Heartpaw was resting in his nest when the patrol of cats who went to the Gathering got back. Firpaw stirred in his nest but didn't look up. Honeypaw slipped into the den and headed for Heartpaw. 

              "Hey," she said. 

               "Hi," replied Heartpaw. 

              "Don't worry, I'll tell you all about it," Honeypaw said, settling beside him. Heartpaw's mind was somewhere else though. He wanted to meet the funny Ivypaw and hear her voice. 

              "It's ok," said Heartpaw. "I'm not really interested actually." Honeypaw frowned. 

              "Are you sure?" she asked. 

             "Yeah yeah," mumbled Heartpaw. Frowning, Honeypaw returned to her nest and Heartpaw fell into a blissful dreamy sleep. 

Heartpaw woke up excited. He jumped to his paws, fully awake and went to find Pinestar. Pinestar had just sent out a patrol and smiled when he saw Heartpaw. 

              "I'm ready," declared Heartpaw. 

              "Great," smiled Pinestar. "You didn't take the punishment too badly then." Heartpaw couldn't even stay mad. He was seeing Ivypaw that night. There was nothing that could make his mood bad. Pinestar slipped out of camp followed by Heartpaw. 

              "We're going to be hunting birds today. And squirrels," Pinestar told Heartpaw as they headed deeper into the forest. 

               "I know how to hunt birds," said Heartpaw. 

              "Not up trees or in trees," Pinestar replied. 

             "Wow, you mean I'll chase a bird up a tree?" exclaimed Heartpaw. 

              "It'll try to fly away and you'll use the tree," answered Pinestar. They stopped and Pinestar told Heartpaw to sit down. "You are going to...." Heartpaw was already droning out. He couldn't help but think about what Ivypaw wanted to tell him. 

               "Heartpaw!" snapped Pinestar. Heartpaw snapped back to the present. 

               "Yes?" he answered. 

               "Are you listening?" Pinestar questioned. 

              "Yes," answered Heartpaw quickly. Pinestar narrowed his eyes but nodded. 

              "Then, it's your turn," Pinestar said. Heartpaw cringed, it was going to be a long day of training. 

Heartpaw entered camp with a squirrel in his mouth. He hadn't been able to catch any birds. It was almost sunset. As he dropped the squirrel into the pile, he remembered what Ivypaw had said. Her favourite food was squirrel. He grinned to himself and picked the squirrel up again. Honeypaw trotted to his side. 

           "Hey, do you want to share?" she asked. "I love squirrel." 

          "Er.., sorry," muttered Heartpaw. He couldn't say he was going to eat it himself. "I um..., I er, gotta go."

          "Oh, where are you going?" asked Honeypaw. 

         "Oh um hunting," replied Heartpaw. 

          "It's almost night," Honeypaw pointed out. 

          "I know but I hide better at night," answered Heartpaw, itching to get away. 

          "I'll come," Honeypaw decided. Heartpaw groaned inwardly. 

          "I need to..., do it myself," Heartpaw said finally. "It's just..." He thought hard. Honeypaw watched him carefully. 

          "You don't want me to come?" whiskered Honeypaw. 

          "Of course not!" exclaimed Heartpaw quickly and Honeypaw smiled. "It's just..., I need to be alone. To think you know." Honeypaw nodded. 

          "I'll see you then. We can hunt together tomorrow," she said. 

        "Yeah! That would be awesome!" cried Heartpaw relieved. Honeypaw's smile stretched wider and she trotted away, humming to herself. Heartpaw, with the squirrel in his mouth quickly slid out of camp and headed swiftly for the Windclan border. He wasn't breaking any rules, he told himself. He wasn't even going to cross the border. And he wasn't going to let Ivypaw cross either. The sun had just finished setting. He was late. He bounded faster, slipping in and out of the shadows. Finally, he reached the Windclan border and the scent of Windclan carried to his nose. He smiled blissfully and peered through the grasses. The other side was silent. Then, there was a rustling and Ivypaw appeared. Her beautiful eyes locked with Heartpaw. He dropped the squirrel. She gasped and her mouth turned into a beam. 

        "You got a squirrel!" she cried. Heartpaw nodded. He didn't know how he was going to get it to her. "Cross the Thunderpath. It's fine. Nobody will know. I'll show you, Windclan is awesome! Don't you love the smell of freedom? Here, the sky touches the ground. We are the closest to Starclan." Heartpaw could believe it. He picked up the squirrel. He didn't need to think twice, he looked both sides of the Thunderpath, listened carefully then pelted across it. He reached the other side and bumped into Ivypaw. They both sprawled to the ground, rolling on the long grasses. Slowly, Heartpaw got up. 

         "Sorry," He apologised. The squirrel lay beside him. Ivypaw got up and the grasses surrounded them, long and tall. 

         "It's alright," beamed Ivypaw. "Can I?" 

          "Sure. I caught it for you," said Heartpaw then looked down in embarrassment. 

         "That's so sweet," she said. She took a bite and her eyes went wide. "Mmmm." Heartpaw smiled and looked around. The grass swayed gently and the breeze felt good in his pelt. 

          "Is the grass here long everywhere?" asked Heartpaw curiously. 

         "No," replied Ivypaw. "This is the best thing ever. Thank you so much." She ate, savoring every bite. Heartpaw watched her, feeling a dizzy feeling in his head and some sort of fluttering in his stomach. She looked up at him and smiled. She finished her squirrel. 

          "Thanks," she told him when she had finished every bite. 

         "No problem," grinned Heartpaw. She sat down, facing Shadowclan territory. Heartpaw sat beside her, their pelts brushed and a warm feeling ran through Heartpaw. 

          "So..., what did you want to tell me?" asked Heartpaw. Ivypaw smiled. 

          "Well..., I don't know if I should tell you but guess what? Firepaw is becoming a warrior soon," cried Ivypaw. Heartpaw felt slightly dubbed that Ivypaw didn't want to tell him what he had been waiting the whole day to hear. 

          "That's great," smiled Heartpaw. 

          "Yeah, I won't have to be in the same den as him anymore," grinned Ivypaw. "So how is with Firpaw?"

           "He's annoying. As always. The thing is, he isn't like his siblings, Honeypaw or Lionbreeze," said Heartpaw. 

           "What do you mean?" asked Ivypaw. 

           "Honeypaw is really nice, although she used to ignore me all the time in the nursery like Lionbreeze," said Heartpaw. 

          "Lionbreeze is your medicine cat right?" Ivypaw said. 

          "Yep. He should still be an apprentice but he's awesome so..."

          "That's so cool."

           "I know right. Anything interesting happening with Thunderclan?"

           "Nah. I mean, we had some sort of prophecy some time back. It's so stupid. Addertail got it, Starclan talked to him about something and he didn't understand. I mean, why does Starclan have to make everything unclear." Heartpaw thought about the time he had met Brightheart. 

           "Yeah. I know."

           "So, do you have siblings?"

           "No," Heartpaw replied flatly. He didn't like discussing his parents, not even with Ivypaw.

           "My dad died when I was a kit. He used to bring me out and teach me skills. He'd let me play with his tail and climb on his back. Then one day, he came into the nursery and see me and I was angry with my sister, Mintpaw and he came to say hello but I got mad at him. And I shouted at him to go. And he left, saying he loved me but I ignored him and he went on patrol. And Thunderclan attacked the patrol. And he died with me being mad at him." Heartpaw thought in silence. He wrapped his tail around Ivypaw's to comfort her. 

            "Brightheart, my mother died when I was born. I only had Stormpelt. But then he died as well. Because of Thunderclan," sighed Heartpaw finally. It hurt him to talk about his parents to someone he barely knew and suddenly, he didn't feel as much attached to Ivypaw as he thought. 

             "It feels empty though, doesn't it? And then you, sorta get used to it," Ivypaw said instead. Heartpaw frowned. He had never talked about it to anybody. And the way Ivypaw talked, soothing and calm, sure of herself, it made him feel better, as if he weren't alone. 

             "Yeah. It does," whispered Heartpaw. 

            "But I've got you. And you've got me," whispered Ivypaw, she leaned her head against Heartpaw. Heartpaw smiled, something in his heart flared, filling a small part of his heart. Ivypaw's stomach fluttered with butterflies as she leaned against him, she had never felt like this. They leaned against each other, talking about their feelings, laughing and joking till the middle of the night. Finally, Heartpaw had to leave. 

            "I need to go," he said solemnly. 

            "Bye," whispered Ivypaw. "I'll..miss you." Heartpaw beamed. 

           "Me too," he said. And he knew they both liked each other more than friends. 

            "Tomorrow?" asked Heartpaw. "I won't be late." Ivypaw laughed. 

            "Can't wait," she said and slipped away, twirling her tail along Heartpaw's head. He watched as he disappeared then turned to the Thunderpath. He listened carefully then sprinted back to the otherside. He was home. He bounded back towards camp. His heart pumped in his chest, he was bursting with happiness. He had seen Ivypaw and she was so happy to see him. He slipped back into the apprentice den and curled up into his nest. Honeypaw shuffled. She looked up groggily. 

           "You're so late," she murmured. Heartpaw didn't answer, falling into happy dreams.