Chapter Text
Today's the day, Halloween. The day where people dress up as stupid things, go out to stupid parties, stupid events like a haunted house or a carnival, or more. Yeah, no. Not in this house. That's something that I won’t do. Cream bugs me every year to go trick or treating with her, even before her mother died and I was left to take care of her. I always say the same thing each year; "No, it's stupid." She always throws her kiddie fit about how "boring" I am. She even calls me names, like "grandpa" or "asshole." I wonder where she learns such language from.
I know she loves me, so it didn’t get to me much each time she did it, but it truly was annoying seeing her act like that. I always made sure she was still happy though. Last year, I baked her a chocolate pie and dressed her up as a princess. It was fun, way more fun than I expected. Me and her danced to childish, yet upbeat music too. She told me I was absolutely terrible at dancing, which was true.. But I paid no attention to it.
After the dancing session, we watched movies and ate the remaining pie slices. The movies we chose had to be child friendly, I didn't wanna scare her. She gets all.. Emotional when she's frightened. It hurts me on the inside.
This year, I have yet to know what I want to do with cream. I woke up pretty lost. This Halloween landed on a Thursday, a school day, and I had a test the day after. I had no time to silly stuff with a 9 year old child! I had to study! Oh.. But seeing her sad would torture me. I always had a soft spot for Cream.. Ever since I took her in. Even the littlest tear from her would hurt me, knowing I was the cause of it hurt me more.
Speak of the devil.. The little gremlin rushed into my room.
"Shadow! Shadow!" She exclaimed. "It's Halloween!"
I looked at her with tired eyes. I took in her eager smile, those big eyes filled with joy, and her little hands shaking my shoulder. Oh man.. Am I really about to do this?
"I'm sorry cream, but I don’t know if I can do anything this year. I have to study for a test tomorrow." I said bluntly. I watched as her glee warped into disappointment and anger. Oh Chaos. She's about to throw a fit, isn’t she?
As soon as that thought jumped into my mind, I felt a stinging sensation on my cheek. It was from Cream. She had slapped me.
"I knew you would do this! You always do! Every-time I want to have fun you ruin it with your stupid schoolwork! I HATE YOU! YOU'RE THE WORST!"
A pang of guilt washed over me, but at the same time, I had to stay strong. It's not like it's my fault?! If it was.. I wouldn’t have schoolwork to begin with! She should know this!
"Cream, you need to understand. It's not my fault. I would've done something this year if I wasn't so busy!" I tried to reassure her. She slapped me again before continuing her rant.
"No, Shadow, just say you hate me! You hate when I'm happy and you want an excuse for it!"
I sighed. I couldn’t deal with this. I told her "Get the hell out of my room!" in a loud, intimidating voice. I watched as her small form scurried off into her own room, still crying her eyes out. She slammed the door loud enough for me to hear. Welp, I just ruined her day.. And probably the rest of the week. So be it then. I rubbed my stinging cheek and began to get dressed.
--
I checked up on Cream before I went to school, as usual. She was huddled up in bed, crying her little heart out. I felt pretty bad, but I knew it had to be done.
"Cream, I'm off now. Don’t forget your online lessons, Okay? I love you."
I waited a couple of seconds, expecting to hear something from Cream, but I didn’t hear anything. Silence filled the room, well, not entire silence. Sniffles and gasps could be heard from her. I realized she was still a bit shaken up to say anything, so I left.
Walking off straight into my demise.
-
Being here is a total pain. Some girls are dressed as generic fictional serial killers, while guys dressed as.. What even are these outfits? They look like clowns! I saw only a few outfits that actually looked good. Rouge's outfit was one of them of course. I'm assuming she's supposed to be a sexy nurse? But it looks like she had to cover up because… dress codes. Other students that actually looked good was Whisper and Amy.
Now that I'm in lunch, I can take a good look at other outfits I didn’t notice before. As usual, not many piqued my interest. They all looked dumb. Only one stood out to me.. Which was Sonic's.
He was wearing a vampiric attire, a white shirt with a red and black sleeveless coat over it, black pants, and a long, but not too long, cape. He even had a bit of makeup, and since he had sharp teeth, he didn't need pretend fangs. Woah… he looks good.
I was knocked out of my trance when I heard a familiar's voice from behind me. "Hey, handsome." It was Rouge… or for today, shall I say Nurse Rouge? Nah, that would be corny.
"You look flustered, something bothering you? Or did you see something you like?" She teased. I immediately brushed it off and said "It’s nothing. What are you doing here?"
She titled her head at me. "What do you mean? It’s lunch!" Oh.. Right. I must've sounded stupid.
"Yeah, I know that. I mean, what are you doing here with me? You’re usually with your friends."
"Oh no, it's nothing. I just wanted to ask what you were doing this year. The usual?"
I sighed. Doesn’t she know I don’t celebrate Halloween? The least I can do is dress up. Why is she asking me this?
I nodded before saying "Yes.. The usual. You know I don’t celebrate this silly day."
Every-time I mentioned not celebrating Halloween, Rouge would always look at me shocked, as if she offended at this fact. “Still no?” She said in a tone seeming slightly hopeful for me to change my mind. I shook my head and looked at her in an annoyed gesture.
She sighed. “You’re hopeless.. And boring.”
She left in a defeated manner, running off to her friends. I took this as an opportunity to sit down and enjoy my break.
-
A bit after, I was startled by a tap on my shoulder. Turning around, I was shocked to see who it was.
“Hey, Shadow!” It was Sonic. He looked at me in his ever so friendly manner. I blinked a couple of times before replying flatly,
“Something you want?”
Sonic grinned and sat down next to me. It took everything in my willpower not to start going completely insane.
“I overheard Rouge talking with her friends,”
What does that have to do with me?
“She said you don’t celebrate Halloween.”
Oh.
Wait, why is that something she shared? Is it really THAT shocking to these people?
“Could you tell me why that is?”
I froze up a bit. My eyes narrowed, turning into a look of confusion and deep thinking. What should I say to this? Why is it necessary to tell others why I don’t celebrate a silly holiday? The concept of it is stupid enough. Imagine if someone drugs your candy!
Finally, after gathering my thoughts, I dryly responded “it’s just a waste of time in my opinion.”
Sonic raised an eyebrow at this, seeming to internally question me as he heard my response. Thankfully, he didn’t press anything.
“Understandable.” He replied, smiling. “So, what are going to do for today?” He added.
“Well, since I have a test tomorrow, I plan on studying. If I’m done early.. I’m probably going to watch some movies.”
That is when I remembered..
“I have an.. Adopted sister. Her name’s Cream. She wanted to do something this year since I had some kind of.. Private party last year with her.. I turned her down this morning, saying I couldn’t.. And she got mad at me. I kind of wish I could do something fun with her.”
Sonic was shocked that I opened up to him about something like this. It wasn’t sensitive information or anything.. But it wasn’t like me to talk about what goes on in my life. Especially not to him. He listened. Listening as if he was hearing an interesting podcast about chili dogs.. Except there were no chili dogs… you get the point.
He then smiled at me once again. “Maybe I could come over and try to help her out? I have no plans this year either… well, if you’re okay with me coming over that is!”
I was taken off guard by the suggestion. Sonic? Coming over at my place? Not a chance! What if he tries to wreck my place with his obnoxious speed? What if he makes steaming hot chili dogs instead of the foods Cream actually likes? Or what if he makes me dress up as a princess, and him the knight, and Cream as a king! And then.. He kisses me! Wait.. What? Yeah, I’m totally too deep in my mind.
Many thoughts rushed through my head. Multiple scenarios about what could happen there were running around like a hamster in a wheel in my brain. I was struggling to make up my mind. After all, I was still hesitant about developing relationships with people. Sure, I have one with Rouge and Omega, but even so I don’t open up to them as much.. And they’re already a handful! I can’t imagine what it would be like getting closer to this annoyingly gorgeous hedgehog!
I mean.. He's doing this mostly for Cream, and I really don’t like making her upset. So.. Maybe I should take the risk?
“Fine. As long as you’re responsible. And no chili dogs!”
Sonic grinned. “Deal, I don’t eat chili dogs on Halloween anyway!”
-
Hours passed since then. The bell rang and everyone in my 9th period class scurried away into the halls. I packed my laptop and headed out. Looking around, I could see everyone wearing their silly outfits, giggling with each other and blocking the halls. Man, do I hate high school.
I wandered around, looking for Sonic. The only familiar face was Rouge. I didn’t wanna ask her about his whereabouts. She’d start saying “Oh, you have the hots for him?” Well.. She isn’t entirely wrong. But she doesn’t need to know that! I don’t wanna face her annoying teasing simply for wanting to be around him. I had somewhere to be for fucks sake!
After I made up my mind and decided to take the risk anyway, I was tapped on the shoulder by Sonic. “Hey!” He said gleefully. “Ready to go?”
I simply nodded, taking my bag and heading out the door. I was glad I didn't have to ask Rouge about him.
The walk home was nice. He didn’t make it as awkward I expected it to be. He chatted with me about his amazing plans for today. He asked me questions like “Does she like dessert? What about music? Certain candy preferences?” I responded as much as I could. Giving simple yes and no’s, and valuable advice. Cream had a temper. If she wasn’t pleased by something, she’d start crying out of nowhere.. Or worse.
I made sure Sonic was mindful of that. I didn’t wanna hear her breaking down once again.
A couple of minutes went by and we finally arrived at my place. It was small, but not too small. To Sonic, it was amusing to him. The place was coated in vines and leaves, and on the front lawn, stood diverse flowers. It was as if Mother Nature had engulfed my home.
I opened the door, signaling Sonic to go first. He stepped inside. His eyes lighting up at the decor.
“Woah.. Your place is amazing, Shadow!” He beamed. I gave him a simple nod.
Cream came rushing to me.
“Shadow! You’re back!” Said the little bunny, holding onto my legs. Wow, a complete shift in her mood. It’s like she’s bipolar.
I rubbed her head, and pointed towards Sonic.
“this is Sonic, he’s going to make sure you have a fun Halloween.”
I saw as her cute eyes shine with happiness. She jumped up and hugged me, letting out a couple of excited giggles and “Thank You’s.” I was quite embarrassed at the display of emotions in front of Sonic. He probably wouldn’t take me as some kind of “family man.” But it’s fine, honestly. As long as Cream’s happy, then I’m happy.
—
Far off into my room, I was deep into my studies. I could overhear the sounds of giggles, running around, and an overwhelming stench of deliciousness. As if Sonic had been cooking something while playing with Cream. I desperately wanted to see what the commotion was about, but I refused. I couldn’t drop all my work just to see a display of tomfoolery between a child and a high school student.
The curiosity was eating at me.. But I had to stay strong.
Outside my door was Sonic and Cream, dressed up as a vampire and a witch. They were playing a game of tag while brownies were cooking in my oven, and Halloween themed spaghetti and meatballs on the stove. A bit of all-age-appropriate spooky music was playing down the hallway as the two ran around the house.
Finally, that noise came to an end as I heard Sonic yell “the food’s done!” I heard Cream run towards Sonic in a gleeful manner, saying “it smells delicious, Mr. Sonic!”
I smiled as her cute voice echoed the halls. I was glad she was happy on this day.. I really wanted the best for her.
I look at my notes and I realized I had gotten everything I needed down for the test. I reread everything, making sure I could answer my own questions, know the definitions.. you get it. I leaned back into my chair, stretching my exhausted limbs out and brushing my quills.
I made my way out into the living room. The strong, yet amusing smell of freshly cooked food hit me. Man, I didn’t know Sonic could cook like this.
Looking around, I noticed Sonic sitting down with Cream. 2 plates of spaghetti and meatballs were in front of them. The meatballs were decorated with edible material to make them look like eyeballs. How cute. Right next to them was a batch of brownies.
They were currently watching a movie.
“Looks like you two are having fun.” I spoke suddenly. The duo turned to me, both smiling. Something about Sonic’s smile was..
“Yeah, it was pretty fun actually!” Exclaimed the blue hedgehog. “Oh, by the way, I have extra spaghetti and meatballs if you want!”
I nodded and went towards the kitchen area. I gave myself a small, yet fulfilling plate of the dinner he cooked. It looked pretty tasty.
The fact that Sonic cooked something so.. Delicious looking was intriguing to me. I never knew he could cook like this. Especially for.. Us? Us as in me, Cream and him of course. But it still flattered me that he had me in mind. It’s like he made extra on purpose despite me not confirming if I would join their little party.
And so, I took a forkful of spaghetti and placed it in my mouth. It was.. Really good. The seasoning was absolutely perfect. It was tingly, and full of flavor. I could taste a bit of spinach, spices and tomato sauce all in one. Usually when I eat spaghetti, the pasta is never seasoned this way. It always tastes bland. As if it was dependent on the tomato sauce. All that was left for me to do was to try the meatballs.
And again, I placed it into my mouth with the fork. My mouth completely exploded with flavor. The beef was spicy, but not crazy spicy, sweet spicy! For some reason, I felt very comforted by his cooking. I never tasted something so flavorful as this. It was as if he poured his love into the dish.
I came back, sitting down next to Sonic on the couch.
“How’s it?” He asked me almost immediately, his signature smile planted on his face.
“It’s good.” I blandly replied. On the inside, it was more than good. It was savory. I just didn't know how to tell him that.
He grinned and went back to watching the movie, digging into his own plate as he did so. Well, since I had nothing else to do for the day, why not join them?