Worlds Collide - a Shadow x Reader story

Meeting the girls

The next morning, Y/N was up really early getting ready to meet her sisters.

"You do know you've got, like, five hours before you meet them right?" Shadow came up behind her.

"Yeah, I know. I just want to be really ready. It's been ages since I last saw them. I want to make a good first impression."
"They're your family. They'll accept you for who you are."
Y/N let her quills flop into their normal position, "You're right. I'll go just as I am."
"Personally, I don't think there's a way you can look better than the way you are."
"Aw, Shadow," she laughed, leaning her head back.
He ruffled one hand through her quills, "There. You look fine."
"Thanks."
"We've got ages. You wanna head to the park for a bit?"
"Sure."

Half an hour later, the two black and red hedgehogs were walking through the park together. It was still early, so the area was pretty much deserted. Y/N leaned against Shadow, letting him take her wherever he wanted. The cherry trees were in blossom, the petals drifting down on the breeze (mega romantic, I know). One of the landed on her head. She moved to brush it off, but Shadow stopped her.
"Leave it. You look better with it on."

Y/N's blush was so red, she looked like one of the streaks in her quills. She looked away, giggling as he kissed her cheek.
"If that's even possible," Shadow whispered.
They sat together under one of the trees, leaning against each other. Y/N took out her iPod, handed him one of the earbuds and pressed the other into her own ear. "A Thousand Years" by Christina Perri, one of her favourite artists, rang out softly between them. The words had become even more meaningful to her since the two of them had met. The words "I have loved you for a thousand years" felt very true for her. Ever since they had mat, everything had almost become more brightly coloured - like it had been a black-and-white film before. Her heart leapt every time he was around, and she could tell he felt the same. Several petals had settled on his head, but he was ignoring them. She wrapped one arm around his shoulders.

"Shadow?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you think the others act... strangely when I'm around?"
"Not really. Why?"
"Just that, whenever I'm around we both kind of get weird looks."
"That's normal with these guys. It's because everyone's so different to everyone else."
"Right."
"I felt the same way the day I moved in with them."
"You did?"
"Yeah. Sonic and Silver kept looking at me weirdly and turns out they were just jealous."
"Always jealous, huh?"
"Yeah," Shadow laughed, pulling her closer. His head rested on hers. For the rest of the morning, the two told stories of the past they had had before they met.

"...And then she pushed the lever just as the soldier shot for the second time. That's when the capsule was shot into space and I... I never saw her again."
Y/N gently wrapped her arms around him, "And then you went crazy because of her death?"
"Yeah. I wish I could've saved her. But there were too many..." Shadow trailed off, tears welling up in his eyes.
"Hey, hey. I'm here," she let him cry into her shoulder, "Just let it out."
He did, tears streaming down his face. She gently rubbed the back of his head to comfort him.
"I never understood why they killed her. It was like they didn't want anybody to be friends with me. Like they wanted me to be alone."
"You're not alone. You have Sonic, Silver, all the others... and me."
Shadow smiled, wiping his eyes, "I know."
Y/N glanced at the time on her iPod, "Oh gosh. It's almost two! I'd better get going."
"See you back here?"
"Sure. See you," she gently planted a kiss on his cheek before hurrying off to the gate.