Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ Shake Me Down ❯ Chapter Nine ( Chapter 9 )

Chapter Nine

Rouge watched as Sonic and Knuckles chased each other through the front door. Both were covered in grass and a bit of mud from rolling around the front yard. Knuckles was in worse shape than Sonic however, due to the multiple face-plants he managed to perform with such grace and magnificence while trying to tackle the blue hedgehog.

As they crossed the threshold, both immediately got bopped on the head by Amy's hammer. "I said ENOUGH guys!"

"Amy! I'm sorry, really! Yell at Knuckles! He's laughing!" Sonic pleaded, rubbing the now even sorer spot on the top of his head. There was already a lump forming from Amy's first swing at him; it would be giant in the morning.

"You started it Sonic!" She then turned towards Knuckles. "And you bud, you better stop trying to hurt my Sonic or else!" She shook her fist at him for emphasis that she meant business.

"Or else what?"

Knuckles looked ready to challenge Amy to a fight. His arms were crossed as he tapped his foot, waiting for her to shut up about him always trying to hurt Sonic, wondering why she was acting like it was something new. They always bickered and fought back and forth back in the day.

"Or else…you won't be invited to the wedding you knucklehead!"

"Hmph, like I care?"

Amy opened her mouth to respond, but before she could get one word out, Knuckles had already crossed the room and entered the kitchen, not wanting anything more to do with the conversation. There was a bottle of jack waiting for him on the kitchen counter. What would a twenty-first birthday be without at least one birthday shot to celebrate?

Meanwhile, Rouge couldn't help but notice her heart once again fluttered at the sight of the red echidna as her eyes followed his back disappear into the kitchen. Now that she had once again kissed him, every passionate encounter they had ever had came crashing back. Every moment she buried in her mind to lessen the pain of his absence was now trying to make itself known. She once again found herself craving his taste, his touch, everything about him, more than ever. However, surprising herself, her heart also yearned for the black hedgehog, who she was starting to fall for before Knuckles was brought back into the picture. He seemed so happy lately, a definite turn around from the angry loner she used to know. He was definitely starting to come out of his shell and was actually pleasant to be around.

She didn't want to be the one to change that.

She turned her head to look at Shadow, but was met with an empty couch cushion and air. He must've gotten up sometime during all that scuffling outside and went somewhere without her noticing.

Suddenly, all that wine and water she drank earlier caught up to her, and she urgently needed to find the bathroom-her bladder was screaming. Once again, while everyone was occupied asking Sonic and Amy questions about when their wedding was going to be, what her ring looked like, etc…Rouge slipped away unnoticed and went upstairs since she already knew where that bathroom was.

After finishing her business, she stood at the sink, drying her hands with a hand towel while looking at herself in the mirror. Slowly, without even realizing she was crying, a tear formed at the inner corner of her eye. She watched it as it trailed down her cheek, falling down to her chin, before it fell into the porcelain sink.

"Oh…chaos," she mumbled as her heart lurched at a sudden realization.

Wiping furiously at her eyes, angry with herself for allowing even just one tear to fall, Rouge stormed out of the bathroom and raced down the stairs, pushing someone out of the way-unseen through blurry eyes, and flew out the kitchen door into the backyard. The moonlight cast a silver blaze onto the ground, causing everything to shine incandescently with a luminescent glow. It was a clear cloudless night, which also meant the stars were out brightening up the night sky as well. However, Rouge needed neither of these to help her see, her night vision was spectacular. She did have to admit it was a beautiful night however.

The white bat walked over to the gazebo in the backyard and sat down heavily; her emotions had finally caught up with her. Three years of repressed tears came crashing forward as she bent over, sobbing into her hands as she realized two things all at once. She badly wanted to be with Knuckles, but that would mean hurting Shadow. It would be so much easier if he was a horrible, bad boyfriend-he was anything but! She had spent a lot of time with him throughout the years, even more so when they started dating and couldn't bear him not being in her life anymore. Could it be…she loved him too?

She cried even harder, not noticing the presence that sat down next to her. A hand was gently placed on her back. She jumped and stared gaped-mouthed at the person who interrupted her emotional breakdown. The moonlight reflected off of red fur, almost making it glow as violet as the curious eyes looking straight at her.

"Are you alright?" a low voice asked, full of concern.

She shook her head no, unable to talk from sobbing; she was having a hard time trying to catch her breath.

"Hey…don't cry." He reached over and wiped a few tears off of her cheek with his thumb.

Rouge looked up at him through tear-flooded eyes while trying to calm her breathing down. When she felt a bit more composed she looked him straight in his violet eyes and asked a question she was afraid of.

"Do you really love me Knuckles? It's been a long time since we've last seen each other…"

Knuckles held her gaze, "Rouge, for the past three years I sat by that emerald hoping you'd ignore what I said to you and show up anyways…stupid of me I know. I shoulda just come down here and found you myself."

Another tear began to fall, but she found herself cracking a small smile.

Knuckles wiped the tear away once again, this time, his hand lingering on her cheek.

"I put my heart on the line, and you broke it. Why would I do it again?" Rouge whispered.

"I promise I would never hurt you again if you gave me a chance." He grasped her hand in his. "Tell me you don't love me and I'll leave you alone for good…."

Rouge leaned in, resting her forehead against his shoulder. "I did, Knuckles, I just need time to think, everything is happening so fast today and my head is spinning so fast it feels like its gonna fall off. I still need to talk to Shadow…I'm not just gonna up and leave him today because you suddenly came back…he had to drag you back here remember?"

"It was only a matter of time before I left that island myself, I was actually contemplating it this morning when I realized I sta…needed supplies."

"That's it?"

He put his arm around her, leaning in and breathing in deeply, "No, I also missed you too damn much."

Rouge shivered and leaned into him for warmth as he held her close. They sat there together under the moonlight for a while, listening to the sounds of the party go on inside. Everyone sounded so happy as they should; it was a joyous occasion. As much as Amy annoyed her, Rouge was glad her and Sonic finally found happiness together as she believed they made a really good couple, balancing each other out.

She looked up at Knuckles suddenly, "Knuckles?"

"Hmm?"

"I…haven't forgotten that night."

He sighed, "I know Rouge, I'll always be sorry for walking away from you."

Rouge looked up at him through half-lidded eyes, "That's not the part I'm talking about."

His eyes widened as his cheeks blazed red. He nervously chuckled. "I definitely haven't forgotten that part either…"

"When we…you know, that night, it didn't feel like just…doing it. There was definitely, something there, whether your Knucklebrain comprehended it or not."

He blushed, "I guess I tried to say with actions more than I could say with words, you know I'm socially stupid sometimes...don't give me that look!"

Rouge's red puffy eyes crinkled up with laughter as she punched the red echidna playfully in the shoulder. She felt better after talking to him, and only talking to him, though the desire to jump him and kiss him senseless was still there.

"Hey, lets go back inside, they have to have noticed we've been gone, we've been out here for about, hmm, a half hour," Rouge spoke while standing up, pulling Knuckles to his feet as well. They walked side by side towards the house, only letting go of each other's hands when they crossed the threshold into the kitchen.

Little did they know, there was a black hedgehog watching them from the upstairs bathroom window, seething as he clenched his fists so tight, his nails cut into his palms, blood running in rivulets down his hands, dripping onto the floor. With a snarl, he slammed the upstairs window shut, the conversation he just heard playing over and over in his head…

_______________________________________

"Bye Amy! Bye Sonic! Congratulations again! See ya later everyone!" Tails and Cream yelled as they walked out the front door. It was 9:15pm. They decided to leave early as Tails had to work in the morning and Cream wanted to spend some time more time with her boyfriend. Tails was at the shop working hard quite a bit these days, and Cream had started working at her mother's newly opened cupcake bakery, "Sugar Mountain." Sometimes it was hard for them to find time to spend together with such conflicting schedules.

"Bye guys! Thanks for coming!" Amy shouted.

"See ya later Tails," Sonic yelled. He knew he had to go help Tails with some work on his Tornado the next morning, though they both knew Sonic was better for moral support than actual work.

"Well, you know where to find me, just drop in, I swear I won't be a slave to the emerald anymore…no, you still can't have it Rouge," the end of a conversation in the kitchen carried over into the living room as Knuckles and Rouge came through the doorway together.

Silver raised his eyebrow at Blaze, confused as to why Knuckles was suddenly being so friendly, especially to Rouge. It was almost unheard of. He took a closer look, why did Rouge seem so comfortable in the red echidna's presence, and why was she looking at him like that? She didn't even look at Shadow like that…come to think of it, he hadn't seen that look on her face since…well, since the last time everyone was together, and that included the knuckleheaded one.

"Oh no…poor Shadow," Blaze gasped out, quietly enough so only Silver could hear.

He looked at his girlfriend and nodded his head in agreement. He suddenly regretted telling Knuckles about Rouge and Shadow's relationship, thinking he may have caused some type of challenge for the red echidna. He especially regretted telling Knuckles about Shadow thinking of proposing soon.

As if he knew he was being talked about, Shadow suddenly appeared in the middle of the living room out of thin air. He tried not to act as though anything was wrong, though it was difficult for him when he had to actually interact with the one who he wanted to chaos blast into outer space at the moment. No one noticed a change in his demeanor though, as they were all used to him frowning and being impassive.

"Chaos control!" he suddenly shouted, holding onto a chaos emerald that materialized in his hand. While the bright light shot forth signaling the teleportation act was beginning, Shadow reached a hand out and touched Knuckle's shoulder. The two disappeared in a flash.

Rouge blinked twice. One moment she was standing there talking to Knuckles, the next Shadow appeared out of nowhere, eyes blazing and disappearing as fast as he dropped in, taking Knuckles with him. She hoped there was no confrontation...though Shadow had murder in his eyes. She recognized that look...

Angel Island

Shadow reappeared directly in front of the master emerald, Knuckles in tow. He was so angry and heartbroken from what he witnessed at the party that he was tempted to smash the glowing green gem and throw the pieces over the edge into the ocean along with shattered pieces of the echidna's skull. His hand twitched, as he had to physically restrain himself from reaching out and chaos-blasting Knuckles into dust.

Knuckles, too startled to even react, stared open-mouthed at the furious hedgehog. He unconsciously clenched his fists, preparing for a fight as Shadow took a step forward, raising his hand and pointing a shaking finger at the red echidna. His body was literally trembling from rage. He raised his other hand and began to slowly slide the rings from his wrist, stopping when they were halfway off his hand.

He opened his mouth to speak but quickly shut it, shaking his head. It wasn't even worth it. Sliding his rings back in place, he turned around. Raising his chaos emerald into the air, he shouted chaos control once more, teleporting himself to a place he went when he needed to think and cool down.

He was feeling quite murderous. His thoughts alternated between chaos-controlling himself back to Angel island to beat Knuckles to a pulp, going to find Rouge and demand answers, and last but not least he was wondering how he, the ultimate life form, became so dependent on another for his own happiness.

Shadow slumped down against a tree, the place he escaped to being a quiet spot in an isolated forest in the middle of nowhere. He pulled his legs up to his chest and rested his chin on his knees, wrapping his arms around his ankles, fingers laced together.

Was there something I never noticed? If she was so unhappy with me why did she even say yes?

His mind drifted back to a happier time, the day she agreed to be his.

Five months ago:

Shadow was sitting in his living room at 2am, idly flipping channels on T.V., a morose mood settling over him. Rouge would not give him an answer. He ground his teeth together and snarled as he passed a channel with a romantic love scene. Maybe it was time to move on and try and find someone else.

Just as he was settling in his chair to watch a gory movie full of guns and slaughter, there was a knock at the front door. Curious as to who it could possible be at such a late hour, Shadow walked over to the door and quickly pulled it open. Rouge was standing there looking lost, biting her bottom lip and wringing her hands together.

"Can I come in?"

Shadow opened the door wider and stepped back, letting her walk across the threshold. She closed the door behind her and leaned back against it, not sure how to proceed.

"Shadow...I," she started, her eyes focused on the floor.

Shadow took a step forward. "I'm up here Rouge."

She looked up into his ruby red eyes. "I...what I mean...that is...what I want to say...aw fuck it."

Rouge suddenly launched herself at Shadow, and kissed him fiercely as his eyes widened to epic proportions and his body froze in disbelief. A few seconds passed and Rouge felt as though she may have done the wrong thing as he had yet to kiss her back. She didn't know that she had shocked him so much, he was stunned, his body not yet catching up with his mind. Right when she was about to pull away she heard, and felt, Shadow groan and wrap his arms around her waist, pulling her in closer and returning the kiss. She immediately melted in his arms, the heat of his body enflaming her own. Absorbed in the kiss, Rouge failed to notice they were moving backwards, and soon found her back pressed against the front door. Shadow's arms released her waist and were placed beside both sides of her head, trapping her in as his body leaned into hers, their chests pressed together. Her body reacted, how did he know she dreamed of being kissed this way? Meanwhile, Shadow's mind was running through a million thoughts at once.

The feel of her lips and her body pressed up against mine feels like heaven. Does this mean she's finally mine? Has she decided? Please don't let this be a dream…I've waited so long.

He broke the kiss and stared, his eyes asking the question he found he could not form with words. Rouge stared back.

"Yes, Shadow, I want to be yours."

An uncontrollable smile broke out on his face. He picked her up and spun her around the room making her shriek in surprise.

"What's going on down there?" Silver emerged at the bottom of the stairs.

Rouge answered, "I told Shadow yes."

Silver rolled his eyes and headed back up the stairs, muttering under his breath, "Finally."

Shadow waited until he heard Silver's door close upstairs before asking the question he was afraid of. If he asked, maybe everything would turn out to be a dream, and he wasn't sure if he could handle this type of illusion. It seemed so real. "Are you really mine?" he asked as he held her close, afraid to let go.

"Do you want me to be?"

Shadow unwrapped his arms from her waist and took a step back. "I think we both know the answer the answer to that. What I want to know is, is this real? Are you sure?"

Rouge couldn't help but roll her eyes as she took a step towards the black hedgehog. His face, normally so guarded and unreadable, was flooded with emotion, especially his eyes. She could see fear, nervousness, hope and...was that love? Maybe she had made Shadow wait a little too long for an answer, but she hadn't been entirely sure if this was what she truly wanted. However, she was sick and tired of being lonely and pining after someone that was unobtainable, and Shadow really was a decent catch so she decided hey, why the hell not. She also was starting to have feelings for him, slowly, but they were there, especially after he helped her through so much over the past year. Also, it didn't hurt that he was really handsome and attractive.

"Yes, handsome, this is real. Now stop looking at me like I'm going to disappear any second and kiss me."

Shadow smirked, "Now that, I can do."

End Flashback:

Maybe I was so shocked that she agreed to be mine that I didn't realize she was hiding something from me. Sure we made out a lot, but she never wanted to go further. How come she was able and willing to do that with him and not me? Now that I think about it, she never seemed as invested in our relationship as I was. And on top of it all, I was thinking of proposing tonight. What a fool I've been.

He glanced at his wristwatch quickly, noting the time. Quickly he stood up, summoned his chaos emerald into his hand, and chaos-controlled himself into Rouge's apartment. They were going to have a conversation tonight whether she wanted to or not.

He deserved answers.

As soon as he arrived in her living room, he noted she was not yet back from the party. His eyes scanned the room, falling upon the numerous pictures she had on top of her fireplace mantle. There were a few of him by himself, as well as a few with him and Rouge. However, there was one picture there that always bothered him. It was a group shot taken about four years ago or so. He walked over and inspected it up close noticing something he never noticed before. Knuckles and Rouge were glaring at each other in the picture; both had a red tint to their cheeks as they leaned in towards each other, oblivious to anything else. Everyone else in the photo was looking at the camera, even himself.

He quickly crossed the room and sat down on her couch, trying to get comfortable while he waited.

He didn't have to wait long.

His ears perked up as he heard a key turning in the front door. She was home. He braced himself for the conversation that was about to occur. If his heart was about to shatter, he wanted to be prepared.

"Shadow!" Rouge gasped out, surprised to see him sitting on her couch. She knew he said they'd talk later, but she didn't expect to see him at her apartment waiting for her. After he had abruptly left the party taking Knuckles with him, Rouge had wandered back into the kitchen and downed a few more glasses of wine. She had a feeling things were about to take a turn for the worse later that night and didn't want to be completely sober for the events.

He patted the empty cushion next to him on the couch, indicating that he wanted her to sit next to him. She approached and sat down slowly. They both sat in silence for a while, neither sure how to begin the conversation. The clock chimed eleven times.

Shadow lifted his head and took a good look at Rouge, her eyes were red and puffy and there were faint tracks of tears on her cheeks. Maybe she wasn't so unaffected as he thought she was. He had only seen her cry once during the entire time he knew her, and that was three years ago.

Hah! Now I know why…

"What's going on Rouge?" he began quietly. He knew she had no clue he saw-and heard, her and Knuckles conversation in the gazebo. He hoped she wouldn't try to keep it from him.

She lifted her head up to look at him, tears once again running down her face, her blue eyes extremely bright. Her state broke his heart, even though it already felt as though it was obliterated into thousands of broken shards.

Sighing, knowing it was impossible for him to not try and comfort her, no matter if it killed him in the process, he opened his arms, "Come here."

She suddenly lunged at him and wrapped her arms around neck, burying her face in his shoulder. He could feel her body convulsing with sobs, and tears soaking his shoulder. He sighed and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close as she wept against him.

"I'm...sorry!" she gasped into his shoulder, unable to say anything else as she found it very difficult to breathe.

He gently rubbed her back, "Shh...calm down Rouge." He could tell she had been hitting the wine some more after he left the party as she could not calm down and was very emotional.

She mumbled something incomprehensible against his shoulder. His ears perked up.

"What, did you say?"

"I said...I love you...Shadow. I'm sorry…I never told you…but I just realized it… myself...tonight," she managed to say.

He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, her words patching up a part of his heart and shattering it again all at once. She never said those words to him before, why did she have to say it tonight and make everything so much harder?

He held her tighter. She was sobbing so hard she didn't notice Shadow's own chest rising and falling unevenly as he tried his hardest to hold back his own tears.

I am Shadow the Hedgehog! The ultimate lifeform! I am strong! I will not cry…

He clenched his eyes shut tightly, no tears escaping. His mind was racing, so many different thoughts coming at him a mile a minute. It felt like the room was spinning, the only thing keeping him grounded was the weight of Rouge in his arms. He wasn't sure how much time had passed as they clung to each other for comfort, but it felt like hours. Her sobbing began to lighten into quiet sniffling as she began to feel heavy against him. She would be falling asleep soon, he knew.

"Knuckles and I have a history…I think…no, I know I still love him," she blurted out against his shoulder.

Shadow bared his teeth and growled, but didn't let go of her. He barely had control of himself at that moment as it was; if he let go he wasn't sure what he would do. Even though he heard the conversation Rouge and Knuckles had, hearing her confess she loved the red demon directly had quite an effect.

"I flirted with Tikal," Shadow found himself saying without his control. He wondered if Rouge would even care. He saw with some satisfaction, a wince crossing her face.

Doesn't feel so good Rouge to be on that side does it?

Rouge looked up at him through red-rimmed puffy eyes. "We're do we go from here?" she questioned.

Shadow loosened his hold on her and sighed. "We'll talk about it in the morning. I think we both need some time to think, plus, you're just about passed out on me. I don't want the wine to speak for you, sleep it off Rouge," he spoke as his eyes and heart grew heavy. Rouge did have quite a comfortable couch in her living room, though it couldn't lift the cold numbness settling in his veins.

She lifted her head slightly to look up at him, his eyes locked onto hers. "Could you…stay? I don't want to be alone tonight."

He knew he should say no, go back to his apartment and compose himself before he had a total meltdown, killing spree, freak out, whatever it was he needed to do to attempt to feel better…he really knew he should say no…

"Yes, Rouge, I'll stay."