Note: Hi peeps! As well as updating 'Sakura Bloom', I decided to post this little thing up that I wrote for Christmas.

Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic or any other related characters.

Anyway, please enjoy!

Why he was here, he had no idea. Never in his life did he ever think about going. Especially with him. Where that idiot had gotten the idea in the first place was far beyond him. And despite the fact that he didn't want even want to be there, he found himself being dragged along by that obnoxious hedgehog. 'It'll be great fun' he had told him. 'And with everyone else there, the fun will be...times however many people who wanted to come along'. But what about those who didn't want to come along? Where were they at, and why did he still have to come along even though he didn't want to? If it weren't for that strange feeling he kept getting in his stomach recently, he would have killed the stupid faker centuries ago. It was that strange feeling that touched him only the slightest bit when he was with Maria. But why did it seem stronger around that stupid blue hedgehog?

"Do you do anything but frown?"

He looked up at the one he had just been thinking about. He was staring at; his emerald caused that feeling in his stomach to suddenly jump. "What's it to you?" he replied, closing his eyes and turning away from the one he caused that feeling inside of his stomach to grow the more time he spent with him.

"Well if you keep frowning like that then it'll probably make the others feel uneasy. Can't you smile at least for the kids, Shads?"

'Shads' opened his eyes and scowled at his rival. "Stop calling me that, faker!" he spat.

"Well don't call me faker," the emerald eyed teen replied, grabbing a hold of the other's wrist once again and began dragging him up the stair. He turned around to face Shadow again. "Aren't you cold?"

"I'm the Ultimate Lifeform."

"Oh yeah, I keep forgetting."

Shadow yet again scowled at the sarcasm in his counterpart's voice. "Aren't you cold," he asked, catching Sonic by surprise.

The blue hedgehog smirked. "I didn't think you'd care."

Sonic was expecting a smart comeback from the ruby eyed hedgehog, but was surprised when Shadow turned away, a slight blush on his muzzle. "I-It's only because you're clearly mortal. Mortals get cold easy."

The blue blur eyed his counterpart before he began heading up the stairs yet again. He sighed when he finally saw a door at the top of these long stairs. When he reached the door, he turned back to Shadow. "Just don't ruin it for the kids," he said.

"So what if they piss themselves because their scared of me," Shadow scoffed, closing his eyes and turning his head in the opposite direction. He soon found himself being pulled foreword through the door. When he opened his eyes, he noticed that just about everything was white. The room seemed bigger than one of Eggman's fortresses. There were a couple of snack bars and vending machines scattered around the outskirts as well as doors that clearly stated that restrooms were behind them. In the very centre of the room was reason why Sonic had dragged him there in the first place. A large ice-rink was filled with humans and animals, all seeming to get along well. Shadow felt a tug at his wrist and soon found himself being dragged towards a table where a fox, echidna, pink hedgehog, and a bat were all sat.

"Hey guys!" Sonic greeted, pulling Shadow next to him before letting go.

"Is Shadow stood next to you, or do I need glasses?" the red echidna, Knuckles, asked.

Shadow only 'hmphed' and folded his arms.

"SONIC!" the pink hedgehog, known as Amy, squealed, getting up and clinging to Sonic's arm. "I'm so glad you could make it! We're gonna have such a wonderful time!"

"It's nice to see you too," Sonic replied nervously. Despite the fact that this girl was madly in love with him and he wasn't, Sonic just couldn't bring himself to break the girl's heart.

The fox, Tails, handed Sonic a pair of ice skates. "I think they're your size," he said. "I wasn't sure since you weren't here when I got them."

"Thanks, little bro. Did you get a pair for Shadow?"

"Yep!"

"Well take them back," Shadow butted in before the yellow fox could go get them.

"Huh? Aren't you gonna skate with us, Shadow?"

"Maybe he's just too chicken," suggested the white bat, Rouge. After all, he was on the ARK for the first few years after he was born, then he was put asleep for fifty years. And after that Eggman woke him up so that he could destroy the world. And I don't remember at any time during our partnership a time when Eggman took us ice skating."

All eyes were now on Shadow. He was about to tell everyone to go shove a pineapple up their anuses when he was interrupted by Sonic sighing.

"Well, looks like you're gonna be missing out on the fun," he said. A realization suddenly came to him. "Hey, aren't Cream and Cheese coming?"

"The poor kid caught rather nasty cold and had to stay home," replied Knuckles, throwing his empty cup that once had a hot drink in it in the trashcan that was conveniently placed nearby. "That was convenient."

"So it's just gonna be us, minus Shadow since he can't skate."

"I can skate! Why else do you think my feet are always moving swiftly above ground?" Shadow snapped.

"Skating on air is completely different from skating on ice."

"Oh piss off."

Sonic sighed in defeat. "Anyway, while Shadow sits here and mopes, why don't we check out the ice?"

Everyone nodded and put on the ice skates before heading out to the rink. Shadow sat down where his friends were just sat moments ago. The truth was he couldn't ice skate and he didn't intend on learning. And if he did learn, then it would probably mean spending more time with those idiots. His gaze shifted to the ice rink upon hearing Sonic's voice saying 'ouch'. He saw the blue hedgehog on his backside, Knuckles was close by pointing and laughing. That was another thing about ice skating. If you slipped you would be publicly humiliated, something Shadow couldn't risk doing.

Shadow hadn't noticed but he was still staring at his blue counterpart. He did notice though when Sonic smiled sheepishly at him. Yet again, a blush rose on the ebony hedgehog's muzzle and he quickly turned away, earning in a confused look from Sonic before he got up and continued skating.

He couldn't deny it any longer. Shadow was bored. He sat at the table, flicking a straw this way and that. He had only been here for, what? An hour? He sighed then noticed Rouge pass him. She smiled at him that devilish smile she would smile whenever she was plotting something. Shadow only frowned at her, wishing that she would go away.

"Getting bored yet, hun?" she asked, sitting down next to him.

"No, and don't call me 'hun'!" he replied.

"Would you prefer it if I called you 'Shads'?"

The ebony hedgehog frowned at hearing someone other than Sonic call him by that nickname. Wait, why should he care if someone else was using that nickname? It's not like it belonged to the azure hedgehog.

"You know Shads, everyone's having a great time out there, especially when Sonic falls over, that makes it all the while."

'Why won't she go away?' Shadow asked inwardly, his eyes closed and his face resting in the palm of his right hand.

"If only you admitted that you can't skate. Then we could teach you and it will be even more fun."

"And laugh at me falling over all the time?"

'Bingo!' Rouge smirked at the ruby eyed hedgehog. "So you can't skate after all."

"I never said that! Ice skating is just a waste of time."

Rouge sighed before getting up out of her seat. "Well, I should be going. I have an appointment with a jewel shop to go to. Ta ta," she announced before walking away, her ice skates in her hands.

Shadow watched as more people began leaving the ice rink. Soon he noticed that only Sonic was left. The blue hedgehog began heading over to him, causing his counterpart to close his eyes, knowing what was going to happen next.

"Hey Shads. Aren't you lonely?" Sonic asked.

"When you've been asleep for fifty years the feeling called loneliness fades away," Shadow said coldly.

"You know, there's no one else here. If you want me to teach you to skate then at least there would be no one around to laugh at you."

"No thanks."

Sonic frowned. "Come on, Shadow! If I teach you now then next time we all come here then you won't have to sit here doing nothing."

Shadow tried to make his frown deeper, but that familiar feeling in his stomach wouldn't let him and instead made him nod his head. Sonic smiled, grabbing Shadow by his wrists and pulling him up. He dragged Shadow along to where the skates were.

"You're expecting me to wear something that someone else has already put their sweaty feet into?" spat the dark hedgehog, sounding like a spoiled little brat.

"Well if you already knew how to skate then you'd have a pair of your own!" replied Sonic, grabbing a pair that looked like the right size before handing them to Shadow. "Put these on so we can get started on your lessons."

Shadow frowned, not liking the fact that he was being ordered to do something by someone again. As soon as Shadow's feet touched the ice, he found himself grabbing onto the sides so he didn't fall on his rear end. He frowned when he heard Sonic's laughter. The blue blur appeared in front of him seconds later holding out his hand.

"Take my hand," he said.

"WHAT!?" cried Shadow.

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Do you wanna learn or not?"

Shadow slowly nodded.

"Then take my hand."

The ebony hedgehog, slightly hesitating, took a hold of his rival's hand. He let go of the side but ended up grabbing Sonic's arm to help him keep balance. Sonic chuckled.

"I didn't know you were that eager."

"Just shut up and teach me!" spat Shadow, blushing slightly and taking his hand off of Sonic's arm, the other tightly secure in his rival's hand. For the next half an hour, Sonic slowly lead Shadow around the ice rink a couple of times, allowing the ebony hedgehog to get use to going about on the ice. He slowly began to understand how ice skating worked and soon found himself letting go of Sonic's hand. That feeling came back to him in his stomach as he did so, as if it were telling him he shouldn't have let go. Shadow put it aside as he found himself skating around the rink by himself. He could hear Sonic cheering him on, making him feel a little more confident each time he did.

The realization suddenly came to him that Sonic hadn't taught him how to stop when he found himself heading straight in Sonic's direction. The two collided and ended up on the floor, Shadow atop of Sonic. Both hedgehogs blushed and Shadow instantly got up, muttering a sorry as Sonic also got up.

Shadow sat in front of the warm fire, even though he didn't really need to. Sonic sat next to him with a blanket around him. Even though Shadow and Sonic weren't classed as best friends, Shadow had come accustom to living with the azure hedgehog and yellow fox who was currently in his workshop.

Sonic turned to Shadow. "Aren't you cold?" he asked.

"We already had this conversation, faker," replied Shadow, drinking from a mug of coffee that was in his hands.

"Yeah, yeah. Ultimate Lifeform, blah blah blah."

Shadow frowned at a certain spot on the carpet. "Hey, about what happened at the ice rink today..."

"Oh don't mention it. I'm a natural at teaching."

Shadow sighed. Was Sonic really so dumb as to forget the event that had taken place right before they had left? It seemed so. He couldn't help but let out a small chuckle.

Sonic instantly became curious. "What's so funny?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing."

Sonic frowned, mimicking Shadow's usual expression before looking back into the roaring fire. "You know, the weather said that we're getting snow tonight. It's gonna be pretty cold."

"I don't feel sudden temperature changes like you do."

The azure hedgehog smirked. He nudged Shadow's arm, causing the ebony hedgehog to spill his coffee on him.

"AH! What the? That hurt like hell!"

"But you said it yourself Shadow, you don't feel sudden temperature changes such as me."

Shadow scowled at Sonic before getting up and heading to the kitchen to get a paper towel. At least none of the coffee had gone on the white tuff of fur on his chest, then he'd probably need to shower. He frowned when he felt another presence in the room.

"Hey, um Shads, sorry about what I did just then. It was pretty stupid of me," came Sonic's voice.

As much as Shadow wanted to yell, he couldn't. The feeling in his stomach suddenly grew, causing him to feel dizzy. He placed a hand on his forehead and squinted as his eye sight had gone a little blurry. What the hell was going on?

"Shadow! Are you okay?" cried Sonic, rushing to the ebony hedgehog, only to have a hand slap his away.

"I'm...fine," he said through gritted teeth. "God dam it! Why the hell won't that stupid feeling I get in my stomach go away! Why can't it just piss off and leave me!" he suddenly cried. His voice then got a little quieter as he fell to his knees. "How did you make me love you so much, Sonic?"

Sonic's eyes widened. What did Shadow just say? He gently placed a hand on the ebony hedgehog's shoulder. "Say that last part again," he said softly.

Just as Shadow was about to do as asked, his eyes widened in shock. 'Did I just...Did I just say it? No! I refuse to believe it!' Shadow was suddenly struck with a great deal of dizziness, causing him to fall unconscious.

Sonic cried out to him as he saw those ruby eyes of his counterpart be closed away by dark eyelids and his body slowly go limp on the floor. Sonic slowly picked Shadow up and headed for the ebony hedgehog's bedroom. After pulling the covers up on Shadow, he headed to the light switch, turning the light off. He turned back to Shadow.

"How did you make me love you so much?"

"I love you, Shadow the Hedgehog..."

Slowly, and quietly, Sonic closed the door to Shadow's bedroom. Inside of the room, Shadow lay on his side, a satisfied look on his face as he slept. "I love you too, Sonic...the Hedgehog..." he said softly as his mind wondered in dream land.

Whoot! Finally finished it! Anyway, sorry if it's a little cheesy and all but I was tired while I wrote this.

Sonic: Aw, Shadow, that's so sweet.

Shadow: What is?

Sonic: You had a breakdown because of me.

Shadow: If you mean mental breakdown from heaving to deal with you all the time then yes, I had a breakdown.

Sonic: (whispers to authoress) He can be so shy at times.

I know what you mean, Sonic. Anyway, reviews are welcome, and would you two love birds like to do the honor?

Shadow: Merry Christmas to everyone out there.

Sonic: And have a Happy Sonadow New Year!