#sndbdnfbf

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2.6. Home

A few hours ahead of Friday night family dinner, Sonic tells Tom and Maddie that he has a surprise for everyone before the meal that he promises to prepare— an offer which sounds some alarms, but either out of piqued interest or genuine appreciation, no one argues otherwise. He isn’t the best cook, but tonight he plans to make his specialty— spaghetti and meatballs with a side of garlic bread— which is relatively hard to mess up; even for Sonic, whose diet primarily consists of microwaveable goods for that exact reason.

Besides, it’s easier than explaining why he needs to prepare a seventh serving.

The plan is to butter them up (pun intended) with promises of a home-cooked meal before dropping the bomb of Shadow’s resurrection, which they probably won’t believe at first. Then Shadow will walk in as proof, and with Sonic’s support, he’ll sit with them and dine on spaghetti for their first family meal together in the Wachowski home.

In an ideal world, that is.

Out of concern for the many different ways tonight can go wrong, Sonic, who’s been deliberating since his conversation with Amy whether or not to involve her, finally decides that he’d feel better if she would also back him up about Shadow, since she already knows about him.

So once he has a moment alone with her in the kitchen, Sonic pulls Amy out of earshot of everyone else (hopefully) to ask her for help.

“Amy! So, um, regarding that secret of ours…” Sonic starts in a hushed voice, eyes shifting around to ensure they are truly alone. “From, y’know, a few nights ago, when we were outside…?”

Amy blushes and kicks at the ground out of nervous habit, chuckling dreamily, “Hehe, yes, I remember.”

From the way she’s acting, Sonic has to guess that her enthusiasm towards Shadow is likely due to her inevitable attraction to him, since he could certainly understand the appeal. All the more helpful for his case, surely.

“Well, I kinda need your um, support, telling everybody else, ‘cus I wanted to hold a family meeting about it tonight. But…” He pauses to glance around again, lowering his voice a little more just in case. “They might not take it too well. So, it would help a lot if you could back me up.”

Amy’s eyes widen as she takes this in, and coupled with her mental image of him crying alone outside, an understanding washes over her. Of course he’d come to her; given his hesitation to tell his family, it’s possible she was the first person to welcome his vulnerability with open arms. His first safe space, if you will.

She giggles in spite of herself, then muffles them down to answer seriously. “Oh, wow… of course, Sonic. I’ll support you no matter what!”

Sonic visibly melts in relief, a smile growing along his muzzle that seizes her heart in a way that confirms how much she really means that. And after months of trying to get his attention, here they are— smiling together in a huddle, sharing secrets, growing closer by the second.

Little did they know they both have very different ideas of what the same secret is.

“Phew… thanks, Amy. You’re a good friend.” Sonic squeezes her shoulder with one hand, noticing for the first time just how sturdy she is, how toned her arms are. The wandering thought brings a heat to his cheeks and he pulls away quickly to check on the pasta.

Amy doesn’t miss the pink tinge spreading like wildfire across his muzzle, and soon her complexion mirrors his as she plays with the ends of her quills shyly. “Heh… shucks, it’s nothin’…”

After finishing food prep and setting up the table arrangement, Sonic’s eyes flit to the kitchen analog clock to see it blinking 6:24 — meaning he had about six minutes before the time he’d told Shadow to show up. And it’s too late to whisper anything else to Amy, as Tails and Knuckles pile in demanding food, followed by Tom and lastly Maddie. (Ozzie’s been begging for hot water on the stove for the last twelve minutes, if you were wondering where he is during all of this.)

As everyone is taking a seat, there’s some background chatter about the confusion behind the seventh setting, as well as idle speculation as to who they might be expecting, whoever it is Sonic surely invited.

Sonic glances at the time once more — 6:29 now — and thrums his fingers on the back of the chair at the head of the dining table, his anxious percussion drowned out by the casual conversation and laughter bubbling in the room.

Amy meets his eyes, and it’s just enough for him to snag her attention from it all and indirectly ask her to meet him at the edge of the room with some not-so-subtle hand signs.

In the doorway between the kitchen and the dining room somewhat away from the cacophony of family dinner night, Sonic leans in to Amy and asks in a hushed voice, “Amy! Have you seen him yet?”

Understandably confused, Amy cocks her head. “Seen who?”

Sonic peers behind her to check one more time. Yep, his seat is still empty.

“You know…” He nods at the seat. “Our guest.”

“Am I supposed to know who we’re waiting for…?” Amy’s even more confused than before, especially now that Sonic is doubling down.

Sonic sighs, or more accurately groans, as he palms his face. Because sheesh, does he have to spell out everything around here?

“Obviously I’m talking about—”

A sudden flash that erupts into something solid followed by a buzzing in the atmosphere interrupts everything else, and everyone’s reactions are instant.

“Shadow??!” Sonic finishes, in sync with everyone else in the room, all with the same exact inflection of shocked horror. Everyone save for Amy, who finds herself gawking at someone who appears to be a hotter, edgier version of Sonic, with dark grey fur accentuated by fiery red highlights across his body, and a fluffy patch of white chest fur.

“Who??” Amy’s voice stands out amongst the chorus of surprised exclamations, her eyes scanning the faces in the room around her for answers, because why didn’t anyone tell her this guy existed?!

Knuckles is the first to break past the initial shock, as he grabs and cracks one fist at a time with a smirk. “Finally, a worthy opponent.”

“Shadow, what the hell?” Sonic chides, pushing aside both Amy and her question as he zips over to the other hedgehog’s side in a blink. “Haven’t you ever heard of using the front door?”

The dazzling black and red hedgehog, the one they keep calling Shadow, folds his arms with a certain petulance Amy can’t quite name. “You asked me to be here. I’m here. I don’t see the issue.”

“Yeah, but you can’t just teleport into peoples’ living rooms, have you no decorum—”

“Sonic,” Tails interjects, eyes wide as the plates on the table, irises tiny and sharp, “how can he be here?”

Amy notices the fox’s fur is puffed up and wiry as he points at Shadow in what is clearly fear. Knuckles is still cracking other miscellaneous joints on his body, as if preparing for battle; even Tom and Maddie look apprehensive and a little shaken.

Whoever this fake Sonic guy is… everyone else seems afraid of him.

Everyone except for Sonic, who ran right to his side as soon as made his appearance, and even now it almost seems like he wants to reach out and touch the other. He only recently got that close with her, like within the week, and she’s been trying for seven months.

Whoever he is, he has something with Sonic. Something special, something beyond platonic, even if Sonic himself doesn’t realize it.

And instead of making her heart pulse with envy or jealousy… the thought of them together excites her in a way unlike anything she’s ever felt with Sonic.

Oh, how she loves family dinner nights at the Wachowski’s.