The reception festivities were in full swing as day turned into night at the Kensington residence. Chatter of how beautiful the service was executed spilt out of the lips of the guests, who were starting to fill up the dance floor.
Clove had watched her father and new stepmother take their first dance earlier, bittersweet about the ordeal. She missed her mother, truly, but the happiness in her father's eyes was something special that she couldn't deny. Still, she knew the days of weathering everything with her father and her father alone were over—she was reminded so as she glanced over at her giddy stepsister getting ready to take to the dance floor. She was caught up in her own thoughts while the music played, absentmindedly playing with the floral centerpiece before hearing her name called.
"Clove!" Jacqueline said from a table nearby, as she motioned for the girl to come over. At the thought of having to walk more in the heels, she grumbled, but nevertheless obeyed. Jacqueline was sitting with the few Panem Preparatory students who had been invited to the affair, all of whom Clove recognize.
"Check you out!" Katniss joked, and Peeta let out a wolf whistle in joking approval over Clove's rare formal appearance.
She responded with the roll of her eyes, muttering a quiet "shut up." She looked at the empty chair on the table, raising an eyebrow. "Who's missing?"
Madge let out a gasp. "Oh my goodness, Clove, you missed it. Look at that guy dancing with Glim," she demanded excitedly, and Clove turned around in a hesitant fashion to look at her stepsister. Her dance partner was a tall, muscular blond, and Clove remembered his face faintly from the wedding ceremony. Still, he was unfamiliar. As if Madge had been reading her mind, she interjected her thoughts and continued. "I talked to my daddy today, and he said he's Cato Weston, son of the state's attorney and the editor in chief of Cosmo. Cosmopolitan, Clove!"
"I bet he's got women figured out," Marvel joked, and the rest of the table echoed in laughter.
"Well, he certainly picked the cream of the crop," Clove commented, her words dripping with sarcasm.
"Ouch, no love for your new stepsister?" Marvel asked, an amused grin on his face. Though Jacqueline was hands down Clove's best friend, the handsome boy had always understood her for some strange reason. Their opposite personalities operated on the same wavelength, and somehow, no one made Clove laugh more than Marvel Stone.
"Not like she's enthusiastic about me either," Clove pointed out quickly, and it was true. Long before the wedding, Clove and Glimmer had never gotten along. The fact that they had nothing in common led to numerous arguments and verbal sparring between the two. Essentially, Clove thought Glimmer was a materialistic, shallow airhead and Glimmer thought Clove was a rude, short-tempered sad excuse for a lady. The group knew of the thick tension between the two, choosing not to take sides in the toxic affair aside from Jacqueline pledging her allegiance to Clove and Madge usually taking Glimmer's side.
"She always gets the gorgeous ones," Madge stated wistfully, as they stole glances at the dancing couple.
"Looks like a football player," Clove observed, and she looked at Gale. "6'3, maybe, outside linebacker?"
Gale looked at Cato, and shook his head. "Doesn't look quick enough. He might actually be a quarterback, judging by the size of his arms." Clove raised an eyebrow skeptically. Southampton hadn't had a good quarterback ever since she could remember, the high class society boys preferring to play lacrosse or polo.
"Are you guys sizing him up? Really?" Katniss rolled her eyes lightheartedly.
Gale shrugged. "Athlete thing." He himself, at six feet and five inches, played tight end and was one of the better ones Clove had seen. The two had a respect and admiration for each other's athletic prowess, and they talked much about sports.
Clove looked back at the new boy as he glanced in her direction. Granted that her eyes weren't failing her, she could have sworn she'd seen a wink, but rolled her eyes and assumed it was for Jacqueline or Madge, Katniss' attention being on Peeta as he told some sort of a joke.
It couldn't have been for her.
The night went on, and Cato found himself still accompanying Glimmer. To talk to guests, to dance, to get a drink. It wasn't his style. He didn't know when he became, for lack of a better term, Glimmer's arm candy. Didn't plan on it, didn't enjoy it. Occasionally, he glanced back over at the table and on one of those occasions, caught the eye of the Clove girl he'd heard about earlier. For some reason unfathomable to him, she'd drawn his attention like a moth to a flame. Maybe it was her striking beauty in the plain dress, maybe it was the way she ignored his attention.
He didn't have much time to dwell on it, as Glimmer leaned over to whisper in his ear "Wanna see the rest of the house?" she asked suggestively, and Cato smirked.
Maybe the Hamptons weren't so boring after all.
An alarm rang through a dark room at five in the morning, and a small hand emerged out of a red comforter as Clove hit the stop button, knowing full well the temptations of snoozing for another five minutes. She sat up, yawning before slowly getting out of bed.
Clove Kensington was a girl of routine. Every morning at five, she went out to run six miles wherever she desired—sometimes around the property, other times on the beach for the extra resistance training. She prided herself in her self-discipline, proving that she was indeed Mark Kensington's daughter.
After taking no more than ten minutes to get herself ready, she walked down the grand staircase and made her way to the front door, clad in her black sports bra and a pair of red running shorts, her Nikes treading lightly on the marble floor. She toyed with her iPod touch, about to activate her morning playlist when she collided with a hard body, causing the device to fall on her hands and drop onto the marble floor. "Shit," she muttered, picking it up before she decided to look up. Sure enough, it was Glimmer's new toy, the Cato Weston boy from last night. He had the same outfit on, only his shirt had been disheveled and unbuttoned and he had his jacket slung over his shoulder. Clove could have sworn that he reeked of sex and Chanel No. 5.
Cato raised an eyebrow, not used to being the second priority when it came to the attention. "It helps if you look up when you're walking," he commented, as she immediately narrowed her eyes at him.
"It helps if someone's not walking around my house at five in the morning," she snapped.
His lips formed a smirk, and Clove found herself instantly annoyed. Who did this guy think he was and what was stopping her from punching him in the face right then? "Glimmer said no one was home," he shrugged nonchalantly and then eyed her up and down. "Early morning workout?"
"Glimmer forgets it's not her house," Clove rolled her eyes, still feeling possessive over the residence. The Joyces had moved in a few months ago, and though the house was more than enough to fit the four of them, Clove felt it to be an encroachment upon her space. It was the Kensington house, for the Kensingtons and the Kensingtons alone, she believed adamantly. "Yes. If you'll excuse me, I'd like to get it started as soon as possible and I'm already running behind." She walked past him to the front door about to leave, when he spoke up.
"Wait," he said, and Clove turned around, an eyebrow raised as she plugged an earphone in. "I left my keys with the valet yesterday, know where I can find them?"
"Just find the groundskeeper," she answered flatly, as if completely uninterested in the conversation.
"Thanks. Cato, by the way, Cato Weston," he stuck his hand out, and she stared at it for a few seconds before returning the handshake. Immediately, she recalled Gale talking about his arm size, and she took a fleeting moment to observe the one in front of her. The action did not go unnoticed to Cato, following her gaze at his arm and he smirked once more. Clove had to admit, his arm was a good size, but looking back up at his smirk, she knew better than to tell him so.
"Clove," she replied curtly, assuming that by now he'd know her last name. He did, after all, attend the wedding and was currently standing in the house. It took a special kind of person to miss the numerous jerseys of her father framed in the hallway, the name Kensington bold in its stitched lettering.
"I'm sure this isn't the last time we'll see each other around," he stated coolly, implying that he'd already established his presence in the Kensington household by sleeping with Glimmer.
She scoffed, putting one hand on the doorknob and opening the door. "You think you're sticking around because you had sex with Glimmer Joyce? You really are new here, aren't you." She plugged in her other earphone before slipping past the front door and started on her jog.
Cato watched the short, brunette girl run down the long driveway from one of the large glass windows, trying to process what just happened. He had just been insulted. Cato Weston was never insulted, and he always had the final word. "What the fuck," he muttered under his breath.
Clove was undoubtedly interesting, he couldn't deny so. And when Cato found something interesting, particularly a girl, he didn't stop until he conquered it.
A/N: So, judging by the reviews and the story alerts, I didn't do too bad, eh?
Which is great because I have lots of muse for this story, and so many ideas for what's in store. Now that has a cover photo thing, I'd love it if you guys sent in manips/artwork because quite frankly I suck at those things and would love a picture (:
You'll notice I'm a huge sports buff, and I couldn't ignore the physical nature of Clato in the books. What better way to incorporate that than to show off their strength in athletics? For those who need a little help with the terminology, Clove thought Cato was a linebacker: a defensive position in football, usually tall and able to stop both the run and the pass. Gale, however, sees him more as a quarterback, the offensive leader essentially who throws the ball, hence the big arm. Gale himself is a tight end, a guy who both gets passes and blocks and is generally supposed to be pretty big. I know it's a lot to take in for non-football fans, so please bear with me!
Keep reviewing! They really make me happy. Tell me what you like, tell me what you don't like, tell me if there's something you think I should add, I love reading it all!
Also, I'm a stalker of the Clato tumblr tag but alas, I'm not cool enough to have a Clato tumblr. So if you could, share this fic on the Clato tag so the other wonderful diehard shippers can enjoy!