'Ten thirty-four pm. Sonic and I are still in the park, in the hole, waiting out the night. Wanted to see Sonic, but am currently seeing more of him than bargained for. Bad thing?'

"Who are you texting?" asked Sonic, interrupting Shadow's thoughts.

Shadow hid her backlit screen and muttered a response. In his blindness, Sonic had been getting a little closer than Shadow liked.

"What? You were mumbling. You know, if you text someone in town you'll-"

"Give us away? I know, Sonic. Sheesh, you think I'm that stupid?"

"No," Sonic shook his head, leaning back against the closest wall and vaguely scratching at his arm with a sort of guilty expression, "No."

There was a long pause. The sound of water dripping counted the seconds. Shadow grew nervous.

"I'm writing in a journal application. My, um. My psychiatrist said. Said it would…"

"Help..?" ventured Sonic, crawling a little closer.

"I'll tell you right now, Sonic; it does. It really does. And I know it's weird to keep a diary, but-!"

"No! Not at all! It's pretty cool actually."

Shadow looked at her phone. It was running out of batteries. She saved her progress.

Sonic took the silence as a positive and scooted in nearer to Shadow. He wouldn't tell Shadow that he kept his own journal of his adventures, (an audio journal; Sonic had no patience for the written word) but the understanding was there. Shadow put away his phone. It was just the two of them, lit indistinctly by the glow of the Chaos Emerald, the red light emanating from Shadow's apron pocket.

Sonic scooted away, his eyes widening, his breathing speeding up. A stray thought had drawn his attention:

'Snuggle him again.'

"Sonic, are you alright?" asked Shadow, looking across at Sonic.

He had a strange, wild look in his eyes; a cross between shock and fear. Glancing around the dark space; trying to see the room, trying to find the exit.

Shadow reached over and touched Sonic's hand. A short, loud exclamation met her ears. Sonic pulled away, his eyes no less wild. A panic attack?

Sonic did not want to be here right now. Alone with Shadow, bad ideas running through his head, and now Shadow was trying to help? Sonic wasn't sure what to do, but it sure didn't include initiating cuddle time with the Ultimate Lifeform. What Shadow would do to him…? Sonic was certain there would be no evidence.

But not a moment later, Shadow was on top of him; holding his arms to his sides and muttering into his ear. What?

This was what the asylum employees did when a panic attack occurred in a patient that was normally calm. They made sure he couldn't hurt himself before trying to calm him down, talking softly and quietly until the patient stopped struggling. Sonic kept struggling.

"Shh. It's okay. Relax, you're all right. Everything's all right. Breathe. Sonic, close your eyes. Listen to me. Deep breaths."

Sonic couldn't believe this. Shadow the Hedgehog. Ultimate Lifeform. Holding him to the ground. Telling him to relax. This was wrong. This was very wrong. This must be a nightmare. This must be some kind of fevered dream from the same side of his brain as the snuggly message. This was not good.

But he was tiring quickly. Shadow was practically a brick wall of holding-you-in-place-itude, and against I-don't-wanna-be-here the Hedgehog, his approach seemed well thought out in that Sonic was reduced from seizure-like tremors to a wimpy shiver, his will to escape lessened by the calming words whispered to him.

Sonic whimpered, shivering in the cool air. Shadow backed off, keeping Sonic's arms in check and looking over his face. Sonic looked guilty and somewhat frightened. Shadow leaned to the side, getting off of Sonic and letting the blue hedgehog recoup.

"It's alright, Sonic. This can stay between us."

Shadow watched vigilantly for the next ten minutes as Sonic recovered and finally fell asleep. Really thinking about it, Shadow realized she wasn't really sure what just happened. She and Sonic had been having a conversation, there had been a pause, and then Sonic had had a panic attack? Shadow sighed. What was she trying to understand Sonic for? They probably wouldn't be together much longer. They'd always gone their separate ways in the end, and there wasn't a doubt something would come up that Sonic would need to take care of.

She scooted closer to Sonic. It was fact. Sonic would be gone from her life again soon. No regrets, no parting gifts, no deep-seated memories.

So why was she feeling so sad?

Night number two in the pen. Sonic hadn't answered her one phone call and Amy was still angry about it. She sat on her bunk and tapped her foot angrily; her roommate huddling under his blanket, no doubt afraid of her. She would be out soon, though. She had a lawyer.