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It was late in the evening. The sky turned from a pale orange-tinted pink to a muted purple as the sun set lower. All the while, Shadow walked down the winding city sidewalks. It gave him more time to reflect on everything he talked to Dr. Williams about. And, tonight, he certainly had a lot to reflect on.
Over his sixteen consecutive weeks in counseling, Shadow could finally put his current struggles into words. Dr. Damon Williams—The new guy Rouge found—had a mostly hands-off approach, giving him plenty of space to vocalize all of his innermost thoughts. And, as Shadow soon came to find out, Damon could relate to him on a more personal level, since his father was one of the casualties of G.U.N’s raid on the Space Colony Ark. He’d wanted to talk to this elusive ultimate life form he’d heard about all his life. This was likely his only chance.
For the first two months, they tackled the parts of Shadow’s past that still profoundly affected him. Now, the focus was on his present and future. He didn’t want to admit it at first but, after Black Doom’s defeat, Shadow felt lost. There were more than a few days where he wondered if he should’ve survived his fall to Earth. He’d done everything that was expected of him and more, only to be left alone to forge a new path. That was what Damon was currently helping him achieve.
Tonight’s session took place three days after he’d donated blood. After a brief summarization of events, Shadow leaned back against the couch and stared at the ceiling fan. There was something he needed to get off his chest. Something he should’ve brought up weeks ago.
“I…I think I’m in love with Rouge.”
Damon nodded before jotting something down in his notebook. “What makes you think that?”
The hedgehog scowled in annoyance. “Look back through your notes, doctor. It’s super obvious.”
Damon did as he was told. Rouge frequently came up during their conversations. No doubt, her name was written on every other page. “You certainly seem to be quite fond of her.”
“I am,” Shadow sighed, grabbing a nearby couch cushion, “lately, my fondness for her has grown. A lot.”
“I see,” Damon replied, continuing to scribble something in his notebook. Shadow figured the man didn’t expect to be giving relationship advice to the lab experiment his late father witnessed the creation of. Then again, the hedgehog never expected that he’d need to seek out that kind of advice in the first place.
Things were quiet, aside from a few pen scratches. Growing impatient, Shadow spoke up. “Do I have to tell her now?”
Damon simply smiled and shook his head. “You don’t have to tell her. It’s perfectly fine if you’re not ready.”
“But I really want to tell her! Well, I think I do.” Shadow set the cushion back on the couch beside him, “I’ve never been in a romantic relationship with anyone. What if I screw it up? Then I’ll lose my best friend!”
Damon noticed the hedgehog was getting worked up. “These things take time, Shadow. Go about it at your own pace.”
Shadow didn’t say much else after that comment. Thankfully, the session was already wrapping up. Now, he returned to the present, standing at a busy intersection in Central City. The muted purple sky turned to a dark shade of blue.
During the rest of his walk home, Shadow kept picturing all the possible ways he could tell Rouge. Even when he stood outside the apartment door with the key in the lock, he still wasn’t quite sure what to say. Or if he should even say anything at all.
“How did everything go?” the bat smiled at him from afar.
She was lounging on the living room couch, with only the dim floor lamp turned on for light. It was apparent that she’d just taken a shower since her fur was damp, and her hair was a tangled mess. Her hot pink bathrobe was untied, revealing the short pink nightgown underneath. The satin tightly clung to her chest and lower torso.
Shadow stared down at the floor, struggling to find the right words to say. He so badly wanted to tell her everything. To hold her beautiful body close, never letting go. To, hopefully, hear her whisper his words back to him, reciprocating the feeling.
In the end, all he could say was, “Everything went great.”