Chapter Text
“Never do that to me again!” Amy demanded as she sat by the weakened black hog, trying to wipe away her tears without rubbing blood on her face. If he had the strength he would have done it for her, but his limbs were heavy and he was pretty sure his gloves were filthy anyways.
“Not planning on it,” he assured. Details were starting to come back into focus, the brilliant hues of green in her eyes, the splash of freckles along her muzzle, the mascara that was dissolving in the tears that streaked down her face. The sight of the blood on her sent him into a panic until he realized it was probably just his.
Fuck. Covered in blood and crying and she’s still so beautiful.
He knew he hadn’t said that out loud, but something in his expression must have tipped her off to his thoughts. She blushed and looked away from him, her hand reaching up to scratch the back of her neck. Amy reluctantly stepped back so the paramedics could transfer him to a gurney, and he spent the rest of the transfer to the hospital fading in and out of consciousness, hyper-aware of the small, pink hand holding his.
A few hours later, Shadow found himself alone with Amy for the first time all day. His healing factor was taking longer to fully repair the lethal damages, so he had to stay overnight in the hospital for observation. Amy had insisted she also stay and he couldn’t deny his heart sped up when she’d damn near fought a doctor to remain at his side. She was in the chair next to his bed, her fingers locked with his.
“I AM fine you know. You don’t have to cling to me like I’m going to disappear,” he assured and she huffed, cheeks puffing out with a pout.
“No, you don’t get to complain! I pumped your heart manually for over an hour, so I’m going to cling to you as much as I please!” she retorted, now sliding to wrap both her arms around his bicep. He snorted, and brushed her bangs back out of her face with the hand she hadn’t claimed for herself.
“Okay, okay. As you wish.” Shadow relented and blushed as the heart rate monitor started beeping faster.
Shit
. If she noticed, she didn’t say anything, just looked up at him with those sparkling green eyes.
“You’re in a pretty good mood for someone who was very recently impaled. Did I miss something?”
He sighed, of course, she would just attack the problem head-on. “Sort of. When I was down I… went somewhere. Got to talk to...”
Her gaze softened, and she cut him off with a finger over his lips. At his confused glace, she pulled her hand away. “You don’t have to tell me if you don't want to. It's not my business.”
“I want to… I just need to try and collect my thoughts,” he assured her and stared up at the crack in the drop ceiling above him. After a few moments, he started talking.
He explained most of his interaction with Gerald. Being a small child, being carried to Maria’s room, and his apology. That alone had Amy clinging to his arm tight enough for him to slide over in the hospital bed so she could crawl up and lay with him more comfortably. She accepted the offer wordlessly, sliding her arm over his waist and tucking his arm around her. His heart rate spiked again.
Shadow explained seeing Maria, the gorgeous beach she’d picked for them and their conversation absolving him of any blame. He left out the more teasing bits and the tugging on his heart, not quite ready to have THAT conversation. Maybe another day, when he wasn’t in a hospital bed feeling like a truck had run him over.
“That sounds like it was so lovely. It must have been nice to see them again and get that closure… but did they need to take the whole hour? I would have liked you back sooner.” she complained, and he could only smile a little.
Shadow left it at that, knowing she would continue talking if she wanted to. It was a lot of information to take in at once, and reminded him vaguely of his amnesiac days, overwhelmed with knowledge and emotion and the weight of each new event stacking on top of each other. After what felt like a significant amount of time, he looked down to check on her, assuming she had fallen asleep. She was still awake, which surprised him, and fresh tears gathered at the corners of her eyes.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice a quiet rumble, just loud enough to be heard but not enough to startle her any.
“Yeah just… it all hit me at once... I almost lost you again,” she replied in a similar tone. Her fingers drifted to the scar hidden in his chest fluff, still angry and red. It hurt, but her fingertips caressing the sensitive skin sent shivers up Shadow's spine that were too decadent for him to ask her to stop.
“I know. I’m sorry,” he whispered.
Her voice trembled, and he could hear the way it caught as she inhaled a shaky breath “... why me?”
Shadow slid his hand over hers, pressing it flat against his scar and the heart beating underneath. The words he used were carefully chosen to ensure she understood his choice without necessarily giving up his entire hand of cards.
“You are… the most determined being I have ever met. None of the monsters or aliens or robots or gods we have faced burn with the passion you do. You are this unstoppable whirlwind of love and life, and I have never seen you hesitate when you want something. I knew you’d persist, despite all doubt, until I woke up. As much as everyone else cares, they can all be persuaded or find doubt in their actions, but not you. Despite your hesitance on the matter, you knew exactly what to do, and held on for far longer than anyone else would have.”
She pulled back a little, only to firmly meet his gaze as he spoke. Her eyes burned with the usual fervor and passion, intimidating and thrilling.
“You’re not telling me the whole truth. What's the real reason?”
He’d been had. When he’d pictured this moment before, it’d been nerve-wracking. A preplanned confession, the two of them alone in some scene out of the romance movies she so adored, would have been ideal. The candles, the music, the flowers, all of it. Now, despite the tingling feeling that ran up his back from his quills bristling and the heat on his cheeks from his blush, all he could feel was a sense of calm. Of course, she’d known. In retrospect, he’d been foolish to think she wouldn’t have figured it out.
“... why ask what you already know?” he responded as she bit her lip. Over the course of the day she’d nearly drawn blood from the habit, and he grabbed her chin and urged her to let go with gentle pressure.
“Because if I don’t ask you now, I don’t know if we’ll get another chance,” she said. The unspoken implication hung in the air, suffocating them both with the tension. While he could have denied or refused her request the brush with death had weakened his resolve. The last thought before he had flatlined was regretting that he hadn't said anything, and whether he liked it or not, this was the opportunity to remedy that.
Shadow took a deep breath, squeezing her a little tighter to him. He would only have one chance to do this right, and she deserved nothing more than his best attempt to describe how he felt.
“I apologize, I had hoped I could have done this the right way, given a little more time, and this is very short notice but... My heart belongs to you. I don’t have any particular moment to tell you of, but I looked up one day and realized that I’d left it in your care without even thinking about it. And nothing, not working for G.U.N, not saving the world, none of it has felt as right as falling in love with you has. I asked you to restart my heart, not because I wished you distress, but because you’re the reason it beats. I would drag my way out of any version of the afterlife just to be by your side, even if doing so would damn my soul. ”
“Shadow …” she interrupted, but he continued his speech, knowing if he didn’t get it all out at once he might never have the confidence again.
“I’m yours. And I will be for as long as you’ll have me, and even if you don't want me at all. I ask nothing, beyond just letting me adore you the way I think you deserve to be adored. I love you, Rose.”
He’d barely got her name out of his mouth before she crashed her lips against his. The force pushed him onto his back and knocked the breath out of him and he gasped against her mouth. Amy took that as an invitation to kiss him deeper, something he was more than happy to reciprocate. The familiar tingle danced across his skin as his quills bristled, especially with the way the hand in his chest fluff had started sliding up the path the scar left. Shadow slid his hand to cradle the back of her neck, the shivers of delight wracking through her body in a slightly more noticeable manner. Two sets of ears twitched, listening for the other’s soft gasps and groans of delight. The arm he had wrapped around her hips pulled her in closer, pinning their bodies against each other. The stiffness of her blood-soaked shirt crumpled under his touch, but the observation was forgotten the second her tongue slid into his mouth. In fact, everything except for the feeling of her faded from the forefront of his mind as he slid his tongue alongside hers.
Amy eventually pulled back, panting and smiling, wiping tears from her cheeks. “Why on earth did you wait so long?”
“I don't know. But I promise you I will never do that again,” he assured her, pulling her back in.
“I love you too, Shadow” she mumbled before their lips connected yet again.
The two only stopped their affection when one of the nurses rushed in, worried about the heart rate monitor that had been knocked off Shadow in their passion. After appeasing the nurse with promises to not get too excited, he pulled Amy to lay back on his chest again and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
“We should rest,” he insisted, chuckling as she let out a satisfied sigh and snuggled up to him, her leg tossed over his. Whether they admitted it or not, the day had been physically and emotionally draining for them both. He leaned back into the soft hospital pillows and let sleep claim him for the night.