Thank you Thunder Croft, Mushroom Prower, The Divines, and XxCrimsonShadowxX for their reviews. As always, I do appreciate them. So, this is an AU, and I altered it because I remember reading a review from TheDivines requesting a chapter with a bit of jealousy/angst and... this is what I came up with!

28. Burning

Shadow could barely contain himself whenever he was in her presence. Like a magnet, he was drawn to her and unable to resist her charm. He wanted to do so many things with her, whisper so many words in her ear, and be the reason behind her smile.

Sadly, Shadow could do none of those things. For one, Sally was already spoken for. She was dating that scumbag Scourge, and he didn't understand why she was dating him or what she saw in him.

"You really can do better than him, princess," he told her. It was a Friday night, and he was crashing at her place like he usually did. If he wasn't over her house, she was chilling with him at his apartment. They were nearly inseparable, having been best friends since kindergarten.

Sally's gaze flickered from her TV to him; she smiled sadly, absently playing with the silky strands of her auburn hair.

"Come on, Shadow. Scourge isn't that bad." She had a bad habit of defending the douchebag, something Shadow just didn't understand.

"He isn't that good either. He treats you like shit and you know it. I don't see why you waste your time defending the dumb fuck," he countered, unable to keep the anger he felt out of his voice. His glare was fierce and icy, but it softened as he stared at her. He rested one hand on her cheek, his thumb brushing against her cheek in a comforting manner.

She leaned into his touch but said nothing, and Shadow reluctantly let the conversation drop… for now.

Sometimes, he knew her like the back of his hand. Moments like these, however, had him doubting himself.

It took all of his self-control not to pound the green hedgehog's face in whenever he caught him sucking face with his best friend in front of her locker. He's held himself in check numerous times, but he could feel his steel fortress of self-control cracking, signaling to him that it would soon come crumbling down one of these days.

Shadow longed to see the day that she came back to her senses and leave the dumb asshole high and dry. She could do so much better than him; hell, she deserved better than him.

The shrill ringing of his cellphone pierced the once silent room. Sitting up and blinking his eyes sleepily, Shadow grabbed said device and answered it without bothering to check the caller I.D.

"Hello?" he asked, his voice rough and groggy with sleep. Glancing at his clock, he saw that it was two in the morning. Whoever dared to wake him up at this ungodly hour better have a damn good reason to or there would be some serious repercussions.

"S-shadow? Oh, thank God you answered your phone. Something serious just happened, and I really need to talk to somebody. You're the first person that crossed my mind, and, like I said, something serious happened."

Shadow sat up straighter and suddenly felt wide awake. He should've known Sally was the one who called him. She had a habit of calling him this early in the morning, which ended up with them losing precious hours of sleep.

He could easily hear the urgency in her voice, and it sounded like she was… crying?

"Sally, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" he asked, unable to keep the worry out of his voice. Something serious must have happened if Sally was crying; it took a lot to make her cry.

"It's something I'd rather discuss in person. Can you come over? You know Mom doesn't care," Sally answered. Her voice wavered and sounded unstable. Shadow was certain she was crying, and he needed to figure out why.

"Of course I can come over. I'll be there shortly." And Shadow hung up his phone, placing it back on the little table beside his bed. He turned on his lamp and nearly winced at the bright light the filled the once dark room.

He stumbled out of his bed and almost fell on his face as he hurriedly got dressed, donning on his favorite leather jacket, a white wife beater, and dark gray jogging pants. His thoughts were buzzing madly around his head like a horde of angry bees as he tried to figure out the reason behind Sally's urgent phone call as well as her tears.

And as he made his way over her house, all the conclusions he came to weren't positive and all of them revolved around Scourge.

Shadow made it to Sally's house in record time, parking his motorcycle outside her garage like he usually did when he visited her in the middle of the night. He knew her mom didn't care that he basically snuck inside her daughter's room every other night.

Shadow could effortlessly recall one humorous, yet disturbing memory. He had stopped by to pick Sally up and take her to school, and her mother answered the door. She warmly greeted him and had a very… interesting talk with him.

"Shadow, I know you're a good guy. Sally doesn't bring just any guy home, you know. Now, I know you two may be only friends, but just in case you decided to… deepen your relationship, here." And, to his utter surprise and dismay, she had given him a box of condoms, told him to be gentle with her, gave him a knowing smile, and walked off.

Needless to say, Shadow was beyond embarrassed. He still hadn't told Sally about that particular memory, worried of what her response would be.

With skillful agility, he climbed the tree next to her room, pushed the window open and quietly slipped inside her bedroom. Shadow wasn't prepared for the sight that greeted him.

Sally sat on her bed, her legs crossed and her face buried in her hands. Her normally neat and stylish hair was a tangled, wild mess, and mounds of used tissues littered her bed. Her body was trembling almost violently, and he could hear her muffled sobs.

"Sally?" His voice was cautious, hesitant; her ears perked up at the sound of his voice, and slowly, she lifted her head up, meeting his worried gaze.

She looked so broken and distraught; her eyes were puffy from all the crying she had been doing, and the whites of her eyes were red. As his gaze trailed down her body, he saw a nasty, purple bruise on her right thigh. It covered a good bit of her thigh, and it looked like it hurt like hell

Her gaze traveled to the horrid mark, and she smiled sadly, sniffling. Her fingers traced over it, barely touching it.

"You were right, Shadow. Scourge really was no good for me, but I was just too damn blind to see it. Or maybe I saw it already but simply refused to acknowledge it. Maybe if I did, I wouldn't have this bruise," Sally mused wistfully. Her voice, though outwardly calm, revealed the anguish she was feeling.

Shadow was instantly by her side: sweeping the numerous pieces of tissue off her bed and kicking off his socks and shoes, he sat on her bed and wasted no time in scooping her up in his arms. He began rocking gently, his fingers playing in her hair as he comforted her.

"I mean, I saw all the signs, but I guess things didn't really sink in until yesterday night. I went over Scourge's house to chill. I saw beer bottles scattered everywhere and immediately knew he was seriously drunk. The idiot could barely count the fingers on his hand and was out of his mind," Sally recalled, letting a humorless laugh escape her lips.

"I had told him I was going home and for him to call me when he was sober. He staggered over to me, laughing and telling me to stay a while, but I stood was adamant in my decision. We had got into a heated argument, one thing led to another, and he… he hit me. Needless to say, I broke up with him."

Shadow's hand was balled in a fist and a vicious growl left his mouth. His crimson eyes were ablaze with the disgust and hatred he had towards the green hedgehog. He had the audacity to put his hands on Sally!? He actually hit her!?

"I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch, and don't you dare tell me to do otherwise," Shadow admonished her, and Sally closed her mouth. Their eyes met, and Shadow could feel his gaze soften. "I'll beat his ass into a bloody pulp, unless Sonic beats me to it. I don't doubt that he already knows what he's done to you; maybe we can make it a team effort and take turns pounding Scourge's sorry ass into the ground."

Sally laughed, her mood lifting already. Shadow was always able to make her laugh and smile; he always made her feel better. She looked at him, a thoughtful expression on her face as she regarded him.

Shadow, on the other hand, gave her a questioning look, wondering why she was staring so hard at him. She looked at him like she was searching for something, though he had no clue as to what it was. Just as he was about to open his mouth to ask her what was the matter, her soft lips crashed against his and Shadow's mind went blank.

She kissed him with such passion and conviction, telling him with her mouth that she somehow knew how he felt and that she returned his feelings. He let her take control of the kiss, and when he felt her tongue prodding at his lips, he opened his mouth and let it inside, his body shivering at the pleasure that assaulted him.

It wasn't until her hands began getting too friendly that he broke the kiss, resting his forehead against hers as he fought to regain his breath and control. Sally began pressing kisses along his cheeks, her lips trailing down to his neck.

"It's okay, Shadow. I want this; I want us. Mom isn't here, and she already enlightened me about that little talk she had with you." Catching a glimpse of the shocked lock on Shadow's face, Sally couldn't help but grin. Shadow kissed said grin right off of her face, smirking at the dazed look on her face when he pulled away.

"I've waited a long time for this," he whispered, brushing his lips against hers.

"Well, don't let me keep you waiting any longer." Their lips met in another fiery, passionate kiss as they forgot about the world around them and lost themselves in each other.