Sleeping in the same bed as someone else felt nice.

You felt... safe. It wasn't that you felt romantic feelings towards Sonic. You just wanted that feeling of comfort.

He came by every now and again, and always snuck into your bed, but was gone by the morning, or back to the couch, leaving it to be a secret only you two had.

You were sat outside, it being a lovely day as per usual, and you didn't want to waste any of it, so when Amy asked you to go out, you took the chance.

You wished you hadn't.

During your trip out, everything seemed fine. Eggman had attacked the day before, and probably wouldn't be attacking that day, and so, everyone was in good spirits, and as were you.

At least... until you saw them.

They didn't stand out at all, but to you, they did.

A family of three, which really shouldn't have made you feel as you did.

Alas, there you were, frozen in place.

You felt extreme anxiety, and you weren't sure why.

There was only one thing on your mind.

Get out of there.

"Y/N!" You heard that familiar name to you, one you had practically forgotten during your stay with Sonic and his friends, but now, it hit you like a brick to the face.

The family of three approached you, obviously hostile.

Unfortunately, Amy had entered a store, and likely wouldn't be out any time soon. Worst timing...

You stared in shock at the family as they came close, before the woman, whom you assumed to be the mother, slapped you, and rather viciously so.

The slap rang in your mind, being so powerful it almost brought you to the ground.

You were speechless.

Who was this family, and why did they hate you so much?

"Do you know how much trouble you caused for us?! Running away like that, you made us look bad!" The mother practically screamed, and you cowered in fear.

Whoever this woman was, she wasn't afraid to use violence.

"You'd better come back and explain the situation!" The woman grabbed your wrist much too tightly for your liking, and began dragging you away. With the place basically being deserted right now, there was no one to help.

Fat tears streamed from your eyes, terrified for whatever was going to happen.

Who were these people-...

Wait.

Your eyes widened. Something similar had happened before.

You knew it.

You remember being cold.

Darkness.

The only light coming from underneath the door, hearing the laughs of your 'family', who you never considered to be anything close to that.

You hated them.

They'd brought you in as a foster child, for the financial benefits.

No one cared about you.

Even though there were signs, they were ignored.

You always had to beg for your food, and even then, you only received scraps.

'Useless', they called you.

'Worse than trash'. 'You're lucky you even have a roof over your head'.

'You're nothing but a burden'.

You remembered it all. How you'd run away, surviving on the streets for a while.

At least... until Shadow found you.

He was initially reluctant, but had taken you in, given you food, and took care of you.

Loved you.

With a knot in your throat, you hit the woman's wrist as hard as you could, and made a run for it.

You needed to find him...!

Tears obscured your vision, but you kept going.

You wanted to run into the forest, to find him.

Beg for forgiveness.

But before you could reach it, you felt a hand around your wrist.

You screamed and fought, however when you heard that familiar voice, you instantly calmed down.

"Woah, woah, I'm not going to hurt you." Said Sonic, hoping to calm you down.

You stared at him with wide eyes that were filled with tears, before throwing yourself into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

You couldn't speak from the terror that had been coursing through your veins, still affected by it.

Sonic took you back to his shack, a hand on your back all the while, hoping to comfort you, even if slightly.

You sat on his couch, with a blanket around you, shivering.

You weren't cold or anything, but you still trembled.

He sat beside you, gently patting your back as you slowly calmed down.

Urging you to take deep breaths, you did, until you were calm enough to speak.

"What's up, Bun? You looked like you'd seen something horrible." He spoke softly, so as to not scare you, something which you greatly appreciated.

Wiping away a tear, you spoke.

"Some... bad people from my past. I... I remember everything. Everything..." This should've been good news, but the whole 'bad people from my past' thing bothered him.

What exactly had you gone through?

You started crying again, and Sonic held you close, letting you get all your emotions out. It was the least he could do.

You explained the situation to him. How you'd lost your parents, was put into a foster family, the mistreatment you suffered under them, and how you subsequently ran away, surviving on the streets for a while.

You were tired of crying uncontrollably, so did your best to hold back the sobs, only letting tears escape.

"Oh man, Bun, I'm so sorry. I had no idea that all happened." Sonic said, once you'd finished telling your story.

You wiped away a tear.

"It's fine..." You sniffled.

"You couldn't have known." Leaning against him for comfort, something which Sonic welcomed, you rested on him, whilst staring at nothing in particular.

You felt a bit better.

You just prayed those people would stay away, forever.

Your cheek stung.

You kept touching it, though you were quick to wince and pull your hand away.

It was slightly swollen, and very red, though it would go away with time.

You just didn't want to explain anything to anyone...

Though, you didn't need to. With your permission, Sonic explained the situation to the others, who were, naturally, horrified.

You could hear them outside the shack.

They'd been told to 'act normal', and that lasted about... a minute?

Knuckles was the first to crack, embracing you tightly, and the others followed suit shortly thereafter.

You actually didn't mind them being around you like this. The atmosphere before had been weird, so this was a welcome change.

"I'm so sorry for dragging you out that day!" Amy profusely apologised, obviously feeling awful about the situation.

"It's fine, really. You had no idea. And neither did I." Sending them a smile, you winced from the pain of your cheek, and in response, Amy quickly got an ice pack for you.

Sonic hadn't thought of it, though you weren't sure why. He seemed... angry?

Not at you, he treated you largely the same.

But something was just... off.

"I'll be fine." Somehow, they didn't believe you all that much. What, with your red, swollen eyes and puffy cheek, you certainly didn't look like you'd be fine.

A new rule had been set in place. There'd be no leaving you alone, in case those... people came back.

You felt a bit bad, as they were basically forcing themselves to babysit you, but when you tried to protest, you received... pets?

And that quickly shut you up.

"Alright, then it's decided." Said Sonic, and you wondered what life would be like now.

Several days of this passed, and to your surprise, you didn't find yourself tired of it.

It was... nice, having company.

Today was Sonic's turn.

The two of you were walking alongside the beach, casually chatting away, and you'd largely returned to normal.

At least, until you saw them again.

In the distance, they were approaching.

You froze, feeling the words 'get out of here' ringing in your mind, but you couldn't move.

The woman that had slapped you was in the front, and was raising her hand to do it again, when you shut your eyes, wanting to block everything out.

A slap never came.

Slowly, you peeked open your eye, and Sonic had grabbed the woman's wrist, perhaps a bit tighter than he intended.

"There'll be none of that." He said, almost throwing her arm away.

You stared at him with shock, but didn't dare to look at those who had mistreated you, keeping your head down.

"This is none of your concern! We treated her like a daughter, and this is the treatment we get?!" The woman yelled at the top of her lungs, honestly terrifying you.

"If by 'treated her like a daughter' you mean 'horribly abused and neglected her', then I guess yeah." Mocked Sonic, gently urging you to get behind him.

"What?! What sort of lies has she filled you with?! Y/N, you know we loved you. You were a difficult child, but we still loved you." Tears began to fill your eyes and you held your long ears, gripping them tightly.

"Get out of here, before I call the authorities." Sonic threatened, though they didn't seem that intimidated.

"Not until Y/N is going back with us!" Stop saying my name...!

You saw her reach out for you, this time to grab you and take you back to whatever hellhole you'd lived in before, when you saw a familiar dark red ball quickly approach, slapping away the woman's hand.

Shadow...!

"Pathetic." He snarled to Sonic, and grabbed a tight hold of the woman's dress collar, bringing her to her knees, though he kept her 'standing' with how strong his grip was.

"Authorities... don't make me laugh." He mocked, glaring into the woman's eyes as he spoke, though his words were clearly directed at Sonic.

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Sneered Sonic, causing Shadow to laugh, perhaps a bit more darkly than liked.

"Isn't it obvious?" He asked, getting closer to your abuser.

"I'm going to tear them limb from limb, then feed them to the sharks." You shivered.

But... you couldn't just let them die.

Then you'd be no better than them.

Slowly, you reached out to Shadow, and he turned his head upon feeling your hand on his arm.

"Don't kill them..." You begged, initially looking down, though you eventually got the courage to look into his eyes.

He was beyond furious. Though thankfully, not at you.

"Why should I? They deserve nothing less than death." He snarled, turning back to the woman in his grip.

"Just... let them go." It was clear he was reluctant.

He'd dreamed of this moment since he became fond of you, wanting to take away your fears and worries.

This family was the source of most of that, so why not just erase them from existence?

"... Fine." He threw the woman to the sand, and the three soon ran off, tails between their legs.

Shadow was just about to leave, when you reached out for him again, your hand gingerly touching his back,

"Shadow, I..." To your surprise, he turned himself around, willing to listen to what you had to say.

"I remember everything. And... I want to thank you. If you never want to see me again, I understand, but..." You began crying, not wanting to lose Shadow again.

"I would really love to see you again." You said through thick tears and hiccups.

Shadow was silent.

You almost expected him to teleport away, but he didn't.

Rather, he wiped a tear away, and cupped your chin, urging you to look up at him.

"I think we can reach a compromise." You tilted your head to the side, wondering what he could mean.

You watched as the new house was being built, a smile on your lips.

You'd live close to Amy, rather than with her, it being one of Shadow's demands.

As he'd said, he 'wanted you to himself'.

It made your cheeks redden.

With the help of your friends, you'd managed to get your ex-'family' off the foster care list, and their reputation was ruined, with the abuse coming to light. You hated you couldn't keep it entirely private, but they needed to be dealt with.

Without killing them.

"Oh! Please put that over here." You said to a mover, who swiftly put down the couch, and you were honestly in awe.

They had so much strength!

But in order to move things, you supposed they had to.

Boxes filled your living room, filled with your various things from the cabin, as well as some new things your friends had helped you pick out.

You were excited. No more hiding away in the forest.

This was the beginning of your new life.

Shadow and Sonic were currently over at your place, though you could sense the awkward atmosphere from a mile away.

Shadow still disliked Sonic, but he was dealing with it for your sake.

You brought out snacks, mainly for you and Sonic, Shadow not that big of a fan of eating, before sitting yourself down between them, in an attempt to avoid conflict.

"Y/N, do you remember how you lost your memory?" Asked Shadow, a few minutes into the TV show you were watching.

"Hm? Oh... I remember walking through the forest, to find any wild berries. Then this huge explosion, and something flying towards me." Shadow seemed to think this over, before slowly turning to Sonic, who seemed to be awkwardly looking away.

"Do you have anything to do with this, blue boy." He snarled, and Sonic rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, we might've been fighting Eggman out in that forest, and uh... caused an explosion?" He said awkwardly.

"And for that, you shall perish." You put a hand on Shadow's chest, urging him to look down at you with softened eyes, and you smiled.

"Hey, it's not all bad! Look at us now. We're friends!" Shadow scoffed, his arms crossed, still finding the idea of 'friends' pathetic, but hey, you were on the right track.

They could be in the same room without Shadow trying to kill Sonic.

You laughed, a bright smile on your lips, and honestly? You were glad you'd lost your memory that day.

Sure, it'd been a rollercoaster, but it was one you didn't regret experiencing.

You just wondered what life had in store for you now.

And you were excited to find out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Conclusion? Maybe?
At least, I can't think of anything more to write 😂
Is there anything you'd like to see from me?
I have nothing but time on my hands, so I can write!
I thoroughly enjoy it, so yeah!
I'm writing a Mephiles/Reader story, if you're interested in him?
It's only got an intro right now, but I'm working on the first chapter.
But if not, I'll see to it to write more Shadow/Reader!
Thank you so much for reading! ♥