Sonic was sitting in his chair with his feet up on the table, and was waiting around for his friends to arrive for another day of exciting activities. He was currently binding his time by looking through some old photos he had decided to dig up not long after Shadow had returned from his seemingly endless trip. He had just wanted to reminisce on all times and look back at fond memories. He remembered looking at these often when Shadow hadn't been around.

A familiar bright blue light flashed in the doorway as a guest Sonic hadn't been expecting appeared in the shack. It was Shadow, of course.

Sonic quickly put the photos face down on the table "Shadow, what are you doing here?" He asked, getting out of his seat. "I thought we agreed that you'd stay away when the gang was around."

Shadow glanced around the room and then frowned "There isn't anyone here." He commented.

"Well, there could've been, and they'll probably be here any minute." Sonic responded.

"You won't have to worry about them. Tails is finishing off breakfast, Amy is watering her flowers, Knuckles was on his way here but got distracted by some wildlife and Sticks is setting up some traps."

Sonic stared at him blankly, blinking a couple of times.

"I checked before I came." Shadow stated simply.

"So how long do we have?" Sonic questioned.

"The amount of time varies between each of them so I'd say a couple of minutes, give or take."

"A couple of minutes of whatever we want." Sonic replied, staring at him dreamily with half closed eyelids.

"Actually, I came to ask you something." He told him, dismissing Sonic's obvious flirting.

"Oh really, and what's that?"

"Well," Shadow began. "I was wondering if you maybe wanted to spend a weekend away with me. It would be nice to just have some time alone together without having to worry about the others."

Sonic thought for a brief moment before answering "I don't know, Shadow, I'd like to, but I'll have to check my schedule, I might be doing something with the gang." He replied.

"Since when did you keep a schedule?" Shadow questioned.

"After you disappeared off the face of the earth. Amy told me it would be a good idea to get a notebook so that I can keep track of things." He explained, taking out said notebook and examining Saturday and Sunday's pages. "Hm, looks like we're going on a hiking trip that day. Sorry, Shadow, maybe next weekend?" He suggested.

"You mean you're going to turn me down for them?" Shadow questioned, rather irritated by Sonic's decision.

"I can't just blow off the gang, they're my friends." Sonic told him.

"And I'm your partner." Shadow responded "You see them near enough everyday, when was the last time we got to spend time together?"

Sonic shrugged "When you were still around." He muttered, sounding somewhat bitter.

Shadow ignored that comment. "The Sonic I know wouldn't consult some diary if he wanted to do something, he'd just do it. Don't let a little schedule hold you back from doing what you want. I'm sure your friends won't mind if you take some time off. It's just one weekend."

"But, we've been planning this trip for like a week now."

"Sonic, I can't keep working around you and your friends. Just do me a favour and ditch the diary for this one occasion, that's all I'm asking." Shadow practically begged.

Sonic sighed "Fine, I'll do it, but next time you'll have to get in there first."

"I hear you." Shadow replied. He leaned forwards and gave Sonic a small kiss on the cheek "I'll see you tomorrow bright and early." And with those parting words, he teleported out of the shack.

Sonic took out a pencil and crossed out the note about the hiking trip and replaced it with 'Weekend with Shadow' written in capital letters and stretching across both days. He sighed once again and put his notebook away. There was already tension between them with organising the whole thing, could the weekend really be that much better?

He knew Shadow was trying. Was that not enough?

It was early morning, and Sonic was busy writing a note when Shadow arrived. "Ready to go?" Shadow asked, gently patting Sonic on the back.

Sonic nodded "Yep. Just gotta pin this note for the gang up outside." He told him, walking out of the shack.

"Seriously?" Shadow questioned gruffly.

"I don't want them thinking Eggman has captured me or something." Sonic explained, pinning the note on the door frame.

"I doubt Eggman could capture you even if he wanted to." Shadow commented "Unless he tempted you with chilli dogs." He then added smugly.

"Funny." Sonic replied, even though he wasn't amused nor was he laughing.

"You haven't told them where you're going, have you?"

"No, of course not. I'm not stupid enough to let our secret slip like that."

"You could've fooled me" Shadow remarked. Sonic glared at him crossly. "You got everything you need?" Shadow asked, quickly changing the subject "Not taking any luggage with you?"

"No, why would I?" He responded.

"Well, seen as though you have a diary now, I thought you might be taking a little packed lunch and a suitcase with you." He teased.

"I don't really have anything to take with me, all I have is this scarf, and I don't have any spares. I don't wash it that often either." He knew he was taking what Shadow said too literately but he wasn't really in the mood to play along, since he was making fun of such a basic thing. What was so bad about him having a schedule? Was he just bitter that Sonic hadn't made time for him?

"Good to know." Shadow responded bluntly, though his words lacked any meaning or emotion. He then walked off, heading across the beach. Sonic wondered where he was going, but followed him nevertheless, since he was probably taking him to wherever they were spending their weekend. The two walked along the sand in silence before stopping at the edge of the sea and staring offshore at the rippling waves.

"Hold my hand." Shadow instructed, lifting his hand up to Sonic.

"Why? Are you trying to get all romantic with me? Make some sort of advancement?" Sonic quizzed, teasing him a little. Perhaps he should try and make the best of this instead of turning down Shadow at every opportunity. He really was trying.

"No, I'm going to teleport us to another location and we need to be touching in order to do that." Shadow explained. "Wait, that came out wrong. It's not that I don't want to be romantic or anything, it's just-"

Sonic chuckled. "Don't worry about it." He told him. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. All he needed to do was give him a chance. He couldn't let the past ruin this time they had together. "So you can teleport us both?" Sonic asked, getting back on track.

"Yes, it just requires a bit more concentration."

"Cool" Sonic said, taking Shadow's hand. Shadow closed his eyes and scrunched up his face as he focused his powers. Sonic could feel a build up of energy, followed by a bright blue flash. Mere moments later, the light cleared, and he found himself standing on top of a ridge. Shadow was still standing next to him, but released his hand, and walked to the edge of the ridge, and stared across the desert-like landscape.

"Wow that was-" he stopped himself as his stomach began to churn "Oh chaos, I think I'm going to be sick." He turned away, hunching over.

"Are you alright?" Shadow asked concernedly.

"I'm fine- oh chaos-" he gagged, but no sick came out of his mouth "Yeah, I'm fine." He replied, quickly recovering and straightening himself up "Just not used to teleporting around."

"That's understandable. I wasn't sure how you'd react, but I'm glad you're okay." Shadow told him. He then turned his attention back to gazing at the horizon. Sonic joined him at the edge of the ridge, and looked down at the canyon below.

"Wait, have I been here before? I feel like I know this place."

"You should. This is Shadow Canyon, where you and I fought when I was under Lyric's control." Shadow told him. "I never thanked you for helping me, if you hadn't freed me, I might still be his slave. I appreciate what you did."

"It was nothing. All I did was break that head thingie." Sonic dismissed it.

"Mind controlling headset." Shadow corrected him.

"Yeah that."

Sonic sat down at the edge of the canyon and stared across the landscape. Shadow sat down beside him. "So you've been living here?" Sonic asked.

Shadow simply nodded in response.

"For how long?"

"I haven't been here for as long as we've been apart but... I'd say a couple of months, I don't really keep track." He told him.

"Where do you sleep?"

"I sleep under the stars, and I often move around, but there's always one place that I go back to. Would you like to see it?" He asked.

"Sure." Sonic answered "Lets go."

Shadow got up and led the way, moving along the edge of the canyon and towards their destination.

"Welcome to my home." Shadow announced, leading Sonic inside a cave that was based at a lower area of the canyon wall. "I know it's rather primitive, but you can't exactly find abandoned buildings out here."

Sonic walked inside, glancing down at the burnt out fire pit that was in the centre of the cave. "At least you have a roof over your head that's guaranteed not to leak, unlike my shack."

"There's also a hole at the back which takes you into some cave systems, and those lead into the mines. I was thinking that we could explore them later."

Sonic looked at the cave wall, noticing a photograph that was pinned there. He walked up to it and examined it closer by taking it off the wall "Hey, I remember this photo." He stated. The photograph depicted him and Shadow with their cheeks pressed up against each other's and smiling into the camera "This was taken way back, even before we fought Lyric. I'm not even wearing my scarf or sports tape!" He chuckled "Look at how young we were... We were so happy back then."

"We still are, aren't we?" Shadow asked.

"Oh, yeah, of course." Sonic replied. "I never thought you would've kept this all this time." He murmured.

"Why wouldn't I? What reason would I have to throw it away?"

"I don't know, you didn't seem like the type of guy to hold onto the past" Sonic told him "Nevermind, it doesn't matter." He said simply, and proceeded to pin the photo back onto the wall.

"Would you like to explore the caves now?" Shadow asked him, trying to change the subject.

"Yeah, that should be fun. I haven't been in those mines for a long time." Sonic answered.

"I'll go open up the entrance to the cave systems." He declared.

Sonic was about to follow him over, but paused halfway, and looked back at the picture on the wall. He wondered if Shadow believed him about them both being happy. After all, it wasn't exactly true.

After a long day of exploring the caves and mines, Shadow and Sonic were camped out on ridge along with a roaring fire. Sleeping under the stars wasn't exactly new to either of them, but it was a nice experience.

"I enjoyed today." Sonic stated aloud "I'm looking forward to whatever we'll be doing tomorrow."

"Me too." Shadow replied.

"Doesn't it get kinda lonely out here?" Sonic asked, turning his head to look at him. Shadow did the same.

"Sometimes." Shadow answered simply.

"Why don't you come live at Bygone Island? We'd be able to see each other more often."

"And risk running into your entourage of friends? No thanks." Shadow responded, seemingly disgusted that Sonic would ask such a thing. He then sat up and stared off into the distance. "I was thinking, maybe we could make this a regular thing. And after a while, you could stay over permanently. We'd have to move all your stuff out of the shack first..." he began to go on and on about all the plans he had for the two of them. Meanwhile, Sonic was just trying to take it all in.

After listening to him for over a minute, he realised that he had had enough "Shadow, stop, seriously, stop." Sonic demanded.

Shadow fell silent.

"I can't take it anymore." Sonic stated. "You can't just ignore what you did like it never happened. I know you're trying to fix things, but you can't fix it just like that! You can't expect me to go along with this, can you? Why are you pretending that you did nothing wrong? Because you did, Shadow, you left! You left without a word, you didn't say anything, you didn't do anything, you just went away, and I didn't even realise until it was too late. You never contacted me, you never called, you never wrote. For all I knew you could've been dead in a ditch!" He paused to catch his breath, with his mind racing a mile a minute.

"And not only that, you left me with so many questions. You left me wondering why, why did you leave, was it my fault, did I do something wrong? I asked myself those questions so many times, but you weren't there to answer any of them. And you still haven't said anything about it! You think you can just come back and everything would be exactly how you left it! Well guess what, Shadow, things changed, I've changed, I'm not the same Sonic that I used to be." He paused once again, but he certainly wasn't done. He was just getting started.

"Do you have any idea how long you've been gone, Shadow? Do you have any idea?" Sonic questioned. "Over two years. Two years, Shadow!" He exclaimed. "You didn't even come back for me, you came back because Eggman sent you those invitations to that stupid villains meeting. Would you have even come back if he hadn't? Or would you have stayed gone?"

Shadow didn't answer, he was just taking all of this in. Sonic didn't care, he just wanted to carry on. He was on fire.

"I can't believe you think I'll just go along with all of this. You think I'll abandon my friends to be with you?! But the truth is, they're not just my friends, they're my team, my family, and I certainly wouldn't leave them for you. Because they were there for me, whenever I was down, they were always there. Where were you, Shadow? Where were you when I needed you most? Oh that's right, you were off doing whatever, going around the world and doing your own thing. Did you even think about me? Did I ever cross your mind? Did the thought of what you might be doing to me ever come to you? I never thought you could be so stupid."

"You think you can come back and pick up all the pieces. That you can do all of this and it'll make me feel better. Well, I hate to break it to you, but it doesn't. You haven't fixed anything, you've made everything worse. I don't know how you could possibly think that you could fix it so easily. Sometimes I don't even know what's going on inside your head, sometimes I don't even understand you, it's like you're a complete stranger, and to tell you the truth, I think you are. I feel like I don't know you anymore. Whatever we had, whatever you think we had, died after you left. There is nothing, literally nothing, holding us together anymore. And the only one to blame here is you." Sonic finished his long rant, though he wasn't yelling anymore, he was speaking in a low, serious tone that he didn't even think he could ever do.

Shadow sat there silently, unsure of what to say or do. He was just completely taken aback by what Sonic had said.

"What, nothing? You're not going to say anything? Not even an 'I'm sorry'?" Sonic questioned harshly. "Look, you either start talking, or you can consider this the end of us, because I am tired of pretending that everything it fine because it's not. It never has been."

Shadow remained silent. He looked at Sonic with a saddened expression and then looked down at the ground in defeat.

"Fine." Sonic said dryly. "Take me home, please. I want you to take me home."

It was raining heavily when Sonic and Shadow arrived back at Sonic's shack. The two stood facing each other in silence, the rain pouring down on them all the while and soaking their fur. Shadow stared at him, water trickling down his face and dripping from his nose. He glanced down at the ground, and without a word, he turned and walked away.

Sonic's gaze only lingered on him for a brief moment before he too walked off and headed over to the shack. He paused outside, noticing that the note he had left had some new writing on it. He plucked the piece of paper from where it was pinned, and examined the note. He then realised that the writing was messages left by his friends.

"Be back soon!" - Tails

"You know where we are if you need anything." - Amy

There was some mindless scrawl after Amy's message, which could belong to non other than Knuckles. He couldn't help but wonder what he had been trying to say, though it was probably something dumb.

"You better not be doing anything behind our backs!" - Sticks

Looks like Sticks' paranoia had proven her right. Come to think of it, she had been right on many occasions. However, it didn't really matter to him right now. Even still, seeing the messages from the gang made him smile and made him somewhat happy, despite being in this dark time.

Sonic carried the note inside and put it on the table along with the photos he had been looking at days earlier. A small part of him wanted to scatter the pictures across the room, to help settle his anger. But the majority of him wanted to lie in his hammock and just try to forget everything that had happened, despite the fact that it just wasn't possible. Nevertheless, he'd stay there for a while and be with his sorrow.

He climbed into the hammock and rolled onto his back. He stared up at the ceiling with his head rested on his arm. He closed his eyes, and let out a shaky sigh, with his lip quivering. That's when he felt some water dripping on his face.

Sonic opened his eyes, watching as the rain began to leak through the roof directly above him. Knowing he couldn't sleep there, he climbed out of his hammock and sped out of the shack. He was outside of Tails' house within seconds.

He hesitated for moment, wondering whether he should let Tails see him like this. He was bound to know something was wrong. Maybe he should go back to his shack and just deal with leak. He couldn't face Tails like this.

Then again, it would be nice to have some company after his and Shadow's fallout. If you could even call it that, it was more or less the end of their relationship as far as he knew, since Shadow wasn't making an effort to put things right. Plus he was wet and cold. He ultimately decided to knock on the door. When there was no answer, he knocked again. And again. And again.

Once he heard an unlocking sound on the other side, he stopped, and waited. A few seconds later, the door swung open, and a tired Tails was revealed to him. Sonic had forgotten that it was the middle of the night.

"Oh hey Sonic, I didn't think you were getting back until tomorrow." Tails greeted, trying to hide just how tired he really was.

"Can I crash on your couch? My roof is leaking." Sonic requested, ignoring Tails' remark.

"Yeah, of course, come in." Tails replied, moving aside and allowing Sonic inside. "I'll go get you a towel." Sonic trudged over to the couch and slumped down on it.

Tails returned carrying a towel and handed it to Sonic. Sonic threw the towel over his head and began to dry himself off. "Are you okay, Sonic? You don't seem like yourself." Tails commented.

"I'm fine." Sonic told him, throwing the towel aside.

Tails walked over to his fold out bed and laid down, resting his head on a pillow and pulling a blanket over himself. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Sonic turned his head away, fighting back tears as his eyes began to well up. "Everything is fine." He insisted, almost choking up.

"If you say so." Tails responded, settling down and preparing himself for sleep.

Sonic closed his eyes and listened to the sound of the rain thundering on the roof as he began to sob silently. Perhaps going to sleep would help him escape this overwhelming sadness.

Sonic returned to his shack early the next day after a long night of restless sleep. He was feeling a little less angry and upset, though admittedly he was still both those things, but at least he felt a bit better. He was even considering contacting Shadow, to try and get this all sorted out.

As he entered the shack, he was pleased to find that the rainwater that had leaked in had dried up. He began to get settled back into his home, when he noticed the note he had left on the table had been flipped over and had new writing on it. It was also accompanied by a photograph.

Sonic picked up the piece of paper and began to read it.

"Sonic, I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you, and I'm sorry that I did. Maybe it was just too soon for us to try and start over. I think it would be best if I go away again for while, and come back when things have settled down. Then maybe, just maybe, we can try again. But until then, I want you to know that while I was gone, I never stopped thinking about you. Not a day went by where you weren't in my thoughts.

I truly am sorry for everything I have done to you. I hope one day you'll be able to forgive me.

Forever yours,

Shadow."

Sonic put the note down and scooped up the photograph. Seeing what the photo was made his heart sink. It was the photo that Shadow had kept ever since it had been taken. And what was written on the back was like a punch to the gut.

"I still love you."

Sonic dropped the photo and dashed out of the shack. He rushed to Tails' house and hammered on the door with all his might. Tails opened the door, looking confused by the ruckus.

"Tails, I need you to fly me to Shadow Canyon, right now!" He exclaimed.

"What, why? Is there an emergency?"

"There's no time to explain, we have to hurry!"

"Alright, alright, I'll go get my plane." Tails stated, running over to his workshop. Moments later he came out, riding in his bright yellow plane. Sonic ran over and jumped into the passenger seat behind Tails.

"I'll get us there as quick as I can, so hold on tight!" Tails ordered, firing up the engine. The plane roared into action and the propeller began to spin furiously. Not long after they were in flight and soaring away from Bygone Island.

It took longer in than plane than it did with Shadow's teleportation ability. Sonic just hoped he wasn't too late to catch him. Tails landed the plane in Shadow Canyon, with Sonic immediately jumping out and rushing off "Thanks Tails, I'll be back soon." He called back to him as he ran to Shadow's cave. It was his best bet at finding him.

He made it to the cave, only to find it completely empty. There were no new embers in the fire pit either. He clearly wasn't there, and hadn't been there ever since he had shown it to him. Sonic only had one idea to fall back on, and he wasn't even sure if it would work, but it was worth a try.

He left the cave and ran to the highest point of Shadow Canyon in order to get a good view. He was hoping that he might be able to spy Shadow from a good vantage point. Sadly, he could not. Looking over the desolate landscape the only thing that stood out was Tails' plane. There was no black and red hedgehog in sight.

He was too late. Shadow was gone. It was like he was losing him all over again. Would he ever come back?

With a heavy heart, Sonic had no choice but to go back to Tails and fly home, alone and heartbroken.

When he got back, he opted to simply sit on the porch and stare solemnly at the photo of him and Shadow. He wished he could go back to that moment. Where they were young and had not a care in the world. Back when they were both truly happy.

Sonic sniffed sadly and ran his thumb over Shadow's face.

"You came looking for me." An all too familiar voice said.

Sonic lifted his head and saw Shadow standing in front of him. He quickly jumped up and wrapped his arms around Shadow, embracing him in a hug. "Don't go." He whimpered, tears forming in his eyes "Please don't leave me again."

"But, I thought-" Shadow began.

Sonic took hold of Shadow's face and squished his cheeks "It doesn't matter. Stay, please stay." He pleaded.

Shadow lifted his hands and removed Sonic's from his face "Okay, I'll stay."

Sonic embraced him in a hug once again, this time clenching him even tighter, never wanting to let go. "I'm sorry, for everything. I never should have left. I thought I was looking out for you, when really, I was just looking out for myself. I was trying to make myself feel better about what I had done." Shadow apologised "I shouldn't have pushed you. I see now that all we need to do is take our time, and maybe we could try again."

Sonic nodded "I'd like that."

"I wish I could go back and make sure that I never leave, but I can't. But I want to make it right, here and now. If there's anything I can do, anything, to make you happy, then just name it, and I'll do it."

Sonic pulled away but kept his arms wrapped around Shadow. "Don't leave me again. No matter what happens, you stay here, by my side. That's all I want."

"Consider it done." Shadow assured him with a comforting smile.

"I'm sorry too, for the things I said last night. I know neither of us are perfect, nor is our relationship, but as long as we're together, that's all I need." Sonic expressed his feelings. "And... I love you too." He said, referring to the message Shadow had left on the back of the photo. "Even when you were gone, I never stopped loving you, even when I was angry at you for leaving. I just wanted you to know that."

"I'm glad." Shadow replied.

The two sat down on the porch, with their arms wrapped around each other. "Would you like to have another photo? A sort of an after shot?" Sonic asked.

"Sure, why not."

Sonic quickly got up and grabbed the camera from inside the shack. He came back out and sat down in his original place. They both squeezed up next to each other as Sonic lifted the camera high above them and snapped a picture of them both smiling.

Shadow leaned in and kissed Sonic on the neck. Sonic laughed and fell backwards onto the porch, dropping the camera in the process. It landed on the sand, and had ended up taking another picture.

The photo that was developed showed Shadow and Sonic captured in a moment of pure passion, kissing one another lovingly on the lips. They may not have been as happy as they once were, but who knows, given a little bit of time, they could be even happier. And when looking back at this exact moment, they didn't have to feel bad about what had happened between them. They could treasure it. Forever.

A/N: Hey everyone.

This chapter is linked to chapter 1 and 4 in a way, since they're trying to keep their relationship a secret. This idea is really old, it's been sitting on my to-do list ever since the first couple of chapters, and was originally supposed to be the other's finding out about Sonic and Shadow's relationship and how the other's reacted and how Sonic and Shadow handled it. I like what it is now, though, and who knows, maybe I'll do the original idea some other time.

I don't think I've done a conflict between Sonic and Shadow before. Wait, yes I did, it was chapter 7, and it's non-existent second part (I honestly don't know if I'll ever do part 2 to that chapter, other ideas got in the way and it eventually got buried, like this chapter, only this one managed to strike my interest again. It might resurface at some point, it depends if it's still relevant and if I can dig up my plan and if people are interested in seeing it.)

I only just noticed that both of the holiday specials were in the tens (10th and 20th chapter). Funny, huh? That was not planned it all. It was a coincidence.

So, the next chapter is gonna be Sonic and Lancelot. I'll let you know in advance that it's kinda sad, but that all depends on how I write it, but that's what it is intended to be and I'm going to put in maximum effort. Ever since chapter 17 I swore to myself I wouldn't write that kind of quality again. I despise that chapter with a passion.

They'll be two chapters afterwards that will be linked to the propasal chapter, which was chapter 12, I think. It's not the actual wedding, though, I refuse to write something so boring and trivial as 'blah blah Shadow do you take Sonic as your blah blah husband blah blah I do blah blah blah kiss'. No, it's something much more interesting and has some thought put into it.

So that's what you can expect for the next three chapters. I hope you enjoyed this one, I fully enjoyed writing Sonic's rant. A lot of thought went into the dialogue at that part and at the end.

I'll see you in the Sonic and Lancelot one. Should come later this week or early next week. Bye!