Hey reader people! Yes, you clicked on chapter 2, you obviously have some sort of interest for this story! I'm really happy with the favorite stories/story alerts this story has been getting so far. A few of you have reviewed, and that's always fun! I guess I'm a little old-fashioned, but a few more reviews wouldn't hurt! Just want to hear your actual opinions on the story!

Thanks for reading guys! Here's the next chapter!

Our hovercraft takes off from the ground, and I'm able to get my last look at Peeta. He gives a little wave and then he's helped onto his hovercraft by Foxface. Looking at the two of them struggle to even move a few paces makes me feel funny in my stomach. Poor Peeta. We went from telling each other stories in our cave, kissing aimlessly, to this mess. Our relationship in these Games is supposed to be just "for the Games," but I actually started warming up to him.

Or maybe it was just his raging fever raising my temperature a few degrees. Who knows.

But my biggest problem right now is sitting right across from me, and his eyes are glued on me. I'm still absorbing the last thing he told me.

"You shouldn't have ever made any promises during these Games. Promises are meant to be broken."

As far as I'm concerned, a promise is a promise. I don't make many, but when I do, I make sure I keep them. No matter what. In my eyes, Peeta and I are already the champions. How we're going to get there, I'm not really sure.

I haven't said anything to Cato yet, and he looks curiously at me. Curiosity. This is new. Instead of the typical death stare, I get curiosity. If he's devising some way to kill me when the competition is lowered to three, I would not be surprised at all. I look at him for a few seconds more when I start to get really bothered by his incessant staring. "Do you mind?" I ask him bitterly.

Cato puts his hands up attempting to show his supposed innocence. "We're teammates now! At least pretend to like me so that we can survive until the final three. I'm sure you want to get there as soon as possible so you can finish me off, don't you?" His curious expression with his devilish smirk returns. "Besides, you were adoring my beautiful face first."

"Pshhh, no," I say, as my face turns bright red.

What are you doing, Katniss? I don't care what he thinks, why am I reacting like this? I have no feelings for Cato, why am I getting a funny feeling all of a sudden? I look around to see if there are any cameras on this hovercraft, and sure enough, two are pointed straight at me. The Capitol isn't trying to be subtle on these things. This isn't good for my reputation as a star-crossed lover, I'm being set up!

"Hey, look what we have here, is the girl on fire catching fire? How cute. I knew you couldn't resist me," says Cato.

I need to make sure that Cato isn't getting any funny thoughts right now about me. "Look, jackass, stop flattering yourself," I retort. My blood is boiling at this point, and at any moment I might literally be on fire.

"Whoa, watch your words, Twelve. Those aren't very nice words to say. I expected more from you."

Now I start shouting and yelling very unattractive things to Cato. He had this coming; he's the one that got my blood boiling to begin with. It's bad enough I got stuck with him of all people. There weren't many choices, though, so the odds were most definitely not in my favor. Through my barrage of swears and names I threw over at him, Cato seemed to be quite amused by all this. He had his arms crossed throughout the whole thing and even nodded after a few of my slurs. He's like Haymitch in the way he seemingly allows me to shout endless swears at him. I end my little tirade and now I find myself catching my breath. I spent a great deal of energy calling Cato some very unpleasant things. He looks at the cameras when I finish.

"Are you done? Can I come in? I bet the people at home really liked that. Very attractive, I can see why loverboy is so infatuated with you. Are you known as being an angry person, Katniss? Honest question."

I'm taken aback by this. Cato's good with his words, and he doesn't seem affected by any of the things I tell him. Not like I was expecting him to cry or something, but some sort of reaction would've been nice for the moment. I feel like this ride is going to be endless. "Angry? For the people who even know me at all back home, I feel like they think I'm a quiet, determined girl," I tell Cato.

"Well I guess the Games show people's true colors. I wouldn't be wrong in saying that?"

I look at Cato with disgust. He's making me look like a horrible person from the few minutes I've even been in his presence. "Back home at Twelve, we don't have anyone as big of a douchebag as you, so no one would really have to go crazy on someone!"

Cato holds ten fingers up. "Jackass, douchebag, other variants of the word 'ass,' and some other words that have to do with my mother. I don't have enough fingers for the other nice names. Wide vocabulary, huh, Katniss?"

I stop myself from saying anything else. I've said enough, and I'm sure Haymitch is having his seventh drink watching me essentially write the epitaph on my future tombstone. Katniss Everdeen, the star-crossed lover, the douche bag loather.

Cato sighs and puts his head down. "Fire girl-"

"Katniss!" I interrupt.

"Right, Katniss, sorry. Let me start over." Cato seems to be fumbling with his words. He starts off slowly. "Katniss… I can see that we aren't the biggest fans of each other. We both started off on the wrong foot. Let's put everything behind us and focus on the bigger picture. We both want to make it to the top 3, so we'll do whatever it takes for the two of us to survive."

I'm not sure why he's trying to be so genuine all of a sudden. I thought he was just mocking me about my whole swearing show. "I don't know what kind of act you're putting on right now, but let's establish a few key points right now."

"Act? Look I'm sorry, you were right about me being a jackass. I know I am one, but we jackasses can have feelings, too. "

I'm still convinced that this is an act. He can try to get my sympathy all he wants, but he's just another Career to me. "Fine, let's go with that. You're sorry, you have feelings, great to know. But how about Peeta and Clove? Realize we're only partners until the top THREE. You, me, and one other tribute, assuming the two of us make it all the way. What do you say now?" I ask him. I'm hoping to shut him down at this point.

He takes a deep breath before speaking. "As far as I'm concerned, Clove's not my partner right now. You are. You're the only one who can't kill me, so you're my partner. Having two winners from my district win would be amazing, but I don't think it's going to happen."

"And… what makes you think that?"

Cato seems to be at a loss for words again. "As much of a threat Clove has been this entire time, I don't think she has what it takes to make it all the way, to be blunt. She has to get through people like you first."

I look at Cato with disbelief. This act that's he's putting on is confusing the heck out of me. "What do you mean?" I ask.

Cato laughs for a second. "Too cute, Katniss. You know how good you are. I'm pretty sure you must've done something incredible to earn that eleven back with the Gamekeepers. As much as I hated you back in the beginning of these wonderful Games, especially back when you out-climbed me on that stupid tree,"

I laugh at the memory. "One of my finer moments during these games," I tell Cato.

"Hey!" Cato says.

We both laugh for a few seconds, but Cato gets back to his whole "serious" act. "Even though my feelings weren't always the best toward you, I can see what all the fuss is about. You're good, Katniss."

I don't know whether to be relieved about this or not. "Well, thanks, I guess. I don't think I'm as good as you think I am, or you say that you think I am. I almost died more times than I can count, and you're a big reason for that. And if you really thought I was this good the whole time, why didn't you just form an alliance with me from the beginning? So basically what I'm telling you is all this sweet talk is kind of hard for me to believe."

Cato opens his mouth for a moment, but no words come out. He plays with his fingers for a moment and then tries again. "I know where you're coming from. And to be honest, I don't really have a good reason for my madness. I'm a Career, and Careers work with other Careers."

Here's where he starts contradicting himself. "Uh huh, and you decided to make an exception for Peeta this time, now didn't you?"

"It's not easy to explain."

"And why is that? You know what? You're so full of crap. I can't even talk to you right now!" I snap at Cato.

An awkward silence follows now. I angrily glance at Cato, just to see how he reacted. I see that he is just sitting there observing me as well. The only one displaying any form of emotion throughout this entire ride is me. It seems to be a lost cause trying to tick off Cato, but I think it's good TV for the people back home.

"Let me ask you one question," Cato starts.

"Explain why you recruited Peeta, and maybe I'll answer your question," I reply.

"There wouldn't be any point answering your question if you don't answer mine."

I sit there in silence and I close my eyes. All of this is too much to take in right now. I wonder how Peeta's doing in his ride with Foxface right now. Judging by the awkwardness and mysteriousness of Foxface, I'm sure the two of them are enjoying a nice nap right now. I snap back to my current situation and look back over at Cato. "What's your question?" I ask him.

"Do you think I'm a bad person?"

A bad person is a bit of an understatement. "Yes," I answer.

He laughs at this. "Who are you to judge whether or not I'm a good person? You don't know me. I don't even know you, but I already have a hunch that you're a nice girl, if you take out all the names you called me a few minutes ago."

He has a point; I guess I don't really know him. But from what I've seen, he's only your average Career. Strong. Cold-blooded. Killer. "I may not know you, but like you said, we got off on the wrong foot. Maybe you're not a bad guy, but that does not mean that you're a good guy! Not at all!"

"We're teammates now, you're gonna have to trust me."

"We aren't teammates. We're just not allowed to kill one another!"

"Well whatever the hell we are, you're just going to have to trust me, Katniss!"

"WHY?" I yell. I cannot take him at all. His act is driving me crazy. Why he keeps begging for my trust is beyond me.

"Because I assure you I will not harm you for the rest of the Games. I can't speak for the other tributes, but you won't have to worry about me. I won't hurt you. I don't know if you believe any of what I'm saying right now, but you don't have to. I know I'm telling the truth, and that's all that matters."

Katniss and Cato's first scene! I could've went on a little more, but I decided to just end it there for now, just to mess with you guys!

If you liked what you read, leave a review! It would mean a lot to me! Just want to make sure I'm not writing for robots or something, lol!

As for whether or not this is a Katniss/Cato or Katniss/Peeta story, answering some of you reviewers, I don't know yet either, hahaha! Both pairings have potential still, and I'm not exactly sure how this story is ending yet. I do know how the next chapter will be, but I won't be able to upload that until probably next weekend.

So until next time!

EJ