Hello! If you have been reading my Angel in the night story, (or my profile) you may have noticed me talking about a new story! So here it is! The first chapter of Hope! Hope you enjoy it! (Wow, I use WAY too many exclamation marks.)

Chapter one: The beginning

Ambers Moore high school, September 1, 3p.m.

As soon as the final school bell rang, Sonic rushed out into the crowded hallway. Sonic knew what he needed to do: be as stealthy as panther, quiet as a mouse. Do not draw any attention to yourself. He smiled when he saw the main exit doors a few feet away. Be very quiet. Be very-

"Sonic!"

Sonic squeezed his eyes shut, cursing under his breath. Damn, he thought. And I was so close! He turned to see his English teacher Mr. Johnson walking toward him, a big smile plastered on his pale face.

Mr. Johnson was about 5'5". He had pale blue eyes and wavy, shoulder-length jet-black hair that always looked greasy.

"Sonic," he said, "can you help me with something?"

Sonic hesitated. Usually he never thought twice about helping someone with a favor or problem, but lately he had to worry about… other things.

Sonic sighed. "What's the problem?" Maybe it'll be quick.

"I was wondering if you could help me move these boxes to my car." Mr. Johnson frowned when he noticed the concerned look on the hedgehog's face. "If you need to go, I can find someone else to help me."

"How many boxes?"

"Only four."

Sonic nodded. "I can help you out."

~Hope~

"Thank you, Sonic," Mr. Johnson said, quickly slamming his trunk shut in case one of the overflowing boxes fell out.

Sonic nodded. "No problem. Bye!"

Mr. Johnson turned around to reply, but Sonic was already gone. "I wonder why he's always in such a hurry?"

**Hope**

Sonic burst into his apartment, looking around the living room frantically. He grabbed a few books off the beige colored bookshelf, as well as a few board games and shoved them into his backpack. Just as quickly as he ran in he sprinted back out, heading toward one of the most popular places in Mobius: Golden Star Café.

~Hope~

Sonic smiled when he saw a black hedgehog sitting at his table, silently looking through the menu.

"Hello Shadow," Sonic said as he took his seat across from the ebony hegdehog.

Shadow put the menu down. "What took you so long? School gets out at three."

"Mr. Johnson needed help carrying boxes and I stopped at home."

"Ah. Mr. Johnson. He was one of my favorite teachers. Not too strict. Easy with the homework. My kind of teacher."

Sonic smirked. "He's the best. I would be pissed if they fired him." He leaned over the table, locking eyes with Shadow. "How's college?"

Shadow smiled. "Good." His smile grew even wider when his hand found Sonic's hand under the table, causing the younger one to blush.

"You're half way done! Two more years and then you'll be free of school!"

"Not unless I chose to do eight years." Shadow laughed when Sonic frowned. "Relax! I'm only doing four years."

Sonic sighed. "Oh. I was worried for a minute. You normally don't want anything to do with school."

"College is… different, I guess. So are we going to see your brother after we eat?"

"Yeah. I have the stuff he asked for yesterday." Sonic looked down at the table.

Shadow's ears drooped. If Sonic wasn't happy… well, then he wasn't happy. "He'll be okay."

Sonic looked at his boyfriend. "He's had cancer since he was five and he was permanently admitted to the hospital two years ago. If anything, he's getting worse."

"Well he's at a good hospital."

Sonic sighed. "I'm starting to doubt that. The doctors seem to be giving up on him."

"I hope they're not, for Silver's sake." Shadow smirked. "So when were you planning on telling Silver about us?"

"Today, hopefully."

~Hope~

Franksford hospital is always crowded since it's the only hospital in Mobius. Any other medical places were clinics scattered on the outskirts of town.

Sonic and Shadow managed to weave their way through the crowded hall way to the main desk.

The blond-haired girl behind the desk smiled when she saw Sonic. "Hello, Sonic! Long time no see."

Shadow couldn't help but crack a small smile at the girl's sarcastic comment.

Sonic smiled. "Hello Mary. I came to visit my brother."

Mary nodded. "Here are your visiting stickers."

**Hope**

Silver smiled when his brother entered the room. "Sonic you came!"

Sonic laughed. "Of course I came! Why wouldn't I?"

Shadow looked at Silver, feeling guilty. He was able to go anywhere without being bound down with a disease, while Silver could barely do anything without assistance. Silver's leukemia had been getting worse, and it was starting to show. Silver had extremely dark bags under his eyes and bruises all over his body. He had lost a lot of weight, too.

Silver noticed Shadow staring. "Hi Shadow."

Shadow snapped out of his thoughts. He smirked. "What's up dude?" He said, giving Silver a gentle high five.

"Hey," Sonic said, opening his backpack. "I got the stuff you asked for."

Silver's honey-golden eyes lit up with delight. "You do?"

Sonic pulled out the books and games and handed them to his brother. "Here."

"No!"

Sonic managed to pull the items out of harms way before a middle-aged woman with grayish- red hair swatted Silver's hand away.

Silver rubbed his hand. "Ouch," he whispered.

"What the hell is your problem?" Sonic snapped.

The woman glared at him, her blue eyes filled with hatred and anger. "You… what are you trying to do? Can't you see this poor boy is extremely sick?" She rubbed her head up against Silver's, like she was nuzzling a puppy. "You're horrible!"

"For your information," Sonic said through clenched teeth, "I'm his older brother."

The woman frowned. "You look nothing like him."

Sonic was about to make a very… 'un-Sonic like comment,' but Shadow stepped in between them.

"All he was trying to do is bring his brother the things he wanted," Shadow said.

"And who are you?" The woman asked.

"His annoyed boyfriend," Shadow replied, putting his arm around Sonic.

Sonic looked at Silver. Silver stared back at him, a questioning look on his face. Sonic blushed and nodded. Silver smiled.

"Um, Fran," Silver said, "I'm hungry."

Fran gasped. "I'll get you some food right away!"

"Is she always like that?" Sonic asked once Fran left.

Silver sighed. "Yes. However, there are rare occasions where she's nice." He looked at his brother. "Have the doctors talked to you about any possible tests or cures?"

Sonic shook his head. "Not yet, but don't worry. They'll cure you. I promise."

Shadow glanced at Sonic in disbelief. Sonic… you just made a life-changing promise that you can't necessarily keep! I hope you're able to keep your word…

And thus the first chapter comes to an end! All Sonic characters belong to Sega. Any other characters used belong to me. Comments are appreciated! I hope you enjoyed this! The second chapter should be updated soon! If you've never read my other stories (or if you have) you will notice the story name inside symbols.

Here's what they mean:

~Hope~: Me switching to a different scene. Example in an actual book: When authors use a line in the middle of the page. (Not sure what they actually call it or if it even has a name. If anyone knows please tell me!)

**Hope**: Me switching to a different part of the story that's still in the same scene. An example in an actual book: where you see a space in between paragraphs.