Chapter 13: Morning

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Oh Chaos

Oh Chaos-!

Sonic didn't realise how desperately he needed air before Shadow pulled away. He didn't realise how he was holding Shadow's left arm, almost leaving marks from the sheer force he was gripping at it with. Didn't realise how he had wrapped an arm around Shadow's waist either, holding him close, and apparently it was also Sonic who had pressed them both against the counter, and-

-and why is there hot-chocolate on the floor?

And he had kissed Shadow. No, even better: Shadow had kissed him. Shadow. Had. Kissed. Him.

Score one for Sonic the Hedgehog!

Cheering inside Sonic then grinned at Shadow, who smiled. Like, yes, that smile was hella weird and Shadow actually looks creepy as fuck when he smiles, and his expression was even weirder, but yes. Shadow smiled! …And then he rolled his eyes, and withdrew his hands. And then Sonic of course had to withdraw his hands too, because – am I blushing again!?

"Um…" Sonic opened his mouth to say something cool, but then his brain shut down. And arghh, why was he blushing so much!? He snuck a glance at Shadow's cheeks, which were barely dusted with pink. What?! How was he not at least a bit flushed?

"You…" Shadow began saying hesitantly. "I didn't think you would take it this calmly."

Calmly? What?! "Excuse me if I look as cool as a cucumber but, no, as a matter of fact I am not calm. It's really awesome that you kissed me and all, but…" Sonic had started ranting, making sure to look Shadow in the eye as he said each word. And now he hesitated, because this question wasn't needed right now, and it could ruin everything, but he still wanted to get it out. Sonic took a breath, and then he said,

"Why?"

Shadow's expression changed. His face fell, his… ugh, smile, froze and then he tried to hide it. He was bad at smiling, so he didn't succeed. His arms crossed over his tuft of fur again, like he didn't know what to do with his arms anymore. His lips parted, and he said, slowly and delicately,

"You didn't… like it?"

"That wasn't what I meant." Sonic quickly said, and then he realised that he actually said it out loud. He smiled slightly, and said softly, "Of course I liked it, Shads. I just…" Another breath. "…Why?"

Shadow looked almost relieved at Sonic's words, and he almost smiled again. "Oh…" He breathed. And then he seemed to realise how he was acting and quickly wiped the smile of his face. "Well, faker…"

Sonic was about to be offended at 'faker', but Shadow said it so… affectionately. There wasn't another word to describe it, so Sonic just let the nickname slide.

"…Remember when we first met?" Shadow's eyes flashed ruby, and Sonic nodded. He could almost hear the sirens blaring when he recalled it… "The moment we realised that we weren't the only one of our kind anymore, no matter how infuriating it may have been?"

Aw yeah it was infuriating all right…

"I don't do amnesias." Sonic flashed a smirk, taking a barely noticeable step closer to the Ultimate lifeform. "So yeah, I remember."

Shadow looked almost disapproving at the hand that was now gripping at his arm again, or maybe it was at the indication that he had memory problems for fun. He glanced up at Sonic again, ruby eyes half-lidded. He then continued speaking, just slightly quieter,

"Good for you." A hand was suddenly placed on Sonic's arm. "And if you remember that…" He leaned closer. "Then tell me; Why didn't you let me fall?"

-What-? The sudden question threw Sonic off the path. Of course he knew what Shadow meant, but why did he ask? The answer was obvious.

"I'll never leave someone to die."

Shadow blinked. Then he let a small, almost sad smirk show, and looked down. "I see…" The hand on his arm tightened its grip briefly. "I should have known that…"

"Maybe." Sonic said. "But hey, if it makes you feel better to hear this, then I've been tempted to just leave you to die more than a few times." Sonic joked, and caressed the fur on Shadow's arm slightly with his thumb.

"Likewise. Except that I wanted to just strangle you." Shadow looked down at Sonic's hand, which was now tracing the red line on the back of his arm.

"You were the only one who could catch me…" Shadow said quietly. They stood so close now, that there was no need to speak louder. Sonic suddenly realised he wasn't blushing, despite their closeness. Actually, this was really weird in many ways, like, it felt so good to be able to stand so close to Shadow, when recently he had blushed like crazy even thinking about it…

And the moonlight was still falling onto Shadow, and his outlines looked like silver while his eyes were rubies. Sonic raised his unoccupied arm, and slowly put it around Shadow's waist. The black hedgehog gave a brief look at the arm, and then he just closed his eyes and leaned into the touch.

It felt like Shadow had tried to say that Sonic was the only one he ever felt like he could be with. And that… finally offered an explanation as to why he didn't want to be with Amy. She couldn't keep up, but he couldn't stop running. It was simple, really…

"…And I'm expecting you to mop up that chocolate, faker."

In the morning…

Everything felt so heavy. Like his lids just wanted to fall shut, and like the blanket was pressing him to the bed… There was no need to get up early, right? Today it should be… be… What day had it been yesterday? Ughhhh…

"SONIC! WHY IS THERE HOT-CHOCOLATE ALL OVER THE FLOOR?!"

…Aw shit

"I'LL CLEAN IT UP IN A MOBIUS MINUTE!" Sonic shouted back, and proceeded to heave himself out of the bed. What had he even done last-

Oh.

Oh.

He and Shadow had been in the kitchen. Together. And also they had been kissing each other. Like, lips against lips and hands around Shadow's waist and the like…

And Sonic grinned. They had even be able to do it without waking anyone up! Okay, they did it in the kitchen, and they could have done it someplace more romantic, but it was still a kiss. Between him and Shadow. And Sonic honestly couldn't have cared less if the kiss had been at a sunset in Chun-nan or in Eggman's dumpster, as long as it was Shadow who kissed him.

And it had been perfect. He didn't know he could kiss that good, he didn't know Shadow could-

"SONIC! I'M SERIOUS! GET. THIS. CHOCOLATE. MOPPED. THIS. INSTANT!"

Sonic was already rushing down the stairs as Tails shouted the last word, running with one of his shoes in his hand as he did not have time to put it on.

"COMING!" He shouted, and skidded to a halt. Tails spun around to look at him, and pointed at him with a frying pan.

"How-" He said, and pointed at the floor. "-is there chocolate on the floor first thing in the morning?"

Sonic glanced down. A very brown and very noticeable halfway-dried puddle had formed next to the counter. A fuzzy memory of Shadow telling him to clean it up resurfaced, and Sonic realised that he must have forgot it.

And yeaaah, Tails asked why it was there.

Heh…

"Must have knocked it over by mistake earlier." Sonic said casually, reaching for a kitchen towel.

"Earlier?" Tails repeated. "Did I seriously hear this right? Sonic the Hedgehog was up and about earlier than seven o'clock? Marvellous!"

"Ha-ha." Sonic said at the sarcasm, and crouched down. The chocolate wasn't so terribly hard to wipe away, even though it had mostly dried already. And who had knocked the mug over anyway? Maybe it had been his elbow, or maybe it was Shadow's…

…Had Shadow woken up yet?

Sonic stopped in his cleaning briefly to ponder over it. He realised he had no idea when Shadow usually got up, since the only times he had seen him wake up had been when Sonic had woken him up on purpose. Or when Shadow had not woken up at all.

Hmm…

"-and I'll be going back to my lab now. See you, if not earlier, then at dinner." Sonic looked up as Tails exited the room, skipping down the stairs hastily. Then Sonic looked down at the stain again, and wiped up the last of it…

A few minutes or so later…

Really, now when he sat down and thought about it… Shadow's actions had been a bit confusing. As in: Sonic didn't know whether Shadow wanted them to get together or just felt particularly affectionate yesterd - erm, last night… Like, they kissed, yeah, but he didn't tell him that he… liked him or anything… But…

But then… then he talked. Like, really talked, and not just nodded and smiled or told him to head to bed or something. And Shadow didn't really talk, so it was… interesting? Comforting? Reassuring? …It felt like he had told Sonic how special he was. And not just how exceptionally annoying or oblivious he was, but the black hedgehog had actually, to some degree, praised him.

…And chaos Sonic hoped that was the case, since that thought just felt so good.

Filled with something akin to hope Sonic then took a big bite of hit toast, chewing on it thoughtfully. He would talk with Shadow when he came down. Clear things up a little bit…

Meanwhile…

Could I… start a relationship with Sonic?

That was actually a very fragile question. First off; did Sonic want it to continue? Did Shadow want it to continue?

…He wasn't sure. Maybe seeing Sonic's face would clear that part up. Maybe…

What was the time anyway?

Shadow rolled over to glance at the clock, which almost mockingly told him it was 8 o'clock. Sure it had been enough hours of rest for him, but what about Sonic? Maybe he was still asleep. But if Sonic was still asleep, then Shadow could just go back to sleep he too.

-Or maybe Sonic was actually awake and beginning to think that Shadow had passed out on his way to the kitchen or something…

He sighed. And then he, reluctantly, puts his feet on the floor to proceed and get out of the bed.

Meanwhile…

The tea was getting cold, but she had no intention to drink it just yet. Cheese was nibbling on a cookie silently, and Cream was sitting supportively beside her. And Amy was talking about the recent events to her heart's content, speaking her mind tearfully…

"-and then he said how much he loved having me by his side, and it was just… just the best thing. Ever." Amy concluded dreamily.

Cream glanced at Cheese, who glanced back just as clueless. Miss Amy had been very excited yesterday, and now she had told Cream how Shadow and Sonic had fought. And how Sonic had told her how good of a friend she was.

And Cream just couldn't understand her. She had told Cream and Cheese oh so many times how she wanted to be more than friends with Mister Sonic, and now she was so very excited over him telling her that he thought of her as a really good friend.

No, Cream couldn't understand it, but she supposed deeper understanding of life came with time. And she had plenty of that, and plenty of friends, so she would probably understand it soon. And when she did, she could finally understand Miss Amy's and Mister Sonic's relationship!

So she took another cookie, and began to chew on it happily, all while listening to Amy once again describe what had happened…

To be continued…

A/N: And pretty, pretty please give me constructive criticism! I'm trying to develop some kind of writing style, and I would be so very glad to hear your opinion!

(Also, thank you Jish for pointing out a few things!)