Impulsive

He had run into Shadow early in the morning while on his usual morning run. The black and red hedgehog was grumpy as usual, but more than happy to shove his complaints about some new ridiculous mission he had gotten from GUN onto Sonic's willing ears. It was stressing him out, he hadn't gotten any time off for the past year, and Sonic barely paid attention to anything after that. Just interrupted Shadow with the offer of a friendly spar; get his mind off his job for at least a few minutes. With Eggman's lack of attacks recently, Sonic needed the practice anyway.

So they sparred. One, two... ten times. Before they knew it, half the day was gone and Sonic had learned that Shadow did indeed have a playful side. It was just very well hidden and needed coaxed out. Somehow, he couldn't remember just how they had ended up there, Sonic had found himself over Shadow. Hands firmly planted on the ground, what he dared to call amusement in Shadow's eyes as he looked up at him. Impulse took charge and the next thing he knew was the feel of dark lips against his own. The next few seconds were the longest in his life. At least Shadow hadn't looked angry when he teleported away and left Sonic to fall onto the grass.

"This makes everything awkward," Sonic said. A heavy sigh followed the words and Tails fixed him with a stare.

"If you hate it that much, I can move the picture."

"What? Oh, no. Mrs... Older fox-lady's fine where she is." Sonic waved his hand dismissively through the air. "I mean what happened earlier with Shadow."

"Sonic, you haven't said a word since you got back. Just sat on the couch and stared at Mrs. Eddington."

"I was hoping she'd have an answer in her wise brown eyes."

"A picture isn't going to-" Tails walked over to stand in front of Sonic, easily getting the hedgehog's attention with a snap. "What happened?"

"I kissed Shadow."

"How did tha-"

"How isn't important Tails. Point is, it happened. He teleported away and I haven't seen or heard from him since." Sonic leaned forward to press his forehead into the fur on Tails' chest with a sigh. "I didn't mean to kiss him; it just sort of happened."

"You're overthinking this," Tails stated. "Just let it go for now. If it bothered him any, I'm sure he'll come talk about it."

"I've never impulsively kissed someone before. What if I gave him the wrong idea?"

"You're worrying too much." Tails pat Sonic on the shoulder. "It's Shadow. You know how he likes to get both sides of the story."

The knock at the door an hour later was precisely what Sonic needed. A distraction from his increasingly troubling thoughts. Chaos knew he'd be no help to Tails in the lab- and running would only give him more reason to keep thinking. So he rushed to the door without a word, opened it, and...

"Heya Shadow. What brings you here?"

Wondered what he had done to deserve this.

"You know perfectly well why I'm here."

Sonic grinned and motioned for Shadow to come in, walking back toward the living room as he did so. The door closed a little too loudly as Shadow followed, footsteps louder than Sonic's against the wood floor. Or was that just Sonic's imagination? His shoes probably did weigh more...

"Why did you kiss me earlier?"

Right to the point as usual. Shadow's bluntness could be admired.

"Would you get mad if I said I didn't know?" Sonic laughed nervously and turned to look at Shadow.

"You kissed me and don't even know why?"

Okay, so the slight flush was actually kinda... cute. His arms were crossed over his chest and a scowl was on his face, though his gaze looked nervous. So maybe Shadow wasn't as good at hiding his emotions as Sonic had given him credit for.

"Believe me, I've been thinking it over." Haven't had much else to do, but that was beside the point. "It was an impulsive, spur of the moment kinda thing, but I don't think I would've kissed you if I didn't want to."

A half amused exhalation from Shadow made Sonic scowl slightly. What was so funny?

"And here I was thinking I didn't understand my feelings. Shouldn't you know if you wanted to kiss someone?"

With the scowl still on his face, Sonic stared at Shadow. Of everyone Sonic knew... Why him? He did have a desire to kiss Shadow again. Thinking about it, Shadow was also the one he'd always find himself wanting to spend time with. Wanting to get him to smile. Or laugh. They were friends by now, but maybe... just maybe...

Once again, impulse took over and Sonic was kissing Shadow. Hands on the other hedgehog's cheeks, lips moving against each other as he felt Shadow's hand on the small of his back pulling him closer. Impulsive though it may be...

"Let's go out," Sonic said. "See where this takes us."

"Another impulsive decision?" To his surprise, there was a light laugh in Shadow's voice. "Very well. Let's see where we go from here."

"No hard feelings if it doesn't work out?"

"I know what I'm getting myself into."