I must really be in a one-shot mood! Don't worry, my Knuckles/Rouge story and my Shadow/Tikal is coming along, just want to be as perfect as I can make it and I don't want any more re-writing or anything, giving up self-doubt for Lent so, let's do this and enjoy this one-shot!
TITLE: REBOUND
PAIRING: FRIENDSHIP! SHADOW/ROUGE
RATING: T
"YOU WANNA GO ON A DATE?"
Shadow blinked.
He glanced at the ivory bat in front of him, her teal eyes looking at him for an answer. He wasn't exactly sure how the romance thing really worked, but even he knew that after a break-up like Rouge had experienced with Knuckles, the last thing that she needed was a date.
Then again, she was Rouge the Bat. She wasn't like most ordinary girls who normally just cry and wallow in sadness for a month, looking at pictures of them and their ex-boyfriend before cutting them out or burning it into flames. She was the girl who loved to forget things worth forgetting. She was a fling girl, and even though Knuckles was able to contain that side of her for a while, he wasn't that surprised that she was starting to bring it back. Or trying to.
In addition to this, he was also trying to figuring his own feelings for Knuckles' ex-girlfriend Tikal. She had reminded him so much of Maria and she was the girl that he currently couldn't stop thinking about. He was going to ask Rouge for advice, but considering her failed romance and this, he wasn't too sure. He wasn't even sure if he could talk to Knuckles about it, considering that she was his ex-girlfriend and not to mention, he was closer to Rouge than he was to Knuckles. Would talking to the ex-boyfriend of his supposedly best friend a few days after the break-up be the wrong thing for a best friend to do?
Probably. But she's the one trying to ask me out on a date?
"Well?" Rouge commented. "I'm waiting."
"Keep on waiting." Shadow muttered, mimicking her sound of waiting as Rouge frowned at the hedgehog.
"You don't want to go on a date with me." Shadow proudly insisted, because he knew that it was true.
Whether or not she was going to admit it, the bat was hurting from the break-up. He had seen the way that she looked at Knuckles during their relationship, it was possibly that she had loved him even. And he knew that her constant fear was intimacy, considering that she had never had a lot of it, something that they both had in common.
"Of course I do." Rouge insisted. "We've slept together."
"We were drunk." Shadow defended, emphasizing on the word drunk to remind her that it wasn't a conscious decision to sleep with her and it was a while ago before she had even started to realise her feelings for the Knucklehead.
"Besides, sleeping with someone doesn't mean you want to go on a date with them." Shadow commented as Rouge cocked an eyebrow.
Even he was surprised at the words that he had just said. Then again, he wasn't like most guys. He didn't fawn over Rouge the Bat, simply because he knew her true side. He knew that the girl sleeping with a bunch of guys and using her flirtatious behaviour to get what she wanted was not the real Rouge the Bat. The real girl was the girl who was with Knuckles, the girl who did everything to make sure that everyone knew that Knuckles was her boyfriend and that no one could steal him away from her—particularly in front of Julie-Su and Shade
"Look who's finally reading some romance novels." Rouge chuckled as Shadow rolled his eyes at her joking behaviour. Was it that hard for the bat to take things seriously?
"Besides, wasn't I the last guy that you'd ever go on a date with?" Shadow quoted as Rouge scoffed at 'her' words.
"Well people's opinions change." she defended.
Bullshit.
"Rouge, I will not be your rebound." Shadow defended boldly. He had way too much honour for that more importantly, he wasn't interested in her anymore.
Shadow grimaced, remembering a point in his life where he actually wanted to date the bat but now that he was completely over her and kind of love sick over someone else, especially the ex of Knuckles, he had figured that perhaps going out on a date with his other ex girlfriend may not have been the greatest idea into getting with Tikal.
"Aww, did I hurt your feelings grump hog?" she grinned as Shadow frowned.
"You and I both know I don't have feelings."
"Maybe not for me, but for peaches you sure do." she smirked wickedly as the hedgehog red muzzle.
How he wanted to kill this bat so much. A part of him was wondering how the hell he knew about his crush on Tikal but he had reminded himself that Rouge knew everything about everyone. She was Rouge the Bat after all, but Shadow knew her, at least most of her, not in the way that Knuckles knew her.
"You going to blackmail me to go on a date with you?" Shadow huffed as Rouge fake gasp, placing her heart on her chest, Shadow rolling his eyes.
"How evil do you think I am?" Rouge exasperated with fake shock as Shadow sighed, done with all the bullshit.
"Rouge, you're not over Knuckles and using me as your rebound is not going to make that easy for you." Shadow let out as the ivory bat glanced at him before sighing as she fell unto his couch.
Shadow looked at her worriedly. The bat may be crazy, she may have the dumbest ideas the universe could have possibly brought but regardless to it all, she was still his best friend. It still hurt him to see her hurt like this, especially considering the fact that she didn't get over a break up like normal girls did.
"I'm sorry." she let out as Shadow gave her a small smile. He knew that apologies were hard for her, especially knowing her cocky nature, so he knew that she was really hurting.
"Break-ups suck. I should be able to get over them by now. What the hell is happening to me!" Rouge huffed angrily as Shadow rolled his eyes, before stating the obvious.
"You're in love with him."
Rouge glanced at the hedgehog as he cocked a brow. She couldn't deny it and he knew. Love wasn't something that came easily for the bat, for the two of them in fact so hearing it from him probably made her realise how true this must have been.
"Love sucks." Rouge decided as Shadow's expression flattened.
"Not always."
"Sorry, Mr I'm in love with Peaches." Rouge joked as Shadow frowned. Gosh, how he wished that she wasn't his best friend sometimes.
"Alright, don't kill me with your glares." she chuckled. "How about we go to Moonbucks and try and avoid Knuckles as much as possible?"
Shadow huffed, but accepted regardless. He knew that bat, she wasn't going to tell him how exactly the two broke up or how she really felt about the breakup, but he knew that a friendly date to Moonbucks was sure as hell better than him being a rebound.
Hope you guys liked this chapter! I love Shadow/Rouge friendship so much and I feel like I lot more people need to write about it you know so I hope you all enjoyed it and I'd see you all soon for my upcoming books!
