[My headcanon: Shadow either has no sugar at all in his coffee or enough sugar to give one heart disease XD]

 Shadow rubbed his eyes tiredly as he listened to his coffee machine make his favorite substance to ever exist. Coffee started out as something that helped him get through his day, but then it turned into an obsession- something he absolutely needed in his life. His nose twitched, the pleasant sent filling the air and waking him up almost immediately. His tail wagged slowly in growing happiness as the coffee was finally finished; almost immediately, he poured his cup and took a sip without any sugar. He sighed happily before taking out plenty of creamers and sugar and adding it all into the cup. Nothing was better than consuming a lot of sugar and not being able to die from it.

Sipping it again, he smiled happily and hugged the cup close to him, treasuring the warmth that came from it. That warmth immediately left, though, as quick, short banging noises were heard from his door. Someone was knocking.

He groaned as he walked towards the door to his apartment, coffee still in hand, and opened it. There stood a blue hedgehog with beaming emerald eyes and a soft peach chest. Shadow's surprised face turned instinctively to a glare. "Why are you here?"

Sonic's smile stayed despite the glare. "Hey, Shads!"

Shadow's heart fluttered at the nickname, but kept his cold exterior.  "You didn't answer my question. And I told you to stop calling me that!"

Sonic just chuckled. "Whatever you say, Shadow. Anyways, I wanted to invite you to this party that Tails and I are having."

"Party? Why would you invite me, then?"

"Well, it's not necessarily a party..." Sonic rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "It's just me, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and Rouge. And I wanted to invite you because I thought it'd be nice to get to know you better."

Shadow raised an eyebrow, forcing a blush down. "You want to get to know me?"

"Well, yeah! We race every week, but I don't really know much about you...." Sonic smiled gently, and Shadow had to look away because he couldn't keep away the heat rising to his face. Sonic noticed this. "Shadow? Are you okay?"

Shadow quickly crossed his arms. "I'm fine."

Sonic tilted his head slightly in curiosity, but otherwise went on as if nothing happened. "So will you come?"

Shadow closed his eyes for a second, as if in thought. Then, he opened them and looked back to his secret crush. "Fine."

An emotion equivalent to excitement and surprise seemed to consume Sonic as he instinctively jumped up and down like a little kid and hugged Shadow tightly. "Thanks, Shadow!"

Shadow didn't dare say anything or else he would've stuttered. His face was tinted red; he knew it was. Being in Sonic's arms felt so... right. His hold was actually really comfortable, and Shadow felt safe. Sadly, as soon as Sonic noticed what he was doing, he let go. "Sorry, Shadow!"

Shadow just stayed silent, staring off into space. Sonic waved his hand in front of his face. "Shadow? You okay?"

He blinked and shook his head, coming back to reality. "I'm fine, Faker."

Sonic chuckled, and happy grin settling on his face. "Whatever you say, Shads. Hey, what's that in your hand?"

Shadow looked to where the blue hero was pointing, finding his dark blue mug, still filled with his liquid obsession. "Coffee. Why do you ask?"

"Really? It smells really sweet. I thought it was, like, melted candy or something."

"Now why would I have melted candy in a mug?" 'And why haven't I thought of melting candy before?' The dark hedgehog added in his mind. He really did love sweet things.

Sonic shrugged. "I dunno. That's just what it smells like."

Shadow took a sip of the delectable day starter before absentmindedly commenting, "It's filled with over five cups of sugar and over six creamers, so I presume that you are smelling that rather than the coffee itself."

"Woah..." Sonic looked amazed. "That's a lot of sugar. Aren't you worried about having too much sweets, though? You could die...."

"I'll have you know that I can't die from any diseases or anything else caused by too much sure. I was created with a resistance to all of that."

"So you can have as much sugar as you want?"

"Yes. That is the only reason I consume so much sugary things."

"You just do it out of spite?"

"Wouldn't you?"

Sonic paused for a moment before bursting out laughing. "You got me there."

A warm feeling tingled inside Shadow's chest because he knew that he was the one to make the blue furred one laugh. He aloud the smallest of smiles to appear on his muzzle as Sonic calmed down.

"We should just talk more like this." Sonic smiled. "It's nice."

Shadow felt a blush rise to his cheeks as he nodded his agreement. "Yes, we should."

"So, uh, the party is this Saturday, and you can come at anytime you'd like." Sonic rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I, uh, hope to see you there."

Shadow simply nodded. "Yes. Goodbye."

"See ya later, Shads!" Sonic smiled as Shadow closed the door.

He took a deep breath, leaning against the door for support for his wobbly legs. They had never had a talk like that, and he felt like he was going to melt. Especially when he laughed; it was such a pleasant thing to hear.

His thoughts were interrupted yet again by the music coming from the phone that he hardly ever used. Someone was calling him. He sighed, setting his now cold coffee mug down before answering. "Hello?"

"Party time!" The ever so cheerful voice of Amy sung through the other end.

"How did you..." Shadow cut off his question in realization. "You told him to invite me, didn't you?"

The younger one giggled. "It wasn't my idea to invite you; Sonic wanted to. I just gave him that extra push to do so."

Shadow sighed. "Amy...."

"I mean it! He was talking about how he wanted to invite you, but he didn't know if you'd accept. If he knew the real you, then he wouldn't need to worry about that." Amy pouted.

"If he knew the real me, then he would think I'm some sort if pansy."

"But that's who you are."

"Yes, but I'm a very dignified pansy." Shadow blushed. "Plus, Sonic wouldn't like me."

"Oh, please. Sonic would like you no matter what! He's a kind person who understands people for who they are."

Shadow just sighed, looking away. "Amy.... I... I have to go. I'll call you after I get off work."

"Okay, Shadow.... Goodbye."

"Bye." Shadow hung up and sighed. Amy always would do this, but he just couldn't tell Sonic anything about who he really is; he was... afraid.

That doesn't sound like the ultimate lifeform.

Shadow looked towards the door, his conversation with Sonic going through his mind. He took a deep breath before making sure that he was ready to go to G.U.N. When he made sure he was ready, he stepped outside and ran towards the one place he hated being more than anywhere else.

Not even Sonic could save him from that horrible place....