Clove Carlton stepped out of her limo, inhaling the fresh Beverly Hills air for the first time in years. Admiring the three-story, stone mansion that stood before her, she pulled her Ray-Ban sunglasses over her eyes. The warm sun beat down on her pale arms, and she sighed contentedly. It was such a wonderful change from the wet, gloomy weather in Washington.

"Clove, darling, welcome home!" her mother exclaimed as she came gliding out of the house, her arms opened wide. She was dressed to a tee, as usual, clad in a navy blue Prada peplum dress with a pair of gold Louboutins. Her short, dark brown hair was curled perfectly, her makeup flawless.

"Mom, I've missed you so much," Clove smiled as her mother wrapped her in a hug.

"I've missed you too, sweetheart," her voice was kind and motherly, and Clove wished she could just sit and listen to her talk all day. Wrapping an arm around her daughter's shoulders, Clove's mom lead her towards the front doors, chatting breezily about all of the renovations they'd had done while she was gone.

High ceilings, crown molding, and crystal chandeliers awaited her inside, and the house smelled highly of hydrangeas, Clove's all-time favorite flower.

"It's good to be home," she said happily, before scurrying up the grand staircase to her bedroom. Plopping down on her king sized bed, she kicked her combat boots off her feet and onto the fluffy white rug, which still had lines on it from vacuuming earlier in the day.

"Clove?" her dad said tentatively, peeking his head through the double doors that lead into her bedroom.

"Daddy!" she exclaimed, jumping off her bed and running to hug him tightly. He kissed the top of her head before pushing her back a few feet and running his eyes over her.

"Look at you," he said proudly. "My little girl is growing up so fast."

"I'll be a junior next year," she smiled, breathing in the scent of her dad's cologne.

"So tell me," he said, sitting onto her bed, "how was boarding school?"

She sighed, "It was alright, I guess. The academic curriculum was killer, and there were these super intense ACT prep classes that I took second semester. But the weather was so cold and gloomy, so different from the atmosphere here, and it was actually depressing at times. I'm just glad I'm home."

He nodded understandingly, "Home to stay, this time."

"Thank God," she mumbled under her breath, and he looked at her with a puzzled look.

"What was that?"

"Oh, nothing," she smiled. "Go back to what you were doing; I need to start getting ready for the dinner we're having tonight for my homecoming."

After shooing him out the room, she collapsed back onto her bed and crawled under her grey satin sheets. She still had a few more hours until the party began, and honestly, all she wanted to do was fall asleep and forget all of the horrible memories she'd made at boarding school.

Clove stared at her reflection in the mirror, applying an extra coat of red lipstick. Stepping back, she admired the finished product. She was dressed in a strapless, black sweetheart dress with lace chiffon and a silk belt a little above her bellybutton. Her nude pumps completed the outfit, and her brown hair was pulled into a loose side fishtail.

The doorbell rang, and Clove hurried out of her room and down the staircase to find her mom talking up a storm to Cato, one of her old friends, and his mom. She broke out into a huge smile. She'd missed him so much.

"Cato!" she squealed, squeezing past her mom to wrap him in a huge hug. He towered over her now, and she had to stand on her tiptoes to wrap her arms around his shoulders.

"How's my little Clover?" his raspy voice said, and she scolded herself silently for the butterflies it gave her. His voice had definitely gotten deeper over the two years she was gone away in Washington, and she resisted the urge to rip off his shirt and admire the abs that she was sure had come in.

Ugh, she disgusted herself. This was Cato she was talking about. The Cato that had been getting wasted every night since seventh grade, the Cato that lost his virginity when he was thirteen years old. Clove Carlton didn't get butterflies because of Cato Astoria, she got the urge to vomit.

"She's doing wonderful, thanks," she smiled, looking him up and down. She shamelessly stared a little below his waist for a second or two longer before shooting him a look that said I'm impressed. He smirked at her cockily, resisting the strong urge to trail his eyes down her petite yet muscular body.

It was meaningless flirting, they'd been doing it for God-only-knows how long. The farthest they'd ever gone was second base at a seventh grade party while playing Seven Minutes in Heaven, and the days afterward had been nothing short of awkward.

"Clove," Cato's mom said as she made her way inside, "you've grown up so very much since I last saw you."

"Thank you," she smiled politely, hugging her quickly. "How have you been, Mrs. Astoria?"

"I've been well. And you?"

"Much better now that I'm home," she said before turning back to Cato to avoid more talk about boarding school.

"Look at them," Cato's mom, Catherine, said with a small smile as she watched the two walk off together, "only two more years until they're gone."

Clove's mom sighed dramatically, saying, "I know. It's a shame. Your husband couldn't come tonight?"

"No, unfortunately he had to work late again."

"Well then we'll just have to schedule lunch one day soon when he's off so we can all catch up."

"Most definitely."

They went on making small talk with each other, as usual, until Glimmer and her parents arrived for dinner.

"Mr. and Mrs. Davenport, it's lovely to see you again," Clove's mom Kendra said, portraying the role of the perfect hostess flawlessly.

"CLOVE!" Glimmer exclaimed from the doorway, running as fast as she could in her six-inch heels to hug her. "My God, have I missed you."

"I missed you, too, Glim. How is everything? You need to fill me in on everything I missed. Pronto."

Glimmer's grin widened, and she nodded excitedly. "Definitely." And the two of them headed back to the living room to gossip like typical teenagers, Cato trailing behind.

"So first things first," Clove smile mischievously, "boys."

Glimmer smirked, the slightest bit of a blush making its way onto her face. "I've actually been hooking up with Finnick Odair." Clove's eyes widened, her mouth hung slightly agape.

"How is he?" she begged, giggling the slightest bit.

"He's Finnick fucking Odair, how do you think he is?"

"Oh my God, I'm so jealous!"

"So what about you? Meet any super hot, rich boys at boarding school?"

"Oh, plenty," she said dramatically. "They were falling at my feet." The two of them laughed simultaneously, picking up right where they left off two years ago.

"Seriously," Glimmer smirked, "you had to have been hooking up with someone."

Clove had a sinking feeling in her gut as she replayed her time at boarding school in her mind. She'd been hooking up with much too many someones, but she wasn't quite ready to share with her friends the kind of person she'd turned into when she was away. "That's a story for another day," she said mysteriously, effectively ending the conversation on boys and hooking up.

"So how was boarding school, anyway?" Glimmer piped up, and again Clove was in no mood to talk about it.

"It was boring, and soggy, and cold, okay? Can we please just talk about something else?" she snapped, smoothing down her dress in an attempt to calm herself down. Cato and Glimmer exchanged a look that only best friends could understand, before turning back to Clove and changing the topic of conversation as she'd asked.

Ding-dong.

Clove stood up from the couch quickly, mumbling, "That must be Marvel."

She made her way to the front door hurriedly, eager to get away from Glimmer and Cato. Talking about boarding school was putting her too close to the edge, so she took a deep breath and opened the door to find Marvel and his parents standing on her porch, smiling sweetly.

"Marvel!" she exclaimed before he wrapped her tiny body into a huge hug. Her stomach did a few flips, and she blushed internally at her absurd reaction. Still, she couldn't help but enjoy the feeling of his muscular body pressed against hers. "Mr. and Mrs. Rutherford, looking wonderful, as always."

Marvel's parents were two of the most in love people Clove had ever met, and they always seemed so happy and together whenever she saw them.

She invited them inside, closing the door behind her before leading the three of them through the foyer to the back of the house. "The other parents are over there by the bar, and Cato and Glimmer are in the living room." Marvel's parents made their way over to the bar to meet up with the other adults, but Marvel pulled Clove aside before they went into the living room.

"How are you, Clove? You seem a little upset. Is something wrong?"

She swallowed hard; Marvel was great at reading people. "No," she forced, "everything's fine."

He stared into her eyes intently for a few seconds, and it felt like he was looking right past her eyes and into her soul. "If you need anything," he offered sympathetically, "you know I'll always be here for you."

That was what she loved about Marvel. He wasn't going to push her for answers; he knew she'd talk when she was ready. "Come on," she plastered on a fake smile, taking him by the hand, "let's go back to the living room."

After dinner was over and dessert was served, everyone sat around in the living room, the atmosphere light and carefree. Clove was half lying on the couch, her head resting on Cato's shoulder. Glimmer sat in an armchair a few feet away, and Marvel was next to Clove on the leather sofa.

"So Clove," Glimmer inquired as their conversation about Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark came to a close, "you still haven't told us about boarding school."

"There's nothing to tell," she said curtly, trying painfully to maintain composure.

"Come on, you're honestly telling us that nothing happened at your preppy, New England boarding school? No parties, no boys, nothing but studying?"

Oh God. Parties. Clove shivered just at the thought of those parties. Granted, she didn't even remember half of them, so there wasn't much to tell. "I told you," Clove said as she narrowed her eyes at Glimmer, practically daring her to say more, "it was boring."

Glimmer, never one to back down from a challenge, continued questioning her incessantly. "I don't believe you."

"Why would I lie?" Clove asked simply.

Glimmer just shook her head, "I don't know."

"Then just let it go."

"I just don't understand why you won't-"

"That's it," Clove said under her breath, standing up from her spot on the couch and hurrying out of the room. Tears threatened to overflow from her eyes, and her heart literally hurt. Sure, she was emotionally torn apart, but her heart physically felt like it was about to shatter.

Collapsing onto her bed, she let her tears flow freely as she remembered that night at boarding school that had changed everything. The night that had turned their harmless fun into something much more dangerous and risky. Sobs wracked her body, and she was shaking almost uncontrollably.

"Clove? Oh my God, Clove, are you okay? What's wrong? Talk to me, Clove." Marvel came barging into her room, talking quickly but calmly. Taking a few deep breaths, she stood up from her bed, where she had been curled up in the fetal position. Silently, she slipped her arms around his torso, resting her chin on his shoulder. They stayed like that for a solid five minutes, his fingers tracing circles on her lower back absent-mindedly. Eventually, she broke away from him, shaking her head at how foolish she was acting.

"Don't worry about me. I'm just being weird."

"Clove? Are you sure you're okay?"

God, he really had gotten attractive over the last two years.

"Clove?" he said again, but she didn't hear him. She was far too busy admiring the way his face looked when he was concerned. "Clove, promise me that-"

The feeling of her lips connecting with his effectively cut him off. His initial shock was overcome by the desire that spread itself throughout his veins, slowly stripping away any sense of rational thinking he may have once had. There was only one thought running through his mind: Clove Carlton was kissing him, and he was kissing her back.

AN:

Well first of all, thank you for reading :P I'm guessing the title or the description or the characters lured you in here one way or another, so I hope you weren't disappointed with what you found.

Second of all, I have a lot planned for this story, but I'm going to wait and see if this sparks any interest before I write the next chapter. So I'm begging you, please review (and favorite and follow if you liked it :P) and let me know what you think of this so far.

~xoxo~