Well I haven't written in a while. Hopefully I'll get back into it, but for now at least here's a new update.

I'm trying to move the story on which is why I pushed through a few weeks and wrote about certain moments like this, I'm hoping it will be just a few more chapters before this story in concluded but we'll see.

Time had passed and today was a bigger test for the blue hedgehog then he had anticipated. Shadow kept him at a close proximity, occasionally keeping his hand against the blue teens back to help push him along when he hesitated.

Today was the first day Sonic left the house since the indecent at the hospital.

Shadow had driven him down to the local flea market which was often crowded by local city people, all of whom were shopping for food, knock off clothes and handbags or self made jewellery and other such things. It was an event held every Friday morning and today was no exception.

Without even looking Shadow knew Sonic was struggling to be out in the open. He looked at everyone around him as if trying to figure out who was sent by Eggman to finish him off. There were so many people to go through, people who would bump into them or who they would have to push past to get to a stall.

Often Sonic had to bite down on his lips and stop himself from breaking down in front of everyone. He was utterly afraid to be around so many people right now, all of whom were giving him glances as they noticed the loose sleeve of his hoodie hanging from his where his shoulder should have been. People stared, not even subtly, then pushed past him. He heard the mumbles and the whispers easily, some didn't even have the courtesy to be quiet about it. Sonic wanted to pull his hood up over his head, but any time he tried Shadow pulled it back down.

Truthfully Shadow had no intention of making this easy for the blue hedgehog. He had tried many times to get Sonic out of the house, but with no luck. The court case for Eggman was in less then three weeks, and anytime he brought it up with Sonic, the blue teen would have a meltdown. Enough was enough, no more babying him. He was throwing Sonic into the deep end to show him that not everyone was out to get him and Eggman had no power anymore. Perhaps he was hash in his ways but... he really did care.

The past month hadn't been easy for either of them. Shadow had the unfortunate pleasure of meeting Eggman's lawyer. Miss Breezie Hedgehog. A world class attorney who had been responsible for clearing Eggman's name in the past many times. She was his go to woman, having a high standing in the court and being named Parter in more then one law firms, she was a difficult woman to beat. Himself and Rouge were still trying to form a plan of action. Rouge seemed confident in her idea, and his job was to trust her and take care of Sonic.

So that's all he could do. Rouge had done remarkable work. She had found the one responsible for sending Eggman's robots after Sonic since Eggman's arrest. It was his nephew, who had full control from an old warehouse in the north. Hard to locate, but through her cunning, strategy and smart thinking to seduce the nephew, a moment she wasn't proud of, she had found and shut down the operation to continue Eggman's work.

Unfortunately however, the nephew, much like all of Eggman's henchmen, chose to take him own life instead of confession to the truth.

To say he was worried was to stretch the truth. Shadow felt at this point it was a fifty fifty of Eggman winning. They had began to find evidence of himself at these crime scenes, obviously planted by Eggman, but Breezie was talented enough to convince people otherwise.

Concentrating on Sonic was the only thing getting him through this nightmare.

Shadow felt a hand hold tightly on his arm. Sonic drew himself close, closer then he was comfortable with, and almost rested his chin on his shoulder. "Please can we go now? I don't want to be here anymore" the teenager trembled, eyes fixed on anyone who was near him. Shadow lowered his brow, annoyed at the constant asking. They had only left the house an hour ago.

Not wanting it to look weird, he pulled him arm away and took a step back. Sonic wasn't happy about the new distance between them. "Pull it together faker. We're here for the morning and that's final. You need to get used to being around people" he said in a stern voice.

Sonic shook his head despairingly, "No please I can't do it. I want to go home" he begged, again trying to pull his hood up.

"Stop it!" Shadow snapped, again pulling it down and slapping at his arm. "What is wrong with you? You can't keep hiding from the world forever, and right now you're getting on my last nerve."

Trying his hardest not to let tears fall, Sonic lowered his head, feeling completely ashamed of himself.

Shadow sighed, rubbing his forehead tiredly. He was struggling with Sonic right now, and they both knew it. Neither one of them would be the first to talk about it though. It was always the same way, Shadow would try to help Sonic in his recovery, Sonic would give up too quickly, Shadow would get mad, Sonic would go crazy and the final result would be the blue hedgehog locking himself in his room and the black hedgehog storming out of the house.

He didn't know how to break them out of that cycle, he didn't know if it was possible. Sometimes Sonic would go a couple of days without talking to him, only acknowledging his presence when Shadow would bring him his medication and food, or when he had to help him with his wrappings.

The worst fight they had recently however happened only two nights ago. The majority of the day Tails had visited his house and the young fox was helping the teen with his school work, namely, helping him develop his writing skills. With only having his left hand available, Sonic was having to use children's school books to learn how to write again. Normally Shadow was the one to try and help, but it never ended well. He did however have to be there to tutor him in Maths and Science, something Tails was more then happy to get involved with. As it turned out, while living on the streets together, Sonic would steal school books for Tails and try to teach him as much as he could, something the fox kid always enjoyed and appreciated.

Now however, Sonic was the one being taught and he didn't like it. His brain wasn't taking to the lessons the way it used to, and more then often it would end in frustration and feelings of being stupid.

That day had been no exception. After Tails had been taken back to Vanilla's home, Shadow had come back to find Sonic ripping the pages out of his school books and throwing them onto the fire.

"Hey! That's enough!" he had yelled, pulling the book out of the teens hand. Sonic glared at him for a long moment, before standing up marching into the kitchen. Shadow had followed him. "What are you doing?" he snapped harshly after following the teen. Sonic angrily threw open the fridge door, slamming it closed when he couldn't find what he wanted. "I'm hungry! I'm just looking for food, or am I too stupid to eat now?!" he screamed, grabbing cookies from the cupboard. He threw several in his mouth at one go before Shadow could snatch the box from him and throw it to the table. "You're not stupid, you're just not trying hard enough" he said, triggering more anger then he realised. He pushed Sonic out of the way, adding fuel to the fire, before bringing out a cutting board and other cooking utensils. "Come on, you're going to cook tonight" he said. Sonic threw his hand against the counter, "I don't WANT to cook" he spat, rage boiling hotter then the pot of water was. Shadow, out of instinct, lashed out, grabbing the side of Sonic's head harshly and pulling him over to the chopping board. Admittedly letting Sonic handle a knife in that moment wasn't the best idea, now looking back, but he was determined. He felt if Sonic could do something right that he would gain a new found confidence that would help him. This was why he wasn't giving in to what he thought was just a temper tantrum.

On the chopping board he place vegetables, and he gave Sonic the knife "No go" he ordered.

"How the hell am I supposed to do this with one hand?" the blue teen cried out, his frustration reaching breaking point. "Will you just try it and stop complaining about everything!"

At this point Sonic breathed uneasy. His chest rose and dropped dramatically and his face was turning red. His only hand was shaking with anger as he held the knife, wanted so badly to stab something, or someone, with it. He felt Shadow breathing down his neck, being too close as the man hovered over him, making sure he was doing it right and giving him no space to breath. He didn't know how to do this, so he tried whatever. He threw the knife against the board and began hacking up the vegetables. "You're doing it wrong!" Shadow said while stopping him.

"I'm doing what you told me so back off!"

"You have to slice them thinly."

"Shadow I swear..."

"You're not even trying anymore. Just give it to me."

That was the straw that broke the camels back. When Shadow tried to snatch the knife back from Sonic, the other hedgehog lost it. With a loud frustrated scream tearing through his throat, Sonic swung the knife at Shadow and got him across his cheek. He held the wound with a sharp gasp as he fell a few steps back. Shadow hadn't expected something to happen to quickly, nor did he think he wouldn't be able to stop it in time. He had been careless... far too careless.

After that night he knew something needed to change between them. Sonic hadn't apologised for what he did, but Shadow knew he felt regret, even if at the time he didn't show it. Today was the first day they interacted with each other, Sonic deciding to stay in his room instead of dealing with the consequences of his actions. Despite the scar that ran across his mussel, Shadow tried to pretend that nothing had happened, so that the situation wouldn't escalate any further. He simply told Sonic to get dressed and ready as they were going out. For once Sonic did as he was told.

No however, he could see the young hedgehog struggling. Guilt started to scrape the inside of his ribs. "Look... just stay by my side and you'll be okay" he signed while placing his arm against Sonic's back, pushing him to walk by his side. Sonic stayed quiet, sadly stepping along Shadow's side.

Both of them remained uncomfortably silent, Shadow shopping in the food section for their meals of the week while Sonic stood close by.

There were still a lot of people around, and Shadow was trying to create a small distance to show he would be safe by telling him to go to another stall and buy something. Sonic kept refusing.

"I'm going to the whiskey stall and they wont sell if you're with me. Please go to the cake stall and buy something, it's only there" Shadow said, pointing to the opposite side. Sonic shook his head almost frantic "You'll leave me" he said. "No I wont, I'm right here."

"W-what if I lose sight of you i-in the crowd, I-I don't have a phone..."

"Sonic I will be right here. It's five feet away okay? I promise I wont go anywhere, I'll come over as soon as I'm done and then we can go home, deal?" Shadow asked, handing out a five ring bill. Sonic just looked at him pleadingly. Normally he probably would have screamed about it but he didn't want to show himself up in front of so many people. He looked over at the cake stall. While the food looked delicious, there was about seven or eight people lined up there and he didn't want to be mixed into them. "I swear I'll do it next time, please don't leave me" he begged once again.

"Stop being a wimp and go buy a cookie" Shadow snapped while slapping the money into the boys hand. "I'm going to be here, I promise I will keep my eye on you, now go!" with that said, Shadow walked over to the whiskey stall. After this day he felt he was going to be there a while.

Sonic tried to follow him, but a lot of people walked in between the distance Shadow had placed on them, and he knew he'd only get into more trouble. So with a deep breath to settle his nerves, Sonic turned his back on the black hedgehog and got into the line at the cupcake stall. Already he felt claustrophobic. People stood far too close to him and he could feel their elbows brush up against him as they tried to get past.

He glanced back over to Shadow to make sure he was still there, and he was thankfully. He was talking with the man at the stall and taking a few samples.

"Hey move up" the guy behind him said firmly.

"Sorry" Sonic gasped, taking his step forward in the line. At this point he was visibly shaking and sweat was starting to fall from his brow.

It must have been enough to grab people's attention. A young girl who had just purchased a bag of cakes from the front of the line walked past and stopped in front of him, wide green eyes suddenly filled with concern.

"Hey, are you okay Mr?" she asked, placing her hand on Sonic's arm. The action caused the hedgehog to jump back, not noticing the pink coloured girl had stopped to speak to him.

"I-I... u-umm... yes, I-I'm okay" he nervously replied to her.

She shook her head, "No you look very unwell. Is it low blood sugar? Is that why you're buying sugary sweets?"

"..." Sonic didn't know how to respond.

"If that's the case you're very far back in the line. You look like you're about to pass out" she said while invasively placing her hand on his forehead. Sonic tried to pull back, but she was persistent. She noticed how his cheeks began to flush and grew worried.

"Come with me" she said, grabbing his hand and pulling him over to a nearby table. Sonic tried so hard to protest but words were failing him, only weird sounds were leaving his lips at this point.

The girl pushed him down to sit before she sat close next to him. Sonic looked around to make sure he could still Shadow, who fortunately was still in sight, but unfortunately wasn't paying attention to come save him.

"Here" the girl said, getting Sonic's wide eyed attention. From her bag she pulled out a bottle of water and a large cupcake she had just brought for herself. "Have these, you'll feel better" she smiled.

"O-oh no, it's okay really..."

"Come on, you need the sugar don't you?" she pushed, looking almost offended he wouldn't accept treats from a stranger. Immediately Sonic felt distrust, but as much as he didn't want to admit it, the girl looked really innocent, almost friendly. Maybe his blood sugar was low? He did feel drained and dizzy. With a shy thank you he took the water and food. An odd familiarity about the situation coming to his mind.

"There you go. My name is Amy, Amy Rose. What's yours?" the girl asked him.

Sonic paused a moment, unsure how to respond. He had a mouth full of cake which luckily gave him a few seconds to think. "Uh... my name is Miles... Miles Prower."

Amy perked up at the name, smiling widely as she felt she had just made a new friend. "It's lovely to meet you Miles" she said while holding her right hand out.

Sonic looked at the hand awkwardly. With only his left hand available he didn't know how to go about it. Did she not notice his lack of limb?

He placed the rest of the cake down and then twisting his hand around he gave her a very uncomfortable handshake. Amy laughed, "Okay that was strange, what's wrong with your other hand?" she joked. Sonic didn't need to answer though, as when she finally took a proper look, she saw the loose material of the boys hoodie hanging down on something that looked like a divert where his shoulder should have been. Immediately she gasped loudly and covered her mouth.

Sonic looked away, ashamed and embarrassed. He expected her to get up and walk away.

Surprisingly though, she took hold of his remaining hand and squeezed it tight. "Oh Miles, I am so sorry. I had no idea, I wasn't paying attention. Please forgive me" she begged, tears almost rising to the brim of her eyes. Sonic raised his brow, not expecting such a response. "H-hey, it's okay. I don't mind" he smiled reassuringly. Quickly she smiled back, but didn't let go of his hand, which was annoying because he wanted to keep eating the cake she gave him.

"It must be so difficult for you. I couldn't imagine what it must be like. Were you born like this or did you have an accident?"

Sonic was taken aback, this girl had no fear of asking the personal questions. In an odd way, it felt kind of relaxing. "I was in an accident, I don't really want to talk about it, it was kinda recent."

"Oh of course, I understand" she smiled, still holding his hand.

Shadow, having spent more money on whiskey then he had intended, was observing from a quiet distance. A small smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

He didn't know who that pink girl was or what it was they were talking about, but he could make out their voices from the noise of the crowd, and judging by their tones, it sounded like their conversation was a good one. The pink girl was holding his kid's hand, securing Sonic his place while the teenager blushed and answered questions with a goofy smile. And for the first time in days, he finally heard Sonic start to laugh as he spoke to this girl. For once... he looked like a normal kid, hanging out with a friend. And that? That was something Shadow felt in his heart. He was happy, happy that Sonic was looking and acting like a normal teenager for once.

"... So that's my number, you'll call me?" Amy asked, slipping the note across the table towards the boy she had just met. "Yeah of course, the movie's sound fun" Sonic smiled, looking at the note with the long line of numbers on with her name and several hearts surrounding it.

"I can't believe you've never been before!" she smiled. "It was great meeting you Miles, I hope I see you soon" she blushed. "S-same... I'll ring you as soon as I can" Sonic grinned, inwardly hating himself for how needy that must have sounded. Amy giggled lightly. They both said their goodbyes and she walked away, Sonic watching until she vanished into the crowd. He almost forgot that Shadow was with him and the black hedgehog appeared next to him.

"Make a new friend?" Shadow asked slyly. Sonic looked up at him, blushing brightly as the grin widened across his mussel. "Shut up" he laughed. He looked back at the note in his hand, his heart fluttering as he read the number over and over. He got a girls number.

He actually got a girls number...