Chapter Text
Sonic was finally back from Starfall Island. Knuckles and Amy already left on their individual adventures and Tails was packing for his own trip, with help from Sonic. Sonic felt proud, of course!
But he also felt… a ton of conflicting emotions, however, he would never voice them out loud. The last thing he would want to do is hold his friends back.
Sonic came back from his thoughts as Tails said, “Well, I think I got everything!”
Sonic smiled at Tails, feeling a surge of pride. He's all grown up. “Well, don't forget to text me frequently, alright?” He offered a fist bump as a final goodbye.
Tails smiled back. He looked like pure joy as he put his fist to Sonic's. “I won't, promise!” Tails hopped into the Tornado, waving at Sonic as he started the plane.
Sonic waved back, running beside him until Tails flew off the ground. As soon as Tails was out of sight, Sonic collapsed, the remains of the cyber corruption attacking. Sonic limped back to his house, each step excruciating.
He had hid this from his friends, not wanting them to worry and stay back from their adventure. He was certain the cyber corruption would go away… eventually… hopefully? Whatever, doesn't matter! He can handle this! He's handled much worse before, this is nothing… right?
He collapsed onto the couch and curled up, glitching painfully for a few moments. He clutched whatever he could grab onto, panting heavily.
He shut his eyes tightly, his hands loosening before clutching again as another wave of pain shot through him.
He wasn't sure how long he was suffering, but after a while, it finally stopped. He was left panting on the couch, his hand reaching up to his muzzle as he felt a few tears that slipped from his eyes.
He sat up, gazing around the now… empty house. Well, not totally empty, but it felt… lonely now. Tails was always here, making the house feel like a home, but now that he's gone, it's cold. He stood up and walked around for a moment, being careful to not put too much pressure on his (still) weak legs.
He walked to his room, feeling physically and emotionally exhausted. He flopped onto his bed, yawning, before he wrapped his blanket around himself and fell asleep.
Day after day, Sonic did the same thing: Go for a morning run (that may or may not be interrupted by cyber corruption), see if his friends have updated him yet, see if anyone wants to hang out so he wouldn't have to go home, go home, and fall asleep.
However, after a few days, he collapsed during a morning run, the cyber corruption much worse than usual. It was too much, it hurts, it hurts… and then he hears a voice.
“Sonic?” Shit. Sonic opened an eye and was met with a black hedgehog that kinda looked like him with red highlights, looking at him with… an unreadable expression.
He smiled weakly. “Hey…” he hesitated, not quite remembering who this guy was until it clicked, “Shads.” He winced and downright whimpered at the pain, unable to hide it, glitching intensely.
“Sonic-!” Was the last thing he heard before he passed out from the pain.
When he woke up, he hissed softly at the blinding light. He blinked, sitting up, his head pounding. “Ugh-!”
“Careful,” Shadow said. “You're still weak.”
Sonic slowly glanced at Shadow, blinking hazily. His memories were a tad hazy before a name popped into his head, “Shadow…?” Said hedgehog in question pushed Sonic back down onto the bed- wait bed? “Where am I?”
“I took you back to my apartment. Now, going to explain what that was?” Shadow crossed his arms, his eyes narrowed.
“Oh… Uh… haha…” Sonic laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. “So, um… at Starfall Islands, in order to save Amy, Knuckles, and Tails, I had to… absorb the corruption that was containing them. It was purified though! I just… have some remaining corruption left. It'll go away… eventually… I think.”
Shadow sighed, rubbing his temples. Sonic could tell he wasn't annoyed with him, more so at the situation he found himself in.
Sonic felt bad regardless, he should deal with this on his own. “Thank you for helping, but I should be okay now, so I'll just-” Sonic started to sit up, only to be pushed back down.
“No. You need more rest,” Shadow responded, “When was the last time you ate?”
Sonic opened his mouth to respond, only to realize he had no clue, “Uh…”
Shadow sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “Too long then. I'll be right back. Don't even think about moving out of bed, got it?”
Sonic nodded, smiling as innocently as he could.
Once Shadow was out of the room, Sonic immediately disobeyed and tried to stand on shaky legs. He almost collapsed, but he held himself up on the bedside table.
He looked around the room he was in. It was… barely decorated. There was a lamp on the table, the walls painted an off-white, a gray carpet, a bookcase, and a comfortable looking rocking chair beside it. Healthy-looking plants sat in the windowsill, and the curtains were a lovely shade of red.
There were also a few pictures hanging on the wall, one of Rouge and Shadow sitting at an ice cream shop. Shadow was not smiling, unlike Rouge who was smiling cheekily
Another picture was of Omega and Shadow being forced into a selfie with Rouge, who was the only one smiling of the trio, though to be fair, you couldn't exactly tell if Omega was happy or not. The last picture was one of… Sonic and Shadow? He remembered taking the picture, it was after one of their spars. Sonic had insisted on a “victory selfie” and after much convincing, had finally managed to get Shadow to take one.
Why would Shadow frame that image and then even go as far as to hang it up?
Much to Sonic's dismay, he didn't get a chance to ponder this as Shadow came back into the room with a chili dog on a paper plate in hand.
“Here, I'm not sure what else you like, so I-” Shadow stared at Sonic who smiled sheepishly at Shadow. Shadow took a long, deep breath to ease his nerves, then slowly let it out. He carefully, but firmly lifted him up and adjusted Sonic into a lying position before setting the chili dog on his lap.
“Didn't know I was a babysitter…” Shadow had murmured before turning away from Sonic.
Sonic laughed, rubbing the back of his head. “Sorry, Shadow,” he said, and Shadow only hummed a little in response. Shadow sat down in the rocking chair, grabbing a book off the shelf, saying, “If you get any chili on my bed, I'm kicking you out.”
Sonic blinked. “Wait, this is your bed?” he questioned, taking a careful bite of his chili dog after he asked the question.
Shadow nodded in response, looking a bit confused, “Why wouldn't it be?”
Sonic shrugged as he continued to carefully eat, as he wasn't sure what Shadow would do if he did spill on his bed. He was 80% sure he wouldn't ACTUALLY kick him out, but he can't be 100% sure…
Regardless, Sonic managed to keep the mess on the paper plate, which Shadow took from him and threw away into the trash. Sonic watched curiously, his finger tapping on the bed as he watched.
Actually, now that Sonic thought about it, “Why are you helping me, Shadow?” He asked.
Shadow bristled, his quills rising in defense before forcing himself to relax, which was really odd. “I don't have to explain myself to you,” Shadow decided to answer, after a moment of silence.
Sonic sighed, rolling his eyes a bit, “Actually, I think you do, seeing as I'm at your house and you're not letting me leave yet.”
Shadow scoffed, crossing his arms, “You couldn't leave even if you tried. Don't think I didn't notice how you struggled to walk.”
“Yes, I could!” Sonic said, narrowing his eyes.
Shadow huffed, turning to Sonic. “Fine then. Leave.”
“Okay, I will!” Sonic stood up and he put weight on his legs that starting to tremble like a newborn fawn. He took another, then another… and then he started to fall. Shadow caught him before he could faceplant, with a small, smug smirk on his face.
Sonic huffed, his face feeling warm from embarrassment. Shadow helped Sonic stand back up again, and assisting him to sit down on the side of the bed.
Sonic sighed, looking down at his useless legs. Shadow sighed, sitting back in his rocking chair to read.
Sonic looked at Shadow, “Whatcha reading?”
Shadow glanced up at him for a second and looked back at the book, “It's a horror novel, I don't think you'd enjoy it.”
Sonic sighed, kicking his feet for a few seconds. He groaned, throwing his head back, “I'm so bored!”
Shadow looked up at Sonic, one of his eyebrows raising. “What do you want me to do about it?”
“I dunno, man!” Sonic said, throwing his arms out in exasperation, “Just talk to me or something?”
Shadow paused for a moment. “Fine. I have a question I've been wanting to ask anyway. Where are your little friends? Rouge has been complaining that she can't bother that echidna anymore.”
Sonic tensed, gripping the mattress’ edge tightly, “I…” the conflicting feelings emerged again, rearing its ugly head and making everything difficult.
Shadow waited expectantly, setting his book to the side, so all of his attention was on Sonic.
Sonic sighed, “Well… they went off on their own individual adventures. That's all. Knuckles… wanted to explore the world without worrying about the Master Emerald. Amy said that she wanted to spread love to the world. And… and Tails-”
Shadow cut him off, looking shocked “Even Tails left?”
Sonic nodded, his ears drooping a bit. “Yeah.”
“And you're… okay with all of this?” Shadow questioned, prodding slightly at the bruise.
“Yes! No? Maybe? I don't know!” Sonic burst, grabbing at his quills, “I just… I don't know! It doesn't matter! It's whatever!”
Shadow looked at Sonic with that unreadable expression from earlier, then pried his hands from his quills. “Don't hurt yourself,” Shadow said, rubbing small circles on Sonic's wrists, “Just relax and breathe. There's no need to get so worked up.”
Sonic looked at Shadow, then down at his trembling hands. “R-Right. Yeah,” Sonic stammered.
Shadow was quiet and patient, unlike Sonic, whose foot tapped the bed anxiously. Shadow hummed softly, a familiar song, and soon, even Sonic's foot stopped tapping and he was relaxed.
“So… Tell me how you feel. How you actually feel,” Shadow looked into Sonic's eyes for a second, before looking away.
Sonic nodded a little. “I just… I'm really proud of them. I really am, but… but I just miss them. A lot. I truly took their company for granted, and I… I dunno, they just left so quick. My home… It's way too quiet now. I can't stand the silence. I… I was alone before I met Amy, Tails, and Knuckles, and I hated it. Now that they're gone, it's like I'm that lonely kid again…” Sonic looked down at his feet, pulling his hands into his lap, his ears drooping, “I don't want to be alone again.”
Shadow's grip on his wrists tightened for a second. “You're not alone just because Amy, Knuckles, and Tails are gone, Sonic. You still have Big, Cream, Rouge, and… and me,” Shadow grimaced at saying that, which made Sonic's shock quickly diminish into a laugh.
“Aww, you do care about me!” Sonic giggled, pressing their foreheads together.
Shadow rolled his eyes, but made no move to go. “Don't get used to it.”
After a moment of silence passed, Sonic pulled back and smiled kindly at Shadow, “But seriously… Thank you, Shadow. I needed that.”
Shadow huffed, looking away, “Yeah, yeah, whatever…” but he couldn't hide the slight blush on his cheeks.
Sonic didn't mention it though, holding back his quip in respect for this moment of bonding.
Then, without warning, Shadow murmured, “You could stay with me. Since you don't want to be alone.”
Sonic was silent for a moment. Then he shouted, “What?!”