Morning arrived quickly and Shadow was upset to have to rise with the sun. He went down to a fast-food restaurant and ate. Chewing slowly he thought about what had happened. Rouge had probably gone home and had hopefully forgotten everything. Shadow didn't forget easily though, it still bothered him. When he finished the horribly greasy food and rushed off to the park. The dark hedgehog liked staying there. It was very calming and the brook that ran through the green area was nice and cool. Sitting underneath a willow tree he thought about how to return back and…well, she was angry at him. What was he thinking then and there, his moves made there were all idiotic, trying help? What more could he do? Who would ever appreciate…the ultimate life-form? Those questions clouded his mind. He had been thinking a lot. Throwing a smooth pebble onto the brook's surface he thought deeply about the situation. Knuckles knew Rouge; maybe he would do a better job of making her feel better. He decided to see if at Sonic's house, things were brighter and better. He reached the home in record time. The blue hedgehog immediately opened the door,

"I saw a black streak running down the street and I thought, 'Hey that must be Shadow!'!" Shadow was in no mood for Sonic's playfully dumb behavior so he pushed him aside and sunk into a soft chair. Sonic saw that he was troubled and stood next to him,

"What's wrong?" he asked the other hedgehog sympathetically…annoyingly as well.

"Everything!" Shadow replied angrily once more. Sonic breathed in heavily and began,

"I heard about what happened last night at the…"

"Well?!?! What you think I'm angry about?!?!" Sonic moved from his spot to another chair directly across from the agitated hedgehog.

"I actually don't know. I don't know if you're angry at those girls or how Rouge…" Shadow cut him off once again,

"Both!!!" he yelled. Sonic calmly took it in; he had been taking anger management classes so he wouldn't yell at Shadow or anything too often so he knew what to do.

"Those girls, I understand why, but why Rouge?" Shadow saw his fatal error as Sonic smirked.

"Because, she didn't even thank me for trying to…" Shadow almost let out the part about him trying to help her. That would make Sonic ballistic…and it did,

"Shadow the ultimate life-form has feelings because he likes Rouge!" Sonic wailed.

"Shut up you fool! I do not!" Shadow growled, his voice threatening to never let the other hedgehog live it down. Sonic flashed a smile and replied,

"Playing hard to get are we?"

"Argh!" Shadow yelled while banging his head.

"It's okay to let out our feelings, Shadow!" Sonic teased while rolling on the floor laughing. (rofl XD) The stiff hedgehog threw him a look and controlled his anger slowly.

"I just feel bad that she was all crying and everything…wouldn't you? She didn't even thank me for trying to get her to stop crying." Shadow chose his words very carefully. Sonic paused his endless bantering and thought.

"Not if it was Amy…" he trailed off.

"Stop joking." Shadow commanded

"I came here hoping that things would be a little better but, I guess I'm wrong…" he replied and stomped out the door.

"It's absolutely worthless!" he called out loud so the other hedgehog could hear him. People were always out to get him, he concluded to himself. He saw Knuckles, ran up to him, and grabbed the echidna's shoulder.

"So, how's Rouge?" was the first question out of the dark hedgehog's mouth. He was good at keeping his emotions hidden and made it seem like an innocent question.

"Fine, no thanks to you!" the echidna angrily remarked pulling away. Knuckles was just angry at him…the hedgehog's covering up would do no good. Knuckles's comment stung though and Shadow was taken aback at the echidna. He had tried.

"Like you were any help when she was in need." Shadow replied with a deeper and darker tone of voice…it could've been interpreted as scary but there was a teasing edge to his statement. The echidna stopped walking and whirled around,

"You saying I'm a bad boyfriend?!?!" Knuckles's eyes were fiery.

"Maybe! You have a problem with that echidna?" he spat out angrily. The boys began brawling in front of Sonic's home and immediately he knew he needed help. He called up Amy, Cream, Tails, and yes, Rouge to help solve the matter. When they arrived, they were horrified at the scene. Shadow was pounding Knuckles into the Earth and when Knuckles recovered he leapt up and punched Shadow hard in the face with his spiked fist.

"Guys, stop it!" Tails wailed helplessly. Cream screamed in terror as the fight continued and gained elevation.

"You guys are acting like a bunch of idiots!" Amy yelled. Nothing would stop the two angry animals from clawing at each other though. The fight wore on and everyone hopelessly stood by the sidelines. Both fighters were neck and neck when,

"Hey, hey, can't you guys just let up?" Rouge asked while laughing.

"I've seen enough! It's making my sides hurt!" Everything stopped abruptly, almost as if time had frozen still, both boys turned. Their eyes averted themselves from their current situation. Her laugh tinkled happily and she fell back onto the grass clutching her stomach. Everyone raised an eyebrow until Sonic asked carefully,

"Um…if you don't mind me asking…why are you laughing?" Everyone thought she was losing her mind. She was probably having a weird episode or something. Sonic thought to himself. Rouge got up slowly giggling still and wiped an eye.

"You two boys are just too much! It's so funny watching you two beat each other up senselessly, for goodness sake's you guys are friends!" Rouge smiled at the boys but, then her face grew serious and she spoke again,

"Now tell me, what was all this fighting for?" She waited while the boys both looked sheepishly at each other. Knuckles nudged Shadow as a signal for him to tell her. Shadow shoved back, they were beginning to fight again when, Rouge coughed loudly. They remembered instantly and Knuckles shuffled his feet anxiously. The echidna looked very unsure and it was obvious it was something stupid, while Shadow's face was emotionless and neutral, well-hidden once again.

"Well?" Rouge asked again impatiently. She was the kind of girl that wanted things there, then and now. Both boys glanced at each other until, finally, Knuckles gave in.

"Um…he called me a bad…person." The echidna paused and glanced away. Rouge wasn't buying the confession, they missed out on a huge chunk of information and she could sense it. Shadow finished up after Knuckles,

"He yelled at me for not…for not…" his voice trailed off thinking of how to word it nicely. It was hard; he was working with a stupid echidna,

"For not trying to make you feel better about last night." Knuckles ended. The indifferent hedgehog would've winced. Shadow was a little upset in the inside because of how Knuckles put it. He could be so rash and that was such a straight forward answer. It was probably going to get her angry. Rouge's eyes opened up more. She pouted and tossed her head to the side. Shadow smirked, his hunch was right.

"You boys are so incompetent; you treat me like a toy!" Rouge stiffly replied and then stuck her nose in the air. She sniffed and walked away her heels clicking. The boys both watched her leave, glanced at each other and turned away.

"You started it." Shadow stated in a matter-of-factly tone.

"Try me…" Knuckles growled. He began to start but, Sonic and Tails hit them both on the head comically. They shut up. Rouge was angry at them both now so there was nothing to say or do. Knuckles ran up behind the bat and in the distance talked quickly with her. Shadow saw her nod reluctantly and he jumped up in the air joyfully and danced down the street back. His mood was recovered quickly. It was interesting and Shadow was curious,

"What did she say?" Shadow asked in a bored tone.

"She said she would find time to go to the movies with me!"

"Already?" Shadow was a little cautious that she would give in that quickly.

"Yes, already. She promised she'd go with me today and I just wanted to confirm." He grinned widely and replied,

"Too bad you didn't say anything. Of course, I'm her boyfriend and she loves going with me!" the echidna gloated, flashing his teeth again.

"It'll be a good time to make up, huh?" Knuckles questioned again, his pride spilling over. Shadow's eyes burned fiercely, but he merely answered,

"People like you are too headstrong and confident…I'd be careful."

"Psh, I don't need to worry, I've got her in the palm of my hand!" Shadow was determined the make Knuckles keep his eye out. The echidna would have to watch out. Shadow snapped away his head and stamped away, Knuckles smiled confidently at the rest of them but, Amy slammed her Piko-Piko hammer hard on his dense skull. He clutched his head and winced. Shadow was far away from the scene so, unfortunately, he didn't get to enjoy the echidna's pain. He was furious; he was better than that dumb echidna. He started bashing a tree senselessly,

"Why does everything I do turn out wrong!?!?!" He yelled into nowhere. It's not that he cared for Rouge, she was a friend and he was going to keep it that way. It was just the fact that the echidna had the guts to rub it all in his face. It was like sticking another cold knife into his quiet heart. Closing his eyes angrily, he thought about what to do. The only thing hopeful in the day was that she forgot that they had said that they'd both hated each other last night. It still hurt, but at least Rouge was a little less irritable. Shadow didn't know whether she really hated him or if he really did hate her…

Knuckles impatiently tapped a foot. The line was incredibly long just for tickets. Rouge shifted her weight uneasily from one foot to the other again, and checked the time on the clock. The bat was agitated so Knuckles was careful about what to say.

"So, what movie?" he asked.

"Anything adventuresome." She drawled in a bored tone. He glanced over at her as he bought the tickets. Something was bothering her. They went into the theatre and sat down contently. The echidna remembered something useful…it was something about being a polite gentleman with manners. Immediately, he went to go get some snacks, it was a good thing to do. It would get the bat more relaxed and they could make up. He told Rouge what he was off to do and to wait. After the movie had gotten well into itself, Rouge began to wonder what he was doing.

"Where's that darn echidna?" she questioned herself aloud quietly as she diverted her eyes from the big screen. The snow-white bat hadn't seen him since he went off to go get their snacks.

"That snack line can't be longer than the ticket line." She mumbled to herself. Pushing through crowds of folks headed for numerous theatres, she saw the red echidna. Her face fell and her eyes fired up, almost like at the club, at the sight. Knuckles had those snacks; he was just taking a little side-trip. She acidly told herself. She saw him hop into a red convertible with a couple of girls. She squinted and was able to recognize the figures. Those same vicious girls that had mocked and terrorized her at her own club. She felt as if her heart was ripping in two right in front of her. The girls were tickling the echidna and toying with him as the car started up. Tears came pouring out and she felt such pain. The echidna looked drunk and having an enjoyable time. That same golden cat was winning his heart…how shallow, she thought bitterly to herself.

"I guess I shouldn't bother him." Rouge's voice quivered at the sight. How could he be so ignorant? She thought things like those as she soared away from the theatre, her troubles and misery into the dark night. Her dark wings blended into the sky and she had a seemingly white aura around her as the moon shone brightly. She cried alone up in the cold night air. When she had flown far enough she descended down to the hard ground. Sniffling she wrapped her light coat tightly around her and shivered. It was cold and windy. She glanced around the area and confirmed it as the park. Slowly walking in a direction she chose; she reached a bench. Sitting on it lightly the scene played through her mind, over and over again. She sobbed again quietly. Who to go to? What to do now? All of a sudden, she stopped. Feeling sad and crying over the mere matter wouldn't solve anything. She didn't need the echidna anyways, what good was he? She started feeling angry now. Who needed him? Why bother? Stalking toward a good-sized tree, she began to ram into it, ripping it to shreds and kicking it senselessly as if it were the echidna itself. Throwing herself unto the ground in front of it she stifled a sob once more. Feeling something pleasantly warm on her cold shoulder, she whirled around into Shadow…Shadow the hedgehog.

AN: Well, I suppose all I can say is that I DO NOT OWN SONIC THE HEDGEHOG OR ANY AFFILIATED CHARACTERS. Only the made up ones used to move the story along are mine. But they suck anyways, so I think you all could tell. :) lol.