¿Him or Her? {Sonadow}

Chapter Twenty-nine

__Shadow went straight into his bedroom after coming back from Sonic's house. He placed the cracked phone on his nightstand and plugged its charger in the outlet. He then sat down on the bed and sighed. He could easily send that footage to the police, but he and Sonic were finally going to do something together. He wasn't going to act right now.
__"Chow! Chow!" Navi had flown over to Shadow and hugged him. Something had caught her attention as she began smelling Shadow and looked up at him in confusion.
__"Saw Milo today," Shadow muttered. He then watched as Navi flew over to his dresser and opened the bottom drawer. Inside his clothes had been moved and in the center of them was a chao egg. Shadow had perked his ears and groaned. "Navi, you didn't." He said in disbelief.
__Navi looked down in shame before she went in the drawer and pressed her cheek on the egg. "Choo..."
__Shadow groaned again as he grabbed the phone. His memory card had all his contacts saved into it, so all he had to do was put it another phone card. Luckily, he already had a spare in one of the drawers; it would just have a different phone number. He popped out the back of the phone, pulled out the battery, and put the phone card in the slot. After putting the phone back together and making sure he had all his contacts, he reluctantly texted Sonic. All he said was, You probably don't want to hear from me right now, but Navi has laid Milo's egg. He then plugged the charger in the phone and laid himself down on the bed.

__The next day Shadow was on his way to Sonic's house. He was walking through the woods and could sense all the animals staring at him. He tried to ignore them, but something about them made him stop to look at them. All the birds and squirrels were sitting in the trees, the rabbits and hedgehogs were sticking their heads out from under the bushes, and the deer were standing close while tilting their heads and flicking their ears. Shadow looked them over with reflecting curiosity. "Why are you staring at me? He murmured.
__The animals continued to stare and tilt their heads. Shadow had enough and continued walking. Some of the animals slowly followed him until he left the woods. He turned to look and saw that they were heading back to where they came from. He snorted before continuing again.
__Before he left the house, Sonic had texted him saying that his door would already be open and that Shadow was free to walk in, so he did just that. He found the same reluctance from yestderday as he opened the door. He slowly walked in and saw that Sonic was sitting on the couch while talking on the phone. When he saw Shadow he tried ending his phone call.
__"Hey, I gotta go now. Bye." He quickly hung up and set the phone down. He stood up and crossed his arms as he looked at Shadow with his eyes narrowed. "You didn't send the video to the police, did you?"
__Shadow shook his head. "I wanted to hear what you had to say."
__Sonic nodded and looked away. "Yeah. I want a good plan figured out before you do that." He then sighed as he eyed Shadow. "You said you were going to prove to me what you really want, but what exactly is that?"
__Shadow's head sunk to his shoulders as he flattened his ears. "Can't you figure it out without me saying it?" He asked carefully.
__"Sure, but what good is that?" Sonic questioned. "You told me what we had was perfect. When I asked you before if you loved me you said yes, but you never actually said it." He was looking at Shadow with a mixture of pain and annoyance.
__Shadow reflected that emotion as he looked away. "To be fair, you never told me that either," he muttered.
__Sonic's face had softened. He took a step back and looked away as well. "Okay, you got me there. But you get what I'm saying, right?"
__Shadow slowly nodded. He didn't want to talk about this now. He just wanted to have a set plan to deal with Dr. Eggman and Nate before they talked about this. But Shadow had no control over this. All he could do was listen and answer. He was more worried about his answers, though.
__Something changed in Sonic as he uncrossed his arms and looked at Shadow. "Look, I had no right telling you that you had to choose. I don't exactly know what you're going through, but I have a slight understanding. I just want you to be forward with me for once. What exactly are you going through?"
__Shadow sighed as he tried to figure out a response. He did tell Rouge and E-123 Omega about this, but telling Sonic would be more difficult. At least he could finally tell him now. "I had started comparing your lectures with the ones Maria used to give me," he explained. "I noticed how before I acted aggressive against you while it was the opposite for Maria. It confused me. Each time I made you upset, I hated it." Shadow noticed how Sonic looked at him and continued. "I didn't like how I was treating you when you were acting like her. When we got together, the haunting memories of Maria's death worsened. You noticed, yet I continuously kept you away from it. I was tired of it.
__"I didn't want to deal with my old memories. I tried pushing them away. It does sound like I was using you as a distraction, but that's not it. I wanted to be with you so I could feel something instead of fear and loneliness. I never want to feel that way."
__Sonic was quiet for a bit. He had hesitated before he walked over to Shadow a put a hand on his shoulder. Shadow looked as a small grin appeared on Sonic's muzzle. "That's what you're afraid of? Shadow, you can't hide from these emotions and feelings."
__"I must," Shadow insisted. "They're what's keeping me from moving on. I don't like them."
__Sonic giggled softly as his smile grew bigger. "Rainbows won't light up the sky unless you let it rain. The rain may seem dark, gloomy, and unpleasant, but good things come from it. There's always a bright side to feeling afraid and lonely."
__Shadow tilted his head a bit. "And what's that?"
__"It's shows you're a person. Plus, those feelings sometimes attract help from others."
__Shadow felt his heart beating faster as his face grew warm. He hadn't felt this way in a while. He was happy it came back. Now all he felt was guilt as he shut his eyes and let himself press his forehead against Sonic's. "I'm sorry."
__Sonic had brought up his other hand and used it to rub Shadow's back. "All I wanted was for you to share this with me. I know you weren't comfortable with it before." He lightly chuckled. "But how did you expect any of that to resolve without the help of people who care about you?"
__Shadow managed to let out a titter and he slowly wrapped his arms around Sonic. "There's no end to your lectures."
__Sonic then pulled his head. "All right, this is sweet and all, but we're here on business."
__The warm feeling went away in an instant. Shadow was disappointed, but he knew they had priorities to take care of first. His proclamation of love would have to wait until Nate and Dr. Eggman were taken down.