Surprise! I know this isn't the current story most of my readers know me by, but I had this idea a few nights ago and once I got started it was impossible not to finish. So here's a simple little oneshot for anyone who cares to read it. I'm not really sure where this came from, but I hope you enjoy it enough to leave a review. :)

Just real quick: »¤« means change in POV, [] is Amy's text, [] is Shadow's text

Live. Laugh. Love. = Read. Enjoy. Review.

*Disclaimer: Characters are not mine. Story is.

Breathless

Amy frowned as her friend pulled away. "Honestly, Shadow, you can take several fists to the face, but the minute peroxide is involved you flinch like a six year old."

"It was one punch…and the faker was lucky to get that much in." He grumbled, his body tensing as she pressed the cloth to his temple.

She had found him like this not half an hour ago just after receiving Rouge's text about the fight. She had been horrified at the sight of blood trickling into his right eye from where Sonic had landed an impressive left hook, and after an ungodly amount of convincing, Amy had managed to persuade him into heading back to her dorm room so that she could have a better look. Now they were sitting on her sofa, his head in her lap as her hands worked to wipe the blood away. She would have to have a serious talk with Sonic when she got the chance. Shadow was her best friend whether the speedy blue hedgehog was okay with it or not.

"Why are you even with that faker?" His voice interrupted.

Amy refocused her attention, and found herself caught in Shadow's intense crimson gaze. "Look, I know the two of you don't see eye to eye, but he's really not that bad."

"You're too good for him, Rose…he doesn't deserve you."

"That's sweet, Shadow, but in the future, if you could refrain from punching my boyfriend simply because you don't like him, I'd appreciate it."

Shadow sat up and walked away from the sofa, his expression almost incredulous. "You think that's why I hit him?"

Amy averted her eyes. "Well…yeah."

"I hit him," he began, narrowing his gaze, "because he and his friends were talking about you as if you were no more than a piece of meat."

Standing to her feet she approached him, and once again pressed the cloth to the side of his face. "I'm sorry I misjudged you…but he's a guy, what do you expect?"

"I expect him to treat you with respect." He countered before brushing her hand away and turning his back on her. "And I expected you to act as if you did so yourself."

Amy's anger flared instantly. Marching around him, she shoved her finger into his chest. "I do so respect myself!"

Shadow's voice was stern, but the look in his eyes seemed somewhat pained. "Then why do you let him stand you up on almost every other date the two of you have? Why don't you say anything when he shamelessly flirts with other girls despite the fact that you're standing right beside him? And why…" he paused, noticing the tear that had escaped and was now running down her cheek. Wiping the drop away with the back of his hand, Shadow continued, his voice softer. "Why do you put up with him referring to you as anything less than a treasure?"

Any anger she had previously felt seemed to dissipate. In its place she felt her chest tighten as Shadow's words hit their mark. For months now she had tried to ignore Sonic's disregard; she hadn't wanted to accept that her boyfriend no longer cared for her the way that he should. But now, with Shadow holding her by the shoulders and forcing her to face reality, she had no choice but to accept the truth…and boy did it hurt. She felt her friend's grip shift as he pulled her to him, and she immediately melted into his embrace. Instead of breaking down into sobs, however, Amy found herself lifting her face to his; their lips meeting in a mixture of surprise and…something else.

Something wonderful.

At first Shadow seemed as if he would pull away. He probably figured she was emotionally unstable at the moment, and couldn't fully comprehend what she was doing…and he might have been right. But Amy didn't care. Kissing him—she now realized—was something she should have done a long time ago. Thankfully it only took a few more seconds for Shadow to apply pressure of his own. The interaction was warm, tender, and genuine. Everything Sonic wasn't. And even though it ended relatively quickly, it somehow managed to leave them both breathless.

Pulling back, their eyes met, and for the briefest of moments Amy wondered if kissing him was a mistake. They had been best friends since childhood, the last thing she wanted to do was screw it up simply because she had gotten carried away.

"Shadow, I…" Before she could finish, however, another's voice tore through the moment.

"Am I interrupting something?"

Both Amy and Shadow whipped their heads around to see Sonic standing in the doorway, his emerald eyes sharp with accusation. Instinctively Amy approached him, believing that by standing between the two she could prevent any physical confrontation.

"Sonic," she began, desperately hoping he hadn't seen them kiss, "Shadow and I were just talking-"

"Talking?" He rebuffed. "I come into my girlfriend's dorm to find her with another guy and you expect me to believe the two of you were just talking?"

Amy shook her head, struggling to come up with something that would calm him down, but before she got any words out, Shadow scoffed emphatically. Both she and her boyfriend turned to see the black and red hedgehog leaning up against the wall with his arms crossed.

"Sorry to cut in," Shadow began, his expression far from apologetic, "but are you seriously going to make that your argument?"

"Shadow," Amy whispered harshly, "this isn't the time."

He ignored her. "You don't want her even near another guy but it's perfectly okay for you to go around flirting with other girls?"

"The relationship I have with my girlfriend is none of your business." Sonic retorted, grabbing Amy roughly by the arm.

"Sonic…" Amy pleaded, trying her best to hide the fact that his grip was hurting her.

Shadow must have noticed it anyway. "Let her go."

"Come on, Amy, we're leaving." The blue hedgehog commanded, pulling her towards the door.

Amy met Shadow's determined gaze as he advanced towards them. All she could do was mouth the word 'don't' before she and Sonic disappeared beyond the entryway. The last thing she saw was Shadow coming to an abrupt stop; subdued pain and anger etched on his face. Her heart sank. What have I done…?

»¤«

Shadow held the ice to his temple in a vain attempt to keep the damned thing from swelling. He was still miffed about the blows he and that faker had exchanged earlier, not to mention the events that had unfolded afterwards in Amy's dorm room. Now he sat silently in his apartment doing the only thing he seemed to be any good at: brooding.

The way Amy—who had been his best friend for longer than either could remember—allowed that fool of a coward to treat her was beyond him. She deserved better. Yet even after he had told her so, she still decided to leave with her 'boyfriend'—he inwardly scoffed at the word—instead of staying with him. And as if that hadn't been enough to occupy his thoughts for hours, there was always the kiss for him to think about. She had kissed him. And if he were being completely honest with himself, he had kissed her back. The simple interaction turned out to be anything but. Sensations and emotions he'd never known existed suddenly seemed to be suffocating him, much to his discomfort.

He needed to understand. She needed to explain.

The only problem with that had been Amy's refusal to answer or return any of his calls. The notion that a certain blue hedgehog wasn't letting her talk to him had crossed his mind, but the opposite turned out to be true when his phone vibrated on the cushion next to him. With a click the screen lit up, and Shadow read the text.

[Sorry for the missed calls…Sonic and I were doing some serious talking.]

He smirked at her grammatically correct message. It was a quirk he had always admired about her.

[I understand. Anything concerning me?]

After a moment, another message appeared.

[Yeah…I explained how we were just friends, and he said he understood, but he felt that some time away together, with just me and him, would do everyone some good.]

Shadow did his best to ignore the disappointment sinking into his chest.

[You're leaving?]

[Well, seeing as how next week is Spring Break…yes. We'll be flying to the coast; Sonic's parents have a beach house they're going to let us use.]

[Even after everything?]

Her reply took slightly longer this time.

[Yes…even after everything. Just after we left, he apologized to me for his behavior, and…I forgave him. I know you don't think he's good enough for me, but you're my best friend, so please, at least try to understand.]

He scowled; typing his reply with forceful fingers.

[It's because I'm your best friend that I will never understand why you still choose him…and not me.]

His thumb hovered over the Send button. With an aggravated sigh he erased the message and typed out a new one.

[Rose, I don't think I'll ever understand.]

[I'm sorry, then. Our flight leaves in half an hour, so I guess this is goodbye…at least for a little while.]

Shadow thought carefully over how to word his next message, but finally decided to go with the most direct approach.

[The kiss…did it mean anything?]

[I think it's best if it didn't. We'd both be better off forgetting that it ever happened…it would make things easier.]

His eyes narrowed; rereading the message just to be sure he had interpreted it correctly. He had. Her message was clear, but, to him, inaccurate.

He didn't give a damn about what was best or easiest. Besides she had never outright said that it had meant nothing to her. It sure as hell meant something to him. Shadow paused as the throbbing in his head picked up again. Placing the ice pack—which he hadn't even remembered putting down—back against his temple, he closed his eyes and simply tried to breathe. This was Amy's decision, even if he felt it was the wrong one. To him she was making a mistake, one he worried would only hurt her in the end, but maybe it was a mistake she needed to make. Regardless, he'd always be there for her. After all, he thought somewhat bitterly, what else are friends for?

[Have a safe trip, Rose. I'll be here when you get back.]

Sending the message he pocketed his phone and tossed the ice pack to an adjacent chair. He wanted nothing more than to forget this day had ever happened, and for the next forty-five minutes he tried to drown out his thoughts in any way possible; watching TV, working on his motorcycle, finishing some school work that wasn't even due for a few more weeks. It was all pointless. His every action eventually led to thoughts of her.

Finally at a loss of what else to do, and frustrated with his own inability to successfully deal with the situation, Shadow decided to head out and hopefully find someone who was just as eager for a fight as he was. Rose isn't the only one who can make poor decisions on purpose.

Grabbing his jacket and keys, Shadow strode towards the door and jerked it open, only to stop short; surprise evident in his voice.

"Amy…?"

»¤«

"Hey, Shadow…" she began awkwardly, her words sounding fumbled even to her own ears.

The black and red hedgehog only stared at her, as if not fully believing she was actually there. Seeing as how he was still recovering from his initial shock, Amy decided to speak instead.

"Are…were you…going somewhere?" She asked, eyeing the jacket and keys in his hand.

He glanced down. "I…no, I was just...would you like to come in?"

If it weren't for the sheer amount of discomfort she felt at being there, Amy would have openly laughed at their scattered speech. Instead she gave a clumsy smile and thanked him.

He stepped aside, and she filed in. Hearing the door close behind her, Amy looked around and drank in the familiarity of Shadow's apartment. She had always found his neatness refreshing since her own place was a mess more often than not. Rubbing her arm just to have something to do, she stood silently as Shadow came up beside her, seemingly at a loss as well.

Finally, just as the silence had become short of unbearable, Amy turned towards him, her mouth open and ready to speak, but he beat her to it.

"What are you doing here?"

Avoiding his gaze, she tried to figure out how best to answer him. His voice held no hostility, just genuine interest. So, ingeniously, she went with the first thing that popped into her head. "Well, I'm obviously not on a plane headed for the coast."

"Obviously." He repeated, his expression unsure.

Amy laughed self-consciously. She had spent the entire drive there deciding on what she would say to him, but all that had gone up in smoke the minute he opened the door. Now they were facing each other like a couple of awkward teenagers at prom. Amy sighed. This is ridiculous.

"I broke up with Sonic." She blurted, her eyes flickering up to catch his reaction.

Aside from his regular look of indifference, he seemed altogether relieved by her revelation. When his expression grew expectant, Amy elaborated.

"He saw your text-not the one about the kiss," she clarified, perhaps a bit too quickly, "the one that said you'd be there when I got back. He said he'd had enough, and that he wanted me to end our friendship permanently."

"And you told him no?"

Amy tilted her head. "I told him sure, if he could just have someone give me a call as soon as hell froze over."

Shadow smiled, and Amy felt her heart do all sorts of flips. In spite of the light hearted moment, however, the pain of her recent break-up still managed to edge its way into her thoughts. She hadn't planned on staying anyways, but a part of her didn't want to leave only to drive back to her empty dorm room and sulk. Shadow must have noticed her shift in emotions.

"Are you alright?"

The apprehension in his voice only tightened the knot that had quickly formed in her throat. She nodded, forcing a smile even though her eyes were already tearing up. "I should go…I just wanted to stop by and make sure we were still okay." Pausing, she risked a glance in his direction. "We are still okay…right?"

Shadow nodded absently, clearly more concerned with what she wasn't telling him. "Rose, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." She insisted, turning away from him and reaching for the door.

As soon as it clicked open, Shadow's hand settled on top of hers, keeping her from pulling the knob any further. Amy hesitated, holding her breath in the hopes that her heart would stop racing. His hand was warm, she noticed, and as if in response to both his nearness and his touch, Amy felt a similar heat wash through her; melting away at her defenses. When he spoke, what remained of her resolve was quick to follow suit.

"Please…don't go."

A tear escaped and she let out a shaky breath, turning her eyes towards him with uncertainty. His face seemed a reflection of her own; although his was obviously absent of any tears. Still, they both seemed to struggle with where to go from here. Without much thought, Amy let the words spill out.

"It didn't mean nothing."

At his noticeable confusion, she continued.

"The kiss…it didn't mean nothing. It meant…everything."

He only stared, and Amy faltered.

"Didn't it…?"

His lack of response was painfully unnerving. Why wasn't he saying anything? She watched as his expression shifted from one unidentifiable emotion to another, and just when she was about to turn away and make an embarrassing escape, he kissed her.

His lips caught hers and it was all she could do to keep from falling over. But the shock didn't last long. Amy found herself reaching for him with her free hand; the other still firmly beneath his on the door knob. She felt him tug at her waist, bringing them flush together, and although she had never known a kiss to be so inviting, Amy forced herself to pull away; not only to regain her breath, but to search his crimson gaze for some kind of reassurance.

"What are we doing?" She asked, her words barely above a whisper.

Shadow stroked her cheek with his thumb. "Picking up where we left off."

Amy smiled and turned to wrap both arms around his neck. Her back pressed up against the door, shutting it closed with a definitive click. No one would steal their moment from them…not this time.

I'm glad I got that out of my system. Now I can go back to working on my other stuff. But it was fun to say the least, and I'd love to hear what you beautiful readers have to say. ^^

And who knows, maybe I'll find the time to do something else like this. :D

-AuthorAnomalous