Apprentice and Pregnant 2
Chapter 9: Well, We're Screwed
Baby, you're so unusual
Didn't anyone tell you you're supposed to
Break my heart, I expect you to
So why haven't you?
"Oh, for god's sake!" Laurelpaw shook her head in disgust, clearly surprising Firepaw with her reaction. She sighed loudly and rolled her eyes.
"Uh," Firepaw mumbled. "What?"
"My life just gets more messed up by the day," Laurelpaw spat. "I'm so sick of hearing all this garbage!"
"I was um, expecting you to be sad," Firepaw said awkwardly.
"This is no different than me finding out about how Hollyshine got pregnant," Laurelpaw said, closing her eyes in annoyance. "Sure, it sucks. But there's nothing I can do about it, can I? Can I change the fact that Longtail has a brother? Can I go back in time? No! It is what it is!"
"That's a good point," Firepaw said after a few seconds. "But like… are you okay? You're kind of freaking out right now."
"Wouldn't you be too?" Laurelpaw snapped.
"Somewhat," Firepaw muttered.
"What's going on?" Daisy asked, clearly confused. "I'm having a hard time following what's going on."
"Don't worry about it," Laurelpaw said, struggling to lower her voice. "It's okay."
"I will start the gathering!"
Laurelpaw groaned as she heard her leader's voice call out loudly through the trees. She peered through the bushes into the clearing. To her dismay all the cats were looking up at the great rock, ready to listen to the announcements. Well that's just great!
"What do we do?" Firepaw asked, looking completely freaked out. "We can't just interrupt the gathering to talk to Swallow Star!"
"Oh yes we can," Laurelpaw hissed, completely fed up with the day's events. "Follow me."
Thornpaw raced through the trees, feeling light headed to the point where it felt like he was going to pass out. Why the hell did I think it would be a good idea to leave, he thought angrily, jumping over a tree that had fallen to the ground. If I was at the camp right now guarding it like I was supposed to, then none of this crap would have ever happened!
He was approaching the camp entrance, so he slowed his sprint down to a slow walk. I wonder if Whitewhisker noticed my absence, he thought feverishly, feeling more stressed out with every paw step. Oh, who am I kidding? With my luck today, she probably noticed as soon as I left and told everyone. I bet they sent out a search party too, with strict orders to kill me on sight.
Okay that's probably a little unrealistic.
But still, she probably noticed. I don't know why I thought I could get away with this.
Thornpaw sighed softly as he walked through the entrance, trying to make as little noise as possible. Time to face the music. He moved very slowly, grimacing the entire time as he made his way into the camp.
Shit shit shit
I'm freaking out right now
When Thornpaw finally was in view of the clearing, he looked around quickly. His last sliver of hope vanished as he noticed he couldn't see Whitewhisker on the other side, where she was when he left. It felt like his neck was made of stone as he moved it around, slowly trying to figure out where she was.
"Thornpaw!"
Thornpaw nearly shrieked, jumping up as he heard Whitewhiskers stern voice behind him. He turned around, face scrunched up in a mixture of dread and stress.
"Oh," he forced out the word. "Hey."
"They'll be back soon," Whitewhisker said.
"Yeah…" Thornpaw said. His voice trailed off, and he stared at her. The look in her eyes was expressionless, and her tone was unreadable.
"So, ah," Thornpaw said, moving around like there was ants in his fur. "Everything good on your side of the camp?"
"Yep," Whitewhisker said simply. Her stony gaze didn't change, and she didn't look away. Thornpaw felt like he was gonna have a heart attack.
Do you know? Jeez, give me some sort of signal here!
"So," Thornpaw said at last, unable to stand another second of the painful silence. "Uh, how's it going?"
"Fine," Whitewhisker said, narrowing her eyes. She didn't look away, and sat down.
For crying out loud
"What's up?" Thornpaw coughed awkwardly and looked away.
"Nothing," Whitewhisker said, shrugging.
"Why are you staring at me," Thornpaw mumbled, picking at his claws.
"I need to say something," Whitewhisker said. "I'm just not sure how."
"What is it?" Thornpaw mumbled.
"Now this might sound a little odd," Whitewhisker said slowly. "And it's probably not true but I have to ask because it's been bothering me."
"Alrighty," Thornpaw whispered.
"Did you…" Whitewhisker started, breaking off for a second. "Leave the camp?"
"Nope," Thornpaw mumbled. Oh thank Starclan.
"You sure?" Whitewhisker asked, looking at him curiously. "Cause I looked behind me at one point and you were gone."
"I had to go to the dirt place."
"That's what I figured," Whitewhisker sighed, looking away at last. "Sorry for accusing you, Thornpaw. There was just something in my gut that was telling me that you left. I had to ask, just to reassure myself that I was imagining things."
"I see," was all Thornpaw could manage. That was the most stressful thing that I've ever had to endure. I thought she knew for sure!
Guess my luck hasn't run completely dry yet.
"We aren't interrupting the freaking gathering," Firepaw hissed, stepping in front of Laurelpaw. "Stop walking."
"Get out of my way!" Laurelpaw growled, trying to push past him. Firepaw quickly moved to where she was going to move, blocking her way.
"Move it, Firepaw!" Laurelpaw snapped as she crashed into him. Firepaw stumbled back a few steps but quickly regained himself.
"We can wait until after!" Firepaw grunted and stumbled again as Laurelpaw tried to barrel past him.
"Freaking move!" Laurelpaw snapped, glaring at him. Firepaw glared back, looking very angry and stressed out.
"I will not!" he hissed. Laurelpaw was at the end of her rope with Firepaw. She jumped, leaping onto him and pinning him to the ground.
"Hey!" Firepaw cried, completely surprised. "Get off me!"
"We need to deal with this right now!" Laurelpaw screamed, shoving her nose right up against his. She stared angrily into his eyes, trying to let him know that she was serious.
"You're really close to my face," Firepaw mumbled.
"There is no time to waste," Laurelpaw growled, ignoring him. "We need to tell Swallow Star, NOW!"
"Why?!" Firepaw sighed in exasperation, rolling his eyes. This annoyed Laurelpaw even more, and she shoved him farther down, pinning him with an iron grip.
"Swallow Stars not just gonna go away," Firepaw explained slowly, staring up at her. "He's still gonna be there after the gathering. He's not just gonna fall off the rock and die. We can tell him about Daisy after instead of causing a big commotion."
Laurelpaw didn't know what to say, and she felt her anger melt away. Her gaze softened, and she released her claws out of Firepaws fur.
"Well then," Firepaw coughed awkwardly.
"Oh!" Laurelpaw was so lost in thought she had completely forgotten she was on top of Firepaw still. She got off at once and sat beside him, embarrassed.
"I wasn't complaining," Firepaw winked with both eyes, a big smile stretching over his face. Despite the days unfortunate events, Laurelpaw burst out laughing.
"That's not how you wink, you idiot!" she giggled. "You're supposed to only use one eye."
"Like this?" Firepaw asked, blinking with both eyes again but way more exaggerated.
"Haha!" Laurelpaw laughed, unable to control herself. "Stop it!"
Daisy was laughing now too, and Laurelpaw stroked his little head with a paw. "He's being silly," she told him.
"I'm just kidding, I know how to wink," Firepaw said, grinning still. "I'm not stupid."
Laurelpaw smiled, happy that he cheered everyone up a little bit. She sat still, and looked up in alarm as a weird feeling struck her suddenly.
"What?" Firepaw asked, noticing the change in her expression.
"No one's talking," Laurelpaw said suddenly, feeling very cold. "The gathering started… so shouldn't we hear them talking?"
"Uh oh," Firepaw gave her a freaked out look. "I have a bad feeling about this…"
"Oh, shit," Laurelpaw whispered. "Do you think they stopped cause they heard us talking?"
"Only one way to find out," Firepaw said, face scrunched up in a look of fear and embarrassment. "Turn around and look, Laurelpaw."
"You do it," Laurelpaw whispered; dread hitting her like a stone. Oh my god… they're still not saying anything. Oh I would just die if I turned around and everyone was watching us… Why the heck were we not being quiet?
"I can't do it," Firepaw whispered, sitting very still like a rock. "Crap, this is going to be bad."
Laurelpaw didn't say anything, and slowly, very slowly, turned around.
We're probably just overreacting. I'm sure no one's watching us-
"Oh!" Laurelpaw squeaked, feeling all the blood drain out of her body instantly.
Every single cat in the gathering clearing was staring through the trees at them.
"Oh, shit," Laurelpaw mumbled, ducking down instantly behind a rock. "Shit, Firepaw."
"They're watching?" Firepaw asked, looking downright embarrassed.
"Yep," Laurelpaw said slowly. "What the heck do we do now?"
"Well I don't freaking know," Firepaw mumbled. "Jeez, this sucks."
"Oh my god, we were fighting… and I was pinning you down…" Laurelpaw could hardly stand to think about it. "They all probably got the wrong idea…"
"Don't even talk about it," Firepaw interrupted. "This is too awful to think about."
"Maybe they've stopped looking now," Laurelpaw whispered. She forced herself to look out from behind the rock. To her hideous dismay, everyone was still staring. Swallow Star made a big show of waving his paw at her. Laurelpaw quickly moved back behind the rock.
"Well, we're screwed."