At this point in time, there was nothing more she wanted to do than just casually collapse off to the side. Sweat coated her skin and made the direct sunbeams on her face seem even more brutally warm than they already were.

None of the friends who had come here with her seemed to feel the same way as she did. They didn't look like they were about to drop dead after half an hour of nonstop running.

Running. Funny. No one, not even Squirrelflight herself, could picture herself as a cross-country athlete, with her pale skin and unruly red hair. It wasn't as though she had actually wanted to be running for most of a day. No, it was a friend's brother, Ashfur, who had refused to let her stay home, and had insisted that she run with them. Good heavens, he'd actually sounded convincing when he'd told her to join them - how in the world was this strenuous torture supposed to be fun?

She was so tired.

Squirrelflight couldn't run if her life depended on it.

To add to her frustration, the tall, muscular, tanned boy - who was probably twice her speed - just decided to slow down and run right ahead of her, running backwards for a while, then zigzagging just out of her reach... just to make her grit her teeth and make her want to collapse even more. Squirrelflight would close her eyes, so that she wouldn't be able to see that cocky grin on his face when he ran backwards, but it made her even more tired. That boy was charming to look at, really, but he was also considerably heartless, in Squirrelflight's opinion, if he was continuously taunting her like that.

He teased her, knowing that she was too out of breath to reply. Oh, what would she give to just head into the empty gym beside the track, just to cool off for a while. The air conditioning in there would be mercifully cool, and she would be free to lie there with no one watching her. But she didn't want to be the one sitting out to the side while the others had fun. And she didn't want to give that tall, blonde boy yet another reason to taunt her.

The boy spun around, jogging backward, and slowed just enough to call out another taunt at her. "Tired already?"

"No... way..." Squirrelflight managed between long, hard breaths, as she struggled to keep up. Obviously, her efforts were futile, as the boy smirked at her and danced out of her reach before whipping around gracefully to face forward and continuing his run. He wasn't even breathing hard.

Squirrelflight's forest of wild red hair ripped free of its ponytail, and she resisted the urge to wince as she heard her hair tie snap. She cursed under her breath. Her red hair flew into her eyes, and it really annoyed her that her arm felt too heavy to brush the wild strands away. The back of her neck grew sweaty as her thick curls danced down to her waist. She could have sworn that she felt drops of sweat run down her back beneath her shirt.

Heavens, why had her friends decided on doing this today of all days? It was probably the hottest day in the year... and how on earth were Ferncloud and Sorreltail and the others all able to keep running as if it took no energy at all?

Honestly, there was probably not even a speck of her body that wasn't dripping sweat.

The boy had turned around to face her again, and was jogging backwards. He still somehow managed to run faster than her. He shot her that cocky grin of his, and Squirrelflight would have recoiled or turned away if she wasn't so tired. "Still pulling along, are you?"

"Heavens, Brambleclaw, stop tormenting her and get with it!"

Squirrelflight turned her head weakly, feeling slightly dizzy with the action, and saw Ashfur jogging well behind her. Within about ten seconds, he would probably lap her, anyway... again. Not that it made a difference, anyway.

Somehow, Ashfur's defensiveness set her on edge, and it was all Squirrelflight could do not to turn and yell at something.

Squirrelflight's legs ached and burned as Ashfur ran past her with easy steps, leaving the boy - Brambleclaw - still staring and smirking at her as he jogged backwards, waving merrily at her. "Hopefully you could try and catch up in the next few moments or so, will you?"

Oh, he was so getting on her nerves.

Her hands curled into fists.

Brambleclaw smirked at her, that cocky grin still plastered on his face. She would bash his head against the ground if she had the energy. "Even if I hopped on one foot the rest of the way, with my eyes closed, backwards, I think I would-"

Squirrelflight gritted her teeth, her fists tight, and sprang forward with frightening force as she sprinted the next few yards. She saw Brambleclaw's eyes widen in shock before she full-on collided into him, sending both of them sprawling. He fell flat on his back, wincing from the impact, and Squirrelflight landed, to her horror, on top of him, her head pressed against his chest. Brambleclaw was still studying her face, watching her reaction intently, and cracking another grin when he saw her horrified expression. Only this time, his grin wasn't that arrogant smirk, but instead was a softer, even slightly sympathetic, smile.

Her face burning - not just from the heat - Squirrelflight tried to clamber off of Brambleclaw as quickly as possible.

Only, her leg was tangled with Brambleclaw's, and when she tried to stand up hurriedly, she stumbled and fell on top of him again, her face against his. Abruptly, she broke away, untangled herself from Brambleclaw, and rose slowly to her feet - as dignifiedly as she could be.

That was it.

"I'm done," she said aloud, to no one in particular, and stalked over to the edge of the track, ready to head into the gym - stopping only to pick up her bag from the concrete to the side of the track. Oh, it would feel wonderful to sprawl herself on the cool gym floor.

She should've known from the start that she wouldn't be able to do this running.

Footsteps sounded behind her - at the pace of someone jogging. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that it was Brambleclaw - the boy who had taunted her, and also the boy whom she had fallen on. Probably the last person she felt like talking to.

Squirrelflight quickened her pace, ignoring the burning sensation in her legs as she threw open the door of the gym - which was empty, anyway, with no sports equipment set up - and stalked inside, practically hurling her bag to one corner, ignoring the fact that her stuff might fall out.

"Hey!" She resisted the urge to just ignore him, and slowly turned her head to face Brambleclaw as he caught up to her. "I'm sorry about that. I mean it. Really."

Squirrelflight frowned. "Says the boy who was smirking and taunting me throughout the run."

"I'm sorry about that too."

She resisted the urge to laugh. "Yeah. Sure." She was still burning up, so she raised her arms, and, not caring about Brambleclaw's gaze fixed on her, tossed her shirt, moist with sweat, over to the side. Her shorts came off immediately after, so that she was wearing nothing but her gymnastics leotard - which she hadn't bothered to take off, since she had come straight from that class over to the track.

"I mean it." Squirrelflight wanted to scoff again, but decided against it. She saw Brambleclaw take off his shirt, too, and her eyes lingered a moment too long on his bare chest as he fanned himself with one hand.

Squirrelflight shrugged. "Yeah, that's exactly why you kept mocking me the entire time."

"Sorry, but it was cute to see you get angry." Brambleclaw flashed her a half-grin, and Squirrelflight wanted to curse him for being so attractive.

"Right." Squirrelflight crossed her arms. "Cute."

Brambleclaw grinned. "Yeah. And I'm also sorry that I might have stirred up your relationship with your boyfriend a little bit. I mean, I caught him glaring when you fell on top of me, understandably so, and it wasn't the best-"

"What?"

"-moment for him to see-"

"What do you mean? I don't even have a boyfriend."

Brambleclaw stared at her quizzically. "Ashfur. That guy with light blonde hair, pretty tall, and a-"

"Brambleclaw, he's not my boyfriend."

"Oh." Brambleclaw broke into another grin. "Looks like that put a really adorable girl back on the market." Squirrelflight huffed and rolled her eyes, turning away from him for a moment to hide the smile that was creeping onto her face.

"Well? What about you? I bet there's about a thousand girls who'd be absolutely dying to have you as their boyfriend?"

"Are you one of them?" This time, Squirrelflight let the laugh out, and Brambleclaw let out a relieved sigh. "Good. I've made you laugh. I was hoping our conversation wouldn't be entirely stone-faced and impassive. And, to answer your question, no, I don't have a girlfriend. I mean, many might try, but they're just not my type, you know."

"Oh." Squirrelflight nodded, even though she had absolutely no idea of what he meant. Well, maybe she did. She was trying to picture Ashfur as her boyfriend, and maybe he just wasn't her type, as Brambleclaw had said.

Squirrelflight pulled out three hair ties from her bag, and her fingers got to work, tying two at the top of her head in a high ponytail, as usual. She fumbled slightly with the top of the braid, as always, but as her fingers traveled down, she finished deftly with the final hair tie.

"Come on, don't just stand there so quietly. Let's do something." Brambleclaw tapped her shoulder lightly with one finger, and even the small touch sent something like excitement racing through her body.

Squirrelflight crossed her arms over her chest, trying to act as if the gesture had meant nothing to her. "Well, since you seem to get all the so-called brilliant ideas, why don't you elaborate, O Great One?"

To her surprise, Brambleclaw laughed. "I see you don't run. Do you play any other sports?"

"Can't you tell? I do gymnastics."

"Show me."

"What?"

"Show me something in gymnastics. That's the one thing I know absolutely nothing about."

Squirrelflight rolled her eyes. "There's probably quite a few other things you know nothing about, too."

"Whatever. Just show me. You're already in your leotard, anyway."

Squirrelflight shook her head, not moving. "No."

"Come on!"

Brambleclaw reached out and grasped her arm gently, then guided his other hand onto her back, right below her neck. Squirrelflight stiffened, turning to look at him, but she only saw a small smile on his face as he guided her forward. "Go on."

His touch itself made pleasant shivers run down her spine, and, though she personally didn't want him to move his hands away - though she'd never tell him that - she drew in a breath and turned to face him, shifting.

Through her leotard, Squirrelflight could feel his hand slowly drop to her waist, and she didn't want to move away. The way he held her was rather pleasant - and Squirrelflight momentarily forgot that this was the same boy who had been taunting her throughout her running.

Brambleclaw's warm breath stirred her ear, as he whispered, "Go on. Show me what you can do, little bird. Take flight."

She didn't need any more encouragement as she stepped out of his comfortable grasp and began.

Her routine was so simple - it just came to her as she went. Yet something told her that Brambleclaw would still love it, despite how it lacked sophistication. Squirrelflight started out with a simple back handspring, landing perfectly on her feet. The cool gym floor felt pleasant against her body as she rolled forward. She felt herself wobble on her tuck jump before she realized it, too aware of Brambleclaw's eyes fixed on her.

Squirrelflight drew in a deep breath, telling herself to just take flight.

With a quick front pike roll - which was just to make everything appear more complex than it really was - Squirrelflight resumed her standing position and sucked in a sharp breath as she began a round-off.

She was doing perfectly until her foot slipped on the too-oily gym floor.

It messed up her landing after the first flip, sending one of her feet too far out - either way, it messed up her back handspring, sending her careening forward. She would have landed face-first on the floor if Brambleclaw hadn't shot forward and blocked the fall.

Squirrelflight stiffened as she realized that she was in yet another intimate position with Brambleclaw, but she let him gently guide her to her feet. She swore vibrantly, cursing the oily floor, but broke off as she saw Brambleclaw grinning as he held her against him.

"S-sorry," Squirrelflight said, her voice shaking slightly as she took a step back from him. "I don't know what happened... I'll do it again."

Brambleclaw's fingers brushed against her cheek, stopping her in her tracks, and she turned around to face him. His hand dropped to her shoulder, and the other curled around her waist, guiding her gently toward him. Squirrelflight didn't resist as Brambleclaw pulled her close and kissed her.

Softly, tentatively. For a too-short moment.

Squirrelflight didn't realize how much she craved it until he pulled away. But the emotion in her eyes must have spoken volumes, because the second time, both of them leaned in, neither breaking away. Squirrelflight let her own arms wrap around Brambleclaw as their lips touched again, easing the fluttering in her chest.

It was a shame they had to break away. Brambleclaw's hands were still tangled in her hair as they pulled apart, as he murmured, "Fly for me, little bird."

Squirrelflight sprinted a few yards before beginning her round-off again. She landed perfectly and did a back handspring in the same movement. Nothing went wrong as she soared into an aerial. She knew her heart was flying as she performed a double-flip and landed neatly, throwing her hands up into the air.

Fly for me, little bird. Brambleclaw grinned, bursting into cheerful applause. "You really can fly, Squirrelflight."

She liked the way her name sounded on his tongue. Warm and bright, smoothly flowing out... yet also perfectly enunciated, with just the right tone of voice. Her heart felt as though it was going to explode as Brambleclaw drew her into his arms again, and she turned to smile up at him.

"Yes," Squirrelflight replied. "I suppose I can fly."