Chapter 11. This took me all day to write, I had a massive case of writers block. Hope it turned out okay though!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything or anyone and I never will.

Amy ran tears pouring from her jade eyes, as she made her way back to her apartment, but before she made it to her destination tiredness kicked in. She was still incredibly weak, and had to stop running. Amy caught her breath briefly leaning up against a lamppost, before she started to run again. This time she barely made it to the next lamppost before she had to stop, her breathing more frantic. Amy knew she should not run, but she had to get back home. Shadow was almost certainly following her, and he could easily catch up with her. Amy did not want to see him; she did not want to hear his excuses. She saw him with Rouge with her own eyes, and it broke her heart. At home, she could shut herself from him and the rest of the cruel, harsh world. Amy let go of the lamppost and began to run, but fell to the hard pavement immediately, exhausted.

Shadow sped from the batgirl's mansion, and tried to catch up with Amy. He was furious with Rouge anyway for flirting with him, but now Amy thinks he was cheating on her! Shadow needed to tell the pink hedgehog the truth, that he loved her and would never leave her, and that Rouge came on to him. He did not want anything like that to ever happen. Shadow suddenly stopped running. In the middle of the pavement, he spotted a small pink figure lying still.

" AMY!" he yelled and rushed to the hedgehog. Her eyes were still open, and she was conscious. It just looked like she fell.

" Shadow, go away. I am fine; I'm just tired. Go back to Rouge," Amy cried weakly, forcing herself to sit up.

Shadow looked at the frail girl sadly. She had cuts on her arms and legs where she fell, and her blood stained the pavement. Her face was shimmering with tears, and her eyes held no happy thoughts. Shadow thought it was probable that she had no happy thoughts left. Amy had been through so much, things that no fourteen-year-old should ever go through. He wondered what damage had been caused to her mentally, and what state her mind was in. Shadow just wanted to care for her.

" Amy, please. I do NOT like Rouge at all. Not even as an ally anymore. She is too…flirty. I can explain what happened, please at least hear my side of the story. I do not want to be with Rouge," Shadow begged the weak, pink, hedgehog. He hated to beg, but he had no other choice. He just wanted to be with Amy, just as much as he wanted Maria back.

Amy looked up at the older hedgehog, trying to figure out if he was telling the truth, but as usual, his face held no expression. She felt she should at least give him a chance to explain fully what she saw. Amy still loved him very much.

" I will hear whatever you have to say Shadow," Amy whispered. Shadow gave her a small smile.

" Shall we go somewhere else then in the middle of the street?" Shadow asked, and Amy nodded.

Shadow tried to help the pink hedgehog to her feet, but Amy refused his assistance. As soon as Amy managed to get up and started to walk with Shadow to his house, she fell again, but Shadow caught her. Amy gave him a quick gracious smile.

" Thanks," She said briefly, then to her surprise she found herself being lifted off the ground and cradled in Shadow's arms. Before she could protest, the black hedgehog took off at a sprint towards his house. Amy relaxed in his arms, no matter how angry she was with Shadow; he made her feel safe and loved. She shut her eyes and enjoyed the ride.

Amy felt the ebony hedgehog stop, and she reopened her eyes. She found herself in what appeared to be Shadow's lounge. Shadow placed her carefully on his sofa, and took a seat next to her. Amy turned her head, taking in the surroundings. She had never been to Shadow's house before, and she was shocked at the amount of black someone could have in a room. In Amy's opinion, someone's lounge had to be somewhere where you could relax, and she could not see how you could relax in this room. The walls were painted black and the carpet was black, it reminded her of the cell Eggman locked her in. The sofa was black leather, and the blinds were black. On the wall was a dartboard with a picture of Sonic in it and a wide screen television. There was a small table next to the sofa with two pictures on it, one of Maria and one of her. Amy smiled when she saw the picture of herself; it was a good one. It was taken at her fourteenth birthday.

Shadow noticed her looking at his room and grinned.

" How do you like my house Ames?" he asked.

" Its…very black. Not really my taste!" Amy replied laughing, but then her face became serious. " Shadow what did happen, and I want the truth,"

Shadow nodded.

" Amy I only went to see Rouge to find out where the next Chaos Emeralds are, but you know what Rouge is like. She was being all flirty and I do not like that. Rouge told me that she already had the rest of the Emeralds apart from the one Sonic has and the eighth, then after that she started to come on to me. I did not want anything like that to happen, I love you Amy, and not Rouge. I really love you, and I mean it. I do not want to see you get hurt. Please Amy, just forget that happened," the ebony hedgehog begged.

Amy thought about what Shadow said, as she stared into his ruby eyes. It was unlike Shadow to lie. Could she trust him? Could she give him another chance?

" Shadow, I am willing to let this go. I am sorry for calling you a bastard, and I am sure you are telling the truth," Amy cried smiling.

Shadow smiled back at her, leaned over and planted a small kiss on her lips.

" Thanks for believing me Ames. Tomorrow we will have a break from getting the last Emeralds, and we can spend the day together if you want," Shadow said, and Amy's face lit up with excitement.

" Yeah, that would be fun!" She cried happily.

" Only for a day though, I still really need those Emeralds!" Shadow added as he got up off the sofa. " I better clean your cuts Amy, you don't want them to get infected," he said as he walked out the room towards the bathroom.

Amy watched him as he left with a wide grin on her face, she could not believe she was so close to loosing her relationship with him. He was so kind to her, and treated her differently to all her friends. Amy got to see the more sensitive, caring side to the mysterious, dark hedgehog, and she loved it.

Hope you enjoyed it! Please review!