(Reader's P.O.V.)

"I love you (Y/N)." Those words echoed in my head in the days that followed. He loves me back? But wait, that meant that day I said I loved him... HE HEARD ME! I'm having a mental panic when the ebony hedgehog approaches me. "Gack!" "Sorry. Did I startle you? Lost in thought again?" "Yes and also yes. You took me by surprise yesterday." "And now you're trying to sort it out in your head. I meant what I said. I love you (Y/N)." There it is again. My heart is practically beating out of my chest and my face feels like it's on fire. "W-well I-I l-love t-too... Shadow..." I must be a freaking tomato. The redness in my face puts Knuckles' fur to shame. I hear a gentle laugh from Shadow as he speaks the next thing sending me into a panic. "Let's go on a date." A DATE?! I think I might faint. "W-where is this coming from? Did Rouge dare you to say that?" "You can just say no if you don't want to." "NO! I-I mean yes... Yes... L-let's go on a date. But I've never been on one before. WAIT! Does this make us boyfriend and girlfriend?" "Only if you want us to be." I actually fall off the couch with that. Shadow as my boyfriend... I'm not dreaming, right? "I'll give you some time to get ready." "Wait you want to have the date right now?" He frowns a little. "I didn't make that clear? I meant I wanted to go on one right now." Is he for real? "Umm... okay... Let me change into something nice real quick." I run into my room and start rummaging through my closet. I don't have many outfits that are modern and the ones that are modern enough are too plain. I finally decide on my old dress. The old (F/C) dress still looked as if it was new. I took good care of that dress, it was always my favorite thing to wear before I became a vampire. I stopped wearing it after I turned. I was always afraid that I would lose control while wearing it and end up ruining it with blood. Not something I want for such a nice dress. I put it on and of course, after all these years it still fits. Not that I've changed since then. I exit my room and I see a small blush creep onto Shadow's face. "You look beautiful..." He takes my hand as we exit the apartment. First stop on our date was to a movie called 'Not so Zombie'. Odd as titles go it was well reviewed. Basically, the story of the movie was about a zombie girl who fell in love with a human boy. Kinda sounds like my life in a way. Except I'm a vampire, not a zombie. We sit in the middle row as the movie begins. As we watched, Shadow intertwined his fingers with mine. When the credits rolled I was happy for the Zombie girl. She found a way to be with the boy she likes even though she's undead. Kinda gives me hope that Shadow and I will work out as a couple. Next stop on our date he booked a nice restaurant for lunch. The place served the best food ever. After lunch, we took a walk in the park. I wonder if he took advice from Rouge before taking me on this date. Everything so far seems like he planned in advance. As if he was confident I'd say yes. "Okay, Shadow. Why did you take me on a date?" "Are you saying I had another motive besides wanting to take you out?" "It's been fun but... I get the feeling there's something else to it." He sighs and pulls me to the bench. Oh boy, this can't be good. He sits there just staring at me with sorrowful eyes as I wait for him to speak. Then I hear a rustling of leaves from the tree behind me and a loud thud. I turn my head to see none other than Mischief with his hood up and covered in tree leaves.