Chapter Text
It was yet another movie night at the Wachowski’s. Since it was the holidays, their living room was decked out in colourful string lights, which were the only light source, other than the TV. Tom and Maddie were on the couch, while the rest of them were on the floor under a big blanket: Knuckles, Tails, Sonic and, finally, Shadow. He’d been joining them for their movie nights for a while now, after Sonic’s insistence that he receive a proper movie education. They’d already watched Speed, Back to the Future, and Gladiator. That night, it had been Maddie’s turn to pick, so they were watching a holiday romcom. She insisted that Shadow’s movie education needed to include all genres, not just action, no matter how much Sonic whined about not wanting to watch a boring movie.
Despite his complaints, he found himself thoroughly invested. The main character was struggling through a lot of undeserved drama: her fiancée, who worked with her at her stepdad’s company, was stealing credit for all her hard work during the holiday season, and if that wasn’t bad enough, he was also cheating on her with her stepsister! Sonic was rooting for her to get her happy ending, and for everyone else to get their just desserts!
The main character and her love interest were currently arguing at a New Year’s Eve party. She was trying to convince him that they shouldn’t be together, that she’d just bring him down while lying that she didn’t love him, while he tried to convince her. As the clock struck midnight, he brought her in for a kiss as fireworks erupted around them.
Usually, Sonic turned his head away and gagged during kiss scenes, but this time he found himself unable to look away. He was so focused that he almost jumped out of his skin when Shadow mumbled a question.
“Why are they doing that?”
“Huh?” Sonic said, then processed the question. He glanced at Shadow uneasily. “...you don’t know what kissing is?”
“I know what it is,” Shadow mumbled, rolling his eyes. “But they were in the middle of an important conversation, why did they suddenly start kissing?”
“Oooh,” Sonic said, relieved he didn’t have to explain the concept of kissing. “It’s a New Year’s Eve thing. You kiss someone at midnight.”
“Why?”
“I dunno,” Sonic shrugged. “Some tradition, I guess. Ooh, her fiancée is coming! This is gonna be good!”
“She should battle him so he can suffer the defeat that he deserves!” Knuckles roared. Everyone shushed him, but Sonic secretly agreed.
...
The movie ended with a happy ending for the lead, and with her ex-fiancée and stepsister lying in the mud, so Sonic was satisfied. After everyone helped clean up, Sonic stood with Shadow on their front porch to see him off.
“Thank you for the movie, it was... educational.”
“Oh yeah?” Sonic snickered. “What did you learn?”
“Spilling juice on a dress can be more devastating than a physical blow.”
“What?” Sonic laughed again. “Are you gonna throw juice instead a punch next time we spar?”
“Obviously not,” Shadow rolled his eyes. “But think about it. Would it take you longer to recover from a punch to the face, or from juice in your fur?”
Sonic cringed at the idea of having to wash out the stains from his fur. “Okay, point taken.”
Shadow smirked in triumph, the rare smile making Sonic beam in response. The moment was short-lived as Shadow soon turned to leave.
“I’ll see you next time.” Shadow he said, and Sonic inwardly drooped.
“Don’t forget to text me when you get home safe!”
“I always get home safe,” Shadow said without turning around.
“Text me anyways!” Sonic called out, as Shadow skated away.
Sonic stared after him long after he was gone, a hollow feeling expanding in his chest. He wished Shadow didn’t have to leave, but despite how well they all got along now, Sonic knew he wasn’t family. Shadow had his own family now: though neither of them were actually related to the Robotniks, Stone and Shadow were effectively the only ones left. Though he and Stone hadn’t gotten off to a great start, they had both recently lost someone important to them and were able to empathize and commiserate. While Sonic could relate, and while his grief never truly left him, he had had time to heal; he had filled his heart with new friends and family, something Shadow was still in the process of. He just hoped that Shadow would also consider him family.
Except... he didn’t. The thought of Shadow being his brother felt weird, which made Sonic feel guilty. He didn’t really understand why either. Maybe it was because of his relation to the Robotniks, but Sonic knew that Shadow was a good guy now! He trusted Shadow. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t invite him over so often.
A gust of wind blew through Sonic, forcing him to finally go inside. He immediately checked his phone. It had been a few minutes since Shadow left which meant he was definitely home (unless he took a detour) but Sonic had received no text which meant it was time to take matters into his own hands.
‘cuz u didnt txt me i guess ur in a ditch somewhere’
which he followed up with
‘dont worry ill have a search party out asap’
To Sonic’s delight, he could see that Shadow was already writing a reply.
‘I’m fine.’
It was such a boring response, but it made Sonic grin anyways.
‘how do i know its rlly u???’
He waited with bated breath for the text bubbles to appear, but after a minute he got something even better.
Shadow’s face, looking supremely annoyed, appeared in their chat. It was pretty dark in the photo, but Sonic could make out the headboard behind him, meaning Shadow was probably in bed. Sonic's stomach did a weird little flip, and he wondered if he ate too much popcorn.
Not wanting to keep Shadow waiting, he quickly snapped a picture of himself looking skeptical, adding the caption ‘mayb u stole shadows phone. take a pic w todays newpaper’
‘No,’ came the predictable response. ‘Goodnight.’
‘gn! sweet dreams!’
He wasn’t really expecting Shadow to reply to that message, but he still found himself staring at his phone, particularly at the image Shadow sent.
“Hey bud, you good there?” Tom called out.
Sonic jumped, almost dropping his phone. He quickly shoved it in his quills as if he had something to hide. Even though he didn’t, obviously.
“Yeah! Just waiting for the snow to melt off me!” Sonic said, then shook himself like a dog.
Tom flinched back from the spray of water. “Geez, you’re almost as bad as Ozzie.”
Sonic smoothed down his, now dry, fur. “At least I smell better!”
“Hm... that’s debatable...”
“Hey!” Sonic’s protests were interrupted by Tom ruffling his head.
“I’m just kidding. Make sure you go to sleep soon. Knuckles and Tails are already in bed.”
“Wah ahad a yuh!” Sonic said from the bathroom, toothbrush in his mouth. Tom chuckled and bid him goodnight.
Though Sonic technically went to bed right after, he didn’t go to sleep. Instead, he was compelled to open his chat with Shadow, looking over one message in particular, until he fell asleep.
...
“Is everybody ready? Hats on? Streamers in hand?” Sonic gasped. “Where’s the champagne?!”
“Right here,” Maddie said, handing Sonic a bottle of sparkling juice.
“Perfect!” Sonic said, before vigorously shaking it.
“Woah, woah, what are you doing?” Maddie asked, causing Sonic to slow down.
“We gotta make a champagne fountain!” Sonic said. “Isn’t that the whole point?”
“Not inside!”
“Obviously! I’ll open it outside when Tails sets off the fireworks.”
Maddie faltered at Sonic’s response, surprised by her son’s display of common sense. “Well. Good. But maybe wait until the countdown, just in case.”
“Yes, ma’am!” Sonic saluted, then zipped outside to place the bottle in the snow.
There were still a few minutes to midnight, so they all waited by the back door until the countdown. They were all decked out in New Year’s gear with hats, glasses and necklaces. Even Ozzie had a hat! Sonic was sad that Shadow wasn’t joining them, but when Sonic had texted him to ask if he was free that evening, Shadow had simply replied ‘No.’ and that was that.
A minute to midnight, they all donned their winter coats and Maddie handed out plastic champagne flutes.
They all made it outside just in time to start counting down. Sonic grabbed the bottle and restarted his vigorous shaking.
“Three... two... one...” they counted. “Happy New Year!”
Tails set off the fireworks as Sonic opened the bottle. The three of them scrambled to catch some of the bursting juice while watching the fireworks, resulting in most of the juice falling in the snow, a good portion of it getting in their fur, and maybe a sip getting in each of their flutes. Tails' fireworks were incredible: each member of their family appeared in a firework with silly New Year's Eve resolutions Tails had come with up for them. Sonic’s resolution was apparently to eat all the chili dogs in the world, to which Sonic replied, “Not a bad idea!”
When the fireworks were over, they sipped their one sip of juice. They then quickly realized how cold and uncomfortable they were, being covered in the rest of the juice. Maddie gave them all towels to pat themselves down before sending them off to shower.
Before Sonic hopped in the shower, he fired off a quick ‘happy new year!’ text to Shadow. When he got out, he saw Shadow's reply.
‘I hadn’t realized that was today. Happy New Year.’
“WHAT?!” Sonic exclaimed upon reading the message. He immediately called Shadow. As soon as the call connected, he demanded “What do you mean you didn’t know it was New Years! I thought you said you had plans!”
“I had dinner plans,” Shadow clarified. “I had no plans for this late.”
“But... you’re not doing something with Stone?”
Shadow hummed in thought. “Stone invited me to an event, but I declined. I suppose it was a New Year's Eve party.”
“Aw, man. You could’ve celebrated with us!”
“There’s always next year.”
“I guess...” The notion left a sour taste in Sonic’s mouth. This was Shadow’s first New Years since waking up, and they could have had it together! Maybe next year Shadow would join Stone at his party, or something else would happen and they wouldn’t be able to celebrate together. If only Sonic could go back in time...
Wait a minute.
“I have an idea! Stay right there!” Sonic said and hung up. He ran to Tom and Maddie’s room, quickly shouting, “Hey, sorry, I gotta do something important, be back in like an hour!” then ran off without getting a response.
A few seconds later, he felt his phone vibrate in his quills. Worried about what his parents had to say, he unlocked his phone with one eye open. He breathed out a sigh of relief at Maddie’s message: ‘We’ll make an exception because it’s New Years. But don’t forget a coat!’ Sonic had indeed forgotten a coat, so he zipped back, grabbed it, and zipped out again.
Less than three minutes since he ended his call with Shadow, Sonic was pounding at his door. Shadow opened the door, but Sonic didn’t let him get a word in. “C’mon, let’s go! We only have ten minutes!”
Sonic started running but quickly doubled back. “Oh, and don’t forget a coat!”
Shadow just stared at him, making no move to follow or put on a coat.
“Chop, chop! Time’s a wasting!” Sonic tapped his foot rapidly.
“Why?” Shadow finally asked. “Where are we going?”
“You’ll see! But we gotta hurry!”
Shadow sighed but finally put his coat on. Sonic waited for him to lock the door before setting off again, now with Shadow by his side.
When they reached their destination, Sonic picked out the tallest building he could find and led Shadow to the top of it.
“Made it!” Sonic said, twirling around to admire the view.
Shadow hesitantly did the same. “Where are we?”
“The past...” Sonic said in a mysterious voice, waggling his fingers for effect. When Shadow just stared at him blankly, Sonic finally told him. “We’re in Seattle! It’s not midnight here yet, so you can still experience New Years!”
Understanding dawned on Shadow’s face. “But why this building?”
Sonic shrugged. “I dunno where the fireworks will be but I’m sure we can see them from here!”
Shadow peered at the city below them. “It looks like there’s some kind of event down there.” He pointed.
Sonic was usually all for parties, but for some reason he found he’d rather be up there alone with Shadow. But it wasn’t about him! “Did you wanna go down there?”
Shadow shook his head. “No, but there will probably be fireworks.”
“Oh, yeah! We should look over there when we count down! Oh, right, what time is it?” Sonic pulled out his phone. “We have thirty seconds! We almost missed it again!” He laughed. “Oh man, I forgot the hats and the party horns! I bet I can get them in time! Actually, nah, we can save that for next year. Okay, ready? Ten!” Sonic started counting down, but Shadow didn’t join in until Sonic nudged him.
Together they finished the countdown. “Three! Two! One!”
To Sonic’s delight, fireworks erupted from the event below them, as well as several other places in the city, giving them a great view of all of them. “Happy New y- mh?!”
Shadow was... kissing him?!
Sonic’s mind went blank, aware only of the feeling of Shadow’s lips on his and the swoop of his stomach.
Eventually, his brain kickstarted itself and he stumbled backwards. “Woah, woah, woah!” Sonic’s voice came out an octave higher than usual. “What are you doing?”
Shadow looked confused and uncertain. “Isn’t this what you do on New Years?” he asked, timidly.
Oh. Sonic should have been clearer in his explanation. “I mean, kind of, but you don’t just..." Sonic struggled to explain. "It’s something you do with someone you like!”
“Oh...” Shadow said, ears drooping. “But I like you...”
“Uh, yeah! I mean, I like you, too!” Sonic quickly backtracked, not wanting Shadow to get the wrong idea. “But it’s not that kind of like, it’s like... like like. Y’know?”
Shadow looked confused again, which was better than hurt. “No... What’s the difference between like and like like?”
“You know... um...” Ugh, why did Sonic have to explain this? He was no good at mushy stuff. “You like someone, but it’s different than family like, or friend like. Um... you wanna be close to this person, like hugging and stuff, and you want to spend all your time with them, and you get happy whenever you see them, and you like, um, looking at them, and... uh...” Sonic trailed off as he had a flashback to the night before, when he was staring at Shadow’s picture, suddenly realizing that everything he’d listed perfectly summarized how he felt around Shadow. “...and when you kiss,” he mumbled to himself, absently bringing his hand in front of his stomach, “...you get butterflies...”
Oh no. This was bad.
“But...” Shadow said, reminding Sonic that he was still in the middle of a conversation! Shadow was staring at him, looking lost. “That's the way I feel about you?”
Sonic’s face went red as he processed the statement.
He floundered to come up with a response, too many thoughts and revelations bouncing around his head. He was not mentally equipped to deal with this right now.
“Oh really?” Sonic laughed awkwardly, unable to make eye contact. “I mean, um. Not like I’m an expert! You should ask the internet! Or a book. Or, uh, anyone else but me! Anyways I gotta go I just remembered I have a curfew and I have to walk Ozzie and stuff okay goodnight!” Sonic didn’t wait for Shadow’s response before zipping away.
He didn’t go home. Instead, he ran, hoping to escape from the thoughts and feelings swirling around in his head. When that proved ineffective, he found a clearing and dove face first into the snow. Even that wasn’t enough to soothe the prickly feeling under his fur.
He rolled onto his back and lay panting in the snow, his breath fogging his view of the clear starry sky. He gave himself a few moments to calm down, before attempting to broach the chaos in his head.
Sonic was probably just overreacting, right? He didn’t know the first thing about romance so all the stuff he said to Shadow was probably wrong. Obviously, Sonic felt differently about Shadow compared to Tails and Knuckles, they were family! Shadow was his only friend outside his family so obviously he missed him and thought about him more than the others. If Tails left for a month, he’d definitely miss him waaay more than Shadow! And it’s not like he wanted to be closer to Shadow. He only lies close to him during movie nights because they were both hedgehogs and used to each other’s quills! And Shadow’s quills were black and red, which were awesome colours, so obviously he liked looking at them!
And when Shadow kissed on the building? He couldn’t exactly remember how he felt but... it definitely wasn’t butterflies! He probably felt queasy! Cause kissing is gross! And Sonic did not want to do it again!
Yup! All just a misunderstanding! He forced out a laugh. He hoped Shadow would do his own research because he felt a little bad for misleading him.
Sonic sat up and shook some of the snow out of his quills. His phone buzzed and he fished it out, glad the snow hadn’t broken it. Thinking it was his parents, he immediately unlocked it. Instead, he was met with his conversation with Shadow.
‘I’m home now. Goodnight, Sonic.’
It was such an innocuous little message, but from Shadow it meant much more.
No matter how much Sonic wanted to deny it, the fluttering in his chest could not be explained by day-old chili dogs.
He flopped back into the snow.
He was so screwed.