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"What do you mean I like denial?" Amy growled.
Shadow's eyes widened. Had she really just growled at him? He backed away out of instinct. Amy's hammer was frightening to everyone. And though he might act like he was immune to the fear, he wasn't. "What are you angry?"
"Answer my question first," the demand was emphasized by the woman slamming her fists on the arm of the chair.
Shadow took note of the loud crack that followed. He stared her in the eye and saw a swirl of emotions. Mostly anger with a tinge of hurt and betrayal.He sighed as he held up his hands. "Rose, take a deep breath and calm down."
"Tell me why you think I like denials so much first." She stomped her foot and Shadow heard the floor board under her foot break, but Amy stood tall. Not flinching as she stared him down awaiting an answer.
"When we first met you believed that Sonic was your boyfriend. You had so much faith he loved you and that one day you would marry. Even when he told you no. Over and over for years. It was like that before I met you and it lasted until you were what? 16? or was it 19?" Shadow struggled to recall when Amy officially gave up chasing the blue blur. "It wasn't healthy. And yet you persisted. For what reason? I haven't a clue."
"My cards told me." Amy defended.
Shadow held up a hand to hush her. "And you never once questioned them? That those cards might be wrong. Even when we all brought up logical points, you ignored us in favor of those silly cards. That's denial, Rose. Plain and simple. You must really love it to live over half of your life relying on it."
"I do not! Besides all teenage girls are hopeful like that." Amy stated.
"None to the extent that you take it too." Shadow crossed his arms. "IT appears to me you've been putting yourself in denial since you were little. When Tails turned you into a toddler, you told me your parents were hurt, yet when you turned back, you looked me in the eye and told me you were born an orphan and didn't have parents. And don't tell me you don't remember your parents because your nose does this twitch thing when you lie. I've seen your nose twitch every time. You talk about your family except when you were a toddler."
Amy curled up her fists. Her teeth clinching so hard that her jaw ached. She closed her eyes as she took a deep breath. Within a moment, her feet carried herself out the back door. Trees passed by in a blur. The wind rushed by in a way that it gave her more adrenaline to run faster. The sounds of thunder brought raid. Each drop felt like an icicle piercing her skin.
His voice was drowned out by the sounds of nature. She still heard him beckoning to her. To stop. To come back. She continued onward.
By the time Amy arrived at her home, she was soaked. She also didn't have her keys. Those were on Shadow's kitchen table. A quick picking of the lock got her inside. She quickly changed clothes and dried off with a towel. She was glad that her cell phone was on the night stand by her bed. After all, all of her texts and phone calls went straight to her wrist communicator. She knew that Shadow would be running in the rain looking for her. She didn't want to speak to him, but she didn't want him to catch a cold.She vague wondered if the Ultimate Life Form could catch a cold.
Shadow was cursing rain. It just had to rain now and wash away her foot prints. Not only that, but while chasing her, he saw her pink bob dashing off between bushes. Her body began to camouflage with the environment within a few minutes. He wasn't sure how or when, but Amy Rose had learned to turn invisible. It was interesting, but he was more annoyed by it. When did she learn that trick? How did she learn it? And why only use it now?
Shadow's phone went off. It was the sound of Sparx eating a butterfly from the first Spyro game. Tails had set it for him. He took out the phone and sighed as he saw it was from Amy.
"I'm home. Please go home and change clothes before you get a cold."
Shadow smirked. Of course she would tell him not to catch a cold. As if he cold anyway. "Same to you, Rose. Can I come over before hand to make sure you're all right?"
"No." The response came quickly. "I don't want to see you right now."
Shadow sighed in frustration. "Can I send Rouge over?"
"Ok."
Shadow dialed his co-worker's number as he walked back to his house. He quickly explained the situation to her.
"What did you do to upset her so much?" She inquired.
"I... It..." he became flustered. "I'm a jerk. I said something mean, but I'm not taking it back."
Rouge rolled her eyes. She knocked and a pink hedgehog in penguin pjs answered. "She's home and safe." Rouge stated before hanging up.
"What did the idiot do?" Rouge asked placing her foot in the door.
"He hurt my feelings." Amy replied staring at the white boot in her door.
"Hmm?" Rouge tilted her head.
Amy stepped to the side so that her friend could enter. They were going to need mugs of tea or hot coco.
"He serious said that?" Rouge gasped at the end of the tale. Amy could only nod as she took a sip of her tea.
Rouge placed her cup on the table. "I'm amazed you didn't beat him with your hammer."
"Well, I did stomp a hole into the floor." Amy gave a light chuckle.
Rouge gave a sharp laugh. "That must have shocked him."
"Well, he was quiet for a while, so it must've." Amy tapped her fingers on the table.
"So what will you do now?" Rouge asked in a quiet tone. She could tell Amy wouldn't want to be around Shadow any time soon.
"I think," She paused as she took a deep breath. "I think I want to go home for a while."
Rouge tilted her head. The pink hedgehog was already home. Then it dawned on her. "You mean... To Mercia?"
Amy nodded. It had been years since she lived in Mercia, but she had visited over the years. Rob would be stoked to have her around.
"You'll keep in contact right?" Rouge felt a pang of loneliness, but couldn't find any excuse to make her stay.
Amy smiled up at the bat. "Of course!" She grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. "I'll visit too. After all, I don't want to miss seeing Antoine frantic when the baby arrives.
"He'll be a nervous wreck." Rouge laughed at the image in her head.
Over the next few days, Shadow felt jittery. and he hated it. He had been trying to find Amy to talk to her. He felt stupid and arrogant. He backed Amy into a psychological corner and it wasn't right. He should at least apologize. The sooner he did the better. He knew from experience it could only become worse the longer he waited. The only problem was he couldn't seem to find the pink hedgehog any where. Where could she be hiding?
"Hey Shads!" The loud voice pulled the ebony hedgehog out of his thoughts.
"My name is not Shads," Shadow growled.
Sonic merely shrugged, "What's up?"
Shadow stared through the blue hedgehog. "I'm looking for Rose."
Sonic froze fro a moment. Shadow didn't like the look on his face. A tinge of sadness flashed across Sonic's face. "Amy went to Mercia. She said she was feeling homesick." That sounded like a lie. "She said she'd keep in touch. She didn't tell you?"
Shadow shook his head. "No. But Rose needn't tell me if she wishes to move." He took a step to turn away. "Thank you for informing me, Sonic."
"Hey, why not a race before you go?" Sonic sounded hopeful.
Shadow simply shrugged. "It couldn't hurt."
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KRISSIE: I finally got this chapter finished! Yay! Sorry that it took so long.
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