A/n: I'm thinking I'm going to end this with either ten or thirteen chapters. I'm not interested in writing many chapters, so from here on the read may be lengthy. Hope you all don't mind. All reviews and comments are appreciated. This chapter isn't my best. I apologize. No copyright infringement intended.

The Lovely Drugs

The night sky that was married to the wee hours of the early morning was as dark as his hair. Staring into it hoping to find visible stars was unreal. The city lights of Station Square kept the natural eye from seeing any such star. The city lights would always block the view one would have. The city was distracting. Surreal. Amazing. Polluted. Poisoned. Poisoned with beautiful lies that seeped into one's skin to kill. The city was the drug of choice. Liquor too, a drug. Addictive. An influence. An influence that wasn't heavy enough to delude him from the image before him. In his drunkenness he could see her clearly. Despite the light pollution from the drug city, the moonlight poured into the bedroom through a large floor to ceiling window on the left. Her skin illuminated by its glow. He could feel the fast beating of his heart. His eyes were wide. Filled with the image. He wanted it to be a figment of his imagination. He wasn't so lucky. "Maria." He said, tasting the remnants of the hard liquor on his mouth as he said her name.

Poison.

"Shadow." She was different. More pale than in his memory. More slender.

"What are you doing here?" He looked at her incredulously. He hoped she'd vanish before his eyes. Disappear - how he wanted her to disappear. Vanish and to be unseen like the stars in the light polluted city.

"Did you miss me?"

"Yes I missed you. Of course I missed you, but that is besides the point. What are you doing here?"

"I can't just come see you?" Her voice was so low it was near inaudible. She sounded weak. Tired.

"No! You left me. What are you doing here?" He wanted to be more drunk. Damn his tolerance. She gave him cigarettes, life gave liquor. What could happiness give him? He didn't know. He wanted to. He just didn't know he wanted to.

"…"

"I see. There are only two reasons you'd be here right now. He's dead, or he kicked you out."

"No. That's not the case!" She raised her voice a little. Though not much. Perhaps, that was the best she could do.

"He did kick you out. Now you need somewhere to stay. But its not just that. You're here for some inspiration. Huh? For your muse. The drugs weren't enough, I'm guessing." He sounded cold. That was his goal. He wanted to be so cold he could turn her away. He hoped it would work.

"How can you say that?"

" I know. You think I don't? You think I haven't seen you when you did come back those few times? For friends. For family. For colleagues, you think I didn't know?" It was she who was cold. Colder than him, with a smile on her face, every time. Even at that moment, when he tried he best, he couldn't be colder to her in words, than her actions had been to him. Shadow thought himself a fool for thinking he could out do her.

"You always were the smart one. Yeah? That's why you're top of your class."

"How do you know that? Are you spying on me?" He took a step back. He didn't like that she knew that. That she was keeping tabs on him.

"…I have friends…at the institution." She admitted.

"So now I'm to attribute my success to you?"

"Station Square U is a big school! It's not like I know everyone –"

"No. You just know the right ones. Huh? What are you doing? Why are you doing this to me? You're only here because you want something."

"No! Shadow, stop it! I came because I missed you! Isn't that enough!" Maria cried tears and clawed at her neck. "I need you. I can't quit without you." She sank to her knees and he looked at her. She had despair written all over her. "You're the only drug I need. You." She sobbed and buried her head in her hands.

He stood there. Eyes wide and unable to breathe. She really had come back. He hoped he was hallucinating. He wanted her to be a ghost. He wasn't drunk enough for it to be a dream. He was too sober for it not to be a nightmare.

No matter how much he drank.

In a small cafe called the 'The Square' Amy sat by a window wearing large, dark sunglasses and with a mug of coffee. Her pink lip stain was printed on the rim of the cup. In the café there were people with their laptops and tall cups, chatting. Laughing, loving. A couple sat across from her, interlocking fingers across the table. Amy's focus, however, was outside the cafe. She stared out into the street at the pedestrians that leisurely strolled by.

Station Square on a Saturday morning was beautiful. The sides of tall buildings were painted with incoming daylight. Children walked alongside their parents as they came by. Perhaps they were going to the zoo. Or the library. Maybe the park. Amy took another sip of coffee. She held the mug with both hands. She did not look away from the window, not even once. Sometime ago she wanted a life to share with Sonic. She wanted children and Saturdays filled with playtime and ice cream. Before she wanted she wanted to be a star, she wanted to be his wife. Her thought pattern was broken by the arrival of Shadow. He made his way in and sat across from her. It had been more than a week since they last saw each other at Knuckles' apartment.

"Thanks for meeting with me." He said to her with a weak smile on his face.

"Yeah, sure no problem." Amy said. She didn't make eye contact. She didn't stop looking out the window.

"I've just been having a rough time lately."

"I understand."

"I just need a break. You…distract me." She looked at him. Hard.

"Look Shadow, I –"

"I like you." He spat. Amy removed her sunglasses and stared at Shadow. He stared back. He wore distress on his face like she wore lip stick and she pursed her lips. Nothing could come to mind. She was at a loss for words.

"Please, just help me escape reality. For a little while." He grabbed her hands from across the table and Amy felt her cheeks burn from blushing once a again. She averted her eyes and sighed.

"I'm busy tonight...the band has an interview with KBZT radio, before they release our song. It's at the extension of Twinkle Park, Twinkle Lounge. It's nothing fancy."

"Is Sonic going to be there?"

"No. It's just the band and Rouge. It's business for the most part."

"Okay. Good."

"I know that everything isn't perfect now, but I hope this could help free your mind of what's bothering you."

"You too."

"What do you mean?"

"You're not over him, are you?" Shadow asked matter of factly.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"That's fine. I understand." She looked up to Shadow and tried not to express any feelings on her face. His hair was messy and in a disarray on his head. He had bags under his eyes, and his clothing, disheveled. He looked awful.

"You didn't get any sleep last night?" She asked.

"I haven't slept well for a long time." He answered. "Some nights are harder than others. Last night was one of those nights."

In a small studio apartment in Station Square South, Silver stared at himself in the bathroom mirror. He looked more pale than usual, except his cheeks. His cheeks were a rosy red. On his neck, purplish bruises from the previous evening. Along his collarbone, and even behind his ear. It was a bit embarrassing. How would he tell Amy? They were such good friends. They always got along well since the band had started. She was sort of like his older sister. How would he explain that the bruises on his skin were love marks from Blaze? And that they might have to put their dreams on hold?

Blaze sat down in her bed with her hands on her forehead. She sighed deeply and held her stomach. As Silver walked out the bathroom he looked at her. She was so beautiful. Even more beautiful as sunlight poured into through the windows, illuminating her bronze skin. She opened her cat like eyes and stared to Silver. Her cheeks were rosy, her eyes puffy and red. Tears.

"So?" She asked.

"Yeah." He said. Let's do it. Let's keep it." Blaze arose and walked over to Silver. She hugged him tightly and cried against his chest. He circled his arms around her waist and placed his chin on top of her head. "Why are you crying?" He asked.

"I wanted you to say no." She said muffled against his chest. Silver's eyes widened and he released Blaze who looked back at him.

"What?" He asked, shocked.

"I don't want to. I don't want to keep it. I can't be a mother now. I thought about it while I awaited your answer. And I love you, I swear I do, but we can't be parents now, Silver. We have too much to lose." She rubbed tears out of her eyes and Silver shook his head in total disbelief.

"Last night you were happy Blaze. We made love and you said - you said you wanted it! All I asked for was time to think, and now that I give you my answer you've changed your mind?!"

"Silver we have so much to do. Too much to accomplish! We can't be parents now. What would our families say? What about Amy, the band?"

"What about Amy? It's not about her, it-it's about us! You and I! Blaze, I want to marry you -"

"Stop. Just stop. We can't. We shouldn't even be together in the first place! I knew this would happen. I shouldn't have told you anything. We could have gone on without you knowing."

"What?! We've kept our feelings inside, separate this whole time - and you always shut it down. You shut me up, shut me out - the same way you do when it comes to this band. I'm just a pawn - a device - "

"Silver stop! That's it. I don't want to talk about it anymore. I'm getting an abortion. This band is going to take off and you're just going to have to deal!" Blaze looked at the silver haired man with fire in her eyes. With puffy eyes and red cheeks she stared at him as if she was to burn a hole into his flesh. Silver grabbed his shirt off the ground and pulled it over his head quickly.

"I'm done. I quit. Unless I'm writing songs, I'm nothing to you. Well - make this band take off without me. I'm out of here." Silver headed to the door of Blaze's studio apartment. He stood there holding the knob and he waited. "Last chance Blaze. For everything. For us too."

Blaze stood still. Unmoving. She stared at the ground as tears rolled down her cheeks. She didn't move when Silver turned the knob. She didn't move when he walked out the door. She didn't move when he slammed it shut. She sank to the ground when he left. She cried loudly, holding herself. She cursed herself. For everything.

Silver leaned on the other side of the door. He listened. He sank to the floor in the hallway of the apartment. He then covered his own face as warm tears began to fall.

Rouge threw her cellphone into the wall with total and complete rage. Amy and Shadow took a step back from her as they stood in the lobby of Twinkle lounge. It was time for their interview, and Amy's bandmates were no where to be found. Rouge's temper had now gotten the best of her.

"I'll have to cancel!" She shouted.

"Rouge, calm down!" Shadow grabbed her shoulder. Rouge took deep breaths and sighed. She touched Shadow's hand and looked at him with a wicked smile. "I am calm." She lied.

"Rouge - there's not much time left, what should I tell them?" Amy stood by the door nervous. It was their chance and it seemed to be falling through her fingers like grains of sand. Shadow looked to Amy and then walked and over to the door. He held it open for her and gestured her to go in.

"It's your time to shine. There's no band without you. Go, represent them. You're their front woman."

"But -"

"Shadow's right." Rouge ran towards Amy and grabbed her hands. "It's all up to you! Tons of pressure, but you can do it."

"Real nice way to ease the tension, Rouge." Shadow said to her with a deep frown.

"You can do it Amy." Rouge held the pink haired woman by her shoulders and Amy looked to Shadow for a vote of confidence.

"You can." He told her. "I believe in you."

Amy felt her heart stop. A strange feeling had come over her. It was as if time had frozen. For a moment, like in a dream, Shadow looked like Sonic. With the same face, same glow - that she first saw all those years ago, when the blue haired boy sat in the front row, watching her sing her heart out on the choir.

"Thank you." She said to him. With a smile she then made her way in. Shadow stood there watching her as she headed down the hall. Rouge looked at him from the corner of her eye and then back to see Amy turn the corner of the corridor.

"Don't fall in love with her." She told him. Without looking at Rouge Shadow nodded.

"I know. I'm leaving. Apologize to her for me."

"What? Why?"

"Because - I wanted to kiss her."

"I see. You should go. And one more thing." Shadow looked down to Rouge who stared at him hard. "You smell like cigarettes. A lot. You don't usually."

"Maria's back."

"I figured."

"I'm leaving now."

"Be strong, Shadow. Don't do it again."

"Worry about Amy. Don't worry about me."

Rouge looked at Shadow. She felt a sorrow for her friend she couldn't explain. She reached for his face and held his cheeks. She looked at him and shook her head. "I'm serious," She stepped closer to him, bringing her hands away from his face and down his arms. She pressed her forehead to his chest. "I don't know what to do for you when you're like that."

In Maria's bedroom, he laid on the floor. He looked at her. He smiled. He then laughed. He laughed so much tears rolled down his face. He struggled to get off the ground. Rouge stood there. She stared at him, disgusted at first, then concerned.

"You're funny. I'm - not, not a...an alcoholic."

"Shadow - please. You have to snap out of it." She bent down to him and grabbed him by the shoulders.

"No. No. I feel, good. You know? Good. I'm great. I'm glad she's gone. I passed the LSAT. I'm going to law school. Yeah. I'm great. I'm king of the fuckin' world."

"Shadow, please -"

"Please what? Please stop, stop...stop having a good time? No. I'm great. I'm so great Rouge." He pulled her into an embrace and Rouge could smell the cigarettes, the hard liquor. It was deeply infused with his male musk, oozing from his pores. She could sense his pain. She pushed his arms from over her and hugged him. On her knees and between his open legs, Rouge pulled Shadow to her chest and held his head. She fought tears and listened to him as his voice became weaker and weaker.

"Why? Why'd she leave?" He asked. "I did everything. I was good to her. I was good to her. I loved her. Why'd she leave me?"

"You don't need her. You don't."

"I got into law school. Just like she said I would. Rouge, I can make real money one day. I could be her husband. I could support her. She wouldn't have to go back to that man anymore. She could get a divorce. We could have been together.

"She's not yours to keep. But you're right. You did it. You got into law school. You can do things for you now. For you. It's not about her."

"But I love her." The white haired woman felt hot tears through the fabric of her blouse. She tried her best not to cry. Not to show him that she was hurting for him. He would only feel worse because of it. "I want what Sonic has." He confessed. "I want someone who has my back, like Amy has his. I want that. Why? Don't I deserve love too?"

"Of course."

"Pour me a glass, would you?"

"No."

"You don't care about me enough to pour me one? Huh? I'm - I'm so...I just need one more..."

"No. It's okay. I got you though. I'm here. Okay?" Rouge ran her fingers through Shadow's long dark hair. He looked up at her, his crimson eyes glossy. His lips, chapped. She kissed his forehead and he frowned. Shadow pushed Rouge from him and she looked at him shocked. His cheeks red, like the highlights of his eyes, narrowed on her image. He climbed on top of her and Rouge felt his weight hold her down. Her eyes widened.

"Give me one more drink." He said, clear as a bell. His voice was low. Smooth. He sounded sober. He looked in control. "One more drink, and you'll look like Maria." He lowered his face to hers and brushed his lips lightly over hers. Rouge felt her heart race madly. She stared at him with wide eyes. He trailed her collarbone with his finger and proceeded to unbutton the top of her blouse.

"Sh-Sha-Shadow," Rouge began. Her lips quivered, her voice trembled. "don't."

He stopped. He looked at Rouge and saw her eyes filled with tears. She was red in the face and even in his stupor his saw what he had done. What he had become.

"Maria."

"I'm not Maria. I'll never be Maria. I'll always be your friend. You know that, right?"

"Yes."

"You wouldn't hurt your friend, right?"

"No. No, I'd never hurt you. You're the only friend I have."

"Okay. Then, stop this. Now. You don't want this."

"I don't." Shadow arose from over Rouge and sat there, on the floor, dazed. Lost. Hurt, more than any feeling that he had at that moment. "I just want Maria. I want her to come back. I loved her. I really loved her."

"I know. I know." Rouge remained there on the floor. She stared into the ceiling. Though her mind was calm, her body was still shocked. Shadow was someone she didn't know then. A person she feared, but more than feared, worried for. The episode would be one of many, where he drank himself to a temporary resolution. A trip, two trips, three trips to the hospital - alcohol poisoning. As he tainted himself with alcohol her relationship with Knuckles dimmed.

And dimmed.

"Tour?" Amy said. She looked at Rouge as all members of the band stood in Vanilla's garage.

"Yeah. You have a good online presence, but let's get you out there. Let the people who love you see you. Meet you. Show the world the Chaos Roses, up close and personal.

She couldn't help him, she then gave up. She needed a break from Station Square. With a large inheritance and the resources, she'd make the Chaos Roses famous.

"Yes." Amy answered without thought. Any answer that would get her away from her failing relationship with Sonic. She couldn't anymore. She loved him, but she couldn't anymore.

"Singing songs that won't ever get played -"

Even before those words, she made up her mind to leave.

He stood in front of the door of Rouge's apartment. Sonic didn't know why he was there. He didn't know what he would say to Amy. He just needed to talk to her. Enough time had passed. Enough lost chances. Enough everything but the one thing - he still loved her.

The elevator doors opened up and Rouge and Amy stepped out. "Sonic?" Amy called. The blue haired male turned around to the calling of his name.

"Hey. Can we have that talk now?" He asked.

Amy sighed deeply. Her green eyes met Sonic's and she nodded. "Sure. I'm ready."