Amy woke up the next morning to the warm smell of frying bacon. She stepped out of her room groggily, rubbing her eyes. Her hair was a mess and her pink striped pajamas were a bit big on her. She made her way into the kitchen, where Shadow was cooking bacon and eggs.

“Sh.. shadow?” Amy yawned. “What are you… aww, are you making me breakfast?”

“No.” Shadow grumbled.

“Wait, what?”

His tired eyes smiled. “Yeah.”

“O–Oh, okay.” Amy leaned over onto the counter, watching the bacon frying. She glanced up at Shadow next to her. He had dark circles under his glassy eyes.

After a few minutes, Shadow turned off the burner. He used tongs to set the pieces of bacon on a rack with a plate under it to catch the extra grease.

“How did you sleep?”

“Didn’t.”

Amy double taked. “Wait– WHAT!?”

“You heard me.”

“But why wouldn’t you sleep? You have to be exhausted!”

“The Ultimate Lifeform doesn’t need sleep.” Shadow said seriously. He turned to the next burner and used a spatula to flip the eggs.

“Here, I can finish this. You can go wait.”

“No.” Shadow didn’t want to make Amy cook for him. “The Ultimate Lifeform is perfect. I make the best eggs.”

Amy pouted. “Are you serious?!”

“I’m always serious.” He said seriously. A small smile slipped past his steely gaze, though.

Amy eyed the black hedgehog. “Okay, I’ll let you cook for me.”

She really felt silly for her anxiety the night before. Of course Shadow would never hurt her. Hopefully.

She leaned up against the counter again, sucking in a deep breath to calm her nerves. “Shadow… can I ask you something?”

“Get it out.”

“Well… I was just wondering–if it’s not too much to pry–but… what were you doing last night?”

Shadow froze. No. She couldn’t find out.

“My own personal business.”

He turned off the second burner and moved the eggs onto a plate. He carried both plates over to the table. Amy watched Shadow’s movements. He was very, very weak, and doing a poor job of hiding it.

“I think you need to rest.” Amy said at last.

Shadow grimaced. “No I don’t. I’m immortal. And shouldn’t you be helping me get some of this stuff if you really wanted me to rest?” 

“Sorry.” Amy got out two plates and silverware.

They both sat down together, on opposing sides of the round table. They each took their portions (Shadow’s was significantly larger than Amy’s) and began eating. Amy noticed how reserved Shadow was attempting to be, although a few times he began to scarf down his food again. Amy frowned. Shadow was usually very good at maintaining the barrier between himself and the world, although now it appeared to be slipping.

“You look sick.” Amy said at last.

Shadow’s eyes furrowed. “What are you talking about?! I’m fine!”

He was standing up now. He hadn’t meant to yell so loudly, although by the shocked expression on Amy’s face he realized he had gone too far. He sat himself down again.

“I’m okay.” His voice was but a whisper.

When they finished, Amy stood up to take the plates.

“I’m glad you stayed for breakfast, but I’m sure you need to get back to doing whatever you were doing.” She laughed nervously.

“You just said I needed to rest.”

“I mean… you could go and rest back at your place.”

Shadow grimaced. He wanted to just lie and leave, although he truly had nowhere to go. He was aimless, without any passions– lacking a drive to accomplish anything in his life. There was no way he could keep living the way he had been, just barely scraping by. The blankets the night before were warm, and so was the fire, although at that moment he realized that they would have been meaningless without the thought behind them.

Amy had helped him. He almost killed everyone, and she still helped him. If not for her, everyone would be dead. His eyes grew wet, although he forced them down. The reason why the blankets suddenly meant so much, why the fire brought calm to his heart, was because Amy had cared enough about him to use them.

“Can I… Can I stay here, Amy?”

She hadn’t remembered the last time he had said her first name.