Chapter Text
Sonic flew through the grass, relishing the feeling of it under his feet. It had been a long time since he had visited Green Hill. Too long, if you asked him.
He glanced at his watch. He had about five minutes left until the party started. And the entirety of Marble Zone to traverse before he reached his house.
Sonic pushed himself just a little faster.
The party he was sprinting to was meant to be a reunion of sorts. After saving the Starfall Islands from obliteration, he had said goodbye to his three best friends. Sonic supposed that wasn’t a rarity in itself, but… it had been the first time in ages that he had gone it alone. He’d kept busy, cleaning up rogue badniks and running free over the hills of the earth, but he couldn’t deny it—after months without any real contact, he missed his friends.
Not only was he going to see Tails, Amy, and Knuckes, but some of their other friends had agreed to stop by as well. He hasn’t seen Rouge in a year, at least. Sticks, since his birthday. Shadow… well, he hadn’t responded to any messages Tails or Rouge had left him. Sonic didn’t mind that, though. It was nice to just see him when he saw him. They could leave it at that.
He was mostly excited to see Tails. Sonic had kept in touch with him the most since they departed the islands, and he had been worried for his best friend. Not worried that he wouldn’t be safe, but worried about his mental state. The cyber corruption had seemed to hit him the hardest—on the surface, at least. The truth was that it had left them all with scars.
Tails had told Sonic exactly how it had felt to be in that limbo between reality and nothingness. Floating, unable to feel your body or think clearly. Blinking and finding hours had gone by. Sonic’s corruption had been much more painful in how it affected his body, but it hadn’t been like that for his friends. It had corrupted their minds instead. When Sonic and Tails would call over their tech, Sonic would notice how Tails would sometimes gaze into the distance, only returning after Sonic essentially screamed his name. And even then, he wouldn’t get a very reassuring response. When Tails had one of these episodes, their conversation was basically over. Sonic could expect distant answers until Tails said he had to leave. To do what, Sonic couldn’t fathom. Not while he was in that state.
Sonic had wondered how it had affected Amy and Knuckles, specifically if it had the same effect, but he had rarely been in contact with them. That was fine, though. It only made him more excited for the coming night.
His house, sitting atop the greenest hill in all of South Island, finally peeked over the surrounding hills. Sonic whooped excitedly and raced over as fast he could. When he arrived at his own front door, he took a deep breath. He couldn’t wipe the wide grin off his face, but he was able to smooth back his wind-tossed hair a bit. He pushed his way inside.
“Sonic!” A chorus of voices cheered. Tails was seated across from Knuckles and Rouge at the bar seats separating the kitchen from the common area. Sticks, Tangle, and Whisper sat together on the couch and floor, playing some type of board game. They all stood up to greet him.
“Guys! It’s been too long!” Sonic said cheerfully. He fist-bumped Knuckles, high-fived Tails, and waved at Rouge. He dashed to the living room to greet the rest of friends. His heart swelled with happiness. You just don’t realize how much you miss them until they’re there again, he thought to himself.
“Big Blue,” Rouge smiled. She gestured to him with the glass in her hand. “Just in time. We had a bet going to see if you’d be late to your own party.”
“I bet that you’d be here exactly on the hour. Do I know you or what?” Tails said triumphantly. He slapped his hand down on the small gem Knuckles had laid on the table. Knuckles elbowed Rouge, and she scoffed before throwing a down a tiny gem of her own.
“Don’t get too cocky, fox. I’ll swipe that back just as soon as I feel like it,” She snapped.
Knuckles waved a hand in the air, as if to dismiss her.
“I bet for you to get here late. So close. Shoulda barricaded the door or something,” He said wistfully.
Sonic tool a seat next to Tails. They grinned at each other brightly.
“Have some more faith in me, guys! Like Tails here,” He beamed.
“Hey, for the record, I said you would get here early. Thought you’d make some extra effort for your little girlfriend,” Rouge said with a wink.
Sonic sighed.
“She’s not my girlfriend. But, where is Amy, anyways? Of all of us, she’s the one I’d expect to be early,” Sonic said.
As if on cue, there was a light knock on the door. The door swing open, revealed Amy, and—
“Shadow?!” Sonic exclaimed.
“Would you look at that,” Rouge mused.
“Hey, everyone! Sorry we’re late!” Amy said.
She squealed when she laid her eyes on Sticks, Tangle, and Whisper. The four girls laughed and hugged on each other while Shadow sulked through the entryway, seating himself next to Rouge. She smiled at him warmly.
“Woah, what are you doing here? I thought you weren’t coming for sure,” Knuckles said. Shadow laid his arms on the table and shrugged.
“I found time,” He said cooly.
Sonic reached over the table and slapped his friend on the back.
“Well, good! Didn’t think I’d see you until the next worldly crisis,” Sonic laughed. Shadow glared at him. He then knocked a fist against Tails’ in greeting and retreated to the kitchen without another word. Probably for coffee, Sonic guessed.
Amy walked up to them. She first threw her arms around Sonic. Usually, Sonic would have hugged her just as tight, but Rouge’s comment about a girlfriend rung in his ears. He patted Amy’s back until she pulled away to say hello to the rest of the team.
“Amy! We missed you,” Tails beamed. Amy lightly hugged him around his shoulders in response.
“Nah. I didn’t miss you,” Knuckles said. He still tapped a fist playfully against Amy’s head when she came to hug him.
“I’m so happy everyone’s here! Even you, Rouge,” Amy laughed. Rouge scoffed as Amy leaned into a hug.
“Excuse me? What did I do?” Rouge asked. But she was still smiling when Amy pulled away and sat down.
Shadow came back from the kitchen with two cups in hand. He sat between Amy and Rouge and placed a steaming cup in front of Amy. She thanked him with a warm smile that Sonic hadn’t realized he missed until he saw it.
“Coffee? What’s wrong with you guys? It’s the middle of summer,” Knuckles asked incredulously.
“You know iced coffee exists too, right, Knuckles?” Tails replied.
Knuckles rolled his eyes. “Yeah, but that’s hot coffee,” He frowned.
“We just came from Frozen Zone. I’m still cold,” Amy said.
Sonic’s ear twitched. We, she said. There’s no way he heard that correctly. Her and Shadow never hung out. Not that he cared, he didn’t care who Amy hung out with, but… well, it didn’t matter. Surely he had misheard.
“Drink your coffee,” Shadow ordered Amy. She nodded and took small sips from her mug. Sonic blinked.
“When did you two get so close?” Rouge asked. She was still smiling, and something about it began to irk Sonic.
“They’re not close. Get me a coffee too, Shadow,” Sonic said nonchalantly. Shadow scoffed and crossed his arms, leaning back in his chair.
“You don’t even like coffee,” He retorted.
“I do too!” Sonic insisted, standing up.
“No, Shadow’s right. You hate coffee,” Tails said. Sonic shot Tails a pointed look.
“…because you got tired after drinking so much coffee! Yeah, it’s about time you stopped your coffee hiatus!” Tails laughed awkwardly. Sonic sat back down, a triumphant smile on his face.
“See? Shadow, where’s the love for the hedgehog of the house?” Sonic laughed.
“Well, that kinda makes you the host,” Tails said thoughtfully.
“And the host gets drinks,” Rouge added, pushing her empty glass at Sonic. He grumbled before dashing to the kitchen and returning swiftly with the drink refilled.
“Anyways,” Rouge continued, “what were you two doing in the ice caps? Didn’t we drop you off in Gigalopolis last, Shadow?”
“Yeah. I remember that,” Knuckles said, squinting at his soda.
“Huh? Did I miss a party in Gigalopolis or something?” Sonic asked. Tails shook his head.
“Don’t you remember? Knuckles and Rouge have been on their honeymoon in the blimp,” Tails joked. Knuckles immediately stood to his feet, knocking his chair onto the floor. His cheeks flared red.
“It is not a honeymoon! I can’t even stand being locked in there with her,” He growled. “It’s just two people, sharing a confined space, exploring the world together. Duh.”
Tails stifled a laugh. Knuckles looked ready to throttle him when Rouge placed one hand on his shoulder and hid a giggle behind the other.
“Aw, c’mon, dear. You do love sharing a bed with me, don’t you?” She winked.
“I don’t— what— she’s, she’s lying! We don’t, uh…” Knuckles sputtered. Sonic couldn’t contain it anymore. He burst out in laughs, pointing as his friend.
“She’s got you wrapped around her finger, Knux. Admit it,” Sonic said. Amy rolled her eyes.
“Don’t listen to them, Knuckles. You can keep your relationship however private you want.”
“It’s not a—ugh!” Knuckles stormed off to the living room, where he sat next to Sticks, grumbling to himself. Rouge picked up his chair and stretched her legs across it.
“Good for you,” Shadow said curtly. He tipped his mug to Rouge. She grinned and returned the gesture with her glass.
“Thanks. But go easy on him. He’s got some more adventures to take me on before I let go of him.”
“Aww, that’s so sweet!” Amy squealed. Shadow slowly touched his shoulder to Amy’s—a touch that didn’t go unnoticed by Sonic.
Sonic’s eyes flickered between them uneasily. He suddenly felt like a stranger in his own house. He cleared his throat.
“But that didn’t answer my question. Why were you guys in Gigalopolis too?” He asked.
Amy looked at Shadow, who just twirled his empty mug around by the rim.
“Well, I was staying in Starlight Zone when I bumped into Shadow. One thing led to another, and we ended up searching for the blue chaos emerald together. We found it in Frozen Zone, and then Shadow chaos controlled us here!” Amy explained. Shadow disappeared into the kitchen again.
“Wait, you were searching together? For how long?” Sonic demanded.
Amy looked up thoughtfully. “Hmm, I don’t know. Maybe a month or two?”
“What?!” Sonic stood up in surprise. Rouge giggled behind her hand again, and it brought Sonic back to his senses. He slid back into his seat as nonchalantly as he could.
“Uh, wow, that, um… sure is some good time on finding an emerald,” Sonic said awkwardly.
“No, it’s really not. What kind of tracker did you use? I could probably give it an upgrade,” Tails said.
Shadow returned with a fresh cup of coffee, and he placed it on the table before showing his wrist to Tails.
“It’s an old G.U.N. watch. It’s a while since I’ve been to HQ. It could definitely use a touch up.”
Tails’ tails began waving around, and Sonic could tell he was excited. Shadow unlaced the watch, and Tails took it happily.
“Yeah, sure thing! Are you going to stick around, or…?” Tails drifted off. Sonic had to bite back a smile. His friend could be so cute sometimes.
Shadow looked down. Sonic couldn’t imagine where else he needed to be, besides hiding away from their friends.
“You should stay. Just a couple days can’t hurt,” Sonic insisted. Shadow still said nothing.
“If you need a place to stay, I’ve got a spare bedroom at my house. No pressure, though!” Amy added. Sonic furrowed his eyebrows. That’s where Sonic would stay, when he and Amy used to stay up too late, or when a sudden storm passed through during their movie nights. The thought of Shadow staying there gave him that uncomfortable, prickling feeling again.
But Amy’s offer seemed to be the tipping point. Shadow nodded, and told Tails he would be in town—not for long, but at least until the watch was finished.
Not a big deal, Sonic thought to himself. What did he care?
Rouge sat her chin on her hand, tilting her head at her friends. She was sure Sonic had a run for his money, now. She thought he was going find out just exactly how much he cared.