'Whoa, whoa, hang on. I missed it. What did you just say?' exclaimed Uncharted Territory, nearly falling out of his seat.

Shadow smiled, shuffling in her seat as the Oscar-Bait theme-song-of-the-movie helped Sonic realize what he'd just said.

"It's not like I'm not going to be here when you get back, you know?" she said, crossing her fingers.

'I'm lost! Hello? Hey, update here! What?' Uncharted Territory leaned over the back of the seats, attempting to get a better view of the two.

Sonic smiled a bit, slightly reassured by Shadow's response before his worries acted up again.

"But, what if I don't come back? I mean, what if-?"

Shadow tapped Sonic's shoulder, redirecting his attention to the screen.

"You talk too much," said the heroine, pulling the hero into a kiss. The young hero was shocked at first, but slowly relaxed, quite enjoying it.

'Hello? Hey- Earth to Sonic! Is what's happening what I think is happening?'

Sonic ignored the demon, wondering which part of that scene that Shadow was trying to draw his attention to: the shut-up or the kiss.

"Okay, you don't talk too much," Shadow said, stealing some of Sonic's popcorn. "I haven't seen this movie before, but you have to admit it was either going to be 'you talk too much' or 'you worry too much.' Action movies are pretty predictable."

Sonic smiled a bit. 'What do I have to worry about, anyway?' he thought, watching Shadow's playful expression as he turned back to the movie. 'I can take care of myself. Heck, I'll be back before Shadow even realizes I'm gone!'

'Excuse me, little annoying demon here! THIS IS A ROMANTIC MOMENT. WHERE AM I?'

'Pay more attention next time,' advised Sonic, mentally, both hedgehog and demon taking into account the glowing rainbow on Uncharted Territory's shirt decal.

'So there'll be a next time, huh?' mumbled the spirit, leaning back into his seat. 'I'm taking that as a promise and holding you to it, 'Mister Honesty.''

Was it really that much of a romantic moment, anyway? Sonic watched some more of the movie. Now the heroine was actually being kidnapped by the villain, too bad for being a hardcore action chick.

Shadow glanced at Sonic before glancing back at the rows behind them. Empty. She leaned toward Sonic, settling her arm next to his on the cup-holder-rest between them; their hands overlapping slightly. She knew that they would probably leave knowing only half the plot of the movie anyway…

It was around four in the afternoon as Rouge glanced out the window and happened to see Sonic and Shadow leaving the movie theater on the opposite side of the road. So they were back in the city. Why were they back in the city? Opening her window, she decided to investigate.

"So do you want to go back to the apartment or is there anything else you wanted to do?" asked Shadow, before looking up at Sonic, who had tapped her shoulder.

Shadow glanced at Sonic before he directed her attention to the bat who had just landed some distance in front of them. Shadow smiled.

"Rouge!" exclaimed the black hedgehog, uncharacteristically enthusiastic. "How long has it been? You've… gotten taller."

Rouge smiled. "Hello, Shadow. Sonic. I trust you two cleaned up that mess at the hospital?"

"You heard about that?" asked Shadow, laughing a little.

"With these ears, Honey, I hear everything. You two seem to be getting along rather well. How have you been doing?"

"We've been doing well," said Sonic, "except for; you know, the thing at the hospital," he began.

"And the getting lost in the woods," continued Shadow.

"And the hedgehog-eating kudzu," "And the LGBT-Con at the mall," "And the stalker at the Library…"

"You sure have been busy," laughed Rouge, relaxing a bit after seeing how well they were getting along. She was a little surprised by Shadow's behavior, but then…

"By the way, Shadow, how have you been since the- er…"

Shadow's eyebrows rose. "You mean, since we last met, right? I've been fine, actually. After all, I did find…"

He tilted his head back toward Sonic, who smiled, his drifting line of sight describing his short attention span better than any exclamation of 'I'm bored' ever could. Rouge nodded in understanding, though she couldn't help but mess with them a little bit.

"I honestly have no idea what you see in him, Hon'."

Sonic started, blushing as he suddenly returned to the conversation at hand. Shadow laughed, more genuinely than before.

"Well, he's not very demanding, and he definitely has a sense of humor."

Rouge wasn't sure what to make of this. It was within Shadow's boundaries to play along with the joke, but she had fully expected Sonic to respond first. She patted Sonic's shoulder. "I was just kidding, Sonic. Lighten up!"

Sonic did so, but his face certainly didn't. Shadow lowered an eyebrow at Sonic's redness. "Are you all right, Sonic? You look flushed."

The flustered hedgehog waved his hand for her to forget it, but Shadow's glance lingered for another moment before Rouge drew her attention again.

"Oh, he's all right," Rouge said, her interests obviously lying in maintaining the conversation for the moment. "So, care to elaborate on those adventures you mentioned?"

"Knuckles, you know I'm not supposed to answer the phone while flying," scolded Tails, speaking on his hands-free "car" phone. Knuckles, on the other end, didn't seem to care.

"Well, what about for emergencies? That's worth it, right?"

"I should say so, Knuckles," spoke Tails, ever with the pleasantries of phone speech. "What's the emergency?"

"Well, according to your GPS, Angel Island should be right above Adabat, right?"

Tails raised an eyebrow at Knuckles' odd hesitation with the subject. "Right. So, what's the emergency?"

"I am not seeing Adabat. I am seeing Eggmanland."

"You mean, like the old Eggmanland or a new one?" asked Tails, now on edge.

"Like, a new one. In the shape of Adabat."

Tails gulped. "Want me to take preparatory measures?"

"I'd say it's a good idea. As for me, I'm going to redirect the island to a safe docking point. You?"

"I'll have to stop for refueling in Apotos, but then I'll go north to Redwood Park to pick up Sonic and Rouge."

"Sonic and Rouge are in Redwood Park? Huh."

"I doubt they're in a dating situation, Knuckles," Tails chuckled, humorlessly. "I'll be a day at least. You?"

"The same. See you at Mystic Ruins?"

"Mystic Ruins it is," replied Tails, making a midair turn and hanging up, changing his flight plan over the computer. "This shouldn't take too long."

"So that's the story, eh? Well, I wouldn't expect any less from you guys." Rouge smiled and glanced at her watch. She was getting a call. "Well, gentlemen, I must be off- my government needs me."

She turned back toward the street and the window she'd jumped from, but she was stopped by Shadow's hand on her shoulder. "Er, Rouge? I'm kind of not a gentleman."

Sonic glanced up from his current mental conversation with Uncharted Territory to listen in. 'What'd he just say?' asked the demon, tilting his head.

"It actually turns out I'm a girl. I hope it doesn't change anything," said Shadow, somewhat apologetically. "Sorry you missed the memo."

Sonic's jaw dropped. He turned and looked at Uncharted Territory, who looked quite honestly… blissful. In fact, his clothing was changing into a rather long, white robe; a halo materialized above his head. His piercings and bangles vanished and he positively beamed, his smile practically reaching the edges of his muzzle. The spirit put a hand on Sonic's shoulder and spoke in perfect English: 'Wait 'til marriage, bro,' and disappeared.

Sonic's open mouth twitched into a smile. He understood everything now, and he just had to let Shadow know…

"I'M NOT GAY!"

Shadow's quills bristled in surprise and her eyebrows twisted into an expression of absolute puzzlement, as did Rouge's. They both slowly turned to face Sonic, who seemed absolutely enthralled by this fact. He said it again, in a somewhat disbelieving yet insanely happy tone. "I'm not gay!"

Rouge spoke up first. "Did you just figure that out now?"

Sonic maintained his manic grin and nodded. "I'm not gay."

Rouge was thoroughly weirded out, now. She shook her head and shut her eyes, completely lost. "What is this, I don't even-?"

"No, Rouge, let's hear him out." Rouge started at this, quite shocked that Shadow didn't share her bewilderment. Sonic seemed to take this as cue to explain.

"I mean, I wouldn't have minded being gay, I just didn't want to end up as flamboyant as… What I mean is; I didn't care as long as… Well, what I'm saying is-…"

"You mean, this whole time, you-?" began Shadow, cutting off Sonic, but cut off by him nodding enthusiastically again. "And you didn't know I-?" More nodding.

"Huh," responded Shadow, understanding but still somewhat stumped. "So why are you announcing it to the world, again?"

Sonic seemed to recognize his surroundings, now; glancing around the area at all the people who really weren't staring and probably didn't care that much. As impossible as it seemed, he was even redder than he had been before, his blush spreading to his ears and shoulders, as well as his chest. Shadow smiled, now enlightened. She placed a hand on Sonic's shoulder and stood on her toes to whisper in Sonic's rosy ear: "It's okay, Sonic. I'm not gay either."