He stood alone at his apartment window. The sky was still a dark blue, but it was paling fast. The sun would rise soon. She would rise soon for work; she always left early. He opened and closed the door quickly, not bothering to lock it. There was nothing of great value to him in there, anyway… at least not now. He descended the stairs rapidly, and walked out the front door. He left it open. He strolled through the streets quickly, hoping to make good time. He could see the sun rising on the horizon. Best hurry,he thought. He redoubled his pace and turned the corner of the street, just across from the park. He hastened through the park. The dawn chorus sang in arcane orchestration around him, but he was oblivious. To him he would not know beauty until he did what he came to do.

He hurried, quickening into a light jog. Before long he was running, and not long after that, he was sprinting through the park. He could see the pond he knew she passed every morning, and stopped at it. The path was on the other side, and it was not a small pond. He rolled his eyes and began running again. He stopped at a bench, nestled under a tree. He chucked his bag behind the bench and sat down on it, his head bowed. He hoped that she would pass any second now, and prayed that he had not been too late. Sure enough he heard footsteps treading lightly from a distance. He cast a glance to his left, and saw her beautiful pink spines silhouetted in the rising sunlight. There was on or two clouds hanging round, but it was otherwise clear. Resisting the urge to stare, he forced his head back down. He smiled slightly, anticipating what would happen next…

"Shadow, you're out early today. What's got you up at the crack of dawn?" She asked in her usual cheery sort of way.

"Oh, Amy… what a pleasant surprise…" He looked up, beaming. He was still panting a bit, and a bead of sweat dripped off his forehead.

"Heh… you look like you've been excersising."

"Oh do I?" He smiled. He hadn't come with a plan, much to his annoyance at this moment in time. He paused awkwardly. Amy stared for a bit, not sure what was going on.

"Hey, if you've got something important to say, say it now, cos… I gotta go…" She was beginning to get a little impatient. He paused a little more, before trying to speak.

"Amy, I…" he tried to tell her, but the words still wouldn't come.

"Okay, stand there and mumble, just don't hold me up…" She began to walk away. He continued to stand there, not knowing what to do.

She had only just begun to walk away when she felt something on her shoulder. She stopped. She slowly looked round… she turned to see him there, face hidden down, almost embarrassed, and with his free hand he was holding a big bunch of flowers with a little tag. Just out of curiosity, she picked up the tag slowly. She opened it – it was a cute little red thing, with a shiny pink ribbon on it – and read it. All it said was, "Some roses for my Rose", and there a small doodle of a rose next to it. Shadow had never been much good at drawing, but he liked to try. She stared at it a little while, then looked back at him. He still had his head hidden, he was clearly finding this rather awkward. She smiled… deep down under that reserved, and sometimes emo exterior, he was actually really sweet.

"Dawwwwwww…" She said. He looked up, his face brightening up a little.

"Amy… I…" The words were still reluctant, but they were coming a little easier now. "Amy… I love you…" They both paused. The sun had risen a little more, casting a warming glow on them. They stood there for what may have been only a few minutes, but it felt like forever. He put his arms around her, and they dropped the flowers. She put her hands on his shoulders. They stood there, the sun rising on their backs, only staring into each others eyes. From time to time they would whisper sweet nothings to each other, or just make quiet affectionate noises. Eventually, they closed their eyes, and just kissed. At that point, they disappeared into their own little world, letting time become elastic around them.

After what seemed like an age, they eventually stopped. The sun had risen significantly, and the sky had lost any tint of orange it had had from the sunrise.

"Shadow, I really gotta be going…"

"Yeah, I think…" He laughed, slightly.

"What's the time?"

"Eh…" He looked at his watch. "9:23."

"Holy shit! I gotta run, I'm REALLY late!"

"Heh… okay. Bye!" He gave her a quick kiss and she ran off. He picked up the flowers she left behind in her hurry. He looked back at his watch. The last couple of seconds ticked away, to 9:24am, Thursday, February the 14th… Valentine's Day. He looked out to her running, trying to navigate the traffic, and sighed happily. Then he began wandering back through the park, to his apartment that he had left open. Nothing of value to him therein; all that mattered to him then was that pink hedgehog who was now horrendously late for work.