What? That's how I truly feel about Shadow! He's both a very good friend to me and a proverbial Internet-based big-sibling that I always wanted, and they mean a very great lot to me - only my boyfriend FroZee Ases is more close to me, but that's only because FroZee is my boyfriend!
Plus I have reason to believe Shadow's either very indifferent or outright hostile with the topic of being loved (especially by a cis-male like myself), and I really don't want to make them uncomfortable by saying "I love you" or anything like that, considering that they've been through a lot of psycho-emotional trauma in their time and I don't want to add on to it in any way (you know, since they're a really good friend and proverbial Internet-based big-sibling and all that) ._.