AN: This is just a small one-shot that popped into my head while rereading Fire and Ice. I always hated the way Graystripe had the nerve to get angry with Fireheart for not trusting him. I mean, seriously! He was sneaking off with a RiverClan cat behind everyone's backs; why should Fireheart have had any faith in him? That false sense of righteousness is one of the reasons I don't particularly care for Graystripe. Anyway, rant over, so now I'll get the actual story started.

To avoid any potential plagiarism issues, I won't be including any actual scenes from the book. Therefore, I should mention that this story takes place during the part where Fireheart and Graystripe are out hunting together on Bluestar's orders, and Graystripe says that Fireheart should start acting as though he trusts him.

After finding out that Graystripe was seeing Crookedstar's daughter, Silverstream, behind ThunderClan's back, Fireheart had done his best to help keep his friend's secret. He had lied to Tigerclaw on multiple occasions when the gray warrior had disappeared from the camp, and he had neglected to tell Bluestar the reason behind his fight with Graystripe that one afternoon. Instead of being grateful, however, his friend was angry with him for trying to stop his unlawful relationship and for, as he put it, not trusting him.

That was what finally sent Fireheart over the edge.

"Act as though I trust you?" he snarled. Graystripe froze in shock, but he ignored it and continued, "Why should I trust you when you've been visiting a cat from another Clan? If our Clans go to war, which you know very well might happen soon, how can anyone trust that you'll fight for ThunderClan with everything you've got?"

"I will!" Graystripe snapped back, fur bristling. "I'm a loyal ThunderClan cat."

"Well, you haven't acted like it," Fireheart snorted derisively. "At this point, I would trust Darkstripe with my life more than you."

It was a low blow, and the ginger-furred tom knew it, but he was beyond caring at this point. Even as the fire in Graystripe's eyes faded to be replaced by hurt, Fireheart felt nothing but vindictive rage towards him. His emerald eyes were burning as he continued with his tirade.

"Forget the fact that your relationship goes against the warrior code," the flame-colored warrior spat. "How about the fact that you're never around when I need you? When Cinderpaw went in my place to meet Tigerclaw because I had to fetch catnip, I could have asked you for help if you'd been there. But you weren't, and now my apprentice has been crippled and will never be a warrior!"

Graystripe's jaw dropped open. "Are you saying that Cinderpaw's injury was my fault?" he asked indignantly.

"I'm saying that your absence certainly didn't help matters," Fireheart growled back. "So tell me, Graystripe, why should I act as though I trust you? What have you done to deserve that from me?"

"Because I'm your friend," the gray warrior said desperately. "Aren't I?"

Fireheart merely shrugged. "I don't know. You don't seem to consider me a friend these days," he meowed coldly. "Isn't that why you decided to attack me in the middle of the camp?"

"I–I was wrong," Graystripe mewed. "I just–"

"Oh, so now you admit it," the flame-colored tom sneered. "A little too late, however, because I'm not interested in hearing anything you have to say. I've done my best to cover up this ridiculous relationship of yours for you. I've lied to Tigerclaw, and I've even lied to Bluestar–or at least I didn't tell her the whole truth. I also took over Brackenpaw's training because his idiot of a mentor is never around to train him. And what do I get in return? I get my fur clawed off–quite literally–and a so-called 'friend' who's never there when I need you. And then after you saved me from Clawface, I thought that maybe you might be willing to fix things. That maybe we could be friends again. But you've shown me today that you're not interested in that. So guess what? Neither am I. I'm done trying to be friends with an ungrateful piece of fox dung like you, and I'm through with covering up for you. Your relationship is not my problem, and if someone else finds out about it, too bad. I will not let you try to guilt-trip me over not trusting you. So yeah, you know what, we're not friends anymore. I hope you're happy. Now you can tell Silverstream that you two can see each other without me trying to warn her off, assuming she even cares!"

With that, Fireheart turned around and stormed off, leaving a stunned Graystripe behind him. Part of him was tempted to go right back to camp and tell Bluestar all about his ex-friend's illicit relationship, but something stopped him. The ThunderClan leader was still recovering from her bout of greencough, and besides, she had more pressing matters on her mind at the moment. Fireheart guessed she wouldn't thank him for adding onto her troubles. The next cat to confess to would have been Tigerclaw, seeing as he was Clan deputy, but he was out of the question for a multitude of reasons. Besides, he wasn't spiteful enough to reveal Graystripe's secret over one argument.

Perhaps he had gone a little too far, but Fireheart also felt that his rant was justified. He hated lying to Bluestar; she had been like a mother figure to him ever since he entered the Clan as a plump kittypet. The fact that she was already disappointed in him for fighting with a Clanmate was terrible enough, but knowing that he couldn't even be honest with her about why it had happened hurt even more. But none of that mattered in the least to Graystripe, and Fireheart was sick of being taken for granted.

If he wants to be a traitor, fine, if he thinks being with Silverstream is more important than our friendship, fine, he thought angrily. Let him do what he wants. He's nothing to me anymore.

He would continue keeping Graystripe's secret, at least for now. There was no real reason for him to bother Bluestar with it, and he didn't think it was anyone else's business. However, if there ever came a time when the Clan found out about it, he certainly wouldn't say anything in Graystripe's defense. Why should he? Graystripe had proven once and for all that he didn't want to be friends anymore, so Fireheart wasn't going to waste his breath for a cat that didn't care. He had other friends now, in cats like Sandstorm, Whitestorm, Yellowfang, Cinderpaw, and Bluestar. As far as he was concerned, Graystripe could take care of himself.