Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ Everlasting Love ❯ Long story ( Chapter 4 )

Don't ask -_-

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"What do you take me for, an idiot?"

- General Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970), when a journalist asked him if he was happy

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It was a few hours later and Shadow felt like he'd been around the world and back. He'd never thought Station Square had a side like the one Haley had showed him. It was constantly busy, and every corner of street was covered in nightclubs, bars, restaurants, and all sorts of other hangouts. It had finally stopped raining, and the two had stopped at a fast food site for a drink.

 

“This city's a lot bigger than I originally thought.”

 

“Yeah, and we've only seen the good half of downtown. Don't think you wanna see the other side though. There ain't any place over there that even knows what the word good means. Except for one little bar over there, best cherry pie you've ever had.”

 

“Seems you know every corner, but one thing still bothers me.” Shadow gave her a quizzical look, “How is it that you work at a club like that, but were out wandering the streets in the middle of a thunderstorm?”

 

She beamed and winked. “I was in it for the big flashes of light.”

 

He rose and eyebrow. “You like lightning?”

 

“What can I say, I'm attracted to power.”

 

Shadow had to stop himself from doing a spit take. Noticing this, Haley giggled and shook her head. She then turned her attention to the window, and noticed a faint sparkle in the middle of the wet street. She narrowed her eyebrows. “What's that?”

 

Before he could ask what she was referring to, she sped out and, not noticing how wet it was, slipped and fell against the pavement.

 

Seeing her fall, Shadow quickly ran out and carefully carried her out of the street. “Are you ok?!”

 

To his surprise, she burst out laughing. “That's like the fifth time that's happened!” She looked down at her leg and squeaked. “Ah! I'm bleeding!” Despite himself, Shadow looked. The cut looked pretty bad, but it was nothing he couldn't fix. “We better get you back.”

 

Her head snapped up to look him in the eye. “What?”

 

Before she could protest, cradled her more firmly in his arms and sped off back to Starlight.

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The door to Starlight's back room creaked open and then creaked shut as a teenage human boy walked in. The boy looked about fifteen, with aqua blue eyes and purple hair, gently spiked at the top and back of his head. Two long, yellow strands, one about half as long as the other, dangled in front of his face. He wore a simple purple T-shirt and purple, yellow-striped sweatpants.

 

The boy sighed and started walking to the room him and his so-called sister Haley shared, and standing outside it, he heard voices. Pressing his ear to the door, he could tell was one of the voices, and the other was one he never heard before. He narrowed his eyes. It was male, that much he was sure of.

 

Turing away from the door, he quickly but silently ran to Schmitty's room.

*****

 

“Thanks Shadow, but you really didn't have to take me back.” Haley said to the hedgehog leaning against the wall while she wrapped her leg.

 

Shadow raised an eyebrow. “I can't tell if that a double-meaning or not.”

 

She winked at him. “Guess you'll never know”

 

At that moment, Schmitty threw the door open, the boy from before right behind him. “Haley, are you…” His head swiveled to Shadow, Haley, her cut, then back to her eyes. “What happened?”

 

Haley crossed her arms. “I fell in another rain gutter,” she said proudly.

 

He groaned and cupped his face in his hands, “Again?” The boy behind him rolled his eyes. “That's like the fifth time that's happened!”

 

“Oh hush Naylon, it's not like you've never done something stupid more than once!” Haley said, smirking. The boy leered at her but made no comment.

 

She finished wrapping her leg and stood up slowly to test it. Shifting her weight a few times, she seemed satisfied and motioned her head towards Shadow. “This is Shadow, he's the one who pulled me from the rain last night.”

 

“Ah, so you're Shadow.” Schmitty gave him a respectful nod. “Sounds like you're a good person to have around.” Shadow gave a half smile but said nothing.

 

Schmitty turned his attention back to Haley again. “Don't worry about dinner tonight, Ankeny's gonna bring take-out.

“Oh, you sure that's ok?”

 

He waved off the comment. “Ah, don't worry about it. C'mon Nay.”

 

“But-

 

“Now.”

 

Naylon quickly shut up and followed. Shadow watched them leave and turned his head to Haley. “Are those your brothers?”

 

“Not biologically no. Schmitty's more like a cool college roommate, Naylon's the closest to being my brother, Ankeny's more like a parent, he found me, and Diamantine, you haven't met him, he's like a long lost cousin or something.”

 

“Wait, found you? What do you mean?”

 

She sighed. “Long story, but I might as well tell you.” She lay down on the bed again. “When I was twelve years old, my mother died. It was rough for a few months, but I got through it. My father never did though.”

 

She changed positions, leaning on the headboard and pulling her knees to her chest and embracing them. “Just after my fifteenth birthday, my sister left for college. That's when it all went bad.” Shadow noticed her eyebrows narrow slightly. “When she left my dad started getting drunk again. There were times I was scared to come home.”

 

Her eyes slid shut. “One night, I stopped to chat with one of my friends and stayed out longer than I thought. I came home and went to go to my room, but Dad stopped me at the stairwell. He'd been drinking of course and I tried to sneak by him, but he pulled back and smacked me across the face.”

 

Shadow's eyes widened than narrowed as she fought back tears. “No one in my family had ever hit me. After that, I had it. I was done. It wasn't worth it anymore. I wanted to just go throw myself into the middle of a highway. But, something inside me knew there was something better than this. So I ran to the city.” She chuckled. “The ironic thing is, I ran to that same alleyway that you found me in. That's where Ankeny found me and took me here.”

 

She smiled, and he couldn't tell if it was sad or hopeful. “I've been here ever since.”

 

For a moment, all Shadow could do was stare at her. “Wow,” he finally managed to utter as his eyes unknowingly narrowed again.

 

“What about you?” she asked, eyes and voice full of concern. “I see pain in your eyes too.”

 

He sighed. “It's just……..this girl. She's a lot different…….from who I thought she was.”

 

Haley cocked her head sideways. “You wanna tell me about her?”

 

“I suppose it's only fair.” Shadow got on the bed now, on his back at the opposite end of Haley.

 

“She was a bat,” he said despairingly, his voice barely above a whisper. “Her name was Rouge.”

 

 

 

 

 

*******

 

TO BE CONTINUED!!!!

 

-_- ugh, took too long on this one. For those who didn't check the prologue or summery again (or those who don't want to), I'm not splitting it into parts anymore. I think it'll flow ok. Shadouge fans don't hit me!