~Măśķěđ~

~17~

Sonic threw himself onto the couch, the twin-tailed fox seemingly never tired. He yawned loudly and relinquished himself of the seemingly chocking fersaud he was unfortunatley stupid enough to think of. He closed his eyes in contempt and sighed. Hurried steps approached from infront. The golden hedgehog opened an eye, seeing Shadow approaching very swiftly. Before he could even process what was happening, he was hauled up by the arm and being dragged upstairs. "I'll help him get out of all of... this." Shadow told the other two confused hedgehogs. Before Sonic could protest, Shadow yanked his arm roughly, silencing him with a yelp, and dragged him upstairs to the confines of his room.

In his short time to think, Sonic couldn't deduct what he had done wrong. Was Shadow going to kill him? Had he changed his mind? So many questions and anxieties plauged the hedgehog's mind, forming a wailing storm he couldn't shut out. His own thoughts were suffocating him. He nipped at his shaky hand, the glove lessening the pain, and wearily looked at Shadow as he surveyed the surrounding area, ensuring he closed the door.

Shadow looked at Sonic, his expression softening. "I'm not going to hurt you." He reassured as he maintained his distance. His words did slightly put Sonic at ease, but it was very easy to lie; Sonic himself had lied to an entire village.

"Someone approached us today." Shadow explained. Sonic felt his muscles tense as he stared at Shadow intently, watching the hedgehog for even the slightest of movements. "He claimed to be your brother." Shadow added after, seemingly, an eternity of silence. Sonic remained tense, his stomach dropping as a strange queasy feeling bubbled in the bottom of his throat. "Was he green?" He asked swiftly. Shadow nodded "He had a weird fringe and pink eyes." He added.

It had to be Manic. If Manic were in the village somewhere, Sonia had to have been too. Hope filled Sonic, however it soon came crashing down as he thought things through more thoroughly; Sonic had practically stolen his sister's identity. He could be arrested - or even worse Sonia herself gets the wrong idea. He had thought of nothing more than being able to see his siblings again and yet now the moment was more than just a distant, almost impossible wish, Sonic shook thinking of taking it. What if he lost them all over again?

"Did he mention our sister?" He reluctantly asked the shorter male. The other looked away for a moment in thought before looking back at Sonic and nodding. "I believe so." Sonic froze. "I can't go see them." He muttered. Shadow looked at the taller male in confusion. "I've stolen my sisters name- her voice- what if she gets the wrong idea?" He panicked, pulling at his quills and disturbing the golden dust.

Shadow approached and held Sonic's wrists, lowering them down gently. "I'm sure she will understand, it sounds to me as though you are all in the same situation." He reassured. Sonic felt his breathing steady slightly. "Besides, she should cherish the fact she has siblings." The ebony hedgehog added in a somewhat bitter tone.

Sonic looked down at Shadow curiously. Shadow noticed, retracting his hands from Sonic's wrists and stepping away. "You alright?" Sonic asked, slightly breathless as he calmed. Shadow looked away solemnly. "Just thought of something."

Sonic hummed and walked over to his bed, sitting on it and patting the space next to him. Reluctantly, Shadow approached and sat down, ensuring he was some sort of distance away. "Wanna talk about it?" He asked. Shadow thought for a moment or two, this clearly was important to Shadow. "Mephiles and I once had a sister." He admitted. "She was always happy, caring..." he winced, pausing for a moment. Sonic waited patiently - he didn't know what Shadow was going to say, yet knew he hadn't experienced such a thing in his lifetime. He also felt as though he understood the pain Shadow was withholding, it was so evident within his ruby eyes, almost a tangible object.

"She was very ill, nobody knew what was wrong with her..." he sucked in a breath as he held back tears. "She was supposed to go overseas for a cure, but she never made it." Sonic's heart shattered. He could do nothing but stare at Shadow, picking up on every hint of anguish and agony ensuing within the other's mind. The taller male engulfed Shadow in a hug, the sheer force sending Shadow tumbling onto his back with Sonic hugging him from above,.

"I'm so sorry that happened to you..." He murmured delicatley. "I can't imagine what that must have been like - are you okay?" He could hear the concern within his own tone, debating whether or not to look at the trembling male beneath him. "Yeah..." Shadow sniffled. "It happened a while ago." His voice trailed off. "You know you can trust me with anything... right?" Sonic asked, laying his head on Shadow's shoulder. Shadow agreed.

The two remained silent for awhile, staying completely still. Sonic could hear Shadow's heartbeat, it was rapid - as if he were panicking - and he felt quite warm. Shadow was suprisingly calm externally however; his chest raised and lowered at a steady pace and he wasn't shaking in the slightest. Sonic almost felt soothed, moving his head further into the crook of Shadow's neck and closing his eyes, taking in the moment. A hesitant hand began to brush through Sonic's quills, further soothing him.

"Y'know..." Sonic began. "I've never felt this close to someone." He told the ebony hedgehog beneath him. "Agreed." Shadow replied, his voice strained slightly despite being soft in tone. Sonic pulled himself up and looked at Shadow's face. His muzzle had a pink tint to it and his eyes looked away reluctantly. Sonic couldn't help but smile to himself.

He'd felt some weird draw towards Shadow since their first meeting, and yet a month or so later he could finally place it. He liked Shadow - liked as in he was willing to throw his life away for him. Liked as in it was taking every fibre of his being to not lean down and kiss Shadow. Sonic couldn't help but find it tragic he had only realised at that moment.

Sonic opened his mouth, perplexed as to what to say to the shorter male. He didn't know if it would even have been okay to say he liked him - Shadow had never mentioned he liked males, not to mention the fact that they had known eachother for just over a month at that point. His emotions were feeling rather ebrupt - as were how he viewed the entire situation. Perhaps it was better he didn't say anything, the last thing he wanted was to ruin something that hadn't even started.

Sonic immediatley retconned his train of thought when Shadow's eyes met his once more. Something about them made him rebuke almost all of his self control. Before either of the two hedgehogs could process what was happening, Sonic leaned forwards and smashed his lips against Shadow's. It was safe to say, he had either ruined something or created something.

A/N:
A kiss after 17 chapters and a cliffhanger :))))) 
I look forward to your annoyance <3