Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews guys. I know a lot of you last chapter were like "Why did Amy do that?" Well, you can see her point of view in this chapter. Hope you all had a fun Halloween! Enjoy the chapter.

•~•

The next morning, Amy remained in her room still flustered from last night's events. She couldn't believe Shadow had told her he loved her. She knew he was expecting her to reply back with the same answer, but she was still unsure of her feelings. Sure she had grown closer to him over the months, and their relationship as a whole had definitely improved, but that didn't change the fact she still had reserved anger from all the things Shadow had done to her in the past.

Amy just couldn't bring herself to find love in someone who was responsible for so many terrible things. Her stomach growled, taking her mind off the matter momentarily; she was absolutely starving for breakfast, but felt too awkward to go downstairs in case she bumped into Shadow. After all, she didn't feel like facing him at the moment and wanted to hold it off as long as possible. Quietly, she crept towards her bedroom door and opened it a crack to peek outside.

Just as she opened it bit wider, Silver happened to be heading up the stairs in her direction. "Psst," she whispered, catching his attention.

Silver looked her way before stopping in front of her door. "What?" he mouthed towards her.

Amy gestured for him to come into her room and he obliged with no other questions. Amy shut the door quietly behind him once he was inside.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Is Shadow down there?" she asked, fumbling with her hands nervously.

"Yeah, he's reading the paper. Why?" he questioned.

Amy sighed, unsure if she should explain her current situation without further complicating the matter. "Never mind… do you think you could bring me up some food? Maybe just some fruit?"

Silver chuckled thinking she was being childish. "You don't have to eat up in your room. Come downstairs," he gestured.

"You don't understand," she groaned. "I don't want to go while Shadow's there."

Silver tilted his head, confused by her evident avoidance of his brother. "Alright, what's going on?" he said crossing his arms over his chest. "Did my brother do something to you?"

"No, it's nothing like that," she dismissed. "It's just, he said something last night that I'm still trying to come to terms with…"

"And what's that?" he inquired curiously.

She looked down at the floor. "He told me that he loves me…"

At that moment, Silver was happy for his brother's courage. He had wanted him to be upfront with Amy for some time now, but seeing her expression only concerned him. "So, this is a bad thing?"

"I don't know," she mumbled heading towards her bed. "I'm starting to like your brother, but I don't know if I ever can love him back," she answered truthfully.

"- And now you're avoiding him in hopes of evading this exact conversation?" he theorized.

"Spot on," she smiled sheepishly.

Silver sighed and placed a hand to his forehead. "Look, Shadow's not perfect. I'll be the first to say that, but I know he cares for you," he pointed. "I'm not going to force you to develop feelings for the guy, but you should definitely give him a chance," he suggested. "I've never seen him this way before…in fact, I've never seen Shadow in love, ever," he said scratching his head as he tried to recall a time.

Amy took a seat down on the edge of her bed. "How am I supposed to figure this out?"

"Well, I can tell you one thing, you won't figure it out hiding up here in your room," he countered. Ouch. He had gotten her there. Silver retreated for her door as it was evident she wasn't going to budge. "Alright," he sighed. "I'll go downstairs and get you some food, but you have to give me your word that'll you'll talk to him at some point."

Amy nodded slowly. "I will, I just need to collect my thoughts."

"Then we have a deal." He reached for the handle of her door, but Amy stopped him.

"-Wait!" Silver looked over his shoulder at her. "-You're not going to tell Shadow any of this, are you?" she asked anxiously.

"No, I think this is something you two need to discuss together," he answered before opening the door and leaving. Amy thought about what Silver had said. He had a few good points, but she'd have all day to think about it.

•~•

Back downstairs, Shadow read from the paper while he dully stirred his coffee with a spoon. He laid the paper down on the table and placed his hands over his face exhaling a long breath. Shadow had a rough night after confessing his true feelings to Amy. His mind would not allow him to rest as he kept replaying last night events in his mind.

Shadow's thoughts were interrupted when he heard someone enter the kitchen. Thinking it was Amy; he eagerly looked up, but deflated when he saw Silver rustling through the refrigerator. "Is Amy awake yet?"

"Uh, yeah," he answered as he continued to pick items from the fridge on Amy's request.

Shadow stared at his brother strangely from his ambiguous answer. "…So, is she coming downstairs anytime soon?" he continued to prod.

Silver turned around and closed the door shut with his foot, cradling an assortment of fruit in his arms. "No."

This only caused Shadow to grow concerned. Was she sick? "Why not? Is something wrong?"

"Relax, Shadow," he said assorting the fruit into a bowl. "She just wanted me to bring her some breakfast."

"I can do that," he said quickly standing from his seat.

Silver stopped him by shaking his head. "I've got this handled, brother."

Shadow narrowed his eyes, starting to get annoyed with the vague responses and answers. "Alright, what the hell is going on?" he snapped.

"I promised Amy I wouldn't say anything, but she doesn't really want much company today."

"Why can't you tell me?" he growled; irritated by the lack of information he continued to receive.

"Look, this is between the two of you," he said as he headed out of the kitchen. He stopped just in the entryway and glanced at his brother from over his shoulder. "Just give her some space and I'm sure she'll talk to you all about this when she's ready." With that said, he headed up the stairs with Amy's breakfast in hand. Shadow watched from the kitchen entryway as Silver knocked on Amy's door. Once opened, he ushered inside and the door closed behind him.

•~•

A few hours later, Amy had yet to come out of her bedroom. Shadow made his way down the hall and stopped in front of her door. Naturally, he could just burst into her room with ease and address his concerns right there and then, but knowing Amy, that wouldn't help the situation. Instead, he lifted his right hand and knocked on the door twice, waiting for a response. "Yes?" he heard muffled through the door.

"Rose, it's me. Can we talk?" he asked leaning his ear closer to the door.

There was a moment of silence as he eagerly waited to hear her response. "I don't think that's a good idea…"

"I'm worried about you. I want to fix this."

"It's more than just fixing something," she replied. "Maybe a little later, o-okay?"

Shadow felt his countenance falter; just from her voice he could hear that she was heavily troubled. "…Very well," he said as he moved away from her door and headed downstairs. He didn't like this feeling he was having. He felt completely helpless, which was something he felt very rarely. Shadow always had a solution to most of his problems, and now that Amy refused to speak to him, it infuriated him.

He headed downstairs towards the front door and opened it before slamming it shut and headed for his car. He needed to get out and clear his mind, perhaps feed for a bit. Amy watched from her window through the cracked curtains as Shadow got into his car and took off. She knew she had hurt him, but hoped he'd understand that she just wasn't ready to talk yet.

•~•

Later that evening, a heavy thunderstorm slowly passed its way over the house. Amy had continued to avoid Shadow for the rest of the day, much to Silver's disapproval, but promised she'd talk to Shadow in the morning. Everyone had gone to bed, including Amy. As she laid there, terrified of the lighting and thunder just outside her bedroom window, she was deep in thought considering her feelings with Shadow.

Her mind flickered back to something Silver had said. Maybe he was right, maybe the only way to understand how she was feeling was to take that leap of faith and spend more time with Shadow. While she contemplated her feelings in silence, she was completely oblivious to a figure creeping onto her balcony just outside the French doors.

Outside in the pouring rain, the figure came into view and stood at her doors. It was Sonic. He stood in the gushing rain, void of any emotion as he stared at her completely numb to the piercing cold rainfall drenching his body. Sonic wasn't sure why he had decided to pay her a visit tonight, he hadn't been told to, but for some reason was drawn to her location. His humanity was shut off after all, so what did he care to know what she was up to? He had no romantic feelings towards her any longer, right?

As he watched her, a voice rang through his head. "Go and live your life knowing you are nothing to me or Amy. Live the rest of your days on this earth in misery and loneliness."

He felt a scowl tug at his lips. That explained it. How could he forget? Shadow had compelled him after sparing his life in the woods. Right now, Sonic was struggling to feel any emotion, but with his humanity turned off it was repressing it from being released, but that didn't mean it was giving up by trying to push its way through. "Shadow," he growled lowly with malice. He watched as Amy lay in bed staring up her ceiling. Oh, how he wished he could get inside and finish what he had started. Mephiles would be infuriated even if he were able to get to her; after all, the warlock had plans for the unborn child residing in her womb.

Back inside, Amy took her focus off the ceiling for a brief moment and glanced to her right just to catch a glimpse of Sonic standing at her balcony doors. They formed eye contact as he glared at her and Amy felt her heart skip a beat. A flash of lightning struck, causing a blinding light and when the flash dispersed, he was gone. There was only one thing she could think of doing right then. Scream.

•~•

In another part of the house, Shadow sat in his comfy chair with his feet kicked up on the footstool while he read a book for expecting parents. He had gotten undressed for the night, now shirtless and only in a pair of pajama pants, he read comfortably and relaxed as he touched up on his knowledge before the baby arrived. Surprisingly enough, Shadow was actually finding his read quite interesting as he absorbed new information. He was still upset that Amy had yet to speak to him but tried to distract himself with his reading.

Shadow flipped to the next page, but right as he did, his attention was drawn away when he heard an all too familiar scream echo down the hall. "SHADOW!" His red eyes darted away from the page towards his opened door and in an instant he was gone.

•~•

Seconds later, the door flung open and Shadow emerged into Amy's room. "Rose!" he shouted, looking for her. Everything appeared to be in order inside as looked for her until finally spotting her trembling form under the sheets. Shadow rushed to her side of the bed. "Rose?" he repeated, pulling the sheets off her. Her hands covered her face as she shook in place. Shadow placed a hand on her arm. "Amy, what's wrong?"

She flung herself into his arms unexpectedly. "Shadow!" she exclaimed. Shadow said no words and only encased her in his arms, unsure if she'd want him to embrace her or not with their current standing.

A second later, Silver sauntered into the room; eyes still practically closed as he placed a hand over his mouth and yawned. "What's going on?" he asked tiredly.

Shadow glanced back at his brother looming in the doorway as he held Amy closely. "It's alright, I've got this," he assured.

Silver eyes opened more, surprised, but also relieved to see the two in the same room for the first time all day. He nodded and refrained from smiling as he retreated back to his room. "Fair enough, night…" He could only pray that the two would discuss their problem and get over the issue.

Shadow turned his attention back on Amy once his brother had left. "Did you have a bad dream?" he questioned softly.

"No," she said shaking her head. She kept her face buried in his chest. "S-Sonic, he was here," she stammered.

Shadow pulled back to look at her face. "What?"

She looked over to her balcony doors, gesturing with a small nod of her head. "He was right there, I swear!"

Shadow parted from holding her to approach the balcony doors. "Stay put." Amy wrapped herself in the blanket as she watched Shadow investigate the scene. Unfazed by the thought of Sonic hiding and waiting to ambush him, he threw the doors open allowing the strong winds to push them back. The rain whipped down and around him as he remained inside but searched for any signs of intruders. Shadow shielded his eyes with one hand and allowed his strong sense of smell to try sniff out the blue hedgehog.

Unfortunately, Shadow was unable to catch neither scent nor sight of anyone present. He closed the doors, locking them shortly after. "The rain may have washed away his scent, but even if he was here he couldn't have hurt you," he assured her. "You've never invited him inside, so there would have been no way for him to get in your room."

She had forgotten about that small factor. "I guess you're right," she agreed softly.

Shadow put the sheets back over her and then stepped away suddenly feeling awkwardness set in. He rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably as he glanced towards the door. Besides this unannounced circumstance, he still wasn't sure if she'd want him to hang around any longer than necessary. "I'm going to head back to my room now…"

Amy looked towards the balcony doors once more, continuing to watch the rain pour down outside. Why had Sonic come to see her? With no response, Shadow started to make his retreat for her door figuring she was still upset with him. "…Hey, Shadow," she called.

He stopped just before the door and glanced at her sitting up in bed. "Yes?"

"…Do you mind if I spend the night with you in your room?" She fiddled with her fingers resting in her lap. "It's just, I really hate thunderstorms…always have."

"If it makes you feel more at ease, then by all means, join me," he said giving a small hopeful smile. She immediately took up his offer and rushed past him heading towards his bedroom down the hall. Shadow blinked in surprise seeing how fast she had left the room. He smiled to himself and followed after her.

•~•

In the city at Mephiles' bar, the door flew open from the strong winds outside and Sonic walked calmly inside. It was almost immediate that all eyes were on him as he entered from the bad weather. It went quiet as Sonic slammed the door behind him and shook off the rain, causing it to splash on nearby vampires.

"Hey, watch it!" some exclaimed.

Sonic ignored their complaints and headed for the stairs passing all eyes locked on him. Rouge moved out of his way as he stormed past her up the stairs still damp from the outside. "Whoa, where were you, blue?" she muttered.

"None of your business, Rouge," he replied rather rudely.

Rouge placed a hand on her hip and gave a shrug before continuing her way downstairs. "Rude."

Upstairs, Sonic headed for the only spare bedroom Mephiles had in his tavern, that he had kindly provided for him. As he neared his door, the warlock came out of his own and stared at Sonic with intrigue. "Where have you been off to on this miserable evening?" he inquired curiously observing his soaked wet form.

Sonic placed his hand on the doorknob avoiding looking his way. "Out."

"Care to share the details?" he interrogated further.

Sonic took his hand off the doorknob and finally turned to face him, annoyed with his persistent curiosity. "I don't think I have to explain anything to you."

Mephiles lifted his right hand and crunched his fingertips inwards to meet each other and suddenly Sonic felt an incredible pain in his head. He grunted loudly, shutting his eyes tight and dropping to his knees as he held his throbbing head. "Gahh!"

"You forget who you are dealing with, dear boy." He continued to inflict the magical attack on him as he watched Sonic grovel in pain before his feet.

"Okay!" he grunted through clenched teeth. Mephiles smirked and stopped his mind torture. Sonic panted and lifted himself to his feet. "I was visiting Amy…"

Mephiles gave a suspicious look towards him. "And why were you doing that? I don't recall giving orders to do so," he reprimanded.

"I know," he replied. "But, something drew me there. I don't know what it was, but I wanted to see her," he explained.

"Your humanity is still shut off, is it not?" Mephiles questioned.

"Of course, and I don't plan on turning it back on anytime soon, if ever…"

Mephiles chuckled. "Good boy. Having it off will do you better than having it on," he advised. "Promise me you'll stay away from the girl, I don't need Shadow nosing around here any more than he already has."

Sonic nodded. "I won't."

•~•

Back at Shadow's estate, Amy has made herself at home in Shadow's bed. She peeked from underneath the covers, watching Shadow read nearby. It had been silent for a few minutes now and Amy wondered when he would join her in bed. "Aren't you coming to bed?" she asked shyly.

He continued to keep his eyes on the pages. "In a little bit, but I will probably just crash on the couch."

"Why?"

"You've been avoiding me all day," he retorted simply as he turned a page. "I just assumed-"

"-I'm over that now," she replied cutting him off. "I mean…it is your bed after all."

"Well, if you are certain…" Secretly, Shadow was pleased to hear that she was no longer angry with him.

"Yeah, I-" A loud crack of lightning shot down outside causing her to stop midsentence and pull the sheets over her head. Shadow watched Amy shake beneath the sheets and sighed. He marked his place with a bookmark, snapping it shut, then hopped up and walked over to the lamp beside his bed turning it off and leaving them in complete darkness.

Amy felt a weight press down behind her and felt Shadow's arms wrap around her frame pulling her flush against him. Shadow placed his chin on her shoulder softly as he spooned her from behind. "Relax," he whispered. "It'll pass and it cannot hurt you," he assured. Again, Amy felt that all too familiar feeling with Shadow as she resided in his arms. She had felt it first when he rescued her after Sonic had kidnapped her and now was feeling it again. Amy eased as she listened to Shadow soothing breathing gently from behind. He was being so sweet to her and she wondered why since she had been such a bitch to him all day.

Ten minutes passed and it appeared Shadow was correct. The storm was moving away from them and the rain had become lighter outside. Shadow had released his hold on her after knowing she had relaxed. Amy turned over on her side to face him and the two stared at each other in the darkness. It had been quiet between them for a while until Shadow finally spoke, breaking the silence. "Do you feel better now?" he asked in a hushed tone.

"Yeah, I do, thanks…"

"Good, I'm glad." Again, there was another moment of silence between them, making it feel awkward. Shadow couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked lying beside him in the moonlight. Shadow gulped. "…Rose?"

"Yes?"

"Might I ask why you chose to avoid coming in contact with me all day?"

Amy's ears lowered. She had realized how cruel it must have come across and regretted her actions. "Well…"

"—If it's something I did, I'd like to clear the air and move forward."

Amy nodded. "You deserve an explanation, I know that." She took a deep breath. "It started last night when you told me that you loved me," she began. "You expected me to say it back and I just couldn't. In fact, I don't know if I ever will be able to…"

Shadow felt a pang of disappointment from her response. "…I see," he replied trying to remain composed. "Why is it you feel this way?"

"Shadow, you've been nothing but sweet, caring, and doting over me these past few months and I've really come to like you," she explained. "But there are just some things that are holding me back from giving you my heart."

"Like what?"

"Well, for starters, I wouldn't be in this situation if you hadn't come in between Sonic and I. You came in and turned my life upside down and took Sonic away from me," she pointed out. "I was in love and I thought I'd get married to him one day. You were responsible for my father's death even if it wasn't done by your own hands," she added. It was a low blow, but she was right, it was his fault that he was dead.

"If I could take back some of my actions I would… I know an apology will not suffice, in this case, but I love you and I don't regret that." He closed his eyes thinking back. "That night when we made love," he continued, opening his eyes to look at her. "I know there was something between us. I felt it and I know you did too. I can honestly confess that I have never had such passion with another girl in my entire life."

"And you're right," she admitted closing her eyes. "There was something there and there probably still is. That's why I was so upset when you helped me remember everything that happened the following morning. I was disgusted with the fact that I had allowed myself to develop feelings for someone that caused so much pain in my life."

Shadow remained quiet as he allowed this to process. There were so many questions being answered for him and it was all making sense now. "Is that why you left town then?"

"Yes, I wanted to find Sonic and see if I could rekindle our love. I wanted to make sure this wasn't just lust."

"So, what are the results then now?" he asked almost too afraid to hear her answer.

"I like you, Shadow. I'll give this a try, but don't force the relationship to progress to where you hope it'll end," she replied.

He gave a small smile. "I promise I won't." He kissed her cheek. "I will always love you and I'll continue to even if you never return the feelings back." Amy smiled weakly at him as he stared at her in adoration. "I will always be there to take care and protect you."

Amy scooted closer to him and laid her head along his chest as she cuddled with him. She might not have said what he had hoped to hear, but this was a start.

•~•

AN: Remember to leave me a review!