After having reviews and PMs asking for a quick update, I knew I had to finish Chapter 10 ASAP. Here you go everyone!

WHOA, 31 reviews?! WHAT?! I didn't expect this at all. My goal for this story was to have TEN reviews. O_o Thank you everyone, and keep on reviewing!

Disclaiming: If you have read this story up to Chapter ten and still never figured out that I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog and Co...you are an idiot. Sorry, but it's true.


Blaze, in her pajamas, watched in utter confusion as she watched Shadow and Rouge play cards.

"Ha! I win the pot!" Rouge said, beaming at her luck.

"What the hell Rouge! I won! Look at my hand!" Shadow yelled, slamming the cards onto the table.

"Don't be such a sore loser!"

"I'm the Ultimate Lifeform! I do not lose!"

Rouge simply scoffed his attitude off, making Shadow shove the table over. The table along with the cards and money clattered onto the floor.

Rouge sighed in annoyance. "Stop being a drama queen…"

"What did you say?!"

Blaze shook her head, it was simply too odd how they acted around each other.

Walking from the kitchen area into the living room, Blaze saw Shadow's bedroom door wide open. Curious, Blaze let her feet carry her into the dark room, away from the others.

Self consciously, Blaze looked for the one thing that kept flashing to her mind. Once her golden eyes spotted it, she picked it up carefully and stared at it, letting herself sit on the edge of Shadow's bed.

In her hands was the Sepia picture she saw before. So the girl is Maria…she has such a pretty name.

Blaze let her hand rub over the picture, focusing on the small details in the picture. She now matched the strange faces to the right names. Blaze smiled, it was hard to believe that these two people made Shadow so happy, and yet so sad and hurt.

No wonder Doctor Robotnik went insane after Maria's death. Maria was his only family that he was close to. I'm surprised I didn't take my pain out on my kingdom after Silver left…

"What are you doing?"

Blaze suddenly turned to see Shadow staring at her, his emotionless gaze seeping through her.

Blaze looked at the ebony hedgehog, then back at the picture.

"Maria is a nice name."

Shadow looked at her in slight surprise. "What?"

Blaze scooted over on the bed, making room for Shadow to sit. Taking the hint, Shadow sat beside her.

"Why are you in my room?"

"Why do you care?"

"…"

Shadow did have a reason to care, but he dared not to mention it, at least out loud. He felt like strangling Sonic. For once, Sonic had gotten to him. What Sonic had said made Shadow almost…uncomfortable with being in his room with Blaze…alone…with no lights on.

He watched Blaze as she stared at the picture with intensity. "What are you looking for?"

Blaze didn't look at him. "Nothing…I just like this picture…"

Shadow slowly nodded as Blaze put the picture back on the end table. They sat in silence for a few minutes, before Shadow began to talk.

"Did Sonic say anything else to you?"

"He said he was sorry. I wasn't really paying any attention, I just wanted to leave."

"I understand. You don't have to worry Blaze. You are safe here."

Blaze stood up. "I know Shadow. I trust what you say."

"Good." Shadow replied in his deep voice. He lay down on his bed.

Saying goodnight, Blaze walked out of the room and into Rouge's where Rouge lay in bed, reading her romance novel.

"Are you ready for bed dear?" Rouge asked. "Yes." Blaze replied, slipping her legs under the silk sheets.

Putting her novel onto her end table, Rouge reached over and flicked the light switch, covering the room in comfortable darkness.

Even though they could barely see each other, they turned on their sides so they faced each other.

"Hey Blaze?"

"Yes?"

"Are you a virgin?"

"What?! Don't ask such a thing!"

Rouge smirked. "It was just a question, don't get defensive."

"I think you know the answer very well." Blaze snapped, listening to Rouge's deep breathes.

"You know Blaze, I'm a virgin, even though you might not believe me."

"Why wouldn't I believe you? You are only eighteen."

"I have sort of an image against me you know."

"Don't we all?" Blaze replied, shifting uncomfortably. "Why are we talking about this anyway?"

Rouge let herself fall on her back. "Well, after what Sonic said, I wanted to make sure."

"Well, now you know, alright?" Blaze said, flaying her arms around her.

After a minute of silence, Rouge asked, "Do you have a crush on anyone?"

Blaze let herself collapse onto the bed in annoyance. "Why must you ask such things?"

"Well Blaze, usually, friends tell each other these kinds of things?"

"I don't have a crush on anyone." Blaze told Rouge, certainty in her voice.

Rouge just sighed. "You are one hard egg to crack Blaze."

Blaze didn't reply. Her mind kept drifting to what Sonic said.

"I'll let you go to sleep. You must still have what Sonic said on your mind."

"It's…sort of hard to forget." Blaze told her honestly. Rouge shifted under the sheets.

"I understand. Don't worry. Sonic will make up for what he did somehow. He's like that. You'll see."

Meanwhile, in Shadow's room…

Shadow couldn't help but toss and turn in the eerie silence of his room. He could hear Rouge and Blaze's voices faintly. Shadow sighed. It annoyed him that he could hear the mumbling through his wall. It was enough noise to keep him from falling into any heavy sleep.

Grunting, Shadow jerked his body over, trying to get comfortable. I wish I could shut my mind off…then maybe I would get some sleep.

Taking deep breathes, Shadow's eyelids slowly closed, sending his body into complete darkness.

The next morning…

Rouge had a meeting with GUN that day, and left early, leaving Blaze and Shadow alone. Deciding to go outside in the chilly weather, they headed out into a nearby field, away from the cement and traffic that usually surrounded them.

The first thing they did?

Start a fight.

A large snowball slammed into Blaze's thigh, knocking her off balance. As she fell into the snow, Shadow stepped towards her offering his hand to help her up; instead she pulled him down with her. As he tumbled into the snow, Blaze, laughing, ran towards him. Shadow smirked, sticking his leg out before Blaze noticed. Blaze tripped over his leg and fell on top of Shadow, causing them to struggle to be the one on top. Blaze, though, eventually came out on top, pinning Shadow's arms into the white snow. Blaze kept her legs on either side of Shadow's body to prevent him from escaping, and used her hands to pin down his wrists.

"I warned you not to challenge." Blaze panted, out of breath.

Shadow laughed, something he hadn't done in a long time. "I went easy on you, I'm never defeated."

"Neither am I…" Blaze retorted, tightening her grip on his arms.

Shadow, noticing what position they were in, asked, "Are you ever going to let me up?"

"Hmm…I'll think about it." Blaze said, smiling. Shadow fought not to blush.

"So cat woman, what are we supposed to do while I'm pinned down?" Shadow taunted her.

Blaze couldn't think of a smart remark, so just replied with, "I don't know, maybe I'll teach you a lesson for provoking me to violence…"

"Violence? We were having a damn snow ball fight Blaze, not committing genocide!"

"I know that."

"Then what's the problem?"

"You have to tell me that I'm better at you at snow ball fights!"

Shadow groaned. This was complete torture.

"No."

"Then this is how we will stay until you say it!" Blaze told him, inching her face closer to his.

Desperate to get out of her grip, Shadow muttered in annoyance, "You are better at snow ball fights than me…happy?"

Pulling her face away from his, Blaze smirked as she rolled off of him. "Finally, you swallowed your pride."

Shadow mentally added, and my dignity…

Blaze was surprised at how she didn't mind the cold. The only thing was that the falling snow interfered with her pyrokinesis. Luckily though, her extreme body heat kept the harsh chill of the winter season off of her, letting her stay outside without getting as cold as the others.

Standing up, Shadow rubbed the snow off of his arms. "We should head back, the snow is getting thicker."

"You're right. It looks like there could be a storm." Blaze replied in agreement. Walking side by side, they headed towards the apartment.

Twenty minutes later…Rouge and Shadow's apartment…

Sipping on hot chocolate and watching the news, the two sat on the couch in comfort. Just as they predicted, the snow had gotten thicker and harder, leading into a snow storm later on in the day.

Just as Blaze was about to flip the channel to the weather, there was a knock at the door. Shadow stood up first and answered it.

Sonic stood in front of him. He wore a sky blue, puffy jacket and red boots, similar to his usual sneakers. His black eye remained swollen from before, and numerous bruises covered his muzzle and spines. A weak smile on his face, Sonic meekly said, "Hi."

Shadow stepped outside and closed the door. "You got more nerve than I thought faker. After what you said-"

"I'm really sorry Shadow. It got out of hand and I…I was an idiot. You know me right? I think before I say a lot of things…"

"Does it look like I care? It was bad enough you said it to me, but to say something like that to Blaze…"

"Please, Shadow. Let me in! I need to talk to Blaze. I need to apologize!"

Shadow simply crossed his arms. "Forget it. I don't want you hurting Blaze."

"You can't tell what to do and not do! I'm going to talk to Blaze, whether you like it or not!"

Blaze, who had just approached the door, slammed the door open, slamming Shadow into the wall.

"Sonic? W-why are you here?"

"Please Blaze, can we talk? Inside?"

Now Blaze usually wasn't forgiving, or trusting. But once she looked into Sonic's big, emerald eyes and thought of all the things he did for her and her kingdom, she couldn't help but give in.

"Yes, Sonic…you can come in."

The two walked inside, as the very pissed-off Shadow followed in.

"We should talk about this in private." Blaze said, motioning to Rouge's room. Sonic followed her into the glamorous hot pink room as she closed the door, leaving Shadow to sit on the couch and watch the weather.

The two sat on the edge of the silk bed, facing each other. Blaze narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms. "What do you want to say?"

Fiddling with his thumbs, Sonic looked up. "Blaze, I'm so sorry. I know how mean what I said was, and how I took the joke too far."

"You don't know how much that embarrassed me! Or how serious what you said was!"

"I know! I should've thought before I spoke but I didn't. I guess I wanted to tick off Shadow so much I forgot that he had feelings too, and of course, that it would've hurt yours."

"Why, why did you say that?" Blaze asked, putting her head into her hands. Sonic put his hand on her shoulder.

"I guess I said that because of how nice he was to you, and how I knew it would tick him off. Though, I didn't think he would take it this defensive…but he had every right to be so angry at me." Sonic told her.

"There's sort of another reason too..."

"What Sonic?"

Sonic cleared his throat before saying, "Well, er, I was sort of jealous..."

Blushing, Blaze's eyes widened. "Jealous? Why?"

"Well, whenever we were together, I was the only guy that got your attention. Of course, you were friends with Tails, but he was never as close as we were. When you started to hang out with Shadow and stuff...I felt like...we weren't as tight as we used to be...you know what I mean?"

Blaze nodded. "Sonic, you will always be my best friend, you know that."

Sonic nodded. "I know, but still, we never got to hang out much..." His voice trailed off, as he used his hand to rub his swollen eye.

Looking up, Blaze noticed how badly is eye was. "Does it hurt?"

Chuckling, Sonic said, "Not as much as not having you living with Tails and me."

"Sonic…"

Taking both of her hands into his, he clasped them tightly. "Blaze…I'm so, so sorry. Come back…please?"

Showing a warm smile, they hugged each other as Blaze said, "I forgive you Sonic."

"Good, because the house has been awfully cold since you left."

"It's only been a night!" Blaze laughed, jokingly punching Sonic's shoulder.

"Ouch!" Sonic yelped, gripping onto his bandaged arm. Blaze's expression changed to worry. "I'm sorry! Are you alright?"

"What? That? Ha, barely noticed!" Sonic replied, hiding the pain. Blaze rolled her eyes.

"Who did the bandaging?"

"Amy bandaged my arm and torso. She wants to become a nurse when she's older."

"Well at least she got some practice."

"Oh har har har." Sonic said sarcastically, as they left the room and rejoined Shadow. Shadow glared into Sonic's eyes, making him take a step back in caution.

After Blaze gave him a nudge, Sonic said, "Listen Shadow, I'm really sorry. I hope you can forgive me."

Shadow looked at Sonic, then Blaze, and then at the floor before slowly nodding. Sonic sighed in relief.

Turning on her heel, Blaze headed back into Rouge's room, packing some of her loose things and gathered her luggage.

"Thank you Shadow for letting me stay here. Tell Rouge thank you for me too." Blaze told him, just as Sonic and her were about to leave.

"It's alright." Shadow replied in a flat tone. As she turned away, Shadow said, "Oh, and Blaze?"

"Hm?"

"...be careful..."

Nodding, Sonic and Blaze ran out of the apartment, down the steps, and up the road. Sonic grabbed and held onto Blaze's hand to make sure she kept up with him.

As Shadow watched Sonic hold Blaze's hand, his intent ruby eyes picking up their every movement, he felt the green-eyed monster rear its ugly head up again, ready to torture his every thought and feeling…

For those of you thinking that Sonic was implying he has a crush on Blaze during their talk and his jealously about Shadow and Blaze's friendship, your wrong. I really, really, REALLY hate love triangles. They are annoying and pointless. Seriously, there will be no Sonaze in this story. I'm not against the pairing (I even support it here and there), but this is a Shadaze story people.

Who else loved the parts where Sonic and Blaze chatted and the ending? Those were my favorite parts in this chapter! -squeals-

Read and Review. Thank you for reading, and have a nice muffin.

-Kendell