Lionblaze has a Shadow
Part 14 : Goddamn Heatherpaw
It was 12:30 in the morning, and Jayfeather was wide awake. Quietly, he walked through his dark house, eyes squinting into the black. When he reached the door, he stopped, and took a deep breath to ready himself. Slowly, he opened the door, flinching when it squeaked. He looked at him, hair all messed up from sleeping, and snoring like a chainsaw. Jayfeather crept toward him, and right when he was about an foot away, he opened his mouth to draw in another breath.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY CLOUDTAIL!" Jayfeather shouted at the top of his lungs. Cloudtail shrieked and sat up, holding his heart as if he was about to have a panic attack.
"Jeez Jayfeather!" he said. "You scared me."
Jayfeather walked over and sat down on the bed next to him. "I wanted to be the first one to say happy birthday to you," he explained.
"Thank you," Cloudtail smiled. "That was very sweet of you."
"What did you want to do today?" Jayfeather asked. "Anything you want."
Cloudtail combed his fingers through his tangled hair as he thought about it. "I'm not sure," he said at last. "You can come and cuddle with me though," he said, smiling at Jayfeather. Jayfeather stiffened, frozen for a second.
Is this a test?
Jayfeather took off his socks and crawled under the covers. Cloudtail looked undoubtably surprised. Jayfeather forced all his embarrassment to the back of his mind, and snuggled close next to him, putting his arm around his chest. They were so close, Jayfeather was sure Cloudtail must be able to hear his heart pounding. But if he did, he showed no sign of it. They laid there in each others arms for a long time, and before Jayfeather noticed, he was asleep.
- meanwhile
Lionblaze looked at himself in the mirror, happy to see that his hair was getting longer again. It was such a mistake letting Hollyleaf cut his hair for him, she might as well had just shaved it all off.
Ring Ring
Lionblaze pulled out his cell phone to see who was calling him.
Restricted number.
Lionblaze prayed it wasn't the RCMP when he answered it. "Hello?" he said nervously.
"Hey, Lionblaze."
Lionblaze stopped cold at the sound of Heatherpaws voice.
"Lionblaze?"
"Why are you calling me?" he choked.
"I miss you," was her reply. Lionblaze inwardly groaned. "Well I don't miss you," he lied.
"Sure you do," she giggled. "Come and meet me."
"NO THANK YOU!" Lionblaze hung up the phone and jammed it back in his pocket.
Jeez.
Lionblaze shook his head in disgust as he proceeded down the stairs to make a ham sandwich. As he was buttering a piece of bread, he felt his phone vibrate again. Goddamn Heatherpaw! Lionblaze snapped his phone open. "Yeah?" he snapped.
"What's your problem?" Jayfeathers voice sounded confused. Lionblaze mentally kicked himself. "Sorry, I thought you were someone else. What's up?"
"I don't know what to get Cloudtail for his birthday," Jayfeather sounded exasperated.
"Give him a can of whip cream and wink seductively at him."
"Lionblaze for gods sake!"
Lionblaze giggled.
"This is serious," Jayfeather said. "The day is almost halfway over and I still haven't done anything yet!"
"Well, if you can't think of anything during the day maybe something will cross your mind at night. Cough."
Jayfeather hung up the phone, which was unsurprising. Lionblaze put his phone back into his pocket and continued spreading butter on his sandwich. When he was in the middle of putting on the top slice of bread, the doorbell rang.
If its Heatherpaw I'm going to scream.
Lionblaze threw the door open and groaned. "What are you doing here?" he said resentfully.
"I wanted to see you," Heatherpaw said. "And to tell you I'm sorry for the way I ended things between us."
Lionblaze scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah. I guess that could've gone better."
"But I'm okay now!" she smiled. "I went to rehab and now I'm better!"
"Wait what?"
"I'm not addicted to cocaine anymore," she said pleasantly.
"I didn't even know you did it," Lionblaze said, dumbfounded.
"Well the point is that I don't anymore, and we can be together again! Just like we used to," she wrapped her arms around Lionblazes neck. Lionblaze tried to back away, wishing he had never opened the damn door.
"I love you, Lionblaze," she whispered, then kissed him smack on the lips. Lionblaze tried to yank his face away, but she had an iron grip. He could hear someone whistling at them in the distance, and he thought about how much he would rather be eating his ham sandwich. Finally she pulled away, and Lionblaze coughed awkwardly. "Um, you know it's not going to be like it used to," he said. "I mean for crying out loud, you just ended our whole relationship in a three minute phone call! And then I don't hear from you for like a year, and now here you are! Kissing me and telling me you love me, it's just not right!"
Heatherpaw looked crestfallen. "I said I was sorry," she said quietly.
"Well, sorry doesn't really make me feel any better! You didn't even tell me you had a cocaine problem, and you know I could have helped you."
Tears were beginning to well in Heatherpaws eyes. "I thought you would have hated me," she sniffed. "That's why I went to rehab so I could get better! That's why I had to break up with you, because I had to fly halfway across the freaking world, just so I could sit in a locked room all goddamn day!" Heatherpaw said, her voice getting louder. "I did it for you!"
"I'm so... confused," Lionblaze admitted.
"Please just give me another chance," Heatherpaw pleaded. "I promise I won't be stupid anymore, I swear it."
When Lionblaze looked skeptical, she continued. "You were all I could think about when I was in rehab, Lionblaze! You're what kept me going..."
Silence enfolded over them as Lionblaze thought about it. "Fine," he said at last. "We can try again."
Heatherpaw smiled widely and hugged Lionblaze. "Thank you," she whispered. "I promise you won't regret this."
"I had such a great day!" Cloudtail exclaimed happily. Jayfeather smiled. "That's good," he said. "Even though we didn't do much."
"Oh we did lots," Cloudtail argued. "I'm looking forward to going to sleep, I'm so exhausted."
Jayfeather nodded, tired too. He leaned his head back on the couch, and tilted it towards Cloudtail. "I love you," he said. Cloudtail looked back at him, and smiled. "I love you too, Jayfeather."
Jayfeather stretched and stood up. "I'm going to go to bed," he said. Then he leaned down and kissed Cloudtail, who widened his eyes in surprise.
"Sleep well," Jayfeather said, then walked down the hall to his room.