There's something I've been meaning to tell you...

Brighteye couldn't take it anymore. Keeping secrets from Mistyfalcon (or at least trying to) had drained her energy, and, combined with not being able to leave camp, the white warrior's stress levels had skyrocketed. She had to tell him. Eventually, she had come to terms with the fact that even though she promised herself to choose Crowpaw, she loved Mistyfalcon more. Also, Crowpaw was still an apprentice, whereas the other two warrior had moved on with their lives. It wasn't really his fault, but it helped her sway her decision.

"Hey, Mistyfalcon?" She asked, approaching the younger warrior. In normal circumstances, she would've preferred to do this on a walk through the territory, but the Asylum occupation meant that they couldn't leave camp alone. It filled Brighteye with a trapped feeling, one that she hated with all her heart. "I need to talk to you." She said shortly.

Could they not get a moment of privacy? Mistyfalcon felt like every movement he made was being watched. Every time he left camp to patrol, the nameless, faceless figures followed. Some of them wore the pelts of predators, some wore the pelts of prey animals, a few did not. But all of them had the quiet tom's hackles rising in irritation as they settled themselves around Shadowclan's camp as if they owned it.

Brighteye's voice made the warrior jump slightly, but he immediately relaxed (as much as he could be, with the Asylum cats watching, anyway) and glanced up at her with a small smile.

"Of course," he mewed, pulling himself to a siting position, mist-colored tail wrapping around his paws. He'd become used to her shortness with her words, the familiarity comforting. Yet Brighteye seemed agitated. Mistyfalcon wondered if it was simply being stuck with the rogues, or if something else was on his friend's mind.

"What's up, Brighteye?" Mistyfalcon's dark gaze lifted to meet hers.

"Nothing, really." Brighteye what are you doing? You're meant to do this so you can stop lying to him. "That's a lie. I'm torn." As usual, she used as little words as possible, but her approaching Mistyfalcon for a conversation was much more than she would do for the average cat.

She nervously scuffed the ground with a forepaw, a rare sign of emotion from her. "I love two cats. But one more than the other." Mismatched eyes met dark blue ones. She didn't need words to explain who at least one of the cats was. Thinking about it, maybe Mistyfalcon already knew who the other cat was. He was always good at reading other's emotions, much better than Brighteye was at least. But now she really scanned her mind, and she remembers that there was always a tension between Mistyfalcon and Crowpaw. She hoped her friend wouldn't mind the shortness of words, but he was so custom to it now he probably would barely notice.

Mistyfalcon's tail stirred the ground as Brighteye spoke, the turn the conversation took hardly helping with his own anxiety. She was torn, and there was a part of him that had suspected... The conversation he'd had with Crowpaw so long ago had all but confirmed that something had been going on there, and apart from Mistyfalcon, the dark apprentice was the one she seemed to spend the most time with.

There was one she loved more than the other... Really, he should've known. Was this conversation to let him down, then? Mistyfalcon should have been fine with it, it was her decision, after all. If Brighteye was here to tell him that she'd chosen Crowpaw, that was her right. If it made her happy, then he could swallow his own pride and get over it.

Except the pain that flared in his chest at the thought said he was full of it.

Dark blue gaze drifted to the ground, and Mistyfalcon took a slow breath. He was mentally bracing himself for rejection. Brighteye didn't play with other's emotions like Crowpaw did. She weighed her words as if each one were precious, and never spoke just to hear herself speak. That she'd brought this up at all showed that she'd put thought into it, probably for moons, if he knew her. Because Brighteye never acted without thinking. That was a trait they shared, something Mistyfalcon found admirable.

And now it scared him.

There was a chance thata she was telling him this because she hadn't chosen Crowpaw. And yet, the words of the dark apprentice rang in Mistyfalcon's tattered ears as if he'd been standing right next to them. Surely Brighteye wouldn't be so cruel as to lead him on out of pity, but the words from Crowpaw had stuck, intertwining with his own self-doubt.

"You wouldn't tell me this if your mind wasn't completely made up already, Brighteye." Dark eyes lifted to meet her mismatched gaze once more, but this time hesitantly. Just don't give me false hope.

As Brighteye had suspected, it didn't take long for Mistyfalcon to figure out who she was talking about. He knows me too well, she thought. "It's not that easy. But I've decided now."

She took a deep breath and sat down, breaking her gaze from the tom's. "You're the one." She said simply. "I tried to make it be Crowpaw: I fell for him first. But I couldn't do it." No matter how much she liked Mistyfalcon, she was still angry at herself for failing. Everything would be more simple if she had stuck with it like she had planned. Although, of course she had messed up. Crowpaw could never make her feel as at ease, and they had left him in the distance anyway. "That time after the dog attack," She shivered slightly, the same way as always when she thought about it. The jaws snapping at Mistyfalcon. The barking that continued long into the distance. "I felt... different about you." She said, surprising herself at the sheer amount of words coming form her mouth.

Mistyfalcon released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding as Brighteye spoke. Part of him wasn't entirely sure he'd heard her correctly, but she kept speaking. The tension that had crept into his shoulders previously dissolved, instead replaced by that warm feeling he'd felt when they'd gone hunting as dark blue eyes met Brighteye's mismatched gaze.

"I've been trying to figure out a way to tell you how I've felt for... longer than I care to admit. I wasn't sure if you'd share those feelings, so I kept quiet." Mistyfalcon gave Brighteye an almost sheepish half-smile. Brighteye mentioned the dog attack, and Mistyfalcon shifted closer to her, pressing his pelt against hers in a tentative gesture of comfort.

Brighteye hesitated slightly as Mistyfalcon shifted towards her, but she relaxed and accepted. It's not that bad, she thought. She never thought that another cat could alter the way she acted so much. "Thanks for waiting. I needed time." Instead of following her original instinct to pull away, the white warrior gently rested her head on her friend's? She wasn't quite sure what to call him now. If they both felt for each other, didn't that make them mates? But that was moving far too quickly for Brighteye.

"So what do we do now?" She asked, unsure of how everyone did these kind of things.

Brighteye leaned into him, the action as unexpected as the words she spoke but not at all unwelcome. Mistyfalcon found himself relaxing into the touch, gray-furred tail lightly curling around her for a moment. A purr rumbled in his chest, the sensation at once unfamiliar but... right.

"I'd always wait, for you." He said, tone soft.

"I don't know... I'm content if you are." He shrugged. "Think we'll ever be able to get a moment alone?" Unlikely, considering all the rogues about. But Mistyfalcon could hope... And not having prying eyes when they were trying to profess love for the other would have been nice. The feeling of being watched in their own camp was an unpleasant one. Brighteye's presence against his side was a welcome distraction.