He paced around his living room. For hours. Waiting on her to finally come home.

Home.

Their home.

His mind was going a million miles a minute, and usually when he couldn't control his feelings he would go to the bar and just get wasted; He was trying to do better though. She was helping him become a better man, and he wasn't going to throw himself into his toxic habits to feel better. He needed something to distract himself, so he opted to sit on the couch and anxiously watch television until she came in. He couldn't control his bouncing leg or from twiddling his thumbs. So much for not panicking.

The show on the tv was nothing more than a reality competition cooking show, and all he could think about was all the times he shared the kitchen with his girlfriend and made a meal to enjoy together. He had settled into a quiet, boring life with his loud and excitable girlfriend who was larger than life. She had slowly began moving into his home by leaving clothes, chargers, and buying food that she likes. His shower is filled with things that she swears is better for him since she was so angry when she first saw that all he had was some cheap shampoo and soap. There were now almost 20 different items decorating his shower for her and him and the sink had succumbed to her beauty and skin care products. He didn't understand any of it, but it made her happy and he was happy to see her happy.

His phone rang while he was trapped in his thoughts and it made him jump. His heart jumped to his throat as he reached to his phone to see who was calling. Was it Amy? Did he have the strength to hear what she had to say, did he want to hear a heartbreak coming a mile away? When his eyes settled on the contact's name, his blood went cold.

Maria?!

What fucking timing. Why was she calling him? His hands shook as he hesitantly answered and pulled the phone to his ear.

"H...Hello?"

"Shadow!" Her familiar voice filled his ear, and he swallowed the lump in his throat.

"Maria."

He stated apprehensively.

"You sound distracted! Am I interrupting something?"

She giggled, blissfully unaware as usual.

"Uh...no. How are you?" He didn't know what to say.

"You sound so different! Has it been that long since I've been back in town?"

Back...in town? His stomach fell to his feet and he lost his breath. "Back in town?"

"Oh yeah! That's what I called about!" she let out that same old giggle that used to give him butterflies, but this time he felt just a small ache in his heart, "I'm back in town for a little bit and I was hoping to come by like old times!"

She was so blissfully unaware of the mess she left behind when she walked out of his door. It was almost laughable. Him falling apart for months while she was exploring the world thinking she still had a home to come back to. She couldn't come back! Not with things going so well with Amy! This couldn't be happening. Not now! His heart started pounding in his ears as he scrambled to find a way to tell her no, but he just couldn't.

"O...O-Okay. My girlfriend will be over soon, why don't we have dinner?"

He facepalmed. Why did he say that? He couldn't subject Amy to that!

"Girlfriend? Look at you! I would love to meet her! I'll be there as soon as I'm done hanging out with Rouge!"

His eye twitched as his phone fell from his hand and clacked loudly against his floor. His arm fell limply by his side as he tried to get his breathing under control. This was bad. This was very bad. He might lose his girlfriend over this! His world was about to crumble around him. Why this? Why now?! He worked so hard to finally move on and finally be happy, and of course she had to come back and shove her foot in the door just as he's about to close it.

"Who was that Shadow?"

Another voice in his living room caused him to jump. It was Amy. He didn't hear her come in. She heard him on the phone, and now he was in trouble. He deserved to be. She gave him a look of concern when she saw how shaken he was.

"Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."

She arched her brow and set her bags on the floor.

He swallowed the lump in his throat and ran his shaky hands over his face and exhaled sharply. "That, uh... That was Maria. She's coming over for dinner tonight."

Amy's face lit up in excitement, completely unaware of the dread that filled him as he spat out the words. "Okay! What does she like so I know what to cook?"

He just stared at her in awe, as if she didn't hear a word of what he just said. This was bad. Maria coming for dinner was bad. Did she not see that? He fought to gain his composure and calm down, but his trembling hands betrayed him. He didn't want to see her; he worked so hard to leave that part of his life behind and start anew with Amy.

"I, uh, don't remember what she likes. She always changed the more she explored around, you know? Anything is fine."

"I know that you still struggle with your feelings for her, but-"

He quickly interrupted her. "I don't have feelings for her."

She let his interruption pass with just a warning glance, because usually she would go off about respect, and she paused seemingly to look for her next words. "I know you struggled with your feelings for her in the past, but this might be a good opportunity for you to get some closure."

"I don't want closure. I just want to never see her again and live a life with you."

The comment seemed to catch her by surprise, and she smiled softly at him. "Really? A boring life with...me?"

He blushed at her acknowledgement of his feelings. He wasn't good at talking about his feelings, never has been, but Amy was changing that without even realizing it. She genuinely cared about how he felt. It was a good feeling.

He tried to search for the right words, but couldn't. "Well, yeah of course. You make life...better."

She blushed a light pink at his words, and a smile toyed at her lips. "You make life better too, you know."

This made him blush, which in turn made her blush. He was never one to experience this type of thing with love, so it was a bit embarrassing to let Amy see this side of him, but it made her happy and that's all he cared about anymore. This hot-headed, loud, and vulgar woman had a side of her that was sweet, feminine, and divine. She stood before him cloaked in beauty and grace, and she only had eyes for him. He felt silly about freaking out about her meeting up with the blue asshole earlier; he was such a fool. She reached her soft hand up and caressed his cheek and gently pulled him in for a kiss.

He melted into her and crumbled under the warmth of her hand. Her entire body pressed up against him, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. He tried not to notice her chest pressed up against him, but it was hard. He embraced his girlfriend and pulled her closer to deepen the kiss. He would never try to push for more than she was comfortable with, and she made it obvious she only wanted a kiss by pulling her body back just a little. A subtle move that he knew well by now and he was happy to break the kiss and give her space. Her eyes always thanked him for not being pushy, and he often felt bad that she had to thank him for doing the bare minimum. When she eventually pulled away, he felt better. He spent seemingly forever antagonizing over Amy meeting up with Sonic, but seeing her now washed away his fears and insecurities.

Amy turned to pick up her bags and motioned for him to follow her to the bedroom. "So Shadow..."

Shit. He knew he was in trouble. "What?"

She put the shopping bags on the bed and began pulling out the articles of clothing she bought and began organizing them. He didn't know what she was doing so he awkwardly just stood in the corner, waiting for her to say something.

"I got a call from Rouge today."

He mentally kicked himself. Of course she did. He loved her but when Rouge was worried, she did what she could to resolve the situation. "Okay."

"She told me that you saw the pristine Princess Sally at the diner this morning with Sonic."

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, I was the reason they were there. Sally called me this morning to talk about things," She said, holding a beautiful green dress against her body to admire herself in the mirror, "She apologized for being the girl that broke me and Sonic up. Apparently she didn't know that me and Sonic were together, and wanted to make sure there were no hard feelings."

He didn't know what to say. She took his silence as him following along and continued putting away her clothes.

"She wanted to buy me breakfast for a chance to talk things over, and I wasn't going to go but a smaller part of me wanted closure so I can finally put it behind me. So I went, and talked it over. She apologized and I left. That's all there was to it."

He nodded at her explanation, unable to find the words to fund this conversation. He felt silly for letting himself get so worked up, and for doubting the beautiful woman he shared his heart with. When he didn't ask any questions, Amy smiled at him and took his hand in hers.

"I don't have feelings for Sonic, I went to meet her for me and only me. I want you to know that."

He felt so foolish. Looking into her warm, loving eyes filled him with shame and guilt. How could he ever question her? He didn't deserve her, and he realized that. He squeezed her hand and kissed her fingers, and smiled up at her flustered cheeks.

"I know."

She smirked sarcastically at him and giggled before turning around to finish putting away her clothes. He crossed his arms comfortably and watched her move around his room like an elegant dancer. Her feet moved harmoniously with her hands, basically gliding through his room with the grace of a ballroom dancer. He bought an extra wardrobe so she could comfortably store her clothes there, but at this point she had a full wardrobe and still wore his clothes. Not that he minded. Seeing her beautiful body in his clothes was one of the better things in his life right now.

"Hey, what kind of wine do you want with dinner?"

Came the absent-minded question as she rummaged through her wardrobe.

He watched her pull out a beautiful yellow evening dress and hold it against her body and look in the mirror, and he was taken aback by the beautiful fabric and couldn't help but fantasize how it would look on her. She caught his stare in the mirror and rolled her eyes in expectation.

"Hello? What kind of wine do you want with dinner?"

She asked again while smirking.

He chuckled at her sarcastic tone. "How about that apple wine you made me try last week? That was pretty good."

"I'm going to let that slide because I couldn't possibly expect you to know what wines pair with what, so I'm just going to tell you that we will be having white wine with dinner tonight."

She explained, laughing at his confused look.

"Then why even ask me?"

He muttered under his breath playfully, causing her to giggle and throw her shirt at him.

They both laughed together and he tossed her shirt in the dirty clothes hamper. He watched her put on the yellow evening dress. She taught him that this particular style of dress was off-the-shoulder with short sleeves and ruffles that hung loosely over her arms and chest. It had a sweetheart neckline with a corset back. Her beautiful pink back peeked through the strings, and it was floor length with a slit that her leg peeked through. At least, he hoped that was the right terminology; she would kill him if he got it wrong. It hugged every curve like the marble statues in museums, and breathtaking to observe. She caught his stare and a look of utter confusion washed over her.

"Is that what you're wearing to the party? Nope. Not a chance. Sit on the bed."

She said firmly, grabbing his shoulders and forcing him on the bed.

"I don't have fancy clothes like you do Princess."

He smirked.

She threw open the doors to his wardrobe with confidence. "Well, luckily for you I took care of that for you."

How did he not notice new clothes in his wardrobe? She pulled out a full 3-piece suit and he immediately shook his head. "No, no no. I don't need a suit for a dinner party."

She rolled her eyes dramatically and reluctantly put the suit back. She then pulled out a long-sleeved white button up, black trousers, and black suspenders. Wasn't this like one article of clothing away from a suit? He shot her an uninterested look of disapproval, but her following warning glare told him to put the clothes on. She clapped her hands in glee when he took the clothes from her. He chuckled and rolled his eyes in playful submission.

Once he had the clothes on, she wasted no time in adjusting everything. She folded up the sleeves and buttoned them halfway up his arms, and slapped his hand when he tried to roll them down to his wrist like a long sleeve is supposed to be. She adjusted the suspenders so they wouldn't fall off his shoulders, and gave him some trouser socks and shiny black dress...boots? He's never seen dress boots before, but her sense of fashion was much larger than his. He reluctantly put the boots on and she squealed with excitement when seeing him fully dressed. Being this overdressed was unnecessary, but it made him happy to see her happy.

"Wow, Shadow! You look incredible! You look like...a man."

She said breathlessly, fanning her flushed cheeks.

He flashed her a brilliant smile and grabbed her by her hips and pulled her in for a kiss. She giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck and held him tight against her.

"You look like a woman."

He chuckled, kissing her again.

She hummed in satisfaction with his touch and when they pulled away, she sighed happily. "I'm so happy to have you Shadow, you are everything I've ever looked for in a partner."

"I'm happy to have you too, Princess. You are everything to me."

He murmured in her ear, earning a sly giggle from the pink hedgehog.

He felt ridiculous in these clothes, but he could see that something was stirring in Amy. She usually didn't show signs of lust or need because she gets embarrassed by it, but in this moment, he caught every glance, and every time she bit her lip. She had an affinity for well-dressed men, and he could easily capitalize on that. He tucked that bit of knowledge in the folds of his mind and focused his attention on her. Her body moved in confidence in her dress, her green eyes beamed in the mirror as she admired her dress.

"So, what are we making for dinner?"

He asked, sneaking a quick kiss on her cheek, wrapping his arms around her waist, and resting his head on her shoulder.

He watched them in the mirror and she smirked and rested her head against his. She rested her arms over his and sighed in content. At least, he hopes it was in content.

"I figure we have chicken cordon bleu. I have some Sauvignon Blanc that is perfect for it."

He let her go and made his way to the kitchen. "Sauvignon Blanc?"

She quickly followed behind him. "It's a white wine, you'll like it don't worry."

"Okay. Don't you feel like we are a bit overdressed for a simple dinner with Maria?"

"No, and I'll tell you why." She said, clasping her hand on his shoulder as she walked past him to the fridge, "I am not the type to make assumptions about people, but I know when girls do something like this, it's to try to regain what they've lost."

What did that mean? She rolled her eyes in slight annoyance but he didn't take it personally, that was just how his girlfriend was and she wasn't directing it towards him.

"Tonight," she continued, placing ingredients on the countertops, "Maria will show up in attire similar to this. I know this because she wanted to crash here after leaving you like she did. She found out you're seeing someone so I can say with 100 percent certainty she will come and try to show you what you've lost in a last-ditch attempt to win you over."

He crossed his arms and smirked at her. "You willing to put a wager on that, Princess?"

She giggled and arched her brow. "What's the wager?"

He held his hand out to her. "Winner gets one favor, no matter how annoying. No questions."

She chuckled and clasped his hand excitedly. "Easy win! You'll see!"

They both glared at each other, and started cooking dinner.