*Shadow's POV*
Sonic stood up in a rush, but he didn't go after him. He held his own hand and then sat back down looking defeated and hurt as he hung his head low and kept his ears pinned. He placed his elbows on his knees and covered his face.

"What did he mean by that?" Rouge asked, confused. "What's going on?" She looked at me for an explanation.

I remained quiet, knowing it wasn't my secret to share. I got closer to Sonic and rubbed his back. He finally looked up and sighed.

"I guess I should explain." Sonic finally spoke as he sat back up and held my hand. Squeezing it slightly as he told Rouge what had happened.

"You two really are meant for each other then." Rouge covered her mouth as she let out a small quiet laugh. "Are you okay?"

"I was scared at first. Shocked. Stressed. Many emotions. But I accepted it. There was nothing that could be done anyway." Sonic nodded and stood up. "Will you be staying here again?"

"No. I need to go back home and check on my salon. You can pass me Silver's and Blaze's number, and I'll get them to come over soon so we can all meet up." She walked to the door. "I'll see you again soon. This time, for sure." She left.

"I don't know if I can text them. Maybe I should wait until later." Sonic said as he started pacing around the room again. I rolled my eyes at that and walked to him, then grabbed his shoulders and made him look at me.

I just wanted to kiss him, but I kept holding back. I didn't want to scare him off. We just started dating, and I was staying at his house already. Being around each other all day every day felt a bit strange but not in a bad way. At least not for me. I hope he felt the same.

"Why don't you try teaching me your games again?" I offered, I wanted to learn, but I also hated the darn thing. But I knew it would help keep Sonic distracted.

"Really? Sure." Sonic smiled when I nodded and held my hand, then walked with me back to the couch, but before we could sit down, there was banging at the door.

*Sonic's POV *
"Lucy?" I said once I opened the door and saw her bent down holding her knees while she tried to catch her breath. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"Your friend. Ms. Rose. She's - " She got up and took in a deep breath. "She's at my café looking for a job." My ears went up then smiled at Lucy, knowing her well. I grabbed her hand , guided her to the couch, and then helped her sit down. Shadow came to us with a cup of water and handed it to her. "I had to come. You weren't answering my calls. I needed to know how you were even feeling about a situation like this. She's good but I won't hire her if you don't want me to."

"Thank you, Lucy. Sorry for putting you on the spot, but you can hire her if you want. I was actually trying to contact her. Do you mind if I go back with you? It's late. Did you really run out here all by yourself."

"Huh?" She tilted her head confused, then stood up and walked to the door looking back. Her tail twirled slightly, and her ears went up. "What happened to Spike? He was right behind me!" She shouted in surprise.

Soon enough, we saw Spike sprinting to us. He was very out of breath and didn't even make it to the porch before he let himself fall down. "You're agile as fuck, woman. How the hell did you jump the fence like that? How are you faster than me?" He panted heavily, making me start laughing.

"You let Rose by herself at the Café?" Shadow asked. He wasn't very fond of Spike. Guess it must be because he's jealous he's always around me.

"I'm so sorry!" Lucy ran to Spike and made sure he was okay.

I turned to look at Shadow. "Could you take us there?"

"Sure." He answered as we walked closer to Lucy and Spike, and then he chaos controlled us outside of her café.

I could see Amy inside, her ears dropping when she saw me, her jaw hanging low. She slowly stood up, almost dropping what was on the table and nearly tripping with the chair. She was the same height as when I left, her quills were longer and she wore subtle makeup. She was wearing a white off the shoulders top and a red skirt with her high red boots. She got out of the café and held herself up by holding the door as she looked at me. She laughed then smiled and soon some tears came out.

"Sonic? Is that really you?" She took a step closer.

"In the flesh." I chuckled. She ran to me and launched herself at me, hugging me instantly. I glanced up at Shadow, who had his arms crossed and rolled his eyes. I get why he was jealous of Amy, but I was thankful he wasn't trying to get her off. I hugged back and then pulled away. "I was actually going to text you later today." I pulled out my phone showing the unsent message I had typed out.

"What? You were?" She turned to look at Shadow. "You're here too." She smiled at him, which calmed my nerves. At least she wasn't mean to him. Wait until she hears I'm dating him. I'll tell her another time.

"Miles and Rouge were here too earlier. We were trying to get everyone together." Shadow spoke, taking even Spike off guard.

"I forget your boyfriend talks sometimes." Spike said outloud. Amy's ears went straight up, and then she took a step back to look at the two of us clearly. "I probably shouldn't have said that. Welp. I think my wife is calling me. Bye." Spike didn't waste a second and left.

"You two?" She pointed at me then at Shadow. "What?" She laughed softly.

"What's so funny, Brat?" Shadow growled. I placed my hand in front of Shadow as if telling him to calm down.

"Calm down, I am just surprised, is all. I wasn't expecting it." She tilted her head to the side and held her hands behind her back. "I'm so happy for you, Sonic."

"What?" I asked, confused.

"When you left, I waited maybe almost a year before I realized I will probably never see you again this time. I mean, you would always end up leaving, but you knew to always come back home. This time, you didn't. I knew way before that you and I would never be a thing, but I wondered if you would ever give a chance to anyone else. Sometimes you just don't know when to slow down, you know? I was worried about you. I'm happy you found someone, and I hope he's treating you right." She looked at Shadow.

"As for you, Shadow, I can't believe you actually went for your rival. It's crazy to think that you ended up with Sonic, but I am happy for you, too. Maybe Sonic will teach you to open up and enjoy life a little more." Shadow nodded at her, but his face remained blank.

"Why don't we go back inside?" Lucy offered. "I'll make you guys some coffee so you all can catch up."

"Oh, right!" Amy turned to look at Lucy. "Did I get the job?"

Lucy looked at me then at Amy and nodded with a happy smile. "You did. I'll send you a message when you can start."

"Thank you!"