AN: Thank you so much for taking interest in this story. I have been debating whether or not to sit down and write it, as it has been sitting in my brain for a LONG time now, so I figured I would give it a shot. This is my first story, and I have never written anything bigger than a college paper, so hopefully it isn't too bad. I am OBSESSED with The Hunger Games and all it's characters, so it only felt right to write a story with them. It might take a few chapters to get into it, but I promise you this is a HEAVY Everlark story, as I am an avid shipper. I want to apologize in advance, as the first few chapters of this story contain intense subject matter, and can be triggering for some. I just feel like I really needed to write it this way to be able to have the full effect of the whole story. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK. I also apologize for any typos or mistakes, I don't have a beta and I do the best just proofreading I can. I really hope you enjoy it, and don't worry, the whole story is not angst, I intend to include fluff. Thanks!

I do not own the Hunger Games or any of it's characters, they belong to the incredible Suzanne Collins.


Chapter 1

"Come on Katniss, hurry up! We're late!" I can hear Cato's frustrated voice calling me from the living room. "I'll be right there, just give me one minute" I call back. "That's what you said half an hour ago" I hear him mumble in response. I chuckle to myself, thinking how lucky up until tonight he has been with me. On most days, I'm usually the one that's ready before him, with the amount of time he spends primping in front of the mirror, only to come out looking the same as the way he went in.

However, today I was a little late getting off work and then got stuck in traffic on the way home, along with all the other patrons of the highway. Tonight is Cato's brother, Brutus', 21st birthday party, and Cato being Cato, couldn't wait to show up and start drinking, despite being only 19. They were hosting the party at the house Brutus shares with his two other friends, and since I was only 17 myself, I told Cato I would drive him home at the end of the night, giving him to green light in his mind to get plastered. I've only drunk alcohol a couple of times, but I've never gotten drunk or wasted. And it wasn't even because I was a wimp or that I was against underage drinking, I simply didn't like the taste of alcohol and it just wasn't fun for me. Cato, on the other hand, enjoys drinking very much, and having an older brother who had connections means he has been at it for a long time. Now that said brother is 21 and can buy his own drinks, I've taken it upon myself to keep an eye on Cato and make sure he gets home safe. Not that I really mind anyways, it gives me a good excuse not to have to drink when others try to push it on me.

I'm just putting the finishing touches on my outfit, a somewhat elegant tube top black dress that comes down just above my knees and a pair of black gladiator shoes with a slight heel to them, when my mother stops in my door way.

"Oh my, you look so pretty!" she exclaims. I roll my eyes at her and give her a half-hearted smile, looking in the mirror again at myself. I'm really nothing to look at, with medium height and slender build, dull grey eyes and boring, wavy brown hair. I've never been able to take compliments well from anyone, especially my mother. I mean, really, what's she going to do? Tell me I'm ugly? Of course she thinks I look pretty, she's my mother, which makes her compliments unreliable.

"Thanks mom." I reply. I really do love her, but right now I just want to get out of this house and to the party, sparing myself more of her compliments as well as Cato's inevitable annoyance over the time. I grab my purse off my desk and try to squeeze past her, but she stops me before I'm able to make it out of my room.

"Honey, I know you don't want to hear it, but I really wish you would think higher of yourself. You're so beautiful and I just wish you would see yourself the way everyone else sees you." I let out a frustrated sigh and give her an annoyed look. "Mom! I have to go! Cato is waiting for me and we're already late as it is."

She smiles at me and puts a hand on my shoulder. "I know, I know. Just please be careful tonight coming home, there's a lot of drunk drivers on the road late at night, and I worry about you coming back so late. And please, if you do decide to drink, just call your father or I and one of us will come pick the two of you up. We won't be mad, we just want you to be safe." I give her a 'please let me go now smile' and finally push past her. I walk into the living room to find Cato playing a card game with my little 13-year-old sister Prim.

"Oh Katniss, you look so beautiful!" She beams at me. "I wish I looked like you!" I just let out a big sigh. What is it with this family and trying to tell me something that's obviously not true? "Oh no, not this again. I've had enough of this kind of talk tonight. Cato, are you ready to go?"

"Yeah." He says getting up off the couch and patting Prim on the head. "Sorry Primmy, we're gonna have to finish this game some other time." He gives my mom, who had followed me down the hall, a big smile and we head out to my car, which I'm letting him drive to the party. I'm just about to open my door when he grabs me by my shoulders, turning me around, and pushing me up gently against the car. "She's right you know, you do look very beautiful. And also extremely fucking sexy." He gives me a big smile and leans down to press his lips to mine. I return the kiss, letting the unwanted compliment slide, when I feel both of his hand snake around my back and cup each side of my butt. He gives it a hard squeeze, causing me to push him away. "Cato, what are you doing? My parents could be watching us!" He just gives me a sexy chuckle and lets me go. "Sorry, I couldn't help myself." He says as he opens the car door for me. I give him a scowl and slide into my seat, watching as he runs around to the drivers' side.

I adore Cato, but he knows how I feel about PDA, and our sex life in general. I just feel like those kind of things should be kept between us, I don't really want the whole world knowing about what we do behind closed doors. I started dating him right after my 16th birthday, he was 18 at the time, and he patiently waited until I was ready to have sex, four months later. I told him I was ready, but the truth is I felt like I was disappointing him by not embracing the sexual side of himself he wanted to share with me. He never pressured me, but rather slipped in a comment here and there about how he just wanted me to trust him. This is what made me feel guilty, because it wasn't that I didn't trust him, it was that I just didn't feel if I was ready to share such a private side of myself with someone I had only been with for a short time, especially when he was my first every boyfriend. In the end, I ended up losing my virginity to him, and it really wasn't anything to write home about. It actually hurt. A lot. He shrugged it off and told me I would get used to the sensation and it wouldn't hurt so badly the next time, and to an extent he was right. Since then, we've had a steady sex life, the pain slowly subsiding but never fully going away for me. I didn't even have an orgasm the first time, and have only had a few in the almost year and a half we've been having sex. I don't know what it is, but most of the time I just tense up and can't finish. I don't tell him this, however, because I don't want him to feel like it's his fault. I know it's important to be able to talk about these things with the person you're being intimate with, but I just don't want to bring it up. In my opinion, as long as he's happy and can finish, that's all that really matters to me.


The ride over to Brutus' house is silent, Cato holding my hand over the center counsel and turning to give me a smile. I smile back, hoping to just get this night over with so I can go back home and get a good night sleep and enjoy my day off from work tomorrow. I love being around Cato, but there's only so much fun I can have being sober and hanging around a bunch of wasted 21 year olds.

We pull up to the house and have to park a few blocks away because of how late we were getting here. I can hear the music pumping from the house already, and know I am in for a long, long night. Cato puts a big, muscled arm around my shoulder as we're walking up to the house and leans into my ear, whispering, "Get ready for a night to remember."


Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think about the first chapter if you want, reviews are always appreciated!