Lionblaze Lost the Lightning

Chapter 10: Loose Lips Sink Ships

"The Christmas party's tonight," Sol said, gritting his teeth as he lifted a giant box onto the counter. Hollyleaf read the black marker that was scribbled on the side, SAUCE. That's helpful, Hollyleaf thought to herself, rolling her eyes slightly. Doesn't matter what sauce it is apparently. The labels in this place are so generic I swear to god-

"Are you gonna go?" Sol interrupted her thoughts loudly, leaning closer to her. Hollyleaf jumped, wincing at his annoyed tone.

"Sorry, I was distracted for a second," Hollyleaf mumbled quickly, feeling bad for not paying attention. "Um, yeah I guess I'll go for a while."

"For a while," Sol scoffed, shaking his head and smiling not so nicely. "Yeah, sure. Show up for the free booze and take off, probably. Man, there's always that one guy who's gotta go and do that."

"Uh huh," Hollyleaf snapped, turning her back on him. I don't have the patience for Sol's rudeness right now. I have a full cooler full of vegetable's that I need to chop before my shifts over, and I'm not even halfway done!

Hollyleaf chopped in silence, tuning out Sol's lecture about previous year's Christmas parties. She was just starting to forget about him completely when a word made her prick her ears.

"-and that was the year Ashfur killed it for us. We didn't have a party the next year cause things were still so fucked up from the last. I tell ya, there's always that one guy-"

"What?" Hollyleaf broke in, feeling her pulse race at the sound of Ashfurs name. "What happened with Ashfur?"

"Oh NOW you listen," Sol complained loudly, slamming his chef's knife on the cutting board. He leaned on the prep counter and glared at Hollyleaf, clearly out of patience whatsoever.

"Sorry," Hollyleaf muttered, not sure how to explain that she was ignoring him the entire time. "Oh don't look at me like that. Cut me a break, Sol. I've got a lot on my mind right now." That's not entirely untrue, she thought. There's so much shit going on I don't even know where to start.

"You really haven't heard about what happened with Ashfur?" Sol inquired, raising an eyebrow. His annoyance was replacing itself with curiosity, and Hollyleaf had a bad feeling on where this was going.

"No, I haven't," she whispered.

"Huh," Sol thought this over. "I thought for sure at least Onewhisker would have told you the story by now. The guy spreads gossip like wildfire."

Hollyleaf thought of Onewhisker, he was a skinny guy with greasy blonde hair that was always sticking up all over the place. He was always rambling on about something, and his breath constantly smelled like he had eaten a baloney sandwich. Yesterday.

"I don't talk to Onewhisker much," Hollyleaf said at last.

"Not surprising," Sol snorted. "Anyway, I guess one year everyone got a little too drunk at the Christmas party, and Squirrelflight walked in on Ashfur and his assistant in his office. They were conversing, but there was nothing professional about it if you catch my drift."

"Oh," Hollyleafs breath caught in her throat as she realized what he meant. "Really-"

"Needless to say," Ashfur whispered, looking behind him as a door suddenly opened. "There's a reason why he doesn't have an assistant anymore."

Hollyleaf didn't respond, not quite knowing what to do with this information. I don't feel entirely surprised, she thought. So why does that make me feel sick?

"Hey guys," Onewhisker greeted them, shutting the door behind him. Hollyleaf was dimly aware he was wearing the same shirt as yesterday, a mustard yellow tee that read 'Life without horses? I don't think so!' There was a stain on the collar and the sleeves were too short. Hollyleaf didn't get it at all.

"Nice shirt," Sol said, winking at Hollyleaf behind his hand so Onewhisker wouldn't see. Despite not liking Sol very much, she smiled at the joke.

Txt from: Firestar

Hollyleaf stared at the screen, unsure of what to do. We haven't spoken since yesterday when we were super hungover, she thought; feeling jittery as if she had just drank three cups of coffee. She clicked open, preparing herself for the worst.

You can run, but you can't hide

Hollyleaf scrunched her eyebrows together, confused as she texted back. What?

He replied almost instantly, Hollyleaf had barely enough time to change out of her cook's uniform when her phone buzzed again. I'm outside

Outside of where? My house? Hollyleaf thought as she typed again. I'm at work

She was just pulling on her sweater when her phone vibrated again. Lol so am I dude

Hollyleaf shoved her phone in her pocket and grabbed her purse, shutting the light off behind her. He's not making any sense. He's most likely at his house high or –

"Oh," Hollyleaf said out loud as she walked out the restaurant. Firestar was parked right in the front, taking up both the handicap parking spaces. He grinned at her from the driver's seat, waving when she looked at him. Hollyleaf felt her face heat up for some reason, and she found herself looking down at the ground awkwardly.

Why oh WHY didn't I brush my hair before I left? It's probably all tangled from me working all day and oh my god, why do I even care?!

"Hi," Hollyleaf nearly stumbled over the word as she climbed into Firestars car. She looked at him, taking note of how much better he looked when he wasn't puking out of her car window.

"Hi," Firestar said back, smiling again. "I'm picking you up today."

"But-" Hollyleafs voice trailed off. "I have my car here… and how did you know I'd be off work now?"

"I guessed," Firestar shrugged, taking a sip from the coffee mug that was in the cup holder. "And I guess I guessed correctly."

"I guess you did," Hollyleaf muttered, kicking herself for being so awkward. Snap out of it, it's just Firestar

Just Firestar

Firestar

"What do you want to do?" Hollyleaf asked. "I think Lionblaze and Jayfeather are home if you want to hang with them too. Wait, Lionblaze might be at his girlfriend's but-"

"Nah," Firestar interrupted, starting the car. "I'm fine with just you."

"Oh," Hollyleaf said in a high pitched voice. "Okay then."

"Wanna smoke a joint?" Firestar asked, pulling out a cigarette looking thing and lighting it before she could even answer. He took a long pull off it as he sped out of the parking lot, handing it to Hollyleaf a few moments later. Not knowing what else to do, Hollyleaf took it and took a puff. It burned really bad, and it took all her strength not to cough. She passed it back to Firestar, wondering to herself why she could no longer say to no to him.

They drove for a long time, but Hollyleaf didn't mind. The pot was starting to kick in, and she found herself more relaxed. The elephant in the room was gone, making the tension a lot more bearable. Finally, after what seemed like an hour, Firestar parked the car in front of some trees.

Now what?

"I want to talk to you about something," Firestar said, turning in his seat so he could look at her. He wasn't smiling, and the look in his eyes was so serious it make Hollyleaf get anxiety at once.

"Oh?" She muttered, turning away. "About what?"

"This is really," Firestar broke off and sighed, staring out the window. "Uh, this is really hard for me to say, alright? So just bear with me for a minute."

"Okay," Hollyleafs heart hammered in her chest. Is he gonna ask me out? Tell me we can't be friends anymore because of what happened the other night? Tell me he hates me? Loves me? Both at the same time?!

"I care about you, you know that right?" Firestar spoke quickly, fidgeting constantly. Hollyleaf felt the heat in her face start to boil. "Uh, yeah. Of course."

"I want you to know that I'm only telling you this because I care, not to hurt you. Okay?" Firestar said gently, looking into her eyes. Now Hollyleaf was confused. I have a terrible feeling this is gonna take a weird turn.

But where?

"You need to quit your job," Firestar said at last in a giant rush. "Please Hollyleaf, I don't say this lightly. You need to go in there, grab your shit and get the fuck out of that place."

"What-" Hollyleaf stared at him, bewildered. "What the hell are you-?"

"Don't ask me how I know this," Firestar mumbled under his breath, shaking his head back and forth. "But uh, yeah. I know you and your boss have been talking and stuff and I just think-"

"You WHAT?" Hollyleaf yelped, completely unprepared for his words. Her heart raced, terror striking her like a lightning bolt. Oh my god, oh my god no-

"I don't know what you're talking about," Hollyleaf hissed, sinking down lower into her seat. Her mind was scattered from this information, the drugs not helping whatsoever. She glared out the window, feeling a mixture of shame, guilt and embarrassment.

He knows

He knows, so why does he still sit here with me?

Why does he act like he LIKES me even then?

"My dad knows him," Firestar said after a terribly long silence. His voice was like an icicle stabbing into Hollyleafs heart. "Ashfur, I mean. I guess he likes to brag sometimes about the girls he's-"

"Stop," Hollyleaf whispered, squeezing her eyes shut. "Please stop talking."

"Hollyleaf, for fucks sake," Firestar swore and ran his fingers through his hair. He leaned over and touched Hollyleafs shoulder. She jerked away, staring at the ground.

"You haven't done anything wrong," Firestar whispered, grabbing her again. Hollyleaf didn't move this time, defeated. She looked up at Firestar, trying her best to blink the tears back into her eyes.

"All you did was text him," Firestar smiled a sad smile, not breaking eye contact. "That's not the most sinful thing in the world to do, is it?"

"N-no," Hollyleaf whispered, wincing at her voice cracked. This is so pathetic

"I text you all the time," Firestar continued. "That's not bad, is it?"

"No," Hollyleaf said quietly, feeling slightly better about herself. He's right, I suppose. I haven't really done anything terrible.

"Sometimes I text you, sometimes we sit in my car and talk about things," Firestar went on, the sadness vanishing from his eyes. "Sometimes I get drunk with you, and sometimes you take showers at my house when you're super hungover."

Hollyleaf giggled, remembering the time she had done just that. "I almost forgot about that."

"Right?" Firestar grinned. "Sometimes that happens! Sometimes I drive you to work, sometimes I drive on your lawn and you get mad. Sometimes I call you my girlfriend when I'm drunk, sometimes you kiss me when you're trashed. Sometimes we get high in my car. Sometimes we drink coffee and listen to death metal. No matter what, sometimes shit happens, Hollyleaf. But I'll tell you one thing. You're with me sometimes, and sometimes you're not. But I'll always care for you. No matter what, even if things get shitty, I'm not gonna go away."

Hollyleaf stared at him, at a complete loss for words. She had never heard Firestar talk like that, and she didn't know how to respond. He stared at her, green eyes growing shinier as he waited for her response.

"Sometimes I really don't like you," she said at last. "Sometimes I think you do too many drugs and party too much."

"I've heard that before," Firestar sighed, slumping back in the driver's seat. Now it was Hollyleaf who reached out, touching his shoulder like he had just done to her.

"But sometimes I really like you," her voice caught in her throat, and she struggled to swallow the lump that rose in it. "And that scares me because I'm starting to always like you."

"What happened to sometimes?" Firestars said quietly, smiling as he looked out the car window.

"I don't know," Hollyleaf confessed, staring out the windshield. They didn't talk for a minute, both looking away from each other. It was just starting to get cold in the car when Hollyleaf spoke again.

"Shit!" she swore, fumbling for her phone so she could check the time. "I had this Christmas party thing to go to tonight."

"How much time do you have before it starts?" Firestar asked.

"Two hours," Hollyleaf breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought for sure more time had passed."

"Well," Firestar snickered as he put the car into drive, warm air blasting through the vents as he put the key in the ignition. "Want to do something crazy?"

"What do you mean?" Hollyleaf asked. Firestar grinned and pulled something out from under the front seat. Hollyleaf gaped at it; it was a giant bottle of vodka.

"Chill, it's not open," Firestar rolled his eyes at her expression. "I don't drink and drive. Well, not with vodka anyway. I got it for tonight, there's a party going on at Longtails."

"So why are you giving it to me?" Hollyleaf asked.

"Loose lips sink ships," Firestar grinned at her. "We're gonna raise some hell."