[lone]

Originally Posted by lost

Lostpaw was alarmed when Badgerpaw got off her, and helped her to her paws. And then he didn't move away like he has before. Turning her head towards him, she flattened her ears in concern, tilting her head to the side as she tried to figure out what was wrong. When he started speaking, her eyes narrowed. What was he talking about? They were just messing around... She understood there was a double meaning to his words, and she waited for him to continue.
He didn't want to hold her back, he didn't want to hurt her. He didn't want to be the cause of her struggles. Everything within her screamed to insist he wasn't, but that wasn't partially true. Their conversation had left her feeling almost unwanted, as if he could never like her more than a friend, like she had realized she felt. She was crushing on him, and he would never know.
"Badgerpaw..." she whispered softly, moving slowly to put her nose to his shoulder, "You will never pin me down. And you won't hurt me, and you won't ever be the cause of my struggles." Except for the fact she was struggling with feelings she had but he didn't. At least it seemed he didn't.
With her nose still at his shoulder, she took in his scent for a moment before she spoke up again. "Look, us being together isn't just your choice, and it isn't just mine. I refuse to ever leave you, and I make the choice to stand by you. I take the... the risk, to be with you. So even if I do get hurt, or if I struggle, that's my choice. My risk. Don't take the blame for things you don't control, okay?" She was rambling again. "And... you don't pin me down, because when I'm with you I feel like I'm flying."

Feeling her beside him, it was... comfortable. He could have stayed like that for much longer. And she didn't move away. She wasn't... trying to get away from him, she was staying beside him. Something that Badgerpaw found quite comforting. He liked the feel of Lostpaw being there, although her words half-troubled him.
　
Okay, he couldn't take the blame for things he didn't control - but he couldn't stand to see her hurting. He just couldn't. But, her risk... her choice... she was right. He couldn't control this and he couldn't pretend that he wanted her to stay away from him. Because he didn't. The fact that she would choose to stand by him, to take a risk, a chance on being with him... it was something that made him feel special. Feel loved. And he was glad that he had a friend like Lostpaw to make him feel better when he felt more worried. He was glad he could be a friend to Lostpaw to do the same for her. When I'm with you, I feel like I'm flying. That was a good way to put the feelings that Badgerpaw had himself. Flying.
　
The free, no-worries feeling that he got at times, around his friend - and no, not always did he feel as though he were flying, but it was a good deal of the time nowadays. A great deal of the time. As in most of the time.
　
Badgerpaw's yellow hues fixed themselves on his friend and he smiled. "Thank you." It was all he could think of to say, to... to do. Was to say 'thank you.' He was truly thankful to her, and not just for saying all that, but for being his friend. For being there when he needed her. For being the cat that he sometimes wished he were, because she was one of the most supportive and special cats he had met in his lifetime. He was thanking her for coming to ShadowClan in the first place... though, he supposed it had been more of an accident then anything else. Still, some cats didn't believe in accidents.
　
So perhaps, had it been... fate? A twist in their stories? Whatever it was, Badgerpaw was thanking that as well. For bringing Lostpaw to him. For letting him get to know her because she was truly amazing.