A/N: Again, reworked from the original.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Living Pains
Chapter 2: Embarrassing Situations
Shadow lay on the floor in shock over what had just happened. First he gets tackled, and then kissed, and then the girl slaps him in the face. This may just be the worst day of his life… minus the kiss of course. That was actually quite nice. With all this flying through his mind he nearly missed the yellow hedgehog's fervent apology. It didn't help that she was talking a mile a minute.
"I'm really, really sorry! I was on my way to my friend's apartment! She lives on the third story and I tripped and fell and…and…" She blushed a deep scarlet and her grey eyes opened in shocked recognition. "You're Shadow the Hedgehog aren't you?"
"Yeah." He shot her a look. "How do you know my name?"
"I-I'm Amy's f-friend Karin." She stuttered. Shadow could tell she was humiliated by what had happened. Not that he wasn't, he was just better at hiding it. Poor girl. Guess I should let her off the hook. He thought with a sigh.
"Well then in that case, I say we pretend this never happened. Agreed?" She was taken aback for a moment before smiling. "Good. Now come on, I'll walk you to the apartment." With that he calmly began walking up the stairs. Karin paused before grinning and fell into step beside him.
"So how do you know Amy?" Karin asked as they reached the second floor.
"She tackled me." He saw the look she gave him and chuckled. "She thought I was Sonic."
"…How? He's blue!" She had an incredulous look on her face. He laughed again at her question.
"No idea. She says the sun was in her eyes." He looked at her. "We were at the beach. What about you? How do you know her?"
"We work together."
"You both work at Pinkness, Inc.?" He asked. Pinkness, Inc. sold the most girlish clothes he had ever seen. Amy had dragged him there so she could apply. That was one of the few times he regretted having his license. He took note of her outfit. She was wearing dark gold sweeter and baggy jeans. Her quills spilled halfway down her back gracefully. He blushed when he realized he was starring. "You're not even wearing a skirt."
She wrinkled her nose cutely. "I sell those all day long, and wear them as my uniform. Why would I wear one on my day off?" Shadow looked up when they turned towards his apartment.
"Here we are." Shadow said as they reached the door. He unlocked it and saw that the lights were out. "Huh, weird. Amy must not be home." He walked in and turned on the lights.
"SURPRISE!" Everyone shouted as they jumped from their hiding spots. Karin screamed and grabbed Shadow's arm. Shadow meanwhile was too stunned to react. The room was decorated in bright colors and a large banner proclaimed "Happy Birthday Shadow!" in large red and black letters. Rouge wasted no time in taking a picture of the two hedgehogs.
"Would you two like some alone time Shadow?" Knuckles asked with a sly grin.
"Wha-?" Shadow looked at his arm and then at Karin. She squeaked in embarrassment and let go of him. "What's this all about?" He shot Amy a suspicious glare.
"It's your birthday silly!" She grinned and jumped up and down in joy. "Oh, and I see you've met Karin! She's the girl I was telling you about."
"Come again?" He had forgotten all about why he was upset earlier.
"You know the one that thinks you're cute!"
"A-Amy!" Karin sputtered. She blushed and rushed off into the crowd. Rouge gave Amy an annoyed look to rival Shadow's.
"Not cool Amy. Not cool." She then slapped Knuckles for laughing at the situation. Well into the party Shadow was actually having a good time. The food was good, his friends were there and, best of all, Sonic wasn't annoying him. He hadn't even threatened Knuckles with bodily harm at all. Cream the Rabbit ran up and grabbed his arm.
"Mr. Shadow!" She said with a huge grin. Cream was one of the few people he had never felt the urge to threaten physical harm. She was just too darn cute. And she was always nice to him, which made her two up on Knuckles. One up on Rouge. "Ms. Amy says it's time to open your presents!" He scooped the little rabbit up in his arms and put her on his shoulders. She giggled the entire time.
"Lead the way little one." So they weaved their way through the crowd and into the main room. As they approached the table where the gifts were stacked he saw a camera flash. He gave Rouge a death glare which she responded to with a smirk. "So Cream would you like to help me open these gifts?" Her eyes lit up like the sun itself.
"Yes Mr. Shadow!" She said in a polite, if overly energetic tone. The two then spent the next few minutes unwrapping present after present. Once they were all opened and Rouge smacked Knuckles for trying to steal some cake early, Amy decided it was in fact cake time. Knuckles muttered darkly after he heard this and Shadow patted him on the back in rare sympathy.
"Shadow, come blow out the candles!" Amy called impatiently.
"Okay."
Karin walked into the kitchen when she heard it was cake time. She had been hiding from Shadow for the entire party out of embarrassment. As she approached the kitchen she tripped over a chair leg and began to fall. She closed her eyes and waited to hit the floor. When she didn't she opened her eyes to be greeted by Shadow's scarlet eyes. She realized he was holding her up from the ground. They froze like that until there was another camera flash courtesy of Rouge.
"Shadow I never knew you were such a ladies man." She said teasingly. Shadow and Karin both blushed a deep crimson as he placed her on her feat, pointedly ignoring Rouge's taunt.
"You okay?" He asked concerned. So far she was on the no threat list along with Rose, Rouge, Cream, and Vanilla. That meant he didn't want anything to happen to her.
"Y-yeah. Thanks." She muttered quietly, looking anywhere but his eyes. Those eyes. She thought. She could lose herself in those eyes.
"Hey love birds, hurry up so we can have cake!" Knuckles yelled right before Amy and Rouge both smacked him.
A/N: Just so you know, I am a fan of Knuckles. He still deserved to be smacked around though.
