Guidance

The sky was orange and purple with the transition of dusk into evening. When Shadow pulled into his parking spot, the headlights of his bike illuminated the front of the building and he saw a familiar face turning to look at him. His brows rose at first, then quickly furrowed while he stepped off his bike, holding eye contact with fierce purple irises. Knuckles' expression softened and Shadow saw embarrassment creep onto his face.

The echidna glanced at his guard outfit and took a step back. "You work here?"

The last time they'd seen each other, Knuckles had suffered an injured jaw by the Ultimate Lifeform's hand in response to the reckless punch he'd thrown. Now the same hedgehog was about to make him leave without giving him a chance to see Rouge.

Shadow stepped next to the club's front door and stared him down, replying, "More than work here, I make sure everyone in this building stays safe. I was told you decided to make a nuisance of yourself."

"Wait," Knux started, his eyes apologetic rather than angry. "I'm sorry for being a jerk to the bouncer. I just got frustrated that he pushed me out, and-"

"I don't care. You don't need to be here."

The redhead's mouth pinched into a disheartened frown and his brows strained together in a display of unease. "I just wanted to talk to Rouge. You know, tell her I'm sorry about everything, and just... talk to her."

"So, you think you can pull on her heartstrings and be forgiven, just like that?" Shadow raised his voice a little, his defensiveness rising. "A half-assed apology won't undo any of the pain you caused her."

"Hey, if it wasn't for that, you wouldn't have even met her!" rebutted Knuckles, raising his guard. "We'd be married by now!"

The hedgehog's hands balled into fists and he clenched his teeth behind a closed frown to keep from acting on his anger.

"Don't," he hissed, "use our relationship to justify what you did."

A searing pause permeated the air, Knuckles seeming to consider his words thoroughly before speaking. "I want what's best for her, really. I don't even want to get back together. But what she deserves isn't a guy who's possessive and controlling. So prove you're not that and let her decide, as an adult, if she's willing to speak with me."

They stared at each other, the silence now icy as Shadow took in his words. He didn't think he was being possessive; just preventing his girlfriend from having to face the man who'd once broken her heart. But she also had a handle on her emotions well enough to overcome adversity. He had to maintain respect for that and not make decisions for her.

"Fine," he answered coolly, relaxing his hands. "You'll get your talk if she wishes. But you can't just show up here, you're not welcome."

The echidna frowned and Shadow continued, "And she's away for a few weeks, so you won't be hearing from her anytime soon."

A short sigh escaped Knux's nose and he gave a begrudging nod. "Fine. Just hope she's not the one running around this time." He turned to leave as his rival lifted an eyebrow, then paused to add over his shoulder, "Long missions are a pretty good cover for cheating."

Shadow rolled his eyes, dismissing the redhead's comment as quickly as it came, and watched Knuckles leave before going into the club.

'Trying to plant seeds of jealousy?' he thought. 'Pathetic. He should've stayed away.'

Saturday nights were the most hectic at Club Rouge. The crowd was massive and the patrons got insanely drunk. Once the sun went down, the gray wolf that usually guarded the lobby stood outside to control the amount of people going in, while Shadow took his place. Throughout the night, Shadow got called to the second and third floor three times to deal with hostile customers; twice to break up fights and once to confront a badger who threatened the bouncer. It was a stressful shift, and at the end he was physically tired and emotionally exhausted. They ushered out the last stumbling drunk and Shadow exhaled a deep sigh, running his fingers through his quills while the others started cleaning up.

"Shadow," the wolf called. "You go on home, I'll lock up."

The speedster nodded at him and took his leave, feeling grumpy while he drove to the home he shared with Rouge. Entering the dark, empty house was a lonely feeling, but he was relieved to be back in his comfort zone. He went upstairs and stripped off his uniform shirt, then put his radio and keys in the top drawer of his nightstand before slipping into bed. It sucked not to have Rouge there to curl up with, her body so familiar to his at this time of night. And he'd found, through dating her, that he slept a hundred times better with a loved one in his arms.

Feeling the bat's warmth and hearing the barely audible whispers of her breathing lulled him so well that it made him realize he was getting terrible sleep before. Now it was difficult to be rested without her. To compensate, he took Rouge's pillow and held it, half against his face and half against his chest. It smelled of lavender and teaberry, the scent of her shampoo and perfume mixing in the fabric to make it feel like she was still there. Shadow laid on his side of the bed, embracing the pillow and thinking of skipping work the next day, then drifted to sleep.

Waking up the next morning confirmed his desire to call off work. He still felt tired at the thought of dealing with the clubbing crowd again, grateful only for the fact that his body didn't ache from his previous shift; any normal Mobian would be stiff and sore from the amount of activity it took to do his job. Shadow grabbed his phone and peeked one barely-open eye at the time. It wasn't noon yet, but close enough. So he called Jay and let him know about his absence, remembering then to inform him that Rouge would be away from work, as well.

After hanging up, he laid on his back with his phone resting on his stomach, staring up at the ceiling and contemplating going back to sleep. But he knew he wouldn't feel any more rested, so he got up and went downstairs for coffee. He poured a big cup and toasted a buttery biscuit for breakfast. Even after two years, he still found the silence of the house unsettling whenever Rouge was gone. He could put on some music, as she often did, or finish the movie he'd been watching while he ate, but a task burdened his mind – one that he had a perfect opportunity to complete now that his girlfriend was on an assignment.

So he sat at the kitchen table with his coffee and his biscuit, and began an online search through his phone. He typed 'engagement rings' into the browser and was bombarded with images and shopping links of many different stones. Varying colors, diverse shapes, unique mineral components – it was impossible to sort through besides looking for something that felt like 'Rouge.'

'Should I get a silver or gold band?' he wondered. 'Would she prefer flashy, or something that can be matched with more of her outfits?'

He took a big bite of the biscuit and sat up straighter, both elbows on the table as he leaned into deciphering the mystery of what she would like the most while scrolling through options. 'What about the gem? A classic diamond? Or something more personal?'

He thought about taking one of the 'quizzes' that would choose for him; though, he didn't trust a website's ability to pick the best ring for his beau. And while he didn't think Rouge would be too harsh on his choice, he didn't want to screw it up and get her something she didn't love. He would only be doing this once – it had to be perfect. After a burning swig of coffee and a deep breath, Shadow decided he needed assistance to narrow the options.

'Who better to ask than her best friend?' he thought, pulling up the contacts on his phone. They were few, mostly consisting of Rouge's friends and his coworkers; and near the top was the opinionated princess, Blaze.

Their text conversations weren't much to look at, usually check-ins if one of them couldn't reach Rouge. But the hedgehog felt he could trust her judgement more than anyone's. So he went back and took a screenshot of his online search, then texted Blaze with, "Hey, can I ask for your guidance on something if you won't tell Rouge about it?"

He read over the message once it was sent, then a second time, overthinking if he'd said it in a strange way. But he stopped himself and finished his breakfast without glancing at the screen again. He put away the dishes and then heard the rumbly tone of his notification sound. It felt weird to be nervous again – his heart was beating the way it had after his first date with Rouge.

Shadow opened the message and read Blaze's response: "That depends on what it is."

He did appreciate that she wasn't willing to keep certain secrets from her friend. Fortunately, he felt she would keep this one. He answered back by sending the photo of his search results, followed by the simple plea of "Help."

Then he was getting a call from the purple cat, which surprised him – neither of them were the calling type, at least with each other. Shadow cleared his throat and answered, "Hello?"

"This isn't a joke, right?" she asked, sounding optimistic, and he could tell she was trying to conceal excitement.

"I'm hardly a jokester," he replied with a smile. "It's been on my mind long enough, and... well, Rouge is on a mission right now, so..."

When he trailed off, Blaze's regal voice chimed, "Say no more. Of course I'll help you. She'll be so excited!"

"Great." He rubbed the back of his neck. "So, where do I even start? I'm having trouble pinning down what she would like best."

She spoke with a cautioning tone, "Well, Rouge has very expensive taste-"

"Money's no object here. Trust me, I've been saving for this."

"Wonderful, then!" There was a pause, then she suggested, "How about you come over to ours? It'll be easier that way, and I'm sure Silver will want to hear the news."

"Sure. Do you have time now?"

"Yes. Don't keep us waiting!"

"See you soon," his rumble concluded, then they hung up and Shadow crossed the living room to the front door.

Peeking briefly past the window's curtain, he noticed the sky was cloudy, and so grabbed his car keys instead of the bike's, just in case. His eyes trailed over Rouge's white Corvette still sitting in the driveway; the government always sent a vehicle to bring her out for her assignments. He thought of giving the cherry-scented car a nice cleaning before she returned home.