"I can't," Eclipse cried out.
Wade kindly patted his shoulder, carefully adjusting his scarf so it hide his scars. "Buddy, I'm not going to force you to come, but I think it would be good if you got out of the house."
Eclipse wasn't sure about that, "what if it's not allowed?"
"Silver and Shadow come to the grocery store with me all the time," Wade said gently. "There's no rules about anyone not being welcome there."
Holding onto his tail, Eclipse didn't know what to say. It was full of humans, ones that sometimes gave him sharp looks. What if someone yelled for him to leave? Staying in the house was safer.
"If you come with me, we'll get a treat," Wade promised. "Just you and me."
That was tempting, the hedgehogs were off at school. Eclipse didn't have to go, he just stayed with Wade most of the time. That was good, because he had heard Silver talk about it and wasn't sure he would like it.
"A good treat?" He asked timidly.
Wade offered his hand, "Yeah, come on."
Taking it, Eclipse followed him. It was a bit odd that he was the same size as the human, but didn't feel like an adult like he was. But that wasn't Eclipse's fault.
He followed Wade out to the car, let Wade buckle him in and put a hot water bottle in his lap and then the two of them were off.
To the grocery store.
Eclipse didn't know why this upset him so much, he was adjusting to a whole new life. Trying to find a way to live with his brain, when it constantly screamed that he might be in danger again.
Like right now, as they pulled into the grocery store parking lot. Eclipse saw all the humans walking in and out of the store and froze. "I can't-"
"Come on Eclipse, we'll just grab a few things." Wade said, "and then we'll get a treat."
Against his better judgement, Eclipse followed him inside.
Sometimes it was an embarrassing, he had done powerful things. done dangerous missions. But it had always been under GUN, now he was away from them and he didn't know who the enemy was, or how much Wade could keep him safe. The man said he would, but Eclipse had doubts on his ability to do that.
At first it was fine, Eclipse could feel people staring at him, but no one said anything. He stayed close to Wade, watching as he selected food and put them into his cart.
"You want to pick out a cereal?" Wade asked.
Eclipse didn't, what if he made the wrong choice? But Wade had asked him, so he looked at the selection carefully. There was no many choices and he had never heard of any of this before.
"I'm going to grab something right down there," Wade said, pointing to the end of the aisle. "I'll be right back."
For a moment, Eclipse thought about running after him, begging him to stay. But that made him sound pathetic, he could handle being away from Wade for a few seconds?
He went back to focusing on the selection of cereal, trying to figure out which one he should get. Maybe he should just pick randomly.
And then he heard it, soft whispers from another person.
"-shouldn't be allowed in here. What if it attacks someone?"
Eclipse lifted his head, turned toward the person who said it.
Two tall women, standing not that far from him, both pretending like neither were glaring at him. "Why would he bring that dangerous thing in here? What if someone had kids with them?"
These two humans hated him.
At that, Eclipse felt like his head was spinning. He wasn't wanted here, they thought he was dangerous. They were right... he had been dangerous before. But it wasn't as if he might attack someone here and now.
They didn't want him here.
Sitting down on the floor, he hugged his knees to his chest and hid his face. Eclipse knew he shouldn't have come here, he should of stayed home, where he didn't bother anyone and where it was safe.
A few moments later, Wade was back, kneeling down to him, "buddy, what's wrong?"
"I'm not wanted here," Eclipse sobbed. He didn't want to get up, even when Wade asked him to. Finally, he was lifted into the cart and he curled into a ball, hoping no one could see him.
He was sorry, so so so sorry, he would never make a terrible mistake like this again.
Even when Wade reassured him that it wasn't his fault, that he was allowed in public, Eclipse didn't believe him. What if next time, someone got angry at him, someone yelled? What if he became so overwhelmed, he couldn't handle it?
It was better not to risk it.
Even when Wade got him lunch, he couldn't eat it, just stared sadly at the meal in front of him and wished it mean something else besides the fact he would never fit into this world.
YOU CANT DO THIS TO ME AMES STOP(dont)
MY HEART CANT TAKE IT AAAAAAAAAA T^T
did you have to go after ARK clippie for this?? DID YOU???
