Chapter 6

Shadow was asleep on the floor of the living room with Sonic on his right and Knuckles on his left. Shadow's nose twitched as it detected the smell of cooking meat and baking bread. Shadow opened his eyes and groaned softly. His head, neck, shoulders and back ached with every tiny movement. Shadow winced as he slowly sat up. He yawned and looked around the living room but surprise sprang to his face. After last night's two hour roughhousing session, the living room had been left a wreck. The couch cushions were scattered round the room, pictures were crooked, and pieces of furniture were askew and shoved aside. However, the couch was straightened out, pictures were righted on the walls and, as Shadow now noticed, blankets had been draped over him, Sonic, and Knuckles. Shadow leaned over and shook Sonic awake. Sonic quickly sat up, a yelp quickly following as Sonic's stiff muscles let him know their displeasure. He looked at Shadow with an irritated look, "Ouch… What do you want?"

Shadow asked with a gesture at the room, "Did you do all this?"

Sonic took a quick glance about the room before saying to Shadow in his most sarcastic voice, "Yes Shadow, I hauled my cramped, spiky butt up and cleaned the living room and-" Here Sonic stopped as he caught wind of the food Shadow had smelled earlier, "and is cooking sausage and baking biscuits…"

At this moment, a familiar white muzzle and yellow-orange fur came into the living room, "Hey guys!"

Shadow and Sonic said in unison, "Tails?!"

Tails stood with a huge grin on his face. The kitsune's appearance had drastically improved. His sky blue eyes were bright and shining. Tails' coat was shining, fluffy, and neatly combed with both tails gently waving. Sonic tried to jump up but his muscles seized up and he toppled over with another yelp. Tails was at his side at once, "Sonic, are you alright?"

Sonic's face was twisted in pain, "Ugh, remind me to never sleep on the living room floor again."

A groan was heard from Knuckles, "No, I thought hard-wood floors made a great bed!"

Tails said, "I'm sorry guys. I would have moved you but, no offense, you're really heavy. Hang tight; I'll bring you some Ibuprofen." Tails came back with the medicine, "Here, I'll be back with some water." Tails came in with three water glasses and Sonic, Knuckles, and Shadow swallowed the pills gratefully.

After downing his pill, Knuckles lifted his nose and sniffed, "Is anyone else hallucinating the smell of breakfast?"

Sonic smiled, "Wow Knux, you're a little slow on the draw this morning!"

Knuckles frowned, "First of all, my name is not Knux. Second, muscle cramps are a huge distractor from hunger. So am I going crazy or not because that sausage smells really good!"

Tails laughed, "You're not crazy Knuckles. Breakfast is ready and cooling. See if you can haul yourselves onto the couch. We'll eat in here so you don't have to go all the way to the kitchen. I'll be back with plates."

After a lot of groaning and complaining about the time it takes for medicines to take effect, Sonic, Shadow, and Knuckles managed to get onto the couch in upright sitting positions. Shortly after, Tails re-entered with breakfast. As they began to eat, Sonic said, "I'm glad to see you up and about little bro."

Tails, who had seated himself on the left arm of the couch, replied "Yep, I feel much better. By the way, what happened to the living room and other parts of the house? I woke up and it was like a tornado blew through it."

"Hey it was Sonic who spin dashing about, not me." answered Knuckles pointing at Sonic.

Tails looked puzzled, "Is that why the hall carpet is shredded in places?"

Sonic laughed nervously before pointing at Shadow, "Well he's the one who was homing-attacking everyone and everything."

Shadow crossed his arms, "It's difficult to aim while your target is moving around. Besides, Knuckles wouldn't stop throwing things."

A lopsided smile came to Tails' face, "Well I'm glad to hear you three got along so well while I was asleep. I was worried something bed had happened when I first saw the huge mess."

All three looked sheepishly away before Sonic said, "You didn't have to clean up Tails. That's me and Shadow's job for the week."

Tails replied, "It's totally alright. You looked really tired. Plus, since I've been asleep, I've been skipping out my cooking duties. So I'm making up for it in a way."

Shadow suddenly blurted out, "But that doesn't count, you were resting! You keeping working yourself so much and the same thing will happen again and again! Why do you keep doing that to yourself? What do you have to gain from it? I've been trying to figure that out, but it doesn't make any sense!" Everyone stared at Shadow with surprised looks at the outburst. Feeling their gazes pricking at him, Shadow began to search for something else to say. Anything to get them to stop looking at me like that! Not thinking, he let his instincts and old ways guide him, "It's a stupid and inefficient way of doing things! And I think you're a moron for following such a system! It's a wonder I can tolerate living in the same house as you." Shadow got up and stormed from the room leaving his house-mates stunned by his cold words.

"This is exactly my problem with him! You try and be nice to him and he's nice back for a little bit until he just decides to be a jerk!" yelled Sonic as he paced the living room floor angrily. The initial shock of Shadow's change in demeanor had worn off, leaving turmoil in its wake.

"Sonic please don't shout. Shadow can probably hear you in his room." said Tails as he tried to calm his older brother. Sonic's easy-going nature made it easy to forget the violent temper the hedgehog processed. Even Knuckles took a step back when Sonic got angry.

"I don't care if he hears me! As a matter of fact, I hope he does! He's a frickin' faker! A frickin' faker who manipulates people for his own personal gain! I knew this a bad idea!" shouted Sonic at the top of his lungs.

Tails looked toward the hallway leading to the bedrooms, his eyes full of fear, "Sonic, you're just gonna make him mad too and start a fight."

Sonic took a step toward the hall, "I don't give a damn if he gets mad! Hell, I want him to get mad! I want him to get pissed and start a fight so I have a reason to shove my foot up his ass!"

Knuckles stepped in front of Sonic, "Whoa man, just calm down."

Sonic shoved him away, "I will NOT calm down! After everything we've done for him, everything TAILS has done for him! Tails frickin' worked himself into a 2-day coma cause of him! And how does Shadow repay him?! By insulting him! I refuse to stand for this!"

Tails spoke up, "Sonic it's ok, honest. You know how Shadow is."

Sonic was fuming, "Yeah I know how he is. He's a frickin' FAKER!" At this last word, Sonic plowed his fist into a near-by wall and left a size-able hole. His quills were shimmering black and his eyes were a dark, hateful green. Through clenched teeth Sonic snarled, "I'm getting out of here before I frickin' murder somebody." Sonic went to the front door and shoved his sneakers onto his feet.

Tails was immediately behind him, "Hold up a second Sonic. Let's talk about-"

Sonic yanked open the front door, "Tails, don't. I just need to get some air and put as much distance between me and that faker as possible." Tails flinched as Sonic slammed the door behind him.

He then went back to Knuckles in the living room, "Well Sonic has run off."

Knuckles nodded, "I could tell by the way the house rattled."

Tails frowned, "Now's not the time for jokes Knuckles. I'm going to talk to Shadow." He went cautiously down the hall and knocked on Shadow's door. When he got no answer, Tails entered the room to see the window open.

Shadow stood under his oak tree. His head was bowed and his fists were clenched. Idiot! Why did I say that?! The outburst was bad enough but then I had to cover it up by calling Tails a moron! Damnit! Then… Sonic said all of those things… They weren't true! None of it! A lone, small tear slipped from Shadow's eye and wet his cheek. He wiped it with his hand and then gaped at the damp dot on his glove. Am I… crying? What in Mobius?! I've never cared about anyone and no one has ever cared about me, so why do Sonic's words make me feel so… so… hurt...? Ever since I started living at their house, I can't even begin to make sense of my thoughts or feelings. All of these emotions… I've never had them before… Shadow looked upward at the sun. It was slowly climbing towards the top of the sky telling him that noon was not far off. Maria… I've done something horrible. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles are the only people in this world who give a damn I exist. Now because of my actions and words… they might cease to care… how do I stop this Maria? How do take back what I said? "How do I fix this?" asked Shadow aloud. He received only lonely silence.

Author's Note: Oh the humanity! Shadow tries so hard but old habits die hard. Anyways, the funny thing about this chapter is that was originally really long but I chopped it half. But just for you, my awesome readers, I'm going to post both on the same day instead of saving Chapter 7! Yay! Please read, review, and most importantly, enjoy!