Okay, sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up. That project really kicked my ass. It's still not technically over but the worst of it is done so I figured I'd take a break from it and just crank out another chapter while I had the time. So I hope you guys like this update!

Reviews and favorites are always welcome!

"So how was last night?" Vanilla asked and Shadow almost jumped out of his skin. There was no studio today and rather than letting him spend his free time brooding, Rouge had recruited him to help out around the club. They had just finished working to prepare the club for the all of the party-goers it would be hosting later on and were waiting on the night's first arrivals, when the rabbit had thrown him off guard with her question.

He steadied himself, trying to prepare a feasible answer that would skip over the more intimate details and give Vanilla just enough information to stop any further questions, but before he could answer Rouge piped up.

"Last night?" she asked, suddenly stuck to Shadow's side, eyes alert as she looked between rabbit and hedgehog. "Was something going on last night?"

Shadow startled again, his heart almost leaping into his throat, then threw the bat a glare. There was no way he was telling her. Whereas the rabbit might be satisfied with just one question answered, or even see his awkwardness and take pity on him, giving the bat even a hint of gossip material would be a completely different story. She was insatiable when it came to this kind of stuff and would stop at nothing until she had squeezed every last drop of information out of his lifeless corpse. Better to just avoid and deflect for as long as possible.

"It's nothing," he said, annoyed at the impromptu interrogation. He slid out from under Rouge's hold, searching for some other last minute task he could find to distract them, but neither woman was giving up that easily.

"Shadow!" Rouge needled as she and Vanilla followed him across the floor to where the DJ was already set up. Since there was no practice to worry about, Vector had opted to take care of the music for the night and, loud and boisterous as he normally was, he was actually very talented. If he didn't hate clubs so much Shadow might actually be tempted to stay.

The crocodile shot them a few surreptitious glances as they passed, averting his eyes with a blush as soon as he caught sight of Vanilla, but the group paid him no mind. Rouge was on a roll and nothing, not even a lovesick croc was going to dissuade her from her cause. "You're telling me that now that something actually juicy is happening in your life, you're not going to spill the details?!"

"Yes, what happened with Sonic?" Vanilla asked and Shadow whirled on her just in time to see her innocent grin. He opened his mouth to chastise her, to deny it, to do something, but it was already too late. Rouge's eyes were absolutely sparkling, a huge grin plastered on her face.

"A boy?!" she nearly squealed and Shadow rolled his eyes, pinching his nose in between his fingers. Oh Chaos, what had he gotten himself into now. "And Sonic of all people?! Now you have to tell me everything," the bat said in a tone that brooked no argument, cornering the hedgehog against a nearby wall and trapping him there. Shadow sighed. It looked like he had no choice.

"Fine," he grumbled and both rabbit and bat shot each other huge grins, "but I'm only going through it once and then I don't want to hear any more questions about it."

They both nodded, their heads feverishly bobbing up and down, and Shadow scowled. It didn't matter what he said, they would do as they pleased. But he told them everything anyway. They listened with quiet rapture, occasionally getting the odd coo from Vanilla or knowing smirk from Rouge, and, even though he had protested in the beginning, Shadow found himself getting lost in the events he was trying to retell. The club doors had long since opened and the bouncer was beginning to let people in, but neither Shadow, nor Rouge, nor Vanilla paid them any mind.

He had just gotten to the part where Sonic had walked him home when his absorption came back to bite him. Hard.

"Hello, Shadow," a voice purred over the music and all three Mobians looked up to see Fiona slinking towards them, a green hedgehog at her side. Shadow sighed, watching his window of escape dwindle into nothing as she approached. She was wearing a fitted jet black dress that clung to every curve with cutouts all along the sides that gave teasing glimpses at the fur underneath, and stilettos that made her legs look miles long as she strutted. She grinned, fangs sharp as knives, as she looked down her nose at him. She looked good and she knew it.

Her partner seemed to think so too. Shadow had never seen him before but just looking him over he could already tell he was trouble. The hedgehog was clad in all black save for the flames on his motorcycle jacket and the shocks of green on his thick biker boots. His too-bright eyes were only for Fiona and, when he finally tore his gaze away from her dress, he had a smile like razor blades. Shadow uncrossed his arms, stepping off of the wall he had been leaning against so he could stand straight and the mystery hedgehog suddenly shifted his attention to him. Shadow narrowed his eyes. Being under that gaze was like being pinned by search lights but he met it head on, staring him down and returning that intensity en force.

For a moment they said nothing, locked in a battle of wills as Rouge, Vanilla and Fiona watched, worried, irritated, and smug respectively. And then Scourge smirked, a pleased look on his face, and Shadow felt his hackles raise ever so slightly. "So you're the infamous, Shadow," he hummed. "I've heard so much about you."

"Well I haven't heard anything about you" Shadow said, blunt, and the green hedgehog scowled, a retort on the tip of his tongue. But before he could say anything, Fiona cut in.

"This is my new dance instructor, Scourge," she said, placing a hand on Scourge's chest. "You probably haven't seen him around because he's been in a couple of dance competitions out of state and now his team is first in the region." The green hedgehog seemed to calm at that, regaining some of the swagger he'd had before and shot Shadow a smug smile. "Now he teaches at the gym down the street," Fiona finished and Shadow scowled, taking a moment to let the situation really sink in.

He was stuck in a club he didn't even want to be in, in a confrontation he didn't ask for, with a student dead-set on parading her new trophy under his disinterested nose. Things truly couldn't get much better than this.

And then he spotted Sonic making his way straight towards them from across the dance floor. Obviously he was wrong.

Fiona had glanced back as soon as she had seen the recognition on his face and now she was grinning too, waving Sonic over with the hand that had formerly resided on Scourge's chest.

Shadow swallowed. Even in the dark and flashing lights of the club Sonic looked good. Seeing him slide effortlessly through the dancers, a red and white bomber jacket and black jeans accentuating his frame, Shadow was suddenly glad of the dim lighting. It was the first time Shadow had seen him since their impromptu make-out session at his door step last night and from the way his heart was pounding and neck was heating up, he could only guess at intensity of the blush on his face. He was suddenly glad Rouge had forced him to wear the best - and only - piece of nightwear in his closet before coming tonight: the blood red motorcycle jacket she herself had given him. Blinking, he looked away, embarrassed at his own thoughts and manfully trying to get his body's reactions under control. This was no time to be swooning.

"Sonic," Fiona beamed, suddenly radiating relief as the blue hedgehog finally made it to their little group and Shadow snapped to attention. "I'm so glad you're here! H-he just came up to me and I..." She shot Shadow a sly look as her sentence trailed off, then pressed herself against Sonic, hiding her face in his side as Scourge shot a mocking smirk at the back of the blue hedgehog's head. Next to him, Rouge bristled, on the verge of verbally slaughtering them, but Sonic beat her to the punch.

"Where have you been, Fiona?" he asked, deadly calm, "I've been trying to call you all day." Fiona looked up at the tone of his voice, her hands going slack in surprise and giving Sonic room to slip out of her grasp and back up until he was standing by Shadow's side.

"...What?" she asked, thrown off and everyone else shot each other wary glances. Even Scourge looked a little unsure, like this hadn't been at all what he was expecting. Out of all of them, only Shadow remained un-phased, his attention completely focused on Sonic.

"I went to check out Shadow's studio yesterday. I know what happened," Sonic said, staring the fox down and Shadow had the pleasure of seeing surprise, fear and even a little bit of guilt flash across her face before she eventually settled on indignation.

"What are you talking about? What happened is what I say happened," Fiona hissed but Sonic was a rock in the flow of her anger, steadfast and unmovable. He shook his head.

"We need to talk," was all he said and, slowly, the anger melted from her face to be replaced with pure shock at whatever she saw on his. For a moment they stared at each other, Fiona's hand awkwardly half-raised between them like she wanted to touch him but couldn't decide whether or not it was a good idea. Judging from his expression, Shadow would hazard that the answer was no.

Her gaze stayed on him for one second...two...and then it flicked from him to Shadow and back again, cataloging the closeness between them. And then her face hardened. "Don't bother," she muttered, the vitriol still audible even over the pounding of the music, "We're through." And then she whipped around and was lost in the crowd, Scourge right behind her, fast like ripping off a band-aid. But not fast enough to hide the brightness brimming in her eyes just before she had turned. And when Shadow turned, Sonic wasn't looking much better, his face twisted and hurting as he watched her go.

He laid a gentle hand on the other's back and Sonic shot him a bittersweet smile.

"At least I don't have to go anywhere to drown my sorrows," Sonic joked, tilting his head towards the bar, but his heart wasn't really in it. Shadow humored him anyway.

"I'm fairly sure the bar doesn't serve tubs of ice cream," he murmured.

It was worth it to hear Sonic's laugh.