*WARNING* There is a lot of cursing in this chapter, and some blood. So if this doesn't play your fiddle, then well...Ignore it I guess.

Chapter 6

Final Straw

The sun beat down like a heating lamp on a batch of eggs. No, maybe it was more like a pie in the oven. Perhaps like glass being slowly softened in a blazing hot fire. On the other hand, sitting in the sun itself was even closer. Yes, yes that was more like it.

Shelly sighed as she threw rotted insulation into a trash bag; she was sweating like a hyena from Africa, and about as baked and burnt as her attempts at cooking bacon. But so far, today had been full of progress, and that made it all the more better….Well at least a little.

Sonic had shown up ready to fix the hole, and Shelly had offered to help. She quickly learned she could add another item to her list of things she had learned about Sonic:

He has guts, or nerve, whatever the word. People like Mike didn't scare him.

He is blue, a rare and interesting color.

He had a tendency of disappearing and reappearing at random.

He likes- no loves chilidogs.

He's sweet, funny, and very easy going.

Has no taste in fashion.

She smirked, okay maybe she was lying about that one just a bit. And her latest addition, number 7, more like the actual 6:

He saw big things, and considered them not a problem.

"The hole is small," Sonic had said with a grin, "Won't take more than an hour or two to fix."

Shelly concluded, her definition of little, is way off from his definition of little. The hole was over seven feet long, perhaps eight. Shelly wondered how Eva had managed to get by with such a large hole.

The wood was once infested with termites, which would explain why Eva would not use that part of the building, and was now weak and unstable. Some supports beams had collapsed to the room below. The insulation was rotted from what little rain they had this hot summer combined with the beating sun. In whole, the 'small' hole was a caved in rotting mess.

One to two hours, he said. Shelly thought with a frown, we've been up here since 8, she glanced at her watch, its 12:21 and we're not even over half way done. The building had been thoroughly insulated, so well in fact. Shelly and Sonic had been picking it at it from breakfast until their current time.

Sonic looked over from where he was tearing up insulation, "How's it going over there." Despite the heat, he seemed completely happy, as if he was drinking ice-cold lemonade instead of working on blazing hot roof.

"Oh I'm good, almost done over here," Shelly replied, hoping to show the same cheerfulness.

"Way past cool," Sonic grinned, "I'm almost done too. Once we fill these bags, we'll take a short break and cool down. Then we'll finish the job."

She sighed, "You make it sound so easy,"

He laughed, "Compared to what I usually do? Yes this is easier."

"What do you do exactly?"

"Me? Well I – Oh hey Eva!" Sonic said.

"Hello young ones," Eva said from the room below, "I came to see how you were doing," she held up a serving tray, "Anyone for lemonade?"

Oh thank God, Shelly thought, "You read my mind." She called down.

Eva laughed softly as she climbed up a few steps of the ladder they had set up down in the room, " I thought you could use a refreshing drink, it's a hot one today." She lifted the tray high.

"No kidding," Sonic laughed as he reached down, "Careful Eva, don't fall."

"You don't fall of the roof, I won't fall of the ladder," She replied.

Sonic sighed lifting the tray, "And she gets me with the roof card…again. Are you ever going to let the first time go?"

Eva smiled teasingly, "Since you fell off my roof the first time, you've been falling time and time again. And I'm never going to let you up there if you have hammer and nails with you, you almost killed yourself. You may hold one or the other, but not both, Shelly can hold the other half."

He handed a glass to Shelly, "Alright alright you win."

"Is it going to cool down today Eva?" Shelly asked.

"No, I'm afraid not, it will stay in the 90's until this evening," Eva said, "But the weatherman did say there was a good rain storm coming in from the sea, possibly a lighting storm, that should cool things down a bit." She turned to leave, "I'll be back in a minute with lunch.

"Thanks Eva!" Sonic called after her.

"I hope it rains then," Shelly said, "Cooler sounds nice."

Sonic took a sip of lemonade, "I sure hope it doesn't rain." He snorted.

"Now why not?"

He blinked at Shelly, "Cause I hate rain, that's why."

"And why do you hate rain?" she inquired.

Sonic took another sip then chuckled nervously, "Let's just say I have an immense dislike for water."

She took a sip and pointed at him, "So you're afraid of it?"

"What, no!" he said quickly, "I just don't like it that's all."

"Mm-hmm," Shelly nodded, "Say what you will, but you sound afraid of it,"

"I am not afraid of water."

"Alright alright, you're not afraid of water."

There was a moment of silence as they sipped their ice cold drinks. Shelly took the time to look around and admire the town from the roof. Everything was bright and happy today, the sea sparkled beyond the cliffs, and the rooftops shone in the reflection of the sun. Children were running through sprinklers, and throwing water balloons at one another. Adults dodged and weaved the perilous weapons as they went about their day. If it wasn't for the blistering heat, today would be the perfect day.

"Are you afraid of anything?"

Shelly looked over at Sonic, "Excuse me?"

"Do you have a serious dislike for something?"

"Well, Mike."

He laughed, "I mean besides him."

Shelly thought for a moment, "Well,"

Sonic leaned in, "Yeah?"

"I have a serious fear," she paused, "I mean, a serious dislike," She corrected with a wink, "of being in enclosed spaces, that are small and tight, with no proper airflow."

Sonic nodded, "So you're a claustrophobic."

"Pretty much, is that a bad thing?"

He shook his head, "No, there are worse things to afraid of, but Claustrophobia is definitely something worthy."

She snorted, "So you're saying not everything out there should be actually scary."

"Yes! I mean some of it is so pointless! I've heard of people who are afraid of bunnies! Who would be afraid of bunnies, it's just so silly"

"Well, that is kinda silly but-"

"And there are people who are afraid of thumb tacks, and long words. Fear of crossing the road, fears of wide-open spaces. Fear of flowers. Fear of hair, fear of bright colors. To me some of those things just seem silly." Sonic explained. "I feel bad for the people who have those types of fears, and I wish I could show them everything is fine. But honestly who would be afraid of hair, for example?"

"Obviously, you haven't seen my hair when I get up in the morning." Shelly teased.

He winked, "Do I really want to know?"

"No, no you don't." She laughed, "I see your point with some of those phobias though. But what about clowns, a lot of people don't like clowns. Is that silly?"

"Eh," He paused, before pointing at her, "Alright, that one I'll let by."

They began work again, and only worked for a few more minutes before Eva brought up lunch.

"Yum," Shelly said, "Turkey sandwich. Thanks Eva."

"Anytime dear," Eva smiled, before returning downstairs.

"What did you get Sonic?"

"Chili-dogs!" The azure hedgehog replied happily.

"You sure like those chili-dogs. Don't you?" Shelly pointed out.

"Oh you have, no idea."

She laughed and dug into her sandwich. After a moment however, she paused to watch Sonic wolf his meal down. She couldn't help but feel slightly fascinated. He's like a kid in a candy store. She thought, only he's an adult, and those are chili-dogs, not candy. How does he seem to stay in such great shape with all those chili-dogs he's eating? What? Are there like five on his plate. In addition, he ate three when we ate at the chili-dog vender. Yet he looks as fit as a fiddle, how does that work? She made a face, He's not one of those people who eats a lot then throws it all up to stay thin, is he? He doesn't seem like he does. His breath doesn't smell like vomit or anything. Not like I've actually took the time to smell his breath. That would be awkward. She watched in awe as he swallowed the last one, wiped off his mouth, and went back to work.

Shelly glanced slowly back down at her watch, Eva had brought up lunch not even five minutes ago. "Well that was fast." She stated.

"Huh?" Sonic looked up, "Oh, yeah, the chili-dog thing. I can eat those pretty quick, but I was going kinda slower back there."

Her eyes went wide, "You were going slow?"

He nodded, "Yeah, so you would not be stuck eating by yourself. But you must be a really slow eater, because you've hardly dug into yours."

Shelly glanced down. Her sandwich only had two bites in it. She blushed, "Uh I guess you could say I was distracted."

"Oh, I see." He replied, "Well don't feel rushed to help me or anything, I can handle the rest of this by myself." He smiled and went back to work.

Shelly went red in the face, and quickly started to eat her sandwich.

They had been working for a while, it was 5 o'clock and things were going much quicker now that all the rotted and bad insulation was gone. New insulation was put in, support beams, the drywall for the ceiling was drying inside. They were almost done. Shelly and Sonic just needed to finish hammering down the outer boards, then put the brand new tile on.

Sonic sighed suddenly and stopped hammering.

Shelly stopped as well, "Is something wrong?"

He shook his head, "I didn't buy enough nails. We're only down to a few, we won't have enough for the rest of the boards."

"Really?"

"Yep, I'm gonna have to go back to the hardware store and pick up some more."

Shelly thought for a moment, "I'll go."

He looked at her, surprised, "Really? Are you sure?"

She nodded, "Yeah I can handle it, I have a few dollars left in my purse. And the hardware store isn't that far away. I can get them."

He gave her a worried look, "Alright, I suppose," he pulled out a strip of paper from his quills. "Here is the type of nails and the size we need." He pulled out a pencil and quickly jotted down some numbers, "Here is my cell phone number if you need anything, or have any questions."

She took it, "I should be fine. Why don't you finish hammering and then check on the drywall."

"I will."

Shelly climbed down the ladder, and went inside to grab her purse.

"Are you going somewhere my dear?" Eva asked, from the front desk and she came back down the stairs.

"Yeah, just heading down to the hardware store for some more nails Eva."

The elderly woman hesitated, before nodding slowly, "Alright dear, but be careful."

"I will."

The walk to the hardware store was short and quick, opening the door, and middle aged man looked up as she walked in. "Can I help you ma'am?"

"Yes," Shelly said, handing out the piece of paper, "I need, some nails please,"

The man grabbed, the paper and looked down at it, "Yes, we have these." He glanced up, eyeing the faint bruises on Shelly's cheek, frowning.

Shelly leaned back slightly, feeling the pang of embarrassment as his cold eyes glanced over, judging her, "This way," He gestured.

She followed silently behind as he led her to an aisle, scanning the racks for a moment, he finally grabbed a box of nails. "Here you go," he said, "Is that all you need?"

"Nope, that's it." She mumbled.

"David at the check out will take care of this for you."

David was much more pleasant, he was a younger man, probably only eighteen. Shelly smirked at the sight of him, David had at least twenty jobs, but he was a responsible young man, he smiled when he saw her and waved.

"Hey Shellmyster, how are you?"

"Hello David, I'm doing well how are you?"

"Pretty good. Dead tired though, it's been a long hot day."

She laughed, "Heh, tell me about it,"

David smiled as he scanned the nails, "Nails huh? What are you working on? Doing an errand for Mike."

"Naw, Mike and I broke up."

He flinched, "Oh, sorry."

"Don't be, it wasn't going to work out."

David shrugged, "Aw, alright." He turned to the machine, "You're too pretty for him anyway," He stated innocently."

She sighed. If only David knew better. "Thanks David that's sweet. I;m actually doing a favor for Eva Zertuche."

"Mrs. Zertuche? The one who runs that cute little hotel, with those amazing morning meals?"

"Yeah her. She has a hole in her roof. Do you know her?"

"Of course I do," David laughed, "She's my grandma. You're price is $4.68"

Shelly stared in surprise as she handed over the cash, "Eva's your grandma?"

"Not biologically," David said, "I was an orphan you see, and Eva took care of me. I just took to calling her grandma when I was little."

"Wow, I had no idea."

"Yeah, Eva's a real sweet woman. I miss seeing her. I feel bad having to take off to college and being busy with all of my jobs. But it's nice to hear that someone has time to help her out."

"Well, you should visit her sometime," Shelly said, "I bet she would be overjoyed to see you."

"You think so?"

"I do."

David smiled, "I think I'll do that." He handed Shelly her bag, "Here's your coins, and here are your nails. Thanks for the advice Shelly."

She waved, "Anytime David."

Feeling happier, she left the store and headed down the street.

"Hey Shelly!"

"Darling, over her!"

She stiffened, she knew those voices.

Bettie and Johnny.

Bettie waved, "Hey darling where have you been, are you alright?"

Shelly cautiously walked over to the soda stand where Johnny and Bettie were, "Yeah, I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?" she smiled uneasily.

Bettie threw her arms around Shelly, "I heard from Johnny you broke up with Mike. Mike was so upset, I can only imagine how you've been feeling!"

She shifted, patting Bettie on the back, "Mike's upset huh?"

Johnny nodded, his cold eyes staring her down, unbeknownst to Bettie. "Oh yeah, he's pretty upset that you're leaving him."

That lying SOB, she thought. She smiled stiffly, her teeth scraping together, "Well, what can I say? It just wasn't working out, and I wasn't ready for a serious relationship."

Bettie pulled away, her lips pouting, "Oh but you two were so cute together. And you seemed so happy too. Johnny says Mike misses you so much, and that he wants you back."

"I'm sorry Bettie, it just wasn't meant to be."

Johnny took a sip of soda, "Whatchya doing with that box of nails?"

"I'm helping a friend fix her roof."

"Aw, I see."

Bettie laughed, "Oh you're so sweet. Just had your little heart ripped out, but still able to help people. You're a saint Shelly."

Shelly stared sadly at Bettie, pitying the woman. If only she knew, what her boyfriend did behind her back. Half of her mind told her to tell Bettie. Nevertheless, she was so happy, and Johnny had not done any abusive things to her, yet. So against her better judgment, Shelly sealed her lips.

"Thanks Bettie, that's really sweet of you."

Bettie smiled, "Anything for you doll. Where have you been staying? I know you like out of town, and you can't just leave in the middle of the night to go home."

"I'm staying at a friend's."

"Oh? Where sweetie?"

Johnny nodded, "Yeah, where?"

"Let's just say, when I was wandering around 'heart-broken' a good Samaritan pointed me towards a place to stay."

"Well darling," Bettie said, "If you ever get sick of staying with strangers, you can always come over to my place. Johnny and I will be happy to let you stay."

And let Mike see me, not a chance. Shelly thought. "That's really sweet of you Bettie, but I'll probably be leaving town soon."

"You're stuff is still at Mike's place," Johnny pointed out, "Mike is curious when you're gonna come get it."

Shelly shrugged, "Oh you know, when I'm done blowing off steam."

"Uh-huh," Johnny slowly nodded.

Shelly glanced at her watch, "Well I better get going. Promised my friend I wouldn't keep her waiting too long. Later Bettie, bye Johnny!" she said with a wave, turning and walking away quickly.

"By darling!" Bettie called, "Stop by for a visit anytime!"

"Yeah," Johnny agreed, "Come… Stop by!"

"Okay," Shelly called, before breaking into a jog and disappearing around the corner.

"There you are!" Sonic said cheerfully as she climbed up the ladder, "Did you get the nails."

"Yep," she mumbled as she picked up a board

"Took you a little longer than I expected," He said.

She placed the board down, "I don't have super speed."

"Well I know that,"

"I just bumped into somebody okay." She snapped, as she grabbed a nail, steadied it, and then reached for a hammer.

Sonic hesitated, "….Are you alright."

Shelly looked up just as she was about to bring the hammer down, "What do you mean am I alright –OW! Shit!"

She yanked her hand away as the hammer made contact with her fingers. Hissing she fell back on the roof tile and gripped her wounded hand, cursing all the way. "Ow, ow, ow ,ow, dammit, ow, ow, ow, ow."

Sonic was there in a heartbeat, grabbing the first aid kit as he ran over "Let me see," he said gently.

"I'm fine!" Shelly snapped, whimpering as her hand throbbed.

He gently grabbed her hand, "It's alright, just let me look at it."

Shelly sniffed, and as hard as she tried not to cry, a single tear forced its way out and slid down her cheek. "I'm fine, just was being clumsy, that's all." she mumbled.

He laughed softly, "Okay, but let me make sure you didn't break it."

Shelly nodded and gently let go off it, holding her hand out to Sonic. He took hold of it gently and inspected it, "Nope, doesn't seem broken." He stated as he continued inspecting.

"Why were you asking if I was alright?" Shelly mumbled.

"Well I –"Sonic shrugged, "I don't know. You- do I need to get some ice?"

She shook her head, "No, I'm fine; it's hurting less every second. Why did you ask?"

"You just seemed cheerier when you left, then when you came back you seemed….Well I don't know, you seemed-"

"I seemed angry and snappy," she cut in.

He looked at her, "I was going to say tired and frustrated. But yes, angry and snappy work too, if that's how you wanted to word it." His face went solemn, "Did you run into Mike? He didn't try to hurt you did he?"

Shelly shook her head, "No, no. Not Mike. Thank you for worrying. But I just ran into Johnny and Bettie."

Sonic slowly nodded as he pulled away, "They didn't hurt you?"

"No, Bettie wouldn't hurt a fly." Shelly sighed, "Johnny wouldn't try anything with Bettie there, but he was saying a lot of things I knew weren't true."

Sonic picked up a board and placed it on a stand, "Like what?" he asked as he measured it.

"He was saying things like how Mike missed me. How he was all heartbroken, and he wanted me back."

Sonic marked a point with a pencil and picked up a saw, "And you didn't believe them?"

"Oh, of course not," Shelly said. "Did I ever tell you Mike and I got in a really bad fight once?"

"No you didn't."

"We did. It was shortly after his drinking habits started, and he was getting violent." Shelly explained, "I told him I wasn't going to deal with the crap he was giving me anymore, that I was through."

"And?"

She shrugged, "I walked out on him. About a week later I hear from Johnny that Mike doesn't know what to do without me," She rolled her eyes, "Then Mike called me. Heh, I was practically crying over the phone and he was to, saying he loved me, and he missed me so much. He said he was sorry over and over, and that things would get better…"

"…." Sonic finished sawing the board, and picked up another one.

Shelly rubbed the bridge of her nose, her eyes slipping closed, "I agreed to come back, to 'come home' he said. But when I finally did the next evening, he was drunk, and he was angry." She sighed, dropping her hand, "He hit me so hard, and couldn't see straight. He threatened to kill me if I left him again…..I was so scared of him after that, I never tried to walk out. I had now one to turn to." She opened her eyes, "If you hadn't been there that day, if you hadn't said something." She looked out at the sun, starting to make its descent from the sky, "I'd probably be bleeding in his house somewhere, I'd probably be dead."

Sonic nodded.

"So when I hear, that he misses me from Johnny today," Shelly frowned, "I'm upset because it's just like last time, and as much as I want it to be true, I know it's not."

"I see," Sonic said,

She looked at him as he sawed away at the board, "You're not upset now too are you?"

He shook his head, "No, it just confuses me,"

"Huh?"

"It confuses, and frustrates me, when people get humor out off hurting other people." He growled, "It's just so wrong, I know so many people like that. They are just out to ruin people's lives, to scare them, to hurt them. It's just all so wrong."

He shook his head harder, "And when I meet someone as sweet as you, only to have their lives ruined by someone as uncool as Mike….It just makes me so mad! Ow!"

Sonic's right hand slipped from sawing, and the blade jumped up, slid back and sliced Sonic's left hand.

"Oh my Gosh!" Shelly gasped, she scrambled up. Now it was her turn to grab the first aid, she ran over to Sonic and grabbed his hand. Blood was already swelling and dripping out, staining the stark white gloves.

"I'm alright," he said.

"Stay still just let me look at it." She gently peeled the bloody and torn glove away. Sonic hissed as it pulled off, "Sorry," Shelly said. "I'm going as gently and as slowly as I can."

She cast the glove aside, and stared at the bleeding hand, "Hmm, I can't tell how deep you cut yourself." Reaching down, she grabbed a bottle of water and twisted the cap off with her teeth. "Whold swill," she mumbled through the cap as she dumped the water onto his hand.

He yelped, "That's cold!"The water ran off his hand, taking the blood with like a ruby river.

She spit the cap out, "It will help me look at it, and it cleans out the sawdust from the blade." She leaned in, "Hmm, it doesn't look like you cut it too bad. But I'm gonna put medicine and bandages on just in case alright?"

Sonic nodded his head, "Fine, fine."

Squirting some medicine on, Shelly laughed as Sonic yelped yet again, "Yow, that hurt!"

"It's good for you, and that means it's working," She said, rubbing it in.

He winced, "You sure you're not poisoning me?" he laughed.

"Oh quit being a baby," she teased. She placed a layer of gauze on the hand, then wrapped the hand firmly in medical tape. "There you should be fine."

He chuckled and sat down, staring at his hand, "Wow, you're quite the medic now aren't you?"

Shelly laughed half-heartedly, "Yeah, well you know….Practice." She sat down next to him, "I don't know how to sew though," She held up the torn fabric, "So sadly you're glove is a lost cause."

He picked up the glove, "Aw, Lefty, how sad," he sniffed, "You will be missed." He placed it behind his quills, "Luckily I have another glove. Welcome aboard Lefty Jr." Sonic laughed, as he pulled out a brand new glove, slipping it over his hand.

Shelly truly did laugh that time, "You have everything hidden in there don't you?"

"All except a dishwasher," He joked.

"Funny," She giggled, "You are pretty prepared though."

"Yeah, I go through gloves just about as much as my socks."

"Really how weird."

"Oh you have no idea." Sonic leaned over and glanced at her watch, "We should probably stop for today, I think we've hurt our hands enough."

Shelly smiled, "Yeah probably."

"We can go inside and help Eva with dinner," Sonic suggested, "I can smell her cooking from here."

"That sounds like a plan. Let's hope we can cook dinner though."

He raised an eyebrow, "Now why would you say that."

"After seeing our skills with construction tools, I don't even want to know what we could do with a frying pan or a spatula."

The two burst out laughing before falling into a content silence.

Suddenly a high-pitched chime went off. Sonic quickly reached back and pulled a cell phone out of his quills, flicking it open "Yeah?"

He smiled, "Oh hey Tails! ….I'm in Apotos why?" His eyes narrowed, "What! Again, I thought Eggy was done with that scheme. …..Where is he going?….. Empire City?...Alright I'll be there soon." He hung up.

Sonic looked up at the sky with a sigh, before looking back down at Shelly. "Sorry Shell, looks like I can't stay for dinner. It would have been way past cool but I've got to go."

Shelly shrugged, "It's alright."

Sonic smiled, "I'll walk you inside though."

The two climbed down the ladder and walked into the hotel. Eva immediately stuck her head out of the kitchen, "Hello dears, are you finished already. Dinner is almost ready."

Sonic smiled, "We haven't finished yet Eva, but we will tomorrow. As much as you're cooking is mouthwatering, I have to head out and get down to Empire City super quick."

"Ahhhh," Eva said, nodding, as if she knew something that Shelly didn't, "I see. Alright then, why don't you take this chili-dog to go then," She ducked back into the kitchen and came out again with a bag, "A little snack to tide you over. Do be careful dear."

Sonic grabbed the bag, "I will Eva, don't worry. Thanks for the dog."

"Anytime Sonic," Eva smiled, returning to the kitchen, "Anytime."

Sonic turned to Shelly, "I'll see you, way past cool girl, later." He said with a wink.

She rolled her eyes, "Was that a flirt?"

"No, just my way of saying goodbye."

Shelly smiled, "Well," she pointed at him, "I'll see you, way past cool blue, later then."

He laughed, "Good one!" He leaned back, "We'll finish the roof tomorrow."

"Will you be back tomorrow," Shelly inquired, "Empire city is a long ways away."

"Of course I will, I promised Eva."

"It might tomorrow remember?" Shelly pointed out.

At that moment, thundered boomed in the distance. A sign of a storm, far out in the sea. Sonic made a face, "Well that storm better wait till I'm done fixing that roof. Because rain would be uncool."

Shelly waved, turning towards the kitchen, "Alright then, later Blue."

"Later Red."

She paused, "Oh, Sonic, be-" She turned around, but once again Sonic was gone, a faint breeze swishing the table clothes.

"How does he do that!"

Shelly walked happily into her room, dinner had been delicious and now she was ready for bed. Heading towards the bathroom, she paused as a blinking light caught her eye. Walking over to it, Shelly was surprised to see it was her phone.

Three missed calls? She thought.

She started to check the ID when the phone rang, jumping in surprise she opened it, and slowly held it up to her ear. "Hello?"

"Hey sweet heart."

Her heart froze, "M-mike?"

"Yeah, it's me, how's it going?"

Anger boiled up rabidly inside her, I'm hanging up."

"I'll just call you back," he responded.

"I won't answer."

"I'll just keep calling."

Shelly glowered silently, "What do you want Mike?"

"I was just seeing how you were doing,"

"Like hell you were," she snapped.

He laughed, "Hey sweetheart, easy no need to curse."

"Quit calling me sweetheart," Shelly growled, "I am not your sweetheart anymore."

He laughed again, "Aw too bad. I miss you."

"Sure you do."

"Johnny told me he saw you today."

"Did he now?"

"Yeah, he also said he followed you to that junk of a hotel at the edge of town."

Shelly growled, "It's not a junk hotel, don't you dare-"

"He also said you were with that blue asshole that 'helped' you the other day." Mike said, "Johnny said you seemed to be having the time of your life up there, getting all close, and holding hands. He even said you were laughing." Mike sighed, "You never laugh for me anymore."

"We were not holding hands, he cut himself and I-"

"Oh you were fixing him up?" Mike mockingly teased, "How sweet. Shelly got to play Nurse Shelly with her new boyfriend. Did you get to pull of needle out on him?" he cooed.

"Dammit Mike, get your head out of your-"

"That's just like you isn't it?"

She paused, "What do you mean."

"It's just like you, to hop from one man to another."

"I don't understand,"

His tone was harsh now, "Oh you know what I mean. You always need some someone to look out for you do not you. To love you. You were the exact same way when you came to me, looking for love."

"Mike…" she said shakily, "Shut up…"

"No," he hissed, "I won't. You wanted someone, I was the one, and you know what you did?"

Shelly started shaking harder now, "Stop."

"You were ungrateful," Mike spat, "I loved you and you were never happy with the life I provided you!"

"Stop it."

"You weren't happy! So you played the victim and made me look like the bad guy." Mike yelled, "Then someone comes along and takes pity on you!"

Shelly leaned against the wall, he eyes squeezed shut, "Shut…Up."

"He's not that half bad looking of a guy to you. So you hook up in a heartbeat!"

"We're not-"

"But that's just the way you aren't you?" He sneered, "You go from man to man, trying to happy. You're trying to find love. I tried to give you love!"

"I didn't want to do it yet and you know it!"

"When one man isn't good enough you go to another. You're a whore you know that, and stupid whore, with nothing worthy of living for. No one would give a shit if you just fell off a cliff somewhere and died." He snapped.

She started crying, "Shut up."

"How long will it take before Blue Boy isn't good enough for you huh? How long? When are you going to walk out on him?" Mike hissed.

Her eyes shot open, "Shut up Mike!" she screamed into the phone before slamming in shut and slumping to the floor with a sob.

She cried for what seemed like forever before slowly lifting her head up, from where she sat, she could see the full body mirror, and the miserable reflection inside.

She glared at her reflection Go away.

But the relfection didn't budge.

Get away from me.

She slowly stood,

I don't want to see you anymore. Go away!

But still the reflection would not leave, it just continued mocking her movements.

LEAVE!

With and enraged yell she raced towards the mirror, she swung her fist, and shattered the mirror in one fell blow. Shaking hard now, she fell to the floor once more gripping her bloody hand and sobbing.

There was a tap on the door after a minute, then an urgent knock. "Shelly dear is everything alright?" Eva asked worriedly, "I thought I heard something,"

"Everything's fine," She replied hoarsely, wincing at the sound of her voice, "I just fell that's all."

Eva didn't seem convinced, for her shadow remained visible from the crack under the door, "Are you alright?"

"I'm…Fine."

The elderly woman hesitated once more, "Alright then," I'll be in my room downstairs if you need anything." She said, before leaving.

"Just fine," Shelly mumbled to herself, she looked down and the shattered pieces of glass, some stained with blood.

No one would care if you fell off a cliff somewhere and died.

She hissed, "Alright then Mike…."

He was right, he was right about everything. No one cared, no one would ever truly love her. Her life was as messed up and as shattered as the mirror, and that would never ever change.

I'll see you, way past cool girl, later.

More tears fell down her face as she felt more sobs begin to arise. Nothing Sonic would ever say to her would change anything.

The I meet a sweet girl like you…..

Nothing would ever change. She bit he lip and began to cry again. She was done. Sonic was wrong about everything and Mike was right. She wasn't going to take this anymore.

She was done.

Mike had the last laugh.

It was the final straw.

Dun Dun Dun!

There we go! Finally another chapter! And I give you a blasted cliff hanger!

Don't you all just hate me XD. Anyway, enjoy this totally depressing chapter. With a lot of random chit chatter, and all that what not.

P.S. Sonic come back! Shelly might being thinking of doing something stupid!

P.P.S Has anyone ever brought a heavy object of a hammer down on their fingers? Because how many of you actually didn't curse when you did it? Just asking...