Hello again! Last chapter was a bit short. Hopefully now I can make up for that with this chapter! So these next chapters take place eight years after Shadow joins the freedom fighters (to avoid confusion. LOL) This chapter is dedicated to Midnight Moon XXX. Thank you for helping me get over my writer's block by reviewing my stories!

Eight years later…

~Chapter ten: The Older I get~

It was a crisp September afternoon. School had just let out. The school campus was overwhelmed as the Hillsboro middle school students flooded out the main doors and rushed to their cars or buses.

Sonic stretched his arms as he exited the school. He liked being the last one out of school. Not because he actually liked school, but because he didn't want to take the high risk of being trampled. "It's finally Friday!" The speedy hedgehog yelled, not particularly caring about how many kids stared at him.

"About time it came, too." Sonic turned to see Silver walking toward him.

Silver was supposed to be in seventh grade. However, due to his intelligence, Silver was able to skip a grade.

Silver sighed. "Art class. Oh, how I loath that class with a passion!" He redirected his attention to Sonic, and smiled. "So?"

"So what?"

"How are things with Shadow?"

Sonic looked at the ground. "Good. Why are you asking?"

Silver smirked and his friend's sudden bashfulness. "Just curious. Have you kissed him yet?"

Sonic looked at Silver in shock. "Silver! W-why would you even think-"

"Just admit it! You're madly in love with him!"

"Madly in love with whom?" Shadow asked, walking up behind the two bickering hedgehogs.

Sonic turned away from Shadow, in an attempt to conceal his now tomato-red muzzle. "It's… nothing," he managed to say while trying to remember how to breathe.

Silver smiled. "So Shadow," he said, trying hard not to laugh. "Are you staying with us again, or are you staying at your house?"

Shadow sighed. "I don't know." He looked at Sonic. "But I probably should stay. Because I'm worried about Sonic's… mental state."

"I'll be fine," Sonic mumbled, still faced away from Shadow. "Go spend some time with your dad."

Shadow frowned. "I don't want to spend time with my dad."

"Okay," Silver said, wanting to quickly change the subject. "Let's head home. Everybody else already left."

~Angel in the Night~

"SONIC!" Amy yelled as she sprinted up to Sonic, pulling him into a death grip.

"Amy!" Sonic yelped. "At least let me get into the house before you hug me!"

Amy released Sonic and stepped back, blushing in embarrassment. "Sorry!"

Sonic noticed Shadow staring off into space, an angry look plastered on his muzzle. "What's wrong?"

Shadow looked at Sonic. "If… if your dad likes you, how would you know?"

"Well every dad likes their kids."

"No. That's not the like I mean." Shadow looked around.

Sonic smiled. "Is this a private conversation?"

Shadow nodded. "Yes."

"I know of the perfect place."

~Angel in the Night~

Shadow frowned. "The roof?"

Sonic sat down on the dark brown paneling, and sighed. "Yeah. Nobody ever finds me here." He looked around. "Isn't the view beautiful?"

Shadow sat down next to Sonic and instantly knew why the blue speedster loved being up here; the trees with their fire red and orange leaves, and the sun setting in the distance, giving everything its light touched a honey golden glow.

"Wow," was all Shadow could say as he took the scene in.

Sonic smiled. "Yeah." He looked at Shadow. "What did you want to talk about?"

"How would you know if your dad… is in love with you?"

"Hmm," Sonic mumbled, looking at the sky. "Well I guess he would tell you he loves you a lot."

Shadow snorted. "Yeah. That'll be the day."

"Uh, he would probably show you more affection than a normal dad would."

"Like?"

"I don't know. Hug you more. Kiss you-"

Shadow gasped. "H-he kisses me! All the time!"

Sonic stood up. "He does? Well, that isn't right! We have to tell someone!"

Shadow grabbed Sonic's hand before he could run off. "No! We don't need to tell anyone. It's fine."

"Yes we do!"

"See! This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you, because I knew you would act like this!"

Sonic's ears drooped. He wanted Shadow to keep telling him things that no one else knew about. He sat back down.

They spent the next few minutes in awkward silence.

"I don't want to see you get hurt," Sonic finally whispered.

"You've already seen me hurt," Shadow whispered back. "I just made up excuses for it."

"I try not to think about those times and try to think more about the… happier times when you're here with us." Sonic rested his head against Shadow's shoulder and sighed.

Part of Shadow wanted to push Sonic away from him, yet a stronger part of him wanted to leave Sonic as he was. He sighed and put his head against Sonic's.

Shadow looked down when he noticed Sonic's breathing was becoming softer. He smiled when he noticed that Sonic's eyes were closed. He's asleep, Shadow thought. He looked off in the sunset and soon felt his eyelids grow heavy with the desire to sleep. He nuzzled his head next to Sonic's and closed his eyes.

I finally finished! I'm so happy! So comment and review… please? I'll see you all next time!