[SHADOW]

"CHAOS CONTROL!"

The depressing view of my house, now in tatters, dissolved into bright light as we broke through the boundaries of space and time. Moments later Sonic's vibrantly decorated lounge room started to materialise around us and we collapsed in a tangled mess on the floor.

"Oooooff!" I exclaimed as I crashed down on a bright green rug. All of the air was knocked out of my lungs. I felt completely drained. My body was too weak to even stand up. All I could do was lay on my back and look up at the garishly painted, yellow ceiling, my legs awkwardly entwined with Sonic's.

I knew it was dangerous for me to use Chaos Control when my energy was so low, but I had no other choice. In my condition, it would have been impossible for the both of us to travel all the way to mine by foot. But that really took it out of me.

Sonic untangled himself and stood up. "Gee Shads, I gotta give it to ya. I didn't think you'd be able to pull that off in your state! You're either tougher than you look or your just too stubborn to ever fail!" he laughed.

I glared at him and thought about how I consider 'trying to kill myself and not succeeding' counts as a fail. I wanted to tell him to shut up but instead only a small growl escaped my throat. I was struggling to get my words out.

What happened next took me by complete surprise.

Sonic reached down and put his arms around me. With a loud groan he scooped up my body and placed me over his shoulder. Wow, he's strong...

"Arrrhhh," a small noise slipped out of my mouth as my aching limbs were hauled up against their will. It hurt a lot and I felt ridiculous being carried like a child. "Stop..." was all I could manage to say.

"Don't worry buddy, I'm just gonna show you your room!" he said cheerfully.

My room? It started to sink in that I was going to be staying in Sonic's house.

"What you didn't think you'd be sleeping in my bed did you?" He teased when he sensed my confusion. His joyful tone of voice irritated me. I can't stand the way he's always joking around, avoiding ever having to be serious.

As if nothing ever happened...

With minimal effort he walked with me out of the lounge room and down a corridor, where there was a small room on the left at the very end.

I couldn't help but notice how untidy Sonic's house was. It wasn't dirty as such, but there were scattered belongings everywhere; shoes, socks, computer games, a beach ball and towel, musical instruments... I could go on. In fact, his space kind of looked like how I imagined the inside of his brain to be. Chaotic. His mind must travel at the speed of sound just like his legs do.

The place didn't smell too bad though. In fact it had quite a pleasing citrusy smell. Yes, it smelt like lemon.

Another thing that stood out to me was almost all of the furniture was blue. Light blue chairs, dark blue table. Even the curtains and couches were various shades of blue. I guess it's his favourite colour or something. It completely clashed with the brightly decorated walls and floor, in some tastelessly cheerful, interior design disaster.

Normally so many colours and that amount of blue would have disgusted me, but I still couldn't shake that vision of our blue, black and red coats merging so pleasurably...

Hmmm I still can't believe that he didn't feel something too...

"Ugghh here you go bud!" Sonic said, softly placing me down on the bed that was already made up in his spare room. The room was warmer than the rest of the house. It had a huge window reaching almost the whole way to the ceiling from the floor. Through it I had the perfect view of the sun setting over the sea of the Emerald Coast.

As he pulled his body away from mine our eyes met for a moment and he froze. There was an intense tension lingering in the air. Neither of us said anything. The energy in the room started to spin. I could feel a warmth in my body again, this time circling around my stomach and groin area.

I don't know what was going through Sonic's mind at this point but he was starting to blush and quickly broke the gaze and looked away.

The electricity that was surging between us suddenly deflated like air being let out of a balloon. Disappointment struck me again. I was left feeling more exhausted than ever.

I've had enough of these strange emotions. I don't want to think or feel any more.

I need to sleep.

[SONIC]

I glanced down at Shadow sleeping peacefully on the bed. He looked different when he was asleep. With no guard up, he looked... innocent. Like I could finally see the true him that was behind his angry mask. My heart had this weird feeling in it. It kinda felt like it was opening up, like how a flower opens every morning to the sun. It felt good. I realised that my pulse was racing really fast. When I look into Shadow's eyes... they're just so... deep. Like they hold all the secrets of the universe. There's something familiar about him, like I've known him forever... At the same time I feel like I don't really know him at all.

I've got to stop this!

My mind was racing, flipping between desire and denial.

I feel so conflicted. I can't hold his gaze for too long because I feel shy. Me, shy! I've never been shy in all my life!

I keep making jokes in front of him to hide my feelings, which probably pisses him off.

But I don't understand what's happening to me. Am I really falling this hard for him?

"Shadow what are you doing to me?!"

I looked down at his muscular body and took in every detail... his stunning black and red quills, his strong arms and chest, his powerful legs, his face... I'd never realised how good looking he was before. In fact he was absolutely gorgeous. The fact that his fur was still sticky and sweaty from the incident didn't matter. In this moment I couldn't see a single flaw.

I could have stayed there watching him forever but my mind started getting the better of me. What would he think if he knew I was watching him sleep? He would get angry for sure and think I was a creep.

It still feels weird being this close to him. Heck, I can't believe Shadow actually agreed to come to my house!

I suddenly felt really self conscious and became aware that he'd probably be judging the mess in my home. He was anal about cleaning. Hmmm anal... My mind started wandering to places it had never been before.

Stop!!

I have to get my mind off him.

I should probably clean up my house so he doesn't think I'm a slob. Whizzing around the house as fast as I could, I picked up every single item off the floor and either shoved it in the cupboard or put it back in its place. It felt good to be distracted.

My tummy grumbled hungrily. That's it! I'll make some delicious food for us. I ran to my kitchen and opened all the cupboards, looking for some inspiration.

Hmm... Well there's really only one thing I feel like eating!

I rushed around the kitchen grabbing chilli flakes, spices and all the other ingredients to make the best chilidogs ever. I then went to the fridge and took out some mince and sausages and got a pan ready on the stove to start cooking.

My thoughts drifted back to everything that happened at Shadow's house. How good it felt to lay next to him and stroke his luscious fur. Feeling his warmth and his hot breath on my cheek. That exhilarating sensation when my nose brushed tenderly against his...

I could feel myself blushing. I had to admit it. I was in deep.

Oh chaos, what's happening to me? I rubbed the back of my neck feeling flustered.

I was then pulled into the memory of what happened just before we left his place.

Sitting in the circle with Rouge and Knuckles, I was facing Shadow. He had his head in his hands. We were trying to convince him that we cared. I think we got through to him because eventually he stopped arguing with us. He just looked at us silently, one by one. First Knuckles, then Rouge and finally me.

When Shadow's eyes met mine we immediately became locked in a trance. As moments passed I started to feel an intense energy between us. It felt like I was looking into my own eyes. For a second I felt like I was him and he was me. We were one.

The feeling was too strong for me to handle. How was he doing this? I got nervous and pulled myself out of the gaze. This seemed to shake him out of the trance too.

I quickly deflected any attention away from myself by asking if he was ok.

"You ok there buddy?"

He tried to say something back to me but fumbled his words and gave up.

Fuck I blew it again.

I noticed Rouge and Knuckles were staring at us, especially Rouge. She was giving Shadow a real funny look. I hoped they couldn't tell what was going on.

What have I've gotten myself into?

I can't stop thinking about him. He's in my mind. He's in my soul. He's running through my veins like blood.

I know he feels it too. He has to feel it too.

Shadow... do you feel it too?