How it Felt with His Lips Pressed to Mine:

Sequal: Our Broken World

Clove's Point Of View

The knife hits it's target. Surprise.

Anger floods through my veins like a dam broke. Anger doesn't make it harder to focus, it makes it easier, it just makes it harder to stop, harder to have self-control.

The knife slices through the air and stabs into the red circle. With every knife is a thought, like that for instance, said 'dammit!'

Stupid decisions are usually made in a time of weakness. I was weak; too weak. Now I must live with what comes next.

My hand releases the knife and it flies through the air, hitting the center of the target again.

That one said, 'ignorant'. Which, I was.

"Clove?" A deep voice calls.

"Hi," I say, turning around to come face to face with my husband of one month. We just got back from the victory tour.

"You never throw like that unless you're angry or upset. What's wrong?" He asks, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"Nothing," I say.

"Bull. What's wrong?"

I look around at all the other people in the training center. Cato grabs my hand and we start off towards our house in Victor's Village. We don't say a word on the way there. Not until we are in the safety of our own home. As soon as the door shuts behind us, Cato questions me again.

"What's wrong Clove? Seriously, and don't give me that nothing crap, because we both know that we're too close for me to actually believe it. No secrets. What's wrong?"

I could never hide anything from Cato. He could always see right through it.

I break. I sit down on the couch, pull my knees to my chest, and bawl my eyes out.

I don't hear Cato rush over to me, but I feel his strong arms lift me up, and then I'm laying against his chest, his arms around my curled up body, his chin on the top of my head.

"It's okay, Princess. I'm here. I always will be," He says, planting a kiss on the top of my head.

"Always?" I ask, resting my head against his chest, so I can hear his heartbeat.

"Of course. Why would you even ask that? I'm never going to leave you! I swear to you," He says, tightening his grip.

"I'm pregnant," I blurt out, my voice broken, cracked, and defeated. Then more tears come.

Cato just holds me while I cry. He says nothing.

"I'm not ready," I say, "I can't do this, Cato!"

"Maybe you can't do it alone, but we can get through it together." Then Cato's face breaks out into a smile. "Clover, we're going to be parents. We are going to have our own family."

I just shut my eyes.

Flashbacks.

My mom leaving, being thrown down the stairs, being beaten for nothing, the long painful nights, the fear, the alcohol. That's what family was to me.

"Clove," Cato says, reading my mind perfectly, "I promise I will be everything your father was not. And as for the old scumbag, he'll never touch our kid, not if we have anything to say about it."

"You're not mad? You're not going to leave me?" I say, feeling stupid for being afraid of how he would take the news.

"Never, Clove. I mean, I'm not ready, you're not ready, but we've got months to prepare. It's not going to be easy, but I promise I'll stay with you through it all. I will never leave you. Forever, remember? I love you Clo, or should I say Mrs. Clove Highman." I giggle. It was hard enough getting through my head that I was Cato's girlfriend, but now I have to get it through my head that I'm Cato's wife.

I wrap my arms around his neck. "I love you too, Cato."

"Love never fades or dies. If it does, it was never love at all. But this is love, and this is forever."

Cato put his hand on my stomach, where our baby was growing. Our child. Our flesh and blood. Our chance at our own family.

Cato bend down and kissed my belly, and then connected our lips.

We forgot about Panem, and how they would react to the news, we forgot about not being ready, we were just happy to have each other, and the new addition.

And at that moment, everything felt right in our broken world.

There was just something about the way it felt with his lips pressed to mine.

I'M BACKKK! You miss me? Well I started typing again. New ideas! Yay! Be ready for a little Clover/Cato, Everlark's games, the rebellion, and more!

And yes, I HAD to include those two commonly used lines (from my previous chapters).

If you haven't read the first one, go now! It's called 'His Lips Pressed to Mine'