Sonic left soon after breakfast, and Shadow soon found himself getting ready for the girls. There wasn't much to do besides shower, so Shadow soon found himself sinking into his couch, daydreaming about the blue blur himself. He sighed happily as he recalled their conversation; Sonic wanted to get to know him, he really did!

He froze, remembering that he was hiding who he actually was.

He groaned into his throw pillow, silently cursing himself for ever falling for his blue furred friend. He didn't think he could handle Sonic finding out his true personality; he had to keep hiding it! But with Sonic wanting to know more about him, how could he possibly achieve this.

As he was sulking, a knock came to his door. "Shadow? It's Amy! Open up!"

He simply groaned in response.

"Oh, don't you dare take that tone with me, mister! Today's our shopping day, and we can't keep Rouge and Cream waiting!" She knocked on the door harder. Shadow groaned again and stood up, walking to his door and opening it to see Amy.

"Can't I sulk in peace?"

"You promised Cream you'd go, and you wouldn't want to disappoint her, would you?" She put her hands on her hips with a fake pout.

"Stop using the kid to guilt trip me." He replied, letting her in.

"But it's so effective!" She giggled. Shadow rolled his eyes as Amy walked in. “So, why are you sulking? Besides your usual reasons, of course.”

Shadow sat down and groaned. “Sonic wants to get to know me better and I accepted….”

“That’s great!”

“No, it’s not. If he sees how I really act, he’ll never want to see me again.” Shadow curled up on the couch.

“Oh, please.” Amy put her hands on her hips. “He’d definitely still talk to you! I think you’re underestimating him, Shadow!”

“I have to keep lying…. I have to push him away….” Shadow looked down to his knees. “Sonic doesn’t like liars….”

“Do you really want him to fall in love with this facade?”

“He wouldn’t fall in love with the real me….”

Amy frowned, knowing that Shadow wouldn’t move that mindset until he was proven wrong. She huffed, dragging Shadow to his feet. “Come on, then. Rouge and Cream are still waiting.”

“I’m not in the mood.” Shadow mumbled. “Just go on without me.”

“Stop being so dramatic!” Amy glared, tugging Shadow to the door. Shadow squeaked at the sudden pull.

“Amy! You don’t need me to go shopping with everyone else! I-I’m not going to the party anyways!”

“You promised Cream you’d go shopping, so if you wanna disappoint her, then go ahead.” Amy stopped pulling him and put her hands on her hips. “And Sonic’s the one who wants you to come to the party, and I know he’s been really excited for it, so if you really want to disappoint him, then I guess you can go ahead and do that to.”

Shadow frowned. Amy knew just how his brain worked, and he wondered if that was a good thing. “Ugh, fine. I’ll go.”

Amy smiled. “Good. Come on, let’s go!”

Shadow sighed as he followed Amy out, closing the door. Soon enough, They met up with Rouge and Cream in front of an ice cream parlor.

“Mr. Shadow!” Cream smiled brightly as she ran to Shadow. Rouge followed behind.

“Haven’t seen you since our last mission.” Rouge put her hands on her hips. “Where have you been?”

“Suffering.” Shadow deadpanned.

“Of course.” Rouge rolled her eyes before looking to the two girls. “Shall we start, then?”

“Yeah, let’s go!” Amy cheered, leading them all to the nearest store. Shadow easily slipped into his facade as the girls went to try on the outfits that pleased them. He found himself comfortable just leaning against the wall near the dressing room.

And then Amy had an idea.

She grinned as she walked up to Shadow, hiding something behind her back. Rouge and Cream saw this and went towards the two.

“Oh, Shadow!” Amy chirped, causing Shadow to open his eyes and stare at his friend in curiosity. “I was looking through some dresses and I found one that I’d think you’d really like!”

Amy showed him the item that was behind her back: a short,  velvet red dress. It was simple, yet very beautiful; the sleeves were made to rest on the end of the shoulders, and it gave just enough space for his chest fur to breathe (He hated wearing anything that covered the white fluff up, as it was just highly uncomfortable.) It wasn’t large and poofy, but it wasn’t skin tight either. It seemed like the perfect fit for him.

He tore his eyes away from the dress to look at Amy. “I ca-” He saw people staring and he quickly resorted to his glare. “I won’t wear that thing.”

Amy pouted, knowing that people were staring. “Come on, Shadow. It’s just for fun!”

Cream decided to jump in. “I think you’d look great, Mr. Shadow!”

Shadow looked between the two, already feeling his muzzle warming up; he looked to Rouge, who had a growing smirk.

“I don’t see why you shouldn’t.” She crossed her arms. He glared to her before looking back to the two in front of him. Sighing, he slowly nodded his consent, and was immediately pushed by the three girls into a dressing room. Amy handed him the dress before closing the door.

He stared at the dress for a moment, wondering if he should actually try it on. It was beautiful, and he really wanted to, but it would probably ruin what he work so hard for.

He decided to put on the dress.

Looking at himself in the mirror, he couldn’t help but notice how well it fit him. He felt his face redden as he wondered what Sonic would think of it.

‘He’d probably think that it’s weird and notice how weird I am and never want to be around a weirdo like me again.’ Shadow sighed to himself.

“Shadow!? What’s taking so long!?” He heard Amy call. He took one last look at himself before walking out of the dressing room.