A/N: Well, one of the authors! This was cowritten by one of my best friends and a fellow Peeto/Pato shipper. :') To explain, the story changes POV between Peeta and Cato, starting with Peeta. Whenever you see a tilde (~) the POV changes. It was originally in different colors to help you guys out but ff didn't like that idea, so just read the Peeto and be joyous.

I, once again, sat out on guard. It was the first night I'd had to sit guard..but it was only the first night of the Games-though part of me felt like it was going to be a common occurrence with the Careers. I was a good distance from the main camp. Marvel and Glimmer were over in a camp by the fire about ten yards from me, Clove was up against a tree a few feet from them, knives in hand, and Cato was maybe ten feet from me, just sleeping on the ground. I set myself staring out into the distance for a while. I couldn't drift into sleep. I stood to pace for a while so I wouldn't get drowsy before sitting in a separate area than before, cracking some sticks and leaves as I reached the ground. And so the time stretch begins. ~

Faint footsteps and cracking sticks and leaves wake me up. I don't even have to open my eyes to know it's the dead of night. "I'm trying to sleep over here, if you don't mind," I scoff. ~

Oh, great. Now Cato's up. "Sorry, it's just me." I say softly. "I'll be quieter." I really do not want to get on his bad side. ~

"Whatever, Lover Boy." I sigh. "Once I'm up, there's no going back." Groaning, I roll onto my stomach. Please, just let me sleep! ~

Well, at least I won't be by myself. "Sorry...I mean, as long as you're up, wanna keep me company?" Of course he doesn't, but it's worth a shot. ~

"Hmm...try to sleep, or sit up and talk to someone who apologizes every time he opens his mouth? Stop saying sorry." ~

"So-" I stop myself. "Okay." ~

Laughing, I go to sit up. The sleeping bag I have must really be doing its job, because when I slide out of it, the cold air hits me in half a second. It's freezing. "I know you were going to say it." ~

"Listen, are you going to keep me company or just mock me?" I scoff, turning towards where he's sitting up, but he's not facing me. ~

"Yes." It wasn't a yes or no question, but I thought I'd like the have a little fun teasing him first. ~

"Well, that makes absolutely no sense." I sigh. But I don't want to be such a jerk, after all, he could easily kill me. "But whatever." I look up and shiver a bit as the wind flies by. "Cold, isn't it?" ~

"Not really." I lie and turn around to face Peeta. "I'm actually kinda hot." ~

"You're the only one." I say, getting another chill, zipping up my black tribute jacket a bit more. ~

"To answer your question," I start, "yes, I'll keep you company." He can't be that bad to talk to. Sure, he's from District Twelve, and that's as bland as they come, but I'll give it a shot. ~

"Well, I'm honored to be in your presence." I say dryly, resting my head on my knees, which I have tucked against my torso. ~

"I'm also honored to be in my presence." I smile in agreement. "So...how many are dead?" ~

"The sky told me eleven... Nine I'm pretty sure were us." I say. I'm not happy with killing people, but I've got to stay alive. "The other two, I don't remember, but it's entirely possible." ~

"Whoa, nine?" Eight or nine was usually the average for the bloodbath, but nine only by us, plus two others? That's about half the tributes gone already. "More of that luck tomorrow, right? Or today...I'm not really sure if it's morning or not." ~

"I've been counting a bit, I think it's almost one." I crawl over and check the little plot of dirt I'd been marking with a stick. "That would make the most sense, at least. And nine is a lot, but it could be ours, too. These Games may go by more quickly than any of us expected." ~

"Good. The faster it's over, the sooner I can finally go home. I'm bored with this already." The truth is, the faster it's over, the less I'll have to think about killing people. It's not as fun as everyone told me. And I thought this was what was missing from my life. I guess when I'm back home, I'll have to find something else to fill that empty feeling inside. "Maybe we can finish in a couple days, if we're lucky." ~

"You probably could." I don't blame him for assuming. Everyone here in their own way knows that Cato's going to be the one to win this, myself included. It's just a matter of making sure my death isn't drawn out, painful or anything. And trying to live for as long as possible. I'd help him any way I could.

Wait, what? ~

"No offense, but it's pretty clear who will win." Why waste time lying to him? Nothing will get in my way. No lies. ~
"Yeah, yeah...I know." I sigh, looking up at the sky where the Capitol symbol had been just a bit before. "None taken. Just, I'd really appreciate it if you'd let me just eat some nightlock or something as opposed to some gruesome death with mutts or something. If you don't mind." ~

"You want to get done in by a plant?" I laugh at the ridiculousness of his request. "I'll see what I can do." ~

"If I've got a heads up that I'm going to die, of course I'm going to request that it's as not painful as possible!" Did he just laugh? I'd seen him smile at the chariots, interviews, and of course, training... But his laugh, his natural laugh..made him seem like a whole different person. "It's just logic." ~

"Well, unfortunately for you, I'm not sure many people here would fulfill your deathwish." After a few days in the arena, some people start to grow more and more bloodthirsty and cause the most painful death imaginable. One year, someone actually flayed their victim. Slowly. That actually made me less excited for the Games because it was so grotesque. "I will, if it comes down to it." ~

"I appreciate it." I laugh a little, too, almost nervously. "I knew I was going to die coming into this. I guess I'm just starting to come to terms with it." ~

"Then why did you-oh wait, nevermind. It was your girlfriend who volunteered. I switched it around for a second." I don't know what it's like thinking that you're going to die. It didn't occur to me until now that people actually come into these Games thinking that they're going to die. I haven't dealt with that, and I never will. I'll go home. I have to. There's no other option for me. ~

"Katniss, you mean?" I laugh again. "She's not my girlfriend. Not at all. But she did volunteer, for her sister. Pretty valiant, if you ask me." I wrap my arms around my legs. The later it gets, the colder. "But I would've never volunteered for this." ~

"I thought you loved her. 'Because...she came here with me.'" I mock him with fake sobbing and everything. "Besides, who would volunteer?" ~

"Yeah, well, she definitely doesn't feel the same way." If those feelings were honest, that is. "I can tell you that much." I say sternly, not amused by his mocking. "And you? Didn't you volunteer? Care to enlighten me on why?" ~

"Because it was the cool thing to do." I sigh. There really was no good reason for volunteering. Money? Already had it. Glory? I couldn't care less. "Didn't you get the memo?" ~

My breath hitched in my throat. "No, I guess not...And neither did either of my older brothers." ~

"You have brothers?" Well shit. If I had known that, I wouldn't have said anything. ~

"Two." Is all I reply. I know that, if I had a younger brother who got reaped, I'd do anything to make sure he didn't have to go through this. ~

"...Oh." This ends the conversation for a few minutes. We spend our time looking at the ground, the trees, the sky-anything but each other. Then I say, "I shouldn't have asked. Sorry." ~

"There's nothing to be sorry about." I look over towards him, but he isn't looking at me, so I avert my gaze. "I wasn't expecting them or anyone else to, anyway." ~

"Stop complaining." I say, looking back to give him a dirty look. "I'm sure someone would have cared enough to. You're not that bad." ~

"Well then, you already like me more than anyone in District Twelve." I stare at my feet. "I don't want to bore you with my sob story." ~

"Please, please...don't. Besides, who said I liked you at all?" Okay, well that was a bit harsh, but his voice is already starting to give me a throbbing headache. And I'd only just woken up. ~

"Well, just the fact that you don't hate me means you like me more than them." I laugh in a somewhat forced manner to lift the mood. ~

"I hate you, though." I roll my eyes. "Better?" ~

"Normal." I sigh. This was getting nowhere. "You could go back to bed if you really want to." ~

"I'm being sarcastic. Get with it, kid." I shake my head. He takes things way too seriously! "You really aren't that bad. You're just a little whiny, that's all." ~

"I don't mean to. I'm not that good at detecting sarcasm." I stick my tongue out at him. "Sorry I wasn't taught in your master school." ~

"Oh, and all of a sudden you can pull a snappy comeback out of your ass?" I ask. "And my master school is very exclusive. I'm not sure you're right for it, though." At least someone appreciates my humor. ~

"And I'd assume you're the only teacher and student?" I reply. "That doesn't seem fair." ~

"Well, I'm the best, so...pretty much." I look back at the others. They're all still asleep-clearly much heavier sleepers than me. Lucky them. "If you weren't going to die soon, I'd teach you my ways." ~

"I'd hold you to that." I laugh. ~

Confused, I look back to Peeta. "Why are you so comfortable with talking to me? You looked scared as fuck earlier today. Every time I'd say something, you would get this look on your face like I'd kill you any moment." He, on the other hand, is absolutely no threat to me. ~

"Because you laughed." ~

"So? I'm not allowed to laugh? I laughed while we killed nine people!" ~

"But you laughed out of humor, not killing people..it made me sort of see that you're just a regular person. Just put in the wrong circumstances." ~

"No, you were put in the wrong circumstances." I correct him. "I chose these circumstances for myself." He's trying to get on my good side, but I won't let that happen. It'll make it harder for me to kill him because I can't kill someone that I like. Great. Now I don't hate him anymore. He weaseled his way into my personal bubble. At this point, it's probably too late to kick him out. "Speaking of the circumstances, I don't think I want to talk about them with someone who I'll probably end up having to get rid of soon." ~

A/N: Please review, I do appreciate feedback, as does my co-author~ :D