The GUN HQ was a fairly extensive drive out of town, so Amy allowed Shadow and Rouge to stay the night at her apartment. Shadow refused to go back to the hospital.
The three friends sat on the couch in the living room, watching late night TV. Amy had spent a significant amount of the day cleaning blood off the couch where Shadow had been laying, but she didn't mind. It was obvious how desperate the poor guy was.
"I'm going to grab a soda. You guys want anything?" Amy asked, getting up and stretching.
"No, I'm fine. Thanks, though." Rouge said.
Shadow simply shook his head. "I'm going to go take a shower." He stated, getting up and beginning to follow Amy out of the room.
"Didn't you just take one a few hours ago, in the hospital?" Rouge asked.
"Yes."
She looked at him for a moment. He stared right back. His eyes seemed hollow and unhappy.
"Nevermind." She turned back to the TV and heard him shut the door on his way out. As soon as he left, she looked back over to the direction in which he'd gone.
"I'm so sorry, Shadow…" She mumbled under her breath.
Soon, Amy came back with a grape soda. "Poor guy can't seem to feel clean, I'm guessing."
Rouge nodded. "That's probably so."
A half hour later, Shadow came back. His fur was shiny and moist, and his attitude seemingly rejuvenated. He had a small smile on his face when he walked back into the room.
"What's going on…?" Amy asked.
"I just… feel better."
"Sometimes a shower's all you need." Rouge said happily, putting an arm around him when he sat back down.
-XXX-
"Wow, two AM came fast!" Amy said as she turned off the TV. "I'm going to bed. There's a guest bedroom with a double bed, and the couch for you guys. I guess you could flip a coin or whatever. G'night!"
Rouge waved as she stood up. Shadow just nodded as she passed him on her way out.
"You can have the bed. I'll take the couch." Shadow stated, breaking the brief silence that had fallen.
"Nonsense! I'll take the couch." Rouge argued.
"No, really. Might as well let the one who's going to sleep tonight use the bed."
"You don't plan on sleeping?"
He looked away and shook his head. She knew why he wouldn't sleep. He was scared.
"Well, I'm not sleeping either! What a coincidence!" She joked, running out into the hallway and quickly coming back with a blanket. "How about we just get comfortable on the couch and wait the night out?"
He gave her a quizzical look, but she ignored it, sitting back down next to him and pulling up her feet. "Here, have some blanket."
"I'm fine." He just sat still, arms crossed.
She sighed. "You're getting some blanket, whether you want it or not." She scooted closer to him and threw some of the soft fabric over his body. She had gotten so close that they were touching, and she noticed at that point that he'd been trembling. "Are you okay?"
He looked her in the eyes and slowly shook his head. She could tell he was trying not to cry again. "Nobody would be, Honey. I promise." She embraced him gently, and he returned the gesture, forming a consensual hug.
"I don't understand, Rouge. Why would he do this? Does he simply want to watch me fall to pieces?"
"I don't know... I don't know…" She kissed him on the forehead. "But Baby, that doesn't matter in the end."
"How does his motive not matter?"
"It's not going to make a difference in the grand scheme of things. It's just something horrible that happened. The only thing we can do is try to move past it."
Rouge felt a tear hit her shoulder. "Moving past it isn't enough though."
She pulled out of the hug and caressed his cheek. "It really is. And you'll see that eventually. When you do is up to you."
He studied her eyes for a minute after that, thinking about what she said. Eventually, he broke the silence. "I'm going to turn off the light. You should get some rest."
"I'll be fine. You need it more than I do."
"But I already told you, I couldn't possibly sleep tonight."
She smiled at him. "You can try."
He reached for a lamp that was beside the couch and turn it off. The room was suddenly flooded with darkness. "And I'll fail." He added.
She ignored that remark. "Lay down against the armrest." He did as he was told. Rouge snuggled up right next to him. The couch was barely large enough for them to lay side by side, so she was very pressed up against Shadow, but neither one minded. In fact, he put an arm around her and she beamed in the darkness.
-XXX-
When Rouge woke up, sunlight was pouring through the windows of Amy's apartment, and she found her head to be resting on a certain someone's chest. "Good morning." He greeted.
She sat up and noticed that he had dark circles under his eyes. "Same to you. Did you manage to get any sleep last night?"
He shook his head. "Whatever. I'd probably have nightmares anyway."
"Well, you're going to need sleep eventually."
"And I'll get it. Just not now, and not anytime soon."
"So what, are you planning on becoming a zombie?"
"Maybe I am. What are you going to do about it?" He hoisted himself onto his shoulders and smirked at her mischieviously.
"I'll have to make you sleep." She smirked back, suddenly pinning him down on the couch. But to her surprise, this didn't summon a good reaction.
Shadow's expression immediately became one of fear. "Please let me go."
She got off of him and sat back up. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"It's okay. It's okay." He threw the blankets aside and got up. "I'm going to take a shower."
"Alright. Sorry again."
"Really, it's fine!" Was the last she heard before he shut the living room door loudly. The shower kicked on and she walked to the kitchen for breakfast.
Amy came out of her bedroom as Rouge set some plates down on the table. "You cooking breakfast?" The pink hedgehog asked.
"Yeah. I'm gonna try making some pancakes."
Amy chuckled, sitting down in front of a plate. "You don't sound very confident."
"Well, that's because I'm not." Rouge rummaged through the shelves until she found the pancake mix. "I'm planning to wing it."
"Just don't make too big of a mess."
"No promises." Rouge ripped open the top of the cardboard box and opened the plastic bag inside. She then got out a frying pan and set it on the stove, proceeding to pour some of the powder into it. "Okay, I think we're off to a good start!"
Amy got up and walked over. "What do you think you're doing? You're supposed to mix it with other ingredients before putting it into the pan!"
Rouge rolled her eyes. "How was I supposed to know that?"
Amy grabbed the box out of Rouge's hand and pointed to the side, where a set of directions was printed.
The bat threw her hands up in the air. "I give up. Let's have cereal instead."
When Shadow walked out of the bathroom, there were bowls and cereal boxes sprawled out over the table. "Morning." Amy greeted through her mouthful of Raisin Bran.
Shadow waved and sat back down on the couch.
"Don't you want any breakfast?" Rouge asked.
"Nah. I'm fine."
She shrugged. "Alright. I'm not gonna force you to eat. This time."
"Whatever."
Rouge quickly finished her cereal and cleaned up her food, including the mess she'd made while attempting to prepare pancakes. Then she sat down next to Shadow and smiled at him.
"So, what's on the agenda for today, Handsome?"
He stared straight ahead, at his reflection in the black TV screen. "Don't call me that."
"Sorry. You like Honey better?"
He looked over at her. "How about Shadow?"
She frowned. "Ugh. Fine. But I like nicknames better."
"Well, I wish you luck finding one that I like."
"Challenge accepted." She took her hand away from his head and crossed her arms.
"No, no, that's not what I meant-!"
"Too late!" She got up and began to pace around excitedly. "Okay, let's see… how about…"
He stood and put his hands up in front of himself. "Rouge, really, you're not going to find one. I just-"
"There's no stopping me now!" She continued to pace until he grabbed her and hugged her from behind.
"Seriously." She giggled and looked up at his face to find that he was grinning.
"Well, you guys get along even better than I thought." Shadow let go of her and they turned to find Amy standing in the doorway that lead to the kitchen.
"Hmph." Shadow crossed his arms and turned to look out the window.
Rouge just shot Amy a smile and a thumbs-up.