"What's going on?" Lionpaw's voice was tinged with such an anger that Jaypaw pressed instinctively against Heatherpaw which was, actually, a bad idea. Lionpaw hissed and swiped at him, claws sheathed. Jaypaw heard the whistle of wind through the fur bunched between Lionpaw's paws; he ducked and Lionpaw barely clipped the top of his ear.

"Lionpaw!" Heatherpaw shouted. "Stop it!"

"No, Heatherpaw," hissed Jaypaw coldly. "I can take him."

"Don't be ridiculous! You're blind!" meowed Heatherpaw, for once up-front about Jaypaw's eyes. This time, however, Jaypaw ignored her.

"Come on, Lionpaw," he taunted, feeling invigorated. He had other senses he could use, and in his anger, his brother was clumsy. "Don't you just want to thrash me?"

Lionpaw swiped again, this time claws unsheathed, which made it even easier to detect. Jaypaw was shocked by his own ease as he heard the metallic whistle and dodged swiftly.

But then, suddenly, wind rushed through fur that was shorter and thinner than Lionpaw's. Heatherpaw had leapt past Jaypaw and landed hard on Lionpaw, pinning him to his side with her paws. Jaypaw barely heard the words that she spat through gritted teeth: "You left me."

"But we can be together now..." Lionpaw trailed off feebly. He paused, and then meowed, so softly they whisked past Jaypaw's ears with only a wisp of a meaning, "I love you, Heatherpaw."

Jaypaw felt the hurt and shock radiate from Heatherpaw, but slowly it faded, to be replaced with anger. Very slowly, she growled, "I love Jaypaw."

Both Jaypaw and Lionpaw gasped.

Heatherpaw lifted her head and Jaypaw felt her hot gaze warm his pelt. "Jaypaw. I love you. Do you love me?" she asked quietly. There was no desperation in her voice. She was such a strong she-cat. Jaypaw knew that if he said no, he did not love her, then she would move on and probably find a mate in her own Clan. She would survive.

So he knew what he had to do.

"No," he whispered, his voice coming out a wisp. "No."

&&&

Hey, guys! This story is almost over. I'm sorry I've been making my stories so short lately. I'm planning on a sequel for "Right Here Waiting", and I want to be able to focus on that and make it longer, so I'm making this one shorter! Sorry, again.

Speaking of "Right Here Waiting", if you're one of the fans of that story and you want a sequel, start PMing me songs that you think I could base the story off of. I want it to go in the same style as Right Here Waiting. I have to think of a song to base it on and a character whose POV I can write from.


Thanks, everyone! By the way, this story is going to end sadly, but sweetly.