Chapter Text
It was a cold, frigid day in December, two weeks from Christmas. Sonic was finishing up his Christmas shopping in the city, a big bag in hand he entered his local coffee shop, hoping to grab a drink to warm up a bit before he finished up the last of his shopping for the day. After the blue hedgehog had ordered his steamed milk with vanilla (he wasn’t allowed coffee after The Incident™), he looked around the cafe a bit, hoping to see a familiar face or two.
He sighed, not recognizing anyone. Oh well, he could still sit and enjoy his drink. The barista handed him a mug, and he took it, heading over to a set of comfy chairs by the window. Sonic set down his mug on the coffee table, and set his bag of gifts next to the chair, shedding his thick blue puffer and setting it on top of his bag, before sitting down and getting cozy. The chatter of the coffee shop buzzed in his brain as he watched the snow fall outside the window, the hedgehog smiled, he loved the snow.
Sonic turned away from the window, grabbing his mug and just holding it in his hands for a moment before blowing on it to cool it off. Out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw a dark figure pass by the window, he perked up, looking outside, but there was no one there. He slumped in his chair in defeat, taking a small sip of his drink before setting the mug back down on the table.
He thought it was Shadow, but it couldn’t be. Shadow has been gone on some super secret G.U.N. mission since October, and still hadn’t returned. He would never admit this to anyone, but Sonic missed Shadow. Missed their banter, missed his little smiles when he thought the others couldn’t see, missed the way his eyes sparkled when he looked up at the stars. The only gift Sonic wanted this Christmas was to see Shadow again and make sure he was okay.
“Is this seat taken?”
Sonic perked up to see who had spoken next to him, and immediately broke out in a grin. He jumped up and gave Shadow a hug, squeezing him tight.
“You’re back!” Sonic let go, pulling back to look at Shadow’s frowning face, “I know you’re not a hugger but it’s been so long!”
“The mission took longer than expected, I just got back today.” Shadow sat down in the other chair. He was in a black leather trench coat, with a red scarf that complemented his highlights very well, not that Sonic was paying that much attention.
“Yeah, everyone’s been worried about you,” Sonic sat, looking at Shadow with a small smile.
“You were worried about me?” Shadow smirked.
“I didn’t say that!” Sonic flushed a bit, pouting and looking out the window. “But yeah… I was.” He continued softly, avoiding Shadows' gaze.
Shadow stared at him for a moment, “everything turned out fine, don’t worry. I’m back now, and G.U.N. isn’t sending me on any new missions until the new year.”
“Really?” Sonic perked up, staring wide-eyed at his friend.
“Yeah, I’m back for at least the next few weeks.”
The blue hedgehog beamed, letting a laugh escape his lips. “That’s good news! Finally you’ll have a bit of a break.” He paused for a second, thinking. “Do you have plans for Christmas?”
“No. I don’t usually… I haven’t really…” Shadow sighed, looking out the window, “last time I celebrated Christmas was with Maria.”
“I’m so sorry Shads,” Sonic said tenderly, as his heart fell to his stomach. “Do you wanna come over on Christmas? We don’t gotta do anything, just so we’re not alone.”
Shadow saw Sonic’s reflection in the window of the cafe, for the first time ever it was apparent to him that the hedgehog held genuine care for him, he could see it in his green eyes. His blue fur and positive attitude always reminded Shadow of her, for a second it almost felt like she was sitting there, across from him.
“Aren’t you going to spend the holidays with your friends?” Shadow was still watching Sonic's reflection, watching as he took a sip of his drink.
Sonic shook his head, swallowing before answering, “no, everyone’s got plans. I usually just spend the day with Tails but he’s gone right now on some weird mission thingy right now with Knucks,” he sighed, “I don’t have plans, you don’t have plans, we could… not have plans, together?”
“Wow, I’m surprised the fox and Knuckles are working together without you,” Shadow remarked, a smile threatening to play on his lips.
“Yeah I dunno, I didn’t really wanna go.” The truth was that Sonic didn’t wanna go because he didn’t want to miss Shadow come home from his mission. He was worried Shadow would get back and leave again before Sonic got back. “But the apartment will be empty for the holidays, my door is always open for you.”
The black hedgehog turned his head, making eye contact with the other. They stared into each other's souls, Shadow had never realized how pretty Sonic’s eyes were, they were like the master emerald, they sparkled like the stars he and Maria used to watch. He flushed a bit, realizing he was staring, idiot.
“I’ll think about it.”
“So… that's a yes?” Sonic grinned, his eyes sparkling even more.
“I said I would think about it.”
“That basically means yes!” Sonic finished off his drink, checking the time, “aw rats, I gotta get going.”
“Somewhere to be?” Shadow said, the feeling of disappointment settling in his stomach.
Sonic nodded, getting up, “the christmas market I need to go to closes in an hour, there's something I need to pick up there.” He grabbed his puffer jacket, slipping it on.
“If you wanted company I could…” What was he doing? Shadow spoke without thinking and as soon as the words came out he paused, but it was too late, he had to continue. “Uh, I could come with you.”
“I’d love that,” Sonic smiled, zipping his coat up then reaching for his bag. But before he could grab it, Shadow had used chaos control to teleport next to him and grab it for him. He stumbled a bit, the edges of his vision going black a bit, he should not have done that, but oh well. The blue hedgehog reached out to steady him, “woah there, careful. You just got back from a super long mission, no zappy stuff for you right now.”
Shadow let his vision clear, fuck he was right, he was exhausted. He straightened up, putting the bag over his shoulder, he’s been through worse, he can survive a christmas market. “I’m fine, let’s go,” he insisted.
“At least let me,” Sonic moved his hand down, interlacing his fingers with Shadows, “now if you fall, we’ll fall together.”
They made eye contact, and Shadow swore he could see a light flush on his cheeks. “Whatever lets go,” he pulled Sonic out of the coffee shop, into the frigid cold.
The two walked in almost complete silence, Sonic giving directions occasionally. It was beautiful out, it was cold but not unbearably so, and the snow was light with no wind to blow it everywhere. Shadow hadn’t said anything since leaving the cafe, only responding to Sonic with quiet grumbles and nods. Occasionally he would caress the back of Sonic’s hand with his thumb, which was odd, but it's not like blue hedgehog was complaining at all.
It was nice.
“It’s right over there,” Sonic pointed out an outdoor market, lit up bright with lights, it was truly festive. They walked through the entrance, “this is my last stop, and it's just a few blocks away from my apartment so we can go there to warm up after.”
Shadow nodded, idly looking at the stalls as Sonic pulled him along, clearly on a mission for something specific. He stopped at a booth selling handmade crystal jewelry, it was truly beautiful.
“Hi, I actually have an order to pick up,” Sonic said to the older woman running the stand.
Shadow raised an eyebrow, it was unlike Sonic to get something from a place like this, much less be so organized as to pre-order it. What was going on? Perhaps it was for Amy, the two had always been… close… and she enjoys jewelry. But it was still strange he had ordered it in advance, unless it was something truly special.
“For Sonic?” the woman asked, Sonic nodded and she handed him a small paper bag.
“Thank you so much, this means a lot. Happy holidays!” He took the bag and turned towards Shadow, “okay I’m all done, you wander around a bit?”
“Sure,” Shadow eyed the bag. This means a lot. What did that mean? What was so important in that bag? “What did you get?” He asked as they walked away from the stall.
“Can’t tell you!” He smiled at him, “you’ll see on Christmas.”
“It’s… for me?” The hedgehog said confused, tilting his head. Why was Sonic getting him of all people jewelry?
“Who else would I be buying jewelry for silly?” Sonic spotted a different section of the market, through a brightly lit evergreen arch. “Oh, let's go this way!” He turned suddenly, pulling Shadow with him.
Sonic paused under the archway as Shadow continued forward, he looked up, seeing the small sprig of mistletoe. "Hey wait," he pulled on Shadow's hand, stopping the hedgehog in his tracks. "Shads look," he pointed above them, causing Shadow to look up.
"Oh."
"Yeah." Their eyes met, Sonic swallowed, "we don't gotta, I don't-"
Shadow took a step towards him, Sonic shut up for the first time in his life. Both their hearts beat quicker, their eyes burned into each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. The tension was super thick, Shadow let go of Sonic's hand.
“Shadow I-” Sonic’s breath hitched as Shadow lightly grabbed his chin with his now free hand.
“Do you want me to?”
“More than anything right now.”
Sonic’s eyes closed as Shadow leaned in, their lips connecting in a light kiss. The hand on his chin moved to hold his face and the kiss deepend even more. The blue hedgehog reached up, resting his hand on Shadow’s chest, entangling his fingers in the white fur.
After what felt like hours, Shadow pulled away. Sonic took a moment before opening his eyes, they immediately looked at Shadow’s lips, slightly agape and panting. He let go of his chest, leaning his head forward and resting his forehead on Shadow’s shoulder.
“I love you so much.”
“What?” The shock in Shadow’s voice made Sonic realize what he had just said. A whispered confession, not what he wanted to say. Fuck.
Sonic shot up, making eye contact with Shadow. “Shit, I um. I didn’t mean- wait no. I did mean- I just- ugh!” He groaned, going up on his tiptoes to kiss Shadow again, this time harder with more passion, more meaning behind the action.
Shadow relaxed a bit, he let the bag he was holding go, hoping that nothing in there was fragile. With both his hands free, he held Sonic’s face as they kissed, gently caressing his cheeks with his thumbs. Their mouths moved in perfect synchronization, Sonic lowered back onto his heels as Shadow started to dominate this kiss a bit more. Eventually they pulled away, completely out of breath.
“I don’t know if it’s love,” Shadow swallowed, anxiety bubbling up in his stomach, “but I do have some sort of feelings for you, you make me feel different than all my other friends. It’s confusing, but it’s good I think?”
“Oh yeah?” Sonic smiled, melting into Shadow's touch. “You also make me feel different than all my friends.”
“Can we,” the two suddenly became aware of the fact that they were still in a public place, “maybe talk about this somewhere else?”
“Yeah, of course,” he reached up, cupping Shadow’s hand with his own to comfort him, “how about we go back to my place, we’ll make hot cocoa, and we can… unpack this and talk about our feelings?”
“Okay,” Shadow said softly, letting go of Sonic’s face. He grabbed his hand again, and picked up the bag. He just wanted out of here.
“Alright, lets-” in a flash, suddenly they were back at Sonic’s apartment. Shadow stumbled, falling down to one knee. “Are you okay?” Sonic kneeled next to him, setting his bag on the ground, “I told you no more chaos control! You’re going to over-exert yourself Shadow,” he sighed, helping Shadow up from the ground, and over to his couch. “We could have walked the five minutes, we weren’t very far.”
“Sorry,” Shadow grumbled, avoiding Sonic's eyes. “I’ll try to be more careful.”
Sonic crouched in front of him, “you lie down for a bit okay? You haven’t been able to properly rest since you got back. I’m going to make us some warm drinks, and then we’ll talk okay?”
“Yeah, okay.”
The blue hedgehog got up, lightly kissing his forehead and going into the kitchen. He looked over at Shadow, who had taken off his jacket and scarf, and was now lying down on the couch like he asked. Sonic smiled, taking off his jacket as well and leaving it on the counter. He turned back to grab some mugs out of the cupboard, and then turned on his kettle. Tails had made it for him because he complained their old one was too slow, now it boils water in under thirty seconds. He quickly got out the hot chocolate, emptying a packet into each of the mugs. Sonic turned off the kettle as it started to boil, pausing to listen for a moment.
He had always had extremely good hearing, and though it was very quiet, he could just barely hear some light snoring on the couch. He put the kettle down, quietly going over to look at Shadow on the couch. Sonic smiled as he watched his chest slowly rise and fall, the other hedgehog was fast asleep. That was okay, he needed it.
Sonic gently picked him up, trying hard to not wake Shadow up. He stirred a bit, but didn’t fully wake up. He quickly dashed over to his bedroom, placing him gently in the bed. Looking at Shadow he pondered for a second, before gently taking off his shoes, sleeping in them couldn’t be comfortable. The hedgehog placed them on the ground next to the bed, so Shadow could put them back on in the morning. Sonic decided to leave everything, the presents, the hot chocolate, their jackets, and deal with those tomorrow. It had been a long day, they both deserved to rest.