A/N: So guys, The Thin Line won the story poll! Thanks to everyone who voted! If you want to see the full results, they're posted up on my profile below the music inspiration section. They will be written in the order they are given in the result list :)

Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games.

Warnings: Criminal/Dark/Angry/Jealous!Cato

The Thin Line Between Obsessed and Crazy

Chapter One

The Career Gang were notorious for ruining the lives of many. They sold drugs, stole from banks and major coporations, they kidnapped people, tortured them, even murdered some. They were wanted across the country but never got caught. Of course, people were suspected to be a part of it, but a lack of sufficent evidence tripped the authorities up every time.

Peeta had met Cato at the cafe where Peeta worked. They had a very intimate relationship and were very close to each other. Throughout the relationship, Peeta had never thought to suspect that Cato had ever been up to anything. He had always been very good at hiding it. They had a policy to never lie to each other, to trust each other always. So Peeta had no reason to believe that Cato was hiding anything anyway.

It wasn't that Cato was abusive . . . He just had a really short temper. Peeta had a couple of bruises from times he had accidentally gotten in his partner's path at the wrong time, but he never considered himself an abuse victim. Anyway, Cato always said sorry for what he had done. And Peeta knew he didn't mean it, so he always forgave him.

One day Cato brought a friend home. He had always brought friends round so Peeta didn't think much at first. But this person was someone Peeta had seen before. Her name was Glimmer Sparkles, and Peeta had immediately recognized her as one of the suspected members of the Career Gang. When he confronted Cato about this, his partner had feigned ignorance, and Peeta had been naive enough to believe him. Why would he lie? They promised to tell each other the truth.

But then a couple of weeks later, Peeta had been searching for his glasses when he stumbled upon a packet of tablets. He wasn't an expert on drugs or medication, but they looked very similar to what the kids called 'Molly'. He was horrified as the realization dawned on him that Cato was hiding drugs in the house. If Cato hadn't told him about the drugs and how he was keeping them in the house, what else was he hiding from him?

When he called the police, Peeta hadn't realized what he was really doing. He hadn't realized that Cato was going to get arrested for the posession of drugs. But once it had happened, he knew he had to follow it through. It hurt, but Peeta knew it had to be done. He had been raised on good morals and he couldn't act like he didn't know that Cato was taking part in illegal activties.

The police had taken him in for an official statement and during that interview, Peeta accidentally mentioned Glimmer and his discovery of the drugs a little while after she appeared in the house. This was enough for the authorities to go on and both Cato and Glimmer were arrested for the posession and, later, trafficking of drugs. It all fell apart after that, like dominios falling after the tiniest push. Both Cato and Glimmer confessed to be members of the Career Gang, having been part of it for years, ever since they were kids, and this just confirmed their arrest.

For weeks after the arrest, Peeta dwelled in their house, unable to believe how horrible he had been. He had betrayed Cato in the worst possible way. He felt awful twenty four seven, the knowledge that Cato probably hated his guts killing him. The guilt slowly ate him up inside to the point that he never left the house and his best friend Madge had to force him outside.

Eventually Madge's positive reinforcement helped coax Peeta out of his depressive state. She told him that he did the right thing, that he did what he had to do. Peeta was a key witness to Cato and Glimmer's perdicament and the police needed him to come to the court hearing and testify to the jury everything he'd seen and heard. Which he would never have done in a million years if it hadn't been for Madge.

Only once did Peeta dare to look at Cato during the court hearing. And in that moment he saw a look he knew he would never forget. After that moment he chose to not look at Cato throughout, becaue he was too scared to. He couldn't bear the burden of his ex's gaze.

When the sentence was announced and Cato was found guilty, the criminal had given Peeta a sly wink as he was dragged out, a gesture that was known from then on as 'The Hadley Farewell' in local media. Peeta didn't think of it as a farewell. He thought of it as a promise. But a promise of what he didn't know.

Once Cato was inprisoned, Peeta slowly built his life back up, the pieces began to slide into place again.

He forgot all about the wink.

Five Years Later:

"Aren't you worried?"

Peeta frowned at the sun, shielding his eyes from it's unforgiving glare with his hand. He loved it when the sun was out. It made even the most depressing of environments look more upbeat and chirpy. Madge was beside him, sitting in the grass in a much more tense position. "No, I'm not worried." He glanced away from the sun and smiled at her. "I have no reason to be worried."

Madge shook her head as if she couldn't understand how he could be so calm. "I can't believe you're so okay with this," she said. "Do you know what parole is? Do you?"

"Of course I know," Peeta sighed. He sat up and raised his eyebrows. "But I'm not worried. Do you know what a restraining order is? Do you?" Madge didn't appreciate him mimicking her and scowled, folding her arms and turning away from him. "Madge, please, don't get hung up on this. You're more hung up than me. Don't get worked up, please, it's going to be okay."

"You don't know that," Madge muttered.

"Yes, I do," Peeta insisted. He touched Madge's shoulder and made her turn to face him again. She reluctantly let her eyes meet his. Peeta hated how much she worried about him. She had a tendancy to hang onto things, for them to press on her mind for months on end. Madge had been hanging onto this particular things for two months, ever since the parole hearing had been confirmed.

"I just can't understand how they granted him parole so easily," Madge insisted. "I don't understand how they can be so thick as to think that he won't re-offend."

Peeta looked at the grass, which bristled and swayed in the wind. "He's not an idiot. He's lucky to be released," he said quietly. "He won't re-offend. He won't be stupid enough to risk going back to prison when he has been given an opportunity to start again. I'm sure the parole board saw this."

"Peeta, he's a violent nutjob. What if he comes after you? It's your statement that sealed the deal, the reason he was in prison in the first place!" Madge exclaimed. "What if he's been stewing in his cell, coming up with ways to get back at you?! Did you see his face in the court room that day? The day that you testified?"

Seen it? Peeta hadn't been able to get rid of it ever since he saw it five years ago. That look of betrayal and anger mixed into the ultimate scowl.

"Did you see what he did when they announced his sentence?"

"Madge, stop," Peeta said, shutting his eyes as he felt a headache come on. Madge sighed and shook her head. Peeta knew she hadn't meant to push, but he really didn't want to think about any of that anymore. It happened five years ago, it was behind him. He didn't want to remember, even if parole had been granted.

"I'm sorry," Madge said. "I'm just so, so worried about you. I'm very scared, and I wasn't even involved in all this until I realized you weren't leaving the house . . ."

Peeta nudged her with his elbow. "Hey, it's okay," he said. "There's the restraining order, the warning that if he breaks it, he'll be arrested again. Don't worry about the 'Hadley Farewell'-" he said this word with a sarcastic hand gesture-"because it was just Cato trying to have the last word. He was just trying to scare us."

"Yeah, well, it worked," Madge muttered.

Peeta sighed. "Don't let him win, Madge. We can't let him win."

Madge nodded and smiled weakly, a smile that didn't reach her eyes. Peeta knew that she wanted to believe him but couldn't bring herself to.

Honestly, Peeta didn't really believe himself.

~xXx~

The day Cato was released from prison, Peeta focused on his work. He worked all shifts and didn't give himself enough time to think about anything other than his job. The people who worked with him gave him the space he needed, understanding that today wasn't going to be a good day for him. The parole confirmation was all over the news, which always played on the t.v in the corner of the cafe.

Only once did his work-all-day facade broke. And that was when the footage of Cato being released was on the t.v. Peeta had paused, unable to stop himself from watching.

Cato looked exactly the same. Same blond hair, green eyes, strong build-or did he look bigger than he had before?-even the way he carried himself was the same. Confident with a hint of arrogance. The sight of him on the other side of the prison gates was so alien and too much for Peeta to handle. Delly had been working the till at the time and, noticing him watching, switched the telly over to a different channel and suggested he take his break.

Peeta wasn't going to lie, it was a hard day, and he was glad when it was over and he could go home.

His car was parked in a multi-storey complex that was just a couple of streets away from the cafe. Peeta always used the walk there to sort through his thoughts but all he could think as he made his way to the complex was Cato. He couldn't help thinking that he was free, he was walking these very streets now, that even though there was the restraining order, there was still an angry criminal out there who held a certain level of personal animosity towards him.

What if Madge was right to worry? What if her concerns were valid? What if Cato wasn't as clever as Peeta had given him credit for and would risk prison just to get his own back?

Peeta shook his head. He couldn't think like this. He had to stay positive and had to keep his spirits lifted. Look on the bright side. Think of the glass being half full, not half empty. Every cloud has a silver lining. Peeta continued to rack his mind for as many motivational phrases he could think of as he made his way back to his car.

The one thing that put him off driving home was the fact that Cato bought him that car for his birthday. Peeta had never thought about where he had gotten the money for it before until he was exposed as being part of the Career Gang. How many of the gifts he had given him the past had been bought with dirty money? Money he earned from lying and stealing and breaking the law? They were like pieces of Cato that had been left behind when he went to prison. Peeta had been meaning to sell the car over the past five years but a part of him was still in love with Cato and he couldn't get rid of the car because of that.

But still, he lived ten miles away, out in the countryside. He had to drive the car.

One of his habits that had developed after the arrest five years ago was that Peeta always locked his car when he got into it. He felt exposed with the doors unlocked, welcoming anyone in with a tug on the handle. Today was no different and when he climbed in, he pushed the button on the dashboard that locked the entire car. This always made him feel more at ease and he relaxed into the seat with a sigh, glad that the day was nearly over.

Click.

Peeta froze. He was no expert but he knew the sound of a gun being cocked when he heard it. To confirm his suspicion, a nozzle was pressed against the nape of his neck, the cool metal sending a shiver down his spine. His immediate instinct was to run but as soon as he lurched towards the door, a hand came around from the back seat and pressed against his mouth, pulling his head against the back of the seat and pinning him in place.

His attacker leaned forward so his lips brushed his captive's ear as he spoke. "Try anything and I will blow your brains out, baby," he purred.

Every hair on his body stood up in fear, his blood booming in his ears. It wasn't him, it couldn't be possible. He wouldn't break the restraining order, he wasn't idiotic enough to risk arrest again. Peeta fearfully glanced up at the rearview mirror and was met by a set of bright green eyes and an evil smirk in the reflective glass. His heart nearly exploded in his chest.

Cato had come back for him.

A/N: Soooo, that's the first chapter. Review with your thoughts! If I'm honest, I don't think this is my best work but still, I hope you guys liked it? Let me know! :)

Again, thank you for voting in the poll! (: