Redhawk Caldera run away with me now

Growing up in a forest was in many ways a lot easier than growing up in a Caldera. For Eljay, it was like.. would any place ever really match up to what he had here? Maia shared that it was more about the people, but Eljay disagreed. He'd considered leaving the Copse even before he knew that Maia actually liked him. He'd always felt like he just wasn't good enough for the others in his pack, as if they didn't see his value. Then why was it so hard now? The Caldera breathed home to him. And he was afraid that it would never be home to Maia. Would he ever be able to find a different place that was home to him, though..? Was there any other place that he wanted to raise children? He didn't want to put what he had with Maia on the line, but he also didn't want to roll over and give up on Redhawk Caldera.

For now he didn't say these things though. He was too afraid to discuss them and Eljay's tactics had always been to simply avoid it. The sunset is beautiful, he said instead, and he leaned into Maia's side as well as back into denial. Eljay nuzzled the fur behind her ear with a content sigh, happy to just stay like this and push all of his questions to the back of his mind, where they resounded, lonely.

Will it ever work? Should I go with her? Should I stay? Should I ask her to be my mate? What if I lose her? What if I never see her again? What if I'll be miserable away from the Caldera? What does Weejay want? Where will we be half a year from now? When is she planning on leaving?