Return- Hawkfrost x Ivypool

Chapter Twenty-Three

Ivystar paced back and forth outside until the medicine den until her paws were sore, which wasn't something that happened often. She sheathed and unsheathed her claws at random, scratching thin lines into the dirt. It was late, and she knew she should really go back to sleep, but something kept her waiting outside the den for any news from the medicine cats.

Get over yourself, she told herself sternly. Hawkfrost will be fine. He's not going to die. And, well, he's died twice before, so really it shouldn't be that much of a problem.

Ivystar promptly failed to get over herself.

Finally, Jayfeather poked his head out of the medicine den. "Of course you're still here. I'm not even surprised."

"You know, for a blind cat, you sure like to look at me with so much judgment," Ivystar muttered, but her heart wasn't in it, and the medicine cat knew it. "And what do you want me to do about it? Hawkfrost's my Clanmate, of course I'm worried."

"I didn't say anything about Hawkfrost," Jayfeather said, almost triumphantly. "And I don't see you pacing around here when any other cat is sick."

"You're blind. You don't see anything."

"It's a figure of speech," Jayfeather grumbled. "You didn't have to go there."

Ivystar gulped guiltily. "...Sorry."

"Whatever. Seriously, though, why are you so worried about him? He's literally got a god watching over him, and that god is a medicine cat, no less."

Ivystar just gaped. "How do you know about that?"

Jayfeather looked absolutely unimpressed. "You really thought," he said dryly, "That the cat who has the power to walk in dreams and communicate with StarClan all the time, wouldn't know about that."

"Point taken," Ivystar said, only slightly embarrassed that she hadn't already thought of that. "But I'm not that worried about him."

"You're a terrible liar, you know."

"I'm sorry, which one of us successfully infiltrated the Dark Forest until the very end?"

"At least I'm not in denial."

"At least I'm not..." Ivystar paused, trying to think of a retort. "Wait, what do you mean I'm in denial? About what?"

Jayfeather let out a long sigh, shaking his head. "Everyone can see there's something going on between you two. Including me, and I can't even see. Are you really telling me that you don't have feelings for him?"

Ivystar opened her mouth, ready to deny his accusation, and then stopped. She thought about it for a bit, even though each passing second made the amusement on Jayfeather's face grow. She did have a crush on him long ago, but that had been when she was an apprentice and he was evil! Things were different now. She was the leader of her Clan, for StarClan's sake, and he was... not evil? It was crazy to think that in such a short amount of time, he had completely gone and reformed himself. He'd even discovered the gods, by some miracle. And he was still handsome...

"That's what I thought," Jayfeather snorted, and turned to walk back inside.

"Aren't you mad?" Ivystar asked, her thoughts running faster than rabbits. "You hate Hawkfrost!"

"I hate everyone." With that, he disappeared.

Tail lashing, Ivystar hesitated before she followed him back inside, squeezing into the increasingly crowded den. "Shut up," she hissed to Jayfeather.

"I didn't say anything."

Ivystar huffed, padding closer to where Hawkfrost laid asleep, his chest rising and falling in an even rhythm. Ignoring the gaze of Leafpool and Spottedleaf, she leaned down to sniff at his wounds. Recoiling at the familiar scent of Mapleshade, she fought back a growl and slowly laid herself down next to him.