I Won't Say It

I wake up to the sound of the pink hedgehog standing over me, "Wake up you lazy cat! It's 3 in the afternoon!" I open my eyes and see her glaring at me with her hands on her hips, covered by a green silk nightgown. I yawn and stretch out my arms and legs before sitting up on my bed, "Morning Amy" I say, she just continues glaring at me, "How come you can sleep so late? What do you do all night?"

"Sleep," I answer simply, "I'm a cat remember? I can sleep all day if I wanted."

"Well you're not sleeping tonight, Sonic's party is tonight remember?"

The party? Of course, how could I forget? You've been going on and on about it for days. Sonic finally put a permanent stop to Dr Eggman by knocking him out last time he attacked the city and letting the police arrest him, and to celebrate, he and his friend Tails are having a big party with all their friends.

I take off my light purple nightgown and take my white and deep purple outfit out of the closet and put it on, I find my gloves right where I left them on my bedside table and my shoes at the bottom of the bed. As I get dressed Amy keeps her eyes on me, "What is it?" I eventually ask

"You are coming tonight, aren't you?" she asks

"Of course." I say without hesitation. Amy's face lights up, "Ok, well I'm gonna go get dressed too. Later, Blaze."

As Amy leaves, I start to think; my answer to Amy's question was pretty fast, I didn't even contemplate it. I just instantly knew I wanted to go…but why? I'm really shy by nature and not really sociable. And also I never helped that much with stopping Dr Eggman…there's not really anything for me to go for…so why do I feel this need to be there tonight? I go through the guest list in my head; Sonic and Tails, obviously, Amy wouldn't miss it for the world, Silver'll probably be there, he loves parties, that echidna Knuckles might be, and his girlfriend…what was her name? Tikal? And that bat, Rouge…who else? I know who else, although for some reason I almost don't want to admit it; Shadow might be there. I feel my heart skip a beat and I relax for a moment…why? What's so special about Shadow?

As I tie my hair through my red hair band I start to remember…Shadow has kinda always been in my thoughts for a while now, whenever I have trouble sleeping I can always see his face when I close my eyes. But why? Why him? He and I have hardly ever spoken, and his attitude has always been so serious, he's serious all the time, almost aggressive…only Rouge seems comfortable around him…he seems dangerous. But I did research on him, along with all of Sonic's friends….I know what he is, what he's been through. I understand him, and I feel sorry for him and at the same time, I respect him for making it through all that and still surviving.

My train of thought is interrupted as I hear Amy's boots hitting the floor outside. I walk over and open the door to see her there with a cute, innocent smile on her face, "Hey, I just called Sonic and asked if he wanted some help getting ready for tonight, he said I could help him and to tell you the party's at 5 so you got 2 hours to kill before then." I nod and watch Amy skip downstairs and out the door, well I have 2 hours to go. I might as well go for a walk.

Half an hour later I'm walking down the beach at Station Square, holding my shoes in my hand and feeling the sand on my bare feet. I'm still trying to figure out why I keep thinking about Shadow.

As I continue to think, I look up and my eyes widen as I see the very person I was thinking of; Shadow and Rouge were standing on a pier not far ahead talking to each other while staring out at the sea. I feel myself blush slightly as I stare at Shadow's face, he has that same frown he always wears, shame really, I bet he has a great smile…What? Did I really think that? sigh What's going on with me?

I look up again and see Shadow walking away and Rouge walking towards me, "Hey Blaze. How you doin' sweetie?"

I eye her up and down, she's smiling but I can tell she really wants to know…should I tell her? What help could she be? I don't think I care, I just have to tell someone.

"I honestly don't know Rouge." I finally say

"Well tell me what's wrong. Maybe I can help."

I take a deep breath and begin, "It's Shadow." I see the confusion in her face, "Shadow? What's he done now?"

"Nothing…it's just…I can't stop thinking about him, whenever I sleep all I can see is his face and when I'm awake I can't keep my mind off him...why not? Am I going crazy or something?"

Rouge stares at me wide eyed for a few moments before smiling and chuckling, "Aw, you poor kitty. You don't realise it? It's obvious; You're in lo-"

"No! Don't say the L word!" I suddenly shout, Rouge steps back in surprise, "I'm not! It's not true..I can't be." I then turn and run off, leaving Rouge confused and alone on the beach.

Later I end up stopping at the other end of the shore at the other side of the city. I wipe my feet and put my shoes back on and make my way into the city. All the noise of people and cars passing is blocked out by my screaming mind yelling at me, but I refuse to listen, 'I'm not..I'm not! I won't say it, I won't admit it. I know it's not true. It can't be.' I look at around and see a clock in a bar window, it's already 4:30...just half an hour to get to Tails' house. Just long enough to run there. I tense up and race down the street, streaking past the people as a purple blur. I run through the city until I see the train station, I then follow the tracks and run for miles until I finally make it to Mystic Ruins just as the sun sets. All the while trying to keep myself from screaming because of these thoughts that won't leave me alone.

By the time I make it to Tails' house, it's just after 5. Tails' house it just at the bottom of the cliff his workshop is on, it's a fairly nice place considering Sonic lives there too, it's right on the coast too so the party is expected to end up with everyone in the water probably. I walk slowly towards the house, trying to catch my breath. Then I stop dead as I see a black hedgehog standing on the roof of the house, talking to a white bat standing next to an open doorway leading inside, "Come on Shadow, come inside, it's freezing out here." I hear Rouge say

"No thanks, I'm fine here. And remember I'm only here because you asked me to." Shadow replies

Rouge shrugs and goes inside, "Ok then, see you later Shad."

Meanwhile I'm still standing and staring. I then take a deep breath and try to gather my courage. I walk over towards the house and jump up onto the rooftop where Shadow is.

Shadow doesn't move as I land beside him, but I do sense he's tense and when I stand up I can see curiosity in his eyes, "So you're here too huh?" he asks

"Y..yeah." I stutter, his voice makes my heart beat at twice the speed. I feel myself blush again as I stare at him…he looks great in this twilight

"Hmph. So how come you're out here? Shouldn't you be inside with everyone else?" he says. I shake my head to break free of my trance and blush more as I look away, "W..well, to be honest…I kinda prefer it out here. And it's not like I'll be missed if I don't go in."

"Really? Why's that?" I can sense by his tone that he doesn't care, he's just making small talk, but I decide to answer him anyway, "I'm just the type of person who fades into the background. Shy, not very social, keep to myself, y'know?"

Then he asks a question that sends a chill down my spine; "And you're not afraid of being out here alone with me?"

He says it in an almost threatening way, but I know exactly what to say, I turn to face him, look him straight in his perfect ruby eyes and answer, "No, I'm not. I know you, I've read all about you. Most people see only the bad deeds you've done, I see the reasons behind them. I understand why you do what you do…I know you're not a bad person…you're a good person who was robbed of the thing that made him good."

I can tell he's surprised by my answer…almost stunned, "You…really think that?"

I nod and smile, "Yes, I do."

Just then I notice a dark patch on the white puff of fur on his chest, "Huh? What's that?"

He turns to face me and looks down, "Oh that? I had a little run in with GUN not long after I left Rouge at the beach."

I look closer and realise it's blood! He's bleeding, "Oh my God, you've been shot!"

He chuckles, "It's nothing, they were just blanks."

"But they've still done some damage, and they'll do more if you don't get them fixed up." I grab his wrist and jump off the building, I feel him try to pull away but I hold tight.

"Come on, Tails' workshop is bound to have a first aid kit." I say as I lead a bewildered Shadow up the stairway leading to the workshop.

We make it up and I open the door and turn on the light, revealing all manner of tools and machines, and a large blue biplane in the centre of the room, as well as a small bed in the corner. Hmph, he must sometimes take naps here if he works all day.

As I rummage through the room for a first aid kit, Shadow stares at me, "Why're you doing this?"

"I told you, you need those wounds taken care of."

"Well yeah maybe, but why do you care?"

I freeze…he's right, why DO I care? sigh I've been asking myself that question all day. Just then my eyes fall on a small green box with a white cross on the front. I pick it up and take out some gauze and a cloth, I wet the cloth under a tap in a small bathroom and start cleaning up the blood around the wound. All through it, Shadow never winces or complains, but I feel his deep red eyes on me the entire time. I then pick up a pair of tweezers from the box and look up at him, "I need to take the blanks out…this'll hurt." he simply nods and I ease the tweezers into the wound, I notice his hands clench and he winces as I pry the flesh aside and start to pull out the piece of metal in him.

After a while of silence, broken only by Shadow occasionally groaning in pain, I clean his wounds and put gauze on them all. I then look up and see him staring almost innocently at me, "Th..thank you." he says, I blush, "No problem."

Then he does something that makes my heart stop; he kisses me! I lose all feeling in my body for that split second when his lips meet my cheek and I blush furiously. He then stands up and turns to walk away, suddenly a strange feeling takes over me, a yearning for him to stay, to be with me. I can't control myself anymore, and I like it, I forget all about why I feel this way and all that matters is the fact that I DO feel this way about him. I get up and run after him, "Shadow!" I shout, he stops and turns just in time for me to throw my arms around his neck and kiss him. I feel so strange as I taste his lips, like all my problems have simply faded away, I try to pull him closer and to my surprise I feel him return the kiss and his hands on my waist.

Eventually I pull away and stare at him for what feels like eternity, finally he breaks the silence; "B..Blaze…why did you do that?"

I pause for a few seconds before replying, "…..I..can't say."

"What? Why?"

"I just can't…I promised myself I wouldn't say it…." sigh stupid girl, it's already totally obvious to everyone that it IS true so just say it and get it over with…I look into his eyes as he stares at me and bite my lip, my heartbeat quickens as I prepare to say it, "Sh..Shadow?"

"Yes Blaze?"

"I….I..love you."

For a few minutes we just stand there in each others arms, frozen and silent until once again Shadow speaks, "You…love me?"

"Yes, I've never met anyone like you…so brave, caring, you put your life on the line to save the people you cared about…I just think you're amazing…and you seem to be similar to me…like we both understand one another.."

"B..Blaze…"

I blush again and laugh a little, Shadow the Hedgehog is left speechless. Then the tables are turned and I'm the one who's speechless as he plunges me into another deep kiss, "Blaze…I feel the same way…like we can understand each other…you're the only person apart from Rouge or Maria who isn't afraid of me and sees the real me…"

I then tackle him onto the bed and kiss him again, and he more then returns it. Meanwhile down at Tails' house, Amy and Rouge were talking when Amy pointed out the window, "Hey, how come the light's on at the workshop?"

Rouge chuckled, "Looks like Blaze finally said it."

"Huh? Said what?" Asked Amy

"Hehe, I'll tell you later." replied Rouge, the two girls then went off to enjoy the party…but even after everyone had fallen asleep at the house, the workshop light stayed on til the sun rose the next morning with two new lovers inside.