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She is ninety-three percent sure that everyone knows he's here, that everyone knows he's in her bed lying next to her as they both lay on their backs looking up at the skylight watching the stars sparkle and a plane or two fly overhead.
There's no way they don't, at least no way that Tom and Maddie don't.
And if they don't then Sonic has no idea how, considering she's terrible at keeping secrets from her family, though she has tried for Shadow.
She knows he's embarrassed about coming here, coming to her, no matter how many times he does it which has become much more frequent over the last two months. It's honestly been every night now, and sometimes during the day.
She doesn't mind, she likes it when he's near, but she she doesn't like the circumstances that lead him to her.
He speaks breaking the stillness after four hours of silence that had started after a muttered "Hi" and a grunt of acknowledgment. She's taken off-guard by this because usually there's no talking between the pair at least not at night.
"Do you wish I was different?" Shadow asks, his voice barely above a whisper.
That question sends Sonic's mind into a swirling mess of thoughts making it so she's unable to answer for a few seconds.
She doesn't wish Shadow was different, she truly doesn't, but she does wish things were different for him. She wishes that he didn't have to go through what he went through, what he was still going through, and what he would continue to go through.
That he could be with Maria and Dr. Gerald learning about his powers and completing his goal of saving his sister so the two of them could come and live on Earth together.
She wishes he could have the life she knew he dreamed of even if it meant that the two of them would never meet.
She wouldn't change Shadow for the world, but she would change the world for Shadow.
She'd give him up in one of her heartbeats if it meant he found peace.
She doesn't tell him that, that feels too big for either of them right now.
And maybe it will always be that way.
She's careful, she knows he's not exactly big on touch and she doesn't want to make him uncomfortable. She moves her hand until her fingers are just barely settled against his, making it clear that he can pull away whenever he wants.
"No," Sonic answers, her voice steadfast as she shakes her head even though he can't really see her do so. She means that and she hopes that Shadow knows that she does.
And she feels like she has her confirmation when his hand shifts against her own, not moving away, but not settling either, neither of them ever settles.
The air between them is soon silent again as they stare at the small patch of stars and listen to the white noise that Earth so often provides.
Their fingers still loosely intertwined.