Warning: Mentions of suicide.
"Hey, Shads."
The only sound is the rustling of leaves.
"So...uh, anything ya want to talk about?"
"No." The whites of his eyes are red.
"Oh...okay."
They sit in silence.
Amy shows up with an apple pie.
"You should have called," Shadow said.
"I tried, I couldn't get through."
His phone is collecting dust.
"Now, isn't a good time."
"Oh," The pie doesn't feel warm anymore. "I'll just leave the pie than."
She hands him the pie.
He didn't eat a bite.
"I request your assistance annihilating worthless consumer models."
Omega waits patiently for a response.
He will be waiting a long time.
Every time the gang gathers, they leave a seat open.
Every time, the seat is empty.
"Is there anything I can do?"
Tails' innocent eyes hurt Rouge.
"Sweetheart, the only thing we can do is keep trying."
"Don't give up."
"Mmhmm."
Tails comes by everyday, his eyes becoming a little dimmer as each one passes.
Rouge sits on the edge of her seat, dutifully watching Shadow.
The only indication he is alive is the constant beep beep beep.
She wonders how long he can keep this up.
She wonders how long she can keep this up.
"Things aren't looking good."
What was once a room, is now broken pieces.
No matter how much he smashes, Knuckles can't become whole.
Photos are scattered on the table. Rouge picks up one.
Shadow is sitting in the summer sun, an ice cream cone in hand. A small smile is on his messy face.
You know, your supposed to eat ice cream before it melts.
I'm savoring it.
If you savor it anymore, you're going to need a bowl.
He would be so mad if he saw this picture.
She smiles at the memory. Than she frowns.
"Can't sleep, Bro?"
Tails shuffles into the living room. "Yeah."
Sonic sit up on the couch, allowing the other to sit down. He drapes a blanket over him. "Nightmares?"
"Yeah." He is shivering under the blanket.
The TV is on. They don't hear a word.
"I tried to help him."
"I know."
"We all did."
"We did."
"Why was it not enough?"
"It was enough."
"That makes no sense, Sonic."
"You are used to working with robots. Robots are simple. Fix a short circuit and they are working again. We are more complicated. When something goes wrong, it stays with us. Sometimes, when a person is hurt enough, they retreat into themselves. They push away everything they love, including the people who care about them. They can't accept anything nice, because to them, the world is not nice."
Sonic places a comforting hand on his brother's shoulder.
"Tails, it was enough. He knew we cared about him. His brain couldn't accept our kindness."
"That's not fair."
"No, it's not."
Rouge stands in front of a door.
"Come on, Rouge. It's a door."
She grips the doorknob, her hand trembling.
Rouge's hand drops. She can't open that door.
Amy lays in the dark, waiting for sleep to take her. It reminds her of him.
She turns the light on.
It took everything Rouge had to put on those black gloves.
When Knuckles knocked on Rouge's door, he did not expect to find her without makeup.
"Hello, handsome."
He splutters, "Y-y-you..."
"It was sweet of you to come all this way, but I'm fine."
She has bags under her eyes.
"I want to help."
He feels like a schoolboy under her gaze.
Rouge smirks. "How do you plan to do that? Last I checked, you are not a shrink."
"I can clean the room."
Taking her silence as a good sign, he continues, "I can fix up the house. Make it look right."
No matter how much he shifts, cleans, or trashes, the house never is right to Rouge, again.
Omega is still waiting for a response.
Amy notices a raccoon. Something is off.
"Hi."
"What do you want?" He asks.
"I want to make sure you are okay."
"I'm fine."
"You don't look fine."
"You have better things to do."
"No, I don't."
The groundskeeper visits a grave once a week.
It lifts his spirits, to see the rose on top of the stone. The rose is always fresh.
There are plenty of half-assed epitaphs, but this one is true, "You will be missed."