The Heart Wants what the Heart Wants: It Only Hurts if You let it Hurt

The moment I open my eyes, I decide that Squirrelflight will not be a part of my life anymore. I will not let her affect me. Squirrelflight doesn't care for me, I shouldn't care for her. I decide to cut the red-haired girl out of my life from now on.

I sit up in my bed and run my hands over my face. My eyes are still heavy with sleep. I climb out of my bed and walk into my closet. Running my hands over the clothes, I choose a navy t-shirt and a pair of worn-out jeans. I go into the bathroom, brush my teeth, and comb my hair.

I walk out of my house and head over to Firestar's home. I knock lightly on the door, and after about a minute, Sandstorm answers.

"Hello." She says stiffly. Hm, I guess Sandstorm and Firestar are mad at you for leaving their daughter.

"Hi, Sandstorm. Is Firestar home? I have a question for him." As I'm speaking, Firestar comes to the door and peers over Sandstorm's shoulder.

"Yes, Brambleclaw?" Firestar says briskly.

"I had an um… accident last night and broke my phone. I was wondering if I could have an hour or two off so that I could pick up a new one?"

"Sure, you can go. But you have to take Squirrelflight with you." I sigh.

"Why?"

"Because I'm your leader and I said so." Firestar raises his eyebrows at me. I nod and turn away from the door. I start to walk over to Squirrelflight's apartment. When I reach the girl's apartment, I knock on the door. Squirrelflight answers and jumps a little when she recognizes me.

"I need a new phone and Firestar said I could only go out and get one if I took you with me." I tell her, impatience making my voice sharper than usual. Squirrelflight only nods and slips back inside. A moment later, she reappears with a small purse.

"Let's go."

On the way there, Squirrelflight slips her hand into mine. I jerk back instantly.

"Squirrelflight, this isn't a date. I only invited you because I had to."

"O- okay. What happened to your phone?"

"I was angry at you, so I threw it into the wall." Squirrelflight's eyes flicker downward, my eyes stay focused on the road. I pull into the parking lot of the cell phone store and shut the car off. "Let's go, c'mon."

Squirrelflight and I walk into the store together, and I walk over to the iPhones. My previous phone had been one, since I know how to this device, I decide to just get another one of these. A store clerk walks over to us.

"Can I help you two?" He asks nicely. His name tag tells me his name is Ferretfeather.

"I need a new phone. I dropped mine and it broke."

"Do you have insurance?" I nod. "Which one were you looking at?"

"Um, I'm not sure. Squirrelflight?" Before I called to her, Squirrelflight had been sitting on a bench, staring out the window of the store. Now, her head snaps up to me.

"Yes?"

"What phone did I get last time? Do you remember?" Squirrelflight nods, stands up and points to the phone I had before. "That one, I guess. Thanks, Squirrelflight."

Ferretfeather unlocks the case and pulls the phone out. Ferretfeather takes the phone to the front desk, and Squirrelflight and I check out.

~~Linebreak~~

Squirrelflight is sleeping when the car slams into a tree. I fling my arm sideways to protect her and Squirrelflight screams as the glass shatters before us. I grit my teeth and close my eyes as I press my arm tighter to Squirrelflight's torso. Our bodies fly forward into the dashboard. My breath leaves my body as the impact winds me. Squirrelflight screams again.

I slump over the steering wheel and Squirrelflight leans back into the seat. I regain my breath and take in long, shaky breaths. Squirrelflight's breaths come in shallow gasps.

"Are you okay?" I look over at her, concerned. Squirrelflight's green eyes are stretched wide with fear. She does not respond to me. "Hey, are you okay?"

"What happened?" Squirrelflight looks at me.

"Well, there were a few stupid deer in the road that didn't move in time and I swerved a little too far. You weren't wearing your seatbelt.. and I had to protect…" Fear floods through me. "Why weren't you wearing your seatbelt? You could have died, Squirrelflight!"

"I-I'm sorry. I was uncomfortable and tired. I just wanted to go to sleep…"

"Well, you could have died. Do you even know how bad that scared me? I thought I was going to lose you." Squirrelflight's eyes pool with tears, and she looks at her hands. Shaking, I run my hand through my hair.

"You were scared of losing me?" Squirrelflight tells me in voice that sounds like it belongs to a mouse rather than a voice that belongs to a warrior. I turn my head away sharply.

"I- I… I have to call someone. The car is totaled." I pull my cell phone out of my pocket and dial Firestar's phone number. I inform him of the accident and he says he's on his way. I hang up the phone.

"You dad said he's on his way. He'll be here soon." I tell Squirrelflight soothingly. The young girl suddenly erupts into tears. "Hey, what's wrong? It's okay, we can fix the car. You're okay."

"I could have died! I didn't know… I'm sorry!"

"Hey, hey it's okay. C'mere." I pull Squirrelflight into my arms and murmur comforting words into her ear. About fifteen minutes later, Squirrelflight is no longer crying, but she is still in my arms. Firestar pulls up behind us and I release his daughter from my embrace.

We climb out of the car and Firestar looks at us angrily.

"Firestar listen…" I never finish my sentence because Firestar grabs me by my collar and slams me into the side of my vehicle. I am too shocked to fight back.

"You could have killed my daughter! I know that you are angry at her but that was no reason to wreck the car!" Firestar growls in my face, and I can smell his breath. It reeks.

"Daddy! It wasn't his fault! One, there were deer in the road and he accidently swerved too far. Two, he nearly flung himself on top of me to protect me. Three, I was the one who didn't wear my seatbelt. And four, Brambleclaw said he was scared of losing me. Brambleclaw did not do this on purpose! What is wrong with you? He didn't mean to wreck the car." Firestar releases me and looks at his daughter in shock. He looks as shocked as I feel. She defended you… Squirrelflight's eyes water and tears fall over her face.

"I- I'm sorry, Brambleclaw. I just got a little overprotective." I shake my head, reassuring him that I am not upset with him.

"No, it's alright. I probably would have done the same if someone had wrecked a vehicle and Holl- and Hollyleaf was in the car." My adopted daughter died the night of the Gathering. At least, everyone assumes that Hollyleaf is dead. She has been missing for two months, and I miss her terribly.

"Let's just go home, you guys have had a long day." Firestar sighs as the tow truck arrives at the scene of the accident. Squirrelflight and I slide into Firestar's vehicle while ThunderClan's leader talk to the man towing my car.

"Thanks for defending me." I tell Squirrelflight. She just nods and looks out the window. Maybe Squirrelflight does care for me… but I don't care for her.

Chapter three is done! The car accident though. Firestar was being a little protective, yeah? See you next week. So, I started a forum... It's a role-play. If anyone wants to join, I can send you the link if you PM me. Also, I just wanted the guest (the first one, the third grader) to know that I have forgiven him/her. But do you realize that after you sent that I got loads of hate mail? I've also forgiven the rest of the haters. I have decided to moderate guest reviews. I'm not going to complicate life by letting anyone hate. Finally, thank you to the people who have given me positive reviews. I PMed most of you, but some of you were guests. So thank you! :)

~Honeyleaf