[SHADOW]
Sonic and I had spent the last few hours flirting and teasing each other. I felt relaxed around him. He made me feel comfortable in myself. I hadn't felt this high on life well... ever.
"I'm really happy you decided to come see me," I said.
"I had to man. I couldn't get you off my mind."
"Well, I'm keen to see where this goes." I couldn't believe the change in myself. In this moment I didn't feel the depression that was always hanging over me. There was no negative voice trying to convince me that the world was against me. I felt at peace.
Sonic smiled at me and pulled me in for another hug. It felt good to be close to someone again.
"Hey, we'd better head over to Knuckles' place soon. He said to come in the afternoon," he said suddenly with a slight frown.
"Oh, I'd forgotten about that." I replied, slightly disappointed. I didn't want this time with Sonic to end.
Sonic looked at me, clearly thinking the same thing. "It sounded important, I guess we have to."
"Alright," I said. "Well we can resume this when we're done at his."
Sonic looked around the empty house deep in thought.
"Hey Shadow, you can't stay here by yourself, it's depressing. Why don't you come back and stay with me again. And we can fix up your house again together if you want. I'll help ya!"
I thought for a moment. A gesture of kindness. Oh how different it felt for someone to be kind to me again. I definitely liked the idea of staying with Sonic. His home was... comfortable.
"Sure. That would be great."
Sonic's eyes lit up. "Really? Oh Shadow it'll be so much fun!" he exclaimed.
"I'll make sure of that," I purred at him, pulling him into another kiss.
"Alright, let's head," Sonic said grabbing my arm and walking me to the door. "It's gonna be hard to keep my hands off you, you know!"
My heart fluttered. How is this even happening? I shouldn't question it. It just feels too good to be true...
We left together in the direction of Knuckles' place.
"Wait, there's a path here now?" I said, looking around as we entered the forest, noticing the branches and vines that had been meticulously sliced away to create a passageway through the thickets.
"Yeah, how'd ya think we reached you all the way out here when we came to save you?"
My eyes widened as I took in the realisation of the enormous effort Sonic, Knuckles and Rouge must have gone to just to reach me in time.
I shook my head and looked at the floor, feeling ashamed that I put my friends through that. Sonic must have read my mind because he put his hand on my shoulder and said softly, "It's ok Shadow, we're just glad you're ok. I'd do it a million times over just so I could see that smile again."
My heart warmed. If I had succeeded in killing myself I never would have got to experience what I have now. I was so blinded by depression I couldn't see a way out. But it was right there at my lowest point that I found the thing that changed my life. It was as if I had to go through hell to find happiness.
We took up a running pace and reached Knuckles' pad within minutes.
"Hey hey fellas!" Knuckles was standing just outside his cave and greeted us with a grin and a high five. "What are you two so happy about?"
Sonic and I looked at each other and smirked. I didn't care what Knuckles' knew about us but, after our chat, I understood Sonic was actually way more self-conscious than I had realised. I'll give him a bit of time...
"None of your business Knucklehead," I said and pretended to punch him on the shoulder.
"You guys look like you've struck gold or something," he continued, peering at us trying to analyse our reactions.
You could say that, I thought to myself.
"Anyways yous are the first to arrive. Make yourselves comfortable and help yourself to some stew I've got going on the fire."
I looked over to Knuckles' fire pit where a large black pot was suspended above, inside a meaty, wholesome looking stew was bubbling away. It smelt deliciously of herbs and spices.
He had swept all the leaves and sticks away to make a large clearing on the ground around the fire. Must be to accommodate everyone at the meeting.
We grabbed some bowls, helped ourselves to some stew and took a seat on the dusty floor. I was looking forward to hearing what the echidna had to say. I didn't even care if it was bad news. Nothing to do with fighting or disaster fazed me any more, plus I didn't think there could be anything that could knock me of this high I was riding.
Rouge arrived shortly after us.
"Hey boys!" she beamed at us as she strutted in, and immediately eyed up the stew.
"Mmmm what's in this one Knuckles?" She glanced knowingly at the echidna and raised her eyebrows.
"Just meat and vegetables I'm afraid Rouge," Knuckles laughed back at her. I don't know what she was implying but it looked like they had some private joke going on between them.
Cream arrived next, bouncing in all carefree, and hugging us one by one before taking a seat beside me.
"Shadow! It's been so long!" she squeaked. "How have you been?"
"To hell and back," I said in an impassive tone. Her face dropped and she looked at me with concern. "But I'm great now," I added quickly, not wanting to trouble her with any details.
"Well that's good. You know, I'm always here if you need a friend!"
"Thank you Cream. As am I for you." I nodded at the kind rabbit and put my empty bowl in my lap, leaning back on my hands. I was enjoying being around people for the first time in my life.
Blaze arrived in calm demeanour shortly afterwards, giving us a shy wave. She walked straight up to Rouge and pulled her in to a tight hug.
"How are you doing Rouge?" she said looking into her eyes.
"A lot better thank you darling. Thanks again so much for having me stay with you."
"It's my pleasure. You're welcome any time," Blaze replied.
Rouge saw us all looking at her and said, "I had a bit of a nasty surprise and Blaze helped me out with a room. I'll fill you all in later. But first I want to hear what Knuckles has to say."
She obviously didn't know that some of us had already heard what happened with the fire, thanks to Tails' outburst. Speaking of which, neither Tails nor Amy had arrived yet.
"I'll give it a bit longer," Knuckles said. "I want us all to be here before I begin."
Knuckles handed Cream, Blaze and Rouge each bowls of stew and everyone sat in content silence while they ate. I caught Sonic looking at me and he smiled, touching his foot against mine. I blushed slightly and noticed Rouge watching us intently. That nosy bat doesn't miss a thing! I glared at her and she glanced at me questioningly with an inquisitive smile. I shook my head and looked away.
Afternoon turned into late afternoon and the sun began to cast a warm golden light across the tops of the trees.
Finally we heard a rustle in the foliage as Amy appeared through the trees. Here we go, I thought, wondering if Rouge knew what she did yet.
It was apparent she didn't, as she immediately stood up and hugged Amy. Amy stiffened up, looking terrified and glanced over Rouge's shoulder at Sonic. Sonic gave her a supportive smile and two thumbs up, as if to say "you've got this."
"H-hey everyone," she said.
It was at this point the energy around the fire started to change. I could feel anxiety in the air.
The tension was only made worse when the sound of two tails swishing in the air swirled above us and Tails dropped in from the sky,
He didn't look at me or Sonic, instead giving an intense glare to Amy and then nodded to Knuckles. He then sat on the opposite side of the fire at the furthest point away from me, so the flames were blocking my view of him.
"Tails!" Cream cried, running up to him and hugging him. "What's wrong? You look sad."
"It's nothing," he replied not making eye contact with her, instead staring at the floor.
I could feel Sonic's body go tense next to me. He pulled his foot away from mine and moved around awkwardly, as if he couldn't find a comfortable position to sit in. My intuition was telling me that there was something else going on here, something I had no idea about.
Knuckles, who was the only one standing up at this point, put his hands on his hips and looked around at the circle of friends. He had a confused expression of his face as if he was trying to figure out what the hell was going on here.
I started to feel uncomfortable. There was a sensation that a ticking time bomb was about to go off at any minute, if it was triggered...