#shadow boom

"It's just one weekend," you begged, staring at the ebony hedgehog from across the kitchen counter. Your small beachside hut stopped him from gaining too much distance from you. Shadow's eyes rolled from the floor to the walls and then finally to you, "Weddings are beneath me."

"It's just one weekend, please?" he remained quiet. You had been trying to convince Shadow for days now to join you on this very short trip, it was nothing too big....just a family wedding.

"Every, painful, time I have been forced to interact with your family they always call me moody and say "I'm not right for you". Why would I want to be in the middle of all that?" Shadow rebutted. You stalled, mouth open just a little.

"Listen, I know my parents can be..." you thought for the right word "A lot, but I promise they'll be on their best behaviour. Plus, they'll be so preoccupied with my sister on her big day, they won't even notice you brooding in the background." Shadow grumbled, clearly not impressed. You sauntered over to him, wrapping your arms around his shoulders, a small sigh falling from his lips, "I promise, pinky swear, with a cherry on top."

How could he say no to that?

A few days later and you had set off from your little island with all your friends waving goodbye, "And don't forget to behave, Shadow!" Sonic chortled, but it soon changed when Amy jabbed him in the stomach.

"Just ignore him, remember, Sonic doesn't get to eat wedding cake."

"I don't like wedding cake, it's too sweet." You groaned, "Well, I'm sure they've got some delicious coffee beans for you to munch on!" Shadow's head whipped around so hard you were afraid it would detach from his shoulders. Yeahhh, you were never going to let him forget about that...incident.

You both soon arrived at the wedding venue, dressed in your best suits and ties. The sun was hot, the sky was clear, and at times like these, you wished your sister had chosen a winter wedding instead. Seriously, whose idea was it to wear a three-piece suit in the middle of summer?

"Oh, Michael, there he is! There's my boy!" You heard a familiar voice. The next second, you were being crushed, held in a firm embrace by none other than your mother. You were never one to judge your mother's intense personality, or strength for that matter. Shadow took a step back. He, too, was surprised by how quickly you had been spotted.

"Ooooh, my sweet little butterscotch is finally here!" Your mother pulled away; her makeup had looked like it had already been touched up once already today. Your father soon came to join you both, offering a nonchalant slap on the back, "How ya doin', sport! Been a while, is all goin' well on that island of yours?"

"Uhh, yeah, Dad, Bygone Island is doing just fine?" he has never once asked about your home. Ever since you moved away from the rest of your family, you sort of became a black sheep. They still sent Christmas cards and birthday presents, but they never called, never visited, and definitely never asked about life on the island.

Soon their attention turned away from you and beamed right onto Shadow, who noticeably shrank down with the gaze. It was one of the only few times you can recall Shadow getting visibly nervous; usually he was quite stoic, a hardass. But under the stare of your parents, he was small, timid and sweating profusely.

"Oh, you brought your friend with you? How nice." Your mother murmured,  you saddled up to Shadow's side, placing an arm around his to calm him down.

"He's not my friend, mum, he's my-"

"Partner, we know, son. Ahem, yes, well, how are you doing, Shadow? You here lookin' after my boy?"

"Daaaaaaaad-" you whined out, cheeks rosy. Shadow gulped, "Y-yes, sir, I do as good a job as I can. But really, (Y/N) is their own man; he's very capable of looking after himself." You smiled at him, though you're sure he didn't see it.

"Huh, yeah, I guess he is." Your father agreed, albeit half-heartedly. The awkward air to the conversation soon dissipated when the church bells rang, a clear sign the ceremony was due to start. Your mother rushed inside, something about how she "Can't miss my baby girl's big day!"

You and Shadow swiftly took your seats by the front, watching in awe as your sister came down the island. She looked like a goddess. You had always gotten along with her; she was possibly the only one in your family who actually visited you on the island and who took an interest in knowing more about Shadow.

Tears were shed, the cake was cut, and the reception was in full swing. You and Shadow had sat off to the side, a cocktail in your hand and a whiskey in Shadow's; he wasn't one for sweet things. You leaned your head on his shoulder, the rustling of his shirt crackling in your ears.

"Today was nice, well, the nice parts were nice. The other bits, less so," you mumbled. Shadow took a glance at you, "The other bits?" he questioned. You shrugged your shoulders, "Yeah, well, my family are always a dick to you, makes me like them less. Just happy I moved away and only have to deal with them once every two years."

"Well, I'm used to it. Everyone always looks at me differently, so why not your family, too?" Shadow huffed; maybe the whiskey was stirring some lingering emotions.

"They're just jealous." Shadow looked at you like you had gone mad, your family were the living embodiment of those cliché rich-family movies.

"Jealous?"

"Yeah, they don't have what we do. They live in a boring town, go to boring weddings and eat boring cake!"

"But you love wedding cake?" Shadow pouted.

"I know! But- just...Look at us! We live on an island where there's always an adventure, and we're friends with unusual people! We fight evil every day, and we look good while doing it; we are anything but boring." he didn't look very convinced.

"Plus," you mused, grabbing his face, not caring if anyone was watching, "I'm dating you! Everything about you is different, and I love it! You're care-free, you get straight to the point, you don't let anyone get in your way. But most importantly, you protect those that you love. You, Shadow the Hedgehog, are not boring."