Author's Note: Here it is! The second chapter! I want to thank all who read and reviewed my story! You guys are the best! I also want to warn you, Amy basically goes psycho in this chapter. If you feel it isn't realistic, please remember it is Amy we're talking about. It wouldn't be the first time she went ballistic about Sonic, and it won't be the last.

Disclaimer: If I owned Sonic the Hedgehog, I'd get Amy a boyfriend, or make her move somewhere far far away where she can't mess with Sonadow.

Steps to Acceptance

Step 2: Denial

After Sonic had his decidedly unsuccessful talk with Amy, he had met up with Shadow, and together the twin hedgehogs told everyone what was going on between them, as promised. His friends' reactions had ranged from those who were slightly weirded out (Knuckles), to those who for some reason found the new information to be hilarious (Rouge).

Tails had already known, so naturally he wasn't surprised at all, and Cream and Cheese were far too young to truly understand, though they congratulated the new couple nonetheless.

Despite all the different responses, no one seemed particularly upset about the news. They acted like it was the most natural thing in the world, much to Amy's annoyance. She had been hoping someone would take her side. Didn't anyone other than her see the utter wrongness of this development?

In the end the pink hedgehog went home, ignoring the sympathetic looks and refusing to speak to anyone (although Rouge did try to talk to her at one point). All she wanted to do was fling herself onto her bed and scream into her pillow.

And even that didn't make her feel better. There was a picture of Amy and Sonic on her nightstand. It had been taken the time she had dragged him on a date to Twinkle Park. Unfortunately for her, that just happened to be the day Eggman had chosen to stage an attack on the amusement park. Amy would never forget it...

"Isn't this fun, Sonic?" Amy asked, practically skipping.

"Uh…sure," Sonic replied unconvincingly, though Amy bought it.

To be honest, he hadn't exactly been thrilled when the pink hedgehog had forced him to come here. To make matters worse, she was watching him like a hawk. She knew that if she didn't, Sonic would tell her he was going to get a chili dog and then never come back.

"Ooh, Sonic let's go on the Ferris wheel!" Amy suggested eagerly.

"Okay," Sonic agreed. It wasn't like he had much of a choice. The girl's grip in his arm was like iron.

"Oh wow!" Amy exclaimed once they got to the top of the ride. "It's gorgeous!"

He couldn't argue with her there. From this high up you could see the entire city. The lights of the park just added to its beauty.

"I'm so glad that we decided to go at night." Amy said. "The view wouldn't be nearly as spectacular during the day." Actually, the real reason they had gone at night had nothing to do with the scenery. It was because when Sonic had told the pink hedgehog that he was too busy to go out with her earlier that day, she had caught him off guard by suggesting they go after dark instead. Unfortunately, Sonic hadn't been able to come up with a suitable excuse.

The girl glanced over at the hedgehog sitting next to her and (to his horror) moved a little closer. "It's so romantic." She remarked, sighing dreamily and lowering her head on to Sonic's shoulder.

The blue hedgehog shifted around in discomfort. "Umm…Amy," he began, trying to think of a way to get her off him without hurting her feelings, "I…"

Luckily, he was saved from having to finish his sentence when a loud Crash! interrupted him. A gigantic frog-shaped robot came seemingly out of nowhere and began terrorizing the populace. Screams could be heard as its long metal tongue made scrap out of rides and buildings.

Immediately, Sonic scooped Amy up and jumped off the Ferris wheel. As soon as they reached the ground Sonic put her back on her feet, and launched himself at the robot.

The pink girl watched as her hero struggled. The frog's tongue kept lashing out at him and breaking his attack pattern.

She couldn't just sit here and allow the love of her life to get beaten to a bloody pulp! Amy had to do something! So she pulled out her mallet and ran towards the robot with a war cry.

However, the amphibian saw her coming, and quickly grabbed a hold of her with that infamous tongue, causing her to drop her hammer. The girl couldn't stop herself from screaming out in agony as the monster started to squeeze.

Amy's eyes widened as a rolling mass of blue fur and quills flashed before her eyes, and before her captor knew what was happening, the muscle was severed. Sonic then ricocheted off the building that held an indoor petting zoo and blew a hole right through the monsters head, where the control panal was located. It all happened so fast, he actually caught Amy seconds before she hit the ground.

"Are you all right?" Sonic asked with concern, choosing to ignore the fleeing Eggman's vows of revenge.

Amy beamed and nodded vigorously, "I am now."

A reporter had taken a picture of them standing like that, with Sonic cradling Amy in his arms. Later, Amy had cut it out of the newspaper and framed it. It had been one of the best days of her life.

That was why she loved him. He was so brave and strong. He was always there to save her when she needed him. And she had been so sure that deep down, he had felt the same way…

He had to love her, Amy decided suddenly. Why else would he always save her? And how else could you explain the tender way he had held her that day? A person didn't hold their sister like that, (unless they were seriously disturbed).

The more Amy thought about it, the more convinced she became of Sonic's supposed "feelings". He had shown her how he felt in so many small ways; she felt ashamed that she had doubted him, even if just for a moment.

Shadow was the problem. He had corrupted her sweetheart! Obviously, the ebony hedgehog had brainwashed him somehow!

It all made sense now! While Sonic had been helping Shadow with his memories, he must have discovered how amazing the cerulean hedgehog was, and gradually fell in love with him. But under normal circumstances, Sonic would never be interested in someone like Shadow. They were polar opposites, and Sonic hated Shadow's guts. Hadn't they even tried to kill each other at one point?

Knowing that he could never have Sonic, Shadow had then drugged him with a love potion or something along those lines. Amy almost felt sorry for the dark hedgehog. She couldn't imagine how much it must hurt to love someone who would never love you back. But, he still had no right to force Sonic into a relationship. You couldn't make someone love you.

Some dim part of Amy's brain realized that her theory sounded farfetched, but she had seen stranger things. After all, she was in love with a super fast blue hedgehog, who was determined to collect seven powerful jewels, and fight off an evil, extremely obese man whose life's ambition was to take over the world with giant robots. Nothing was impossible.

Amy jumped off the bed and smiled to herself. "Don't worry my darling. I'll save you!" (A/N: Insert scary music here)

Her plan was simple. She would wait for the house to be empty and search for clues. Amy wasn't exactly sure of what she was looking for, but she was certain she would know it when she saw it.

And so, Amy staked out the residence, awaiting her chance. She knew Sonic would go on his daily run eventually. However, he didn't do this on any sort of time schedule. He ran whenever he got the whim, so she had to linger until he came out.

Finally, after an hour or so, a blue blur streaked past her, with a black and red one hot on his heels. That came as no surprise. The one thing the two hedgehogs had in common aside from their physical appearance was a passion for running. Amy had expected Shadow to accompany Sonic. It was what she had been counting on.

Tails was still at home, but he was in the garage updating the Tornado (again). Knowing Tails, he would be there until Sonic dragged him in to eat something later. Amy didn't really have a reason to explore the garage anyway. The plane was the only thing they kept in there, and it took up almost the entire space. It would've been a horrible place to keep something hidden.

After making sure that Sonic and company were long gone and not coming back for any reason, Amy marched up to the front door. She took a moment to fish out the spare key from under a potted plant (could it be in a more obvious spot?), and stepped inside.

Amy had decided to start from the bottom and work her way up, starting with the basement. The kitsune had converted it into his workroom, and it was full of tools and half finished inventions. Tails's room was also in the basement, mostly because he liked having his creations close by, in case he ever got a sudden burst of inspiration.

Amy tried not to stay there for very long. She didn't think Tails would come out of the garage, but you never knew if he would come down to grab a wrench or something.

She didn't have much luck on the next level either. There was nothing of interest in the living room or any of the bathrooms, and the only thing Amy found out in the kitchen was that this dwelling's occupants were severely low on groceries. The few things they did seem to have in quantum supply were hotdogs, chili beans, and peppers.

At last, the pink hedgehog made her way to the top floor. That was where Sonic's room was located, and a guest room that Amy assumed Shadow had taken as his own. She started with Shadow. If Amy found anything incriminating, it would be in his room.

The first thing that struck Amy about the room was how utterly barren it was. There wasn't any furniture other than a closet, a bed, and a nightstand, and there weren't any personal objects whatsoever. No paint or ornaments on the walls, nothing on the floor. The bed was neatly made and there seemed to be a thin layer of dust over everything. It reminded her of a hotel room, except none of the furniture was bolted down. It was almost as if…As if no one lived there at all.

Amy gasped as she was hit with a revelation, and rushed to Sonic's room. That was a place that looked like it belonged to someone. It was painted dark blue, with a large window looking out into the Mystic Ruins. Random items such as socks and spare gloves cluttered the floor, and the sheets on the bed were a tangled mess.

Hesitantly, Amy walked into the adjoining bathroom, where her suspicion was confirmed. There were two toothbrushes by the sink, one red and one blue. It didn't take a genius to figure out who they belonged to.

There was no doubt about it. Sonic and Shadow were sharing a room. They were probably even sharing the same bed, unless one of them had chosen to sleep on the floor for some reason.

Before, Amy had believed that the two hedgehogs hadn't gone any farther than kissing, but this discovery told a different story. Their relationship went far deeper than she had originally assumed.

A slam of a door and the sound of approaching voices broke Amy out of her thought process.

What were they doing back so early? Or, to ask a better question, how long had she been here?

She didn't have time to escape. The voices were getting closer. So the girl ended up doing the first thing that came to mind. She hid in the bathroom.

Amy watched through a small crack in the door as Shadow entered the room, closely followed by Sonic.

"Why won't you just swallow your pride and admit that I won?" Sonic demanded, smirking.

Shadow snorted in response. "In your dreams faker. You could never defeat me."

Amy bristled at that. How dare that arrogant jerk insult her Sonic! He could do anything!

However, while Amy took offense, the blue hedgehog seemed to view the remark as funny. "Is that all I am to you? Just a fake?" he asked, emerald eyes sparkling mischievously.

"Yes, just a pale imitation." Shadow insisted, though his voice had taken on a slightly teasing tone. "In fact, sometimes I wonder why I'm with you in the first place."

Without warning, Sonic jumped him, pressing Shadow down on the bed and kissing him passionately. It must have lasted at least five minutes before they both came up for air.

"Oh right," Shadow said, laughing softly, "That's why."

Sonic nodded in satisfaction and made a move to crawl off, only to be stopped by black and red arms, which had wrapped themselves around his waist. Slowly, Shadow sat up and repositioned Sonic onto his lap.

For a while, they just sat there in comfortable silence, with Sonic's head resting against the onyx hedgehog's chest. Gently, Shadow started running his fingers through his counterpart's quills. And if Amy hadn't known better, she could've sworn she heard the blue hero purring.

"So what do you want to do now?" Sonic asked abruptly.

Shadow smirked. "I don't know. I'm pretty comfortable right here." He reached up and started rubbing the soft lining of Sonic's ears. Yep, he was definitely purring.

"Oh come on Shads" Sonic whined, once he snapped out of the daze the petting seemed to have put him in, "I need to move! You know I hate sitting for long periods!"

"Fine," Shadow conceded, rolling his eyes and setting the energetic hedgehog free.

Sonic immediately sprang up, with a grin on his face that Amy was unfamiliar with. "You know what? That run made me sweaty. I think I'm going to take a shower." With that said, Sonic began to peel off his gloves.

He was halfway through the process of taking off his shoes when he turned to his doppelganger. "Aren't you coming?" he questioned, playful sparkle back in his eyes.

Shadow smirked and began to mimic Sonic's actions. "I think that is the best idea I've heard all day."

Amy quickly ducked into the linen closet before the now undressed hedgehogs crossed the bathroom threshold. This was a disaster! Now they were going to shower together! Could this get any worse?

"You go and get the water running," Sonic instructed Shadow, "I'll be there in a minute. I just want to grab a few towels." Apparently, yes it could.

As the azure hedgehog opened the door, Amy pressed her body to the wall, as if she thought she could somehow pass through it. She held her breath as he reached out and seized two white towels.

Too late did Amy realize that with their removal, a small portion of her dress was exposed. Sonic caught sight of it, and with curiosity guiding his actions, attempted to take hold of the bright red fabric. His hand inched closer and closer…

"Sonic!" Shadow called from the shower, "What's taking you so long?"

Sonic tore his eyes from the alien cloth long enough to call back, "I'm coming!"

He looked back into the closet, but by then, Amy had already taken the opportunity to move out of sight. The slice of crimson was no longer there. Shrugging to himself, the blue hedgehog took his towels and went to join his black counterpart.

The girl sank to the floor in relief. That had been too close! Without realizing it, Shadow had saved her.

The relief was very short lived however, when she assessed her situation. She was virtually trapped in a cramped closet with no way out without exposing herself!

But that wasn't even the worst part. The worst part was the fact that her closet was right next to the shower. Amy could hear every single sound the two made. Not a moan, cry, or giggle (giggle?) escaped her ears. It was pure torture.

What was she doing anyway? Amy was known to go a little crazy when Sonic was involved, but this was insane. She had actually snuck into someone else's home, rifled through their things, and was now sitting in the bathroom closet listening to the blue hedgehog fool around with his…his lover. She was acting like some kind of a stalker.

What had Amy been thinking? It was clear that Sonic wasn't doing anything he didn't want to do.

Back in the shower, the two hedgehogs were far too wrapped up in each other (quite literally) to notice the pink girl's exit.

Wahoo! Second chappy is finished. Don't forget to drop me a line. I always like to hear what you all think. Plus it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. As for Sonic and Shadow's little activity in the shower, I'll leave the details to your imaginations.