He sighed. "Come on, I'm really trying here! I know how it was when... when your mother died. I know you were super close. I know you don't want to become friends with anyone because you're scared you'll lose them again! I promise you won't lose me though."
"You don't know that," Hickoryshade growled.
"Yes, I do!" He mewed desperately. "We were best friends before it happened. We told each other everything. You just stopped talking to me.... It really hurt you know. I tried so hard to talk, and I still am. I want it to be the way it was before."
He sighed. "I don't want to go through what I went through again, and I don't want to put anyone else through it," he meowed at last. "I was trying to help you. It's better like this..."
"So, it's better to live life alone without friends? Don't you think the friendship and the bonds and memories would be worth it?"
"Look, my mother died when I was really young and I never knew my father. Unlike you, I didn't have anyone to teach me this kind of stuff. I wouldn't know whether it would be worth it, because I only have one memory of my mother."
He sighed. "Both of my parents died at the same time, at the same place. And where was I? I was sneaking around on RiverClan territory!" He mewed. "At that point in my life..." His voice wavered and he paused to regain his composure. "I just really needed a friend to help me. But I had no one."
Suddenly Hickoryshade felt guilty, and for the first time he looked up. "I'm sorry," he sighed. "I've just been selfish."
"It's okay." He mewed, meaning it. "I know you needed time to deal with your mothers death. I figured a few moons would be enough, so after that time passed and you still pushed everyone away, I got worried."
"I guess it's just because ideas as a kit stick with you sometimes, and when I got the idea that having no friends meant no one would get hurt, it stuck."
