His hand reached to the opened door and knocked on it. "Mr. Vector?" a smooth baritone voice said politely. The crocodile looked up from his newspapers to see the one who greeted him "Hey, Shadow!" Vector returned the greet with his loud voice. He looked to his clock on the wall, 5 pm. "You done for the day?" Vector asked with a gentle smile. Shadow just nodded. "Alright, come in! Espio has your pay…"

The newspaper returned to Vector's face while Shadow entered the office. Working in a busy kitchen was grueling but His bosses were good people and the pay was fair and always on schedule. They also paid in cash and that was always a plus, no need waste time going to the bank.

"Shadow..." Espio said as he removed his sight from the accounting he was doing. He reached for the binder that had the payroll details and searched for Shadow's name. When he found it, he slid the open binder to Shadow, along with a pen. Shadow checked that his name was right and also the amount, then he signed and slid the binder back to Espio "Okay…" Espio muttered and doubled checked everything. Everything was in order so he closed the binder and open the desk's drawer, taking a tiny, yellow envelope with the hedgehog's name written on. "Here you go. Have a good evening, Shadow" the chameleon said and gave him an honest smile to then return to his work.

"You too, sir" Shadow responded and turned to walk out. Before exiting the office, Shadow glanced to Vector and waved to him, who was now starting to dial a number on his telephone. Vector just smiled and nodded while waving back.

The dark hedgehog walked out into the calm street. The chill air felt good but it was a warning of the cold winter that was coming. He took a minute to collect himself, his upper body and feet ached from working and standing most of the day but at least his pocket had cash and tomorrow was his free day

A smile formed as he remembered that Sonic too had his free day tomorrow and he really wanted to go out with him and do something. He wasn't sure what but he'll probably figure it out on his way home...
The sunset bathed the world with a gentle and pretty orange. Shadow felt good as he crossed the street and set foot on the block where his apartment was, He was home.

He heard it and a grin formed. Sonic always waited for him by the window, sitting on a chair and playing his harmonica. The tiny songs could be calm or energetic, it told stories only Sonic knew.

The harmonica noise grew as Shadow got near the apartment building, today the tune was slow and mellow but as he walked up the stairs, the song stopped.

Shadow fumbled a bit as he was carrying grocery bags but he managed. The door unlocked and he opened it, creaking in the process, like it always did. By this point, Sonic would be normally stepping out of the bedroom… but he didn't.

The grocery bags were placed on the kitchen table, Shadow was a bit worried as he knew what the lack of Sonic's presence meant. He quickly made his way to the bedroom and he saw him.

Sonic was sitting there, motionless. Looking out the window, his harmonic resting on his lap… and tears trickling down his cheeks. Shadow hated the sight… but unfortunately it was common.

"Sonic?" Shadow say softly, not wanting to startle him.

"...Hey... Shadow..." Sonic said with a monotone voice that was about to crack. He blinked causing another couple of tears to trickle down

"Can I come in?" The ebony said calmly but he just wanted to run to him and hold him. Sonic just nodded and a sob escaped him and Shadow made his way to him. Shadow knelt and hugged a trembling Sonic. As soon his arms wrapped around his blue frame, Sonic started to really cry.

It took half an hour but Sonic finally stopped crying, not that it bothered Shadow who just kept hugging and petting him while he offered sweat nothings.

Sonic was exhausted, he offered no resistance as Shadow picked him up and moved him to the bed. He felt cold as his body detached from Shadow's but that was short lived as his boyfriend cuddled with him.

His eyes felt so heavy and his warmth was so comfortable… it wasn't hard for Sonic to fall asleep.

The Sun was long gone when Sonic opened his eyes "Shadow?" he muttered even thought he could feel his arms and heat "Hey… how you feel?" Shadow asked while tenderly rubbing his peach chest.

"...I…" Sonic started, bad memories starting to form in his head "...I don't... know…" his anxiety returning and the sadness too but before it got out of control, Shadow's embrace and smooth voice calmed him back "...It's alright, Sonic… I know its hard… Just breath with me..."

they just laid there, breathing in silence for a while until Shadow broke the silence "...are you hungry?" he asked and Sonic nodded "Would you like to help me cook dinner?" he took a moment but Sonic nodded at the end

Sonic was cutting down the veggies to be steamed while Shadow started to fry the meat. Sonic was concentrated in cutting, not realizing Shadow approached him until warm arms wrapped around his torso, making him tense up but quickly relaxed in his hold. Shadow pecked Sonic's cheek "...I'll be always here for you, Sonic… I love you" "...I love you too..." Sonic muttered but a tiny smile formed.