Author's P.O.V.
“Hey bro.” Manic smirked as he walked in his brother’s room, again. “Dinner’s ready.” He was hiding something behind his back 

"Going…" The azure one stayed in his bed, he didn't have a blanket on.

The green hedgehog chuckled and put a balloon with red paint over Sonic's head then popped it with a needle, making the paint fall on his head. 

Sonic gasped and sat up quickly. He touched the paint and looked at Manic. "MANIC!" He shouted and started getting ready to chase after him. 

"Oh sh-" Manic laughed and ran outside the room. "Sonia!! Help!" 

The ebony hedgehog's ear twitched and he raised a brow when he heard them.

The azure one tried to clean off the paint and growled loudly when it did not come off. He dashed to the door and opened it. "Get your ass back here!" Sonic shouted.

"You gotta catch me first." The green hedgehog chuckled and locked himself in his room as he kept laughing.

Sonic growled louder and dashed to his room, it wasn't so far from Shadows. "I'm going to get you back! Open the door! Manic!" Sonic tried to open the door. 

"You ain't. You're bad at pranks." Manic chuckled. "Come and get me, if you can." 

Shadow sat up and walked to the door then opened it and looked at Sonic. He chuckled quietly when he saw that, his eyes red since he was crying earlier. 

Sonic hummed and nodded. "Alright then." He took a step back. "Be ready for what's coming." He smirked, he dashed to his room and did the same with blue paint then put it down and walked to the wall. He chuckled and quickly spin dashed the door and grabbed the balloon then popped it in Manics face. 

The green hedgehog gasped and closed his mouth before he got the paint then laughed. "You broke my door!" He tried to wipe off the paint. 

"You didn't open it." He laughed as well. "Great… Sonia is going to kill us." He kept laughing. 

"Meh. I was going to do the same to her." Manic looked at his brother and laughed louder. "You're terrifying like this."

Shadow smiled very slightly when he heard them, remembering his sister but it quickly went away. 

"Tell me about it, blue doesn't fit you." He laughed a bit louder. "Now, while you're getting killed by Sonia, I have to go try to get the paint off before we go eat, so bro, tell me the paint comes off because if it doesn't then we are both dead." He chuckled. 

"It does, but it'll take a while." The thief chuckled. "A long while." He grabbed a balloon that had green paint. "Now excuse me, I need to get miss 'Don't touch my hair' mad." He walked outside the room, he noticed Shadow and chuckled. "Sup?" 

Uncle Chuck was walking to their rooms to call them for dinner. He saw Manic and rubbed his temples and sighed. "I don't even want to know." He chuckled. "Where's-" 

"Hey Unc." Sonic came out of the room as he stepped over the broken door. "What's up?" 

This just made the older one cover his eyes and tried not to laugh. "Just… Fix that door and come eat dinner. You too Shadow, be careful with these two." 

The agent slowly nodded and looked at the door. "I can fix it if you want…" 

"You don't have to, I can do it." The azure one looked at Shadow. 

"Go clean your face, Sonny Boy." He looked at Manic. "What are you doing with that balloon?" He raised a brow. 

"Run." Sonic whispered at Manic and chuckled quietly. 

"I found a trick you can do with balloons." The green hedgehog chuckled. "Wanna see~?" He smirked. 

"You don't want to mess with me, son." Chuck shook his head and walked away. 

"Let's go get Sonia." He chuckled and looked at Shadow. "You don't need to fix it, I'll fix it later. But you may want to see this so you can come along if you want." 

"We're dead." Manic laughed and walked to Sonia's room then picked the lock and opened the door. "Hey sis!" He smirked. 

Sonic stood by the door with his arms crossed and smirked as well. He knew how Sonia could get when they would prank her so he stayed by the door. "Hey sis~" He chuckled.

Shadow walked to the door and noticed that it was broken so he chaos controlled away. 

"What… What are you up to?" Sonia raised a brow and crossed her arms. 

"What do you mean sis?" Manic chuckled and quickly popped the balloon in her face.

"What the-" The Princess gasped, getting some of the paint in her mouth then started coughing. "MANIC!" She growled. "MY HAIR!" 

Sonic covered his ears and laughed then grabbed Manics hand and dashed off.

"You're both dead!" Sonia growled loudly and walked out of her room. 

When Manic looked at his room, he saw that the door was fixed and that Shadow was wearing a hoodie, he chuckled quietly and tapped on his brother's shoulder. "Dude, look at my door." 

Sonic looked at Shadow when he stopped. "You didn't need to." He smiled at him without relizing. He kept glancing around making sure Sonia hadn't found them.

The ebony hedgehog looked at Sonic and looked away when he noticed the smile. 

"Sonic!" The pink hedgehog growled. "Come here right NOW!" 

"Shit, I'm dead." He looked at Sonia and dashed to his room then locked the door. 

Sonia groaned loudly and tightened her fists then walked to the door. "I will break the door is you don't open right now!" She hit the door with force. 

Shadow was surprised at how loud the triplets can be, he lowered his ears when Sonia would shout and walked in the guest room to take off his hoodie. 

"No!" Sonic shouted loudly from his room and laughed. "Go get Manic! He's the one that threw it!" He laughed a bit louder. He tried to hide in a spot from his room but a bunch of clothes fell on top of him and he yelled as he fell. 

"What happened now?" Sonia crossed her arms, she noticed Manic running away and ran after him. "Come here!" 

Sonic chuckled and stood up then walked to his restroom after he noticed Sonia left. He tried to take off the paint.

Shadow walked out of his room and to the dining room, where Aleena and Chuck were waiting for the triplets. 

The azure one got out of his room when he took out most of the paint but it was still very visible. He looked around when he got out of his room, he had put on his suit. Sonic began walking to the dining room already knowing his mother was going to get mad. 

Manic and Sonia were fighting on the hall, the paint dripping everywhere.

"Sonia! Manic! Sonic!" Aleena shouted for her kids. "Come here, now!" 

Sonic's ears perked up and he dashed to the dining room, dragging his siblings with them. He didn't want Aleena getting more mad. 

"Mother." Sonia whined. "Look what they did to me." 

"Stop whining, you look ten times better." Manic chuckled. 

"Please go clean yourselves and come to eat." Aleena sighed. "Chuck told me you broke Manic's door, Maurice?" She looked at her son. 

"Yes, I did since he wouldn't open it after he popped red paint on my head. I was going to fix it but Shadow got to it first. I'll pay you back, I promise." He looked at Shadow. 

"You don't have to." Shadow shook his head and sat down, as far from everyone as possible. 

"My hair." Sonia whined as she walked to her room slapped Manic. "You idiot!"

"Hey!"

"Alright! Alright! Let's just eat." He chuckled and sat down.

"Who started it?" Aleena sighed since they had Shadow with them. "Let me guess, it was Manic." She looked Manic as he walked to them after he cleaned what he could off his face. 

"Yes. He woke me up with it." He glared at his brother and said sternly. 

"Chill, bro." Manic chuckled and sat beside Chuck. "Be glad it didn't pop both of the balloons on your face."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "How long until this takes off?" He raised a brow. 

"A few days." The green Prince smirked. 

"I. Am. Going. To kill you!" Sonia groaned when she walked in the dining room

Sonic rubbed his face and chuckled quietly then shook his head. "You're so dead." He smiled as he glared at him. 

"Yeah, I love you too." Manic chuckled and started eating. 

Shadow was quietly eating as he heard their conversation, hoping that no one will talk to him. 

Sonic scoffed, he stood up after he finished eating. "Well, I am going to the gym." He felt like he needed to train since he had been crying so much. 

Manic hummed and nodded then looked at Shadow. "Hey, Shadow." 

"Yes?" The ebony hedgehog looked at him.

"Do your parents know you're working for G.U.N.?" He raised a brow as he ate. 

Shadow stayed quiet and looked down at his food again. "No." He mumbled. 

"What? Really? How can they no-"

"Manic." Aleena cut Manic off with a glare. "Stop." 

Sonic was already leaving the room but he heard part of their conversation. He kept walking and thinking about why he never talked about his family or the day that Shadow got upset for mentioning his past. He went to the gym still thinking about it.

"What?" Manic raised a brow and gasped when he realized. "Oh." He felt stupid for asking that. "Shadow, I'm so sorry, man."

"That's… That's okay…" Shadow sighed and stood up. "I'll be in the guest room if… You break another door." He started walking away.

Sonia glared at Manic and kicked his leg. "You can't be serious…!" She whispered.

Sonic looked at Shadow walking out of the dining room, he still hadn't made it to the gym. He walked to him. "Shadow are you okay?" 

"Yes." Shadow quickly wiped a tear. "I just need sleep." He mumbled, not looking at Sonic. 

The azure one sighed. "You can talk to me you know." He said softly. 

"I shouldn't." The ebony one opened the door to the guest room. "I don't deserve to even look at you." 

"Shadow, it's okay. I forgave you… And I'm here to listen." He gave him a small smile.

Shadow looked at Sonic then dropped his ears and looked away. "Do whatever you want…" He mumbled and walked in the room but left the door open. 

Sonic hesitantly walked in the room then closed the door. He walked to the bed and sat down. "What's been bothering you…?" He asked softly. 

"Your brother just asked a question." Shadow sighed and sat down as well. "About my parents…" 

"I'm sorry about that…" Sonic nodded keeping a bit of distance. "Do you want to talk about it? I'm here to listen to you."

The ebony hedgehog looked at the Prince. "You don't have to…" 

Sonic shook his head. "It's not good to keep it in. I promise I won't tell anyone." 

"But I made you keep everything I did to you a secret…" Shadow rubbed his arm, his attitude had changed a lot. "I'm so sorry for what I did…" 

"Shadow…" He shook his head. "Don't mention it again. I kept the secret because I didn't want to get you in trouble, remember what I told you the day I went to your house for the project. I believe people can change."

"I wanted to get in trouble that day." Shadow sighed. "I was hoping you'd tell your mother about me." 

"Wait, what? Why?" He raised a brow. 

"I was hoping that G.U.N. would just end my misery and kill me. It was the anniversary of my family's… Death…" The agent pinned his ears down. "I just couldn't take it…" 

The prince pinned his ears down and shook his head. "I'm… Sorry, Shadow, I didn't know… But… Dying is not the answer to this…" He shook his head again.

"Why? What do I have to lose?" Shadow looked at the Prince. "I lost everything before I even knew how to walk." He let a tear roll down his muzzle. "Everything…" 

Sonic hesitantly grabbed his hand and squeezed it. "Shadow, I know you think you have no one but you should look around. Back at school, I am sure Rouge and Mephiles were your friends, my Mother, she cares about you, this family, my family cares about you, I care about you." 

The ebony hedgehog looked at his hand and tried to hold back his tears. It hurt him a lot more to know that Sonic probably just did all this because of his mother. He pulled his hand away closed his eyes. "Leave." He said lowly.

"Shadow…" He lowered his ears. "You can talk to me… I'm here for you…" He rested his hand on the bed and sighed. He knew he was catching feelings again and he didn't know what to do about it.

"Just leave." Shadow hated how he'd become, so weak and always crying. "I don't need help…" 

Sonic hesitantly moved closer to him. "You need to stop rejecting the ones who want to help… Let me help you…" He looked at him straight in the eyes. "Please…" He said softly and with a small sincere smile.