Fixing My Broken Heart

Chapter 5 - Third Person POV

Ten minutes later...

"And here we are," Shadow said, unlocking the door to his apartment. "It's not a very big place, but it should do for us since we're, uh...living together." Mephiles walked into the apartment in awe. How furnished it was. His place back in the warehouse could never compare to this! It was all so amazing!

"You go ahead and look around while I go take care of something," Shadow said, closing the front door behind him. "There's no telling how long you'll be here, so go ahead and make yourself at home." Mephiles felt his heart skip a beat. Shadow was allowing this place to be his home! How kind of him!

As Shadow walked into his bedroom, a white mainecoon walked up to Mephiles and purred against his leg. He looked down at her, then got down to the large cat's level. "Why, hello there," he said, rubbing her ears. "Do you belong to Shadow?" The cat meowed in response, pressing herself against Mephiles more. He smiled. "Aren't you sweet?" He said, picking her up. "Oof, you're a bit heavy, too. No offense."

She meowed, slightly annoyed, then jumped down and went to the couch. Mephiles smiled, then looked through the kitchen. The counters were so clean that they shined, and there were so many cupboards. It was so much better than what he has at the warehouse. All his kitchen was was a fridge, along with the table.

As Mephiles was opening every cupboard, Shadow walked back into the room. "Alright, so they'll be taking that stuff to a landfill in the morning. I told them it was a homeless person living there and-what are you doing?" Mephiles turned around in shock, slamming all the cupboard doors at once with a snap. "They're gonna take my stuff to a landfill?! Why would you tell them to do that?"

Shadow tilted his head in confusion. "Mephiles, most of that stuff there is old. No one's gonna buy it. I'm surprised how that refrigerator was running with the condition it was in. Besides, you're living with me now, so there's no point in bringing it here. You have to let it all go."

Mephiles pouted, pulling the hoodie over his head. Shadow's heart ached with guilt. Why did he feel this way towards this freak? "Look, your room is just right next to mine, and we share a bathroom. There's a pair of clothes you can change into, along with a few more in the dresser. And take a shower, please. You've been living out there for who knows how long, and it's best if you clean yourself up."

Mephiles nodded, then headed to the guest room. It was...nice. Much better than what he had before. The room had grey walls, with a small window across the bedroom door. The bed was also grey, with a few blankets as well. "It's not that bad," he thought. "Not exactly what I was dreaming of, but it'll do. I can always redecorate later."

On the bed was a plain white tanktop, along with a pair of camo sweatpants. Now thinking about it, all Mephiles had worn over the past few years was just the hoodie and a pair of jeans, along with the hover shoe he cloned after Shadow. He was also practically a lookalike of Shadow.

"Perhaps it's time to change that," he thought, walking into the bathroom and locking both doors. During his stay on Mobuis, he had become more and more like a Mobian and less and less of a shadowy creature. He felt more alive and like an individual than before. Perhaps it was something that Ibilis did to him after their combining of their bodies.

Mephiles turned the water to warm in the shower, and set his new clothes aside. As he was taking off his old clothes, he looked into the mirror above the sink. The reflection of himself stared back at him, with his sad expression. What if this was all a trap? What if Shadow was waiting for the perfect moment to-

"No, stop it, Mephiles!" he mumbled under his breath. "That's not what he's planning! He truly wants to help you. Get over yourself." He took one last long look at himself in the mirror, then jumped into the shower.

Meanwhile, in the living room, Shadow was having a small panic attack. "Chaos, what have I done?!" he whispered to River. "I've let a villain enter my house to do what he pleases. Do I have a death wish? What is going on with me? Why am I acting this way?!"

River meowed, pressing herself against Shadow's chestfur. The hedgehog sighed, rubbing her ears. "You're right. I just...need to relax. He can't do anything here. Like he said, he's practically powerless! He can't harm anyone, even if he wanted to...Does he even want to harm anyone?"

That's when, his phone ran from his pocket. He pulled it out and saw it was Vanilla. "Hi, Vanilla. Do you need me to babysit Cream and Cheese for you today?" "Please?" she asked. "I'm in the car heading to your place right now. I know  it's your day off, and I should be letting you relax, but I have some errands to run, and I doubt Cream would want to tag along all day, and Cheese wouldn't be exactly patient. I can pay you-"

"Vanilla, you don't have to worry about paying me or bothering me," he chuckled. "I'm Cream's friend, as well as her babysitter. I wouldn't charge you anything. She can stay as long as you need her to." He heard a sigh of relief from the other side. "Oh thank you, Shadow. This means so much to me. I should be arriving with Cream and Cheese soon. Take care, sweetheart." He smiled. Sweetheart. Only Vanilla called him that, and he knew she cared about him deeply. Cream practically was his little sister, while Vanilla acted like a mother to him.

Mephiles walked in the room just as Shadow hung up and asked, "Who was that?" Shadow turned around to say something, then blushed. The sweatpants were a bit baggy on him, while the tank top still allowed his muscular abs and the weird box machine on his chest to be seen. The biggest changes however were that he now had a mouth, and that his teal-striped quills were now in braided and in a downward ponytail.

Shadow's heart pounded in his chest, and he couldn't stop gazing at him. Mephiles looked at Shadow in confusion. "You okay?" he asked. "You look like you have a fever. Your cheeks are all red." Shadow felt his cheeks, and quickly covered them. "Look, there's gonna be someone over soon, and she and her Chao are gonna be here all day. Can you lay low until she leaves?"

Mephiles sighed. "Yeah, sure I can." "I'm not even here for one day yet and I already have to hide?" he thought. "So not fair."