Chapter 2 – The Beach House

Amy returned to the beach the next day. Skating was the farthest thing from her mind; her legs had made it clear that they wanted no part of any such thing until their soreness subsided. She sat on a bench along the edge of the boardwalk enjoying a leisurely scoop of spumoni ice cream. Interesting flavor…definitely not one she'd be getting anymore.

"We meet again," Shadow's voice nearly startled her completely off the bench. She'd assumed her encounter with him the day before to be an isolated incident.

"Oh, hello," Amy began before swallowing an entire chunk of fruit from her ice cream. "…You must come here a lot, huh?"

"I live here," he replied. Amy's eyes widened. He didn't seem like the type to situate himself in such a touristy area. He opened his mouth as if to say something else, but he stopped himself. She turned to get another lick of her ice cream before it could run down onto her hand.

"Oh, that's pretty neat, being walking distance from the beach." After another couple of licks, she continued, "I'd come out here every day too if I lived this close! I'm on vacation this week so I've been coming out here all the way from Station Square." Lick. "I might try skating again tomorrow, but my legs are way too…sore today…." she trailed off when she looked back up at Shadow. His eyes were on her in a disturbingly icy, calculating fix…and she suddenly found herself very uncomfortable. The words "that dude's got issues" suddenly hit home. "Uh…but for now, I need to get back to town…and run some errands." She was such a bad liar.

Shadow's expression softened a bit. "I see."

Amy got up and tossed her cone in the trash. Her appetite was gone. "Bye," she said quickly as she hurried off, not even waiting for a reply.

Amy decided to spend the rest of the day shopping in Station Square. The malls there were huge and full of great stores. As she browsed a selection of premium bakeware, a tiny inkling of guilt surfaced from her subconscious and began to grow.

He was probably only looking at her that way because she wouldn't shut up. His life has been so messed up…he probably has a hard time relating to anyone. He comes over to chat, and all she does is rudely run off. He looked hurt when she—oh, what a cute cake pan!

She came out of the store, her new pan in bag, feeling only slightly better than before she got to thinking. How could she have been so cold to turn away someone who was probably just lonely? She should know how it feels, considering how many times Sonic had done the same to her. Well, it wasn't quite the same thing, but still--just thinking about that made tears well up in her eyes.

The following day was nothing like the first two; the weather was cold, rainy, and windy. Amy made a point of returning to the beach anyway, in the hopes of finding Shadow so she could apologize. Few people were there, which she considered a good thing since it would make him easier to spot. She wandered up and down the boardwalk, looking, shivering. The combo of red and black finally caught her eye, but it turned out to be a kid in a jacket. It was no use…she'd just have to come back later.

Day four of her vacation, the balmy weather had returned, and the beach was packed. She decided not to go out of her way to look for Shadow this time but simply go about her own business there. That was how she had crossed paths with him the last two times, so perhaps that would be the best tactic. Her preferred bench was occupied, so she sat to enjoy her grilled Panino on another one a few yards down. Just as she was taking her first bite, she catches sight of him in the river of people coursing through.

"Shadow, hey!" she waved and beckoned him over with her free hand. He appeared a bit surprised as he approached. "Hey, uh, I wanna apologize for cutting out like I did the other day. That was rude of me, and I'm sorry." She paused, and he blinked at her. "Here, would you like to sit with me? Have you had lunch yet?" Shadow slowly turned and took a seat beside her.

"I just ate."

"Oh, what'd you have?"

"Some kind of sub."

"Where'd you get it?"

"…Someone brought it but he didn't want it," Shadow answered after an odd pause. He ate someone's leftover sandwich and wasn't even sure what it was? A concept began to occur to Amy of the nature of Shadow's situation. She envisioned him wandering the boardwalk as a daily beggar of sorts, taking strangers' handouts and digging through the trash for his meals. How awful—and she was sticking her nose right in the middle of it. Quick, change the subject!

"Wow, there sure is a lot of bird poop on this bench," she muttered. Her eyes darted up to him, and she found that he was cracking the first smile she'd ever witnessed. He glanced at her meal.

"Sloppy eaters," he quipped. She peered down upon a lapful of bread crumbs.

"Ohh, hehe, it's kinda hard to eat stuff like this without making a mess," she laughed nervously, hopping to her feet and brushing off her dress. "Want to walk with me?"

Shadow and Amy spent the rest of the day browsing the local shops, watching freestyle performances, and chatting about mostly frivolous topics. A lot of the shopkeepers knew him by name, she noticed. It reinforced her theory on his underprivileged lifestyle. She felt very pleased with herself for taking time out to offer him a little companionship. Maybe it was just what he needed to get on his feet here.

At the far end of the beach, away from the public, they sat at dusk facing an old beach house in the distance. It was quite large, but it had obviously been in a state of disrepair for some time.

"What is that place over there?" Amy asked. "Is it being used for anything?"

"They used to rent it out for events, but it was damaged in a fire several years ago and has been closed ever since." Shadow went silent for a few moments, then continued. "I use it now." The shock of that statement cast the trash scavenging images back into Amy's mind.

"Oh…." It was all she could manage.

"It's a roof, dry place to sleep, serves my purpose," he casually went on, "and most people don't even know it's back here, so it gets left alone. I hate when people come nosing around…uhh, but you're welcome to drop by if you want."

Amy laughed. "Thanks." He was obviously just trying to be polite. "Hey," she started as her thoughts turned to her empty stomach, "are you hungry? Let's go to that restaurant we passed, by the arcade!" Shadow frowned, but she pressed on. "C'mon, my treat!" She took hold of his arm and got to her feet, prompting him to do the same. He remained silent as they made their way back to the restaurant.

Curious patrons whispered and stared at the two hedgehogs at table 14. Shadow seemed rather uncomfortable but showed no signs of letting it hinder his appetite. His table mannerisms were surprisingly good, better than Sonic's. Amy glanced at the remnants of chicken Kiev on his plate.

"How's the food?"

"It's better than I thought it would be."

The heavy beat of beach party music greeted them as they stepped back outside. It was getting late.

"Thanks for hanging out with me, Shadow. I had a lot of fun," Amy said with sincerity. "I'll be out here tomorrow if you wanna do it again!"

Again, Shadow's eyes narrowed into the calculating leer that had so unnerved her a couple of days ago. She was taken aback at first but then realized that he was…looking through her…thinking.

"I'll be busy until four," he finally said. It wasn't a refusal, so it was good enough.

"Okay, great, see you tomorrow, then! Have a good night!"

"Good night."