Shadow awoke to the sound of his communicator buzzing. He lay in bed for a moment, staring up at the ceiling of his living quarters. He then rubbed his eyes and sat up, peeling back the sheets of his bed, and then answering the call on his communicator.

"Hey Shadow!" Sonic greeted on the other end of the call.

"Hello Sonic" Shadow replied, rubbing his eyes once again.

"Not bothering you, am I?" He asked.

"No..." Shadow responded, before letting out a yawn. "So what's so urgent that you had to call me at 7 o'clock in the morning?" He questioned.

"Oh, well, me and the gang are just finishing setting up for the Christmas party tomorrow. We're having it at Tails' place, and I was wondering... If you're not doing anything this year, maybe you'd like to join us?"

"I'd rather not. I have more important things to do" Shadow grunted.

"Are some of the recruits at GUN doing anything for Christmas?" Sonic asked.

"Most of them have gone home for Christmas. It's just me, really. It doesn't really matter, though"

"You shouldn't really be all by yourself on Christmas" Sonic commented.

"I'll be fine, Sonic. You just focus on enjoying yourself."

"Well, if you're sure..." He trailed off for a moment "I'll see you soon, Shadow. I hope you have a good Christmas"

"You too" Shadow responded simply, before turning his communicator off. He sighed deeply, and lay back down, pulling the bed sheets over him once again. Perhaps he'd have a lie in today.

Late that night, Shadow was sitting by himself at the dinner table in the mess hall. He had his head rested on one hand, while the other was currently stabbing at his food with a fork, when Rouge walked up to him. "Not hungry?" She questioned.

Shadow glanced up at her, and then turned his attention back to simply staring blankly into space without saying a word.

"Sonic just called me, said he could use some help with the decorations for the party, they're running a bit behind. That's what happens when you leave it till last minute" she told him. Shadow blanked her once again.

"I'm heading over there now and I'll probably be staying the night, so I guess I'll see you whenever the party finishes" she explained.

"Have fun" Shadow replied, finally speaking up.

Rouge stared at him with worried eyes, and then placed her hand on his shoulder "I can stay if you want"

"I'm fine"

"Shadow-" she began.

"I said I'm fine" he insisted.

Rouge sighed "I'll see you later, Shadow" she said, giving him a gentle pat on the back before walking away and leaving him alone.

Shadow stared at the door she had left from, before stabbing his fork into his food and leaving the table.

It was around half past eleven. Shadow was sitting at his desk, in his room, with his head rested on it. He had thought about contacting Sonic or one of his friends, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it.

He planned on going to bed soon, so it didn't really matter. At least, that's what he thought, until he heard a knock on the door. Puzzled as to whom would up at such a late hour besides himself, he was almost curious enough to open it. Almost.

He just decided to stay quiet and pretend be asleep. They'd go away eventually.

Another knock. They were persistent, he'd give them that, but Shadow was stubborn enough to ignore them.

"Shadow? Are you in there?" A voice called out.

It was Sonic.

"I need to talk to you... Please open the door"

Shadow sighed deeply. "It's unlocked" he spoke up.

The metal door slid open, revealing Sonic, who was standing in the hallway, wrapped up warm in hat, scarf and winter boots, and covered in snow. The two stared silently at each other for a brief moment. "Is it alright if I come in?" He asked.

"Be my guest" Shadow replied gruffly.

Sonic stepped inside and sat down on Shadow's bed, and began removing his outdoor clothing. Shadow got up from his desk and sat down beside Sonic. "What are you doing here, Sonic?" Shadow questioned.

"I didn't want you to spend Christmas alone, so I thought I'd come spend it with you" Sonic replied. He rested his hand on Shadow's.

Shadow pulled his hand away "I'm sorry that you had a waste of a trip."

"Coming to see you would never be a waste" He replied, leaning towards Shadow, his eyes fixated on his, with their lips almost touching. Shadow closed his eyes and leaned in ever so slightly. They almost kissed, but Shadow pulled away suddenly.

"No, I can't. Not right now"

"Right, sorry" Sonic apologised. He turned away, and looked down, feeling a little awkward.

"You should go back. You worked so hard to organise that party. They need you there, it wouldn't be the same without you" Shadow told him

"It wouldn't be the same without you either" he responded.

"Go back, Sonic" he insisted.

"Not without you" Sonic replied.

Shadow sighed. "Then I guess neither of us will be enjoying Christmas"

"At least we're together, that's what really matters"

"I'd rather be alone" Shadow stated honestly.

"And why is that?" Sonic questioned.

"It doesn't matter"

"It does matter. If something's bothering you then I need to know. I want to help, but I can't do that if you won't tell me what's going on" he explained.

Shadow got up off the bed, with his back to Sonic "You want to help me?" He muttered questionably.

"Of course!" Sonic exclaimed.

Shadow turned to face him, his face masked with no hint of emotion "Then go"

Sonic opened his mouth to say something, but Shadow quickly interrupted him "If you truly cared about me then you would respect my wishes and leave me alone"

Sonic got up off the bed "Are you saying I don't care about you? That's the most stupidest thing I've ever heard! Why would I come all the way here when it's snowing and freezing cold outside just for you if I didn't care?!"

"I'm not saying you don't care, I'm saying that you don't know when to quit. I told you I was fine, that I was alright on my own, but you insisted on coming here, all because you thought it was what I needed."

"Why won't you just tell me what's wrong?" Sonic asked.

"Because I don't have to tell you anything if I don't want to! You don't need to know every single little detail. All I really need right now is for you to just go away!"

Sonic narrowed his eyes "Fine"

He picked up his winter clothing and began to wrap himself up warm again. Shadow watched him silently as he got ready. As Sonic was about to leave, he turned back to face Shadow. "I brought you your present" he muttered, handing him a perfectly wrapped gift. It had green wrapping paper with a red ribbon tied around it in a little bow. It was flat, with it's width smaller than it's length.

Shadow stared blankly at it for a moment. He looked up at Sonic, who was still standing it the room. Shadow assumed that Sonic wouldn't leave until he opened it, so he proceeded to untie the ribbon. It slipped off the gift with ease, allowing him to remove the wrapping paper to reveal the present. It was a frame photo of him and all of his friends.

"It's all of us. Together. The way it should be" Sonic told him. And with those words he left the room. Shadow looked down at the picture, and then rushed out of the room.

"Sonic, wait" he called after him.

Sonic was halfway down the hall, but froze in place. "Don't go"

Sonic turned and walked back towards Shadow. He lifted his hands and gripped Shadow's arms "Please tell me what's wrong"

Shadow nodded "Yeah, okay" he gave in. "You see, back on the ARK, me and Maria we never really got to celebrate Christmas, and-" he paused, shaking his head sadly "I just don't feel like I'd be able to enjoy myself when she never got the chance to. I just doesn't feel right" he explained "I know that I promised myself that I would move on... But it's hard to forget sometimes. I didn't want to come to the party because I knew I'd probably be a downer... So I decided to stay here"

"Shadow... You'd never be a downer. You could be as much as a grump as you wanted and we'd still love you for being there." Sonic told him comfortingly "I know it's hard, but don't you think Maria would want you to happy? To do some of these things for her sake? You've told me so much about her... And I don't think she'd want you to be as miserable as you are"

"Yeah, you're right. But still... I think I might stay here"

"Okay. I'll leave you to it. But if you change your mind then just let me know" Sonic stepped back and then walked down the hall, disappearing out of sight.

Shadow glanced down at the photo once again and then back up at the direction Sonic had left in. He hesitated, but then walked back into his room and shut the door behind him.

Snow flakes floated down gently from the dark, cloud covered sky, covering the land in a blanket of white. Sonic trudged up to Tails' house and knocked on the door. He waited, letting out a deep sigh, his breath visible in the cold night air.

The door opened, revealing a tired looking fox behind it. "Hey Sonic." He greeted with a yawn, and then allowed him inside.

Most of Sonic's friends were crashing in the living room, all of them fast asleep. "No luck with Shadow?" Tails asked.

Sonic simply shook his head as he proceeded to remove his winter gear. "Oh well, at least you tried"

"What time is it?" Sonic asked.

"A few minutes passed midnight" Tails replied, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

"So... It's officially Christmas" Sonic commented, beginning to grin.

"If you're thinking about waking them up then I don't think it's a good idea. Give it a few more hours... Then go crazy." the two tailed fox told him. "I'm off to bed... But there's some hot coco in the kitchen so help yourself"

Tails made his way to his room while Sonic made his way into the kitchen. There he found a freshly made mug of hot coco, with two marshmallows floating on the surface. As he was just starting to drink it, he heard a knock at the door.

Tails was probably out like a light as soon as he got into bed, so Sonic took it upon himself to answer it. He was met by the cold winter wind as soon as he opened it, but more importantly there was someone there that he never would've expected.

Shadow.

The black and red hedgehog stood there, wrapped up warm in a hat and scarf, a small smile on his face "Hello Sonic" he greeted.

"You came" Sonic said, almost stunned.

"Thanks to you" Shadow replied.

Sonic opened the door widely and allowed him to come inside. "I'm glad you're here" He told him, embracing him in a quick hug. He then pulled away and glanced over at the others, who were still fast asleep "And I'm sure they'll be glad too"

"Sonic..." Shadow said, gesturing with a nod at the ceiling. Sonic followed his gaze and noticed that there was a branch of mistletoe stuck up there. They were both standing directly underneath.

Sonic blushed "I- uh- I've never seen that before" he stuttered, scratching the back of his head.

Shadow took a step forwards and kissed him on the lips. He pulled away quickly, smiling fondly at him. "Merry Christmas, Sonic"

Sonic smiled back "Merry Christmas, Shadow"

A/N: Hey everyone. Hope you enjoyed the Christmas special. Let me know what you think and if you have any requests for a short.

Thanks for sticking with me even though I've been doing this only for a few months now. Thanks for the support, I know Shadow can stray out of character, but I'm trying really hard to do better. This is the first time I've wrote about Sonic characters so I'm still finding my feet.

Anyway, I hope you all have a good Christmas (if you don't celebrate Christmas, then I hope you have a great holiday) and a happy new year.

See you all in 2016! Unless I post a chapter before new year but we'll have to see.

Happy Holidays!