Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The nightmares were always the same.

Raw chaos energy coursing through Sonic’s entire being, so much it hurt. His fur blazing a brilliant golden hue. His hand fisted in heaving white chest fur. The overwhelming rage and anguish that clouded his mind.

What are you waiting for?

That dark hedgehog. Shadow. The spark of desperation, of finality, in his striking red eyes as he begged underneath him, pinned down against the moon’s surface, his hand over Sonic’s trembling fist in his fur.

Do it!

Sonic had nearly done it. Almost killed someone with his bare hands. Killed someone who was suffering, who was in pain, who was grieving. Killed Shadow.

I’m right here!

Sonic had let go.

But it didn’t matter.

Sonic distinctly remembered, through the adrenaline pumping in his veins, the ethereal golden fur of Shadow in his super form as he shot across space, slamming robot after robot with ease, a rose gold streak following in his wake. He was so incredibly beautiful.

He didn’t fully realize what had happened after that, not until he slammed into the cornfield, body aching and blue fur scorched from burning up in the atmosphere. He could only gaze blearily above as the cannon exploded, taking Shadow with it, painting a horribly magnificent galaxy in the morning sky.

Shadow was dead. Gone, just like that. The hands of fate couldn’t even offer him a second chance at life.

***

It’d been a month or so since…everything happened—and Sonic’s nightmares had shown no sign of granting him mercy. Sometimes he would jerk awake in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, gasping for breath; other times, his eyes would snap open and he would be gripping his blankets with trembling hands, as if his body wanted to reach out and save Shadow.

Today, he woke up feeling completely numb all over, his muzzle drenched from fresh tears. The morning sun was just barely rising over the horizon, streaks of light peeking through the circular window on the ceiling and bathing the floorboards of the attic in warm orange.

How cruel was it that mornings were so beautiful when Shadow couldn’t be here to see it?

Sonic slowly sat up in his bed and brushed his tears away with gloveless paws. His eyes couldn’t help but wander to the security camera installed in the far corner of the room; Tom and Maddie had set it up a few weeks ago to provide an additional layer of security in their home. Sonic supposed it was reasonable—every incident that came up since Sonic was taken in was worse than the last. Who knew what would come next?

The two guardians checked the footage quite frequently, so there was no doubt they’d ask Sonic if he’d had another nightmare, or at least give him sympathetic looks and warm hugs. Sonic didn’t really mind it, of course, but he’d rather forget the nightmares that terrorized him at night. And they only reminded him of how grave the situation was, how seriously injured his family had gotten—especially Tom—and how easily Sonic could have lost all of them.

His ear flicked when Tails and Knuckles began to stir in their beds. The last of the nightmare’s effects dissipated as he watched Tails let out a huge yawn and did a big stretch, peering at Sonic through one eye.

“Morning, bud.”

“Good morning, Sonic.” Tails sat up in his bed and blinked the sleepiness from his eyes. “You’re up early again. Another nightmare?”

Sonic let out a deep sigh. Of course, no one needed to see the security footage to know. “Yeah.”

Shuffling noises from Sonic’s other side. A gloved fist landed on his shoulder, making him turn to face deep purple eyes. “You are strong, hedgehog,” Knuckles gruffed, his voice rough from sleep. “You are no less of a warrior if you have nightmares. But you must not let them affect your performance. Do not let them phase you.”

“I know.” Sonic patted the echidna’s hand, squeezing it gently. “Thanks, Knux. And good morning to you, too.”

A muffled knock startled the three. “Kids? Are you awake?”

The attic door creaked open to reveal Maddie, a serious expression on her face. “There’s something you should all take a look at.”

***

Every time Sonic stepped foot in the bedroom that Tom and Maddie shared, a sinking feeling would grow in his gut. Though Tom was dispatched from the hospital with no life-threatening issues, he was instructed to remain in bed to recover for a few weeks. Seeing Tom resting, his arm in a cast and supported by a sling over his shoulder, only reminded Sonic of what happened to him in unwanted flashbacks.

Now, Tom was sitting comfortably, a bundle of pillows behind him to support his back and a laptop balanced on his lap. His eyebrows were furrowed, but he relaxed significantly upon seeing his sons as they clambered onto the bed beside him, Maddie moving to stay standing beside them.

Knuckles slammed his fists together, already pumped for a fight. “Tell us what is wrong! Who do I need to punch?”

Tom held his hand up. “Hold your horses, Knuckles, we don’t need to punch anyone. Yet. I was just skimming through last night’s footage, and I thought this was something you all needed to be aware of.” He sighed. “I’ll just let you guys watch it.”

The three glanced at each other nervously. Tom looked unusually apprehensive. Everyone crowded around the laptop as Tom pulled up the footage.

12 AM. The footage overlooked Tom and Maddie’s bedroom, displaying the two fast asleep in the bed, chests rising and falling rhythmically. It was a peaceful night; there was no sound save for the occasional snore.

A resounding click. The bedroom window slowly slid open; the lock was broken. A gloved hand pushed the window blinds aside.

A gasp ripped its way from Tails’ throat. Knuckles growled.

Sonic’s blood turned ice-cold.

Shadow the Hedgehog silently climbed through the window and into the bedroom.

“What?” Sonic said breathlessly. “Shadow’s…alive?”

Could it be true? Were Sonic’s eyes playing tricks on him? Or did Shadow not die along with the destruction of the Eclipse Cannon? Could he really have been alive all this time? It seemed impossible, but the footage was hard evidence proving otherwise.

What business did Shadow have here, in the Wachowski house?

The dark hedgehog slowly began to prowl around the bed upon which Tom and Maddie lay. He looked to be in bad shape—his quills were disheveled, his black fur was matted and dirty as though he rolled in dirt for an hour straight, and he was limping slightly.

But neither of those factors hindered him as he stumbled over to where Tom was resting.

Sonic’s body tensed. Did Shadow do something to Tom in his sleep? Hurt him again? But when Sonic glanced at him, Tom didn’t seem to be any more injured than the last time he saw him. So if Shadow didn’t hurt him, then what did he do?

Shadow finally stopped at the side of the bed, towering over Tom. He slowly leaned over. Hovered an ear over Tom’s chest.

Oh. Sonic let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Shadow was just checking that Tom was okay.

Shadow’s shoulders slumped in relief. He swayed slightly on his feet as he straightened, scanning the room until his eyes landed on the door that led to the rest of the house. He carefully stalked toward it, swung it open, and gently closed it behind him.

Tom wordlessly switched the footage to a different angle.

Shadow began to wander down the halls and around the house, turning his head and swiveling his ears. He stepped through the threshold and into the living room, instinctively jumping and throwing his hands up when he was met face-to-face with Ozzie.

The golden retriever curiously tilted its head, leaning forward to tentatively sniff Shadow’s chest fur. Shadow froze, tensing up but relaxing when Ozzie silently pulled back.

The dog had deemed Shadow safe. A nonthreat.

“Impossible,” Knuckles muttered. Tails simply frowned but didn’t make a comment.

Sonic wasn’t sure how to feel about any of this. Clashing emotions raged in his head, overwhelming him as he watched the scene unfold in front of him.

Shadow glanced around the living room, and after a moment he turned on his heel. Entered the kitchen, left it. Opened a few doors, peeked his head in, and closed them. Ozzie followed in his wake, occasionally headbutting the hedgehog’s legs and begging for pets whenever Shadow stopped walking for even a few seconds.

Shadow finally stopped in his tracks. He’d circled right back to Tom and Maddie’s bedroom door, presumably failing to find whatever he might have been looking for. He moved to open the door again when Ozzie nosed his side. He paused.

Then he reached to carefully pat the dog’s head twice before opening the door and gently closing it behind him, making sure Ozzie didn’t follow him inside.

Cute, came a fleeting thought through Sonic’s head.

Shadow climbed out the window and slid it shut behind him, disappearing.

“Wha…,” Sonic started to say. But he had nothing to say; he was at a complete loss for words. There was absolutely nothing he could say that would convey the mess that was currently happening in his head.

Maddie leaned across the bed to gently squeeze Sonic’s hand, noticing how overwhelmed he looked. “It doesn’t stop there.”

There was more? Sonic couldn’t figure out what could possibly come next after all of that, but it quickly became clear when Tom pulled up more footage, this time of the last area of the house that Shadow hadn’t checked.

The circular window slowly swung open, and Shadow the Hedgehog himself leaped down into the shared attic.

A noise escaped Sonic’s throat at the sight, a mix of grief, disbelief, and laughter all at once. Shadow had been in the same room as Sonic just last night, and he didn’t even realize it. Sonic was probably having that nightmare about the very hedgehog while he was right there. How horribly ironic.

The moment Shadow’s eyes landed on him, he went straight for Sonic, not deterred by any means even when his shoes caught on various items strewn all across the floor. The dark hedgehog stopped at the edge of Sonic’s racecar bed.

Sonic was fast asleep. His blankets were kicked down to his feet, leaving himself vulnerable to the unexpected visitor. But Shadow took this opportunity to lean over, looking over the sleeping hedgehog for any visible wounds or injuries, tilting an ear to Sonic’s muzzle and listening for his breathing and heartbeat. And Shadow nearly collapsed, his entire body relaxing in pure relief.

The adrenaline that fueled Shadow now melted away, leaving him wobbling unsteadily on his feet. He took a few steps away from Sonic and towards the window, but he didn’t make it very far; his knees buckled and he collapsed to the floor at the foot of Sonic’s bed. He made to stand back up before pausing. Then he curled up on his side, pulling his knees tightly to his chest. He was in a position where, if Sonic were to wake up in that moment, the end of his bed would block his view of Shadow. He wouldn’t even notice the dark hedgehog was there at all.

Shadow looked so incredibly small and vulnerable, the way he lay on the floor. He was completely still save for the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest.

The sight broke Sonic’s heart.

Shadow remained unmoving throughout the night, looking almost like a corpse compared to how Sonic, Tails and Knuckles all tossed and turned in their beds. As the sun rose, about a half hour before Sonic had woken up that morning, Shadow suddenly jolted awake and straightened up from his place on the floor. He whipped his head around like he forgot where he was, taking a quick glance at the three asleep in their beds before turning on his heels, leaping out of and swinging the circular window shut, and disappearing.

***

Tom finally shut his laptop, signifying that Shadow didn’t come back after that. Though everyone was silent, the atmosphere was anything but—a million unspoken questions hung over the family like a dense fog. Nobody knew how to even begin to break the tension.

Maddie clasped her hands together. “How about,” she said gently, “we start by talking about how we feel?”

Out of everyone in the family, Sonic already knew that he was the most familiar with Shadow. That heart-to-heart they’d shared on the moon, watching the sun peek over Earth, talking about their grief together…

“He’s alive,” Sonic heard himself say. He could hardly believe it still, even after seeing the footage. “I thought he died, but…he’s still here.” He looked up to face his family members, a mix of unease and stress between them. “Why couldn’t he come talk to us directly?”

Everyone else was more hesitant to speak.

“That hedgehog must have been planning something,” Knuckles snarled. “Why else would he sneak into our home at night, while we were asleep and vulnerable? If he comes back, I say we fight him. Drive him out! We cannot allow him to think he can hurt us!”

Right. While Sonic had told his family everything he could about Shadow, it wasn’t like they’d had the talk with Shadow themselves. The most that they knew from their own experiences was that Shadow had hurt Tom.

Sonic opened his mouth to speak, but Tails beat him to it. “I’m not so sure that’s the case, Knuckles. Sure, he did sneak in, but the way he looked at Tom and Sonic…” He tapped a finger to his chin, deep in thought. “I think he was just making sure they were okay.”

“Maybe,” Sonic said quietly, “he was afraid of how we would react if we saw him.”

“When Shadow attacked me and took the key,” Tom cut in, “I was disguised as Walters. I don’t think it’s too far a reach to say that Shadow meant to hurt Walters and didn’t know that it was actually me disguised as him. He probably wanted to see for himself that he hadn’t seriously injured me.”

“Shadow didn’t hurt anyone last night!” Sonic added. “And Ozzy even decided that he wasn’t a threat to us. I don’t know why he would choose to stay the night, but…” Hope sparked deep in his chest despite himself. “Maybe he wants to be our friend.”

Knuckles’ face contorted at the very idea.

“Or maybe not,” Maddie said. “Don’t needlessly give yourself false hope. Remember that this could be a one time thing. He might not come back after this.”

And we might never see him again. The spark of hope vanished as soon as it came.

Tom shrugged. “There’s no way to know for sure. But so far, Shadow doesn’t seem to mean any harm. I say we wait. See if anything happens.”

Everyone seemed to mostly agree; Tails nodded his head, Maddie smiled approvingly, and even Knuckles relented, although he was more hesitant than the others. Out of everyone, Tom and Sonic were affected the most, so they got the final say. Tom already gave his opinion, so now they turned to Sonic for his.

Sonic took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “Okay,” he said. “We’ll wait it out.”

Chapter Text

A minute after Sonic made his decision, he decided that he did not, in fact, want to wait it out. And honestly, a full minute? That had to be a new personal record.

So, after a relatively quiet and uneventful breakfast with his family, he announced that he was going for a run to clear his head. And by “going for a run,” he really meant “looking for Shadow.” But nobody needed to know that. Yet.

He sprinted out of his house and began his search. He wasn’t entirely sure where exactly to look, but he figured he would just check every place that came to mind and hope Shadow would be there. He circled around the woods, raced through town, and even checked the cornfield.

But as the time slowly ticked by and an hour passed without any sign of the black and red hedgehog, Sonic began to think that his plan wasn’t going to work.

He slowed to a stop without even a shortness of breath, the ground underneath him giving way to soft, swaying grass. Just in front of him lay a glittering lake surrounded by towering pine trees from every direction. He was close to the Wachowski campsite.

He took a deep breath and opened his mouth to call out Shadow’s name.

A flash of black and red. A gasp tore from Sonic’s throat as he whirled around.

But there was nothing but a black and red bird that chirped and fluttered away at his sudden movement, sending a shower of leaves upon him.

“Ugh!” Sonic swiped the leaves off his head with way more force than necessary and collapsed in a heap on the ground. Of course he wouldn’t find Shadow here. That hedgehog wouldn’t be caught dead in an area like this; it was way too open.

And who was Sonic kidding, anyway? There was absolutely no chance he would ever find him. Shadow could be literally anywhere in the world right now, and it would take Sonic years to find him, and that was assuming Shadow stayed in the same spot—which he wouldn’t! He was probably on the run, which would explain why he stayed the night at the Wachowski house. And if Shadow left the house before anyone else woke up, that meant he didn’t want to be seen—and he probably didn’t want to be found, either.

Sonic scrubbed at his face in frustration. He just wished he could see Shadow in person. He had so many questions he wanted to ask, so many things he wanted to say. He wanted to properly get to know Shadow, without trying to kill each other, and maybe even become friends. There was so much left unresolved, all because Sonic thought Shadow had died.

But now Sonic was starting to think that his questions would never be answered. And maybe Shadow didn’t want anything to do with him.

So he had no choice but to call it off and return home.

***

That night, no matter how hard Sonic tried, he just couldn’t fall asleep. As the late night hours dragged by, every second passing excruciatingly slowly, he could do nothing but toss and turn in his bed, tangling his blankets in his limbs. He couldn’t stop glancing at that circular window on the other side of the attic, hoping, praying that Shadow would turn up and swing it open one more time.

There was a nonzero chance of Shadow coming back—and Sonic couldn’t help but cling to that microscopic chance like a lifeline, as if it were the only thing he had left.

He eventually fell into a restless and dreamless sleep. When he jerked awake in the early morning, he immediately whipped his head, glancing around his room for any sign of Shadow, even checking the end of his bed where the dark hedgehog had lain just the night before. But he wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Maybe he’d already left.

Clinging to this strand of hope, Sonic raced down the house as quietly as he could, to not wake up the rest of his family. He found the laptop sitting on the kitchen table, flipping it open and powering it on, tapping his feet impatiently. Come on, come on, please…

Nothing. No Shadow. Even when Sonic played the footage back again and again, slowing it down, speeding it up, checking different rooms, doing absolutely everything he could, the dark hedgehog didn’t show up at all. He didn’t enter the attic, he didn’t even peek through any windows.

The disappointment settling over Sonic’s shoulders hit way harder than it should have, ears flattening against his head and tail drooping. He absolutely should have seen this coming from a mile away, but of course he had to get his own hopes up and recklessly set himself up for inevitable disappointment.

He should just give up, and actually wait it out like everyone else. But Sonic had a sinking feeling that Shadow wasn’t coming back. Ever.

***

But the unmistakable creak of the circular window a few nights later told otherwise.

Okay, so maybe Sonic was being a little dramatic earlier—but hey, he had never been more delighted to be wrong about anything in his entire life.

Sonic may have just woken up due to the sound, but he was just about ready to leap out of his bed, tackle Shadow, and pelt him with the million questions that plagued his mind. But he forced himself to keep still and quiet under his blankets, one eye cracked open. The absolute last thing Sonic wanted to do was scare him away.

Shadow lowered himself through the window and landed in the attic with a hard but quiet tap from his air shoes.

Sonic’s legs twitched. Shadow’s alive. He’s here, he came back, and he didn’t die!

Shadow cautiously began to stalk the attic, taking a better look at his surroundings. Sonic guessed he didn’t have a chance to last time—he seemed to be fixated on checking Sonic and making sure he wasn’t gravely hurt. The dark hedgehog looked up at the dimly lit fairy lights that lined the room, illuminating his sleek black fur and red streaks. He looked to be in much better shape now compared to the first time he visited, to Sonic’s relief—his fur was clean of dirt, his quills were properly groomed and tidy, and he was no longer limping.

Even though Sonic couldn’t see him up close, Shadow was just as beautiful now as he was on the moon.

Shadow slowly turned in a circle, ears swiveling slightly, eyes flickering across the room. He scanned the comic books strewn across the floor, the red beanbag chair, the street signs that decorated the space.

He didn’t notice the security camera perched in the corner of the room.

Then Shadow stepped toward the beds. Sonic instantly squeezed his eyes shut and pretended to be conked out. Tap, tap, tap, came Shadow’s footsteps, quiet in reality but deafening to Sonic as Shadow seemed to completely ignore Tails and Knuckles and instead make a beeline straight for Sonic. Sonic’s heart hammered in his chest as he tried to breathe as steadily and normally as a sleeping hedgehog was supposed to, even when he could practically feel as Shadow loomed over him.

But what was he doing? Was he checking on Sonic? But Shadow had already done so before, so why did he feel the need to check again?

Or was Shadow even checking at all?

Sonic nearly jumped out of his skin when his bed suddenly dipped. Shadow sat down on the very edge of the bed as slowly and gently as he could as to not jostle the supposedly sleeping Sonic and interrupt his peaceful slumber. Little did he know that Sonic was awake and internally screaming right now.

(And when Sonic went to check the security footage the next morning, he would see Shadow, eye ridge furrowed and deep in thought. Every once in a while, he would glance over at Sonic’s sleeping face before returning to his thoughts. Sonic sorely wished he could ask Shadow what he was thinking about.)

After a few minutes—which felt like an eternity to Sonic—Shadow stood up. Sonic cracked an eye open again just as the dark hedgehog lowered himself to the floor and disappeared from view behind Sonic’s bed. Deep huffs of breath a minute later signaled that he had fallen asleep.

Sonic still couldn’t believe that Shadow was here. The hedgehog’s presence in the room felt so…comforting. It probably shouldn’t have, considering he was the one who nearly tore the Wachowski family apart and destroyed the entire world, but it did. The sense of comfort enveloped Sonic like a warm blanket, lulling him to sleep.

He wasn’t even upset when, the next morning, he woke to find that Shadow had already left.

***

To Sonic’s delight, Shadow came to sleep in the attic again and again. As a couple weeks flew by, Sonic began to notice a pattern: the dark hedgehog would stay the night around two or three nights a week. It came to a point when Sonic took the softest blanket he owned and left it on the attic floor, watching gleefully when Shadow came, curled up, and wrapped the blanket around himself. But he couldn’t help the sinking feeling that grew within him when Shadow would wake up, fold the blanket, and reposition it exactly the way he found it, without a single wrinkle or fold that wasn’t there before, and leave—like he didn’t want anyone to know he was there at all.

But Sonic still donned a stupidly wide grin on his face, his tail thumping enthusiastically on Tom and Maddie’s bed. He’d practically been floating on his feet since Shadow started coming back. Even his nightmares have let up since then. “I just can’t believe it. He keeps coming back!”

“So that wasn’t just a ‘one time thing,’ huh?” Tom teased, to which Maddie laughed lightly.

“Hey, it was an educated guess! And besides, I’m glad I’m wrong.” She tilted her head towards Sonic.

Next to Sonic, Tails yawned. He’d just been woken up along with Knuckles to check last night’s footage. “He doesn’t really seem bent on hurting us,” he said, his two namesakes lightly brushing against the bed. “I guess it’s fine if he stays. As long as he feels safe with us at night, I don’t mind.”

Sonic preened at Tails’ approval. His family was slowly warming up to Shadow! He now leaned toward Knuckles, who had his arms crossed over his chest. “Aaand? Knux? What do you think?”

For a moment, Knuckles said nothing. He simply frowned deeply, like he was fighting against his inner turmoil. And then, with a strained voice, he said, “Fine. I shall not fight Shadow if I see him.”

Sonic gasped. “Really?” He leaped across the bed to tackle the echidna in a big hug. “I never thought I’d see the day! You finally change your mind? Warming up to him? Huh?”

Knuckles gently patted Sonic on the head. “A true warrior knows when one is a threat. For now, Shadow is not. But if that hedgehog tries anything…,” he snarled.

“Uh-huh.” Sonic let go of his brother, holding up two fists and deepening his voice. “I’ll pound that hedgehog to a pulp!”

The red echidna sent him a look of bewildered shock. “Excuse me? I do not sound like that!”

“Not to take Sonic’s side or anything, but…” Tails smiled sheepishly. “You kinda do.”

“What?” Knuckles turned to Tom and Maddie for support, but Maddie just covered her own smile with one hand while Tom openly laughed. “This is slander! I will not tolerate this, hedgehog!”

Sonic joined in on the laughter. He hadn’t felt like this, chest light and full of warmth and love, in so long. It felt so refreshing. It was nice.

He wished Shadow could experience it, too.

***

Shadow the Hedgehog swung the circular window open and dropped down into the attic, mindful of the way his air shoes clinked against the floor. His ears swiveled as he stood upright, eyes flickering between the three sleeping peacefully in their beds. Good; he was safe. He didn’t pay much attention to his surroundings otherwise; nothing had significantly changed, and he’d come by so many times at this point that he’d gotten used to it by now.

Again, like the other time, he ignored Tails and Knuckles and tiptoed straight towards Sonic’s bed. The blue hedgehog was dead asleep—his blankets were kicked down to his feet, and one leg dangled off the bed entirely. Shadow’s ear flicked at the sight.

He hesitated for a moment, as if he had something in mind but wasn’t sure whether or not to act on it. Then his shoulders rose and fell as he sighed deeply. He reached out, gently lifted Sonic’s leg back onto the bed, and pulled the blankets up to his shoulders. He gingerly sat down, trying not to jostle Sonic and wake him. He twisted around to study Sonic’s face.

After a couple minutes, Shadow slowly, slowly reached one hand out and hovered it over Sonic’s muzzle. A beat passed. And he made contact. Sonic unconsciously leaned into the touch. Shadow’s ears flattened, but he didn’t pull away. Instead, he reached his other hand and fully cupped Sonic’s face.

A few minutes passed in silence.

Then Shadow finally pulled away. He hesitated when he noticed Sonic’s snout scrunching slightly, the blue hedgehog unconsciously missing the touch. He brushed a thumb over Sonic’s ear before getting up from the bed and leaving the attic entirely, closing the window shut behind him.

He didn’t come back that night.

***

Sonic gaped as he watched the events of the night unfold on the laptop screen. This was not fair—he had no idea any of this even happened because he was asleep! He would do almost anything to go back in time and wake himself up because Shadow did all of that and Sonic didn’t even notice. He felt betrayed by his own self.

Tom shut the laptop. It was just him and Sonic viewing the footage this morning, so he didn’t hesitate to shoot Sonic a look that would otherwise be less judgmental had the other family members been present. “Now listen,” Tom said slowly. “I’m not gonna assume anything, but…is there something you’re not telling me?”

Sonic spluttered, caught off guard and absolutely speechless. “I—uh—like what?”

Tom watched, eyes narrowed in light-hearted suspicion as Sonic floundered over his words.

Sonic clapped his hands together. “Tom, Dad, listen,” he begged. “I genuinely have no explanation for this. I have no idea what Shadow was trying to do or why he did it or anything!”

“Right,” Tom drawled. He waggled a finger at Sonic’s face, raising his eyebrows. “Then can you explain this?”

Huh?

Sonic slowly reached up to touch his face. Even through his cotton gloves, his peace muzzle was flaming hot and probably a very, very bright red. His eyes widened. “Uh oh.”

Please don’t tell me this is what I think it is.

***

About a week later, Sonic woke up in the middle of the night and nearly screamed out loud. His heart slammed against his chest, knocking the breath right out of him as he was met face to face with Shadow the Hedgehog himself. Sonic bit on his tongue to prevent any noises from escaping his mouth, because Shadow was sleeping.

He was right there. Inches away. Breathing. Alive. Just seeing Shadow this close, for the first time in months…it finally forced Sonic’s brain to comprehend the fact that Shadow was not dead. He was very much alive right now.

Okay, now. Just calm down. Sonic forced himself to take slow, quiet, deep breaths, in case Shadow had super hearing included in the Ultimate-Lifeform package and could sense his skyrocketing heart rate and woke up. After a minute passed and Shadow remained asleep, Sonic exhaled and finally managed to relax enough to not give himself a heart attack.

Sonic wasn’t sure exactly when, but Shadow had somehow wormed his way into his bed. He was a respectable distance away, which was saying a lot considering how small the bed was and how it was made for one person; his body was so close to the edge of the bed that he was in danger of falling off. But Sonic didn’t dare take the risk of pulling him closer. He was sleeping curled up on top of the blankets currently covering Sonic—he looked quite cold, but Sonic couldn’t risk yanking the blankets out from underneath Shadow to cover him, either. And he didn’t want to get out of bed to retrieve the blanket he’d left on the floor for the dark hedgehog. He was afraid that any slight movement would jostle him awake.

Shadow was facing Sonic, eyes closed, breathing softly through his nose. Now that he could see Shadow up close without the use of combat, Sonic took the opportunity to admire the dark hedgehog’s features. Thanks to the fairy lights that illuminated his face, he could see the sleek black fur, the lining of red at the corner of his eyes that looked like natural eyeliner, the tufts of fur at the tips of his ears that Sonic kind of really wanted to touch. He imagined himself reaching out and rubbing his fingers on those ears, imagined how Shadow would react if he were awake. Would he snarl, shove Sonic away and yell at him, or would he close his eyes and purr at the touch?

In his sleep, Shadow frowned. The sight snapped Sonic out of his thoughts as the dark hedgehog’s face scrunched up in a way that made his stomach flip. Was he dreaming about something?

Before he even realized what he was doing, Sonic reached out with a hand and gently smoothed a gloveless thumb over Shadow’s furrowed eye ridge. He made to pull away when Shadow sighed softly and relaxed, leaning slightly into Sonic’s touch.

Sonic’s heart skipped a beat.

Shadow was alive, real, and here and Sonic just touched him and Shadow’s face fur was so soft. Was weird to think about? Yeah, that was probably weird to think about. It was the truth, though.

…Was it just Sonic, or was the attic suddenly getting really, really warm?

Oh, wait. It was just Sonic and his stupid muzzle heating up again. He was probably blushing like crazy. He looked up to the ceiling and thanked every star above that Shadow was asleep and couldn’t see his disaster of a face right now. He wouldn’t even be able to begin to explain himself.

After a few minutes, Shadow’s presence was enough to gently lull Sonic to sleep. It was probably the best sleep he’d had in weeks, and that was saying a lot—he’d consistently been sleeping pretty well since Shadow first came over.

But he couldn’t help the disappointment that came over him when he woke up in the morning to see that Shadow had already left, as always. The strands of black fur tangled in his blankets, glimmering brown in the morning light, reminded Sonic that it wasn’t a dream.

***

A few nights later, Sonic woke up to his face full of fur and quills.

Shadow was way closer this time. In fact, he was so close that his arms were wrapped around Sonic, the space leather of his gloves pressing just under the quills on his back. His soft breathing tickled the peach fur on Sonic’s chest. He was in a position where Sonic could perfectly rest his chin right between his ears. The dark hedgehog smelled faintly of smoke, gunpowder, and…lavender?

And Shadow was ridiculously warm. So much so that Sonic thought he was going to overheat and die right there in his bed, and the blush now creeping up his snout did not help matters in the least. The hedgehog clinging to him was like a living heater. Thankfully, it was still the winter season, or else Sonic would be cooked alive right now.

Obviously, Shadow was dead asleep. But this time, he was completely relaxed, and Sonic tilted his head to admire the dark hedgehog’s face again. He showed no signs of pain, anger, or grief, but he still looked vulnerable, unguarded.

Sonic tried to move as little as possible. Good thing he’d gotten plenty of practice holding still from the numerous times he’d caught Shadow sneaking in and no longer had twitching legs. He didn’t know exactly how much of a heavy or light sleeper Shadow was, and he definitely was not going to risk anything.

…Okay, so that was maybe sort of a lie. He couldn’t help but reach for his phone that was tucked underneath his pillow (yes, Tom and Maddie always scolded him, talking about how keeping his phone beside him at night wasn’t good for him, but he did it anyway), quadruple-check that the flash function was off and the phone was on silent, and sneak a picture of Shadow.

For safekeeping, of course.

Sonic felt the sleepiness tugging on his body as he retucked his phone and carefully shifted to bury his nose in the red streak on Shadow’s head. He gently, gently pressed an extremely delicate kiss, hardly a ghost of a touch, to the dark hedgehog’s forehead as sleep slowly overtook him, unable to swallow down the rumbling purr that rose in his throat.

He didn’t even care when he reviewed the footage in the morning and Tom side-eyed him the entire time.

***

In the middle of the night, Shadow jerked awake.

Sonic startled awake at the sudden motion in his bed, but when he realized it was Shadow, he squeezed his eyes shut and forced his body to relax and go limp.

Shadow gasped for breath. He pulled away from his place in Sonic’s arms as carefully as he could, his entire body trembling. He wormed his way out of Sonic’s blankets and out of the bed entirely.

A single muffed sob.

Sonic forced himself to stay still—but every fiber of his being ached to jump out of bed, stop Shadow, and pull him close. Whisper that everything was okay and that he was here. Maybe even guide him back to bed, lull him back to sleep.

But he let Shadow go. And when he blinked his eyes open, the dark hedgehog was already gone.

He’d had a nightmare, hadn’t he? Why else would he have reacted in that way so suddenly?

Sonic sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face. He was disappointed and frustrated with himself, even though he wasn’t sure what he was meant to do in this situation other than leave Shadow be. He turned over in his bed and met purple eyes; Knuckles had woken up, too.

The two silently faced each other. Then Knuckles huffed softly, and his eyes closed.

Sonic fell into a restless sleep.

***

A couple of nights later, just as Sonic was drifting to sleep, his ears perked up at the sound of Shadow dropping down into the attic. His heart rate jumped. He was back! Sonic was worried that Shadow would be too spooked to come back so soon. Did he feel lonely? Sonic’s fingers tingled in anticipation, already excited to pull Shadow close in his arms.

He dared to crack an eye open when Shadow didn’t sit on his bed right away. The dark hedgehog was distracted; he’d swiped a comic book off the floor and was examining the cover, face scrunched up in an adorable mix of confusion and fascination. So cute.

After replacing the comic where he’d found it, his gaze wandered around the room again. Maybe he wasn’t tired enough to sleep just yet? His eyes landed on the beanbag chair and he stalked toward it, ears perking in surprise when he poked it with his finger and it sank. Sonic’s heart nearly burst at the sight, and he had to physically hold himself back from screaming or making any movement.

Then Shadow drew his attention to the fairy lights. They lined the entire room, running all along the support beams that held the roof up. He followed the lights with his eyes, turning his head and pivoting on his heels. His eyes settled on something and he froze, gasping softly.

Sonic followed the hedgehog’s line of vision, slightly up and to the left, at the corner of the attic—

Shadow bolted. He made for the window, crouching down for a split second before vaulting himself out. Sonic threw his blanket aside and sprinted after him.

Because if there was any time that Sonic should follow Shadow, it was now.

The dark hedgehog was nearly by the trees by the time Sonic caught up to him.

“Shadow!” Sonic cried out. “Wait!”

Shadow turned his head just as Sonic barreled into him. They tumbled to the ground together, rolling in the dirt and grass and narrowly missing a tree root with their heads. Then Shadow twisted his body and pinned Sonic down by the side of his head, the blue hedgehog grunting as his cheek pressed hard against the cold ground. Shadow’s other hand pushed against his back.

“Please, we can talk about this!” Sonic wheezed.

“Talk?” Shadow balked. “There is nothing to talk about with you!”

And, oh, Shadow’s voice. Sonic hadn’t heard the dark hedgehog speak in so long, a couple of months at this point, and Sonic didn’t realize until now just how much he’d missed it. His ears strained to listen, catch, internalize every last word of that dark, low voice.

“Listen,” Sonic said. It was sort of difficult, trying to speak when his face was being smushed against the ground, but he made do. He had to. “You saw the camera. I get it. I’d be freaked out, too, if I saw it.” Crap. This was Sonic’s chance to speak with Shadow for the first time in ages, and probably his last chance too, and here he was rambling away. If he knew this was going to happen, he would’ve rehearsed it beforehand. Maybe even prepared some notecards.

Shadow’s hold on Sonic tightened, shoving him impossibly further into the dirt. “And just how long has that camera been there?”

The dark hedgehog was shaking—he could feel the way his hands quivered. Sonic could easily overpower him, shove Shadow off if he wanted to. But he didn’t; instead, he forced his body to go limp. He needed Shadow to feel that he was the one in control.

“Since…since after we first met. Back in December, I think.”

Shadow didn’t speak at first. The only sound of the night was his erratic breathing, and Sonic’s wheezing one. Sonic couldn’t see Shadow’s face, couldn’t see what he was thinking as the hedgehog began to process that the Wachowski family had likely seen everything, starting from the very first night that Shadow snuck into the house.

Sonic’s world spun. A gasp ripped from his throat as Shadow flipped him around, gripping his shoulders and shoving him back down to the ground, knocking the wind out of him. The cold grass pressed against his back.

But now Sonic could see the primal fear in Shadow’s stunning red eyes.

“You,” the dark hedgehog snarled. “Who do you think you are? Knowing that I’ve been staying in your room at night for weeks and doing nothing about it? So what, you can feel so much better about yourself? Doing a favor for—for someone who tried to kill you and your entire family?”

“N-no! It’s not like that!” Sonic’s hands scrabbled at Shadow’s wrists. “Look, I thought—I thought you died, Shadow. I thought you sacrificed yourself to save everyone. So when I saw you come back…again and again…” He wheezed. “I was so relieved that you were okay. And you felt safe in our house, didn’t you? I didn’t want to—to scare you away, if I told you that I knew. Promise.”

Shadow faltered. His ears flattened against his head, his eyes glimmering with fleeting emotions that Sonic couldn’t even begin to comprehend and decipher because they flashed by so quickly.

“You’re lying.”

“I’m not.” Sonic released his grip on Shadow’s wrists, letting his arms fall back to the ground. “Listen, Shadow. I know you’ve been through a lot. I get it. If you need a place to crash, you can come by anytime you want. You don’t need to sneak in, or hide, or anything like…”

Sonic trailed off as Shadow’s eyes hardened, concealing the emotions that ran through his head. He released Sonic and rose to his feet.

“No. I won’t be coming back. Leave me alone.” Shadow bared his teeth. “And don’t you dare follow me.”

“But—”

Shadow sped away and into the darkness of the night.

Sonic didn’t follow him. There was no point.

He lay on the ground, azure blue fur soaked from newly formed dew, breath fogging up in the cool, dry air as he cursed at himself for messing this up.

Chapter Text

Tom had finally recovered just enough that he was no longer bedridden, and he was allowed to walk around the house again. Sonic could almost pretend that everything was normal again if he ignored the fact that Tom’s arm remained in a cast in the sling and that he wasn’t allowed to return to work yet. Other than that, it almost felt like the wounds of the Eclipse Cannon event were finally starting to heal over.

Almost.

The only factor left unresolved was Shadow. And Sonic hadn’t seen him in an entire month.

He kept recounting the events of that night—when Shadow discovered the camera, and they had that scuffle. Sonic couldn’t shake the image of Shadow’s fearful eyes out of his head. Why was he so afraid? Did he think that the Wachowskis wouldn’t welcome him?

No, that wouldn’t make sense. The family knew he was staying the night, and they did nothing to stop him—Shadow knew that now. So why? None of it made any sense to Sonic, no matter how long he spent trying to figure it out. And it wasn’t as though he could ask Shadow directly.

After Sonic told his family what happened, Tom and Maddie assured him that he made the right choice in letting Shadow go—but he wondered if that was really the case. Even though Shadow said that he wouldn’t be coming back…Hundreds of imaginary scenarios ran in Sonic’s head every single day since then of what would have happened if Sonic begged Shadow to stay the night. But the scenarios were just that—imaginary. In the end, they didn’t mean anything.

Sonic must have appeared more distraught than he felt he actually was, because Maddie suggested a weekend camping trip to wind down and relax. It was a good idea—Sonic was able to distract himself for several hours by racing with his brothers and eating a copious amount of desserts, while Tom was able to take in some fresh air and enjoy nature.

But when everyone turned in for the night, retreating to their respective tents, the thoughts returned at full force. Sonic already knew he wasn’t going to sleep tonight, so he sat on a log by the campfire, dancing orange flames flickering with every breath he took.

He stared down at his phone, balanced precariously on his lap. He had subconsciously pulled up a photo on it—the photo of Shadow sleeping, arms wrapped securely around Sonic, nose burrowed in peach chest fur. His face was relaxed and free of pain or sorrow. In the far corner of the photo, almost out of frame, was Sonic’s chin resting on top of Shadow’s head, a soft smile on his muzzle.

It was the only picture of Shadow he had. He wished he had taken more while he still had the chance.

“Hey.”

Sonic jumped. Within a millisecond, he had plucked the phone off his lap and shoved it deep in his quills.

Tom laughed, shooting him a look of amusement as he took a seat beside him on the log. “Whoops. Didn’t mean to startle ya.”

“What?” Sonic’s voice cracked. “Psshht, you didn’t—you didn’t startle me…”

Tom rolled his eyes. “Right. Sure, bud.”

He reached over and ruffled the fur on Sonic’s head. Sonic laughed and lightly swatted his hand away. They sat in silence for a moment, the only sound between them being the crackling of the fire as it slowly began to die out. Sonic’s eyes couldn’t help but drift down to Tom’s arm.

Tom cleared his throat. “About that picture on your phone—”

“You saw that?” Sonic almost shrieked. His quills bristled instinctively, and he frantically waved his arms in the air like it would magically erase Tom’s memory. “I mean, you didn’t see anything! I had nothing on my phone!”

“Whoa! Hold on!” Tom jerked back. “I’m just trying to lighten the mood! I’m not judging you for that. I just wanted to check on you. We’re all worried about you.”

Worried, huh…Sonic lowered his arms, feeling overcome with guilt. He didn’t mean to make anyone worried about him. He was so caught up thinking about Shadow that he allowed it to bleed into his everyday actions and attitude around his family.

“You’ve been acting off lately. And earlier, you were so lost in your own thoughts that we watched you burn your marshmallows til there was nothing left and you didn’t even notice! What’s goin’ on, Sonic?”

Sonic’s ears drooped. He sighed heavily, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees, averting his eyes. “Sorry. But nothing’s really going on, promise! I’m fine. Just a lot to think about, ya know?”

Tom paused. Then he hummed, nodding thoughtfully. “A lot. Yeah. I guess I would call Shadow ‘a lot’ if I were you.”

And there it was. Sonic groaned, moving to rest his entire head on his knees now. There was just no way to beat around the bush with Tom, not about Shadow. Not when the dark hedgehog was the center of Sonic’s thoughts, dreams, and nightmares for months. His voice was muffled as he spoke. “I just feel so lost. I don’t know what to do, if there’s even anything I can do right now. He told me he wouldn’t be coming back. Did I mess up? Did I scare him off for good? I just—” He motioned vaguely with his hands before letting them flop uselessly to his sides. “Ugh. I don’t know anymore.”

Tom gently squeezed his shoulder. “Let’s think about it this way: we’re talking about a hedgehog that we’ve barely known for a single day. He’s been consistently sneaking into our home, not knowing that he was being recorded the entire time.”

“Yeah, well…” Sonic laughed bitterly. “I thought it’d scare him away if I told him there was a camera. But I guess, even if I didn’t say anything, he’d figure it out on his own at some point anyway.” Like he did a month ago. “The outcome would be pretty much the same either way.”

“In the grand scheme of things, he might not think that he’s that close to you. He probably won’t feel obligated to come back after that. What happens after this is ultimately up to Shadow. You just have to trust that he’ll make what he thinks is the right choice for himself, whether you agree with it or not.”

That…wasn’t exactly what Sonic wanted to hear. He frowned. “So you’re just telling me to wait again?”

“I know it’s hard to be patient.” Orange light flickered in Tom’s eyes. “It’s okay to be worried about Shadow. But you shouldn’t let that worry consume you and take over your life. Don’t waste the days away waiting for something that might not happen.”

Tom was right. Even a few weeks ago, Sonic would waste his days waiting for night to arrive, in hopes that he would see Shadow entering the attic and not knowing if he ever would. And even now he was wasting his days worrying over how he reacted the night Shadow noticed the camera.

And there was a certain comfort in Tom’s words, how the situation was out of Sonic’s hands now. It was Shadow’s turn to decide what he would do next, so why would Sonic worry about something he couldn’t control?

“You’re right.” Sonic sighed, leaning to gently rest his head on Tom’s shoulder. “Thanks, Donut Lord.”

Tom chuckled at the familiar nickname as he reached up and scritched behind Sonic’s ear, earning a dull purr. “No problem, Sonic.”

The fire snuffed out completely. Though the two became enveloped in darkness, the warmth of the flames remained in Sonic’s fur.

***

The camping trip was over fairly quickly, though Sonic still found himself feeling restless even when Tom’s words echoed in his mind. He was definitely way less worried than before, but his mind would occasionally wander when he was alone.

But today, Sonic’s mind was clear. He had just gone on a long run with no particular destination and enjoyed the wind in his quills. When he felt that the run was coming to an end, he slowed to a stop, coming to a rest at the lake. He plopped down onto his back and rested his head against a pine tree’s roots as a makeshift pillow. The afternoon sun shone high in the sky—the light reflected against the lake water, giving it a shimmering glow that was almost blinding. Sonic let the sunlight bathe his fur a brilliant azure. The scenery was nice; it allowed Sonic a rare chance to slow down and relax.

So much so that he didn’t realize he had fallen asleep until someone gently nudged him awake.

“One more minute,” Sonic muttered, rolling over on his side. He tried to pull his blanket over his head when he remembered he wasn’t in bed at all. Another nudge against his shoulder, and he grumbled under his breath.

“Sonic,” came a familiar voice, deep and low. “Why are you sleeping here?”

Sonic’s ear flicked as he tried to put a face to the voice in his half-asleep state. Who…?

“It’s late,” the voice continued. “Your family will be worried about you.”

Sonic’s eyes snapped open. He jolted upward. Shadow recoiled at the sudden movement, falling backward from where he’d been kneeling beside Sonic. They stared at each other for a moment as Sonic scanned the dark hedgehog, moonlight illuminating sleek black fur.

“You came back,” Sonic breathed.

Shadow’s eyes flickered warily to Sonic. Then, when he realized Sonic wasn’t planning to attack him, he averted his eyes and crossed his arms, as though he were hugging himself. “I did,” he said quietly.

If this was happening before the camping trip, Sonic might have exploded on Shadow, demanding answers and taking out the anxiety and worry and frustration he’d harbored on the dark hedgehog all at once. But now, he simply let out a deep breath. This was his opportunity to properly talk to Shadow. He was not going to mess up this time.

“Where have you been?” Sonic asked him. “I haven’t seen you in a whole month, you know. I was worried about you.” He watched as Shadow’s ears flattened. “You have a habit of appearing, and disappearing, and I don’t know where you go or if you’re safe.”

Though he spoke softly, Shadow reeled back at the words. Moonlight glinted off his surprised red eyes as they met Sonic’s emerald ones. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think you would…care for me this much.”

Sonic frowned. His heart cracked at the way Shadow hesitated. “Of course I care about you. Why wouldn’t I?”

“After everything I’ve done…I hurt your family. I hurt you. You’re supposed to hate me, supposed to want me gone.”

Sonic opened his mouth to speak, but he found that he could barely breathe. The words coming out of Shadow’s mouth were absolutely heartbreaking. “I could never hate you.”

At those words, Shadow uncrossed his arms and drew his knees to his chest, avoiding eye contact. Sonic waited for a response, but Shadow didn’t seem to have anything to say to that. Sonic was just grateful that he didn’t jump up and run off again.

“Okay, well…,” Sonic said, switching topics, “why are you here? I mean, you told me yourself that you wouldn’t come back.”

Shadow’s ears twitched. His eyes narrowed slightly, as if he weren’t sure of how to phrase his words. “I didn’t plan to come back,” he admitted slowly. “But I saw you sleeping here alone. I felt that I owed you an explanation—you deserve to know why I came to your house.”

Shadow wanted to give Sonic answers. What he was proposing—it was the answer to one of the very first questions that Sonic had been ruminating on in his mind. Sonic’s heart rate spiked, hammering in his chest in a steady thump-thump-thump. But he noticed how Shadow squirmed after he spoke.

Sonic swallowed, reining himself back despite the rising adrenaline. “You don’t have to say if you don’t want to.”

But Shadow shook his head. “This is something you should know.”

So Sonic quietly nodded for him to go ahead.

“That night, with the Eclipse Cannon.” Shadow’s eyes glazed over as he began to lose himself in his thoughts. “I tried to sacrifice myself. I thought, if I did, then I would be able to see her again.” His voice trembled. He paused to regain his bearings. Sonic waited patiently, his heart squeezing.

“But I didn’t die. When the cannon exploded, it sent me crashing to Earth. I didn’t know where I was when I landed. I wandered for days—or weeks. I lost count of how long. But then I found your house.”

Shadow paused again, this time to catch his breath. It was difficult for him to talk, Sonic realized. Not only was this a sensitive subject, but the dark hedgehog likely hadn’t spoken this much in fifty years. It warmed Sonic’s heart, knowing that Shadow went to this length to explain himself to him; but it also hurt, because Shadow felt that he absolutely had to.

But Shadow had chosen to talk, so Sonic respected his decision.

The dark hedgehog raised his head to meet Sonic’s eyes, moonlight shimmering against his own scarlet eyes. “I thought you were dead. I had to make sure…see for myself that you weren’t.”

Shadow wasn’t lying—not that Sonic thought he would have any reason to lie at all, and his explanation made sense. It lined up with what Sonic had observed in the footage, how Shadow looked like he’d rolled in dirt and was limping slightly. Now Sonic understood that it was because Shadow had just crashed to Earth.

But the fact that he’d crashed, and experienced an immeasurable amount of pain doing so, and the first thing he did was check on Sonic and Tom to make sure they were alright…Sonic’s chest warmed.

“And after you saw me sleeping,” Sonic encouraged, his voice soft, “you fell asleep in our attic.”

Shadow looked away again, opting to tilt his head back and observe the stars instead. Sonic was mesmerized by the way the moonlight painted his black fur a brilliant glowing silver. Almost like his super form. He looked ethereal, straight out of Sonic’s dreams. “I confirmed that you were alive and safe. I was…relieved. I had spent so long wandering and I didn’t allow myself to sleep. I don’t need to sleep as much as you do, but after seeing you, I felt tired. So I slept.” He absentmindedly wrung his hands together. “I left before anyone else woke up. I knew I wasn’t wanted there. I thought…I thought you would be upset, or angry, if you saw me.”

Shadow had a point. Sonic recalled the very moment he saw the dark hedgehog on the laptop screen—he was overcome with an overwhelming amount of conflicting emotions at the time. He wasn’t sure how he would’ve reacted if he caught Shadow before he left.

“And after that?” Sonic asked. “Where did you go when you weren’t staying at our place?”

Shadow hesitated for a moment, flicking an ear. “I found a cave. It’s poorly furnished, but it does the job.”

Oh. The very last of Sonic’s worry dissipated as he recognized the location. Shadow had found Sonic’s old cave, the one he used to stay in before Tom and Maddie took him in. He was safe there.

Shadow didn’t say any more for a while. He kept stealing glances at Sonic before quickly averting his gaze again. Then he whispered, “You don’t hate me?”

Sonic’s heart broke at the very idea of it. He shook his head. “Of course not,” he said softly. “I know we had a rough start. You hurt Tom, we hurt each other…We were both in pain. And, yeah, neither of what we did was okay, but that doesn’t mean we can’t forgive each other, right?” He scooted closer to Shadow. “And right now, I’m just glad you’re safe.”

Shadow jolted slightly at Sonic’s sudden movement, but he didn’t stop him from coming closer or scramble to gain some distance. He opened his mouth to speak, but ultimately changed his mind and stayed silent, looking up at the stars instead.

Shadow looked at the stars a lot, Sonic observed. It must be significant to him somehow. Did it calm him? Remind him of simpler times?

Of her?

The stars glittered brightly in the night sky. Sonic could almost see the gold and rose-gold streaks weaving among the stars, the two hedgehogs’ super forms racing in space like shooting stars. And amidst the stars was the moon. A dark line cut straight through the middle of it from when it was split by the Eclipse Cannon—a permanent memento.

Sonic leaned over to look at Shadow’s face, but the dark hedgehog was lost in his thoughts and frowning slightly. So Sonic gently elbowed him.

“C’mon, loosen up a little! I’m surprised your face isn’t permanently stuck in a frown like that, Hot Topic!”

Shadow’s eyes focused on Sonic again, his expression morphing from a look of concentration to pure confusion. “You’ve called me that before. Should I know what it means?”

“Huh?” Sonic gaped at that. “How could you not know—? Oh, yeah, you’re super old and ancient, so of course you haven’t heard of Hot Topic!”

Shadow raised his eyeridge at that, to which Sonic laughed. “It’s a store! Man, I should seriously take you there.” He could see it now, right in front of his eyes—Shadow stepping foot inside the store, ears immediately being blasted with heavy metal, and him being absolutely enamored by all the edgy stuff they sold. That place would be paradise for Shadow. He waggled a finger at the dark hedgehog. “I bet you’d love it in there. You’d blend right in, you brooding emo.”

Shadow looked like he had a hard time keeping up with what Sonic was saying, his snout scrunched in confusion. “What…? What are you talking about? What is an ‘emo’? Are you insulting me?”

He looked so adorably confused that Sonic couldn’t hold back the fit of giggles that tumbled out of his mouth. “Noooooo?” And then, in a smaller voice, “Maybe?”

A spark of light danced in Shadow’s eyes. He lightly shoved Sonic by the shoulders. Sonic was so caught off guard that he nearly toppled over. He caught himself and shoved back. Then Shadow shoved him again, and this time Sonic fell backward onto the grass. Shadow opened his mouth to apologize, but he wasn’t given the chance before Sonic seized him by the wrist and tugged him down with him.

Sonic laughed freely into the night. His heart stuttered when he noticed that Shadow was laughing, too, a small smile gracing the dark hedgehog’s muzzle and crimson-red eyes bright with mirth. His hands were caging either side of Sonic’s head.

He was so incredibly beautiful that, for a second, Sonic forgot how to breathe.

“Next time you insult me, I won’t be so merciful,” Shadow snickered playfully.

Sonic dramatically threw the back of his hand to his forehead like a damsel in distress. “Oh, noooo, whatever shall I do?” He didn’t even try to hide the giant smile on his face. “Effortlessly beat you because I’m so much stronger than you?”

Shadow’s smile grew. “I’d like to see you try, faker.”

“You’re on.”

Shadow leaned in closer, opening his mouth to say more when his nose bumped against Sonic’s. His eyes flickered down to Sonic’s lips before he gasped, suddenly flinching back and jumping to his feet. He turned his back on Sonic.

“Wait!” Sonic scrambled to his feet and lunged forward, grabbing Shadow by the wrist before he could run off. Shadow made a noise and yanked his hand away. “I—I don’t know what I did, but I’m sorry. Just don’t go. Please.”

Shadow didn’t turn around to face Sonic. He breathed shakily. “No. It’s not you. It’s my fault.”

Sonic’s heart sank. “Why are you leaving? Don’t you wanna stay the night?”

A beat of silence. “I shouldn’t.”

“But don’t you want to?”

“I shouldn’t,” Shadow repeated. “I can’t…” His voice trembled. His fists clenched at his sides. “I can’t get close to you. I don’t know what I’ll do if I lose you, too.”

Sonic’s heart shattered. Of course. Shadow had lost his family, lost the person he loved the most. He’d said that pain was all he knew. If he got close to Sonic, and something happened to him…

He took a deep breath. “Even though I thought you died…I couldn’t stop thinking about you. You started showing up in my dreams; I’d see you, in your super form, flying across space and smashing robots with a smile on your face. I really treasure that memory.” And then, before he could change his mind, he added, “You have no idea how beautiful you looked.”

He heard Shadow’s breath hitch.

“You’re allowed to get close to people, Shadow. It doesn’t mean you’re replacing or forgetting about her. And even if you do lose me…wouldn’t you rather make memories with me before that happens?”

Shadow fixed his eyes on the ground.

“‘The light shines even though the star is gone,’” Sonic recited softly. “You said it yourself, on the moon.”

Sonic had said his piece—now it was Shadow’s turn to decide what he wanted to do next.

Silence. The night was absolutely still, save for the cool wind that whistled by and Shadow’s unsteady breathing.

“Foolish hedgehog.” Shadow finally turned his head, his scarlet eyes wet and glimmering. His words held no bite to them—if anything, they held affection. “You just don’t know when to give up.”

A grin slowly grew on Sonic’s muzzle and his tail began to wag, his entire body filling with pure warmth and joy. He clenched and unclenched his hands repeatedly at his sides, holding back his glee; the last thing he wanted was to overwhelm and scare Shadow. “Well, what can I say? A lotta people like to call me ‘annoyingly persistent.’”

Shadow huffed fondly. “They wouldn’t be wrong.”

Sonic held his hand out, his heart nearly exploding out of his chest when Shadow tentatively placed his own hand on top. He twisted his hand to weave their fingers together, lightly squeezing the dark hedgehog’s hand. Sonic could die of heart failure right now, and he would die happy.

“Sooooo,” Sonic said hopefully, tail wagging so hard it was practically in danger of falling off, “you’re staying the night, then?”

Shadow gave him a look, playfully rolling his eyes. “Yes, idiot. Unless you want me to change my mind?”

Sonic cheered loudly, loving the way his voice echoed in the night as though the world was celebrating alongside him. He threw their intertwined hands up in the air. He thought Shadow would look at him funny, but when he turned to look, the dark hedgehog had a fond expression on his face, eyes soft. Sonic grinned at him, butterflies fluttering in his stomach when Shadow smiled back.

***

Sonic wasn’t sure of exactly how long he’d napped, but when he checked the time, it was only nine o’clock. Tom and Maddie would still be awake at this time, and his brothers were probably preparing for bed right now.

The two hedgehogs stopped on the front porch of the Wachowski house. They’d agreed that Sonic should officially bring Shadow for a sleepover and introduce him to the family. It was better than bringing Shadow straight to the attic without telling anyone first, even though Shadow had technically broken into the house before, but whatever!

The butterflies in Sonic’s stomach returned tenfold at the thought that this was real and this was actually happening.

He reached up and rang the doorbell. Immediately, Shadow’s hackles raised and his quills bristled. He squeezed Sonic’s hand a tad too tightly.

“Whoa, hey, there’s no need to be nervous!” Sonic turned to give Shadow a reassuring look. “They don’t bite, I promise. You’ll be fine.”

Shadow looked at him fearfully. “What if they don’t like me? What if they turn me away?”

The dark hedgehog jumped when the door swung open to reveal Tom and Maddie, his hands trembling when the two humans’ faces morphed to surprise.

So Sonic swooped in to save him. “Hey, sorry I’m late! I accidentally fell asleep while out on a run, but Shadow here found me and was nice enough to wake me up! He didn’t want you guys to worry about me.” He lightly nudged Shadow. “Right, Shadow?”

“Um. That’s right.” Shadow’s eyes widened, and he awkwardly ducked his head. “Good evening.”

Over Shadow’s head, Tom and Maddie’s eyes flicked between each other, Sonic, Shadow, and the two hedgehogs’ interlocked hands. To Sonic’s relief, they didn’t seem angry or bothered at all, just extremely confused. They were probably wondering how Sonic managed to convince Shadow to come to their house like this.

Tom opened his mouth to say something, but Maddie beat him to it first, clapping her hands together. “How lovely to see you, Shadow! Thank you for stopping by. We’re so glad to see that you’re safe and sound. And thank you for taking care of Sonic. He can make very reckless decisions sometimes.” At the last sentence, she shot a look at Sonic, who just smiled sheepishly and shrugged his shoulders innocently. Oops.

Shadow shuffled his feet, raising his head to properly acknowledge the Wachowski parents. “I wanted to say that I am sorry for hurting you and your family. I have no excuse, and I do not expect to be forgiven, but…I will not let that happen again.” He hesitated, before taking a deep breath. “I would like to spend the night here, with your permission.”

The two parents exchanged glances, holding an entire conversation through their eyes alone. Not even Sonic could decipher what was happening between them. Then Tom shrugged, nodding, and Maddie began to smile as he dropped to his knees to get on eye level with Shadow.

“We forgive you, Shadow,” Tom told him. “You’re allowed to stay the night whenever you’d like, as long as you let us know beforehand and you don’t cause any trouble. Sound good?”

Sonic couldn’t hold back his gasp of excitement.

But Shadow hesitated, his ears flattening slightly. “You’re not angry with me?”

Tom chuckled. “No, course not. I know you didn’t mean to hurt me. And besides, we both made it out alive and that’s all I really care about. We learn from our mistakes and we move on. So don’t worry about it anymore, yeah?”

Shadow blinked, processing the words before finally letting himself relax. “Thank you,” he whispered.

“Thankyouthankyouthankyou!” Sonic couldn’t contain it anymore. He released his grip on Shadow’s hand and lunged forward, tackle-hugging Tom and almost knocking him to the floor before doing the same to Maddie. The two humans laughed as they hugged him back. Then Sonic charged at Shadow. The dark hedgehog’s eyes widened and he instinctively held his arms up to block him. But Sonic stopped abruptly in his tracks, his own arms raised in hugging position.

“Hug?” he asked, his fingers tingling as he waited for Shadow’s response.

Shadow considered it for a moment. Then he rolled his eyes, walked forward, and wrapped his arms around him. Sonic silently squealed, hugging back and rocking him from side to side, ignoring how his parents awwed at them in the background.

“Don’t get used to this,” Shadow grumbled as he gently pulled away. His muzzle was dusted with bright red, likely embarrassed by the display of affection right in front of Sonic’s parents.

Sonic grinned widely, his entire body buzzing in pure elation. “Oh, I won’t.”

Because he was going to appreciate every future hug with Shadow just as much, if not even more.

Maddie laughed, waving a hand at them. “Okay, kids, come inside. We don’t want you two catching a cold now.”

Sonic led Shadow through the threshold and into the house, the door swinging shut behind them. He gasped when a familiar figure approached them. “Ozzie, hi!”

Ozzie sauntered directly past Sonic and butted his nose into Shadow’s fur instead. Sonic gasped in mock offense, holding a hand to his shattered heart.

“I also forgive you because Ozzie approves of you,” Tom added as he walked down the hallway to the bedroom, Maddie following behind him. “Ozzie’s opinion is highly regarded in this household!”

Shadow blinked. He carefully reached out and gently patted the dog’s head.

***

“Sonic! You’re back!” Tails cried as Sonic stepped into the attic. He dropped his sheets and flew over to Sonic to tackle him in a hug.

Knuckles looked over from where he was preparing his own bed. “Ah, good. We were going to hunt you down after preparing to sleep.”

Sonic laughed lightly, ruffling the fur on Tails’ head. “Whoops. Sorry, guys, I just got back from an accidental nap. But I brought someone with me.”

Shadow, who had been tailing Sonic on the stairs, nervously stepped into the attic. Tails and Knuckles froze, the former gasping. Shadow froze at their reactions.

Then Tails released his grip on Sonic to fully face Shadow, a nervous smile on his face. “Hi! It’s good to see you again, Shadow.”

Knuckles stepped forward, coming closer to the rest of the group. Shadow stopped himself from taking a step back. “Hedgehog,” the echidna acknowledged. “Sacrificing yourself was an honorable act. But I am glad that you are not dead.”

Shadow looked around, shrinking slightly at how much of the attention in the room was focused on him. His eyes flickered to Sonic for a moment before he faced the other two. “Um. Hello. Thank you.”

Sonic walked over to Shadow, bumping their shoulders together. The dark hedgehog relaxed at the comforting touch. “I was thinking of letting Shadow stay the night. Tom and Maddie were okay with it.”

Tails’ eyes lit up. “Wait, really? That’s awesome! I don’t mind if he stays.” Then he jumped, as if he remembered something incredibly important. “Oh! I forgot—I left something in my workshop! It’s a really, really important project that I have to finish right away…and it’ll take me all night…and it’ll probably set itself on fire if I don’t keep my eye on it?” Then he turned to Knuckles, enunciating every word as he said, “What about you, Knuckles? Aren’t you busy tonight, too?”

Knuckles stared down at the fox, snout wrinkled in confusion. Then, “Ah! Yes!” he shouted suddenly, quickly catching on. Shadow jumped. “That’s right! I just remembered! I had set an appointment with Wade! I am supposed to…” He faltered for a moment before his face lit up. “Yes! I am to train him in the art of bowling!”

Sonic snorted at the blatant lie. “I thought Wade was already good at bowling. And wasn’t he the one who taught you that?”

Knuckles shot him a serious look. “There is no good, inferior hedgehog. There is only better.”

While Sonic spluttered over the casual insult from his brother, Shadow spoke up, his voice soft and hesitant. “You two are busy this late at night?”

But he didn’t receive a response; Tails and Knuckles were already rushing past him and Sonic. On the way out of the attic, Tails winked, and Sonic threw the both of them a thumbs-up. Thank you, guys! Oh, I love my brothers so freaking much.

The two hedgehogs watched as they hurried down the stairs and disappeared.

“I didn’t mean to drive them out,” Shadow said. His ears drooped, and Sonic slowly lowered his thumbs-up at the sight. Ah, he’d caught on to the lies, too. “I shouldn’t be here—this room belongs to them, not me.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Sonic stopped the dark hedgehog in his tracks, gently placing his hands on his shoulders and looking him in the eye. “Don’t talk like that! They didn’t leave because of you! I mean, I guess they technically did—but it’s not what you think, I promise!” he exclaimed quickly when Shadow’s eyes dimmed slightly. “Tails and Knuckles already know the situation. We all just want you to feel comfortable here, and…I guess we all silently agreed that you’d feel the most comfortable with just me for now. I know we should’ve asked you first, but…Is that okay?”

Shadow stared down at the stairs where the two had left. “...I suppose.”

“Hey,” Sonic said softly. “It’s not a big deal. We just thought it’d be best for you. To be honest, they’re probably just going to crash on our couch or stay with our parents downstairs. But I can call them back if you want?”

Shadow took a moment to think, his ears twitching slightly and his eyeridge furrowed. Sonic waited patiently for his response. Then he lifted his head. “You’re right. I am most comfortable around you. Unfortunately,” he added, to which Sonic gasped in mock offense.

“Hey! You meanie!” Sonic stuck his tongue out at him. He mentally cheered in victory when Shadow’s shoulders shook with quiet laughter. He would do anything if it meant Shadow could laugh more.

But the laughter faded when Shadow’s eyes caught on the security camera in the corner. Sonic wondered what would have happened if the camera were never there in the first place.

“Worried about the camera?”

Shadow shyly nodded, wringing his hands together. Maybe he was embarrassed over having so many concerns.

“Hey, it’s okay. It’s only meant to be there for our safety. Just in case anything happens that puts us in danger, yeah? That includes you, now. That way, Tom and Maddie can see what happened and act accordingly.”

Shadow hummed in acknowledgement, but he was still frowning. So Sonic added, “If you’re worried about feeling embarrassed, then you should know that my entire family has seen footage of me kissing your forehead in your sleep. So I promise that nothing we do in here will be more embarrassing than that, ‘kay?”

Shadow blinked as his brain registered the words. Then he slowly turned to face Sonic, his muzzle turning bright red. “You did what?”

Sonic’s face flamed red. “Okaytimeforbed!” he nearly shrieked as he pivoted on his heel and nearly tripped over his own feet running to his bed. Why, oh why did I say that?

“Wait—”

Sonic pointedly kept his back to Shadow, whistling loudly to himself as he straightened the blankets on his bed and fluffed his pillow, snatching a spare one from Tails’ bed and tossing it onto his own. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Shadow about to settle down on the floor. He raced over and yanked the blanket off the floor and out of the dark hedgehog’s reach. He threw it over his headboard, in case they got cold later in the night.

Shadow looked extremely confused as he squatted on the floor, his hand still poised to grab his blanket that was now confiscated. “I was going to sleep on the floor.”

“Nuh-uh! Absolutely not! I am not letting you do that again! Do you have any idea how much that’ll destroy your back?” Sonic pointed at his own bed. “You are sharing the bed with me. And no arguing!” he cut in when Shadow opened his mouth to object. “Unless you wanna borrow Tails’ or Knuckles’ bed?”

Shadow opened and closed his mouth, searching for words before ultimately giving up and silently shaking his head. Sonic counted it as a win.

The azure hedgehog threw himself on his bed. He kicked his shoes off and tugged his gloves off, shoving all of it under his bed. Shadow hesitantly followed his lead, tucking his belongings under the bed more gingerly and carefully climbing into bed. Sonic yanked Shadow down so they both collapsed on their sides with a fwomp and covered the both of them with a blanket up to their shoulders. For a moment, they quietly blinked at each other.

Shadow spoke up first, eyes narrowing. “What were you saying earlier about kissing me on the forehead?”

Sonic’s heart skipped a beat. He swallowed, holding his best poker face. “And why were you looking at my lips earlier, huh? Don't think you’re so slick, hot shot. I see you.”

Shadow narrowed his eyes. He leaned forward, bumping their noses together. This time, he didn’t shy away. “I asked you first.”

Sonic’s brain stuttered to a near-complete stop. He hid it with a smirk. “Okay, and? Did you know that the camera caught you grabbing my face while I was sleeping? What was up with that?”

Shadow raised an eyeridge. Then he reached down, grabbed the blanket, and tossed it up high over their heads, completely concealing the two from the camera. He cupped Sonic’s face in his hands. “Don’t change the subject. I believe I asked you a question first, Sonic.”

Sonic almost died right then and there. He couldn’t believe he was actually conscious right now and that this wasn’t the best dream he’d ever experienced, even as Shadow rubbed circles over the peach fur on Sonic’s muzzle with a gloveless thumb.

“I don’t know why,” Shadow continued when Sonic didn’t respond, his breath fanning across Sonic’s snout, “but I am inexplicably drawn to you. I couldn’t help but come back to see you again and again, night after night, even after I knew that you were safe. Care to explain why that could be, hot shot?”

Tingles raced throughout Sonic’s entire body. He could almost pretend he was in his super form, chaos energy crackling in his fur, because that was exactly what it felt like right now. “Maybe,” he murmured back, “right here in your big heart”—he poked Shadow in his fluffy white chest fur—”you secretly like me.”

Shadow quirked his eyebrow. “You think?”

“Well…” Sonic swallowed. “I like you. Romantically,” he added.

Shadow hummed, his eyes half-lidded. “That would explain a lot. Especially the forehead kiss.”

Sonic felt like he was drowning, but in the absolute best way possible. “Mhm.”

His heart hammered in his chest when Shadow bumped their noses again. “May I?”

Sonic inhaled shakily. “Yes. Please.”

Shadow chuckled, a low rumble in his throat. He slowly leaned forward and closed the gap between them, their lips brushing together.

The tingles throughout Sonic’s body exploded like fireworks. He allowed his eyes to slip shut as he reached up to rest his hands over Shadow’s, still cupping his muzzle. Though the kiss lasted just a few seconds, it felt like an eternity.

Shadow pulled back, his eyes fluttering open as he caught his breath. Sonic tugged the blanket down so they could both breathe properly, watching as scarlet-red eyes glittered under the fairy lights.

“Holy crap,” Sonic breathed out. His brain short-circuited again. “That was…my first kiss.”

Shadow blinked. His entire face flushed, his sudden burst of confidence dissipating, and he ducked down to hide it in Sonic’s chest. The blue hedgehog laughed fondly. “It was mine, also,” Shadow admitted, his voice muffled in peach fur.

They lay there in bed, Sonic basking in Shadow’s warmth. Then Shadow’s tail began to wag, going thump-thump-thump on the mattress.

Cute.

“Shut up,” Shadow said.

Sonic giggled, his own tail beginning to wag also. “I didn’t even say anything.”

“You didn’t have to. I already knew what you were going to say.”

“What?” Sonic teased. “What was I gonna say, huh? That you’re the cutest hedgehog in the whole world?” He reached up to pet Shadow’s ears, finally able to rub his gloveless fingers over those tufts of fur he’d been dying to touch for ages. “That you’re really just a sweetheart? That you’re so adorable it should be illegal and it’s impossible to stay mad at you?” He scritched behind Shadow’s ears and under his chin.

“Sonic!” Shadow’s soft paw pads pressed against Sonic’s face as he tried to push him off, the red flush on his muzzle growing impossibly darker. “You are so—infuriating!”

“Yeah, so?” Sonic grabbed the dark hedgehog’s wrists and pried him off, leaning forward and pressing a kiss to Shadow’s forehead with an incredibly embarrassing smack! “Admit it, Shadow, you love it!”

Shadow could barely speak through the rising purr in his throat. “I can’t believe you.” He settled back down on the bed, crossing his arms and closing his eyes. “I’m done with you. Goodnight.”

But Sonic wasn’t done. An idea formed in his mind, and he started giggling.

Shadow didn't even open his eyes. “What now?”

“Um…” Sonic struggled to speak through his cackling. He reached into his quills and pulled his phone out, unlocking it and navigating to a certain something. “I have something that I think you’ll really, really like.”

Shadow's eyes snapped open. He shifted around to lean on both elbows, looking at Sonic in horror. “Oh, no.”

“Oh, yes.” Sonic flipped his phone around to show Shadow what was on the screen: the picture of Shadow asleep in Sonic's bed, his arms wrapped tightly around Sonic’s waist and his face buried in his chest. “Look at this! I happened to take a picture of you in your sleep!”

“What?” Shadow snatched the phone, turning it over in his hand. Oh, this was Shadow’s first time seeing a smartphone, Sonic realized.

“Isn’t it cute?” Sonic gushed as Shadow fumbled with the device. “I guess you wouldn't know, but you actually woke me up a couple times when you snuck into the attic! So I was lucky enough to sneak this photo. Now I can hold this against you for as long as we live!”

Sonic watched in absolute delight as Shadow stared at the photo through squinted eyes. His ear twitched. And then his face turned flaming red. “...How do I dispose of this?”

“Nope, you can’t!” Sonic snatched his phone out of his hand, waving it in his face. Shadow reached for it, but he held the device high above his head. “I’m keeping this photo forever and ever!”

“Get rid of that!”

“Noooo!” Sonic shoved it in his quills and shrieked when Shadow stuck his hand into them. Sonic yanked his hand out by the wrist, but that didn’t stop Shadow from tackling Sonic and shoving him into the mattress.

“I don’t know how anyone can stand you,” Shadow said, breathing heavily.

Sonic smirked up at him. “You love m—mmph!”

Shadow had rolled his eyes, grabbed Sonic’s face, and kissed him again.

“The camera’s recording this, by the way,” Sonic pointed out after Shadow pulled away.

“I don’t care.” Shadow’s eyes sparkled as he leaned in close. “Do you?”

Sonic’s tail thumped against the bed as the tingles returned tenfold. “Course not.”

This time, Sonic was the one to cradle Shadow’s face and bring him close for a kiss. Their resounding purrs mixed together, a harmonic duet in the small but cozy attic.

After a blissful moment, Shadow pulled away and flopped down onto the bed, pressing his nose to Sonic’s side and lazily draping an arm over the azure hedgehog’s chest. “No more of your antics, now. Shut up and let me sleep. I haven’t slept properly in an entire month.”

“But I already took a nap earlier! I’m not even tired,” Sonic whined in protest, but he eventually settled down also. He shifted their positions so that they mirrored the picture in his phone, with Shadow’s nose pressed into his chest and Sonic’s chin resting between Shadow’s ears. The dark hedgehog was so incredibly warm, and Sonic snuggled impossibly closer.

Despite the earlier nap, that warmth, along with Shadow’s dull purring, lulled Sonic into a peaceful rest.

***

Sonic stirred. A beam of sunlight was piercing straight through his eyelids and directly into his eyes, and he grumbled lowly at the disturbance. He tried to roll over on his side, but a weight on his chest was stopping him. He cracked an eye open.

There lay Shadow the Hedgehog, his head resting gently on Sonic’s chest. At Sonic’s movement, he turned his head to look at his face. Light from the morning sun shone through the circular window and onto the hedgehog, turning his sleek black fur into a soft brown, red highlights and eyes shining a brilliant scarlet.

Sonic’s heart filled with warmth. Shadow was awake, and he had chosen to stay with him.

Sonic yawned. He reached out and cupped Shadow’s face with one hand. “Morning, Shadow.”

A halo of light shone behind Shadow’s head as he blinked lazily, leaning into the affectionate touch.

“Good morning, Sonic.”