No More Pain

2

Shadow sat alone on the floor in his messy apartment, wearing his black hoodie and matching sweatpants. His head was resting on his knees, trying to deal with a nasty hangover. His head was constantly pounding. He raised his head up to only roll up his hoodie's sleeves.

This revealed his cutting marks. He put pressure on them and some of them reopened. Shadow grit his teeth and tears welled up in his eyes.

Suddenly, he felt his stomach churn. He quickly got up and ran to his bathroom. He lifted the toilets lid and threw up. After a few minutes of vomiting up his stomach content, he finally stopped. He rested his head on the edge of the bowl breathing heavily. He looked into the toilet and saw it was mostly bile.

He wasn't surprised, he hasn't been eating that much. His throat burned from the stomach acid. He shakily stood up and walked to the sink. Shadow turned on the water and drank from the tap. The cold water soothed his burning throat.

As he looked into the mirror in front of him, he looked at someone he didn't even recognize. His quills were unkempt, dark circles were under his eyes, and he was skinnier than he thought.

'What's the point anymore? I look like crap, my apartments a mess, no one wants me alive...so...why am I still here?' He thought.

A loud knock was heard through the house.

Shadow rolled down his sleeves and went to answer the door. He unlocked the door and cracked the door open.

"Hey Shadow, long time no see!"

It was Sonic! He waved at Shadow wearing a green v-neck and blue jeans.

Shadow opened the door fully. "What do you want hedgehog?"

Sonic eyed Shadow's appearance. "You feeling okay Shadow? You don't look so good."

Shadow rolled his eyes. "Did you come just to criticize my looks? If so than leave, I'm not in the mood to deal with you."

"No, I came Because Rouge texted me to come check on you. She said you two were supposed to meet at that new tea and cake shop downtown and you never showed up." Sonic explained.

Shadow's eyes widened. 'Crud, That was today. I completely forgot.' He mentally cursed.

"Then she got called into work so she didn't have time to talk to you herself. So she called me. So? You okay?" Sonic continued.

Shadow shrugged. "I'm fine, just have a splitting head ache. Is that all?"

"Actually, I wanted to ask you something." Sonic added.

"Fine, make it quick." Shadow spat.

Sonic pulled out an envelope with Shadow's name on it. "It's my 22th birthday the day after tomorrow. I was wondering if you would come to my party!"

Shadow was genuinely surprised. He thought Sonic was the one who hated him the most. They never talked. They never raced anymore. Nothing.

"Sonic, let's be honest here. No one at your party will want me there. And I'm not exactly the party goer type." Shadow said.

"I know your not, but you never know. It could have fun. And don't worry about my friends. Cause, I want you there. It's not their party, it's mine." Sonic states.

Shadow was once again surprised. 'Why is he so adamant about me going to his party? I mean, it is kinda of nice that he's fighting for me to go but...its still a party filled with people who hate me and would love to see me dead.' Shadow thought.

"I can tell your debating on what to do. So how about this: You and I met up tomorrow and we just catch up a little bit. Just talk and get you a little more comfortable being social? I mean it has been awhile since we've even seen each other." Sonic proposed.

Shadow didn't know why, but he felt is heart rate increase and his face heat up. "*sigh* fine. Where do you want to meet up?" Shadow asked.

"You pick, it is to make you more comfortable." Sonic replied.

"Okay, then...*thinks for a second*...can we just meet in the park? The one a few miles from here? About 2pm?" Shadow suggests.

Sonic beamed in joy. "Perfect! If ya need to reach me, my number is on the invite. I'll see you then!" Sonic sped off into the distance leaving Shadow blushing and a little confused.

Shadow shut the door and pressed his back against it. He slid down the door until he was sitting on his floor with the invite pressed against his chest. 'Why all of a sudden does he take an interest in me? I could actually feel my heart about to jump out of my chest. I've never felt that before.' Shadow thought as his muzzle flashed a pink blush.