Fixing My Broken Heart

Chapter 3 - ??? POV

"Chaos, why is he so heavy?" I thought, attempting to pick up the unconscious hedgehog. "Is it his muscles or something? He doesn't look fat...No, don't go there. No way would this perfect being be fat. He's perfect in every way."

After a few attempts, I finally managed to pick up the hedgehog and placed him on the couch. "Now what do I do with him? I can't just take Shadow back to his place. He'll come back with more people and ruin everything here!...So then I have to tie him up...Great. This isn't how I wanted my day to go."

That's when I noticed a few pairs of handcuffs on the floor. Those hadn't been there before. "Must have fallen when I knocked Shadow down," I thought, picking them up. "I'm not surprised he has these, with all the arrests he's made lately. Those scientists have been up to a lot of trouble, yet he doesn't know that they're behind it."

Gently, I cuffed Shadow's wrists behind his back, then cuffed one of his ankles to the leg of the couch. "I don't think he'll be able to get out of those," I thought, "unless he has the key. I better take that for now." I leaned over to his quills (knowing that's where he stored some of his things when traveling on missions), then blushed. I was so close to him!

"Come on, focus!" I thought. Quickly, I looked through his quills and pulled out the key to the handcuffs. That was easier than I thought. Shadow groaned, adjusting his head. Out of fear, I fell back onto the floor, while my breathing increased. My heart pounded against my chest, and I hid behind the table.

Thankfully he didn't wake up. Slowly, I got up and went to the fridge. I needed something to fill my stomach. Why was that panic response still there? I thought I overcame that! I pulled out an apple, then began to chew on it. Watching Shadow sleep while being this close felt so...unreal. Was I dreaming?

I pinched myself to make sure, then winced. Nope; definitely wasn't dreaming. But Shadow, on the other hand, was dreamy. Everything about him was dreamy. How I wanted to press up against that body, fully envelope myself in that chest fur, sink and drag my hands into those quills...The thought of that gave me shudders.

"No, quit distracting yourself!" I thought, shaking my head. "As attractive as Shadow is, you can't show it when he wake up...and you can't show him your face either." I pulled my hoodie over my face, hiding my face from his view.

That's when Shadow's eyes began to flutter, and he started waking up. He looked around, then looked at me. His expression changed to instant hatred. "Why you-" He tried standing up, but the handcuff on his ankle stopped him. He gasped, then looked for the key in his quills.

"I'm guessing this is what you're looking for, Shadow?" I said, dangling the key in front of me. He growled. "Who are you?!" he yelled. "What are you doing in this warehouse? This place is not meant for the public to see." "I don't care if it isn't meant for the public," I said. "I just want a home where I'm not in the way. That way no one can ruin it ever again. It's happened too much before, and I'm tired of losing it all."

Shadow frowned. "I'm sorry, but you can't just live here. You are trespassing, which could get you arrested. But I can make sure you aren't arrested or charged as long as you pack everything up and head out." I frowned. "I'm sorry, but I think you heard me incorrectly. I'll make it simple for you to understand;

I'm. Not. Going. Anywhere."

He frowned. "You have no idea who you're dealing with, bud," he growled. I chuckled, then got close to his face til our nose were close enough to touch. "No, I don't think you don't know who you're dealing with. You really should be careful, Shadow. I wouldn't want to result to having to knock you out again. I'm not a fan of using violence nowadays."

He looked at me closely, then asked, "Have we met before?" I shrugged. "You could say that. I haven't interacted with you in a long time, though. We're not exactly on positive terms still." I backed away from him and went to the fridge. "You want some food?" I asked. "I have some leftover ramen, some chocolate ice cream..."

Shadow frowned. I sighed. "Listen, you're gonna be here a while, so you might as well get something to eat. I wouldn't want you to starve." He didn't answer, only continued to glare at me. I sighed more heavily. "Look, I don't want you here as much as you don't wanna be in this situation. You've already ruined enough for me as is. Yes, what I did was wrong, but I'm trying to redeem myself. You coming into my life like this now is not something I want. It hurts me too much."

Shadow looked confused. "Who are you?" he demanded. "Reveal yourself now!" I signed. "If you insist," I said. Slowly, I pulled off the hood and locked eye contact with him. Shadow's eyes widened in fear.

"M-Mephiles?!?!"