By the time I finally collapse under a pine tree that's been struck by lightning, I've near 'bout made it to the WindClan border. I lap up a few drops of water from a puddle in the grass and just lay there, panting. But I sit up real quick when I hear pawsteps.

"Go away," I call. My friends mean well, but I can't deal with their sympathy or their arguments about why I oughtta go back and apologize.

But Boulder ain't put off by my temper. He sits beside me, and my eyes are drawn to the way his gray pelt clings to his shoulders.

"What you want?" I ask ungraciously.

"Did I ever tell you about the time I almost ran away from ShadowClan?" Boulder asks.

I shake my head and grumble, "I ain't in the mood for one of your stories, Boulder." Even though a tiny part of me wants to know what went down and how he got past it, how he's so confident in his place within the clan.

"Cinderfur—he died of the sickness before you arrived with Tigerstar—was spouting the same fox dung as Darkstripe. The forest is only for pure-blooded cats, my sister and I should go back to twolegplace, all the rest of it. I decided I didn't need to take any of this from some old flea-pelt, so I snuck out of camp in the middle of the night. My mentor Mousewing tracked me down. He said as long as one cat wanted me in ShadowClan, I should stick it out and prove the others wrong."

"You sayin' you want me in TigerClan?"

"Me, Russetfur, Nightwhisper, and Jaggedtooth. But it's not just the former strays, Nettlethorn. Fernshade, Tangleburr, Lightningpaw, they'd all be devastated if you left or did something else rash."

"Do you reckon Tigerstar will ever trust me again?" I ask. "Do I even want his trust? I still think what we're doin' to those half-clan cats ain't right."

Is that a flicker of doubt I see way down deep in Boulder's eyes? But he gently rests his muzzle on my shoulder and meows, "Every cat knows you'd defend your clanmates with your last breath. We've all seen how fiercely you fight. I heard about how you took on a whole BloodClan patrol by yourself when you thought the camp was in danger."

"I wasn't by myself; Littlecloud was there. And I just wanna fight for the right things," I say.

"As long as you're fighting for your clanmates, you're fighting for the right things. That's the warrior code," Boulder says. "But I love the fact that you think so deeply about what's happening around you. I can tell that every word you speak comes right from your heart. That's rare for any cat."

My heart flutters at his words. This ain't like Jaggedtooth, askin' in his exasperated way why I gotta make life harder for myself by havin' my own opinions. Boulder ain't afraid of my wits or my sharp tongue or my scars.

"Speakin' from the heart only seems to get me in trouble," I meow, my words tumblin' oved each other like pebbles in a fast-moving stream.

Boulder purrs and presses his pelt against mine. "Well, yeah, it sometimes does that. But I wouldn't have you any other way." He looks down at his paws and gulps. His nervousness is reassuring. This ain't easy for him either.

"I… uh, I think I love you, Nettlethorn. There's no cat in the forest or the town like you, and there's no cat I'd rather spend my life with."

My own heartbeat is so loud in my ears, I'm surprised all the prey from here to Fourtrees can't hear it. But as Boulder licks my ears, a new confidence replaces my fear. "I… I reckon I feel the same way."

Boulder, who'd braced himself as if for an attack, gasps as his eyes open wide. "You do? Just like that? But what about Jaggedtooth?"

"We been through a lot together, and he'll always be one of my closest friends. But I don't want to be his mate. I haven't thought about that in almost a moon. That don't mean I'm ready to be stuck in the nursery with your kits, mind. But we can take it slow and see how things work out."

Boulder's fur bristles with an odd tension. "Who said anything about kits?" he asks sharply.

I draw away a whisker's length. "It was nothin'," I say quickly, not wanting to see him in distress. "That's a long time away. We don't have to talk about it tonight."

Boulder relaxes and twines his body around mine. I know I've just touched one of the invisible scars most cats have in their past. If we stay together, I'm sure I'll learn more about that trauma, but right now, all I want to do is lie here, love him, and ignore the rest of the world. I feel complete with him resting beside me. With Boulder, I feel more at home than I have since this whole TigerClan business got going. The future is still a yawning, terrifying darkness. Soon, we'll have to go back to camp, and I'll have to face the consequences of my fight with Darkstripe. But for now, time don't seem to matter. I'm content to lie here with a tom who values me because of my independence, not in spite of it.