"Come on in, Knuckles," I say as I step aside so he can enter the apartment. He's never actually been here before, so he looks around the room for a minute, smiling until he spots Shadow who just came out our bedroom.
Knuckles hasn't been here for thirty seconds, but Shadow wastes no time trying to make him feel unwelcome. "What do you want, Knuckles?" he asks, narrowing his eyes.
Knuckles returns the gesture and points over to me with his thumb. "I came here to see Sonic, not you," he replies angrily. Shadow folds his arm over his chest and looks at me, like he expects me to kick him out or something. I won't do that, but I don't think having these two in the same room is going to end well, so I make a suggestion.
"Come on, Knuckles. Let's go see what Tails is up to," I say, hoping Shadow and Knuckles will stop trying to murder each other with their eyes. They break their staring contest and look over at me, and Knuckles starts to walk toward the door. I follow and before I can step outside with him, Shadow grabs me by the arm.
"I don't want you going anywhere with him," he says, squeezing my arm tighter. I shake my arm loose from his grip and poke my head out the door. "Can you give me a minute, Knuckles?" I ask. I don't know how long this is going to take. He nods and starts walking down the corridor.
I leave the door ajar and turn around to face Shadow, sighing heavily. "What's your problem, Shadow?" I ask, and he still looks pissed even though there's absolutely no reason to be angry with me, or Knuckles.
"You think I never noticed the way he looks at you, Sonic?" I haven't the slightest clue what Shadow is talking about, and my expression must give that away. "You know he likes you, Sonic." I have to laugh at that one.
"Everyone likes me, Shadow," I say with a smirk, turning and reaching for the door knob.
Shadow walks in front of me and closes the door all the way, standing in front of it like a shield. He crosses his arms over his white-furred chest, narrowing his bright red eyes as if daring me to try and pass him. As if I couldn't.
"Don't play dumb, Sonic. You know what I mean," he says.
"I sincerely have no idea what you're getting at, Shadow," I say, rolling my eyes. I'm not kidding, I really don't know what's gotten into him.
Shadow shakes his head and sighs in frustration, still blocking the door. This is taking too long, I don't want Knuckles to think I'm not going. I start to move Shadow out of the way and push him behind me, but he grabs hold of my shoulders.
"Really? You honestly had no idea, didn't pick up on any hints whatsoever, that he likes you? Why do you think he hates me so much?" he asks.
"The same reason anyone else would hate you-you're an ass," I say with a smile and go to turn the doorknob again. Shadow swats my hand away from it and wraps his arm around my waist, pulling me against him.
The position Shadow has me in is reminding me of the activity we were going to begin before Knuckles interrupted us. I better go now before we start again and I completely forget about what I was supposed to be doing.
I turn around to face Shadow and plant a kiss on his cheek. "You never struck me as the insecure type, Shadow. Maybe you should work on your self-esteem instead of accusing my friends of being in love with me-"
"You go with him and you're not getting back in this apartment," he says. I raise my eyebrow, wondering if he's being serious, then I laugh. He can't lock me out of my own apartment just for going out with a friend.
He continues to stare at me, awaiting a response. I've already made Knuckles wait long enough, and I know I'd be getting pretty impatient by now, so I turn around and walk out the door. Shadow will just have to get over it.