Clove POV
Today was not a good day so far and I was far from being a happy chappie. Not only was I being woken up at 5:00 in the morning by my stupid best friend he had decided that he would wait until today to tell me that we had training earlier than usual as the reaping was in a week and our head trainer Marlow expected all of his trainees at the academy by 5:45. So I had to roll out of bed, have a shower, get dressed and make my way downstairs all in the span of 25 minutes so I would have enough time to have breakfast and make it to the academy on time.

"Come on little one, you better hurry it up if you don't want to be late," he smirked, poking me through the fabric of my blanket where I had retreated as soon as I saw the time on my clock. "I thought I told you not to call me that… blondie" I hissed, hating that he used my tiny frame against me, "Yeah you did so what's your point and don't call me blondie" he grinned and I rolled my eyes, kicking him off the end of the bed where he sat and gave me the puppy dog eyes.

The shower was lightning fast yet still I managed to wash my hair, shave and brush my teeth. I burst quickly into my room, ignoring the startled look Cato shot me as I pushed him out still in my towel, ordering him to go downstairs and cook me some breakfast while I changed because this whole thing was his bloody fault only allowing the crimson blush to cover my cheeks when he was out of sight. For years I had a crush on Cato, ever since he beat up a boy who was picking on me for my eye colour, most of district two had either grey, brown or blue eyes however my mother was from the capitol and had a natural green that she had passed down to me.

Cato was something special, he was taller than me, I only came up to just below his shoulder with my serious height deficiency. He was gorgeous, chased by all the girls in the District with beautiful oceanic eyes, spiky golden hair, and perfect white teeth a strong jaw. Broad shoulders, abs plus pecs to die for and tanned skin stretched over corded muscles. I have seen that boy without a shirt and let me tell you it is a feast to the eyes, drool worthy if you will. I let the towel drop to the floor and pulled on a matching sports bra and boy shorts, tugging a pair of tight black training pants that stopped just below my butt and a red tank top with black designs. I shoved my feet into a pair of white trainers and pulled a brush through my straight brown hair that went to just before my hips, tying it back into a high ponytail that hung to my waist.

I grinned and darted downstairs, running quickly through the empty house to the kitchen. My parents and two brothers had died in a car crash when I was 8, I was the only one who survived, they tried putting me in care but I caused trouble until I finally turned 12 and they left me alone. They thought that if a twelve year old could fight to the death than they could easily survive on their own. I had it pretty good after that; most of my family were victors before they passed away so I had a lot of money that I inherited, not that my parents cared about me. I was expendable, the smallest one in the family, they put me in training only to stop the rumours of our family being weak, it was almost a relief when they died. No more beatings for not being stronger than the other people in my class, never mind the fact I was better with most weapons and most of the other activities.

My brothers were much the same as my parents; they would gang up on me and leave bruises and cuts that would take weeks to heal, never receiving punishment due to their gender and the favouritism by my parents. The only family I have left was another victor, Enorbia she was my aunt on my mother's side however she was always in the capital and when she wasn't she was doing something for the capital. She cared about me though, always making sure to stop by for special occasions such as birthdays and Christmas, she tried to stop the beatings once but my mother threatened to never allow her to see me again and she soon backed off.

I entered the kitchen to see Cato standing over a huge stack of pancakes, a bottle of syrup was held in his hand and he was pouring it over the stack with a childish delight. I grinned and skipped over to him, grabbing the bottle and darting away before he could stop me. "No," I said firmly putting it back in the cupboard and turned around, seeing him staring at me with a pout and puppy dog eyes. I shook my head and he grimaced, "Tiny Syrup Nazi," he muttered, talking about the old cult we had heard about in history it was from a country called Germany that existed before Panem and the nuclear war that destroyed most of the world.

"Yeah whatever," I smirked, moving to his side and stealing half the stack, passing him the other half and trotting over to the other side of the table, snatching a cup of coffee on my way, sighing as I took the first sip, coffee was my life. You dissed coffee and you would die, painfully. I set my half of the pancakes down and began eating, trying to do it as quickly as possible while at the same time not make myself look like a pig. I finished quickly and placed my dishes in the sink, waited till Cato had finished and did the same with his, "Thank you for breakfast," I said, standing on my tiptoes and pressing a kiss to his cheek, moving quickly towards the front door after picking up my keys, determined to hide my blush.

CATO POV
My hand moved automatically to my cheek, brushing my fingertips across the place she had kissed. I had been feeling like this more and more often lately, every small thing Clove did I couldn't help but react to. She gave me a hug, kissed my cheek, jumped on my back every time I couldn't help but let it get to me. Today when she came into her room dripping with water and in a towel I nearly had a heart attack. I've tried for years to ignore the feelings I get around Clove, the butterflies in my stomach, the pounding heart but no matter what I do I can't help but think about her.

I know what it means and I know I love Clove, have for a while now but she only thinks of me as a friend, this has become my mantra lately, she is my friend, she doesn't like me and I can't ruin our friendship over a one sided thing. She skipped innocently to the door, not even realising that I was still standing in the same spot as before. I shook my head to clear it of those thoughts and allowed my hand to drop from my cheek, grinning as I saw her bend over to grab her keys, her shorts; if they could even be called that were stretched taunt across her butt.

She straightened up and I moved forward tugging open the door and mock bowing for her to go through, she ruffled my hair as she passed and I cried out indignantly, "What do I look five years old to you?" I cried and she smirked placing a hand under her chin and examining me, "Are we talking mental, physical or emotional because you make the five year old category for two of them, Blondie" she giggled and took off running, giving me no choice but to give chance.

For such a small person she sure could run fast, when standing next to me she only came up to just below my shoulders, however her tiny frame was compact and toned to the physical peak she had more than her fair share of admirers in district two that I took no amount of pleasure in chasing off, ok maybe a tiny bit of pleasure, but to be fair most of them were creeps, she deserved better. She was beautiful though, you would have to be blind not to see it, with long chocolate hair that reached to about her hips, perfect tanned skin, curvaceous chest and hips, a thin waist, beautiful emerald green eyes and a smattering of freckles over a button nose set above plump rosy lips.

I finally caught up with her in front of the academy and grabbed her around her waist, hoisting her up into the air and over my shoulder, ignoring her shrieks and the small fists that beat against my back. We got several looks as I walked towards the gym but by now people were used to our antics and wisely stayed out of it. The last person who told us it wasn't proper to act like that got a broken jaw curtsey of Clove, then again he was a stuck up prude who thought anything he didn't do was improper.

I approached the gym doors and realising I couldn't use my hands for fear Clove would drop, I smirked and kicked them open dramatically, striding inside with Clove still over my shoulder, the other trainees looked at us and grinned, smothering their laughter so Clove wouldn't take her anger out on them. "FUCKING HELL LET ME DOWN BLONDIE!" Clove screamed, her punches becoming increasingly harder, "No why should I? You called me blondie and that hurt my feelings" I smirked, pretending to sob before it turned into a grimace; her foot had lashed out and caught me in the place where you should never kick a boy.

"Because I can do that," she stated smartly, hopping off my shoulder as my hands left her body and moved to grab the sensitive area, "Bitch," I hissed, my voice lacking a lot of the venom it usually did when someone injured me, "Bastard," she returned simply and I grinned, showing her there were no hard feelings. She grinned back and we went to stand in line, our trainer entering the room a few seconds later, she saw some of the other trainees muffling laughs and sighed in exasperation, "Really Clove, Cato, you couldn't wait till after my session to derail my trainees," Seraphine sighed, face palming rather magnificently for a 30 something middle aged woman.

Clove snorted and shook her head; her ponytail was tossed about her head as she smirked evilly, "It was blondies fault he provoked me" Clove lied smoothly, pointing at me with her thumb. "Fine whatever you say. I have news for you lot. I have personally secured it so that if anyone in this class is chosen as a tribute then no one is allowed to volunteer, you are the best of the best in this district and I want you to remember that. Now off you go, choose a station and get to work, try to vary them," Seraphine ordered, stalking to the edge of the mat where she could watch everyone at once.

Clove instantly headed for knives like I knew she would and was soon immersed in her own world, the knives were being thrown at an alarming rate but she barely even flinched, suddenly launching her body into flips, rolls and leaps as she threw knife after knife, each one thudding heavily into the targets. Her emerald eyes were alight with satisfaction as she observed her work, carefully extracting the knives from inside the target, her dainty hands caressed each one as if it was her child and she smiled gently, running her fingers gently along the blades.

I saw Malcolm, a boy in our class approaching her, he was sixteen 2 years younger than me so Clove's age, he was alright looking I guess with black shaggy hair, shocking grey eyes and a slightly muscled figure. He sauntered right over to her and began the station, sneaking glances at her every now and then, his eyes lingering much longer on her chest and butt. Clove was of course oblivious as she was most times when this happened with well every other boy in district two and I couldn't help but feel angry with the creep for taking advantage of that. My jealousy continued to bubble over as slowly throughout the lesson Malcolm began to get closer and closer to her, small touches such as pats on the back to close to her arse, fingers running over her stomach and high fives became much more when I saw the hungry glint in his eyes.

Finally I had enough, I grabbed my sword that I had put down on the rack to keep it safe while I rested, tired after such a vigorous workout. I hefted it with one hand and began hacking at the training dummies imagining piercing it through Malcolm's gut, the look of pain on his face as I made him pay for touching what is mine. I broke out of my daydream when I heard a low chuckle from the other side of the room, Malcolm had Clove wrapped around his body as she showed him how to properly let go of a knife, not that he really needed to be taught that, the academy was training us after all.

I growled and most of the trainees glanced my way, looks of fear apparent in their eyes. I caught my reflection in one of the display cases and could see why my muscles were all tense and a vein was throbbing in my neck, a murderous appeal visible in my eyes. I took several deep breathes and was able to calm down before another chuckle clouded my mind, I chanced a look only to see Malcolm in the process of pushing back her hair lovingly while she tried to discretely move away. I threw the sword to the side and began stalking across the room, the other trainees flew out of my way and I saw Clove moving slowly towards me, my original goal of beating Malcolm to a pulp was forgotten as I slowed my speed considerably, halting in my tracks to sweep Clove's petite form into my arms.

I wrapped my arms around her waist and lifted her up, pressing my mouth to hers and kissing her passionately. A few seconds in and I began to panic that I had ruined our friendship forever only for Clove to suddenly respond enthusiastically, her arms looping around my neck and tugging softly at the hair at the nape of my neck. Her lips were soft and warm and perfect, they tasted like strawberries and chocolate, I can't help but hold on a little tighter, still holding her tiny frame pressed up against mine. The wolf whistles from our fellow trainees broke us apart and I gently set her down on the floor, bending to bury my head in her hair, I turned my head the slightest bit so my lips brushed her ear.

CLOVE POV
I can't believe that just happened, Cato, the boy I've been crushing on for years just kissed me! The feel of his lips still lingered and the taste of vanilla and something that was uniquely him invaded my senses. I still had my arms wrapped around his neck and I could feel his lips brushing against the shell of my ear, "Mine," he growled, nuzzling his nose into the top of my head "Yours," I whispered back. I slowly pulled back and could see the possessive gleam in his eyes. Seraphine was too shocked by the sudden turn of events to stop us when we left her class, my hand still clasped firmly in his however I saw a knowing glint in her eyes as she turned away and kept the lesson going completely disregarding our departure and failing to report it.

He led me down to our spot by the river, it was only a couple of hundred metres away from the academy but nobody ever went there. Our spot was a small clearing surrounded by willow trees that hid it from sight, it had a small stream running around it that flowed into the larger river and a large oak tree was stood in the middle. Cato sat down with his back against the tree and pulled me onto his lap, his fingers running gently through my hair after he had pulled it from its confines, letting it fall down my back. "So what happens now?" he whispered, his face pressed against my neck. "Whatever we want to," I whispered back, laying my head on his chest, "Whatever we want, I think I like that idea," he muttered, his chin resting gently on my head.

I grinned and twisted in his arms, giving him a light peck on the lips before cuddling into his chest, running my recently manicured nails over his pecs. "The reapings in a week," he commented offhand, burying his face back in my hair. "Yes it is. You're going to volunteer aren't you?" I asked, craning my neck to look into his startling blue eyes. He nodded once and sighed, burrowing deeper into my hair, "I'll come back to you, I promise," he whispered and I almost didn't catch it, "I know you will. It's just that well… I mean I'm going to have to watch you fight to the death and not be able to do anything about it," I sighed, perking up when Cato pressed several soft kisses along my jawbone.

"I won't let you down little one, I will win and I will make sure that everyone knows you're mine," he growled, his teeth scraping gently along the shell of my ear. "You promise?" I asked softly, my voice coming out in a decidedly childish tone. "Promise." He stated, tugging me closer as I grinned, burying my face into the crook of his neck and inhaling his musky scent of leather and something's woodsy. "I love you little one," he whispered against my hair and I smiled, nuzzling in closer, "I love you to Cato," I whispered back, liking the fact that I could now be open about my feelings, "I'll come back to you Clove, I promise."