Chapter Text
“We used to talk every day, then one day, about a week ago, he stopped responding,” Sonic said as he looked down at his phone, at old conversations between him and his mysterious friend.
“And you’ve still been texting him since?” Tails asked.
“Yes!" Sonic exclaimed, looking up from his phone and at his brother before looking down at his phone again. "But I’ve heard nothing from him, and I don’t know where he lives so I can’t go check on him myself,” they explain.
“Let me see your phone, Sonic, I’ll track this guy for ya,” the yellow fox said, holding out his hand.
“Wha- Tails! No, I don’t want to show up at his door unannounced, he’ll think I’m a creep!!” Sonic yelled, jerking their phone away from the other’s offer.
Tails shrugged at their refusal. “Well, do you know any of his friends?” He questioned.
“He has a friend named Rouge that he’s talked about before, but they don’t seem all that close so I’m not sure,” the blue hedgehog mumbles as he turns his attention back to the texts, still hoping to see three dots appear and let him know that Shadow’s still there.
“Anything is better than nothing, right? Can you talk to her, or do I need to find her contact information?” Tails asked him.
“I can text her,” Sonic stated simply before clicking off the conversation between him and Shadow for a brief moment while he searches for Rouge’s account.
"Rouge?" Sonic questioned, then listened as the woman on the other end spoke. "Hey, I'm good. I, um, I have a favor to ask you," they told her, and Rouge asked what the favor was. "You know Shadow, right? Could you check on him for me?" She then asked them why. "He stopped answering my calls and texts a week ago. I don't know where he lives so I can't go see him myself. Will you go visit him for me, please, and just tell me how he's doing?" He asked her and sighed with relief at her answer. "Thank you, Rouge. Call me when you get back," Sonic smiled, listening to Rouge's words before hanging up the phone.
"She'll go see him?" Tails questioned and Sonic nodded his head.
"Tomorrow after they get off work," he answers.
"They work together. Why not ask him at work?" Tails wondered.
"He doesn't like to be distracted while working and probably wouldn't listen to her, they don't work in the same department anyways," Sonic explains and Tails nods his head.
"Well, since all that's settled, I think you should go to sleep, Sonic," he says, squeezing his brother's shoulder reassuringly. "It'll be okay," he tells them with a smile.
"Yeah," Sonic says.
"Goodnight, Sonic," he says, waving as he disappears back into his bedroom.
"Goodnight, Tails," Sonic says quietly as they step back into their own room.
Shutting his door and leaning against it with a sigh, Sonic goes back to looking through his old conversations with the black hedgehog. He was searching for something, an explanation to the other's sudden disappearance. Could I have prevented this? Did I cause this? He wonders for perhaps the millionth time. Scrolling through their texts, he finds something, a picture.
ultimate_lifeform: Look at this.
(36 days ago)
ultimate_lifeform attached an image.
(36 days ago)
blueblur: woah! :o
(36 days ago)
blueblur: it's so pretty
(36 days ago)
ultimate_lifeform: Isn't it?
(36 days ago)
blueblur: not as pretty as you though ;)
(36 days ago)
ultimate_lifeform: And, here I was, about to tell you how I'd like to see a sunset just as beautiful as this one with you.
(36 days ago)
ultimate_lifeform: But I think I'll keep that to myself.
(36 days ago)
And Sonic has to stop reading there as they feel tears running down their cheeks. Why am I crying? They wonder, brushing their hand across their cheek. Shadow can take care of himself; I have no reason to worry, he tells himself as he stands up. After putting his phone on the charger and cutting off his lamp, Sonic goes to bed. He doesn't sleep, but he goes to bed.
Sonic gets out of bed the next morning and, for a moment, forgets his worries. He gets dressed and it's when he goes to text Shadow good morning that he remembers. "Oh, right," they mumble. But they text Shadow anyway because they've done so for the past week and that’s one routine Sonic would like to keep going, even if they never get a response back.
blueblur: good morning
(2 minutes ago)
Shadow’s been staring at the text since he received it, as he’s done with every other text he’s received from the blue hedgehog since he stopped speaking to him. Scrolling to the first texts he didn’t respond to, Shadow, again, asks himself if this is what he should be doing. Running away is cowardly, but if I keep them near, if I ever let them know the truth, things between us would be ruined anyways. Why delay the inevitable? He sighed, moving his thumb to close the conversation.
Three dots appear on one end, but no message follows. Three dots appear on the other end followed by a flurry of texts. A single key, a single mistake, that’s all it takes.
Shadow typed something! He’s here, he’s actually here! Sonic thinks as his fingers move in a blur across his phone’s screen, sending messages one after the other, asking the recipient about his disappearance and other questions like how he’s been and such. Much to their surprise, they receive a response.
ultimate_lifeform: sorry haha i fell asleep
(just now)
It’s a response unlike anything Shadow would ever actually send but, with panic and fear breathing down his neck, he felt like he had to say something. For once in his life since he lost Maria, he feared he might lose another person he cared about.
blueblur: Shadow. You don’t really expect me to believe that, now do you?
(just now)
Of course not, faker. Shadow thinks, rolling his eyes as he moves to respond. He freezes, however, as he reminds himself why he stopped speaking to Sonic in the first place. “I’m sorry,” he whispers, closing the conversation and putting his phone to the side.
After five minutes, Sonic knows he’s not getting anything else out of Shadow, that that puny excuse is all the other hedgehog has to say. And it irritates him. “I fell asleep! Are you kidding me? He doesn’t speak to me for a week and that’s all he has to say?!” They exclaim, throwing their hands up in the air in frustration.
Tails knocks on the door and opens it slowly when Sonic doesn’t immediately respond. “What happened?” He asked, finally drawing the attention of his brother.
“Shadow texted me,” Sonic mutters, sitting on his bed.
“Isn’t that a good thing?” Tails wonders.
“It would be but look at what he told me!” They exclaim, lifting their phone up and turning it so the fox can see the screen.
“Oh, yeah, that’s kind of a dick move,” he states as he crosses his arms.
“Right,” Sonic says.
“But you’re still worried about him,” Tails says.
“I’m still worried about him,” Sonic sighs.
“Well, you could always go visit him and force the answers out of him,” Tails suggest.
“No, Tails, I don’t want to bother him more than I have,” he states.
“Aw, I guess all my effort will be wasted then,” the younger brother says with a heavy sigh.
“What effort, buddy?” Sonic asks curiously.
“Oh, well, I thought you might want to visit Shadow so, I went ahead and found his address for you.”
“Tails!” Sonic laughs. “You can’t just do things like that; you could get us in trouble,” he warns. “But so, my dearest brother’s efforts won’t be wasted, I’ll go see him,” he tells the other.
Sonic’s phone starts to ring, startling him as he runs at top speeds whilst carrying a bag full of boxes filled with items people ordered online. “It’s Rouge,” he says before answering her call. “Rouge, hey!” Sonic happily greets the bat, slowing down to a walk before stopping completely. “You spoke to Shadow? What did he say?” They ask, now less excited. “I see,” they mumble. “You want me to do what?!” Sonic suddenly exclaims. “Well, Tails has been saying the same thing. He even went ahead and found Shadow’s address for me,” he says, chuckling on the last thought. “Yeah, I guess I can,” he states. “Yep! I’ll do it! Thanks for everything, Rouge,” Sonic tells the woman before hanging up.
“Well, I hope Shadow’s up for a surprise visit from his favorite hedgehog.”
"It's okay Sonic, you're just here to speak with this guy you met months ago," Sonic tells himself as he paces about outside the apartment door. "Who started ignoring you a week ago," he adds with a sigh. "Oh, for Chaos' sake! Just knock already!" They say as they stop and stand in front of the door. They stare at the door, before shutting their eyes tight and knocking.
He immediately hears footsteps begin to draw closer and he begins pacing around the hall once more. "Okay, now, what do I say to him?" Sonic wondered. "Is this even a good idea? Should I just leave?" He asked himself. "I shouldn't be here, I should leave," he tells himself but, before he can even take a step.
"Rouge, I swear, what do you-" Shadow opens the door.
Sonic and Shadow stare at each other. The frown on Shadow's lips and irritation in his eyes fall into an emotionless expression, but Sonic's state of fear and wonder never wavers. "Shadow- '' They begin to speak and Shadow moves to close the door. "Wait!" Sonic exclaims, putting their foot in the door.
"How are you here?" Shadow wonders. Not why, but how and Sonic takes note of that.
"My friend, Tails, he's really good with tech, he found your location for me. I know I shouldn't have come, but even Rouge said she thought I should come see you," Sonic explained and Shadow scoffed.
"Damn bat," he muttered. "Hmm, come inside," he says as he holds the door open. Sonic mumbles a quiet thank you as he steps in the apartment.
Sonic's not sure what he expected the apartment to look like, but it looks like Shadow hasn't changed it much since moving in. I mean, unless old flowery wallpaper and leather couches are something Shadow likes. It's very retro, I like it, Sonic smiles.
"How did you get here?" Shadow questions as he shuts the door with a click.
"I ran," Sonic answered simply as they admired the apartment.
"You what?! Metropolis is a week-long trip from Green Hills!" Shadow exclaims.
"Not for me," Sonic shrugs. "I told you I'm fast."
"When did you leave?" Shadow asked them.
"Yesterday, after Rouge called me."
"There's no way you ran a week's worth in a single day," he states in disbelief.
"And yet I did!" Sonic smiled as Shadow stared at them with concern.
"You'll have to prove it to me, but not in here, you're not ruining my apartment," he tells the other hedgehog and Sonic merely chuckles. He follows Shadow through his apartment and onto a balcony, where a ladder on the wall leads onto the roof. "Well, go on," Shadow says, motioning for the other to move before crossing his arms.
"Ok, here I go!" Sonic says as he runs around the rim of the building, increasing speed with every lap he makes. Once he's nothing more than a blue blur, Shadow's arms unfold, and he stares.
Impossible! I'm supposed to be the only one of my kind, and yet… could it be? He wonders.
"One-hundred! Woo!" Sonic exclaims, leaping into the air in victory. "Awesome, right?" They ask Shadow who nods his head.
"Amazing," he breathes.
"And to think I've been like this since birth," Sonic says.
"You were born with this power?" Shadow questioned.
"Yep! But all I use it for is being a delivery boy," he answers and sighs at the fact.
"Quit your job then, that's the best advice I ever received," Shadow states with a smirk as he crosses his arms.
"I can't just quit; the people of Green Hills need me. The terrain is naturally weird, I mean, we have natural loop-de-loops! So, cars don't really get around, and we don't have supermarkets dotted around every island," Sonic explains, "Those people need me, even if it is just to deliver their new shoes, and shoes are important! I mean, I go through shoes like I go through chili dogs, and I can eat a lot of chili dogs," they state.
"I believe it, as much as you talk about eating them," Shadow says and rolls his eyes with a smile.
"Here's that sunset you wanted," Sonic says as he looks past Shadow.
"You still remember that?" He questions as he looks at them in shock.
"Yeah, sort of. I was looking through some old texts and found that conversation," Sonic admits sheepishly. "Speaking of, why did you disappear for a week? You still haven't answered that question of mine," Sonic mumbles and Shadow sighs as he turns back to the sunset.
"I realized something, and it bothered me. I'm not good with… feelings and emotions, so I did the only thing I know how to do and blocked it out," He explains.
"And these feelings revolve around me?" Sonic questioned and he nodded his head. "Shadow, if you don't want to talk to me anymore, I understand," Sonic stated.
"What?!" Shadow exclaimed, whipping his head in their direction.
"I mean, you hate me, those are the feelings you meant, right? I figure it's because I talk too much and you're not that kind of person, so you probably find me really annoying."
"Sonic," Shadow says.
"Have you been trying to tell me that you don't want to be friends with me all this time?" Sonic wonders, "Have I been too stubborn to listen?"
"Sonic!" Shadow yells, causing Sonic to jump at his outburst.
Taking a deep breath, Shadow looks at Sonic and says, "You are the last person I want to run away from me right now." The world falls silent as Sonic stares at Shadow and as he stares at the ground. “I’m sorry for disappearing, I really am. I didn’t even want to I just- thought it was the only way.”
“The only way to do what?” Sonic asked.
“To hide the truth from you,” Shadow says quietly.
“Why would you want to do that?” They wondered.
“I am afraid, to be honest.” He admits and Sonic nods their head.
“Whenever you’re ready to tell me, I’ll be ready to listen," he tells the other hedgehog, resting a hand on his shoulder.
“I appreciate that, Sonic, more than you know.”