The police station was cold. Officer Collins relaxed in his desk chair as Sonic and Shadow filled out papers. Delta fell asleep on Shadow's shoes. Officer Collins trusted his dog when it came to people; he believed they had a sixth sense about that. These two were good kids… for twenty-or-so year old hedgehogs. Sonic had finished his papers and turned them in as Shadow lingered a bit on a few questions. Overall, they finished quickly and were allowed to leave as long as they paid for the damages before the next weekend.

Delta followed Sonic and Shadow to the door and looked up at Collins as they left. He raised an eyebrow. Normally that meant they would be seeing whoever was leaving again. Collins sighed. He had other cases to attend to, anyways.

"This is me," said Shadow, as the two hedgehogs stopped outside Bernard's Apartment Complex. Sonic hesitated, tapping a foot.

"Would you like to..?" asked Shadow, pointing at the door.

"Um, sure. I'll get that." Sonic held open the door as Shadow walked through, Mr. Bernard winking at her as she waved at him.

Raising an eyebrow, Shadow turned to the glass doors and saw Sonic was already walking away. She leaned out the door and called after him.

"I meant: 'would you like to come inside and see my place'! Sheesh!"

Sonic' ears perked and he turned around, eyes bright, grinning. He rushed into the building, his foot catching on the carpet as he toppled forward, Shadow barely snagging him by the arm before he could land on his face.

"Quite a catch there, Shadow," commented Mr. Bernard. Shadow gave him a look as she helped Sonic back to a standing position.

"Sorry," said Sonic, blushing as they walked to the elevator.

Shadow pressed the button for her floor as they entered the elevator. Sonic whistled along to them music. Shadow looked up. It was one of those oldies about love. Apparently the girl had left, but the boy still loved her. They reached her floor quickly.

Shadow led the way out of the elevator to her apartment, which she remembered she had forgotten to clean up after leaving for work the day before yesterday.

Sonic walked into paradise. Clothes were everywhere. Someone had spilled cereal on the floor. Half-empty chip bags closed by clothespins were all over the pack of the kitchen counter. In addition, Shadow had just said "Make yourself at home." Sonic flopped down on the couch in front of the flat-panel television and kicked off his shoes; leaning back and picking up the TV remote.

Shadow laughed. Sonic sure knew how to follow orders. She went into the bedroom to pick out some more comfortable clothes while Sonic turned on the TV.

Sonic channel-surfed for a while before noticing the TiVo button on the remote control. Shadow had a few things recorded already.
Skateboarding. Videogames. A news story about cell phones. A documentary about swing dancing?
Sonic shrugged. It wasn't that weird…

Shadow returned to the room. Sonic looked up to greet him, but found himself a little speechless.

Shadow came in, noticed the look on Sonic's face, and continued into the kitchen. He looked kind of silly with his mouth open like that… What was his deal, anyways? She wasn't wearing anything special; in fact, she was in her pajamas: an oversized Planet Hollywood shirt with zebra-print sleep pants. A pair of white socks and a new pair of slightly oversized gloves and Sonic had followed her across the room, not just with his eyes, but he had turned his whole head to watch her.

She ignored the thought and looked through the refrigerator for something to make. No doubt, Sonic was hungry after a day or so out in the woods with nothing to eat…

'You want him?'

Sonic looked up, shaking off his shock and coming face-to-face with a tiny version of himself.

'What?' he responded in thought; the small devilishly dressed reflection seeming to hear and replying.

'You want him. I know it. You know it.'

'You! You're from back in the woods! Who are you?'

'Uncharted Territory,' spoke the demon, 'I'm you. How you see you. I'm letting you know. You want that Shadow.'

Sonic turned away. 'No I don't!'

'You think he's hot. Did you see him? Practically in his pajamas!'

'Listen, bucko, Shadow and I are friends- maybe not even that- and I'm just over for a short visit! What are you even here for? …Where's your pitchfork?'

'All in good time,' spoke Uncharted Territory, disappearing as Sonic's attention turned to the kitchen door.

"Chinese Rice for dinner. Any complaints?" asked Shadow, leaning out the door.

Sonic shook his head, flashing a smile. Something told him Shadow was a good cook, so he just went with it. Shadow smiled back and disappeared into the kitchen.

'Okay, I admit, Shadow's kind of attractive. But on a universal scale- everyone thinks Shadow is just as attractive as I think he is!'

Uncharted Territory gave Sonic a look. 'He's cooking for you. Who's ever done that?'

'He's being a good host! …Not a lot of people.'

'Pitchfork's in the shop.'

Sonic raised an eyebrow, confused. 'Oh, I get it. I answer your questions, you answer mine… Okay. What kind of shop fixes pitchforks?'

'What shop fixes chessboards?'

Sonic thought about this a minute. He could smell Chinese food in the kitchen.

'The pawn shop? Oh, I get it! Hey, you cheated! Making me answer my own question…'

'Never play by any rules. Thought you would get that.'

Sonic sighed. 'Oh yeah. You're the devil.'

'Out for your best interest. You want the Ultimate Lifeform. Nothing wrong with that, Sonic.'

Sonic crossed his arms, sinking into the couch cushions. 'Uh, actually, yeah, there is! He's a guy! I'm a guy! Get it?'

'Point taken; jeez, you're adamant. But you have to admit…'

'Admit what?'

'He is one fine honey. Don't you think so, Sonic?'

Sonic was thoroughly confused. 'Fine honey..?'

His thoughts were interrupted by Shadow, exiting the kitchen carrying a bowl of hot brownish-orange rice mixed with various vegetables and what appeared to be tiny chunks of scrambled egg. He set it down on the coffee table in front of Sonic, handing him a spoon and taking the remote control before sitting down next to him and going back to the TiVo menu. Sonic picked up the bowl and tasted a spoonful of rice.

Shadow glanced over to Sonic and did a double take. Sonic had tilted the bowl up to his face and was scarfing down the rice as fast as he could. He finished quickly and, with a few grains of rice still stuck to his muzzle, asked: "Um, how much did you make?"

Shadow laughed. "There's plenty more in the kitchen, Sonic! Don't worry; I know how much you eat."

Sonic rushed into the kitchen, taking a moment to lean back out the door and exclaim "You know me too well!" before partaking in the mass quantities of rice Shadow had prepared.

It was an hour later. Sonic was dozing on the couch, his stomach too full to allow him to stay awake much longer. His attention drifted from the television to Shadow. He pointed to his chest. He drew a heart shape in the air. He pointed at Shadow.
Shadow had seen this. He smiled a bit and pointed to himself. He pointed at Sonic. He crossed his fingers.

Sonic smiled and fell asleep, unfortunately to dreams of angels and demons fighting about Shadow and trying to get his vote.

Shadow turned off the TV and listened to Sonic breathing. Just like out in the woods, only less damp and in comfortable clothes. She rather enjoyed the sound; she wouldn't mind falling asleep to Sonic's respiration every night.

However, this could be their last night together.

Shadow reached over and took Sonic's hand. "I love you, too, Sonic… I love you, too."