Chapter One

BOOM!

The explosion hit the land like an earthquake, and everyone was thrown either onto the ground or severely off balance. Shadow had been skating at full speed away from the disturbance and was knocked off his feet, along with the azure hero to his left. The good news was that Dr. Eggman's latest invention had been destroyed. The bad news? Shadow woke up in a hospital bed.

"Ugh..." He groaned, stirring in his bed once consciousness had completely returned to him. He didn't bother asking where he was or what happened, because the severe headache and burn wounds all over him seemed to be pretty good storytellers.

"Hey, Faker." The voice had come from the bed beside him. It was Sonic, also hospitalized.

"Hmph."

A quick glance around the rest of the room revealed Rouge, Tails, Silver, Blaze, Knuckles, and Amy. Great. Shadow just loved all the attention.

With a sigh he asked, "What do you people want from me?"

"We want you to get better!" Replied Rouge with a warm smile and a pet to Shadow's head. He turned away, hoping no one could see the blush appear on his face.

"So, it's good to see that you guys aren't dead or anything. I was worried. We all were." Silver looked at both of the ill hedgehogs for a moment before returning to his previous action, which was staring in awe at all the medical equipment.

The ebony hedgehog couldn't keep himself from smirking sinisterly when Amy gave Sonic a big, uncomfortable bear hug. That just couldn't feel good when covered in burns and cuts. Still though, the blue hedgehog's face went cherry red. He wasn't fooling anyone when he told her to get off. There was a mutual crush there. This thought made Shadow's smirk turn into a full-out smile, because it reminded him of Rouge and himself.

"So the doctors said you two could get out in a couple days." Blaze added to the conversation.

"Haha, that's funny," Shadow said with blatant sarcasm, "but they're letting me out when I want to leave. And that's right now."

Rouge giggled, pushing him back down when he tried to get up. "It's cute how you think that's gonna work."

He shot her a fake glare. "It will work. And if anyone tells me otherwise, I swear their teeth will be knocked right from their mouth. Every single one."

"Try me." Rouge put her hands behind her back and leaned toward the bed, giving him an easy target.

With a huff, Shadow crossed his arms and sat back against the headboard. "Come on. Do you think I'm gonna fight a woman?"

"Then your claim is invalid."

The ivory bat earned herself an eye roll from the black hedgehog.

-XXX-

Two days later, it was finally time to leave the hospital. Shadow's vision blurred as he stood up from the white bed. He wasn't used to not moving for so long. Rouge caught him before he could faceplant into the tile, and he nodded in thanks as he gave himself a minute to get comfortable on his own feet. This was only one of many things Rouge had done for him in the past few days, like getting him food when he wanted it, refusing to leave at night (which resulted in a lot of fighting with the staff and some quality entertainment for Shadow), and even buying him a "get well soon" balloon. He'd always give her a nod or a quiet "thanks", but it meant a lot more than that to him. He was starting to like Rouge almost as much as Maria.

When they left the hospital, Shadow gave her a wave and a rare, warm smile before beginning to walk away. "Oh, no you don't!" Rouge grabbed him by the shoulders and spun him around. "You're still ill! Just 'cause you're out of the hospital doesn't mean you're healthy enough to be walking around on your own!"

Shadow crossed his arms. "Pfft. Please. I appreciate the thought, but I'm the Ultimate Life Form, Rouge. I can take care of myself."

The bat straightened her posture, but still had to look up at him slightly. She was about to prepare a comeback, but then suddenly decided against it. With a sigh, she said, "You're right. I've been acting like your mother for the past two days, and I'm not. So go ahead and be independent like you want to be." She motioned in the direction that he'd originally been walking. "Go right ahead."

"Uh, thanks." But then he started to realize that he had no money, and he really didn't like sleeping under trees. Also, what was he going to do for food? Rouge had a nice warm apartment that would fix all of these problems, but...

"Hey, Shadow."

He turned around, an eyebrow raised.

"Wanna have dinner at my place? Your choice, but I won't bother you for the rest of the week if you decide to come. The others will be there."

Thank God. "Alright, fine."

-XXX-

Shadow's burns had been more severe than Sonic's, so he had been moved to the burn unit of the hospital. This meant that Sonic got out a day earlier than him. It wasn't fair, but it was true. So when Shadow got back to Rouge's place, said blue hedgehog was there with the rest of the Mobians.

The front door opened and loudly slammed into the wall as Shadow stepped through. "Careful!" Rouge warned, wondering if her landlord was going to be mad if there was a mark on the wall.

"Hey Shadow!" The ebony one was suddenly assaulted with greetings from his circle of friends. Sonic was covered in bandages around his torso that were similar to Shadow's, but he had an arm in a sling, due to a particularly nasty piece of shrapnel, while Shadow had a sheet of gauze wrapped around his head from a similar cause.

"Hello…" He grouched, walking right past everybody and sitting on the couch.

Everybody laughed and had a good time while Rouge prepared dinner. Shadow remained on the couch until finally being called to eat, just watching the people around him. Somewhat appreciating that they all gathered here for him and Sonic, but mostly just wanting to be as far from the crowd as possible.

"Hey Handsome, come eat!" Rouge called out to him as she set down a platter of food and everybody began to swarm the table.

"Alright." Shadow sat down next to Rouge and helped himself to some steak and potatoes while Sonic boasted about who-knows-what.

-XXX-

After a few hours, the sun was long-gone and the only people left were Silver, Sonic, Shadow, and of course Rouge. "I should be headin' out. Don't wanna sleep the day away tomorrow!" Sonic announced loudly as he got off the couch and headed for the door.

"Bye!" Rouge called as he left.

Silver was the next to go. "I think I should go too, but thanks for having me over!"

"Anytime." Rouge replied.

"Bye Rouge. See ya Shadow!" He smiled and waved to the lamented hedgehog on the couch. Shadow gave him a small wave back, accompanied by a nod.

Once Shadow and Rouge were the only two people left in the apartment, Rouge asked, "So, where're you gonna be going tonight?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, when you leave."

"I don't know."

"Oh. Well-" Rouge stopped herself and reconsidered what she was about to ask. Would Shadow be angry that she kept offering to take care of him? She said she wouldn't bother him for the rest of the week, but he was too proud to ever ask this himself. It was worth a shot. "Do… you wanna stay here tonight?"

His eyebrows raised.

"In a guestroom, I mean!"

Shadow closed his eyes and snickered. "Why the hell not?"

Rouge's heart skipped a beat, and she began to smile.

Meanwhile…

Silver was leaving Rouge's apartment when a sudden realization swept over him. "Hm… I don't have anywhere to go…"

Back to Shadow and Rouge...

"So, you don't mind me taking care of you… again?"

"Nah, it's more like a favor, the way I see it."

"Good." She scooted closer to him on the couch and laughed nervously, hoping not to sound too desperate.

"Uh…"

Oh God, she'd pushed her limits, hadn't she?! "Is something wrong?" She had to remain cool. There was no backing down now.

"N-no. I'm fine." Shadow could feel his cheeks start to burn red. "So, uh, I think I'm gonna go to bed." With that, he began to get up.

Oh no. Rouge felt horrible. She'd blown her chance, hadn't she? Only one way to find out at this point. "Shadow, w-wait."

"Hm?" He looked over his shoulder at her.

"Sit back down. I need to tell you something."

He hesitated, giving her an uncomfortable look.

"Please."

With a sigh, he complied.

"Shadow…" She paused, noticing that the bandage on his head wasn't quite intact. "Uh, lemme fix this for you." Using this as an excuse to put off what she was going to say, she grabbed some gauze from her bathroom and some scissors from her kitchen. Slowly, Rouge unwrapped the old bandage and set it down on the coffee table. Careful not to hurt him, she began to wrap the new bandage around his head, wondering what Shadow thought of this.

Well, as unassuring as his expression seemed, Shadow found himself enjoying this. Even if Rouge had officially started mothering him again, he didn't mind. The ebony hedgehog could smell her perfume from this distance. He was pretty sure it was vanilla, but he didn't know much about that kind of stuff.

His thoughts were interrupted when she asked, "Is that okay?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

She sat back. "So as I was saying,"

"A-huh?"

"Well, Shadow," As she said this, Rouge reached over and lightly touched Shadow's hand.

Without even thinking, he took her hand in his.

This gave Rouge the power to say her next words. "Shadow, you mean a lot to me, and…"

"Rouge."

"Yeah?"

"I feel the same way." He gave her, no, not a half-smile, but an ultra-rare full-out grin.

Not able to stand it anymore, Rouge leaned forward and kissed him.

Shadow kissed her back.

Then the door opened. "Hey guys, can I stay here for the-" Silver's voice went silent. "OMIGOD I'm sorry! I should've knocked!"

Shadow growled softly as he got up and left for the guest bedroom without another word. The door slammed shut.

"Rouge, I-"

"Don't worry about it, Silver. What did you need?"

"Oh, um…" He rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Well, it occurred to me that I don't have a house in this time period, so, uh, can I stay here tonight?"

"Sure, if Shadow's willing to share the guest bedroom with you. But…" They both looked in the direction that Shadow went. "That doesn't look too likely."

"Worth a shot, I guess. May I?"

"Go right ahead."

So Silver went up to the door and knocked gently. "Uh, Shadow?"

"What?"

"Sorry about this, but I don't have anywhere to go tonight, and Rouge said that I could share the guest bedroom with you. Is that okay?"

The door opened. Shadow's quills and head bandage were ruffled, like he'd been holding his hands over his face. He gave a nod. "You're on the floor, though."

"That's fine. Thanks!" Silver walked in and looked around the room. It was mostly white, with a blue bedspread and matching curtains.

Silver then opened the closet and found some blankets, which he began to spread out on the floor. Shadow sat down on the bed and remained completely silent. When Silver looked up from his work, he saw that Shadow had his face in his hands again.

"Are you alright, Shadow?"

"..."

"Shadow?"

"I'm fine, Silver. Just… a little… dazed. I guess."

"Hm." Silver was feeling really bad about barging in on them. "So, Rouge. She's really into you, Shadow. That's great!"

"Oh really? I didn't notice." Shadow raised his head as the sarcasm rolled effortlessly from his mouth.

Silver smiled. There was the Shadow he knew and loved.

-XXX-

Once Silver had set up his sleeping space on the floor, Rouge wished them a good night and left for her own bedroom. Shadow shut off the light and Silver curled up in his bundle of blankets. The ivory one heard the bed springs creak as Shadow laid down, and then silence pervaded the space. "Hey Shadow." Silver's whisper interrupted the other's thoughts and Shadow's eyes flew open.

"What do you want?"

"I'm… I'm happy for you."

"..."

"Shadow?"

"What?"

"Tell me what you're thinking."

Hesitation came before the response, but Shadow answered, "This room looks a lot like Maria's."

"Oh. Really?"

"Yes. She had a blue bed and white walls. Except, there were no curtains over the windows. She didn't like not being able to see the Earth."

"I'll bet it looked beautiful from space."

"Yeah, it really did."

Silver might have said something in response, but his cell phone buzzed suddenly and his attention was drawn to it. He slid the cover up and began to type.

"What was that noise?" Shadow asked.

"Oh, sorry. Blaze just texted me."

A moment later, the same buzzing noise was heard. Shadow sighed loudly.

"Sorry! I'll take this outside." Silver left and light poured into the room from under the door.

Suddenly, Shadow sat up and turned on the light, finding comfort in the familiar color scheme of the room. He felt like he was going to be sick, though. There were so many thoughts going through his mind. He couldn't believe he kissed Rouge! He really liked her, but something about the whole situation was making him uneasy. And Silver showing up really didn't help things. He loved that guy as his best friend, so… why was everything suddenly more complicated once he showed up?

-XXX-

Silver sat down on the couch and continued to text blaze.

"see U l8ter" She wrote.

The time-traveler laid down on the couch with his head on the armrest and his phone held out above him. With a smile, he typed, "see ya".