¿Him or Her? {Sonadow}

Chapter Twenty-three

__Shadow quickly walked down the stairs as the sound of knocking came from the front door. Navi had flown closely behind excitedly. Shadow went to open the front door and was immediately hugged by Milo. Sonic was giggling as Shadow moved back and pulled Milo off of him. Navi went to hug Sonic before she and Milo started playing with each other. Shadow led Sonic to the couch and they both sat down. They were looking as the chao laughed.
__"I think they like each other," Sonic infered happily.
__"What makes you say that?" Shadow asked while smirking. He kept his eyes on Navi as she tried hiding under the coffee table. "She needs this."
__"So does Milo," Sonic added warmly. He then leaned on Shadow and looked up at him. "Hey, Shadow?"
__"What?" Shadow looked down at Sonic while instinctively wrapping his arm around him. He enjoyed watching smile as he giggled.
__"Uh...random question," Sonic said nervously. "Do you think I'm your boyfriend now?"
__Shadow grinned and snorted. "Yeah. Why wouldn't you be?"
__Sonic's expression had softened as he sat up straight. "So, we're official then?"
__"I guess so." Shadow flattened his ears when Sonic grabbed onto his shoulders. He felt his heart beating faster as Sonic stared into his eyes. "What are you doing?"
__Sonic didn't say anything. He looked really nervous. He flattened his own ears as he leaned his face close to Shadow's. Shadow's mind filled with panic as he let go of Sonic and backed away.
__"What are you doing!?"
__Sonic still looked nervous, but his voice sounded confident. "What's wrong? I allowed you to kiss me on our first date."
__"What?" Shadow forced himself to calm down as the panic worsened. "That...! No. That time was a bad move."
__"What do you mean?" Sonic asked worriedly.
__"Those weren't the right words." Shadow's mind continued to panic as he tried to figure out what to say. "That was your cheek. I'm...not ready for lip contact," He added quietly.
__Sonic's eyes showed confusion and frustration. "We already did, though. You gave me cpr."
__"That's not a kiss!" Shadow stuttered. "It's not the same."
__"You still put your lips on mine," Sonic pointed out.
__"It's not the same," Shadow repeated. He then sighed and looked away. "Look, I'm not ready for that. Is that hard to understand?"
__Sonic groaned as he leaned onto the back of the couch. "I guess not. But as my rival you never really turned something down like that."
__Shadow turned away from Sonic and pressed his side on the couch. "Being ready to fight and being ready for sexual activity are completely different."
__"Kissing on the lips doesn't have to be sexual!" Sonic said promptly.
__"I'm. Not. Ready."
__After a minute of silence, Sonic sighed and hugged Shadow from behind. "Okay. Okay. I get it. But is that the only reason?"
__Shadow didn't dare move under Sonic's touch. "This whole love-relationship thing is still new to me. I don't want to mess it up." He brought himself to grab Sonic's hands and sighed. "It doesn't mean I don't want to. Just not now."
__"Yeah," Sonic rasped. "I'm sorry."
__"Don't be. We're both learning." Shadow was relieved, yet overwhelmed. He didn't understand what just happened. Is this going to be a reoccurring thing? He wondered. He hoped this wouldn't happen again.
__"Shadow? Do you love me?" Sonic asked tiredly.
__It took a bit for Shadow to reply. "Yes."
__Sonic didn't say anything else. He had tightened his grip on Shadow. He seemed to be shaking.
__"What's wrong?" Shadow turned around to face Sonic. He saw the sadness in his eyes. "Did I say something wrong?"
__Sonic slowly shook his head. "I'm mad at myself," He muttered. "I shouldn't have done that. I'm just confused."
__Shadow tilted his head. "About what?"
__"I can't really talk about it until I know for sure."
__Shadow flattened his ears and looked away. What is happening? Things have been going so well. I know there's something he's not telling me, but I can't pry into it.

__Shadow woke up on the couch. He looked at the clock on the wall and saw it was past noon. He felt weight and saw that Sonic was laying on him. He had his arms wrapped around Sonic. Despite what happened this morning, this felt nice. Shadow then realized he had fallen asleep without having a nightmare. He finally felt relief.
__Shadow was looking down at Sonic's face. He still smiled in his sleep. Shadow felt warm inside. He enjoyed Sonic's scent as well. It was nice and calming. Shadow closed his eyes, wanting to go back to sleep for once.
__Someone was knocking on the door loudly. Both Shadow and Sonic opened their eyes and sat up. As the knocking continued Shadow growled and walked over to the door. He opened it and sighed when be saw Rouge standing there.
__"What are you doing here?" Shadow crossed his arms as he asked.
__"Nice to see you, too." Rouge said. She walked in and looked over at Sonic. "Oh! Hi, Sonic. I didn't think you were here."
__"Hey, Rouge," Sonic replied awkwardly. "Good to see your wing is better."
__Rouge smiled as she flexed her left wing. "Yeah! It feels great to fly again." She then looked at Shadow and frowned. "We need to talk."
__"What about? Hey!" Rouge had grabbed Shadow's arm and pulled him into the kitchen. Shadow yanked his arm away and glared at her. "What are you doing!?"
__Rouge crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "Have you looked at that file yet?"
__Shadow shook his head. "I haven't. Why?"
__"Why not?"
__"I don't know."
__"Shadow!" Rouge groaned and shook her head. "You better look at it soon. I saw Nate in the city this morning. He was acting strange and keeping to the shadows."
__Shadow slowly looked at Sonic, who was sitting on the couch while looking at his feet, and back at Rouge. "Do I have to now?"
__"Yes!" Rouge hissed. "He's up to something, Shadow. We need to know for sure what he's doing."
__"All right, fine," Shadow sighed. "Let's look right now."