Chapter 8: mixed emotions and a memory returns

Sonic walked Amy up to the porch of her home. She hugged him tight and gave him a quick friendly kiss on the cheek as they said their goodbyes. After he took off with a sprint, Amy turned to head up the steps of her porch to the door. Suddenly, she heard something slam into the stoned pavement behind her, only to see Shadow lean forward over her left shoulder, standing directly behind and to the side of her.

“About time. I was beginning to think it was pointless of me to return.”

Amy looked to him a bit shocked. After the busy of the day and Sonic’s little scare and speech, she had momentarily forgotten Shadow promising to return. Smiling to herself, she relaxed from her little startle and opened the door without unlocking it. “The door was unlocked in case you came back while I was gone.”

Shadow looked to her with a sneer at feeling a bit foolish, but followed her none the less into the house. Now the hours spent waiting for her on the roof felt like even more wasted time. As Amy went about the house to set down her things and change, Shadow walked into the kitchen. He decided he was going to attempt to make coffee, and to Amy’s surprise, when she came into the kitchen, he was sitting at the table, sipping from his mug, and had set one out for her as well, filled with the hot liquid. When he noticed her walk into the room, he lifted her cup to show he already had it prepared for her and set it back down, pushing the sugar and cream towards her.

“Wow, I’m impressed you made coffee.” Amy mentioned to him as she seated herself to add her own cream and sugar.

Shadow set his cup down and closed his eyes as though he were simply disinterested. “I am smarter than all of you give me credit for.” He said with a bit of anger behind it. Shadow was called the ultimate lifeform for more than just being able to live forever. He was strong, fast, and highly intelligent, though many thought less of that quality because of his independent strong will, lack of socialization, and his short temper.

“I didn’t mean it that way.” Amy said softly “I just didn’t think you knew where it was or anything.” She was trying to apologize but the red and black hedgehog just seemed even more upset.

Shadow squinted hard at her and turned his head slightly, leaning in as though he wanted to hear and see her very clearly.

“Are you saying I don’t know anything?”

Amy stood up in front of him looking down to his face with her fists clenched at her sides. “NO! I meant I didn’t think you knew where I kept the coffee! Or anything to use with it!!”

Shadow very slowly stood up in front of her menacingly. “Don’t act as though you think I am foolish. I am not about to stand here and let you talk to me in such a way.”

“I am not saying anything to insult you! If anything, you are overreacting, though I have never intended to say anything to hurt you!”

They both stared at each other, face to face, barely an inch apart. As he inhaled his angered breaths though his nostrils he noticed he could smell her. She had a softer, natural scent mixed with roses, and a sweetness that strongly appealed to his senses, making him crave her. Upon realizing where his mind was taking his thoughts, he leaned back, eyes opened in mild shock. Amy too had her own sort of realization. Shadow slightly towering over her made her body tingle in a sense of pleasure. She had liked it and all the frustration raced from her head, leaving her thoughts empty and yearning to simply reach out and grab him. As Shadow had begun to lean back, she too had shifted away, knowing that it was all she could do to not force herself on him.

They continued to stare at each other for a moment, this time not in anger, until they reawakened from their own thoughts. Shadow cleared his throat so as not to show his moment of weakness to her, snapping his head away to stop looking at her. “I guess I could have overreacted.”

Amy softly spoke as though she was in a daze, her eyes almost clouded as she gazed forward meaninglessly. “Yeah. Maybe I did too…”

The two returned to their seats once more and drank their coffee in silence, staring at anything but each other, in the appearance as though they had experienced some horrible travesty and were still in shock from it. After reaching the bottom of her cup, Amy looked into the emptied mug, and then up to Shadow. “Um, do you want to watch something together?”

Shadow looked to her after taking a final sip and noticed she was indicating the television. “That would be acceptable.” He spoke quietly and after each rinsing their cups out and setting them in the sink, he followed her to the living room.

As she sat down on the end of the couch, Amy noticed the comforter she let him use from the night prior. There were ragged tears in it that she hadn’t seen before. When Shadow realized what she was looking at, he remembered how he had forgotten to tell her and decided it best to say something now, lest he look like a liar or worse.

“I forgot to tell you yesterday. I became entangled last night and could not release myself without it tearing. I plan on replacing it with another as soon as I locate one.” Shadow quickly mentioned. He felt somewhat embarrassed seeing the blanket, and remembering why it happened, looked away flushed.

“It’s okay, really. I understand.” Amy said kindly with a smile. It hadn’t upset her and with hedgehog males it wasn’t hard to ruin anything, even when they did their best not to. She wrapped the torn comforter around herself as they settled into their seats to find something worth watching.

Amy flipped through the channels, searching for anything that might be of interest to the both of them. She finally settled on a horror movie in Shadow’s lack of reaction to any of the images, assuming this would satisfy him the most. They sat there, somewhat nervous and tense, on opposite ends of the couch, simply staring toward the television, bodies rigid. Amy looked over to him occasionally and would quickly snap her head forward again with Shadow looking out of the corner of his eye after every time she did so.

Amy shivered. She had been cold that whole evening and wanted to cuddle up to the black male. Emotions aside, she decided it wasn’t a terrible idea. After all, she did like him and wanted to express it, and it was so cold that he might not even mind their shared warmth. She finally scooted over to lean against him while Shadow looked down to her with an emotionless expression on his face. He tensed his shoulder a little and was about to shift apart, when Amy suddenly lifted his arm and nestled her head into his chest and collar. Looking to her in disbelieving shock, he held his arm stiff just above her back, and prepared to move her away when her scent triggered something in his mind. Her hugging him was familiar, and not just her usual quick friendly hugs that were too short to reject. One from long ago that he couldn’t quite remember. Amy looked up to check his reaction, wanting to be sure he was okay with her cozying up to him. She could see his eyes were shut, and thinking he was comfortable, she nuzzled her head softly against him once more.

In actuality, Shadow was deep in thought trying to make his memory clear. He only faintly remembered her holding him tight, and enjoying the feeling. As he concentrated, it revealed more. He remembered her running up and clasping him tightly from behind. He hadn’t known the feeling before and it was exhilarating. He was shocked but at the same time felt something inside he hadn’t felt before. Maria had hugged him, but not like that. Maria had done it with the love of a friend, not the passion of a lover like Amy Rose had. Soon after though, she realized he was not the one she had intended to hold that way, and let go of him while he just stared indirectly at her in flustered shock. He had hoped her upset and startled reaction would change, but when she ran away he found otherwise and actually reached out for a moment to try to stop her. The memory was finally all clear.

Shadow looked down at Amy again. Here she was, cuddled against him in her home, where she had invited him. She wasn’t running away this time, while he had instead almost pushed her away. In the past he had wanted her to embrace him even longer, and he felt his emotions slip back into the same longing he once had. Shadow finally stopped tensing and relaxed in her hold. Amy was drifting off into sleep against him, and Shadow was actually in a home, comfortably sitting on a couch, watching a movie, with the only female he had ever found interest in, resting against him. He relaxed his quills and shifted down smoothly into the furniture to a more comfortable position with her still resting on him, his arm holding her to his body. For the first time in Shadow’s life since his reawakening, he flashed a genuine smile as he calmly shut his eyes in serenity, and drifted into sleep with her.