CLOVE
I wake up to my brother screaming and my father shouting. Its 6:oo AM. Hes drunk again. I race downstairs and push him off my brother, Braydon. He sprints upstairs and i hear the door shut. My father slams me against a wall and i push him off me. He lands on the floor with a thud, and i go back to my room. I pull on my training clothes, A black tee shirt, and tight pants. I braid my hair back and slowly open my brothers door. "Braydon?" i ask. Hes crying in the corner. I sit next to him and lift his face up. Theres a bruise on his cheek and a cut on his forehead. I wipe up the blood and bandage the wound. " Just stay in here, ok?" I ask him. He nods and i head out the door. I silently go down the stairs, hoping not to come in contact with my father. I see that he's passed out on the couch. I grab my bag, which contains water, and my throwing knives. I head to the training center, and when i walk in, theres blonde hair blue eyed, Cato, chopping off the heads of life size dummys. He catches sight of me. "Hey knives." I smirk and walk toward him. I set my bag down and gather my knives. I walk to the targets and as they light up, i hit them one by one, directly in the bullseye. I go to collect my knives and realise Cato has been watching me. I look toward him and he flicks his eyes away. i laugh and throw more knives. Atter a few rounds of knives, Cato asks, " Hand to Hand Combat?" I nod and put my knives back in my bag.I walk over to the mat and he follows me. I come at him and he pushes me away. its never really been fair becouse of my small frame compared to his large one. After training, we walk to his house. We never go to my house becouse of my father. Cato is the only one ive ever told. He notices a bruise on my arm. " Clove...your arm." I look down at the bruise. " My father." I say. He probably already knew that though. He sighs and goes to the fridge. He pulls out two apples and throws me one. His parents come downstairs. " Were going to Aunt Ida's house for the night. You two stay out of trouble" Not likely. After they leave, we go to Catos bedroom, to wait for the Capitols message. I sit on Catos bed and he sits next to me. The TV flicks on and it shows the capitol symbol, plays the anthem, then president snows face.
"The Hunger Games...WIll be no more" He says. then the TV flicks off. Me and Cato sit there in shock. i look a him and he still hasnt took his eyes off the now blank TV. All those years of training, wasted. He looks at me, and i can tell he's thinking the same thing. He grabs my wrist and i barely have enough time to grab my bag, before he pulls me downstairs. "Race you to the fence", i say. "GO!" he shouts. We make it there at about the same time. " Tie" i say as we both catch our breath. We walk to the small clearing that we've been coming to, ever since i was 12 and he was 14. Thats 4 years. We sit down on the rocks by the river. We talk, about the capitol, taining, family and other things. Theres a pause in our conversaition, and he looks at me. i look back at him and im curious about what he's going to say. But he doesnt say anything. He leans down, and kisses me! I almost pull away, but im actualy enjoying myself. His soft warm lips against mine. I finally pull away. We sit there in awe, not knowing what to say. " Cato.." I say. I start to blush, and he notices. He smirks, and I do too. " Not too bad knives" he says. Ive always felt something for Cato, Deep inside. Could i be with Cato? I think. Yes, Its what Ive always wanted, but never admitted.
CATO
I look at her, her gorgous brown hair, tied back in a braid, her soft eyes, her freckles dotting her face.I stand up and reach for her hand, like i always do. But when she takes it, and stands up, she doesnt let go. We walk hand in hand through the trail. Maybe brutal, bloody, Cato, Does have a soft spot. For Clove. We reach the end of the trail and she looks up at me, I kiss her again, and rest my arms on the small of her back. As we pull apart, I look at her. Shes about as red as a cherry. I've never seen her blush so much. " I Love you Clover" i say, and I mean it. " I..I Love you too Cato" she stutters. We head back inside the house, and she looks at the time. "I've got to go, Cato" she says. She walks to the door and i push her up against it. I was about to kiss her goodbye, when i noticed the look of pain on her face. I'd reminded her of her father. She pushes me away and opens the door when i grab her from behind. " I'm so sorry Clover." I whisper. I let go of her and she silently goes out the door. " Damnit" I mutter. and head upstairs.
CLOVE
As I walk home, I think to myself, "Why would he do that?" He knows, about my Father, about the things he did to me. Maybe I couldnt be with Cato. I sigh and head in the front door. My Father is still passed out on the couch and i walk to my brothers room. he's playing with the lego's i baught him, and he doesnt notice me. Later that night, I head downstairs, to get a snack. "What do you think your doing?' My father asks, as he smacks me across the face. After a rough beating, I grab a peach and head out the door. Where I was going, I had no idea. I ended up in the forest near The clearing that Cato and I always go to. I take a step inside to clearing. Theres just enough moonlight, and i see Cato sitting on a rock. I turn back and step on a twig. " Clove?" he asks, standing up. I start walking back when I realise hes right behind me.
CATO
"Clover, please." I say. She stops. I put my hand on her shoulder and she turns around. Shes bruised, and bleeeding. Her eyes are watering, tears threatining to spill over. I push the hair out of her face, and it breaks her. She starts crying, burying her face in my shirt. I pick her up and start walking back to the house. I carry her upstairs, and set her down on the floor. I get the first aid kit, out of the cupboard and patch up her wounds. She stands up and i look her over for more cuts. We walk to my bedroom, and she sits beside me. I pull her in closer, and she looks up at me. "Why were you there, Cato? It's almost one in the morning." " I was thinking about how i screwed up, last night. I knew about your father, but..." I stopped. I feel her tense up as i mention the word father. I comb through her hair with my fingers. I lay down, and she just sits there, staring at the wall. My shirt is wet with blood and tears, so i take it off. I pull clove next to me, and she burys her head in my chest again. i pull the blankets over both of us, and were asleep within minuites.
When i wake up, i notice the small figure laying against me and i open my eyes, remembering last nights events. I slowly remove my arms from around her, not wanting to wake her up." She flutters her eyes open, " Morning " she says. I smile back at her, then sit up, and head to the shower.
CLOVE
After Cato goes to shower, i strech and go downstairs. i Hear him go to his room to change when the phone rings. " Cato!" I call. "Phone!" He comes down the stairs shirtless, in a pair of blue jeans. My heart skips a beat, as he answers the phone. " Hello?" i realise the shower is open, so I decide to take one. When i get out, i put on the same clothes i wore the night before. My hair is brushed, but its down. " Wow" he utters as i walk downstairs. " I have to go soon Cato" I say. "No you dont. your staying here for the rest of the week. My parents wont be home till sunday." I smile and realise he's cooking breakfast. "I'll head home and get some clothes." "After breakfast " says Cato as he hands me an omlet. After we eat, we walk together to my house. I just hope my father is not at the house. I open the door and just as I feared, hes screaming at me for not being home last night. as he usually does, he throws me against a wall and punches me before Cato throws him off me. " Don't touch her!" He yells before punching him uncontious. He looks back at me and i see the anger in his eyes.
CATO
I hold her against me and I realise shes shaking. She heads upstairs and i follow her. Her bedroom is nothing more than a matress, dresser, and knife holes in the wall. My parents never really cared about me, they ignore me actually, but its not this bad. Before I realise what i said, i'd already said it " Move in with me."She looks at me, sort of shocked. " okay." she says and packs all her clothes up. She gathers a small tote from under her bed, containing her knives. She goes to check on Braydon, but she finds a note written in green crayon. " Clove, Iv'e gone into foster care. Don't worry about me. I love you. Love Braydon" She puts the note in her bag, and we head back to my house. She changes into a grey tee shirt and jeans. She comes down the stairs and i kiss her softly.
ClOVE
Ive been with Cato quite a while now, His father got a job offer in district 4 so they arent living here anymore. I havent seen my father in 2 years, since I moved in with Cato. Hes the love of my life, and i've never been happier. I tell Cato Im going grocery shopping and head out the door
CATO
I watch TV while Cloves at the store. Even though the hunger games arent apart of our life anymore, we still go to the training center, mostly for fun, or to blow off steam after a long day. When Clove comes home, she puts the grocerys away and tells me to put in a movie, and that when she comes back from the bathroom, we will watch it together. I sit through the prewiews and then realise Clove has been in the bathroom for a while. The bathroom is connected to our room, so when i walk in our bedroom Theres spears, knives, and swords in the wall. How did i not hear this? I get worried and knock on the bathroom door. " Clove?" I call. No answer. I hear a loud band and kick the door open. There she is, laying there bleeding from the cuts on her arms, knocked unconcious, with a positive pregnacy test on the floor. I scoop her up and panic as I Set her in the car. I speed all the way to the hospital. When i get there, they immidiatly put her on an hospital bed and are about to wheel her down the hall when I look at a doctor and firmly say " Im coming with her." This was not a question. They start wheeling her away when the doctor puts a hand on my shoulder and says " Sir you cant.." and before she has time to finish, I shove her away, going toward Clove." Security!" she yells, and when they grab me to pull me away from her, I see Clover's eyes flutter open. " I'm Sorry Cato" she mouths as she falls back under. Im escorted to a room with a chair and a magazine rack. My white shirt is soaked with blood and what seems like days, was only a few hours. A doctor comes in the room, with a soulum look on his face. I sit there, Waiting for him to say something. " We dont know if she's gonna make make it." was all he said before leaving. I get so angry and punch a few holes in the wall. After about 20 minuites, another doctor comes in escorting me to her room. I didnt know what to expect as I walked in. She was as pale as ever. I wondered If she was dead. I grasped her hand and it felt limp. I was beginning to cry. No, I told myself, dont do it. But i couldnt hold it in. Tears started pouring. Clovers eyes started to flutter open. She looked at me and saw me crying. " Cato...don't" she said taking her thumb and wiping the tears away. "Clover, you almost died." I said."Why would you do such a thing?" She started crying. "I thought you'd leave." Leave. The word stuck in my head. " No, Clove you've got it all wrong." I said as I pushed her hair out of her face.
CLOVE
When we got back from the hospital, I helped Cato take the spears out if the wall and clean up the blood. I was finishing wiping up the blood when i caught sight of the pregnacy test. I picked it up and stared at it, i squeezed it in my hand until my knuckles turned white. Just then, Cato walked in, saw the test in my hand and picked me up off the floor. He put me down on the bed and pryed my fingers open. he opened his drawer and put it lyed there a while just talking. " You know, you can't do this when the baby comes" I flinched at the sound of the word. Baby. "And no matter what happens, ill always be here." He lifted my shirt and kissed my stomach. I put my hands on my stomach and huddled closer to him. I fell asleep just like that. I woke up to Cato shaking me awake. I had had a nighmare, and was thrashing around and calling his name. The nightmare was about the baby. Cato leaving after it was born. But I didnt tell him. he probably guessed it was something along those lines. I fell back asleep in his arms