Surprise!!! Updated again!

Yes, those reporters are evil incarnate.

But, Shadow's rabid fan-girls are also to blame. THEY said most of it, after all.
(good thing they're only like that in the stories, right? Right??)

Anyway, hope you like the new chapter!

Note: Arigato = Thank you

BTW: Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Happy- uh- whatever else I didn't think of!!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but M-chan and Kina.

Chapter 21: Heartbreak and Decision

Shadow was standing outside Maria's room door, listening to her cry.

"Maria... Please talk to me." He said, a hand resting on the door.

"Go away." Shadow heard Maria mumble.

"Maria don't shut me out. Those people... I don't care what they say! Those people don't know what they're talking about!" Shadow said loudly.

Maria was sitting on the floor at the foot of her bed, knees to her chest, forehead resting on her knees.

"Maria I love you and I know we're suppose to be together, no matter what they say..." Shadow said.

Maria looked toward the closed door, wiping some tears from her eyes.

She smiled slightly and nodded once.

"I'll be right next door if you want to talk..." Shadow said, and walked into his room.

M-chan saw this from around the corner.

She walked back downstairs, a worried look on her face.

'Now what do we do...' M-chan thought.

"How is she?" Amy asked, standing at the bottom of the staircase.

M-chan shook her head, slowly.

"I don't know... She won't even talk to Shadow-kun." She said.

"Damn reporters. This is all there fault..." Silver said, turning away slightly and clinching a fist.

"It's too late to blame them now. The damage is already done." Sonic said, turning to Silver.

M-chan watched Silver with a sad expression.

While he did feel terrible for Maria, M-chan knew the seemingly rejected idea of an Anthromorphic/Human couple struck a nerve in Silver that he likely didn't think he had.

"I'm not surprised this is how Maria reacted. Back on Ark, she was always afraid this would happen." Rouge said.

"Poor thing..." Amy said, quietly as she looked at the floor sadly.

"Maria will come around I think. Just give her time." Sonic said.

"Yeah, or Shadow will get through to her, so try not to worry about it." M-chan said.

Out the corner of her eye, M-chan noticed Silver glance at her.

Silver started walking away from the group.

Knuckles ran in the front door and slammed it shut, panting slightly.

"Sonic! What did you do?!" He yelled, turning back to the group.

"What do you mean?" Sonic asked, confused.

"There's reporters EVERYWHERE out there!" Knuckles yelled.

"What?!" The group said, and rushed to the front windows.

M-chan, Amy and Rouge looked out on window, and the guys look out the other, Silver hovering to over the others to get a better view.

The girls were first to react.

"Oh-"

"My-"

"God!!"

There were TV station trucks parked all down the street and near countless reporters and cameras.

Silver looked at M-chan.

"You WERE followed!" He said, loudly.

M-chan shook her head vigorously.

"No, I wasn't! There's no way! I don't know how they found us, but it wasn't something I did!" She said, looking over at Silver.

"Then how did- KNUCKLES!!" Rouge yelled, glaring at echidna.

"What'd I do?!" Knuckles yelled.

"YOU were the one they followed! They followed you here!!" Amy yelled.

Knuckles shook his head.

"They were already here when I got here! I barely got passed them without getting trampled!" He said loudly.

"Well, it wasn't exactly a secret that we stay at this house most of the time. It was only a matter of time before they would come here." Sonic said.

"Yeah that's true I guess." Amy said, quietly.

"Oh, sure. Sonic says it and it MUST be the reason they're here!" Rouge teased, with a grin.

Amy blushed slightly, but looked angry anyway.

"That's not true and you know it, Rouge!" Amy said, loudly.

Rouge shrugged with a small smile and started to walk away.

"As much as I hate to admit it, Blue Boy's got a point." M-chan said, with a smile.

"He's gotta be right once in his life." Knuckles said, following Rouge.

"WHAT?! What DO YOU MEAN ONCE?!!" Sonic yelled.

Knuckles and Rouge burst out laughing, leaning on each other as they walked.

"What do ya' say Amy? Shall we double team em' later?" Sonic whispered in Amy's ear.

"Oh, yeah. They're SOOO goin' down!" Amy said, quietly.

M-chan and Silver looked at each other and shook there heads slowly.

"So childish..." They both said.

"Hey, M-chan? You still got those water balloons from last summer?" Sonic asked.

"Oh, yeah. You gonna em' on those two?" M-chan asked with a grin.

"Yep. They won't expect that." Amy said, with a smile.

"We'll barrage em' from the second floor later. The last thing they'll expect is an indoor attack of this level!" M-chan said, with a wide, sly grin.

"M-chan! Not you too!" Silver scolded.

A large sweat-drop appeared on M-chan's head.

"Well..." She said, an apologetic look on her face.

Silver sighed, quietly.

"Try not to get water on the furniture. That would take longer to clear then the floor." He said, turning away.

"Arigato, Silver-kun!" M-chan said, and hugged Silver from behind causing him to blush.

M-chan, Amy and Sonic ran off, talking about their plans.

Silver sighed, quietly.

'And SHE'S older then ME!' He thought.

MEANWHIEL: Maria walked over to the door that connected her room with Shadow's.

She hesitated, then knocked on the door.

"Shadow..." Maria said, quietly.

"Maria?" Shadow asked though the door, sounding a little surprised.

"Yeah, can we talk?" Maria asked.

"Of course!" Shadow said, opening the door quickly.

Maria's eyes were still a little puffy from crying and her nose was slightly red.

"Are you okay?" Shadow asked, a worried expression on his face.

"Yeah, I'm... no, I'm not. I must look awful." Maria said, rubbing her eyes.

"No, you don't..." Shadow said, quietly.

He shut the door behind him as Maria walked over to her bed and sat down.

"I shouldn't be acting like this. Who cares what they think, anyway. Most of them are your fans and wouldn't be happy no matter who you date." Maria said, with a forced smile.

"That's true..." Shadow said, walking over to Maria.

He jumped onto Maria's bed, standing on the bed.

"Maria..." Shadow said, holding Maria's face in his hands.

Maria blushed slightly, looking into Shadow's eyes.

"I don't care what anyone says. We are meant to be together. And anyone who thinks it's wrong will have to face my wrath!" Shadow said.

Maria giggled quietly.

"Be afraid, Shadow fan-girls." She said, quietly.

Shadow smiled slightly.

"Come on, I bet the others are worried about you." He said, jumping down from the bed.

Maria didn't move.

"I don't want to... It's already late, so can we just stay in here?" She asked.

Shadow nodded once, looking a little worried.

Maria's stomach growled quietly and she blushed slightly.

Shadow had a hard time not laughing at Maria's expression.

"I'll go make you a sandwich. Be right back." He said, and walked out of the room.

Maria decided to change into her pajamas and walked into her bathroom.

When Shadow got to the kitchen, M-chan and Amy practically pounced on him.

"Is Maria okay?!" The girls asked loudly.

Shadow sighed quietly.

"She's okay. But, she's going to stay in her. She's tired and is turning in early." He said, going over to the refrigerator.

"Yeah, that's understandable." Amy said, sadly.

"Need any help with sandwich making?" M-chan asked.

"Not really. Just point me in the direction of the Doritos." Shadow said, putting the mayonnaise back in the fridge

M-chan smiled and got two snack bags from the cabinet.

"Thanks." Shadow said, taking the bags from M-chan.

"Tell Maria good-night for us." Amy said.

"I will. Good-night, girls." Shadow said, starting to walk back to Maria's room.

"Good-night, Shadow." M-chan and Amy said.

When Shadow got back to Maria's room, she was getting back in bed after changing into light blue pajamas.

"That was fast." Maria commented.

Shadow nodded once.

"I didn't want to leave you alone for long." He said, shutting the door behind him and walking over to the bed.

Maria smiled slightly.

"You worry too much." she said, pulling the covers back and sitting on the bed.

Shadow sat on the bed and handed Maria the sandwich.

"Thanks." She said, and took a bite of the sandwich.

Shadow watched Maria eat for a moment, then looked down.

"Do you regret it?" He asked quietly.

Maria looked confused as she turned to him.

"Regret what?" She asked.

"Us." Shadow said, simply.

Maria gasped quietly, and hugged Shadow tightly.

"Never... I love you. I could never regret being with you!" She said, tears coming to her eyes.

Shadow sighed, and gently rubbed Maria's back.

"Alright... Just wondering." He whispered.

'We both know that's not entirely true...' Shadow thought, sadly.

Maria pulled away slightly, and Shadow wiped her tears away with his thumb.

'It's not us you regret, it's that we aren't a 'normal' couple.' He thought, sadly.

Maria wiped her eyes and quickly finished her sandwich.

The two shared one of the chip bags in silence.

Shadow settled under the covers and Maria laid her head on his shoulder/chest.

"Are we okay?" Maria asked, a little worried.

"Of course. Good-night, Maria." Shadow said, stifling a yawn.

"Good-night, Shadow." Maria said quietly, already half asleep.

Shadow watched Maria sleep for a while, stroking her hair.

He sighed quietly.

'I hate those people... I don't care what they think, but I won't stand by and let them upset Maria.'

' "Humans and anthros shouldn't be together!" ' Shadow remembered one girl saying.

He sighed quietly.

'If the problem is being a human/hedgehog couple, then...' Shadow thought.

"I'll become human." Shadow whispered, and kissed Maria on the forehead.

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HUH?!! What's Shadow mean by that?!! :grins knowingly:

Well, you'll have to keep reading to find out!

Until then, Ja-ne'! (See ya'!)