Hello, fanfiction readers! You guys ready for another chapter of "Family"?! Wait, why the hell do I sound like the way a leader of a band sounds like before a concert starts? lol.

Thanks for the reviews, guys! They really make my day! Now, I think I will start responding to the reviews.

: It wasn't child abuse! Shadow had hit the TABLE! He didn't hit Sonic! Plus, he didn't expect Sonic to fall out of the chair and hit his head on the floor. Who would?

KeizerGodzilla: Thanks! I'm glad you like the "homie" atmosphere I have set. What's wrong with Yaoi? I like it, even though this story won't ever be Yaoi.

IluzSilverShadow: Sorry if I made you wait! I know how it feels to want to do something, but you don't have enough skill at it.

…Well, that's it. :( Only three reviews. Oh, well. I'm sure I'll get more as the story progresses. :)

Disclaimer: How many times must we go through this? I ONLY OWN THE STORY!

Chapter 7

It was hard for Sonic to wake up the next day, partly because of the concussion he suffered, and partly due to the fact that he didn't want to. The bed was comfortable. Sadly, all things must come to an end, so he wearily opened his eyes. His first thought of the day was, 'Where the hell am I?'

"I'm glad to see you're awake, son."

Shadow couldn't help chuckling when all Sonic did was turn his head so that his face was buried in the pillow. Even when he had been a child with seemingly boundless energy, Sonic had never been a morning person.

Using his other arm to gently shake his drowsy son, he said, "Come on, Sonic. It's already noon, and I need my arm back."

Sonic's ear twitched, and a muffled "Wha?" could be heard. Turning his head slightly so that he was facing his father again, revealing the ruby eye, he saw that he had been snuggling Shadow's arm the whole time he was asleep. Looking utterly confused about how that had happened, and embarrassed about the situation in general, he hastily let go.

Shadow rubbed his arm, stimulating some of the circulation he'd lost in it.

Sonic was still feeling pretty drowsy, so he was asleep again in 3 seconds.

Shadow didn't seem fazed by this at all. He smirked and left the room, knowing how to get a sleepy Sonic up and running.

Minutes later…

A familiar smell drifted through the house, and entered Sonic's nose, but his still tired brain didn't register it.

Until a few minutes later. His head shot off the pillow.

Was it really…? It couldn't be. But it was.

Chillidogs… (1)

Already drooling, he burst out of the room and was down in the kitchen in a matter of seconds.

There it was. A plate covered with around 20 steamy chillidogs.

His stomach rumbled. Looking around, he saw no sign of Shadow, and dashed to the plate. He was just about to grab one, but then the whole plate was snatched away. He stopped just in time to keep from colliding with the table.

"Not so fast, Sonic."

Needless to say, Sonic was really peeved. He glared at his father and tried to grab the plate from him, but Shadow kept it out of his reach.

"Give me those!"

"Not yet. I will eventually, but not now."

Sonic, getting tired of the Keep Away game, suddenly got an idea, glanced at the window and yelled "Burglar!"

Shadow, falling for the bait, turned towards the window. Seizing the opportunity, Sonic grabbed the plate and ran out of there before Shadow could realize he'd been tricked. When he did realize it, he gave chase.

Sonic, already hidden back on the balcony, was blissfully eating. He knew he probably shouldn't, he'd eaten 4 and already his stomach was trying to reject them, but he fought the nausea down.

He was able to eat 3 more before he had to put the plate down to concentrate on keeping the food down. It wasn't that hard, really. There were times when he had eaten food that had slightly rotten, so he had to really fight the urge to vomit.

It took longer than he expected for him to fight it, but he supposed that having a weak stomach would do that after forcing down food that hadn't been plain and bland.

When his nausea passed, he looked up at the sky. He started daydreaming as he watched the clouds, and he didn't notice Shadow's shadow (2) looming over him, until he heard the sharp whistle behind him. He snapped out of his daydreaming and turned his head so quickly you could hear a bone crack.

There was Shadow, arms folded, glaring at him.

Sonic had no idea what to say about this predicament, so he stayed silent.

"I've been trying to get your attention for the past 5 minutes."

"Y-you have?" He winced when he heard his voice rise to an unnatural pitch due to fear. Whenever he got caught stealing back on the streets, and he ended up tripping over something, which was rare, it usually ended with the owner beating him when they saw his eyes. After a few times of it, he learned to be stealthier, and he sometimes had to resort to trickery as a distraction like he did earlier.

Shadow could tell his son was afraid, and fully looking at him, he noticed that Sonic looked like a puppy about to be beaten. (3) His gaze softened. "I have. I wasn't sure how else to get your attention. Sorry if I scared you."

Sonic realized that Shadow's apology was also referring to the night before. "It's okay," he replied quietly. "I should've been paying attention, anyway."

"Yes, you probably should have." Eyeing the plate, he saw that only 13 chillidogs were left. 'Odd, I thought he would've eaten them all in nothing flat,' Shadow thought. 'Well, it's a good thing he didn't, his stomach wouldn't have handled it very well.'

Noticing that his dad was looking at the plate, Sonic swallowed hard, mostly due to fear, but also because his stomach was still being a little rebellious.

Shadow reached down to pick up the plate. "I'm going to put these up. Come along if you want." And with that, he left the balcony.

Sonic wasn't sure if he wanted to follow. He stood up, leaned against the wall, and mimicked his father's pose, only without the glare. He was looking at the sky again, silently asking himself what to do.

He stood there for at least 15 minutes before he started to nod off. He was almost fully asleep when he heard near-silent footsteps. 'Huh, no wonder I didn't hear him before. He's like a ninja, being that silent,' he thought. Turning his head in the direction of the footsteps, he saw Shadow walking towards him.

Shadow was mildly surprised when Sonic looked at him. It wasn't like he was planning on scaring his son again, he noticed that Sonic was about to drift off to sleep, so he had walked quietly enough so he wouldn't startle his son.

Not bothering to stifle a yawn, Sonic gave a small wave in greeting. He didn't even notice that Shadow was holding his sunglasses.

"I thought you would've wanted these back. I remembered they were on the floor," Shadow said, holding them up.

Sonic's dual-colored eyes widened. How did he not notice he wasn't wearing them? He didn't like people staring at his eyes, because they usually hated him after. He started to reach for them, but stopped. Did he really want them back? He'd grown used to hiding his eyes behind them. Shadow never seemed to care, but maybe that was just because they were related.

Shadow could see the indecision and hesitation in his son's eyes. In fact, he had always been able to tell what Sonic was feeling just by looking in his eyes. Did Sonic think he needed to hide his emotions behind the shades?

Different thoughts went through the two hedgies' minds. Minutes passed. Then an hour. Finally, Sonic took the pair of shades, but instead of putting them on, he looked at them for a few moments before throwing them off the balcony.

"I'm not going to hide anymore," he declared, his eyes shining with determination, almost as if he knew what his father had been thinking.

(A/N: cue the music from the end of "The Lion King"! lol)

Shadow had never felt prouder.

T.B.C.

Yay, another chapter that has a happy ending! About that little comment at the end I put in there about the LK music, it was actually playing in my head as I typed that scene. I have all three LK movies, and know the scripts by heart, yet I haven't seen them in years. ^_^'

(1)- Yes, even in this AU, Sonic still has that obsession with chillidogs. Which Shadow can use against him!

(2)- I am not referring to Mephilles!

(3)- I made a little reference to my other story. If you haven't read it, please do so!

Anyways, how did you guys like this chapter? Did it live up to expectations?

Leave a review/comment!

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