Disclaimer: I don't own anything Sonic realted :/ sad, isn't it?

Dedication: This is a birthday gift for pantedgieQueen13 :) Happy Sweet 16 darling! Hope you like it :)

"Hey," his voice was as gentle as the wind that caressed my tear stained cheeks. I ignored him, staring off into the distance, watching the rain fall onto the city below me. I could sense he was fighting the urge to run from the awkward silence that followed. "Amy?" he finally broke it, reaching out to touch my shoulder with his hand, but stopping, seeming to think better of it.

I closed my eyes, letting the tears fall. I didn't really care if he saw me like this, I didn't care if anyone saw me like this. I just…didn't care at all anymore. It was like the world was trying to keep me unhappy. No, it was much worse than that, the world hated me. It was even letting it rain on the best day of the year--my sixteenth birthday.

I knew I should have seen this coming. The signs were all there, laid out in front of me, plain to see. I should have just given up on him years ago, but the heart works in ways one can't explain. My heart? It didn't want to give up on him, not even after he broke it for the final time. It still wanted him to love me back like the way I loved him. Though, I think I always knew that deep down, that would never happen.

So, here I was, sitting by the edge of a cliff, watching the piercing sheets rain fall down like the tears escaping my eyes, wondering what I could have possibly done wrong. I must have looked pathetic to him, running away from my own surprise birthday party and crying in the downpour like this.

"Amy?" his deep, calm voice reached my ears once more, and I was once again pulled out of my thoughts. The sound of his voice surprised me; why was he still here?

My eyes slowly fluttered open, looking up and meeting ruby orbs. He was a couple of feet away from me, shuffling from foot to foot, looking uncomfortable and out of place. Normally, the sight of him like this would bring a smile to my face and I would laugh, joking around, which would only make him even more uncomfortable. Today, though, I just stared at him, searching his eyes, wondering if he knew the answers I was looking for.

"Shadow," I replied simply, attempting to smile, but giving up seconds later. I didn't have the joy to smile. He took a step towards me and faltered, looking even more unsure. I had wondered if the others had put him up to this. What a pity. No one else cared enough to come after me? To see if I was alright? To cheer me up?

No, they had to send Mr. Gloomy who couldn't even smile, let alone cheer someone else up. Fantastic. Just what the doctor ordered.

"Are you, um, okay?" he asked slowly, hesitantly. I could tell from the look on his face he was really hoping I was. I bet he was hoping that I would lie, say yes, that way he could go and run away.

Just like Sonic.

"I'm fine," I lied, already irritated, "Just peachy." He seemed genuinely shocked at the anger that coursed through my voice. I saw something flicker in his eyes, like he was making a fast decision.

Instead of taking off like I originally thought he would, he slowly walked over and sat down next to me. This time, I gave him the surprised look. He just chuckled slightly at my expression, to which I glared at him in return. He stopped immediately, looking uneasy again.

"Look, Ames--"

"Since when do you call me that?" I asked, trying to keep the snap out of my voice. It was kind of nice for him to stay and try to cheer me up, even if he did suck at it.

Shadow immediately closed his mouth, looking away, obviously discouraged.

"Um, never mind," I muttered quickly, brushing my pink bangs out of my eyes. "You can…go if you want. I know you don't want to be here."

"I never said that," he told me in that quiet, rough voice of his. "You really shouldn't put words in other people's mouths."

My eyes narrowed as I glared furiously at him. "How…how dare you!" I shouted, my fists clenched. It took all I had to keep myself from punching him square in the face. A crackle of thunder rumbled throughout the sky, echoing my fury. "Is this the way you cheer someone up? Cause it sure as heck isn't working!"

He recoiled the tiniest bit, ears pulling back, staring at me as if I were some sort of alien. Shadow, once again, had this startled look upon his face. He hadn't been around long enough to see this side of me. He would run away now, wouldn't he? I would drive someone else out of my life again. Did I drive you away, Sonic?

"I didn't mean it that way," he explained calmly. His eyes were soft, expression very earnest. "I just meant that you can't jump or assume things so quickly. Sometimes, people have unspoken intentions that can be good. You can see it in there eyes."

"W-What are you--"

The words seemed to get tangled on my tongue as he did something completely unexpected. His fingers softly brushed against my chin, sending tingles down my spine. My chin was tipped up the slightest bit, forcing my eyes to lock with his. His fiery gaze captivated me and I felt my breath catch in my throat.

"You're eyes…," he murmured in a slightly somber tone, "they've lost their usual sparkle. You're…depressed…cheerless…heartbroken." He read me so easily, it was like I had the words plastered on my forehead and he was reading them off.

I took a deep breath and suddenly slapped his hand away from my chin, looking away and shutting my eyes. "Y-You don't have to remind me," I told him, my voice shaking as hot tears pricked at my eyes.

A small rumble of thunder echoed in the distance before Shadow opened his mouth to speak. "He deserves hell for what he did to you. Anyone who makes that brilliant smile of yours goes away is truly…stupid. That smile has the power to brighten anyone's day."

My eyes slowly opened as I looked up at him, doing my best to smile for him. "You…you really think so?" I asked, feeling myself blush the tiniest bit at his comment.

"I do." I thought I saw the tiniest of smiles tug at his lips.

"Shadow, that's… so sweet of you." Perhaps he wasn't so bad at cheering up after all.

"If you want," he added with a small smirk, "I'll happily beat up that faker for you." His eyes widened as my smile quickly faded and more tears ran down my cheeks. "I-I mean, I wont, I wont beat up that faker for you…I will beat myself up for mentioning him and making you cry, though."

"I…I don't get it, Shadow." A sob escaped my lips, and without even thinking, I dug my head into his chest. I could feel him almost stumble back in surprise. I could just imagine that awkward look upon his face as he pat my shoulder tentatively. "Why? How could Sonic do that to me? Why would he do that to me?"

I could hear him take a deep breath and he slowly put his arms around my shaking body, doing his best to comfort me. It wasn't much, but the feel of his strong, protective arms around me did slightly help.

"The faker is an idiot," he said simply after a while. "Knuckles thought it would be funny, though, I don't see why making a girl like you cry would be funny."

I felt my heart stop in my chest before it pulsed angrily. I pushed away from his chest, looking up. "Knuckles? Knuckles?" I asked through clenched teeth.

Shadow raised his eyebrow slightly, looking slightly confused. "You don't know?"

"No, I don't. Spill! Now!"

"Well," he began with a sigh, rubbing his temples. "Knuckles bet Sonic twenty dollars that he wouldn't kiss you. Knuckles, thinking Sonic would never kiss you--" I looked away at this, and Shadow continued, sounding somewhat apologetic, "--thought he would gain twenty dollars to take Rouge out to dinner or something."

"So, Sonic came up to my room when I was getting ready and kissed me," I whispered, completely and utterly devastated. It was bad enough that he had come waltzing into my room and kissed me like the world was ending. It was so passionate, so wonderful. I had never experienced anything like it before in my in my life. For a split second, I believed that my feelings would be returned and that he truly loved me.

How wrong I had been.

Then, my world began crashing down. He completely ignored me once we had gotten downstairs. It wasn't even that, but when I had tried to talk to him about the kiss, he had completely yelled at me. Everything went quiet. It was like I was living one of my worst nightmares. He had called me an annoying brat and under his breath muttered it was the worst kiss of his life.

Knuckles was laughing, and I heard a few more laughs mix in with the crowd. I saw Tails' blue eyes glare at Sonic as he said something about how it wasn't funny. Rouge looked like she had been ready to kill Knuckles. Cream had touched my arm, questioning if I was okay. I remember ripping out of her grip and running out of the house in tears.

My heart had completely shattered and I wasn't sure if I would be able to pick up the pieces this time. Most people wouldn't understand, but when you really and truly loved someone and they did what he did, it was enough to forever break your heart.

I felt like I wanted to die.

It was bad enough that Sonic did what he did, along with Knuckles, but what Shadow had said made me realize something. These people didn't care about me the way I cared about them. How could they have laughed at my misery? They didn't even come after me. The only person who cared enough to come after me was Shadow.

How could he rip my heart out at the seams? Sonic, how could you have done this to me? You were my hero. You were the only person I truly cared about. So why?

As all of the questions and thoughts buzzed in my head, I found that I had stood up, my feet on the edge of the cliff. I looked down, the grass blowing in the howling wind

"What are you doing?" Shadow demanded, voice full of alarm.

"I-I can't do this anymore, Shadow," I looked back toward him, my voice breaking. He had scrambled up, ruby gems glistening with anxiety. "It hurts too much."

"Amy," he took a step towards me but stopped as I looked ahead. He wasn't going to move any further if it meant me jumping. "Don't do this. You don't want to end your life over the faker, do you? He's not worth your time, he's an idiot!"

"I might as well give up," I kept on going as if he hadn't spoken. "No one loves me, not even my friends. You heard Sonic say it," I looked back at him. "So what's the point anymore? All my life has ever been about was him. Everything I did was for him…and now…it's over."

"That's not true, Amy."

"Yes it is, Shadow."

"You're wrong," he told me firmly, confident.

"How do you know?" I asked glumly, focusing on mentally preparing myself to jump.

"Because…because," he looked down for a moment, and then looked up again, eyes burning with an emotion I thought I would never see in his eyes. "I love you."

"What?" I swiftly turned my body around, staring at him in shock. "You love…me?" This had to be a joke. A cruel, sick joke. Knuckles had put him up to this, hadn't he? He or Sonic, most probably. I hated them. I hated them all!

"You're lying," I spat at him, going to turn around but he stopped me.

"No, Amy, I'm not!" he told me desperately.

"You can't possibly love me, Shadow." Maybe he was only saying this so I wouldn't jump. It couldn't possibly be true. Shadow of all people?

"I've liked you since that faithful day on ark," he told me and I could hear the honesty in his voice. He looked somewhat uncomfortable again. "You're smile, that sparkle in your eyes, the way you get irritated and annoyed over the littlest of things. The way you smell, just like roses." I couldn't help but smile the tiniest bit. It was kind of cute. "I love everything about you."

"You do?"

"Yes. Please don't end your life over that faker." He held out a hand, eyes pleading with me to take it. He looked so scared, so fearful for my safety.

I bit my lip, staring into his eyes. They had such an intensity I had never seen before. I took a deep breath, looking out towards the bottom of the cliff. I suddenly felt very frightened.

I couldn't do it.

I reached out and grabbed his hand. He pulled me into his chest, hugging me, almost afraid that if he let go I would go and jump. "Don't you ever scare me like that again," he told me sternly as if I were a child who had done something wrong, and then sighed. "I don't think I could bear if I lost you like I lost Maria."

"I wont," I whispered into his chest. It was comforting to be in the hold of someone who loved you. I felt warm inside, and thought that things could get better, even if it didn't seem so right at this moment. Maybe, just maybe my heart would be able to heal. The pieces would be found and stitched up to the best of their ability.

After a couple of minutes, Shadow slowly pulled away and looked down at me, bumping his forehead slightly against mine. "You know," he told me, smirking slightly. "I really will beat that faker up for you."

This time, I allowed myself to giggle a little and smile. "Thank you," I said earnestly. "But I don't want you to hurt him."

Shadow looked astounded and a little annoyed. "He hurt you though," he said through gritted teeth, "and I can't allow him to get away with that. I don't understand why you keep defending time after time." Was that fear I saw in his eyes?

"Shadow," I told him, placing my hand upon his cheek, trying to comfort him down. "I'm not…going to go back to him again. I'm not saying I'll get over him quickly," I added and he looked away, "it'll take time…but…will you wait for me?"

"I've been waiting for four years," he told me and I swore I saw the slightest shade of pink tint his cheeks. "I suppose I can wait some more. In the mean time," he took my hand, the smallest of smiles tugging at his lips, "would you like to go out and get something to eat, birthday girl? I doubt you want to go back to that party."

I smiled up at him, feeling some of my depression ease away. "I would love to, Shadow," I replied sincerely, hoping for an escape from my thoughts.

We were walking away from the side of the cliff when he stopped me suddenly. "Wait." I stared up at him in confusion. "I want to prove to you that, unlike that faker, I wont hurt you."

"Shadow, you don't have to do that."

"I want to," he told me gently. "If you will allow me to." Slowly, I nodded in reply, wondering what the heck he was going to do.

His fingers caressed my cheek and ever so slowly, he bent his head down and brushed his soft lips against mine. My eyes closed automatically, my heart skipping a beat in my chest. My lips felt as if they were on fire. It was different than kissing Sonic. It was a good kind of different, though. Sonic's may have been passionate, but it was meaningless. There was no love, no comfort, nothing behind it. Shadow's, even though it was just a peck, had intensity Sonic would never know. I felt something behind that kiss that I had never felt before. I felt the future.

It was in that moment that I realized I didn't need Sonic. I didn't have to love him anymore. Somewhere, deep down inside, I realized that being with Shadow was right.

He pulled apart and my eyes fluttered open. It was then I noticed the sky had stopped crying, as had I. It was if the heavens were telling me that my questions were answered--this was defiantly meant to be. The heavens wanted me to be happy now. My mourning time was over.

"You okay?" he asked me, eyes swimming with worry that he had done the wrong thing.

"Yes," I assured him honestly, smiling. "I'm good now."

"Amy," he squeezed my hand gently, "I promise I'll never leave you." He pressed his lips to my forehead. "And I'll wait, no matter how long it takes for you to get over that faker."

"I know," I whispered, "and you don't have to be afraid anymore. We both don't."

He gave another faint smile, before looking away. I guessed he was hiding the fact that he was blushing again. It made me want to giggle but I repressed it, not wanting to embarrass him.

"Lets go get you dried off and get some dinner."

"Okay." I held onto his arm as we walked away, the sun slowly peaking out from the clouds.

Maybe the world didn't hate me after all. And Maybe, this would be the birthday I would always remember. Not for the reason I thought before, but for a different reason. It was kind of a good thing, for the whole Sonic ordeal to happen. If it weren't for that, I would have never realized that I was supposed to be with Shadow. Destiny sure was a funny thing…

Happy birthday to me, I thought happily, walking off hand in hand with my new knight in shinning armor.

Well, that's the end of this little oneshot :) I hope you all liked it. Please review! :)