look and carried on walking.
As soon as they got to Shadows house he kicked off his boots and sat in front of the T.V. Sonic stood awkwardly by the side of the sofa. "Well, sit down then!!" Shadow shouted and Sonic obediently perched next to him. The dark hedgehog went to go get some beer. "Want some?" he yelled from the kitchen. "Well.. uh-" "Get it yourself" Sonic smiled at the hedgehog's rudeness. After sitting down they didn't talk for a while. The Sonic saw why. The Ultimate Life Form had fallen asleep on the couch! Sonic stared at him lovingly. He was so angry around anyone else but he looked so cute when he was sleeping. He couldn't help himself. Sonic found himself wrapping his arm around Shadow. His chest fur felt so soft. He stroked it and pulled himself closer to him. Shadow instantly knew what was happening and grabbed Sonic's hands. "What the fuck are you doing??!!!" he snapped. Sonic froze. He wanted him so badly. His mind was telling him now or never!! So he leaned down and kissed him. Shadow's eyes widened. He tried to push Sonic away but Sonic's embrace was too strong. And something about what was happening made him want more. He gave in and kissed back leaving Sonic surprised now too. He thought Shadow would punch him or something. Shadow's tongue played with Sonic's as they continued their embrace. It was Sonic that pulled away. The black hedgehog sat in shock from what had just happened. "Sha- Shadow I-" "Get out Sonic." Shadow hissed. "But I-" "GET OUT!!" Sonic leaped back and backed away from him. "I... I'm sorry" he whispered before running out of the door, tears streaming down his face. Shadow sat on the sofa, head in his hands, strong emotions running through his mind. Oh Sonic.. what have you done?...