"You shouldn't have come." Shadow turned to look at Kristin, the still frail hedgehog standing a little taller and a little stronger, as if a breeze wouldn't knock her over. A fierce grip onto the railing, she tried her best to calm the trembling in her body.
"And why not? If I remember correctly, he was using you as his own form of a punching bag. Are you telling me you wanted that to happen?" His voice was steadily rising with each word. Had she wanted this? Was she angry with him? A thousand thoughts raced through his head, forcing him to take a deep breath and calm down. Tugging on his quills, the black and red male hedgehog faced Kristin and once again tried to reason with her, this time more calmly.
"Kristin….. Explain to me what you wanted me to do. Let me know whether or not what I did was the wrong thing. I thought I was helping you. Wasn't I?" His hopeful gaze met her sympathetic yet cold one, and he knew what was going to happen before she even said a word.
"I'm sorry Shadow, but I didn't want you to come, I never asked you to come. I told you I can take care of this on my own and I am." With three bruised ribs and a sliced thigh, Shadow believed he could easily disagree with that, but wisely kept his opinions to himself.
"Why Kristin? Why him? After all that he's done to you, why would you choose him?" One last ditch effort for Shadow to make Kristin understand that this wasn't the life she wanted. This wasn't the life she needed. So why? Why did she insist on going back to a life filled with pain and hurt? And why was she trying to shut him out?
"I know what I'm doing Shadow! This is my life! I know how to run it! Don't tell me what to do!" Shadow knew that if he gained any ground with Kristin, he had just lost it. She was livid, eyes narrowed in loathing and teeth clenched in hate. This was a problem he was well familiar with when it came to her. Kristin was one of the sweetest girls he knew, but absolutely detested being told she was doing something wrong. Shadow usually just let her try until she either threw in the towel in anger or got him to do it, the latter usually resulting in him getting yelled at for showing off.
"Listen Kristin…"
"No! You listen Shadow! This is my life! And I've decided that you're not going to be a part of it!" With that Kristin slammed the door in Shadow's face, leaving him to wonder exactly what just happened. Staring at the flaking paint on the red door, Shadow wondered what would happen to Kristin now. He figured she would probably make good on her threat and move away from here. From him. He also realized, he didn't really care. With that, Shadow finally walked away from that door and from the black and red hedgehog who he had once known.