¿Him or Her? {Sonadow}

Chapter Twelve

__The next morning, Shadow had called headquarters and said he was sick. It was a lie, but the person on the line didn't ask questions. Shadow was too upset to leave the house today. After what happened with Sonic and Rouge yesterday, he was too overwhelmed. He didn't understand why, but the look on Sonic's face was bothering him. He didn't realize until today that he told Sonic he hated him. He didn't even mean it. He figured now that Sonic was right. He let his anger take control. But even if Sonic was right, Shadow still didn't want any of his lectures.
__Shadow had locked himself and Navi in his bedroom. He was sitting in the corner of his room while hugging the framed photo to his chest. He continued to compare Maria with Sonic. They acted the same towards him. The way they tried teaching him and expressing that they care for him was exactly the same, but how he reacted to them was different. He always yelled at Sonic while taking his teachings from Maria almost immediately. He didn't understand why he treated Sonic like that but never Maria. Perhaps it's just natural. Shadow figured. I was made for Maria after all. But she's gone. There's no one I'm meant for now.
__Shadow's ears twitched when he heard his phone go off once again. He had been receiving text messages and calls but never answered them, not even checking them. Navi would go to the phone each time it went off and look at Shadow in confusion before flying away from it in defeat. She didn't try to comfort Shadow this time. She just sat on the bed, looking lonely as she stared at Shadow.
__There were faint knocking coming from the front door, but Shadow ignored them. After a few minutes, there was loud knocking coming from his window. He barely looked at it, but he couldn't see who was there since the blinds were still down. Navi did fly over and carefully peaked through the blinds. She let out a happy cheer as she pulled the blinds up, revealing Rouge standing behind the window.
__"No," Shadow said, but Navi had opened the window anyway. Once Rouge climbed inside, Navi had hugged Rouge as she continued cheering. While they were distracted, Shadow put the photo behind him to hide it.
__Rouge gently moved Navi aside before walking over to Shadow and sitting down in front of him. "Hey."
__Shadow just snorted. "Isn't your wing still hurting? Why'd you come up the second floor?"
__"I didn't fly," Rouge informed calmly. "I climbed." She then turned to show Shadow her back. There was a small cast where the wing started on her back and bandages wrapped around it and her back. "It doesn't really hurt. Only if I move it too much." She then turned to face him again. "What's going on? Omega and I were waiting for you at the cafe and you didn't answer the phone. When we went to H.Q., the others told us you were sick. But I figured that wasn't true since you don't usually get sick."
__"I just need to be alone," Shadow groaned. He then brought his knees to his chest and hugged them.
__"That bad, huh?" Rouge sighed and put a hand on Shadow's shoulder, which made him jump. "I didn't mean to get so mad at you. I understand how you behave with things better than anyone right now. I just don't like seeing Sonic upset."
__"And you think I care right now?" Shadow didn't mean to say that. It just slipped out of his mouth by instinct.
__"Shadow, you've gone through a lot, but so has Sonic." Rouge grabbed both of Shadow's hands, which made him look at her. "I've heard stories about how he broke down when his uncle and father turned into robots, when he and Sally broke up, when his childhood friend Tommy died, and when he found out Fiona was cheating on him with Scourge. But I was there when Shadow the Hedgehog died." Shadow perked his ears and Rouge continued. "I saw him holding his ring after he came back into the ark. That was the first time I have ever seen him cry, and I didn't like it."
__Shadow blinked in confusion before looking down at their hands. Sonic cried because of his death? Even if it wasn't him that died, it was still Shadow. He had all his memories, including the day the original Shadow died.
__"Look, I know you don't like taking other people's advice, especially from Sonic," Rouge began. "But know you're not the only one who's gone through pain and suffering. Sonic just doesn't want you to end up like him."
__Shadow looked up. "Like him?"
__Rouge nodded. "Several years ago, Sonic did let his anger get the best of him. Eggman was the main cause, of course, but there was girl trouble, too. He would sometimes get in fights with his friends because of this. Now that he's older, he realizes what he did and regrets it." She then sighed before she continued. "He sees you as more than a rival. In his eyes, you're one of his best friends. How do you see him?"
__Shadow flattened his ears and looked away as he pulled his hands out of Rouge's. "I don't know."
__"Do you really hate him?" Shadow sighed and shook his head. This made Rouge smile. "You should apologize to him when you're ready to do so."
__"Why did you leave H.Q. just to come here?"
__"Because I care!" Rouge said brightly. She then smiled awkwardly and looked away. "And because Nate said I needed to rest my wing until I can fly again."
__"Nate," Shadow looked back at Rouge. "Did you manage to find anything while I was gone?"
__"Not yet. He almost never leaves his office. Once my wing is better, I'm gonna have Omega try to distract him so I can get in. I already have Tails's hack-proof flash drive." Shadow nodded and hugged his knees again. "Aw! I've never seen you this upset," She humorously said.
__"I'm not upset!" Shadow said promptly. Rouge giggled and hugged Shadow, causing him to straighten out his legs so she could hug him properly.
__"Shadow, you know you're my best friend, right?" Shadow closed his eyes and hugged her back. This was the first he had ever hugged Rouge. It felt nice. There was some kind of sensation that was familiar to Shadow. Maria gave me hugs just like this. Does every hug feel like this?
__He thought back to when he was trying to make Sonic happy the other day. Even if he was playing the part of someone else, he preferred seeing Sonic smile than frown. It was more natural for Sonic to be filled with joy. He then began to wonder what a hug from Sonic would feel like. Him grabbing Shadow from behind wasn't the right one. He decided he would apologize to Sonic tonight and allow whatever would happen to come. If Maria can apologize to Professor Gerald after an argument, then I can apologize to Sonic.