When people look at Cato, they instantly see his aggressive and brutal persona. They see him carelessly murder younger children, wiping the blood from his face as if water. But they don't see him behind the camera's and blood stains. They don't see his affection and his caring manner. Me and Cato were reaped from district 2 together. Unlike some of the other district partners, I knew Cato before the reaping.
It was a few months before the reaping, and when everyone had gone to bed, I crept out of the house. The streets were practically empty, apart from the occasional drunk. Under a small tree in a quiet part of our district, I found Marcus, my boyfriend. He was slightly older, and his breath had the lingering smell of alcohol.
"Clove, what d'ya call this?" He spat, as he clumsily rose to his feet, swaying slightly. "I've been sat her for ten minutes." His voice was slowly growing in aggression, and after past occurrences, I knew not to question him.
"Sorry." I mumbled apologetically, as I went to embrace him. He shoved me off him and hastily pushed me away. My foot caught on a withered tree root and I was sent thundering to the ground. Clutching my arm, I tried hard to stop the tears that were arising in my eyes. He fell beside me, before shuffling closer.
"I don't want your lame excuses, I'm sick of them." He snarled, and he pulled me into him, trying to kiss me.
"Marcus, Marcus please get off me." I began to plead, trying to push his body away from mine. His hand began to muffle my cries and his arms kept mine close to stop me struggling. Before he could carry on, I aggressively bit his hand, and let out a scream, before I was cut off hastily from a blow to my rip cage. Panting and gasping for air, I watched helplessly as his figure rose above mine.
"This is why you deserve every single beating I give you." He snarled, as he showed his bleeding handing to me. His fist clenched and rose, and was about to give me another blow when a hand grabbed it from behind. The figure threw Marcus into the ground, before giving him a heavy punch to the face which sent him motionless only for a second. He didn't retaliate, instead just lay softly whimpering and clutching his eye. The figure brushed him away and strode over to me, his eyes full of concern. I recognised him, faintly from around school. He crouched down and softly wiped a patch of blood from my face.
"Are you alright?" He asked, his arms wrapping around me to try and help me to the ground. But as soon as I moved, the world whirled around me and I was plunged into darkness. The next day I woke up in my bed, and the following week at school we barely maintained eye contact. I needed to thank him, to ask him how he knew where I lived, but the embarrassment of the mind overwhelmed me, and led me to keeping my mouth shut. The next time we spoke was on the train to the Capitol.
Staring out of the highly polished glass, I estimated we'd be at the Capitol in a day or so. The sun was just setting as we departed our district, and although we had dined, the tension was too much for me to bare.
"Hey." Mumbled a voice, and as I turned round, I saw Cato leaning anxiously on the door. My mouth instantly went dry, and my palms began to sweat.
"Oh, erm hi." I replied, but my voice was full of fear almost. He seated before me, and it was only that moment I realised how muscled, but also how beautiful he was. After a while of quiet small talk, we both began to open up. He had me laughing, and at some points I even had him smiling. After a couple of hours I decided it was time to get some sleep.
"I think I'm gonna get some sleep." I yawned, as I rose to my feet.
"My compartments next to yours, I'll walk you." He smiled, and I couldn't help but beam secretly.
"This is me." I laughed when we had reached the door, and he reached up to unlock it. Just then I caught sight of some scars on his knuckles. "Is that from…?" I began to ask, but my voice trailed off as tears jerked in my eyes, and before I knew it I had slammed my door. I began to heavily sob, as my back slipped down the door and I fell to my feet.
"Clove…" He whispered gently as he knocked on the door. "Let me in, please." I didn't stop crying, I couldn't. I heard a rustle as he sat on the other side of the door. He's not going to go, I thought. Slowly rising to my feet, I tried to erase the marks of tears on my face. I opened the door slightly, before Cato bounded in and wrapped me in such a warm and strong embrace I was swept off my feet. I buried my head into his clothes, breathing him in and clinging onto him whilst beginning to sob.
"Don't worry." He soothes as he stroked my hair. "I'm not going to let anyone hurt you ever again."