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It had been a few months since Amy and Shadow had first hung out. It had been just after a battle with egg man when Amy had mentioned liking Sabrina Carpenter and how one of her friends had to opt out of the concert they were going to go to last minute, offering the second ticket to Shadow. She meant it as a joke, not expecting the dark hedgehog to agree. They had a great time though, Shadow actually sang along to most of the songs and, if you could believe it, danced to the last song. Amy could see that he actually wanted to dance the whole time but only got the courage to at the last moment.
After that, the concerts became more frequent. They started going out more in other ways too. Shopping sprees, where they would invite Rouge as well, she knew their styles better than anyone, even themselves, so it was always beneficial to have her tag along. Coffee dates while they gossiped about whatever was going on at the time, and movie marathons, mostly chick flicks since the one time they had watched a horror movie and vowed to never watch another.
They had become quite good friends.
It was on one of these coffee dates where Shadow brought up her dating Sonic.
“WHAT!?” She exclaimed. She glanced around the cafe at the other patrons, making sure she didn’t cause too much of commotion, quickly lowering her voice as she replied. “No, me and Sonic aren’t dating.” Shadow raised an eyebrow.
“Really? But you two are always…” he waved his hand around, “flirting, holding hands…”
She blushed. “Yes, that is true. And it’s true that I used to like Sonic but he’s never liked me.” She replied, trying not to sound too dejected about it, but couldn’t keep the sorrowfulness out of her tone.
Shadow frowned. “Then why does he lead you on like that?”
Amy smiled at his concern for her feelings as she placed her cup of coffee on the table. “He didn’t know for the longest time, and when he finally realized it was hard for us to act different around each other. I’ve gotten over him mostly, so it’s alright.” She shrugged. And it was alright. She was learning to move on from him.
“Besides, he likes someone else, so it would have never worked between us,”
Shadow looked surprised at this. “Who?”
She paused. Well she couldn’t tell him that. “Not my place to say.”
Shadow smirked, the closest she had ever seen to a smile, outside of the concerts. No matter how hard he tried to hide those ones she always caught them. “Is it me?”
Amy’s eyes widened, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. “What? No! What… what makes you-“ it was too late, her reaction was a dead give away. But how had he guessed?
Shadow paused, eyes going just as wide as her own. “I was joking…” he said slowly. Amy cursed. Of course he was. “But you’re saying Sonic likes me?” He pointed at his chest, scooting to the edge of his chair to talk closer with the pink hedgehog conspiratorially. “Are you sure?” He almost seemed… hopeful? But she must have been imagining it. Shadow made it very clear he hated Sonic. If not verbally confirming the fact then definitely when he beat the shit out of the other Hedgehog.
Amy bit her lip while nodding slowly.
Shadow was gone in a flash before she could say another word. A pile of cash in his place for the coffee.
Shit. Amy was screwed.
Two weeks later Amy had forgotten all about the interaction. Currently she was baking some cookies for the party Rouge was throwing later that day. She had just set the last tray on the cooling rack when Sonic barged in, plopping down on the chair at her counter, letting out a loud groan. She barely reacted, used to his behavior. “What’s wrong?” She asked, passing over a few of the already cooled cookies to him before going to the fridge to grab him some milk.
He picked up one of the cookies with a pout, stuffing it in his mouth. It seemed to brighten his mood a bit. He reached for another one, dunking it in the glass of milk Amy placed in front of him before shoving that one in his mouth as well. “Shadow’s been avoiding me,” he mumbled through the mouthful of cookie.
Amy paused midway of filling her own glass with milk. Uh oh. “Hmm?” She placed the jug on the counter. “What do you mean?”
“He’s just been avoiding me,” He reached for another cookie but paused. He retracted him arm, “Last week we had agreed to race, but he never showed up. Ever since then every time I’ve seen him out and about he avoids me like a sickness. Like he can’t stand even looking at me.” He folded his arms on the counter and placed his head atop them.
Amy swallowed the bite of cookie that was in her mouth. She took a moment to collect her thoughts before speaking. “I need to tell you something,” she said hesitantly.
Sonic pushed the cookies to the side, giving her all his attention. She took a deep breath before confessing her mistake. “I might have let it slip to Shadow that you like him.” She said with a cringe.
Sonic stared at her with his mouth open in shock. “What!?” A bright blush spread across his face up to his ears. “You… he- Ames! That-.. why?” He stuttered out. He covered his face with his hands letting out a deep groan.
“It was an accident!" her voice raised an octave. "We were talking about me and you not dating, and he asked if you liked anyone. I said I couldn’t say and he jokingly asked if it was him and I freaked out.” She prattled on. She needed something to do to calm her nerves so she began stacking the cooled cookies in a box neatly. “I’m sorry Sonic, I didn’t know what to do and he was gone before I could try and tell him otherwise.”
She looked at Sonic. He was staring at the counter with a mortified look, his eyebrows furrowed as his fingers tapped his knee. “So he’s been avoiding me because he knows I like him,” he concluded. He bit his lip, turning in the chair away from Amy. “I’ll see you at the party.” He said before walking towards the door, not turning back as he left. Dammit. Why couldn’t she keep her mouth shut?
Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, she continued her baking, hoping she didn’t just totally fuck up the rivals' friendship.
Sonic ran. He ran until he’d looped all of green hills five times over. This was the only way he knew to calm down enough to work things through in his head, this and talking to Amy, but he didn’t feel like that would do much good at the moment, given the circumstances.
Sonic wasn’t mad. Not even disappointed as one might think. It wasn’t Amy’s fault, really, and there was no point in blaming her. It was an honest mistake. He did feel sad though. He could only think of how much Shadow must hate him now. They had just become friends and now this not so secret crush he had on the other was going to ruin the friendship they worked so hard to create.
He was about to pass the loopdy-loop, when a red streak appeared out of nowhere, causing the blue hedgehog to screech to a halt. Shadow didn’t give him time to recover, quickly going in for an attack. Sonic dodged narrowly, not expecting the blow, he turned around and returned the blow with a kick. Shadow pushed his leg to the side effortlessly.
They went on like that for a while, trading blows, until they came to a stand still, pushing against the other with both hands connected. Sonic slapped on his usual grin, praying Shadow would play along too. Maybe they could all forget about his embarrassing crush on the shorter hedgehog. “Long time no see Shads. Guess you couldn’t resist being away from me for too long.”
Shadow scoffed, not responding with his own jab, before he surged forward, causing Sonic to recoil back, fearing a head-butt, instead Shadow smashed his lips against Sonic’s.
Sonic was frozen in place, eyes wide as he stared at the other’s tightly closed eyes. Was this really happening? Was Shadow really kissing him? Moving his lips against his own in such a sweet way. It was making his legs weak and his heart feel as though it might burst from his chest. But just as he began to close his eyes, his legs left the ground.
He found himself on his back, Shadow on top of him, pinning him down by his shoulders. The wind knocked out of his lungs. He gasped to refill his lungs as Shadow held his shoulders down.
Oh.
Of course it was like that. Shadow hadn’t kissed him because he wanted to, it was to get him to drop his guard and take him down. Why did he think anything else? Shadow was just using his feelings against him. A lump formed in his throat and his chest tightened.
Instead of fighting back, he laid there stunned, his thoughts going wild with betrayal and embarrassment, until he couldn’t take it anymore. He felt his eyes begin to sting so he covered them with his arm, not giving Shadow the satisfaction of seeing him cry.
He felt Shadow stiffen above him, his grip on his shoulders loosening until they pulled away entirely. “What are you doing, Faker?” Shadow said, amusement laced his voice. That hurt even more. Shadow was laughing at him? The pain in his chest grew, until every breath he took was a struggle.
He tried desperately to come up with an excuse to leave quickly without letting out the sob he felt crawling up his throat. He cleared his throat but stayed silent. He felt the tears leak down the underside of his arm that was laid across his face. He took a deep breath in and choked on the tightness in his throat, resulting with him coughing roughly into his unoccupied arm.
Shadow leaned closer over him, he could feel the black hedgehogs hands hovering over his arms. “Faker, what’s wrong?” He sounded actually concerned. Did he not think his actions would truly hurt the other?
Sonic cleared his throat again, still covering the majority of his face, not wanting to see the other at the moment. “Nothing’s wrong Shadow, please get off.” He said quietly. Shadow didn’t move away, in fact he moved closer, his hands finally making contact with his arms, trying to pry them away from his face.
“Look at me, Faker.” Shadow demanded, but Sonic couldn’t. He sat up quickly, throwing Shadow off balance and shoved him back with all his might, turning his face away from the other before standing up, turning to bolt. Shadow caught his arm. “What’s wrong? Did I get it wrong? Do you not like me?” He asked, he almost sounded hurt. That caused Sonic to pause.
“What do you care? You’re only using my feelings against me,” Sonic said quietly. Shadow stepped around Sonic, but he turned again to evade his gaze.
“In what way am I using your feelings?” He almost sounded angry.
Taking a deep breath, Sonic finally looked at Shadow. He knew he must have looked a mess, but he didn’t care. “You kissed me as a diversion to gain the upper hand-“ Shadow cut him off.
“Woah, that’s not what that was… are you,” Shadow’s eyes widened as he took in Sonic’s teary eyes. “Are you crying?” Sonic looked down. He heard Shadow take a deep breath before closing the distance between them again, sealing their lips in a kiss. Gentle, like before but without the takedown. Sonic stood there in surprise once again, eyes wide, before his body caught up to his mind and he pulled away. If this was another trick, he wasn’t going to let his guard down.
“What are you-“
“I wasn’t using it as a distraction, I-“ Shadow glanced away, his cheeks burning red. Was he… embarrassed? “I, because we- you…” he sighed. “I’m not good with this type of stuff. I was just trying to make it seem familiar, a takedown like we normally do in a fight, before…” his face turned an even brighter shade of red, reaching to the tips of his ears. His voice lowered to a murmur as he continued with a shyness he had never seen on the black hedgehog before. “Making out, or something.”
Sonic only stared in shock. He couldn’t believe his ears, or eyes. He must have been dreaming. He pinched his arm just to make sure, jumping slightly at the sting. “Oh.” Was all he said for a while. Shadow looked back at him, his ears pulled back in embarrassment. “So, you’re saying…?” He wanted to hear Shadow say it.
Shadow sighed in frustration. “I like you too, hedgehog.” He grunted out.
Sonic let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding, it came out as a light chuckle. He wiped his eyes, feeling slightly silly for reacting the way he did.
When he looked back up, Shadow was staring back at him with a soft look. He bit his lip before reaching a hand out to Shadow. “Wanna try that kiss again? This time maybe with a little less throwing me to the ground?”
Shadow smiled, and it was the most beautiful thing Sonic had ever seen. “I wouldn’t want anything more,” he said, taking the hand Sonic had offered whilst wrapping his other arm around the blue hedgehogs waist. He pulled him flushed against his own body before pressing a firm but gentle kiss on his lips.
Sonic melted into it, wrapping both his arms around the shorter hedgehog’s shoulders. With his other hand now free, Shadow pushed it into blue quills, turning Sonic’s head to deepen the kiss.
Shadow was the first to pull away, resting his forehead against Sonic’s as they caught their breath. His thumbs idly rubbed at Sonic’s waist. They stayed there for what seemed like hours, basking in each others warm embrace. But Sonic wasn’t one for long stretches of silence.
"But why did you avoid me? It's been over two weeks!" he asked. He couldn't help but pout.
Shadow actually looked ashamed at that, glancing away from the Hero. But he didn't back away from the other's embrace. "I was trying to figure out how I felt. I've never been with someone before, even thinking about being with someone romantically is relatively new to me. I didn't want to see you until I knew for sure what I felt in return." he explained. His ears lowered even more in embarrassment. "And... I wanted to plan out how I would tell you. Obviously I should have thought more about it."
Sonic chuckled before placing a peck to Shadow's cheek. "I think it turned out as well as it could have gone, knowing us and our attraction to chaos and disaster." Shadow nodded in agreement.
They stayed quiet for a moment, getting used to holding each other in an nonviolent way, before Sonic had enough once again. “You want to get some lunch? I’m starving.” Sonic said, pulling back a bit to see Shadow’s amused smile.
“Always wanting food. Let me guess you have’t eaten since an hour ago?” He teased.
Sonic gasped. “How’d you know?” Shadow laughed, taking Sonic by the hand and leading him to where he knew Sonic’s favorite chili dog stand would be.
The day went on with the two hanging out as they usually did, with a few kisses mixed into the normal banter. They had nearly forgotten about the party Rouge was throwing, only remembering when said bat called Shadow asking where the hell he was with the booze. They quickly ran over to club Rouge after stopping at the store to get the alcohol, the party was already in full swing when they arrived.
Sonic spotted Amy across the room, she was nervously rearranging her many plates of cookies as her gaze lifted and met his. He gave her a big smile, pointing at Shadow then giving her a thumbs up. Her face lifted up immediately, clapping silently as to not alert all the guests to the new relationship. He’d have to thank her later for letting Shadow in on their secret.